Christmas Program at church

Grant was in his first Christmas program today at church!!!

His part was a stable animal, we got to choose WHICH stable animal.
A friend of mine had a cow costume, so Grant got to be a cow :)
He, obviously, didn't have any lines, but he was center stage almost the entire show! He didn't sing many of the songs, but just having my shy little boy up on stage is a HUGE victory!!!
The program was SO cute and we were especially grateful to have Kevin, Liz, and the boys come watch it too. Sam wanted to see Grant in the play :)

Lee, I REALLY wish you could have been here for this too.
They video taped it, so I'll get a copy to mail to you!!!

Getting ready...she did NOT want him in the picture with her.

When did she get SO big!?!?!?

The cow is ready to go, B is still brushing her teeth :)

Getting ready in the preschool room at church.

During the performance...see the spotted cow next to Mary, behind the manger???

Joseph, Mary, cow, donkey, sheep, sheep


Singing.


This is getting close the end...he's getting restless :)



They did an amazing job...VERY cute!!!!

First Christmas celebration of the season

On December 5, we traveled to Ames (Wade and Stephanie's house) to kick off the Christmas celebrations. We celebrated with Grandma Cathy and Roger, Great Grandma Audrey, Uncle Wade, Aunt Stephanie and Whitney, Uncle Matt, Aunt Tiffany and Owen.

We had a great meal and a fun day together, even though we missed Lee, A LOT!!!!!!!!!

Opening a remote control Jeep!

Her new baby stroller.

Fixing the baby's hat.

Grant teaching her how to feed the baby :)

His new sled!!!!

I had to wake her up from her nap to open gifts.

Owen, Tiffany, Brynna, me, Grant, Stephanie (+ one on the way), Whitney

That night, after getting home!
She's ready to go...

him, not so much :)


Thank you to everyone for making it a fun day!!!!!!!!!!!
(and for spoiling the kids)

Blah

I know it's been FOREVER since I've blogged. I have things I should post, our first Christmas celebration of the season, putting up the tree, the first snow, the great neighbors I have that moved the snow, my new 'couponing' adventure, cute pictures of the kids...I just don't feel like it.

The days and weeks are ticking by (Christmas is NEXT weekend!!!!) and life is fine. No major issues, no big problems, nothing out of the ordinary. I'm just feeling blah! I suppose that happens when your husband is on the other side of the planet. One of these days I'll get my act together and get the blog updated, for now...this is all I've got.

Care Packages for Lee

If you are planning to send a care package to Lee for Christmas (or any time) please check out his latest blog post. Many of you have been asking, so here is a good list of items to include.

http://oef2011.blogspot.com/

Don't forget about the flat rate priority boxes from the post office. Anything you can fit in the box (they have various sizes, and a special military one) for one flat rate. Also, you'll have to fill out a customs form. They look intimidating, but just follow the instructions and you'll get through it. They ask for weight of items, I leave that blank and usually the p.o. person will fill it in for me...or at least they'll fill in the total weight and you can "guesstimate" on the weight of each individual item. I pick up the boxes and custom forms ahead of time so I can pack and seal the box and have the form filled out before mailing. FYI: I don't think they really check what is inside, so do your best but don't be overly concerned about the form.

Weekend with the Vandewater Cousins

We were able to Skype with Lee while Abby and Maddy were here! They thought that was pretty cool.

I just got a picture of Brynna at the computer.
I don't know why she wasn't dressed...I had four kids here, that's my only defense :)

Brynna just HAD to color with markers like the big kids.

Making snow flakes to send to Lee.
Aunt Heather is the BEST at making snow flakes!!!

Watching a movie, Cars Toons!


Kailee WAS here too, not sure why she didn't make it into any pictures???

Christmas Parade

Winterset had their annual Christmas parade on Friday night. It's at night and all the floats (about 7 of them) have Christmas lights on them. It is so short, they actually go around the square twice! This year, before the parade, they had a live nativity (with a mini horse on the courthouse steps) and presented the Christmas story. I'm thankful we live in a place that we can tell the true story of Christmas without fear!

Abigale and Madison came home with us after Thanksgiving and stayed the weekend. Heather, Kailee and Eddie came down Friday night, but missed the parade. We had a fun weekend playing with the Vandewater cousins.

It's finished!

After a coat of primer and ANOTHER coat of paint, the dresser is finished! It's not perfect and that one drawers is STILL whiter, but it's, "good enough for rural work."
(A quote from Lee's favorite documentary about the man living in the Alaskan wilderness)
:)

Before

After

Brynna is actually really excited about her new dresser.
She points to it and makes cute little sounds (I'm sure SHE knows what she's saying) when she wakes up and sees it :)

18 month stats. one month late.

