Christmas Time

 

 

 

Birthday Girl

Christmas Nativity (For kids!)

Ever since reading the book, “Treasuring God in Our Traditions” by Noel Piper, (excellent book, I highly recommend it!)  I have wanted my children to have a nativity set that was meant to be played with. There are so many different nativity sets out there these days that are beautiful and decorative… but I wanted one that wouldn’t break; that was meant to be loved on, and handled by little ones. I want the story of Christ’s humble birth to come alive for my children through tangible, colorful things. My Mom bought us a Playmobile Nativity Set, and we love it! I grew up playing with playmobile, and can testify to it’s durability; it is fun, and well made. … I have a treasure trove of memories of hours upon hours of playing with Playmobile… my all-time favorite childhood toy.  

This nativity set (which we will only bring out during the Christmas season) has become Jane’s favorite thing to play with. She carries “Baby Jesus” all around the house, making sure that he takes naps (on my bed by the way) and eats well. I have come across many funny scenes during the day… and I’ve learned that she always has a reason for setting her little people and animals down in a certain way. Nothing is as it seems. For example, I found this on the couch:

Looks like there ought to be a mini football between them. I asked Jane what they were doing and she replied, “Wise men crawling.”

Of course…. Why didn’t I think of that?

Here’s another one of my findings. This one on the floor:

 

Jane’s explanation: “Shepherd cuddle sheep”

And here’s yet another one that was self-explanatory for me, but may not be so obvious to the untrained eye

For those of you who couldn’t guess, the Shepard is eating the goldfish. Yum. I’m glad that she has a generous, sharing heart. She could have eaten them all herself.

Contageous laughter...

Ryan- 6 Months

Day Light Savings Time (for more cuddling)

For those of us with small children, Daylight Savings is a bit of an inconvenience. I get slightly disgruntled when I hear of people happily talking about getting “an extra hour of sleep” HA! Whoever invented such a thing as “Daylight Savings” apparently didn’t have children. …. Kids don’t care about clocks … or time for that matter. They wake up at exactly the same time whether the clock says it’s 8:00 or 7:00…. Which means that in the fall, we all wake up an hour earlier.  

This translates into extra time in the morning to snuggle up and read...

**Oh… and a side note: Daylight Savings Time also translates into an earlier “Bewitching Hour” (i.e. the hour just preceding bedtime, during which time one or both of our children become tired and (often) fussy or “witch-like.”)

New Hobby

...making lots of bows for my little girl!

cupcake garden

morning wash

The End.

For those of you following the epic story of Jane's Beloved Binky, it has at last come to an end. As you can see in the following picture, Jane successfully chewed her Binky down to less than a stub. There is literally nothing left to chew...

 
We warned her multiple times that if she continued to chew on it, that it would be "broken"... and she acknowledged that she understood. She is familiar with the term, because in the past when things have broken, (such as a balloon, and a rubber bouncy ball) we have had her put it in the trashcan herself, so that she would understand. Then, whenever she asks for the (broken) item later, we remind her that she threw it away. So for about a week, we let her keep her binky in this pitiful state. She would still ask for it before bed, and then hold it and lick it while going to sleep (strange??). Tonight we decided it had to stop, simply because if she was still attached to it, then it would be a very bad thing (for all of us) if it got lost and there was no replacement. Not to mention the fact that the practice of broken-binky-licking is a little weird.
She needs closure.

So we had her throw it away.**

She understood what was happening, because she was very somber and hesitant....

And it was very sad.

The end.

(** the Beloved Binky was secretly rescued a little while later. It will be kept in hiding for sentimental purposes**)

Dreamin'

Chillin' with Daddy

Miss Jane.

The Blue Box

Aaron’s Mom and Brothers came to visit us last week…. all the way from Dubai! We loved having them here. Uncle Andrew and Jane enjoyed playing with a set of four foam pads… it was great fun to put them together in different shapes and build forts and hideaways…

Needless to say… Jane is missing her uncles and has asked to see them every day since they left… It’s so sad that they live so far away!

 

Her Beloved Binky (and Bunny)

Since our babies were very little, we've encouraged the use of a binky, simply because we figure when they get older and it is time to break the habit, it would be easier. (Binky's can mysteriously disappear, but you can't cut off a thumb). Jane is getting to the age where we have begun to limit her "binky time. She is only allowed to enjoy it in bed, (along with her Beloved Bunny; she can't have one without the other... according to her, it would be sacrilege) and she only has ONE. Well, she's has loved on this one binky so much that it has been chewed down literally to a stub.

Aaron and I have decided that this might be a very convenient way to break her attachment to it... we won't replace it. Eventually she'll decide it just doesn't quite feel the same and naturally won't be interested.... brilliant, if you ask me!

Cream Puffs

I made cream puffs from scratch. They turned out really tasty.

Jane helped. She was my official "Taste-Tester."

....she approved.

I also gave her the job of licking the spoon.

She really liked it.

She took her job very seriously...

...she made sure that there was nothing left to lick!

"....what chocolate??"

Ryan- 4 Months