Multi-Tasking

Multi-Tasking is a hot topic these days.  Can men actually multi-task or is it a feat for women only?  Is it helpful?  Shouldn't we be focusing on ONE thing and going it well?  Does staring at your phone while watching your kids play on the playground count?  Is it a worthy multi-task?  So many topics for so many different articles.  Heated debates rage.  Feelings get hurt.  Opinions cause folks to see red.  But don't worry--this is not me entering the fray.  I'm not even going to give an opinion on it :)  I'm simply posting some pictures of a very special kind of multi-tasking.  The kind that makes my heart squeeze in a painfully loving way. 

 This is Caroline holding Henry while making scrambled eggs one morning before school last week.

 The most amazing kind of multi-tasking a mother can see.  Look how happy they both are!  And I'm sure you can imagine how happy I was.

Seriously--happy baby, delicious breakfast--all while I sat and watched. 
No raging debate or hurt feelings here. 
Just love.  Pure and simple.

How To Dunk A Basketball

Being as it's basketball season; and being as we have a player in the house; and being as we have a coach in the house, well, there is a lot of time spent out on the court these days.  And what the big boys do, so must the little boy!  Here is a step by step tutorial from Henry on how to dunk:

Step One:  If you can't find someone to lift you up high enough to dunk, take matters into your own hands.  Get the step ladder from the trampoline and pull it across the yard.  Position it in front of the basketball hoop.

 Step Two:  Carefully, carefully climb the ladder while holding your basketball.  This step is tricky and might take a few attempts.

 Step Three:  Put the ball through the hoop!

 Step Four:  Celebrate!

Step Five:  Repeat, repeat, repeat.

So That Was Christmas

Christmas is over.  Is it June yet?  I'm not really even kidding.  The holiday season was crammed with fun and relaxation (and a large dose of sickness, but it didn't matter since we had no where to be).  Now I'm just ready for summer again!

It was lovely to have all four kids home from school with no commitments.  We were very busy making Christmas treats for friends and neighbors--but it was a fun kind of busy.  One day we invited a few neighbor kids over for a ginger bread house party.

 This year I decided to skip the kits and make my own gingerbread.  It's been 11 years since I did that.  That gives you an idea of how well it went the first time around :)   I thought maybe I should give it another try instead of letting the gingerbread win. 

 We had the walls, the roof, the candy and the cute kids--time to get started!

 You can see how well it went.  Haha.  Actually, while it was frustrating and it did take a ton of patience--it worked.  This flattened one was Henry's. 

 Slowly, slowly we got our walls to stay up.  I think that next time I need to whip my egg white frosting just a little bit longer.  I had to make 3-4 batches and I forgot about the mixer on the last batch.  It ended up being the most cement-like.

 It was a lot of fun and the kids liked their finished products.  We won't talk about how much candy got eaten.  My biggest regret was forgetting to put an old sheet on the table before we got started.  All that frosting took some serious elbow grease to clean up!

 But clean up was a must because that night the kids and I got to go see The Sound of Music downtown at the 5th Ave. Theater.  What a treat!  And Daddy was kind enough to miss out on the fun and stay home with Henry-Pie.

 I so enjoyed the whole show.  The 5th Ave. is quite beautiful and the kids needed a good dose of culture after stewing in sports most of their lives.  The girls always enjoy a chance to dress up and Ezra had an opportunity to use his new sport jacket.  Their Maria was perfect.  And the Reverend Mother had the most amazing voice.  The whole nun-choir was goose bump raisingly beautiful.

 The next few days were spent in mad preparation for a fancy Christmas Eve dinner with friends here at our house.  We seriously had so much fun making traditional and family Christmas dishes in preparation.  My sweet neighbor went out of town and let me use her extra fridge to stock away goodies in advance.  As per typical we got totally immersed in the prep and completely forgot about the camera.  I was very sad about that after the fact.  But I'll say that the candle light service was quite nice.  I love singing Christmas hymns with a group of believers.  The Christmas story never gets old.  Christ coming down for us as a baby.  What a beautiful and unbelievable thought.  All of our family was out of town, but we were privileged to have some good friends who were willing to come spend the evening with us. 
The next morning the kids were ready for presents.

 And then a nice big breakfast...with a few leftover decorations from the night before.

Now, Christmas day was a little strange.  It felt weird to have no plans with family.  But we all had a pretty nasty cold and it was nice to just lay around.  And then Caroline got the stomach flu.  Poor baby.  She spent most of the day asleep in her bed.  I almost didn't make Christmas dinner for us--but then a feeling of depression set in and I put the ham in the oven to combat it :)  

 While the rest of us enjoyed ham dinner, Caroline had some 7-Up.







 
 The perfect Christmas dessert--hot chocolate with candy canes.

 Ah, the peace and quiet of kids with new goods.
 

 Father and son bonding over hobby shop cars.

 AND--big news around these parts.   Nora finally saved up enough to buy her American Girl!  This has been a couple years coming.  You can tell she's not at all excited--haha.

And now Rebecca has joined our family.  Here's hoping your Christmas season was fun filled as well!

A Decade of Ezra

Ten days ago our oldest turned a decade!  I enjoy having his birthday be during the Christmas season for many reasons--but it does make things rather hectic.  I don't ever want to him to think his birthday is an after thought and thankfully he is very easy going as to how we celebrate. 

 Here he is first thing on the morning of December 18th.  Birthday snuggles with his baby brother.

 And Daddy took the day off work, so he got some Daddy snuggles before school as well.

 Ezra has grown into a very hardworking young man.  He is always thinking up some new business and handing out fliers around the neighborhood--like pet sitting/dog walking and car washing and detailing.  He can be counted on to complete some of the more annoying tasks around here--such as cleaning out the fish tank or washing windows.  And his little brother is quite often his shadow.  We all enjoy watching him in his various sporting activities--each of which he plays for pure love of the game.  We are so very thankful to the Lord for giving us this fun loving, energetic boy as ours.

 The evening of his birthday he got to have a little celebration with presents and cake and his bestie.  He had just opened the sport jacket--thus the tags.  His only request for cake this year was that there be lemon filling and lemon frosting.  It felt a little strange not to be decorating it with some sort of a shape or theme--but it sure was easier :) 

 And he got his heart's desire from his (mostly) Dad and Mom--an RC car on steroids. 

 It's pretty fun to watch.  I haven't driven it yet--it goes 30 mph so when it crashes it has the potential to be really damaged.  We've already made two trips to the hobby shop for replacement parts.

 Crepe breakfast the next morning.  And how--he is officially ten!

Things That Make Me Smile on a Monday Morning!

 These brothers.  They make me smile.  Henry is such a repeat of Ezra at this age.  The crazed energy and noise.  My daily humbling.  The engaging smile.  The infectious giggle.  The constant chatter.  So much the same.  The problem is that I'm in my mid-thirties instead of my mid-twenties and the difference is just tremendous :)   

 These boys really do adore one another.  Henry hero-worships Ezra.

 Pretty pumpkins make me smile.  And since they weren't carved they should last until Thanksgiving instead of rotting by tomorrow.  I had a lot of fun with these easy pumpkin crafts.  Sitting on the porch all together they do look quite pretty.

 Grandpa and Grandma Idaho time brought lots of smile from all!  We got a visit from these Grands last weekend.  It was a little preview of us going to them for Thanksgiving.  Henry is especially happy to be read to.

 And Nora basks in all the one-on-one attention.  There was a lot of game playing going on.

And that's what's keeping me smiling on a rainy Monday morning.  What about you?