Mocha and coloring: Boy of my dreams

Evan: Daddy, I have two questions for you.
Daddy: Ok. What are they?
Evan: First, can you make me an iced mocha? And, second, will you clean off the table so I can color?
Daddy: Uhhhh...I can clean off the table, but we just used the end of the coffee.
Mommy: (laughing, laughing, laughing)

A year filled with love

I hope your past year has been filled with love and spontaneous displays of that love like mine has!

Evan wrote this note a few mornings ago while he let me sleep in a little.

It says: Hi momy We love you Mom we liket our randir and pig Love Evan

Translation: Hi Mommy. We love you. Mom, we liked our reindeer and pig. Love, Evan

How's that happen?

Ok, seriously. How does this face

become this face?

Pig and reindeer and giraffe, oh my!

The kids' Christmas presents are finally all complete. Evan and Kendra got their reindeer and pig on Christmas morning. Laura finally got her giraffe this morning. And since I know no one cares about commentary on this post, I'll just go right to the pictures.

Deere, dear

Do you think we should get hats for all the grankids this year, dear?
Yes, dear.
Do you have any idea what kind of hats we should get them?
Yes. Deere.
What kind?
Deere.
Yes, honey?
I said Deere.
I know. I was asking you what you want.
I was answering your question.
What question? Oh, never mind. Let's just get them all John Deere hats.
(Sighing) Yes, dear.

When Daddy says no

to opening presents under the tree while your brother and sister are getting ready for bed.

Share and share a lick

Sometimes I wonder why our kids all get a cold at the same time.

Sometimes I don't.

Muffin Man

Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man?

Oh, do you know

the muffin man

who lives down Drury Lane?

No? Well how about the cornbread girl who sleeps down the hall?

Not a creature was (un)stirring

4:30 a.m. Evan comes down to our room.
Evan: I need medicine for my stuffy nose. Right now.
(He wanted Vicks on his chest.)

4:47 a.m. Kendra comes down to our room.
Daddy: What do you need, Babe?
Kendra: I want Mommy.

4:55 a.m. Everyone back in their own beds.
Chad: Shoot. Now I'll never know what happens in my dream where I was stuck as a psychiatrist in Nazi Germany.

5:10 a.m.
Chad: Did you go in with Laura yet? She's whimpering.

5:20 a.m.
Lynnette (back in bed): Are we out of kids yet?

The Post of Christmas Present

Christmas morning 2009

Best Christmas quotes

Mommy: What is it, Evan?
Evan (opening his Little People Spin & Crash Raceway): I'm too excited to tell you!

Evan (sad that he didn't have batteries for aforementioned raceway): There couldn't be a worse day than this. I don't have batteries for my racetrack.

Mommy: Laura, do you want to tell Darrell "Merry Christmas" before he leaves?
Laura: (whispered) Merry Christmas. (louder) Santa. (emphatic) Not real!

Evan (on December 23): Mommy, I want to put a wrestling mat on my Christmas list.
Mommy: But, Evan, everyone's done shopping already.
Evan: Even Grandma?
Mommy: Yes, Grandma's done shopping. Remember? We already had Christmas with them.

Laura: Presents! (This was yelled several times a day for the last week.)

Laura: (jumping and dancing around all excited with her just-unopened present) Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! (It was an AC adaptor for their new ClickStart.)

Daddy: Yippee!
Evan: What is it?
Daddy: It's a coffee grinder!
Evan: Another one?!
Daddy: No, this is just the box. I've already been using the coffee grinder.

Color-coordinated sleeping

Evan and Kendra got clean pillowcases on their pillows this morning. They got new blankets for Christmas today. They got to wear their favorite jammies of the week. They've got to be the most color-coordinated (with their own things, not to each other) kids ever!*

*Of those families, like ours, that don't have "themed" bedrooms and don't really care about things matching.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the LoveBugs ...

... whose Mommy took pictures when they were all still wet-headed from the bathtub.

May you all have a blessed Christmas, celebrating the birth of our Savior and the gift of family.

The Post of Christmas Past

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Christmas greetings

As we get nearer to Christmas,

remember that the shepherds, the wisemen, and even the animals worshipped the newborn king.

It's the little things

Dear Sweetie,
I love that you always remember to take a multi-plier along to Christmases so you can open the kids toys. Thank you!
Love,
Lynnette

It was a good start anyway

Evan: Mom, I made something in children's church with two things on it. Jesus was born, Jesus grew into a man, Jesus died on a cross.
Mommy: I think that was three things.
Evan: You know what the bestest one was?
Mommy: What was the best one?
Evan: Jesus being born. And the most important one was Jesus dying on a cross. Because he flapped his ears!

Milky stuff

Evan: Daddy, you have milky stuff.
Daddy: No. I have nipples. I don't have milky stuff.
Evan: (Slapping Daddy's chest) Oh, come on! Push it out!

Love

Evan: Daddy, why are you always loving me so much?
Daddy: Have you ever met you? You're pretty loveable.

Baby Moses and Baby Jesus

The night before last, Evan read a Baby Moses book to me for his bedtime Bible story. He gets done reading and says, "Hey, Baby Moses is kind of like Baby Jesus. Pharoah wanted to kill Moses just like Herod wanted Baby Jesus dead."
Wow.

Shopping

Evan and Kendra are playing store.
Evan: Kendra, it's not 3. There's nothing for 3 at Thiesen's. Here, this is 4. I can buy this!

Wordless Wednesday

Snow play

While Laura naps,

Evan and Kendra run in the snow,

dig in the snow,

walk in the non-drifts of the snow,

and take rest breaks in the snow.

Something you have

Kendra: Mommy, we went to Wal-Mart, and we got you gloves, and we saw something you have.
(I saw that they got me a new pair of fuzzy jammie pants for Christmas, so I didn't want to question her too much in case she was supposed to be keeping a secret.)
Mommy: You saw something I have?
Kendra: Yeah. Open your shirt, Mommy, and I'll show you what it is. Open your shirt, Mommy.
Mommy: A bra?
Kendra: Yeah! We saw one of those like you have!
Laura: I want milky stuff.

Switzerland

Evan (reading): Mommy, I'm stuck on a word. It's a really big word! Mommy, can you help me with this really big word?
Mommy: Switzerland.

Don't you read the blog?

Evan: Laura, do you remember when you were wearing the blue Tigger jammies and you bonked your head?
Mommy: I don't think Mommy remembers that.
Evan: Yes, you do. Don't you read the blog? It had a picture of Laura sleeping by her door.
Mommy: Oh, yeah, I do remember that. (Laughing hysterically at being asked if I read my blog.)

Photo Evan-lution

A few weeks ago when I was trying to find a decent picture of Evan to send to Chad's grandparents, Evan wondered why it was taking me so long to find one. So I showed him that he didn't exactly "behave" for photos for a large portion of the recent months.

He was shocked by what I showed him.

So he decided to "behave" better for pictures and have a nice smile.

For a while.

Then he decided he should show his nice smile in every picture I took.

Laura's birthday was the climax of wanting to be in all the pictures.

You think he's innocently watching over Laura's shoulder?

Then how do you explain this picture that I took after repeatedly telling him I would like to get one nice picture of just Laura on her birthday?

Laura and Lukas's birthday

Last night we had a party for Laura's 2nd birthday and Lukas (my brother's youngest)'s 3rd birthday. Here are a few fun shots from the night. In case you notice a lot of jammies in the pictures, 4 of the 6 kids (all but the 2 guests of honor) wore jammies for the party!