I guess this post could also be accurately titled “Gettin’ the Kids Out”.  Today was another gorgeous day, even though it wasn’t quite as warm as yesterday.  Knowing this warm snap won’t last, I let things slide (again) inside the house so we could spend some time outside.  Yesterday I took the Christmas lights off our front bushes while the kids played.  (For the first time ever, I did not find any snakes sunning themselves on the outer fringes of the bushes while I was taking the lights down.  All the other years I have.)  Today, I got out our electric hedge trimmers and trimmed the bushes.

Andrew questioned if I should be doing that in my “condition”.  I assured him it was probably doing me more good than being less active inside the house.

Boy, I’m glad my jumper isn’t gray–someone could honestly mistake me for an elephant!  I hadn’t noticed my size lately.  Yikes!

The red hat had a significant purpose.  I had not fixed my hair yet today, and I sure didn’t want any of the neighbors to see it!

The kids had a blast playing with some balls in the front yard, pushing little cars and trucks around in our driveway, and just general romping.

As it got later in the afternoon, Marie took rests on one of the chairs I had brought around to the front yard.  I let her stay up 1 hr. past her naptime, and then I put her down to sleep despite her protests.

I do not have to worry that our mouse patrol has left us defenseless.  One brave garter snake was peeking out on this warm afternoon.  I’m sure he soon disappeared as we made lots of racket and movement.

As much as I love the cold and the winter season, these two warm days have about gotten me hooked on springtime.  I sure could get addicted to having some outside time every afternoon!

Paul told me he loves to play outside in the winter because there are no flies.  (Hmmm…I wonder where he’s heard that before?)

Also, while he was outside today, he started out with a heavy sweatshirt and a jacket.  Soon he shed the jacket.  Then, he was still hot so he took off the sweat shirt.  Then, he was in his short-sleeved undershirt.  After a little bit he disappeared inside the house and came back out with a long-sleeved undershirt on.  He told me, “I put on a more temperate shirt”.  Yeah, I too had to smack my jaw to keep it from falling off.  I had never heard him use that word before, and to think he used it appropriately.  Now that I think of it, I should have asked him which book he read it in.

When I was done the trimming, I had to herd the other two tired children inside and get them started on naps.  I took a 30 min. nap on the couch myself.  We had our schedule all messed up for the evening, but it sure was nice to be outside getting our kinks out.

With today’s weather being sunny and in the upper 50’s, it’s hard to believe that just on Saturday we had snow.  Enough snow that it was necessary for me to call off school.  The only reason I had to call off school was because my children couldn’t wait to spend time out in the thin layer of white stuff sent from heaven.

I think by 9:30 everyone had already eaten breakfast and was bundled up to enjoy the outdoors.  They all wanted to wear earmuffs instead of bogans.

Andrew was outside with them.  He didn’t know if there was enough snow to make the sled go, but he was sure going to give it a try!

By the time I got out there, Marie had had her fill of upsets sliding down the hill (I don’t think it took too many for her), so we kind of hung out together and stayed off the sled.

We had to get a picture of all three of them decked out in their great earmuffs.  (Paul’s are Snoopy ones that were mine when I was a kid, Hannah’s are bear ones that were my sister Laura’s when she was a kid, and Marie has on a regular pair that I believe someone gave me way back when I was a teenager.  This was their first time wearing them, and they were pretty excited.)

After being outside for about 30 min. or so, everyone was ready to come inside.  Clean and neat was not the order of the day!

Sometimes I think that the biggest reason the kids love for it to snow and to go out in it is the fun of drinking hot cocoa with marshmallows in after they get back inside.  Hannah never mentions snow without including “hot cocoa” somewhere in the sentence!  (They do get hot cocoa at other times too.  I guess it’s just extra special when they’ve come in from sledding.)

Then, it was time to test Daddy’s back.  With all three munchkins on there, it’s over 100 lbs. taking a ride on the “horse”!  Needless to say, the horsey ride was a short one.

