family TIME...

 Jenny and Olivia came up to stay with us during the third weekend of the month while Uncle Zach worked on some projects at home...

Olivia loves to play outside, no matter the weather conditions, so we bundled up the kids and set them loose...

Later that evening Grandma Jim and Grandpa Patti stopped by to visit for a bit...

After lots of jumping on top of Grandpa, Charlie showed us his special cowboy tricks on the pony he got from Great Grandma and Grandpa Fox for Christmas...

On Sunday we headed up to Nooksack for third Sunday dinner.  Jenny really wanted Olivia to get a chance to play with all of the cousins so they came along as well.  Grandma Jones found these really cool light up LEGOS on Woot and set up a whole activity area for the kids...

The bigs all sat up at the counter with the art supplies and Emily wrote us a story...

Bryan got in some sweet Baby Oliver time...

Then the kids all headed outside to play while the weather was nice...

Emily stayed up in Nooksack for a sleepover with Jake and Grace at Grandma and Grandpa's house while the rest of us made our way back home.  We had a quiet evening playing guitar and singing songs before Jenny and Olivia made their trip back home...

FAMILY time is the best and weekends like this, filled with all of the people we love, make it a little easier to go back to work on Mondays!

ROCKIN' and WORKIN'...

Emily has been beggin' for some violin lessons for a while now so when Grandma Jones brought her this guitar down in December I quickly found someone to give her lessons.  She has an AMAZING teacher who just happens to be the husband of a friend from work.  Emily LOVES attending lessons every Tuesday evening and practices with Daddy every night for 30 minutes.

Jack and Charlie LOVE watching her practice!  Jack is sure to tell us daily that when he is six years old her is going to take guitar lessons just like Emily and Charlie NEVER misses a lesson.  His nightly routine is to jump out of the shower/bath naked, grab his little green chair and green guitar and proceeds to jam along side Emily as she practices. Since he is usually naked I don't have many pictures of him but on this evening I managed to get him still in his clothes with the harmonica.

On the weekends we have been heading out to Great Grandma and Grandpa's farm to help with the cows.  Great Grandpa (my grandpa) came down with pneumonia a few days after Christmas and is still feeling pretty sick.  I won't share details because that would make some people upset but we will just ask for lots of prayers for a healthy recovery.  We are doing our best to keep the cows happy but they definitely miss Grandpa!

The kids LOVE going to Great Grandma and Grandpa's house and after a few weeks of going there and ONLY heading to the barn they are finally understanding why we cannot go inside the house.  So now as we walk down the path to the barn Jack asks over and over again about how Great Grandpa is doing and then sprints off to see the cows.

The cows are pretty entertaining but the best part about going is to watch Daddy stack the hay really high (so that it is easier for us wimpier people to feed the cows) and the kids jump off into the soft hay below...

I love watching the kids out here, getting as much fun out of the barn as I did as a kid.  I think I will wait until they are a little older to show them how we used to jump out of the top level of the barn onto the hay bails below, lick the salt lick along side the cows and collect the owl pellets for our own dissecting fun!

CHRISTMAS sewing...

This year, like last year, we really scaled back during Christmas.  We focused on the importance of helping others and for the first time the kids went with me as we dropped off the gifts for the families we had adopted.  Charlie did not understand the whole process at all while Jack was a little more aware that ALL of the toys and clothes in mommy and daddy's room were for other kiddoes.  Emily on the other hand was very aware and concerned.  The idea that some kids had NEVER had new toys or clothes before was a little overwhelming for her, bringing her a little more concern than I had anticipated.  But a few weeks after we had delivered the presents, her prayers at night began to change from things about herself to concepts like, "I prayer that all children will have warm coats so that they are not cold in the winter," and "I prayer that all children get new toys if they do not have any to play with."  Her kindness never ceases to amaze me and I pray that the gift of giving is past on to her.

Since all of the homemade gifts were such a hit last year I stuck to them again this year.

The first project I attempted was Emily's Christmas dress...

...and matching ties for Bryan and the boys.  They never wore them since we didn't get to go up to Nooksack for Christmas Eve so here's a little preview of what they will be wearing next year!

 Jenny requested a bean bag for Olivia for Christmas...

And I made her a tee-pee as well...

For her Godparent gift I made Olivia an advent calendar.  I literally started making the ornaments last summer and barely finished in time for Christmas...

Emily was itching for some American Girl Doll stuff but I just couldn't bring myself to paying the price.  I made her a tent for her AG pets...

 I also sewed bedding for the bunk bed my dad made for her for Christmas.  I LOVE the way the bunk bed turned out!

 I kept things a little simpler for the boys.  Charlie thinks that he IS Mr. Incredible so I made he and Jack both shirts with detachable caps and matching masks...

And some matching church shirts for the boys and a skirt for Emily...

The kids each got their own CHARLIE BROWN Christmas pillow to sleep on...

I had a few friends order some stuff for their kids for Christmas...

 I made some sisters each a bag for church. There is plenty of room inside of a bible and pocket for extra accessories.  On the outside there is a pouch sewn to hold individual crayons to keep them busy in between...

This same momma ordered a felt camping set for her kids as well.  This was one of my favorite projects of the season and the kids did NOT want to let it go...

 ...as well as some felt envelopes for pretend play...

A few shirts for another friend...

During the heat of Christmas sewing I made a made few baby gifts for Bryan's cousin and his wife's brand new baby, Hank...