Happy Birthday Jesus!!

Christmas over here was amazing! We had such a great time,

We got and gave some really cool presents,

But the best thing of all was all the love going around. Malachi got some trucks he loved, but mostly the love was from the people who I like best in the world...

Love from Uncles and Aunties,

Love from Grandmas,

Even my dog got extra love!

And, of course, after all the love there was the reading endless instruction manuals and the inserting $30.00 worth of batteries to ensure that our new toys reached their full noise/overstimulation capacity. Mommy wishes that we could have just stuck with the love. She liked Uncle Denny and Auntie Ruby's gifts the best...nice, cute, quiet sweaters.

Promotion!

While brother and I spent the afternoon with Nana, Mommy was busy. When we got home, she told us there was a surprise for us in our room - Wow! Malachi's crib is gone and the bunk bed is re-decorated and wrapped up in Christmas lights! I know what this must mean...

Malachi's a big boy now! He inherits the bottom bunk and I get bumped up..

...to the top bed! Wow! The "top-bunk ban" is lifted! Being 3 years old is sooo cool! Mommy even made me an extra-high side rail. Now she and I can both sleep well knowing I won't fall off!

Here's a shot of before the switch. Our room is kind of small, so the crib really cramped things up...

...and the after. Quite a bit of space cleared up for playing! We love it! And Mom only cried a little when she put the crib away.

How Cute Are They?

Mommy loves this picture. She says that we're the cutest Christmas kids ever!

We got to go up to Uncle Daniel and Auntie Angela's house for a pre-Christmas breakfast! It was loads of fun to visit with our cousins. The presents didn't hurt either!

Malachi got a really cool gift!

I made out pretty good, myself!

Christmas with Kermit

We went to the pet store yesterday and I catch my boys eyeing a tank filled with tiny little frogs. "Oh! Mommy! Look at the tiny frogs!" Malachi says. "We should get one of these for Wameezillow!" Solomon adds. (This is what happens when you let the 3-year-old name the goldfish.)
Well I am a sucker for critters. I smile call an associate. "We'll take one of these cute frogs." Kai begins lamenting the fact that Solomon gets to choose the frog. "Make that two of the frogs so they can both choose."
The associate nods and grabs a net, "So, how's your water quality?"
"Uuum, our goldfish does well enough in it."
"Well, these frogs are delicate. You'll want a filter."
"OK, how much are the filters?"
"$9.99"
"Yeah, OK." Noting how exited the boys are getting as she chases the panicked amphibians around the tank," I guess that will be alright."
"So, how's your tank's temperature stability?"
"Uuum...our goldfish never complaines."
"Well, frogs like a stable temperature. You'll need a heater for them."
"How much is a heater?"
"$12.95" she says as she hands my smiling children their frogs.
"Oh."
"And the frogs don't like goldfish flakes. Here's some Froggy-Feed for them."
"I see. This is what? $3.95?"
"Yes, ma'am. And here are the purifying drops for their water."
"So, what's all this equipment going to cost?"
"Looks like about 30 bucks."
"Uh-huh. And how much are these frogs?"
"Oh, it's your lucky day! They're on sale for only 99 cents!"
"Yeah. Great. What a deal."

"Furgus the Fatigued" and "Solomon the Sleepy"

Ever heard someone say, "Sleep like a baby"? The people who popularized this phrase did not have a baby. Babies only sleep when you have out-of-town relatives anxious to see them. Now, 3-year-olds? They sleep. I can run the vacuum by this guy's head during the night and he's oblivious. Cats? They're superb nappers, too. But the blissful sleeping award goes to the 3-year-old/cat duo. This combination takes the sandman to a whole new level.

TIMBERRRR!

So, we've begun a new tradition which incorporates Mommy's love of this special season and Daddy's love of shooting things. We go with our friends, the Hedlunds, up to the mountains. We all gear up and trek through the forest to find the perfect Christmas tree. Then we shoot it down. Daddy and Scott wager on how many shots it will take to bring the tree down and get competitive about who's the better shot. Then Ocean hikes back to the van to get more ammo because they keep missing. Mommy and Lori point at them and laugh. When our trees are nearly blown into bark dust, we drag them back down the mountain and tie them to the van. Then we take our perfect tree home and discover that it's entirely too big to breech the door jam. It's loads of fun! Here's some visuals for you...

We decided to head to Detroit to find our tree - we're almost there!

We're so excited to be going. It's going to be so much fun!

