In case you forgot what we looked like...

It's been way too long since I've posted any pictures of the kids.  So I thought I'd take care of it right away this morning before it once again got lost in my list of things to do either here at homem or at the office.  So much has been happening around here, but I've been finding it hard to piece together a coherent sentence, much less a blog post, given our current state of sleeping affairs with the Little Lady.  She and I have had a talk....and if she doesn't shape up, she's going to have to look for some other sleeping (or should we say screaming) quarters for the night time hours.  Her recent shenanigans (for the past month) have made me realize why it was that I never pulled all-nighters in college.  I'm just plain BAD at not getting any rest.  Lauren, my sweet daughter, couldn't possibly care less.

Not to belabor the point, but I'll give you the example of last night.  (And I should warn you that it was a relatively......oh how loosely I'm about to use this word.....good one by Lauren's standards.)  She was sleepy and ready for bed at 8:00.  She was actually asleep and in her bed at 10:10.  At 11:11 she was calling for me.  I let her go because she wasn't crying, just saying "Mama" over and over again about 300 times.  At that point she got ticked, and I had to go in lest she wake her brother.  I was with her until 1:30 when she finally went back to sleep.  She was awake again at 2:30 and I was with her until 4:00.  My alarm rings at 5:00, and this morning I promptly turned it right back off and reset it for 5:45 or else I thought I might cry.  I'm not looking for pity...only to record this state of my life when I start to miss the "baby days" again and get the crazy idea that we should add a third of these little munchkins to the Dugan family.  HA!

Anyway...on to the pictures.

Remember Joshua?  Well, he seems to be growing up so fast we can't even believe it.  He's beginning to read, and I just can't tell you how proud I am of him.  He can sound out a lot of words (short ones and he's really only learned to sound out words with short vowel sounds in them, but at just barely 4 it's impressive).  I had the chance to visit school with him on Friday for our turn at Parent Visitation Days and it was awesome to watch the kids learn.  I can totally see the rush that teachers get when the kids finally "get it".  His writing is really taking off, too.  He sat this weekend and wrote all of his friends' names on their Valentine's Day cards and then signed his name to them as well.  He spends most of his days lately coloring and drawing, especially anything with Superheros.

 Here's a peek at Lauren last night at supper.  She had napped through her lunch and then was so famished at dinner that she literally devoured a tray full of pasta and sauce, bread, and then put the polishing touches on my chicken pot pie.  She then ate an ice cream sandwich....seriously.  And then polished off her dinner with a bowl full of strawberries.  Geesh.  No wonder we're just about into 18 month clothes!

Much to my dismay, Lauren has recently learned to scale the chairs to our pub table.  It's not a good thing since it's quite a long way down to a very hard floor if she should slip or tumble.  Her reputation of being the family monkey absolutely continues.

A quieter moment captured.  They're few and far between with her.



 Joshua in his favorite spot on the chair and a half, with Lauren trying to cramp his style and annoy the daylights out of him.  Bless his heart, he's gotten pretty patient with her.  She's relentless.

And for Lauren's final trick, I thought I would show evidence that she has also learned how to climb up AND DOWN the stairs.  Here she is at the top half of our two level staircase.  She has yet to tumble down them but we're always right with her when she's exploring.  I guess it's a good thing that she's learning, especially since there's no physical way to mount a gate on the steps at the new house.

And, to end the most disjointed post ever, I thought I should update you on Joshua's allergy situation.  He went last week to the lab for his annual blood testing and we are awaiting the results.  He was such a brave boy...not so much as a flinch or a tear when they did the test.  They're testing this year for all of the nuts (I was amazed at how many different tests there were) so that we have an idea if his allergy is really limited to peanuts or not.  If it is, it might widen the variety of foods he can eat and narrow down the things I need to be paranoid about.  His appointment at the allergist isn't until next week, so I don't know if we'll get a call when the results are in or whether they'll wait to talk to us about it when we see the doctor.  My prayer is that they ALL come back negative.  (Wouldn't that be something?)

