Packing up Christmas Decor

We did the New Year clean-up before Jason headed back to work. I sure did leave all those cozy christmas decorations up as long as I could and I think that we all wanted to leave them up just a little bit longer. It was fun to take talk about our favorite parts of the holiday while we took the decor down. Unanimously, everyone's favorite part was the time together. It's things like that that really help me to remember where the priorities really need to be, especially come the holiday seasons.

And then there are the traditions that we always look forward to. This last year I decided to alter our yearly Christmas decoration a little bit. We have typically purchased a new one at a store where we were living at the time. As a result we have some ornaments on our tree from several different cities. This year, however, I felt like it wasn't representing our family as I would like it to. I wanted something a little more memory rich and so I pieced together a few different ideas and came up with the idea of our family pyjama picture from Christmas Eve going in a clear ornament with some key words summarizing our previous year in the back.

It was an instant hit. The kids showed it to everyone that they could. A definite memory maker and memory keeper. Kind of like a little time capsule. Would like to repeat next year.

We also did handprint ornaments for the kids. Definitely a priceless keepsake, though not one I think we will repeat every year. So happy that I took the time to track down the clay to make them though. I'm sure the day will come (far sooner than it feels like now) when those little handprints seem like a distant memory. In truth, if I think about that too much, it makes me pretty teary eyed. I know the future will be great in it's own way, but I prefer to keep focused on making the best of the present while facing the future.

To keep the clean up fun, we enjoyed goofing around a little. We set out the challenge to see all the things we could pretend our tree skirt to be. Milayla was too timid to give it a go so you can see what she helped us come up with.

It was a fun day while still being appropriately reflective. If that makes any sense at all.

Goals 2015

We had a family home evening lesson on visions for our life. We all came up with ideas that we would like to see happen this coming year, including the kids. The big kids insisted that Phineas needed some as well. So he does. We also made some family goals. Some of the pictures and keywords won't make sense to people reading this, but the idea was for them to be triggers for the children (and us) to remember our vision and motivation. The plan is to have them in frames on the wall in our homeschool/play/dining room. They haven't made it there yet.. Meanwhile, we are only one month in to the calendar year and some of those goals we made for family goals and my personal goals are feeling impossibly out of reach. I suppose it's time to start breaking them down into more descriptive, manageable chunks. But to be completely frank, I think I might be a little more lax this month. One small step at a time, I'll get there.

Milayla Wisdom

Milayla: Mommy, I am no longer the Orange Cat (a nickname she insisted on for a while). I am the Baby Chick. And you are the Mommy Chick.

Me: What does that make everyone else in the family?

Milayla: Phinny is the Brother Chick. Atticus is the Daddy Chick.

Me: If Atticus is the Daddy Chick, what does that make Daddy?

Milayla & Atticus (together): The Monster! (meaning the Tickle Monster)

A Conversation with Atticus

Atticus: Mommy, I think Phineas is the happiest person in our family.

Me: He is pretty happy. Do you think the rest of us are happy, too?

Atticus: Yeah, but me, Phinny and Milayla are the happiest.

Me: Happier than Daddy and I?

Atticus: Yes. You are silly. So is Daddy. You are both so silly and always telling jokes. That's why we are the happiest kids.

January Daily Life - part 2

These somehow were missed in the other January photos. Like Jason's blurry picture of gas prices coming below a dollar. Or the home depot workshop. Swim classes. Phineas sleeping next to me and on me. Celebrating Sadie's birthday with her at an indoor play place. And Milayla giving cuddles to her baby brother. Awesome moments. 

Phineas - 6 Months

Despite having seen this day coming for weeks, Phineas' 6 month mark still caught me off guard. This little guy is growing fast and the last month has been a big leap for him. He has mastered the art of navigation by getting around with rolls, pivots and wiggles. No crawling yet, but he is beginning to get his legs under him and hold crawling position so it will only be a matter of time. Exploration has begun as he can pull his upper body up with structures around him. He loves unloading the things on the lower shelf of his change table. He loves being sung to, enjoys looking at books, and jumping in the jolly jumper. There is also a very sweet fascination with the guitar. He is happy and very loving. Smiles all the time and loves to be around people.

Within the last few weeks he has begun giving kisses - he will put his hands on my cheeks and come towards me with a wide open smile to leave a lovely trail of slobber on my nose, chin or cheeks. And within the last few days he has begun giving me hugs. He wraps his arms around my neck and tucks his head in as close as possible. It is the sweetest. I love it. Slobber and all. He is just so happy about it all, too.

His big siblings really enjoy getting to spend time with him. Even for the photos, they insisted on helping (despite the alternative to play). Atticus made some faces to get smiles and Milayla asked to jump in and play with him. They will seek Phineas out for the soul purpose of giving him and hug, a kiss or both just because they wanted to (and this happens several times a day).

And he is starting to show all the signs of teething yet there still aren't any signs of teeth. And then there are those toes. Oh, the toes. He won't keep socks on, at least not both at once. He must always have one set of toes available at all times. It's like a built in toy for him. Truthfully, I don't mind (so long as he isn't trying to expose those toes outside) as they are very cute toes.

Loved getting to do the pictures with him. His smile is priceless. Some of the photos were a bit grainy from having to shoot at a very low shutter speed, but I am keeping them anyhow as I love the expressions so much. And Phineas is even wearing a little bit of Holland with a onsie that we got in a Christmas package from some friends. It was so very thoughtful - we loved it!

Love these days with this smiling cutie.

Daily Life January

Milayla loves playing pretend and loves pretending to be a mommy, builds things out of blocks like churches, picks up a book to 'read' whenever she can and has begun learning the art of reading and loves it. She colored a picture one day and when she noticed that there was one more person in the picture than we have in our family she decided that it could be Aunt Keely. Aunt Keely was honored.

Atticus only wants to read, do math, and play in the snow. Anything outside of that realm is a tough sell these days but he comes around to it all pretty quickly - thankfully.

Phineas melts hearts in his sleep. The picture of him sleeping in his striped sleeper, toes exposed, and sweet little profile of his face makes my chest feel like it might burst. He loves to jump. No Jolly Jumper handy? No Problem. Mine and Jason's arms seem to fill the void. He gives awesome kisses and pulls my hair with herculean grip.

Homeschool is coming along well. Anyone being sick (a usual part of winter) definitely reminds me the importance of flexibility. There is a picture of Milayla looking at our German word book and Atticus practicing his skip counting with a hundreds chart. It looks like it was a more productive day than it was. I'm going for the overall theme of teaching them to love learning and trying to learn something difficult. So far so good. But, let's face it, I've barely begun. I've started picking out curriculum for next year. 

Meanwhile, we have loved having lots of snow days. I don't think Phin cares for all the snow suit layers, but he has enjoyed the baby snow angels we help him make in the fresh snow. Atticus and Milayla like to pretend they are on a winter expedition over the mountains of cleared snow. When we get fresh snow the kids like to get pulled down the sidewalks in the sled. They all fit. Miraculously. And I get my workout in pulling it. And they get a riot out of asking if we can go faster. 

And though I am getting my pseudo love for winter put to the test as we enter February and unfavorable temperatures, I have to say that Heavenly Father gave me quite the gift when I was walking home from the metro one night; big fluffy snow falling on freshly cleared roads that made it feel all cozy and romantic like the first big snowfall of the season. It was beautiful. And I was reminded of all the beautiful little moments that happen during winter. And I feel like I really am learning to enjoy this winter. I think it helps that the kids are so enthusiastic about it.