Merry Christmas!

 Our Christmas morning started with a literal bang when Clara pulled her stocking off the mantle and the stocking holder smashed her in the head. Luckily she was fine and we hope it helps her realize the benefits of listening next time. After a break to get some ice, she was on board with starting stockings.

After stockings, the kids were eager to get the show on the road.

They all got some stuff they loved, including Hannah who somehow didn't make it into any of the gift pictures.  Jason focused on taking video this year, as he has said he wants to have more video of our family.  Afterward he said he got some great footage but that he forgot to also take many actual pictures. 

After a break for rest, Christine and Michelle came over for Christmas dinner.

We had a nice dinner of sauerbraten and then did Christmas crackers, which we always do in our family. 

We had a really nice holiday and were so glad to have Christine and Michelle to share it with us. 

Does Michelle look like she is trying not to get too close to Clara? She probably is. The kids got Chapstick in their stockings and Clara used at least half the tube in a single day and so was very very resistant to chapping on most of her face and a lot of her hair by the time this picture was taken, and she smelled very strongly of cherries.

Learning to Serve God by Serving Others

Doing service projects is an important part of who our family is, and one we are doing again this year is delivering food and gifts to families in need on Christmas Eve so they can have a Christmas dinner with their family.  A couple weeks ago we dropped off some food and other items requested by City Union Mission, and then their volunteers work to put together packages for each qualifying recipient.  Each one gets a turkey (it got cut off in the picture), a box of food, and some Christmas gifts.  So today we arrived at the Mission to collect the items to take to two different families.  Everything is already packaged, boxed, or wrapped, so we just need to deliver it to the families.  They gave us the addresses, and then we drove to each house to meet them and deliver everything.  We are welcome to stay as little or as long as is appropriate or desired, then say a prayer with the family if they are okay with it, and then we leave.  The first house was a Hispanic woman who had two little boys a little older than Joshua, and they had a new litter of adorable baby chihuahuas.  I was worried I was accidentally going to step on one and crush it, but I barely avoided causing that pre-Christmas heartbreak.  The second family had a baby who was a few months old, and they didn't have a car seat for him, so that's what the big box is in the picture.  They were another sweet family, and it was a pleasant experience.  This is somewhat of a stepping-out-in-faith service project for us, as we go into very poor neighborhoods and into houses of people we don't know (all recipients are heavily vetted by the Mission, so there is almost no actual risk to us), which can be uncomfortable since they are strangers, and sometimes the recipients feel ashamed of their houses or situations.  But we believe Christ calls us all to serve others, which is an important pillar of what Meghan and I want our family to be and do.  So it helps us to continue to teach our children that this is something we value and that is important to us and to God, and it also helps us grow in our own faith by stepping outside of our comfort zone to do it.

Finding Baby Hannah

One time a few months ago when I was putting Hannah to bed, I checked my phone for something (I don't even remember what).  Somehow it resulted in there being a picture of Hannah, and Hannah was interested in that.  The next night, Hannah specifically requested me to find the picture of Baby Hannah.  This is because any version of Hannah in the past is "Baby Hannah" to her.  So I pulled up the pictures on my phone and found a random picture of her.  She wanted to talk about it, but anytime she talks about a picture of her, it's in the third person.  So she'll say things like "Why is Baby Hannah doing that?"  Or "Why is she in that place?".  This became a nightly tradition for me and her, and then she started asking Meghan too when she put her to bed.  But pretty much every night since then, while each kid gets a book, song, and prayer, Hannah always also gets to find Baby Hannah.  "Dad, can we find Baby Hannah?"  At this point I pretty much scroll to a random picture in my past photos and then move slowly until I find a picture with Hannah in it, and then we talk about it.  Usually we'll look at a few, and then we're done, but only because I say so; she'd look at pictures of herself all night if she could.  One of her current favorites is the one she's looking at here which is a picture I took of her in the hotel we stayed in on our way back from Florida this spring.  She's really intrigued by it.  "Look!  It's Chicken Baby!"  "Why Baby Hannah wear those jammies?"  "Why she sleeping in that bed?"  Why she not have any covers on?"  So for the past few nights she's requested that particular picture, "Can we look at Baby Hannah in the hotel?  Like the one where she sleep in that bed?"  This is not something that will continue forever, and it's a little time-consuming as part of an already long bedtime process, but it's pretty cute and fun, so we're continuing it for now.

Park Day

Today it was a bit cooler, but the kids really wanted to go to the park and I felt like they could use an outlet for their energy, so we went despite it not being that warm. They had a lot of fun. Joshua was really proud of his climbing skills and kept saying it was only for big kids. By the end, the girls thought it was too cold and went inside a log structure to get away from the wind. Despite that, we had a fun time.