I'll see if I can keep up the blog posts this week.  Hope you have a great one!!

Joshua-isms

Please forgive the lack of posts over the past few weeks.  I don't know what my excuse is other than that I just haven't gotten to "blog" on the to-do list in recent days.  And I'll ask forgiveness up front for not having any new photos to post here today either.  There are many on the camera, but being that I didn't even get to write a blog entry in a while, I think it's a safe assumption that digging for the USB cord and waiting the sweet forever to download photos wasn't happening lately either.

But, don't worry.  I have good "Joshua-ism" material for today that I think may be worth the wait.  There are 3 different occasions lately that made me laugh at our little buddy and the way his little mind works.  When the third one happened yesterday, a lightbulb went off in my mind that these are totally blog worthy, not because anyone really cares, but mostly because I don't want to forget them.

#1
Right after Christmas, K4 at Meadowbrook must have really been working on their Christmas carols.  Each day it seemed that Joshua was coming home singing a different carol.  We're really noticing that he's a singer...seems to like to sing whenever he's coloring, taking a bath, doing anything that he thinks you're not paying attention to him.  His ability to carry a tune has increased somewhat, although we're still not ready to audition for Carnegie Hall just yet.  But I digress.  The kids were in the tub when Joshua asked if he could sing "O Come All Ye Faithful" for me.  He did great...until he got to the line about "born the King of Angels".  His variation......"born the King of England".  HA!

#2
The first week back to school after New Years, Joshua had a substitute teacher.  She was there all week.  On Wednesday I asked Joshua what the substitute's name was.  To which he replied that he had no idea.  Later, while we were getting the kids tubbed, he suddlenly proclaimed that he knew what his teacher's name was.  "I think it's......Mrs. Sippy."  Get it?  Her name was actually Mrs. Benfer, in case you're wondering.

#3
And finally, yesterday on the way to church, Joshua asked if Bear could come along with us.  When we parked the car he asked if Bear could come into church with us.  I told him that I thought it would be best if Bear waited for us in the car so we didn't forget him.  I suggested that perhaps Bear might enjoy the peace and quiet of the car.  Joshua replied, "I think that will work well.  He fell asleep on the ride here anyway."

What a kid.  I can't tell you how much I'm loving his 4 year old little mind.  It's going a million miles an hour most of the time.  But just to ask him what he's thinking is the joy of my day.

Parenting Lesson 2011.1

I had a few good ideas about blog posts for today.  One of them centered around my thoughts about my goals for 2011.  I'm not saying it's a resolution, but just something I'd like to work toward.  But...as life would have it, that wasn't in the cards.

I even thought about just recounting a few things from the weekend.  Like how we un-decked our halls so quickly after having gotten them decked in the first place, or how I enjoyed cleaning the new house over the weekend (sound like a nutcase, don't I?).  But, that wasn't meant to be either.

Instead, I will tell you about the parenting lesson I learned this morning.  Isn't it amazing how our kids are constantly teaching US something when we're trying so desperately to teach THEM how to be good little people and grow up to be responsible, productive members of society?  Well this morning was one of those moments.

Joshua has been so excited to go back to school after his Christmas vacation....er, I mean break.  You see, he was quick to point out to my mom on the phone the other night that it's not vacation when you stay home.  "Vacation is when you go to the beach or something," said our wise four year old.  But he had been talking about how he was anxious to see his friends, and he was actually counting down to the return of school this morning much the same as he had about Santa's arrival on Christmas Eve.  That should be odd except I was the exact same way when I was younger and before the dread of things like Physics and Calculus ruined my positive opinions about school.  I went in to his room to wake him up at 0-dark-thirty this morning, and he started to cough.  That coughing soon turned into gagging, and a little bit of throwing up.  I figured it was a yucky gunk from the cold thing that we've all been fighting with all of our might.  He ate some breakfast and wasn't quite his normal chipper self, but he was still talking about school and I kept battling with myself.  Do I send him?  I figured that if I didn't, it would have just been a fluke thing and he'd be home when he really wanted to be in school....and isn't that what I pay for each month?  And what are the chances that he's going to get to school and end up barfing all over himself and the poor, unsuspecting little child next to him....or worse, the whole POD of unsuspecting adorable little ones?  Back and forth I went about the whole thing, but in the end, when his jelly toast and milk stayed down for the 20 minutes after he finished eating it, I figured it was all systems go.  But as soon as they pulled out of the driveway, I got a feeling that this wasn't going to end well.

