A Hunting We Will Go!

This years tree-hunting experience was great, simply because we all actually went! Last year, Teag was out of town, and I was sick and miserable, so only Dany and Rory got to participate. It was lovely to have the whole family there again. Our usual spot had too much snow for us to park, so we drove up the rode a bit, and found a spot that had some pretty awesome sledding accommodations.

Maisie was nice enough to try and help Finny up the hill.

But resorted to dragging him, when he couldn't make it himself.

Teag and I took off to go find our Christmas Beauty, not realizing that the closest trees were entirely the wrong kind for cutting down. We slogged through at least a mile of knee-deep snow, passing up a few possible candidates in order to find something "better". We finally found the one, and Teag got to work sawing her down.

I think that may have been where the fun ended, at least for a little while. Carrying 100 lbs of tree back through all that deep snow quickly became a Herculean task, and it took us over an hour to go that same mile. I know both of us were wishing we'd stuck with the closer trees. Carrying the tree became so cumbersome, that Teag could barely even see where he was going, as this next picture illustrates.

Teag remained in good spirits though, and was a serious trooper. After getting the tree home, he had to shower and get ready to go pick up his boss in Oklahoma; which involved a very late flight, and a two hour car ride back to Woodward, OK. The things he does for his family!

A few days later, the lights were hung, and it was time to decorate! We try and make the kids go slowly, and talk a little about the story associated with each ornament, but it gets a little hectic at times. Still, it was something both Teag and I did in our families as kids, so we persevere.

And as our kids are a bunch of hyper weirdos after any activities like this, the following is about the best we could get as far as a family picture.

The tree looks lovely, and we've already enjoyed it so much. Merry Christmas!

About A Boy: Part II

A few weeks ago I posted about all of my little Mister's "Finnanigans", which have continued full force it's true, but I should have also posted a little of the opposite side of his personality as well, to even things out. Allow me to correct that oversight now.

Like my other children, Finn is full of words. He has no problem explaining himself, asking for what he needs, or expressing concern. He uses these words frequently, and often with great hilarity. "Wanna piece a water? Too bad!" We're still not sure why it's a "piece" of water, but hey, we're rolling with it.

Finn is one of the cuddliest people alive. When he sees me in the morning, he runs to me and gives me a big squeeze and says, "Wanna cuddle wis me?" I've been late to many an appointment in the mornings because I couldn't say no to that invitation. Same thing in the afternoons when he wakes up from his nap. He comes immediately to me, sits on my lap for a good 10-15 minutes, and snuggles with me while he sucks his thumb and makes the transition to fully awake. I know I have a limited amount of these moments left, so I try to cherish them as much as I can.

Even when it's the middle of the night.

He's had an ear infection lately, and was crying and moaning, "Owie Mom, hurts!" We gave him some medicine, but he wasn't settling down, so I went into his room to help him relax while we waited for the medicine to kick in. I knelt on the floor, and laid my head down on his bed, rubbing his leg to comfort him. Suddenly I felt his little hand flop on my head, and he rubbed it back and forth, returning the favor. It was very early morning, I was cold and exhausted, but that brought a huge smile to my face.

Every night at dinner, we go around and share something we're thankful for. Finn doesn't know what "thankful" means yet, so we ask him what makes him happy. Even though he repeats himself often, we've been pleasantly surprised by some of his answers. He's mentioned church, and family, flying with Dad, windows, dinner, and even Grandpa. Many times throughout the day, he'll ask any one of us, "What make-a you happy?" And then he wants you to ask him in return.

Many times at dinner Finn will say, unsolicited, "Thanks for making dinner, Mom". I love this. It's so incredibly sweet, and I love that it comes from him, not from parroting someone else.

He's determined to be helpful, and is always asking if he can help with dinner, chores, yard work, or cleaning. He's a good little worker.

He tells me he loves me all the time, usually with a giant squeeze or kiss attached.

