Not sure what to call such things...

We had just gotten home from running errands and ran inside qucikly to feed Hans and told the kids to water the plants.  Seemed like a good plan to occupy them.

Ella came in after a few minutes and told me that she was a little dirty.  Fine.  No big deal.

When I went back outside I found mostly naked kids (I guess I should be thankful that they took their clothes off to play in the mud) and mud.

Interestingly, Noah was spotless except for his hands and feet, so similar to Matt.  Ella, taking after her momma, was covered head to toe and making shoes for herself out of mud.

 

 

First thing

Noah comes to greet Hans and I ever morning and every morning he does the exact same thing.  He comes bounding in, yells hello to Hans and gives him kisses and then shares Bigs (you know, the BIG blanket) and Bill (the dalmation dog that he sleeps with) with Hans.  Every morning, giving his favorite things to his little brother and mom.  Noah, he's got a generous heart.  

Well loved

Looking again through old photos and this one caught my eye among the dozens of shots of the little man sleeping.  I think that this is from sometime in Feb '12.  Hans is sucking on an previously used paci.  I kind of cringe when I say that since I'm sure it is not the most hygenic thing.  That said, it is a paci that is full of love.  When Ella gave up her pacis I asked her what she wanted to do with them.  I gave her some suggestions of who we might send them to and even though I was not pregnant at the time, she decided that we should save them for when we had another baby.

So, months later when Hans arrived, she reminded me that we needed to get out her old, well used pacis and give them to Hans.  This one turned out to be his favorite...Ella's scratched flower paci.  Ella proudly gives it to him anytime she hears him crying.  Full of love, that paci. 

True to Life

I'm looking through my old pictures to jog my memory of what we've been doing these last few months.  I mean, I know what we've been doing, but it all gets a little burry when I sit down to write about it.  Anyhow, this one made me laugh.  I think that it was a Sunday morning and we were trying to get ready for church.  The older ones had probably been watching TV for some ridiculous amount of time and we adults wanted to get ready for church.  So, we did the logical thing and had the four year olds babysit the infant while watching TV.  I know...wrong on so many levels but it worked out just fine and we all got to church.

And as a side note, I especially like the fake smiles that they gave...eyes still glued to the TV.

And the one below also made me laugh.  E and N are doing some kooky kids yoga video that I grabbed during a mad dash through the library to find things to occupy them.  I figured that it would help with all that extra energy that they have.  So, I think that in this picture they are lined up on the yoga mat doing animal moves along with the accompanying noises.  And for some unknown reason Hans is sleeping peacefully on the couch, rather than in a bed, with Moses standing guard.  Yes, this is about right.

5 Days Old

 

 

 

HDP

We had a little baby!

I know, I'm a stunning 4 months late on that one.  But still, we had BABY!

Hans David came into the world this past January (a notable 11 minutes after we arrived at the hospital!).     Since his arrival, he's been a complete joy for our family.  Ella and Noah came to visit him a few hours after he was born and they were equally smitten with their little brother.  There is so much I could write about Hans' easy going ways, his sociabe nature, his sweet sounds or how he responds to his siblings...but for now, the photos will speak.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 2011

I'm realizing that if I don't catch up on a few posts, they may never happen. So...December 2011. I think that we'll remember the surprisingly warm weather, the abundance of baking that my pregnant self and the kids did as well as E & N dancing to 'Let It Snow' about a million times.

At some point in early December we finally had a snowstorm. I remember it taking forever to get bundled up as a kid to play in the snow and I can't say that I'm much faster now. Thankfully, they've figured out how to get on snowpants and all the layers so now I get to just help with mittens and snaps.

Both kids were fascinated with the present wrapping process and I can't remember quite how it happened, but they decided that they should decorate their room with ribbon and tape. It went from being a few snips of ribbon strategically taped to being 'a spider web room' as Noah called it.