Grant at 18 months.

Weight: 25.12 lbs (85%)
Height: 34.5 inches (90%)

Brynna at 18 months.

Weight: 23 lbs (45%)
Height: 33.5 (80%)
*I'm not sure on this number b/c her cousin Owen was measured at the same height, and he has a good inch (at least) on her.

Either way, tall and thin...she does NOT get that from my side :)

She still sleeps pretty well, although her naps are getting MUCH shorter in recent days. She goes to be around 8-8:30am and gets up around 7:00am. She naps for about 2 (was at least 3) hrs in the afternoon.

Her appetite is decreasing too. Maybe she's not growing right now? But, she's still a pretty good eater. She loves all fruit and dairy the best.

If she's healthy, she's pretty happy and content but if you cross her, you'll know it :) She LOVES Grant and does (or tries to do) everything that he does.

The cutest thing of late is how she does what Grant tells her. He gets sent to our bedroom to sit, if he's been naughty. Well, he asks Brynna to get him his Frog and Froggy while he's sitting in there (b/c he's not allowed to come out) and she just runs to the living room and takes them to him. It's just too cute to stop them.

Project(s) - 4

This project I CHOSE to do...CrAzY??? Maybe!

I am redoing this old dresser for Brynna's room.

Before

Sanded and puttied (yes, I used wood putty!)

I don't know WHICH coat of paint this was...it took several!

After

Ok, so I'm NOT done. Look carefully at the third drawer. Yes, it's WHITER than the rest. I used primer on it, decided the primer was old and way too thick, and did NOT use it on the rest. DUH! I bought new primer today and will be putting primer on the entire dresser and giving it one more coat of white paint. Ugh...this is why I don't like projects, I don't have the patience!!! Oh well, thanks to Dad and Wade for help with installing the new handles.

Hair

Well, we finally have the "do-it-yourself" hair cut story. We had been talking for weeks that Grant needs a hair cut. He has ONE girl in Winterset, Ashley, that he'll let cut his hair (I know, he's FOUR and has a "Hair Lady", whatever!)...well, Ashley, is on maternity leave. So, we just keep letting his hair grow.

The other day, I noticed a little chunk cut out from his hair. I asked him if he cut his own hair, he lied, HE LIED!?!?! After a long discussion, a little Bible reading and some more discussion, he agreed that lying was wrong and yes, he cut his hair. Why??? Well, because it was getting long. (Can't argue with that). I tried to "fix" it myself...it turned out okay, IF you don't look very close.

After HIS attempt, before MY attempt.

After.

After and dry.
Looks good in the picture, just don't look close when you see him :)

Brynn's PONYTAIL!!!!

Too cute!!!
No hair cutting from her yet.
(I've trimmed her bangs, but nothing else...let's hope G doesn't get near her!!!)

Project(s) - 3

So, you may remember back a few months(??) ago, when I mentioned the dishwasher had leaked down INTO the basement...well, I've been getting by since then. I just left the bottom kick plate off and put a tupperware container under the front corner EVERY time I did a load of dishes. Once or twice I misplaced the container and had water run into the basement again, OOPS!!! I finally decided to just replace the darn thing...AND got 20% off at Lowe's for Veteran's Day, YAY Lowe's!!!

Thank you, Dad for taking the old one out and thank you, Kevin for installing the new one...I'll keep cooking if you guys keep fixing things!!!

Doing dishes by hand for that few days in between, NOT fun.
Thankful for a working dishwasher!!!

It looks so clean...motivated me to scrub my oven and microwave too :)

Project(s) - 2

The sink sprayer "thingy" quite working...it has quit before and, like I said before, Lee just replaced it. No.Big.Deal. Well, I just learned to live without it for awhile. Then Dad looked at it and advised that I just needed to replace the actual sprayer handle. So, off to Lowe's I went.

I bought AND replaced this, myself!!!

It works, and I only sprayed myself once during installation!

Project(s) - 1

The house is falling apart!!!

Ok, not really...but, things break. When Lee is here, no big deal, he fixes them.
When Lee is gone B.I.G. deal. I have skills, but NOT house repair skills :)

I'm doing my best, PLUS I'm getting help from my great neighbors and my dad!!!

Grant did this...not sure why!?!?!

So, I bought this.

And "installed" it like this.

Minor problem, I can't get the old brackets out!??!
Hopefully before July I can figure out how to get those out.



Project #1: ALMOST complete

recent pictures

We never did get around to carving any pumpkins, but they are still providing entertainment!

Clearance Halloween costumes from Target.

They each had their own little nest :)

Snuggling in our bed, watching a movie.

How cute is this???