Evidently it wasn't the getting-to-school-and-getting-sick thing that did us in.  It was that the chances of him barfing in Daddy's truck were VERY good.  Soon after their departure to school, I saw the truck turn back into the house.  Then came Daddy's mad dash for a roll of paper towels.  And when I got to the truck to view the carnage, I have to tell you, it wasn't good.

Joshua spent his day at home today resting and watching probably a billion and one superhero cartoons on TV.  Doesn't sound like a bad day if the spewing wasn't an issue.

And so parenting lesson 2011.1 is recorded.  Follow your gut when it comes to puking.

The end.

And to help remove the throwing up images from your mind, here are a few pictures from the weekend.  You're welcome.

Joshua in one of his favorite positions, lounging on the chair-and-a-half and watching a Superhero show.  Lauren is rooting through his toys without her pants.  Again.  I don't understand it.

And here's Joshua's OTHER favorite spot in the house, at the island playing with things that Lauren can't reach.  I have to give him points for creative problem solving.

And one to giggle about.  This was Lauren's hair-do when she woke up on Saturday morning.  I have to admit that I left it that way for a while because I thought she was adorable.   It was fitting of her normally wild attitude.

A few shots that make me smile.

 A rare look at the two of them together.  Please don't miss the fact that Lauren isn't wearing pants.  It seems to be a new thing for her to take off her pants after supper.  You can't see it, but she was also only wearing one sock.  Who knows why.  But that's my girl...always keeping us guessing.

 I asked for a smile.  This is what I got.

Whenever Jason will look at Lauren and put his hands on his hips, she also does it.  Makes me laugh.

Things are going really well at the new house.  It's starting to feel less and less like we're on vacation and more like we're home.  I suppose that's how this whole thing is supposed to work.  Yesterday marked the official end of our ownership at 14 Greenbriar Drive.  Closing went through without a hitch yesterday morning and we received our appropriate paperwork and funds yesterday afternoon.  I went into the house on Tuesday afternoon to pick up the cleaning supplies that had been used there that morning and said goodbye to the house then.  And yes....I had a moment there.  But it wasnt quite as bad as I expected.  We've had an opportunity to get to know the people who are moving in, and honestly, at least for me, that's been a big part of the peace that I feel about the whole situation.  They're a great family with two little children, and they're so excited about living there.  I left some packages for the kids to keep them busy while their mom and dad do the unpacking and a Ciro's certificate for them to enjoy.  The mom and I have vowed that we'll get together to at least have a cup of coffee together because from our chat on the phone, it seems like we have much in common.  The way that this whole thing has worked out is such a blessing.

Our piano was also delivered yesterday morning and I'm in love.  Unfortunately, time to play it is going to be tough to come by since every time I sit down to play, there are two small people who descend on me like two vultures and immediately start pushing the keys.  I found a few Selah sheet music books and am really looking forward to practicing with those.  My having not played for, oh....15 years....has indeed limited my skills, but I'm hoping I can get back to at least a respectable point where I'm able to play for my own enjoyment without the rest of the family wanting to leave.  I have to have a goal, right?

A Christmas to remember.