Andrew entertained the kids while I took a nap later in the morning.  I should learn to never, ever underestimate a pregnant lady’s capacity to sleep.  Andrew urged me to take a nap, and I told him my body was tired, but I didn’t feel sleepy, so I was sure I would just lie there.  Ha ha!  I was fast asleep within minutes of hitting the pillow, and I believe I slept at least an hour.

After lunch, the rest of the gang started relaxing and winding down.  Marie had taken a nap in the morning while I was napping (which is unusual for her, but she seemed tired), and after lunch, she just wanted to relax and snuggle.

Then, Marie got her blankie!

Now, she and Daddy are enjoying a Calvin & Hobbes comic book while relaxing.

Not all Paul’s reading is intellectually stimulating and preparing him for higher education.  He found the Calvin & Hobbes collection and was devouring it that afternoon.

Hannah decided not to be left out and started “reading” a Calvin & Hobbes book too.  It must have been that kind of day!

My main (and I believe only) accomplishment that day was to wash sheets and remake the beds.  This is Hannah’s bed.  I know you won’t find this perfect look in any magazine, but it’s meaningful to Hannah.  Each of those 3 pink (mis-matching) blankets is one of her favorites, and she insists on sleeping under all of them.  And of course, John-Bear is absolutely essential.  The dark blue sheets are significant to me because I got them at a thrift store recently.  With more of our family sleeping on mattresses (as opposed to a crib), I was finding myself short on sheets at times.  I have never failed to find good quality sheets in the size I need for a great price at Gift & Thrift.

Here is Paul’s bed with his set of (again, mis-matching) favorites, all of them Lightning McQueen.

So far, other than her blankie, Marie doesn’t have any special covers or character sheets yet.  She has a nice, clean, cranberry-color flannel sheet on her bed.  Here, she is getting herself arranged and pulled up  into that corner.  She insists on snuggling right up in that particular corner to sleep.  She will move things on her bed so she can access her corner.  She sleeps and rarely falls off her mattress, so I won’t try to change her habit.

Here is Hannah, all nestled down on John-Bear and under her covers to take a nap.  Everybody (well, except me, I had slept that morning) took a nap in the afternoon.  It was such a great way to spend a snowy afternoon.

When I reflect on our Official Snow Day, I just love how it turned out.  It was so peaceful, so enjoyable, and everyone seemed to enjoy relaxing.  When I saw everyone enjoying Calvin & Hobbes comic books in the afternoon, I was once again thrilled that we don’t have TV.  My hope is that no one will introduce my kids to Wii or computer games until they are about 85 years old.  (And I hope I don’t get introduced to them until I’m 85 years old either!)

As the days go by and I snap a picture here and a picture there, I think of the neat little tidbit I want to post on my blog about each one.  As you well know, I am not known for my interesting daily posts.  Instead, here’s a short collection of this and that that I uncovered as I uploaded pictures off my camera.

• We gave Paul and Hannah some Crayola paints for New Year’s.  They are trying them out for the first time.  (I believe it was after I had put Marie to bed for the evening.)

Art is definitely not my gift or my “thing”, but I’m trying not to let that keep me from enabling my kids to try their hands at it.

• Having fun with Daddy while waking Paul up from his afternoon nap.

• My parents gave Marie and Hannah dresses for New Year’s, and Paul a cowboy costume (complete with a cowboy shirt).  (Well we gave him the boots for New Year’s, and in these pictures he’s not wearing the cowboy belt he got from them.)  When we had everyone dressed up to go to church last Sunday, even though we were running a tad late, we took a few pictures before we headed out the door.

• 
• Can I just say that I am completely un-gifted in getting great pictures of multiple kids?  They might all be happy at the same time, but they sure aren’t all photogenic at the same time!

We love ‘em all just the same!

• Hannah and Marie are playing together more and more all the time, and enjoying playing together more and more all the time.  Several times a day, they go off on their own and romp and carry on, or play dolls, or who knows what.  Sometimes they just have a blast sitting together on the rocking chair (Paul is doing schoolwork in the background).  Hannah loves it because she has a willing follower and accomplice, and Marie just loves it that someone is paying lots of attention to her.  I love it because they’re happy and not getting into trouble!

