Just a Few

Just a few pictures of my brood to (hopefully) make you smile.

They light up my life. :)

A glimpse into the very distant future

Today Claire told me she wants to take care of lots of babies when she grows up.

And she wants me to make them grilled goat cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, and she wants Daddy to play with them in the backyard while I am making said sandwiches.

And she wants to name them Silky, Kook and Pop.

You heard it here first. :)

Pink + A Busy Week

I was having an awesome phone conversation with my mom when I looked over to see Littlest Angel with a pink ink pad in her mouth.

Yum.

This week I am going to be getting very friendly with my kitchen.

13 dozen cookies for Noah's classes + 2 dozen for Angel Girl's class = lots o' cookies.

Good thing I have one humongous counter.

Now I need to go clean it off, hehe. :)

For the record, I like making these cookies for Noah, but it is getting harder and harder.

When I first volunteered, I had one baby who liked to sleep a lot (still does).

Now I've got three (one of whom does not need that much sleep, and another who prefers to sleep in my lap), so you see my alone time in the kitchen is scarce at best, and usually non-existent . 

And that's ok.

Except that I need to bake 15 dozen cookies.

So the plan: prepare dough tomorrow and Wednesday.

Freeze individual portions.

Spend every spare moment of Thursday baking.

Oh, and finish a few teacher gifts for Friday and another couple for Saturday.

I can do it!!

I do love this time of year (a stream of consciousness ramble)

Perfect days that are chilly, cloudy

 sunny

 and colorful.

 We crunch leaves on the way to and from school

 and are our park's most frequent visitors (I'm sure of it).

We smile and laugh and cook and bake (two batches of brownies just came out of the oven)

 and swing.

Lots.

And it is cold enough to wear flannel jammies and coats and pants and tights but not so cold that we don't want to venture outside.

The air is cool and fresh (a nice change from our stifling summers).

There is a small, temporary layer of white on the grass each morning, and as the wind picks up, little showers of leaves fall from the trees.

And in our house, warmth.

Yellow walls, crinkly quilts, soft afghans, the hum of a new heater.

Three kids running, jumping, crawling, laughing, squealing, snuggling.

Pancakes in the morning, hot chocolate in the afternoon, we spend so much time in the kitchen.

Sewing a little everyday, sometimes with three helpers who both lengthen and brighten the fun.

A husband who is home for dinner.

Every night.

Whose laughter comes more quickly and fully now that his coaching is done for a few months.

Presents being bought, made, thought over, wrapped, hidden.

Talking about the true meaning- the giving, the hope, the traditions.

Love.

And also the magic.

This is the first year Santa is so real in our house.

Letters have been written, but not mailed because I can't bear the thought of not having them forever.  

They love to hear about when we were kids, and I've been telling them all about my childhood Christmases.

Their favorite is how my brothers and sisters and I used to sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve, and they've been talking about doing that this year.

Oh, I hope they want to do that for a long long long time.

Littlest Angel's first Christmas.

She is going to love the tree!

I've got to find a First Christmas ornament.

Will she be our last?

Probably not, but possibly.

I feel so fulfilled.

XOXO. :)

Funny Faces

Mom and people with older kids always talk about when kids go through the stage where they don't want to smile for the camera, they just want to make funny faces, and man, has it happened to her!

 Also, many many many clips in the hair.

And, just like I told you yesterday...cookie-cutter sandwiches!!

Very hard to tell, I understand, but hers is a snowflake and his is a snowman.

We've been bringing lunch along when we pick up C from preschool, and then picnicking when we stop at the park on the way home.

It is so much easier than playing at the park until they all (especially L) are ready for naps and then scrounging (amidst crying kids) to make lunch when we get home.

I love figuring out a better way of doing something! :)

p.s. I finished a hugely essential Christmas present last night of which I cannot share pictures until it has been received, but dang it, I'm so happy it is done!

And I love the way it turned out, so, bonus!!

Laughing Lucy

Boy can they get her going sometimes!!

This time it was Alex pretending to eat his carrot. :)

decorating cookies

We spent most of Sunday baking cookies for Noah's players (and us too, of course!)

I had grand master plans for them to be water polo balls, but they just look like cookies with yellow icing. Or maybe suns. I just could not get my smallest decorating tip to cooperate in drawing the lines on the "balls," grrr. 

Oh well, they still tasted great! I mean, how can they not when the icing is half butter and half sugar??

There is nothing quite like homemade icing. :)

And you know what the biggest compliment was? When I handed Noah the last cookie, my usually-passes-up-sweets-for-some-ungodly-reason husband was super excited (for him anyway) and grateful, as the girls practically inhaled the ones I sent to school with him thereby leaving him cookie-less.

I set up this table for the kids to decorate their own cookie.

As you can see, they took it very seriously. :)

And Lulu was busy playing at the play kitchen and forcing me to resist my natural impulses to eat her thighs. Seriously, they are so edible. :)

And since I now have an excuse to use my adorable Christmas-themed cookie cutters, more will be coming. :)