We said it more than a few times over the past couple of months... "This is going to be a Christmas that we're talking about 30 years from now saying, "Remember that Christmas when we moved a few days before it?" "

I think we really are going to remember this Christmas for a long time.  As chaotic as life was in the days leading up to Christmas, the holiday itself was so peaceful.  The move was an excuse NOT to be on the road, hopping from party to party, packing and unpacking suitcases and travelling with overtired, crabby kids.  I will say that it was pretty sad for me not to be at the Richard family Christmas Eve party.  I always swore that would NEVER happen, but I can tell you that we did not have the strength it would have required to move on Wednesday and somehow have everyone organized enough to pack up again on Friday morning to head to Lewistown for the party.  I wish I did, but I didn't.  And so we tucked in for a Christmas at home.  And it was so special.

We got to go to church at our church on Christmas Eve, something we're never able to do because we're usually making the mad dash back down 522 to get the kids home after a full day of too much partying.  It was great, even though I spent half of the service in the nursery with Lauren listening to it all on the intercom.  She doesn't quite get the idea of "quiet"...since she discovered a Sesame Street coloring book in the diaper bag and started saying "Elmo Mama" over and over again during a prayer.  I took that as our sign to exit.  Quickly.  We did come back in for the candlelight service, and the only thing that could have possibly touched my heart more would have been for the whole Richard family to show up and sing "Wonderful Story of Love" for the whole First Baptist congregation.

Christmas Day was great!  Lauren slept in a little later than Joshua's 6:00 am wakeup, so we had some time just with him opening his presents.  Turns out that was a good thing, because the poor kid didn't get a moment's peace the rest of the day.  Lauren was more into his Spider Man toys than she was her Fisher Price stuff.  Jason and I both agreed that Santa was wise to hold back on her giving this year.  Joshua loved all of his gifts, and found his favorites that he took to the safety of either the table or the island to play with where his little sister couldn't reach him!

We got to spend some afternoon time with Grandma and Grandpa, complete with Joshua modeling his superhero pajamas (all 3 pairs) that they had gotten for him and also a pretty spirited game of "Go Spidey" with Grandpa.  Lauren woke from a long nap and had a good time opening her presents from them as well.  She loved the wagon of blocks that they picked out for her, but not to build with---- she wanted to RIDE IN IT!  We had to confiscate that gift early Christmas evening after she took two tumbles out of it for refusing to give up trying to climb into it without help given that it was on wheels. 

I cooked us a Christmas feast on Christmas day that smelled and tasted really good, if I do say so myself.  We had our fancy Christmas dinner to candlelight since Joshua had made a special Christmas candle for me at preschool.  He was so proud of himself.

Sunday morning we got up and went to church.  When we returned home, it was time for another special Christmas celebration with my side of the family.  It was their first visit to the new house and we had so much fun entertaining there.  I am so pleased that we were all able to sit down together to eat supper!  Mom and Dad came prepared with all of the leftovers from their Christmas dinner and whipped up a turkey and waffle supper that was unbeatable, complete with filling balls, sweet potatoes and all of the sides you could want.  It was delicious!  I'm already looking forward to warming up the leftovers of the leftovers tonight for dinner again!  We had a ball and laughed a whole lot as the kids played games and chased each other around the house.

I am beyond grateful for all of our family- both sides- for coming to our house this year and really making our new house feel like home, with laughter and love and Christmas spirit.  We are beyond blessed.  In fact, I think my new Gaither Vocal Band CD sums it up.  "Greatly blessed, highly favored, imperfect, but forgiven Child of God".  That I am.

And now, I wait only for the delivery of my Christmas surprise......a PIANO that Jason picked out for me.  I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to start playing again.  I never was great, but I sure do enjoy playing.  I only hope that it's like riding a bike and I'll remember all of those years of lessons and be able to make something other than noise.  We think Wednesday is the delivery day and I can't wait!

Here are Lauren and Ridge opening some presents at Stacie's house on the 18th at our first family party.  I loved watching them together.  But it confirmed for me that Lauren is officially a tornado.

Joshua, asleep in the chair on Christmas Eve, dreaming about Santa!

The view on Christmas morning.

 

This one cracks me right up.  Lauren wearing Joshua's doctor glasses from his doctor kit.  That's the face she makes when she knows she's funny.  You just can't help but smile. 