We're finally here! I love the snow right away! It's even fun to fall down in this stuff - you can slide everywhere - and even eat it (just watch out for the yellow kind.)!

Malachi is unsure. He's never been in the snow before and is very suspicious of all this white stuff everywhere. He keeps giving it the "evil eye".

Everything here is so beautiful. Mommy says that it looks like we've stepped through the wardrobe into Narnia.

But enough of this quiet awe - let's go kill a tree!

Well, looks like someone already shot this one down...we'll have to keep looking...

Hey, Caspian, look! There's a nice one up there!

So, Ocean, Caspian, Zion, Cayman, Malachi and I manage to shoot the tree down and drag it down the mountain...

...and Scott and Daddy take all the credit for our toil and hard work.

So, we get our tree home and put it on the deck. Hmmmm. It looked a lot smaller in the mountains. What in the world are we going to do with this tree? We can't even fit it through the door!

Looks like Santa's reindeer attended public school...

Decorating Nana's Tree

You know, our blessings seem so vivid to me this year. I'm always appreciative of God's grace and goodness come the Christmas season, but this year I'm just kind of blissed out. My husband is able to be home a lot. We're all healthy. I have 2 (sometimes 3) toddlers sleeping through the night. The boys are learning Christmas carols and I wake to wavering little voices, "...the cattle are blowing, the baby awakes, but little Lord Jadis..." The laundry is even caught up - a true Christmas miracle in the Lewis home. You know? Life is good. Real good.

We hope all of you have a wonderful time with your family these next few weeks and that God will bless and keep you during this celebration of His coming...

and may your Christmas be full of joy!

Getting a bit tired, everyone?

The Little Boy's Guide to Choosing an Activity:

1. Prepare for activity. Make sure to remove obstacles such as couch covers which may trip you, or freshly folded laundry. Throw these on floor. Preferably in or around dog's water dish.

2. Consider activity. Assess and promptly disregard danger to self and/or bystanders.

3. Begin activity. Call your brother over and demonstrate.

4. Compete in activity. Prove to your brother and the world that you have greater skills concerning the height, technique, style and level of danger involved in activity.

5. Continue activity until one of you loses an eye.

This is us heading out to do some Christmas shopping. Mom has always looked forward to the day when she could buy a Christmas gift for a girl. She received a Cabbage Patch Doll for Christmas one year when she was little and it was a treasured staple of her girlhood. This year, Mommy finally had the opportunity she had waited so long for. She carefully selected a beautiful Cabbage Patch Doll for Rayna. She hid it behind all the others on the shelf and, a few days later, brought Rayna back to the store to buy it. Well, mom's still waiting to buy that dolly, as Rayna wanted nothing to do it.
She shoved it away. Mommy smiled and gave it back.
She smacked it down and pouted. Mommy smiled and gave it back.
She threw it out of the cart. Mommy smiled and gave it back.
She screamed and hurled it down the isle... Mommy frowned and got the point.
Mom reluctantly put the baby doll back and bought Rayna what she really wanted - a Lava Lamp.

A NOTE FROM MOMMY:
I'm going to put a few pictures of Rayna on here this time. I usually refrain from doing so because her bio-mom hasn't given me permission to post pics, but seeing as this is a private blog, it should be OK. Besides, she looks soo cute!! She's staying with us for 2 weeks this time. PLEASE pray that Rayna will be raised where God wants her to be!! We want the best possible for this gorgeous girl!!

Pretty in pink - notice the beautiful nails! So fun having a girl around!

Just a happy little wish for the Holidays...

***The Chef***

Malachi tested his culinary gifts by making Mommy a delicious mud pie.

Mom was appreciative, but reluctant to try his "chockwit" treat, so Kai got the whole thing all to himself. He offered me some...

...but I know better then to accept dessert from a kid who thinks our bunny poops out Junior Mints.

The Theory

I'm working a hypothesis concerning the sublimation rate of crystallized carbon dioxide. I wonder if it's directly proportional to the quantity of substance submerged in, divided by the specific density of H2O...

Testing the Theory

Mmmmm. Yes. Just as I suspected. Very Interesting.

Second Generation Friends!

It was so fun having a playdate with Sophie - she even let Mommy put clips in her hair (Mom loves to fix little girl's hair and jumped on the opportunity to borrow Sophie. She'll likely continue this behavior until we get a sister.). Our Mommy and Sophie's Mommy grew up together and have been the best of friends since 6th grade! They were even pregnant together. Now Malachi and I are friends with George and Sophie! I think that's pretty neat!