Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Christmas Tales

Christmas pics coming soon, but for now I wanted to talk about Mara AnnMarie's Baptism Day.  What a wonderful day we had.  Nona Donna & Great Grandma & Grandpa Joanne & Don celebrated with Heather, Sean, Godparents Auntie Katy, Auntie Bethanie and Uncle Josh. Auntie Whitney, Uncle Barry, Claire, Max, Brody, Maverick, GG, Aunt Sue, Aunt Julie, Great Grandma & Grandpa Camilla & Don, Papa and me were there watching with joy.  Her Baptism took place during Christmas Day Mass.  What a special blessing!  The music and the message were such a wonderful Christmas Gift!  We had warm cinnamon rolls and fresh fruit afterward.  Then we had Dumpling Soup for lunch at the farm and the kids opened their stocking gifts from Santa.

On the other side of that coin - the holidays can be so melancholy.  You plan and plan and shop for just the right thing and bake and cook up a storm.  Then in a flash, it is all over, and melancholy.  Papa and I are always so sad to see them all leave at the end of the day.  And yet we are tired and relieved, ready for a hot meal, a hot bath and a veg out on the couch with an old romance video.  Hope you are finding ways to deal with your own holiday melancholy.

We are heading out tomorrow for a mini-vacation - no kids in daycare the rest of the week!!  We are excited and yet will miss the little buggers by Saturday!  We are celebrating our family Christmas on Saturday!  More fun!

Merry Christmas 2012!

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Our December Adventures

 Brody, Claire & Max are admiring the Christmas tree (all the time)!
 Mara & Maverick are sharing the playmat together!
 Claire loves to talk to them.
 Tickle the yummy belly!
 "and then you know what happened guys..."
 Max is loving on the babies - he has no concern for their personal bubble.
Claire & Max are entertaining.  Brody was having a very long nap that day!

Mara AnnMarie

Papa loves getting Mara to smile (and laugh)!
Mara enjoys looking in the mirrors on the playmat - she loves the new friend she sees in there!
OK, she really loves just about anything!  Especially if you're lookin' at her!  She looks just like her daddy, but shots like this look very much like mama!
Heather works from home sometimes, and Mara is a big help!  She is watching for errors!                                                                            

St Nicholas Day & a Visit from Papa

Our family celebrates St Nicholas Day, December 6, with little gifts in our shoes, the kids' shoes are all ready for him!  He brought them lots of books, some about Christmas!
Papa came to visit daycare one day.  Here he is with Max after nap, snuggling!
Then Maverick got in on the action!
Then Claire woke up and joined the fun!  Papa's doing good so far, right?
Then Mara woke up and he handled them both!  They like to be held!
Maverick wanted a new position - what a big boy sitting up!

Projects and Fun

Great Aunt Sue came one day to help with a project - handprints!
Claire & Brody are decorating trees.  Max is running around!
 Now they are stringing cheerios on pipe cleaners as candy canes!
Maverick & Mara are good buddies - just like Josh & Jesse at about this same age - many many years ago!  (they were crying too!)
Claire enjoying a moment with her babies, uninterrupted by boys!
Brody & Claire are helping Papa and Uncle Sean with farm work!

Thanksgiving Day

Max and Josh went for a tractor ride.  Max (and Claire) were shocked to learn that their daddy knew how to drive a tractor!  I think they were out there for an hour!
Omi and Claire watch daddy and Max from the window.  It was a good day!

Friday, December 7, 2012

Our Daycare

I'll get a photo or two fit in here, but for now wanted to mention a few things.  Our little daycare has grown again to include Mara AnnMarie (age 3 months).  Day One Aunt Sue spent much of the day helping me at the farm.  She brought projects galore to entertain the 3 oldest ones in hopes that I would have the time to devote to the two babies.  Auntie Heather came for lunch with us and Aunt Bonnie came to say hi in the afternoon.  Day Two Papa came to visit on his way home from a convention, so helped me for a few hours in the afternoon.  My new employee, Kaija Eckholm, started on Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 and stayed until 5:15.  It took the kids about 10 minutes to get to know her.  She is great with them.  She is very postive and boosts their egos just the right amount.  Day Three we were on our own all day until Kaija arrived.  She and the kids spent a lot of time organizing the project materials downstairs.  Day Four Auntie Heather stayed with us all day, working from Uncle Josh & Auntie Whitney's house.  She helped out as much as she could and witnessed some of our chaos.  When Kaija got there, she took the kids outside for over an hour!  They had so much fun out there!  Day Five we were back at the farm.  Aunt Bonnie came around 10 and spent the day with us.  She helped with many projects and lunch and diapers (including a memorable blowout by Maverick) and feedings, reading and rocking!  We had visits from Auntie Heather, Uncle Sean, Papa, Aunt Sue and 25 new cattle arrived at the farm!

What I really wanted to say, is, thank you!  Thank you to everyone who makes Omi Daycare run so smoothly!  Okay, it's chaos half the time, but still.  I'm in charge and I'm responsible, but I could not do it without help.  Papa is always willing to help out - with phone calls in "personality emergencies";  filling up my car with gas; changing diapers; loading kids and unloading kids; feeding breakfast and lunch; taking the kids outside to visit the animals, ride in the tractor and going for cookies at Grandma Camilla and Grandpa Don's house.  GG helps every day I am at the farm by visiting and playing and reading and being patient when Omi has had it!  Aunt Sue helps by visiting when she can and breaking up a long day with some crazy adventure.  Auntie Heather helps by visiting us and handling some of the cleanup and bringing over project materials.  Grandma Camilla and Grandpa Don help by having a white cookie ready whenever they stop by.  Kaija is going to be a big help by keeping the kids busy with projects and playing outside.  Aunt Bonnie is going to help us out on farm days with anything we need - and when two babies want to eat at the same time, there are needs!  Thank you to the parents as well - Uncle Josh and Auntie Whitney and Uncle Barry and Auntie Bethanie and Uncle Sean.  They are patient with us when we are tired or crabby or messy.  They are interested in every project, they provide us with the nutrition we need to make it through each day.  And thank you, too, to Claire and Brody and Max and Maverick and Mara.  You make it all worthwhile; you share your love with me, as well as your hugs and kisses and boo boos.  Sure beats workin'.