• Andrew introduced Paul to legos right before his 5th birthday by helping him buy (with his own money) a small Lightning McQueen lego kit.  Then, for his birthday, Andrew (well, both of us) gave him this huge tub of legos that my sister, Rachel, had given us.  (When they moved into their house, they found this big box of (dirty) legos in an outbuilding and offered them to us.)  Andrew had cleaned them up, sorted out the trash, and he was super excited about them.  I didn’t understand it.  We gave them to Paul, he had fun playing with them, but his bedroom (he played legos on top his dresser) was a disaster.  I thought we had lego overdose.  Andrew thought Paul needed more legos.  He combed E-bay for lego deals for Paul’s New Year’s present.  Then, lo and behold, Andrew’s mom arrived one day with a big box of legos–the ones Andrew and his siblings had played with as kids.  Andrew was thrilled out of his skin!  He cleaned them up and sorted through them painstakingly, and he gave them to Paul for his main New Year’s present.  I knew we had to get a better containment system, so I suggested pulling out this old folding table from the basement and having it as the lego table and setting it up somewhere other than Paul’s bedroom.  It is now stationed in the living room and it is the place to be.  Paul spends a lot of time there, and Hannah and Marie sometimes play there too.  (Andrew cut the side out of a giant cardboard box to make a tray with sides to keep them from spilling all over the floor.  He also painted grass, roads, and rivers on the cardboard, but they are currently covered with legos.)

• I will have to admit that I have not been as tickled with 18 million lego pieces in my house as Andrew has been, but so far the lego table seems to have remedied the situation of legos all over the house and on every kitchen counter.  Plus, I have been diligent in training Marie to stop walking around chewing on a mouthful of legos (it has not been easy), and that has made my life easier too.  Andrew assures me that great men in top positions got their beginning by extensively playing with legos as a child.  (Sigh, I guess maybe that’s where I missed out–I did not play with legos as a kid.)

• For our school time, part of the time it is suitable for Marie to sit beside Hannah and feel like she’s one of the pupils.  For another part of the time, it’s not suitable (and Paul is busy doing his own school work while I work with Hannah).  I have two rugs side-by-side on the floor, and I put her on the rugs with some toys and her blankie and tell her she has to stay on the rugs.  (We used to use the Pak ‘n’ Play, but this is much easier.)  So far, it has worked out great and she doesn’t have a problem obeying and being happy (most of the time) there.  The rug program has even more benefits–it’s easy to take a rug anywhere!  I took one of the rugs along to a doctor’s appointment this week.  I had Paul and Hannah each sit on a chair, and I put the rug on the floor and told Marie to stay on the rug.  She did.  It worked out excellently well!  (At this appt. the ultrasound tech and the doctor were shocked and clearly unhappy that I showed up with 3 (gasp!) kids—and I was pregnant with another one!  I just moved ahead with my little program of setting up my kids, while the doctor and the tech were stone silent.  (Maybe they’ve had terrible experiences with kids in the ultrasound room.)  About half way through the ultrasound, the tech said, “I’ve never seen such well-behaved children!”  I told her that’s why I wasn’t intimidated about bringing them along.  I was so thrilled to give her this first opportunity!  O.k., I have to humbly admit it could have been a disaster, but I prayed ahead of time.  Plus, I put my kids through training here at home so they are prepared and able to handle these situations.

• Today, while Paul was finishing his schoolwork at his desk, I got out the “people basket” (that green container, we keep all the little people or anything even remotely similar in it) and let Marie sit at this little table and play.  She really enjoyed it.  I’m thinking this might become a rug-time alternative at times (although I don’t want to get out of practice with the rug!  We’ll need it for occasions when the little blue table isn’t available!).

This is Marie’s “prettiest smile” for the camera!