Our Walmart-Wearing Fashionista

All my kids started fall with enough clothes to wear for the cooler weather. For Hannah this hasn't gone well. Firstly, she has grown a bit so a few of the items we had, particularly stuff from last year, are now too short. Which is fine because kids grow and I expect that. But the main problems are her preferences and stubbornness. Firstly, I have multiple pairs of jeans in her size that are super cute and fashionable and are in great condition. Unfortunately she refuses to wear denim. This is not great because Clara wore her size last year and Clara has to have jeans because she is so thin that other pants won't stay up. And now I can't reuse any of Clara's clothes because Hannah won't wear jeans. So that's annoying. However, knowing that Hannah isn't a denim fan, I also bought her several cute outfits with leggings. Unfortunately she also won't wear most of these because she doesn't like the color or style. It's quite frustrating. She feels strongly enough about it that she literally will choose not to go somewhere fun or not to eat dinner or whatever over wearing clothes she hates (and there is no middle ground. She either loves or hates clothing). So I am buying her a few outfits in the size up from Walmart. Normally I am not a big fan of Walmart's clothes because I don't feel they wear well, but this is a good way for her to pick out her own clothes. She has really strong opinions on every thing we see.  So apparently, for her, picking them out is key. I am only about 70% in predicting what she will like. I also think Walmart is a good option for her because when she is at home, she wears jammies 90% of the time. Pretty much her first question after getting home is , "Can I change into my jammies?". So she is not really hard on her clothes like my other kids are. This is her in a Hannah-approved Walmart outfit. And Chicken, who is always well-dressed due to her clothes being sewn on.

I am a Chaise Lounge

Tonight I was lying down on the floor playing with Hannah, and Clara spotted an opportunity.  She noticed that the contour of my body while I was lying on my stomach looked comfortable, so she plopped down right on top of me with her hands behind her head, relaxing.  Fortunately she weighs nothing (and her lack of pants helped even more, I suppose), so it didn't really bother me at all.  I kept playing with Hannah, and she kept relaxing.  It worked for everyone.

Sharing with Chicken

Hannah and I get to spend a lot of time together alone on Mondays and Wednesdays because the other kids are in preschool. Because it's so much easier to run errands with only one kid and because Hannah loves running errands, we often go to the grocery store. She gets a treat many of the times we go, which means she is a little bit spoiled, but I am okay with that. Usually we go home and she watches a Dora and then eats her treat. It is super cute, because she always brings Chicken Baby over to wherever she is and then gives her one bite for every bite she takes.

A Toy Story Halloween

Last year for Halloween, we decided to do a family theme for our costumes, so we were all superheroes.  This year, we went with Toy Story.  Joshua was Buzz Lightyear, Clara was Jessie thw cowgirl, and Hannah was Bo Peep.  But it was a family theme, not just a kids theme, so I was Sheriff Woody and Meghan was one of the aliens from the claw game.  Meghan made Hannah's Bo Peep costume from scratch, which was very impressive, and she made much of Clara's costume and her costume.  I put together my costume from a combination of different sources, including constructing a pull-ring for my back, like Woody has.  Woody is a cowboy, which means he needs cowboy boots, which meant I had to find a way to acquire some.  After failing to find super cheap ones (or any ones at all, actually) at Walmart and Kohl's, I opted to buy some used ones off Craigslist, which I will eventually re-sell back on Craiglist later.  I am pretty proud of our costumes.

In past years, we have stayed at home for the first half of trick-or-treating to hand out candy before we headed out for the second half of the evening.  This year, things were a little different.  Game 4 of the World Series was tonight, starting at 7:07, so we headed out earlier than normal in an effort to be home by the time the game started.  Pretty much all of Kansas City seemed to operate under that same plan, as there was a flurry of early activity and then a pretty big drop-off by the time the game started.  We got home in time to see the game, which the Royals won, putting them up 3-1 in the series. We had a really fun Halloween (and an extra happy one thanks to the Royals), and it'll be interesting to see if we end up doing another family theme next year.  Meghan and I hope to, but at some point the kids will probably want to branch out on their own, so we'll see.

Glad to Live in a World Where There are Octobers

Sometimes I am not that thrilled with Kansas City's climate. In the summer it's not bad, but I am always deeply jealous of my family in Florida who have beaches close by since we have nothing. The winter is way too cold and sometimes it snows and again I think, why don't we just move somewhere nicer. However, there are certain months that make me think I could never leave. Spring is awesome here, early summer is pretty great, and I actually really enjoy December because it's usually not that cold, but cold enough to feel really Christmasy. However, October is probably the best month. It's usually pretty nice outside and the leaves turn colors and it's just awesome and pretty much makes everything else worth it.