Here are the 3 musketeers on Sunday afternoon giggling at Aunt Libby's antics.  Too bad Lauren is such a stone-face!

Joshua's puppet theater.  We had such fun playing with it on Christmas Day!

Faster than a speeding bullet.......it's Super Man!  He also has Spider Man and Iron Man, and he loved them.  It was a super hero Christmas for sure!

We're home.

I wish I would have counted the number of trips that were made up and down stairs in the past few days.  I can tell you by the throbbing in my feet and legs that it was plenty.  But we can officially say that we are now settled into our new house and are loving every minute of it.  Most of the essential unpacking is done, and we're left with what I am referring to as the annoying odds and ends of stuff.  There's one trip that still has to be made from Greenbriar Drive with some books and totes from the kids rooms (and a bottle of syrup that still resides in the old pantry....discovered that the hard way when Joshua requested pancakes a few minutes ago for breakfast).  But all in all, I'd say we're light years ahead of where I expected we'd be after Day 1.

Today we have some running around to do to pick up a few last minute things (a lamp here, an end table there).  We also plan to start hanging things on the walls and turn the garage back into a garage from its current state of a primitive craft store.  We need to do something to the dryer to get it working (something about a 3 prong instead of a 4 or something like that) and then I can start working on the mountains of laundry that are staring at me through the laundry room door.  Call me sick, but I'm actually looking forward to doing laundry in the new house--- right off the kitchen.  It's a dream I've had for quite a while!  We also need to get the Christmas tree decorated today at some point, but I have a feeling I'll have a very eager volunteer to do that.

Joshua slept like a champ in his new room last night.  He poked me in the shoulder at 6:15 this morning and said he wanted to come downstairs to play.  Lauren didn't fare quite so well, as I think the unfamiliar sounds and surroundings were a bit more troublesome to her.  I think I logged more hours in the rocker in her room than I did in our bed, which is a shame considering I don't recall being this tired in a long time.  But we'll keep our fingers crossed that tonight is a better night.

Well, my little lady awakes.  More to come, and some pictures, I promise!

And now it begins!

I should preface this by saying that what I'm about to write is likely not very interesting for anyone other than us.  But since this blog is a journal of sorts about times and thoughts, I thought I should record a few things about this little adventure in home buying/selling that we're on right now.

I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures to share this morning, but I thought I should post that our closing went well yesterday and we are now the proud owners (well, us and the bank, of course) of our new home in Turbotville.  We spent the afternoon moving things from the garage over to the new house so that we have a small prayer of staying organized and being able to find tools through this whole process.  The locksmiths and carpet cleaners were out yesterday afternoon as well.  And as a small side note, I have to tell you that to look at the carpet in this house, you'd have never in a million years thought it needed to be cleaned.  Actually, as the carpet guy was starting to work I kept thinking that it was a colossal waste of a couple hundred dollars.  But you should have SEEN the filter when he was done!  Suffice it to say that it was a good move to have them cleaned.

Our walk through process on Thursday afternoon was a bit less than ideal, since the previous owners were still moving out of the house when we got there.  There's something very strange about going over everything with a fine tooth comb when the person who is a little upset to be leaving the place to begin with is standing there.  It was especially uncomfortable when I had to put on insurance agent hat and kindly request that they TURN THE HEAT ON to prevent the pipes from freezing.  It was a very chilly 54 degrees in the house and the magic number for frozen pipes is 55.  We asked our realtor to do a final check of the house in the morning before we closed to make sure all was right on Cherry Tree Lane.  So after Jason and I were able to be in the house alone, we really enjoyed walking around and seeing the place on our own.  We're going to be really really happy there, we can just tell.  But there was a definite element of awe in the fact that we're just two kids who love each other....and how did we ever end up here?  With two beautiful kids we adore, and someone who was willing to lend us some money so that we can live in this gorgeous home.  We are so blessed.