Looking back, it’s been a little over a month since I last posted an up-date on our little “Baby Victoria”.  Now, she is moving around regularly and I feel her thumping around multiple times a day.  It is always encouraging to feel her kicks and bumps.

This little girl gets a lot of monitoring, and by every measurable scrutiny, she is doing perfectly fine.  Last week they measured her femur, and she was right on for size +/- one day.  I think that’s remarkable!

I’ve pulled out the calendar and checked, and I’m betting she will be born on April 14th, maybe a day or two before or after.  April 14th is when I’ll be 37 weeks, and if she follows the precedent of her siblings, she’ll come right around then.  Hannah did wait until 38 weeks to come, so it wouldn’t be entirely out of order for Baby Victoria to wait until April 21.  (Both Paul and Marie were born right around 37 weeks.  Paul a couple days before, Marie right on the day.)

I am continuing to do fine, in all the technical senses.  I got a cold about 10 days ago, and even though it has never gotten bad, and all I have now is some head congestion and a nose that runs occasionally, I am worn out.  I am just really tired a lot of the time.  I’m not sure if I should blame it on the cold, or think our baby is going through a growth spurt, or just what.  At any rate, I’m ready to have some energy back consistently any day now!

A couple weeks ago I started taking insulin shots two times a day.  That has been a huge encouragement to me.  I feel so much better (mentally) when a lot of my blood sugar values are within the required range.  It has also given me  a little bit more freedom with my meals, but still nowhere near the freedom I would like.  I’m pretty sure it’s time to increase my insulin dosage again.  I e-mail my blood sugar values to my local OB doctor each week, and they e-mail back their instructions.  I requested that rather than going into the office each week.  So far that is working well for me.  Now, I only have to go in to the office every 2 weeks.

What has been a new thing for us is that there are now new protocols in place for pregnant women with the particular antibodies that I have (related to my lupus).  The new protocols were put in place based on new information gleaned from a study that was started back in 2000.  Anyway, the recommended course of action is to do an echocardiogram on the baby once a week during pregnancy from weeks 20 through 26, and then once every 2 weeks after that.  The down side to all this is that the closest place to have this done is over at UVA.  So, that means weekly trips over the mountain for a while.  I wasn’t planning on devoting this much time of my life to driving and going to the doctor.  However, we’ve had some really thorough explanations about the purpose and potential benefit of this monitoring, and knowing all that it means and could mean make it worth the time and effort.

I will say that when all this was first presented to us (and we hadn’t yet done all the reading and didn’t know all the right questions to ask) we were scared that something might be wrong with this baby that made her at a higher risk for heart problems than our other babies.  But, after talking to the doctors some more, we found out there wasn’t a higher risk with this baby than with our other babies, rather, it was just that due to more recent research results, new protocols are in place.  That was a relief!  All the echos so far have been fantastic, and we’re praying they will all continue to be that way.

On the good side, the PUPPP rash I had is all gone.  That is wonderful!  My other skin rashes continue to be about the same.  I’m still hoping they will seriously calm down after our baby is born.

Early in this pregnancy, I developed several more varicose veins in my ankles and feet.  I started wearing compression stockings pretty early, and that has prevented any more from developing.  For a while, the stockings provided complete relief from the aching and soreness of my lower legs and feet.  I guess now that the pressure is greater (since I’m further along), they are not quite as effective.  Those purple areas of my feet and legs hurt and ache like a very bad bruise a lot of the time.  (And woe, oh woe is me if anyone or anything touches them!  I nearly died when Paul accidentally scraped the heel of his cowboy boot over one of them recently.)

I guess that pretty much sums up the situation for now.  I feel like I am patiently enduring until we get the prize of our new daughter.  She is going to be so, so special.  I’m really sure of that.  She’ll be even more special to me because I have come (and am going to come) through a lot of, well, suffering, to get her here.  By the grace of God, she’ll be in our arms in just a couple more months!

Let’s see…I posted about our first NYD party, which was with Andrew’s side of the family.  Now, for the second NYD party with my side of the family.

