Say What?

Just a moment ago, Sophia said one of the funniest things yet! She has a little red scratch on the edge of her nostril and I touched it and asked her what it was. She replied that it was her very first pimple, and wasn't that "esiting news?" I asked her why that was exciting and she said because pimples are fun! "Why are they fun Sophia?" "Because they don't hurt Mom!" Oh! Of course. :) Really, where does this stuff come from?? I imagine when she does truly get her first pimple, she's not going to be so "esited!"

Ruthie :)

Ka-Raz-Yee

What is this, you may ask?

Why, it's a piece of wood from what was to be Sophia's new dollhouse sink (part off her gift from me)...

Here's the sink, after the late-night, Christmas Eve ordeal (after-all, why do early what you can put off till the last second?)!


And here's the culprit! Let's just say, while trying to fix said piece of miniature kitchen furniture, one, who shall remain unnamed, did not quite take the warning serious enough!

And let the record show - the warning does not lie!

I feel bad that people at Drugmart were being forced to work @ 9:45pm on Christmas Eve, but, my thumb is thankful to still have all it's skin intact due to my dear husband's willingness to run out and purchase the needed acetone nail-polish remover (of course I only had non-acetone in my cubbard)! Great pain was avoided and the sink was repaired (with a bit more caution second time around!). :)

And though nameless person pictured above appears to be all smiles, don't let her fool you. She totally cried like a baby at the thought of having to rip the wood off her fingure until she realized dear hubby would rescue her! She was all smiles though, waiting for hubby to return, even with a piece of wood dangling from her thumb!

Toasty Fun

Do you have kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews?? Maybe you even still like to channel "the kid" inside you? Here's a fun way to... eat toast! I do this all the time with Sophia, and she just loves it! Do you have kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews?? Maybe you even still like to channel "the kid" inside you? Here's a fun way to... eat toast! I do this all the time with Sophia, and she just loves it!

Allow the toast consumer to pick out his or her favorite cookie cutter (it's best if it is big enough to cut out most of the center of the bread)

toast your bread, cut out the shape

than put on your favorite topping! Don't forget to top the edge too and enjoy!

Checking In

We had a fabulous day yesterday, with just the right mix of spiritual focus, gift giving fun, playing, eating, celebrating with just our family of four and then celebrating with both of our extended families! Pray yours was great too! Here are a few shots...

Merry Christmas!

I've not been posting as frequently as I'd like to. This blog is such a creative outlet for me and I think of things I could post every day, but just don't always have the chance to do so. I also have lots of pictures I'd like to post, but, again, just haven't yet had the chance.

Sophia has been sick with a tummy bug since Thursday night; thankfully she's pretty much well as of today. Riley has been teething something fierce and so that has also required a lot more of my time and my arms are rarely empty! Now Jamie seems to be coming down with the stomach bug. So... my poor blog has taken a back seat to these more pressing needs. Thankfully I've stayed healthy, though I am a bit tired!

God is good though. Jamie has tomorrow off, in addition to Christmas day, and I'm so looking forward to sharing these next two, very special, days with him and our kiddos. There is still a bit to do to finish preparing - of course - but I just love Christmas and can't believe it's already here!!!

So... as you enjoy your families and celebrating your love for each other and Christ's birth, and gifts, and special meals and all the other traditions... take the time to revel a bit in it and enjoy the memory building.

I'll be back sometime later this week. Merry Christmas!

Ruthie :)

My Favorite Tradition

Last year Jamie and I started something new. On Christmas morning, before we do anything else, we all gather on our bed (this will evolve as the kiddos get older and are able to participate more fully) and give gifts to our Savior, Jesus - it is His birthday we are celebrating after-all! I didn't get around to doing it last year, but found some unused photo albums recently, so plan on using them to... keep a record of our gifts from year to year. Each year we'll write on a notecard what our gift to Jesus is and we'll get a fun family shot of all of us in the bed in our new Christmas p.j.s I will then stick these in the photo album. I expect this to be quite the treasure as our kids grow older and we can look back at what we gave Jesus each year on His birthday.

Last year Soph was a bit too young to "get it," but I'm looking forward to seeing what she gives Jesus from her heart this year.

Last year I gave Jesus my children. I had had 3 miscarriages, and was about to have a fourth (though I didn't yet know it). I had such a fear of losing more children and of losing the sweet child I already had. I knew I needed to give Jesus my kiddos, and with them, all the fear I had that would paralyze me at times.

This year I'm giving Jesus my time. I do a poor job at devoting enough time to Him each day and I long to do better at this, so this is going to be my gift to him.

What are you giving Jesus this year? Share if you feel comfortable!