Early in the morning, Joshua had declared that he didn't want to go and see the inside of the new house because he wanted to be surprised on Wednesday when we were going there to live for good.  Luckily for all of us, he changed his mind and went back to the house with us on one of our trips.  He was pretty funny to watch, eyes wide open as he put the pieces together that we were actually going to get to live there.  His favorite parts:  the fireplace, the big BIG bathtub in our bathroom and the deck.  He even insisted on running around a bit in the backyard.  I'm betting the neighbors are already starting to form some strange opinions of the weirdos who are moving in.....running around in the 15 degree temperatures as if it's spring.

The moving is on hold for today as we head to Lewistown to spend the day celebrating Christmas with my family.  Thankfully, the two ear infections Lauren came up with on Thursday are doing better, we've gotten some sleep (finally) and I think she's well enough to travel without being a  bear or infecting the whole Richard clan for Christmas.  We'll return tonight and then get starting with the hauling back and forth tomorrow.  We're so lucky to have Zig's help tomorrow, as well as a visit from my parents and Jeff and Judy to help with the kids in the afternoon.  I'll be working on cleaning while Zig and Jason are moving the basement over.  The basement is probably the most dreaded of all the moving so we hope it goes quickly and smoothly.  Then, on Monday and Tuesday, we'll work on closets, dresser drawers, toys, etc. to get ready for the movers to do their thing on Wednesday.  To look at our house now, you'd really have no idea that we're moving, so there's going to be a whole lot of shoving into totes and throwing them in the vehicle for the 10 minute trip up the road.

I may not be posting for a while, but I'll be sure to share some photos once we're in and have the place looking like home (including the Christmas tree and other appropriate hall decking stuff).  What an adventure!

Let's not talk about packing.

There's a whole lot happening on Greenbriar Drive these days.  And as I type that, I realize that we are now only a mere 9 days away from me not being able to say that anymore.  There MAY still be a whole lot going on on Greenbriar Drive, but we will no longer have any part of it.  I'm getting a little better with that idea the closer we get to being in our new house.  Maybe it's the first floor laundry room that has been a help in getting over the emotional part of moving.  Or maybe it's just that I have too much on my mind to really allow myself a good cry over the fact that I won't be walking through the same doorway that I carried two perfect little bundles through anymore.  I have a feeling there's a good, ugly cry coming here somewhere along the line, but for now, there's just too much that needs to be done.

God bless Jason for all of the work that he has been putting in to getting boxes packed.  He's spent countless hours in the basement boxing toys and clothes and other random crap (for lack of a better word to describe it) so that it can be moved with relative ease.  I feel like it's such an excuse for me to avoid the work, but with the kids at the age that they are, we really can't do a whole lot with them right there with us, or without one of us "on duty" so to speak.  So, Jason has been shouldering a lot of the burden for the packing while I'm managing the munchkins and tending to the normal work that needs to be done around the house.  I did unpack the hope chest yesterday to box up the contents.  And oh my goodness, all I can say about that is that our entire past lives are packed into this gorgeous chest that my grandfather made for me.  But when you open the lid to it, you just get sucked into memories and pictures and yearbooks and old diaries.  Let's just say you can all be glad that I'm no good with a scanner, or else Facebook would be blowing up with tagged photos that I've dug up.  You're welcome.

The weekend was a busy one, even aside from the get-ready-to-move thing that we have going on.  Joshua has been resembling a shaggy beast in recent days because his last weekend haircut plan was derailed when Rene, the barber, was away.  Being the control freak that he is, and I say that lovingly because I'm pretty sure it comes from me genetically, he wasn't approving of seeing another barber last weekend.  So we took the week to talk him into it and develop an appropriate bribe to make it OK.  So Jason and Joshua headed out on Saturday morning to go to Daddy's barber and then make a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house to see her Christmas tree.  He came home with this...

A singing Rudolph.  Who is now his best friend.  Did I mention he sings?  Because we have listened to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer no less than 674 times since Saturday afternoon.  Both Jason and I have threatened to remove his batteries or make sure that he doesn't make the move with us to Turbotville.  But when you look at that grin and hear Joshua talking to Rudolph as though they're long lost brothers, you almost can't help but get into the Christmas spirit.  But I can't guarantee that I won't snap at some point in the next 9 days and take it out on Rudolph.