Traditionally, we always, always, as in always get together with my family on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1st.  However, early in 2011, we all saw that Jan. 1st of 2012 fell on a Sunday.  This past spring, we siblings e-mailed around different options, holding it on the 1st after church, holding it the day before, and I forget what the third option was.  After all votes were in, it seemed to suit everyone the best to hold our NYD party on Dec. 31st rather than try to squeeze it into a Sunday.  So this year, the great NYD at the Ranch was held on Dec. 31st.

In my opinion, this was the best NYD event we’ve had at the Ranch yet.  It was so relaxing, so refreshing, and so enjoyable.  (Well, I ran out of energy way too soon, but that didn’t effect the wonderfulness of our family get-together.)  I give great credit to my sister Miriam, who is (and has been for as long as I can remember) the ring leader behind this whole event, for ensuring that it was a smooth and enjoyable day.  (If I had her organizing abilities and energy, I’d be sipping hot cider by 8:00 p.m. each evening and my house would be in a perpetual state of clean.)  Anyway, she’s the main organizer and brain behind the event, but she also has the enviable ability not only to delegate, but also to oversee, manage, and motivate others to get all this put together.  So, a great big thanks to my mom, my brothers, and my sisters (especially Gail) who spent a lot of time the week prior to Dec. 31 cranking through each days preparation list and getting the place and food ready for this day.

Now, moving right into the abundance of pictures from the big day!  (I’m posting more pictures than usual because Lucy is spending part of her life in Australia right now and wasn’t with us for NYD 2012.  We missed you, Lucy!  Enjoy the pictures!)

Marie & Susannah got to playing with the toys as
soon as we got there.

Paul was glued to the books from the
moment we stepped in the door until…
well, I’m not sure when.  Maybe until
time to eat.

Daniel & Susannah

Story time with Uncle Glen! (Hannah & Bobby)

Linden (at the well-organized, well-
marked drink table)

Miriam putting the mashed potatoes in
a warming/serving dish.

Rachel cutting a coconut pie.

Story time with Daddy!  (Hannah)

All the food was ready to sit down and eat at 12:00
sharp, but we hadn’t signaled my dad to go get Grandma
soon enough, so here folks are sitting around waiting
for Grandma to arrive.  (Glen, Branden, Laura, Bobby
and Luke)

Luke & Bobby

Branden & Laura

Some of my favorite people!

Daniel, Miriam, & Susannah
(Isn’t waiting for lunch a great time to snap pictures?)

Sam

Marie and her grandma!

Julia & Gail

Miriam & Julia pulling the food out of the ovens where
it was keeping warm and taking it to the serving table.

Gail & Rachel
(By the way, we timed it just right.  They were putting
the very last hot dishes on the serving table as Grandma
walked through the door!  We sang the Doxology and
and then started the feast.)

Marie

The general group scene.

Marie giving her great-grandma a hug.
(Susannah is in on the far right.)

My sister Julia has made a toy chest for each of
her nieces and nephews.  Hannah’s was the only
one that was entirely finished (too cold of weather
is holding up the last stage), so she brought it to
present to Hannah and as a representative of the
rest of the gifts to come.  Pretty impressive!  Hannah
just loves her chest.  It’s at the foot of her bed.

Hannah

Marie

Linden & Julia

Paul was thrilled to no end with the
cowboy costume from my parents–
a had, belt, and tie.

Andrew and Marie

Hannah got a Strawberry Shortcake
necklace in a cupcake-shaped velvet
box.  Marie loved taking the “cupcake”
around and asking people to “eat” it.
Here she’s sharing it with Uncle Luke.

A closer look at the cupcake box.

Hannah loved helping Grandpa open his presents
(and he loved it too).

Here, Grandpa is opening a present that says “From:
the Vogans”  He asked Hannah if she was a Vogan.
Here she is replying:
“Well, you’re a Vogan, and we’re Vogans too.”

Laura, Grandma, and Miriam

Rachel, Ted, and Luke

Now Susannah is taking a turn
“eating” the cupcake box.