 The kids also really enjoy this time of year. Today Joshua raked a pile of leaves to jump into. We don't have a ton of leaves on the ground yet, but enough for some fun. Hannah immediately wanted in on that action.

And they decided Baby would also enjoy jumping. She seemed to enjoy it about as much as she enjoys anything.

Playing in the "Rain"

This week the weather has been glorious. We have sod in the backyard where AT&T dug up our yard and we are hoping it doesn't die so have been watering it with a sprinkler. Since it is not cool at all (high of upper 70s or low 80s every day), the kids have really enjoyed this. They really like taking their umbrellas out there and pretending it's raining. Hannah actually stays dry this way. The other two get soaked and only pretend to avoid the water.

Happy Birthday Joshua!

Today is Joshua's birthday. He woke up to a decorated door, but besides that the first thing was to go to school, since it's a Monday. He wore his special birthday shirt and brought snacks (which have to be healthy at this school, so not super fun). While he was at school, Jason put together his new nightstand with Hannah's and Natalie's help. He really couldn't have done it without them.

Then we went to school a little earlier than pick-up time so Jason could be the guest reader. He read one of Joshua's favorites (and Jason's favorite), "Dragons Love Tacos".

After school, we went to PowerPlay, which is sort of like a cross between Chuck E Cheese's and Dave and Buster's. We started with the buffet, which is exactly what you would expect and really awful, but the sort of thing a five year old boy loves (all you can eat frozen pizza? How can you go wrong).

We started out in the little kids area. This had an indoor playground, a bounce house, and a train ride that the kids enjoyed.

It also had unlimited machine rides, like they often have outside of grocery stores. Our kids never get to do those because I rarely have quarters and, when I do, I save them for animal feed at Deanna Rose, so they were pretty excited and really liked that.

After that, Joshua decided he was done with that little kid stuff because he is five now. So we went into the main arcade area. We had the place virtually to ourselves. They didn't really need to pay for every game to have fun. The car games were popular and totally free for them.  They were convinced they were playing and controlling the car on the screen, when actually it was just the demo that runs when no one is playing.

We played several games. They also had rides that I would have liked to do if we had more time and tickets and definitely think Joshua would like next time.

Finally we were down to our last tokens and played a game of air hockey (which you can tell Jason loves Joshua because he let him win) and then we were done for the day. I hoped Joshua would love this place but I wasn't sure, but he really did, so I think it was a great place for a five-year-old.

Once we got home, it was time for naps, but first we showed Joshua his mini room makeover. He wasn't that thrilled about changing rooms with Hannah, so I told him we would make his room "cool". So I got him a Spider-Man decal for his wall and a new nightstand and Spidey pillow. If I had known the Spider-Man pillow was going to be such a hit, I would have wrapped it as a gift. He loves fighting with it and was super excited about his room.

In the evening, we did a pizza dinner (his choice), followed by presents. His favorite was a remote-controlled transformer, which he was really excited about. Actually all the kids were excited about it, but Joshua is really the only one who can drive it with any accuracy. I was tempted to get a better one: a real RC car. But as much as this thing is hitting baseboards and columns, I think a toy is a good first step. Joshua is such a giver and sharer. He said, "Do you know what would be kind? If I let my girls open my presents." Which would be very kind, but we told him he should open his own presents because they get to open theirs on their own special birthdays.

Finally we did cake. He had a Miles From Tomorrowland cake, which is his favorite show. We had a super fun day with our big boy.

Date Day at Pumpkin Hollow

 Today I had a date day with Hannah. In some ways, I feel like I don't really need a date day with her at this point because every Monday and Wednesday morning is basically a date day for us. However, I decided to take her to Deanna Rose so we could do something more geared to her. I wasn't sure she would enjoy it without the other kids.

 We started out with some ice cream, which we never do with the other kids, so she enjoyed that. She didn't really like the playground or the animals without Joshua or Clara. She mostly likes watching them feed the animals, and doesn't like feeding them herself. She also prefers partners on the playground.

 I wasn't sure if she would like pumpkin hollow, but I decided to give it a try. She didn't love the hayride. She thought it was very dangerous and wanted me to hold her tight the whole time. After it was over she said, "That was a close one". It really really wasn't a close one at all.

 She didn't love pumpkin hollow over all, but she loved this slide. She was really proud of herself for climbing the hay bales without help and going down this rather large slide. She did that several times.

 She also enjoyed choosing some pumpkins to take home.

 After Pumpkin Hollow, we went to her very favorite part of Deanna Rose, which is the butterfly garden.

 She really loves the stepping stones. She is very excited just hopping and skipping from stone to stone and sometimes talking about the letters. We stayed here quite awhile and she was really happy.

After Deanna Rose, we ended our date day at Chick-Fil-A. We had a really fun day and I'm glad we did it.