While they were out and about, Lauren and I worked a spell at the Kiwanis Club's Breakfast with Santa and had a grand time.  She was as cute as ever and has recently taken a turn into the social department, waving and saying "Hah" (Hi) to everyone.  It's a big step forward for our little introvert and it's been fun to watch.  We made a trip to Wal-Mart, which is likely only one of about 12 trips I'll make there before this move is said and done.  I also took her to Leesers for a pair of shoes that are actually fitted properly for her little feet.  You can all be glad that this is a long enough post already because I don't have the time or energy to rant about why you can't buy a little girl a plain pair of brown shoes.........seriously!  I came home with a pair of brown shoes with all kinds of crap all over them (green, orange, pink flowers) as well as the complex they gave me about being a total loon for thinking that her shoes needed to match her outfits.  After doing some online shopping, I located what I had gone looking for, and anxiously await their arrival.  They're the same doggone shoe without the decorative garbage on them.  Anyway...

Once we got home, I snapped a picture of Lauren's newest skill.  See?

She has leaned to climb on Joshua's step stool to reach whatever it is we don't want her to have.  For example, knives out of the dish drainer, things on the stove, papers on the counter, and the list goes on.  But doesn't she look proud of herself?

We ended our Saturday with a trip to Target to finish up the stocking stuffers that I need to round out the Christmas shopping list.  It actually felt really good to be out shopping with so many others who are doing the same thing.  For as different as this Christmas is for us- changed travel plans, no decorations until the last minute, fewer holiday gatherings due to schedules, hurried shopping/wrapping, etc.- I feel more tightly connected to the REAL reason for the holiday.  I'm so grateful for that and for the fact that I don't feel as though I'm missing any of that awesome introspection that happens for me each year at Christmas.  Most of my "celebrating" thus far has been through music and I've been so touched and blessed.  God is so good.  And His providence has been so evident to me through the past several months.  His name, Emmanuel, means God with Us.  And that means even without a Christmas tree, and even without lots of cookies having already been baked, and even without being with my family (a treasured tradition for me) on Christmas Eve.  Even if we still have boxes everywhere on Christmas morning and even if things aren't exactly in their places, I know that Christmas means that God is with us right here where we are.  That was the design of His plan.  And maybe it takes a Christmas like this one for this Type A, self-declared control freak who would normally have everything in its rightful place by now, to remember that truth.

I've written significantly longer than I intended to.  And if you're still with me...well, then you get the prize of this gem of a photo taken on Friday evening while I was folding laundry.  Lauren loves hats...and apparently saw the perfect opportunity for one in a pair of Joshua's superhero underpants.  You've gotta love this girl.

He's Baaaaaaaaaaaack!

I feel the need to start this by asking your sincere restraint in not judging me.  Yes, I am aware that our Christmas elf is sitting among a bed of pumpkins.  We're in a bit of a time warp on Greenbriar Drive with the move coming up next week.  I can't bring myself to break out the Christmas decorations when we'll just have to take them all back down to move, but I also can't bring myself to put the fall stuff away and be left with nothing until the 17th when we start moving.  And so, there you have it.....a juxtaposition of two holidays, all captured in one photo, and a small peek into the madness that we're living in right now.

But anyway...

Last night marked the return of Clocky, our specially adopted elf from the North Pole.  If you'd have asked me last Thanksgiving when my mom introduced us to the tradition of the Elf on a Shelf whether or not this would have "taken off" in our family, I might have guessed wrong.  In case you're not familiar, the Elf is a special Christmas tradition.  Your family can adopt a special elf.  As soon as he has a name (chosen by your children) he becomes magic and is Santa's official helper to keep an eye on things at your house before Christmas arrives.  He sits somewhere in your house, keeping watch over the kids and their behavior.  He can hear everything, no matter where you are in the house.  He can't talk, but he's an excellent listener.  Each night when the kids go to bed, the elf takes his magic flight back to the North Pole to report to Santa about the day's events.  He then returns to the house and finds a new spot to sit and observe for the next day.  The fun of it is finding the elf's hiding spot each morning.