I've had so much fun with my little Finny, and know that even though he'll be keeping me on my toes, he makes up for it with an awfully sweet side. 

And here's just a little fun Finny fact: I've mentioned how much Finn loves his airplane blanket. It's his absolute favorite blanket, and no other one will do. He sleeps with every night, and cuddles it for a good chunk of every day. As it's gotten colder, we've tried to bundle more blankets around him at night, to keep him warm. Finn doesn't like this, and so we have to sneak in and do it when he's asleep. Often in the morning, we can find the offending blankets tossed on the floor. His distaste for them is so great, that even in his sleep he will try pushing them off while I try not to laugh and wake him up.

Leaves Are Falling All Around

 Every Fall, with our six mature trees, we usually have quite the haul of leaves. This year seemed especially large. Teag spent awhile raking up the ones that had already fallen, a decent pile in its own right. The kids came home from school that day, and immediately went back outside to play.

Then a few days later, I woke up to this:

That's the way it usually tends to be in our yard; a massive shedding of leaves all at once.  Finn and I spent a morning raking up the above-pictured carpet into a giant pile in order to have much leaf-pile jumping fun.

If you thought the pile looked big before, check this out!

I only wish you could see just how high and wide it went. Unfortunately, it snowed the next day and rendered that huge pile no good for playing in anymore.

Until next year!

Moms Never Get A Sick Day

I'm not sure how they know when you don't feel well, some internal kid sensor that makes them instantly more needy, more cuddly, more demanding. And it always manages to happen when Dad is gone, and there's only one adult to take care of said needs.

It's a good thing they're pretty cute.

Halloween 2014!

Halloween was a good one this year, though incredibly chaotic. Teag and I felt like we ran from one thing to the next, and Finn (who had been talking about Halloween for weeks) was a little too overstimulated to be anything but difficult. First up was getting all the kids ready for school. This year Maisie decided to be Bellatrix Lestrange, from Harry Potter. Her costume was good, but we all decided that Maisie looks too nice to be the crazy Bellatrix, despite her attempt at an "evil" face.

Dany was Hermione Granger, also from Harry Potter.

And Rory was Snow White. And with that pose, she seriously could be a Disney princess.

Finn was excited to be a pirate, and we heard many an "Argh!" throughout the day.

Teag and I took Finn to the school shortly after the girls left in order to see them parade by with their classes.

Rory was the first to pass, and then her teacher had the kids sit in the hall to watch the other kids go by. Finn decided to go hang out with Rory for the duration.

The "Seriously Adorable Duo"

Next up, we saw Dany and Maisie.

Maisie told us that no one knew who she was. Again, I think she just looks too nice. When the kids got home from school that day, loaded down with all their goodies, we got to work carving pumpkins. No pictures this time, as both Teag and I were up to our elbows in pumpkin guts. But we did get this picture afterwards, once Finn had managed to pilfer these from Rory.

Our pumpkin carving took on a decidedly "Lego Movie" theme, other than Danyn, who wanted to make hers a Frankenstein.

We finished up just in time to put costumes back on and head to Grandma Rogers for her annual "Spooky Dinner". This year didn't disappoint! We had Skull Pizza Pockets:

Puking Pumpkin Dip:

Bloody Eyeball Cheeses:

Chocolate Spiders:

And a favorite from last year, Jello Worms.

Crazy realistic, crazy delicious

My mom was feeding the missionaries that night, and they gamely agreed to try them. Such good sports.

After dinner, we managed to get all the cousins together for a picture, but it wasn't a great picture. The toddlers are never overly cooperative.

Once again, Maisie is trying to look evil, but she mostly just looks bored.

We had a fair few problems with Finn Trick-or-Treating - he was very keen to get at the Halloween marshmallows Grandma had given him in his treat bag - but other than that, the kids all had fun collecting their stash of goodies from the neighbors. Another Halloween come and gone!