Ruthie :)

Tidbits

It's been a bit since I last posted and I have a few funny tidbits from The Sister to share...

About a week ago, Sophia approached me and showed me her arm, and in utter horror exclaimed, "There is hair on me! I am going to be hairy like Daddy!" I told her that everyone had hair on them, after all, she is a mammal (that freaked her out a bit... "I'm a what??"). I told her even girls get hair on their arms. "No Mommy, only boys. I'm going to be hairy like a boy." I tried to reassure her, that though she would have hair on her arms, it wouldn't grow to be like Daddy's. :)

A few days ago Sophia exclaimed that she would be going to dress up like a lion. I was busy with something and off she went. I expected her to return in some sort of costume compiled from things in her room. Well... she had a different idea. She hollered out something about Daddy's underwear and I noticed her voice was coming from my room. So... I go to my room and find my daughter, totally stripped down, out of ALL her clothes she was wearing, trying desperately to keep up a pair of Jamie's boxers on her bottom half while keeping hold of one of my bras on her top half! A lion??? I don't really know, I just don't know... :)

On Monday night we were headed out to do some shopping. It was already dark of course and so we were having fun seeing the Christmas lights. We passed a business establishement of some kind that had lights EVERYWHERE! The entire surface area of the building was covered in lights, roof, walls, everything. It was crazy. I looked at Jamie and said, "That is ridiculous!"
In her most desperate, dramatic voice, Sophia yelled out from the back seat, "NO! It's b e a u tee fuuuullllll." I told her I had meant it was ridiculously beautiful, of course! :)

Do you have a funny "kid-ism" to share? Maybe from yesterday, maybe from long ago?? Do comment, I'd love a good laugh!

Ruthie :)

She Keeps Me Humble

Last night I was sitting on the couch and noticed Sophia pushing a chair across the kitchen. I asked her what she was doing. She replied, "I need to get a closer look." I asked her what she needed to get a closer look at and she said she wanted to look at the picture of me when she was still in my tummy. That had me puzzled because there are no such pictures on my refridgerator. I asked her to describe the picture to me some more. She said I was in a hotel with all my friends. Well, even though I was in someone's house, not a hotel, and only some of the other subjects in the photo are my friends... I knew instantly which photograph she was talking about. I jumped off the couch just to confirm... yep, there I am... standing with a bunch of other ladies, totally NOT pregnant. In fact, Sophia would have been about 1 1/2 at that time. Alrighty, so, I'm definitely taking that picture down!!! :)

Ruthie :)

He's on a roll

So, Riley rolled from belly to back today, about 3 or 4 times. I don't have him on his tummy too much b/c he spits up so bad being on his tummy usually causes the floodgates to open. But, he was due for some tummy time today, and that is when we saw him roll! What a fun milestone. I tried to capture it on video. I pulled out the camera, got it to video mode and started recording. Of course he wouldn't roll, until that is my camera shoots me a message that the memory card is full and the screen goes black. Literally the next second, wouldn't you know, the little booger rolls over! He's got great timing. :)

Ruthie :)

Amazing Causes and Awesome Give-Away!

Please click on the "Rebel for a Cause" button on my left sidebar to get all the information!!! MckMama, who writes a blog I check daily, is collaborating with some others to raise money for three great organization; String of Pearls, No Hands But Ours and The Ellison Project. MckMama's post provides all the information you'll need to get involved. Raffle tickets are $10/apiece and you will be entered to win some AMAZING things!!! All proceeds from the raffle go to the causes and the winner will recieve the prize package before Christmas! The raffle ends December 14, so click on the button and get all the info and get involved. If you have some time, I encourage you to explore MckMama's site, esp. the story of her newest child, Stellan. She's very passionate about the things she believes in, and whether or not you agree with her on each issue, she's a great Mom, wife and writer, and most importantly she loves the Lord.

Ruthie :)

Thank you for sharing!

Thank you to Mom, Sue, Sarah, Jenny and Jeni for sharing your Christmas traditions! If you haven't yet, you should definitely read through their comments here . You might get a fresh idea for your household this Christmas!

Okay, now for some needed help... how do I hide a link behind a word? Say, for instance, instead of having that huge link showing above, just have the word "here," and then when you click on "here" it takes you to the right site. Any help would be much appreciated!!!

Ruthie :)

Proof in the Pudding

And let me tell you, this Puddin' is cute! :) Here's some shots from a little photo shoot we did today. Enjoy the utter cuteness. :)

Okay, so he may not love this picture when he's 16.

He's three months old now! Can you even believe it? Feels like he's been with me forever.

In the words of my husband, Ahh, snap!

Hazards of Being an Innocent Baby Boy...

with a Big Sister...