Hannah also very much enjoyed
helping Uncle Ted open and examine
his gifts.

Susannah and Grandma

Susannah and Miriam

For this big present, Hannah and her Uncle Ted had
a blast wildly ripping off pieces of the wrapping paper.

Ahhh…Daniel is checking out the softness
factor of the car washing brushes he got!

Hannah and Uncle Ted

Hannah, Paul, and Bobby watch Uncle Glen put
together a model car.

My dad was sharing some chips he got for a gift.
Susannah was his most frequent indulger.

She was so happy coming back for chip after chip.

The newliest weds of the group–Katie & Sherman!

Susannah

This is the best picture of me that we have from that
day, so even though it’s not remarkable, Lucy, here
it is.

Katie, Julia, & Laura

The guys playing Rook, I believe.

Evidently while I was resting upstairs, some wild times
were going on with Uncle Luke and his Mustang!

I believe he’s hangin’ out with the young crowd!

Marie did not feel inhibited around the snack table!

Marie sure enjoyed riding this little tricycle down
in my parents’ basement.

She could make it go all by herself.

Hannah (holding the load of gummy worms she
petitioned her grandma for!)

Paul

Bobby

I was upstairs finished getting our stuff together
and loaded, so I’m not sure what the story line is
for these next couple pictures.  Use your imagination!
(I’m sure they did!)

That ends the pictures from NYD at the Ranch 2012.  Soon after this last picture was taken, we herded our very tired, emotionally fragile children into the van and came home.  They were more than ready to start a good, long night’s sleep as soon as we got them to bed (which was nearly 10:00 p.m.).  Paul and Hannah had not taken any naps or quiet times that day.  They held up remarkably well (until we got home, that is!).

Lucy, Lord willing, we’ll have you in the pictures next year!

I had a few goals for New Year’s last year.  Of course, I failed to reach them.

But, that won’t necessarily stop me from making a new one this year (and no, it’s not the same thing).

I could resolve to go to bed earlier and get up earlier.

Or never let more than 2 weeks go between cleaning the bathrooms.

Or to never have any paper piles in my house.  Ever.  At all.

I could resolve to get more done, or have more hours in my day, but the reality is that I will get absolutely nothing done but the bare essentials for 12 months after Baby Victoria is born (it has been that way with the rest of my kids, so I doubt it will be different this time).

The first three things I mentioned are all items I could do, if I put them at the very top of my list and let something else slide.

Instead of all that, I have determined to pray for God’s help and consciously decide to be more gracious to others who do things differently than I do.  Yeah.  That’s more of a hang-up of mine than a lot of other things, and probably than for a lot of people.  But, I know God made each person unique, so no one is going to think like I think or do things exactly how I think they should be done.  All the way from how they load their dishwasher to how they manage their time to how they dress their kids.

I don’t want to grow into (or continue being!) one of those people who have nothing good to say about anyone except themselves, or whom no one can ever please because that person is the only one who can do anything “right”, and so on.  I’m sure you know those people (I know some of them, and nobody likes to be around them).

I also want people to be gracious to me when I do things differently than they do.  My husband loves (as in absolutely loves) technology.  He only picks up a pen to sign a check.  Everything else is on the computer or the cell phone–all lists, all notes, all calendar dates, all events, all reminders, everything.  If it’s not there, it doesn’t exist to him.  However, he is gracious enough (even though it bugs him to no end) to allow me to still make paper shopping lists and to have and write on a wall calendar.  So, I want to extend that same graciousness to others.

Those are the two big reasons I want to, with God’s help, change and improve in the area of being more gracious to other people.  I don’t know if I will ever be able to think that my way isn’t the best way (because why else would I do it that way?), but hopefully I can think of others as wonderful people even if they choose to do things another way.

Just as a way of explanation, in my world, NYD has nothing to do with New York.  In the circles of my family it is the abbreviation for New Year’s Day, which is a famed and unalterable day–until this year, when it fell on a Sunday.  But, more on that in another post.