Our sweet Ella has had quite the experience in her first activity away from Noah: ballet class. I've been so amazed to see her come into her own. She's gone from cautiously watching the other girls to complete participation and even teaching Noah her dances. For the winter recital her class did a little dance to 'Let It Snow'. At her request, we celebrated with pink cupcakes afterwards.
She tells me that this spring they are dancing a 'Pan Peter' dance.

Christmas morning! It finally arrived and it was such fun to celebrate as a family of 4. The morning started off early with stockings full of band-aids, race cars and 'bunny cookies'. They could not have been more pleased.

Ella's big request this year was a 'bobile' aka mobile for her baby crib. Thankfully, I found one. Here she is with a new dress for 'Baby Faith'...which is worn under a sleeper if you have Ella as a mommy.

The kids picked out 'Cars' cars for each other at the grocery store. We took them out separately and then helped each child wrap it for their twin. Oddly, neither of them put it together that the present for their twin looked just like the one that they were to receive.

After celebrating with our church family, complete with kids in jammies, we headed over to Nana and Grandpa's house for the Potoshnick family celebration. It was quite the event. Following that we had a quiet dinner at home with dear friends. All in all, a sweet, sweet Christmas.

Beyond the events, I have to say that one of my favorite memories of December will be realizing that the Ella and Noah are remembering, absorbing and pondering the story of Jesus. They are still singing 'Away in a Manger.' The days are sprinkled with little questions about God. Some simple (ie. how big are God's feet? and what color are God's eyes? how many (what age) is God?) and some more profound.

I was in Trader Joes with the kids in early December and we'd been talking about how an angel had come to Mary to tell her that she was going to be the mother of the Savior. Especially this year, I've been thinking about her quiet surrender and how the scripture talks about her 'pondering these things in her heart.' I never know what the kids are actually absorbing...but Ella's rendering of the Christmas story on the back of my shopping list made me think that in her own way she understands Mary's response to the news.

Here is what she told me: This is the angel and here are the pigs and Mary and Joseph...and the hay. And here is Baby Jesus. The angel came to Mary and said that she was going to be Jesus' mommy. Mary said 'Okay, I'll do it.'

Theology of three year olds

The picture above has nothing to do with her theology...it was just the outfit that she picked for herself the other day. Three shirts and footless tights. Made me laugh.

Each day before I leave the kids in their room before rest time we go over 'the rules'. If I try to leave without saying them, they bring it up and tell me that they need to know the rules. I say the same thing every time: no talking, no getting out of bed unless you are bleeding or have to go to the bathroom. Today she added, while folding her hands, 'and if you don't want to go to the bathroom, you just pray. God will help you.'

7:34 am

Matt brought in the Christmas ornaments last night after the kids were sleeping. As soon as they knew what was in the bins there was so much excitement that I just went with it, in spite of the fact that the sun was just coming up. Opening the ornaments was always a joy for me...and I think that it was for them as well.

Halloween

Ella was very certain that she should be a black cat with pink in the middle of her ears and a black tail. Who knew that the craft store sells giant pipe cleaners that look just like cat tails?

Our proud fireman. He takes his job seriously :)

100 lbs of produce

Rather than heading west to the IL apple orchards, we decided to go east to Michigan for our yearly picking. Even though it has been well over a month, the kids are still talking about the hotel and the orchards. We made use of Matt's great familiarity with the Marriott chain and found a place that was just a few hours away and right in the middle of a bunch of orchards. Through three year old eyes, this translated to 'the place that puts chocolates on our pillows at night'. What could be better?!?

Dinner in our room overlooking the river

Making sure that her babies were adequately fed. And I'm not sure what Noah hiding in blue next to her.

This was the start of the picking adventure...

We took a break at a country restaurant with some of the best apple butter bread that I've ever tasted.

Nourished, we headed back out to orchard number two to get a few other apple varieties as well as peaches and nectarines.

Both kids tuckered out on the way back to the hotel.

All in all, we figured that we came home with 65 lbs of apples, 15 lbs of peaches/nectarines and 20 lbs of pumpkins. We'll be working our way through it for a long time.