Christmas Day- 2011

Christmas this year was very fun with the three boys.  Although we did miss seeing all of our families on Christmas day, it was nice being able to spend time with just the 5 of us.  Gabe didn't get called into work which was a huge blessing.  We spent the morning opening presents.  Well, Noah opened all of the presents and James played with them.  James was so funny because he could have cared less about opening the gifts, he just wanted to play with them after Noah opened them.  When Noah was James's age it took us 3 days to open gifts for this same reason.  Next year I am sure James will care more;)  They were both very excited about the car rampway and the "car with a remote", but the best gift came in their stockings from Santa- mini Cars flashlights... who knew.  They played explorers for most of the day.  The picture of them on Noah's bed didn't do the scene justice because they were actually in the dark, Noah was reading a book to James by flashlight.  At nap time Gabe and I took down all of the decorations, including the tree... it was a bit weird, but it was not something we wanted to leave for the week, then deal with when we got home.  Heading north in the morning!!

Christmas Eve in Mattamiscontis- 2011

Gabe worked on Christmas Eve this year (just days thankfully), the kids and I decided that we just couldn't miss out on another Smith Christmas, so we took a day trip to Mattamiscontis... With better planning it probably would have made more sense to make it an overnight visit, but oh well.  We had lots of fun visiting with everyone and eating sticky rolls.   We made it back home before bedtime, so we could leave Santa his "special cookies" from Noah and carrots.  I realized after the fact that Noah had peanut butter all over his face for this picture:)  

More Christmas Preparation

So, there has been a lull in my blogging.... I have gone back to work on a temporary basis.  I am working at a hospital based practice to cover one of the providers while she is out on maternity leave.  It is only three days per week and we have found two wonderful ladies to come to our house and provide child care, so we are very fortunate... however, blogging has suffered and probably will until spring.  We have had a packed December to date.  Last weekend we took a daytrip to the Upper Valley to celebrate the 5th birthday of two of Noah's good friends. Of course, no pictures... I didn't even remember to bring the camera... oh well!

This week we have been able to squeeze in some last minute Christmas preparations.  We made cookies for Santa... Noah looked through the cookies magazines and picked out three kinds he wanted to make- peanut butter sandwiches, sugar cookies and gingerbread men.  The kids had a ball... I thought for sure James would vomit from the amount of dough he ate, thankfully he didn't.   Noah really made it a big point this year to make presents for a list of people.  His list was getting long, so I had to cut him off, but here are some pictures of the finished wrapped gifts.  He made a variety of crayon, marker, and paint portraits, as well as pipe cleaner figures. James very much enjoyed playing with the pipe cleaners. He really tested my creative resolve here as he was fairly specific in what he wanted to make.  This is a picture of the train he made for one of our childcare providers- "a train with a man in the window with steam".  He is such a thoughtful kid and really perseverated about what to give each person... He was also very excited to have people open their gifts:)  Most importantly ;) this week the Wii is up and running again, so that Noah and James could do "dancing on the TV" again.  James asks for this many times a day and he says thank you to God for it every night in his prayers.

Toru's Visit to Maine

This past weekend our dear friend from Japan came for a very brief, but really great visit.  He had a conference in Texas and was nice enough to fly out here to see us.  Gabe took him on a tour of Portland/the Old Port, picked up some Lobsters in Scarborough and visited LLBean before returning home to a late lobster supper.  We loved having you visit Toru and hope you will be able to come back soon with your family!!

Christmas Preparations

Getting ready for Christmas this year has been really fun for the kids (read: Noah).  I, on the other hand, actually considered not getting a tree this year because the thought of adding another thing to this chaotic mess of toys/baby things and constantly fighting with James to not touch/break the ornaments was just too overwhelming.... Of course I did come to my senses after taking Noah around the house and going through all of the toys and books to decide which ones he could part with.  He did a fantastic job and we were able to weed out two big bags full of stuff.  I was super excited and it made the house feel like it suddenly had more room.  The kids and I picked out a tree and Noah helped to put the lights on. He is so excited for Christmas this year, as well as all of the preparation things.  He actually put all of the ornaments on the tree himself, by the end he was even putting his own hooks on!  We have none of our "special" ornaments, or anything that we care about breaking.  In fact, it is one of the barest trees we have ever had, but this way when someone knocks it over we will just pick it back up and start again;)  Even still the kids think that it is the best tree ever, so that is all that counts.  James is so funny because he loves to look at the "Kissmas" (this is what he calls anything and everything associated with Christmas- lights, trees, decorations, etc.) but wants to have no part of helping.  I put N & J's pictures side by side as to what each one was doing... James was reading books and playing with his cars while Noah decorated the tree. 

This week we also put the big boy Benjamin into the exersaucer... N & J's went in at about this age, but needed some textbooks to stand on, and could only stay in for a few minutes because they had difficulty controlling their heads..... Not this guy!  No books, great head control, he even reaches to play with the toys and can start to turn himself around..... I am so happy because it gives me a place to sit him that he actually enjoys because he can be upright (and it gives my arms a break).  

Benjamin's Baptism Day

We had Benjamin's baptism last weekend in East Millinocket. I had purchased his baptism outfit when he was about 2 months old and was burning through clothes.  I thought that since he would be 3 months old the 6-9 month option would be fine.... he is in 12 month clothes now, who would have guessed he would be so big! I was able to get it on him with a little ripping of the seam and he didn't seem uncomfortable, so we made it work:) It is always so nice to make the trip home to visit with our families.  During this visit we even got to visit with our church family who we don't see often enough. Thanks Jacob for taking the pictures!