This year, we had no less than 3 New Year’s Day parties back-to-back.  It’s the first time that has ever happened.  Usually, they are separated by a week, or at least several days apart.

Traditionally, Andrew puts together goodie bags for each person present at the New Year’s get-togethers we attend.  This year, he took on the task of making chocolate candies molded in the shape of Hans Solo frozen in carbonite.  Now, if you are like me, that means nothing to you.  If you are so involved in Star Wars that you periodically believe you come from another solar system, then this is something to rave about.  These candies were only part of the goodie bags for Andrew’s family since the Gardner family is much less familiar with fictional astronomy and all that happens there.

Andrew has been outrageously busy with his work for several weeks, so there was a question about when the goodie bags were going to materialize.  (I was not feeling able to take on more projects before the NYD parties myself.)  One day when I had doctor appointments, he volunteered his time for both the morning and the evening appointment.  In the morning, he took the kids and they went shopping for “stuffing” for the bags.  In the evening, they put them all together.  Here Paul is writing the names on the bags, and Hannah is drawing individualized smiling portraits of each recipient on their goodie bag.

Somehow, amidst all the filled-to-overflowing life that is normal here, we fit in an amazing number of doctor appointments this past week, and managed to get all our belongings to live away from home for a little more than 24 hours collected and put in the van (along with a cooler full of food for the NYD party with the Vogan side of the family) by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday evening.  We launched and I relaxed and enjoyed the ride to Springfield, VA.

We got to our hotel about 8:00 Thursday night.  After checking in, per Andrew’s strong desire, we took the kids swimming in the indoor “heated” pool at that hotel.  (I’m not sure who it was heated for, but some penguins and walruses and that type might have been comfortable there.  I was cold!)  Anyway, the kids had a great time and it was a nice way for them to get some wiggles out after the car ride up there.  After the swim, I ran all the kids through the tub in our room, (which I had cranked up to a blazing 72 as soon as we got there.  I was cold even before the swim.) and Andrew left to deliver stuff in our van to his parent’s house and peel the potatoes for the next day.

After a relaxing (and warm!  I was no longer cold.) night in our hotel room, we loaded up in the morning and drove about 10 min. or so to his parent’s house.  We had a mid-morning breakfast with all Andrew’s siblings present, and all our nieces and nephews on Andrew’s side of the family.

After that, we started the festival of greed and loot (as Andrew and his dad have referred to it), exchanging gifts and watching kids marvel at the packages and then enjoy the contents.

Marie & Andrew

Grandpa & Bryce, the (not for long) youngest
grandchild.

Marie & Andrew

Paul with his new dart game.

Hannah and a lovely rug for her bedroom, which
she unknowingly dressed to match!  She loves that
rug and put it to use as soon as we got home.

Marie and her new specs from Aunt Wendy!

Collette, and Grandma holding Bryce.

Marie has two little owl key chains hanging from her
fingers.  She’s so tickled with them and is giving me
her “best” smile (which is not photogenic, but it’s the
one she displays if she knows I’m taking her picture).

There were a lot of people in a small place
that day, and I’m sure to Marie the world
was a sea of shins and shoes.  She didn’t
let the crowded conditions stop her from
playing or getting where she wanted to go!

A random group shot.

Mr. Tibbs and Phoebe were there too,
but I only have a picture of Mr. Tibbs.
They look to Ben for all their needs!

Collette and Grandma

Bryce, Kim & Ben

Paul and his Uncle Jeremy

After the gift-opening, Dustin took on the job of
cleaning the gutters at his parent’s house.  I’m glad
somebody took this picture, because I had no idea all
this was going on.  I was on lunch detail in the kitchen.

The must-do cousins picture did happen.  L to R:
Bryce, Steven, Hannah, Marie, Emily, Paul, Beth,
Sam, and Collette.

Lord willing, next year we’ll have more cousins in
the picture (and a bigger couch!).

