Nate's acting debut

Nate's preschool performed the nativity story for their party day. They worked hard to memorize lines and learn several songs celebrating Jesus' birth. Nate played the part of one of the wise men. This video is a bit long and a bit quiet, but if you are interested it is cute 4 year old acting and singing.

For some more amazing video, pictures and an eloquent write-up of the December party day, my friend Lynda has an amazing post.

Sugar Cookies

The boys and I made sugar cookies for the Christmas season. It is a fond memory that I have from my childhood and want to carry on the "tradition" with my own children. Nate loves to help me bake things and Jadon is starting to want to help more too (especially when it comes to licking beaters, sampling, etc.). They both helped me make the dough and then decorate the cookies. They generously added multiple candies to each cookie. I started to get frustrated with how many candies they were using as I couldn't keep up with replenishing each emptied candy dish. THEN, I realized, those actually were the tastiest, most desirable cookies. They both were very creative in their decorating and lasted much longer than Mommy with their patience and attention to detail. Talia peacefully slept through all the activity. I'm quite certain this will be the only year she doesn't try to participate (or interfere) with the cookie decorating.

Brotherly Love

Nate and Jadon have become fabulous "big brothers". We were not expecting the interest and attention they give to their new sister. Each day, they both come up to Talia on numerous occasions to shower her with kisses and hold her hand. Nate, in particular, is developing his caretaking role and will sit with Talia while Mommy showers or takes care of other duties around the home. They both help entertain her, sing to her, talk to her, read her stories, and "translate" for her. This stage is THOROUGHLY being enjoyed by Mommy especially. Already it is passing too quickly.

A Visit with Santa

Brent's school hosted a party with Santa for the teacher's children again this year. Nate and Jadon are starting to anticipate time with Santa and are a little more brave in their interactions with him. The boys made a variety of crafts, played with several "Best Buddies" (student helpers), and asked many, many questions about Santa. Talia enjoyed many cuddles and basically slept through the party. Even a visit with Santa did not wake her up.

Roar Like a Dinosaur

In November, Nate's preschool class learned about Dinosaurs much to his delight. He continues to run around the house singing snipits of his dinosaur songs (especially about "fighting"). The students also learned about George Seurat (thanks Lynda for the link) and his pointillistic painting style. Jadon can't help but giggle about the "monkey on the leash" everytime he hears the song. Just possibly these parents (& brother) are learning along with Nate!?! Talia enjoyed her first party day at Nate's preschool on her 10th day of life. (Sorry about the dark videos, I think you'll "get the picture" though).

Talia Katherine Joy

We welcomed a daughter into our family on Friday, November 20th, 2009. She has melted our hearts (particularly Daddy's) already. Nate and Jadon have become protective big brothers and are also big helpers for Mommy. Of course, they are still little boys FULL of energy.

Her arrival was blissfully "short"and thankfully, mangeagable. Friday afternoon around 1ish, I started to feel like maybe contractions were starting, but they were definitely not regular and didn't necessarily even feel like contractions. On my way home from running a few errands, I started to feel like maybe things were progressing and thankfully my dear friend, Lynda, encouraged me to go get Brent from school and head to the hospital for an assessment. I picked him up around 2:15, we parked at the hospital around 2:30ish, I was assessed maybe 2:40ish and was almost ready to deliver a baby. My doctor arrived in time to get his gloves on and request the delivery trayfor her arrival at 3:47pm. The very first glimpse we had of Talia looked exactly like Jadon (except much smaller) and so we prepared to welcome another little boy. You can imagine our surprise when she showed herself to be a little girl. She was 6lbs 10 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long. Beautiful and petite in comparison to her brothers.

Her name, Talia, means "gentle dew from heaven", which seemed to fit her start of life in the womb. Katherine means "pure" and Joy, speaks for itself.

First Santa Letter

Last year Nate started to become more interested in Santa. I usually try to down play the role of Santa in Christmas although realize it is a fun part of the season, especially for young children. Nate has seen Santa at Brent's school during their Christmas party, but usually doesn't want to get too close. This year, as we were finishing up our Christmas shopping, I decided to "reward" the boy's helpfulness with a train ride at the mall. For the Christmas season, the train was moved to a less busy part of the mall that happens to circle around "Santa's House" about 6 times! The visual reminders of Jolly Ol' Saint Nick prompted Nate to actually WANT to talk to Santa. Mommy, being a little bit "cheap" and not wanting to stand around, suggested that we just write Santa a letter. Nate was on board with that suggestion. He is loving printing, word creating, and drawing at the moment, so was delighted to put some thoughts on paper. I realize these are very elementary pictures, but I thought it was precious as it his first "letter".

(An airplane is pulling a "Santa" sign, passing a satelite in the sky. The red rectangle is Santa's sleigh with Santa's hat from the top view & his bag of gifts behind him. The brown smiling creature pulling the sleigh is Rudolf in a red hat with red nose.)