Joshua has been talking about Clocky for a few weeks now.  He was expected to arrive right after Thanksgiving, but we've just been waiting and waiting to see when he might show up.  His delayed arrival may or may not have had something to do with a box of Christmas decorations that Daddy had packed (and taped shut) in the basement, I really can't say.  All I know is that last night when we were upstairs getting the kids tubbed, he arrived.  I only wish I had the video camera rolling when Joshua found him.  His voice changed into the fast paced, high pitched excited child voice that immediately made me want to have about 7 more kids.  It was just pure Christmas magic, unadulterated by the chaos that is our life right now.  Unaffected by the hustle and bustle of the season.  Just pure 4 year old joy as he realized that the magic of Christmas had come to HIS house. 

We had to review the rules about Clocky to make sure Joshua remembered.  No touching Clocky, or else he'll lose his magic.  And an elf with no magic is no good at all.  Clocky can't talk to kids, but he can occasionally deliver a message to Santa from a Mom or Dad.  The no touching rule is especially difficult for Joshua, and he wanted me to hold him up as close as possible to Clocky so that he could inspect him, but he was very careful not to bump him.   

The first recognizable thing out of Joshua's mouth this mornign was, "I wonder where Clocky is hiding today?"  He then spent his breakfast time trading magic with Clocky.  He also insisted that Clocky was eating toast for breakfast just like he was.  I quickly asked that Clocky make sure that he not make crumbs where he was sitting.  Joshua even asked me if I would ask Clocky a question for him, and insisted that I find out what he reported to Santa yesterday.  When I told him that Clocky had given a good report to Santa, he was thrilled.  Then he told Jason that "Clocky told Mommy that I was a good boy.  That means I'll get a lot of presents!"  How quickly they form the connection.

This is Christmas bribery at its best, my friends.  But I have to tell you that I'm not ashamed to participate.

Lauren is a little small to understand this whole thing, but she is aware of a new friend in our house.  She has been pointing to Clocky and attempting (with pretty good success, actually) to say his name.  Her language is really starting to take off and I'm remembering how much I adored this stage with Joshua.  It's even better this time as I find myself a whole lot more relaxed with Lauren, and so much more present with her.  What a gift that transition has been for me.  The more I get to know this precious little girl, the more I fall in love with her.  She's a handful for sure, but I'm so glad she's mine!  I hope you enjoy the picture below of her sitting in the refrigerator on Sunday morning.  Every time the door opened, she'd plop herself into the fridge and stay put until I removed her.  Typical Lauren.  Always making us giggle in amazement at the things she comes up with. 

There are no silent nights.

I snapped both of these pictures the other evening as Joshua and Lauren were doing their nightly run-back-and-forth-through-the-house-until-there's-a-kid-wreck routine.  Both of them were shrieking in delight as they passed each other.  On quite a few occasions, Lauren's grippy socks failed her and she landed on her bottom, giggling all the louder each time it happened. 

More and more we're finding that the interaction between Joshua and Lauren is becoming more like that of siblings who love each other than of mortal enemies as it had been in recent months.  Joshua's patience for his little sister is growing.  As is his respect of her since it's not too out of the question for her to give him a good butt kicking if he deserves it.  (That's my girl, Lauren!)  Lauren's interest in anything Joshua is doing, saying, thinking, touching, playing or watching has done nothing but grow over the past few months.  She just adores her brother, thinks he's hysterical and wants to do everything he is doing.  Sometimes Joshua thinks that's cool.  Other times, he still wishes we'd put her back where she came from. 

I suppose there were times my sister wished that of me as well.  I can only hope that Josh and Lauren will love each other as Libby and I do someday.  We will be blessed if that's the case.