Here are the two ladies who put the bulk of the blood,
sweat, (tears probably too), and elbow grease into
making this NYD party happen.  This is Andrew’s mom
and his sister Wendy.  Between them is John-Bear IV.
Wendy brought him along and has already bestowed
him as a gift to Baby Victoria (who will meet him in
April, most likely, and I really hope she’s bigger than
her bear.  All of the rest of the bears Aunt Wendy has
given our babies turned out to be bigger than the baby.)

That’s the crop of the pictures from our first NYD party this year.  We really enjoyed seeing all of the family again.  I wished I could have spent more time visiting with different ones, but time gets away and there is a lot of activity to manage at these type of events.  It’s even more so if you are the parent of small children.  So, we have e-mail, FB, and blogs to do communicating with when the face-to-face talking doesn’t happen.

I think it was right at 6:00 in the evening when we pulled away in the van and headed for home.  The ride home was more eventful than the ride up because most of my kids had not had proper naps that afternoon.  With a couple restroom stops, and we made it home by soon after 9:00 I believe.

Today we had a rollicking day of Christmas vacation.  Our times to have Bobby over to play (Paul, Hannah, & Marie’s cousin) are limited now that he goes to school 5 days a week.  We didn’t fit in a play day during his Thanksgiving break, but we have managed to work it in during his Christmas break.  Today was the day.  We had 5-year-0ld Bobby and his 1-year-old brother Sam over for the day.   The kids all had a super time, and Bobby and Sam were perfect kids to have in our home.  Not a moment’s trouble from either of them!

Right after Gail (my sister) brought them, Paul asked, “Do you want to read some interesting books?  I’ve got some really interesting books!”  Bobby solidly declined.  You can judge from these pictures if anybody missed out by not reading Paul’s “really interesting books”!

Hannah & Bobby playing boat.

A lego truck Paul built this morning.

After lunch everyone played outside for a little while.
Sam & Paul on the tractor.

Sam, Hannah, & Bobby

Hannah, Sam, Bobby & Paul

Sam & Bobby

Hannah giving Marie a wagon ride.

Bobby in the back, Sam & Hannah
in the front.

After the time outside, most of mine went down for
naps.  Bobby read a few books on the couch, but
Sam got to stay up and play since he had a 2-hour
nap this morning before he came.

After Paul had rested (but not slept) on his bed
for 1 hour, he got to get up and play quietly with
Bobby.

Sam

Later, I did put Sam down for a nap (he
slept for 45 min.).  When Marie got up,
she went outside with the big boys until
it got too cold for everyone.

Bobby & Paul

After Hannah and Sam woke up, everyone played
toys inside while I finished making supper.  They
got out the doctor kit, and who do you suppose was
the physician?  That’s right.  Hannah doctored away
on Bobby.

He got several complete physicals, and at one point
an x-ray revealed he had jaguar bones.  That discovery
led to immediate surgery.

Marie got the biggest kick out of watching
this whole doctor business.

Hannah always gives her patients plenty of shots.

The physician assistant (Paul) was soon on
hand to help bear the burden of this
busy patient.

Poor Bobby got both ends worked on at the same time.

Marie thought she had two otoscopes and was
attempting an ear self-examination on both ears
simultaneously.  She enjoyed it!

At one point, Hannah was briefly the patient.

Sam just had fun playing with whichever
instruments were not in service at the moment.

Before long, it was time to break for supper.  And then, soon after supper was over, Gail came to pick them up.  There were lots of hugs and goodbyes, but no tears.  Hopefully we can do a play day again sometime!

That’s why I’m posting these pictures I found when I was uploading photos from my camera.

Marie steals my heart away.

We haven’t fit in a trip to the library for quite a while.
I find Paul reading some interesting stuff.  He even
found The Story of the World that I had intended
to read to him for our history this year (but never
got very far), and he’s reading it for himself.  Sigh.
I guess Mom’s too slow.

Hannah is our budding gymnast–
at least at the moment I took this picture.

Marie often holds a book and just sings.
I believe she thinks all books or cards
are songbooks or sheet music.