Merry Christmas!

View last year's production here.

View 2010's production here.

We hope every has a wonderful, happy Christmas.

A Few Things Lately

Summer learned about fire safety at school, and now every time our fireplace puffs out a little smoke into the room, she does her emergency "Stop . . . Drop . . . and Roll," where she voices each step, and pauses in between each one to think about what to do next. Sometimes I'll see her randomly rolling on the floor, covering her eyes. She even gets Claire to do it with her occasionally.

Claire is currently very concerned about not being able to give Santa a hug and a kiss when he comes. She is very worried about this, so Summer is scheming up a plan to "stay up late and listen for the bells."

Pyper notices every time Rhett or I start to build a fire, and she'll march over to us, picking any tiny piece of paper off the floor for us to throw into the fire. She'll also take some of the newspaper and try to crumple it, then hand it to us. She feels very proud afterward. She is a great helper.

Rhett checked out the first book in "The Great Brain" series and started reading it to me a couple Saturdays ago in the car as we drove to the store. The girls actually listened quite intently, and now when we ride in the car together, and sometimes at bedtime, they ask for dad to read some more to them. So far, we have finished the first three chapters. We get interrupted often with things like, "What does bank mean? I don't know that word," (Claire, after Rhett read about the river bank) or "I think there are skeletons in 'Skeleton Cave,'" (Summer, predicting why the kids don't go to the cave.) It's been fun watching them enjoy a story with only one black and white picture a chapter--and that requires them to listen intently and sit still for extended time.

Me--well, I'm working on this year's Barney Christmas production. We've had a few glitches--like a broken camera, and then a new one that records in AVG which Windows Movie Maker isn't too friendly with, so I'm working on patience and will hopefully have our video out tomorrow night.

Bet you can't wait!

You Know You're Pregnant If . . .

10. You put your kids to bed at 7, and you're climbing into bed at 7:15.
9. You get teary eyed over weird things--like watching "Arthur Christmas."
8. The maternity clothes in your closet that you haven't even put away from the last child are beginning to fit you again.
7. You're craving random foods like Ramen Noodles (with Summer), ribs (with Claire), oranges (with Pyper), and grapefruit now.
6. Your kids walk around the house with dolls stuffed in their shirts so they look like mom.
5. You race out to the car--forgetting your glasses--to get the kids to school on time and can't figure out why everything around you looks so different.
4. You're introducing your youngest to the idea of a new baby--pointing out babies at every chance possible.
3. You get to go on your oldest child's first school bus ride and have to hold back tears because you have so many emotions you can't contain yourself. Excitement . . . happiness . . . gratitude . . .
2. You're back to sipping calcium magnesium before you go to bed to prevent leg cramps in the night.
1. You postpone your family picture--again--so that everyone in the family can be included.

Yes, we are pregnant again. It's been quite a surprise for us, but we are super excited to see who gets to join our family next. We are about 22 weeks along--and still don't know what the gender is. We'll find out as soon as we have the ultrasound. And we'll have a BIG post about it on here. So stay tuned . . .

Happy Birthday Claire!

We got to celebrate Claire's special day today. It was so much fun.

I had this idea to fill a wall with balloons colored by people who care about Claire--but the idea was too late to have people mail anything. So hopefully next year, we'll get some from distant family and friends. But this year, we got a wall-full colored by her school friends and her sister. (I think Claire did a few too.) When she went to bed the night before, Rhett and I hung the pictures up to surprise her. She was sooooo delighted! She usually comes upstairs a little grumpy in the mornings, so when she came up this morning, she had a little frown on her face. Then she saw all the balloons. She just stared at them. Then she got a huge a smile. She asked, "Are my friends here?" I told her no, that I'd gotten the pictures from them at school the day before. Then she asked, "Did they mail them?" I said no, and explained again. She loved it. She looked at them all day--studying each one. Here she is eating her birthday cinnamon roll breakfast with special juice. Goofy smile because her mouth is full. Pip thought we were celebrating for her again--every time we sang Happy Birthday to Claire, Pip beamed as if we were singing it to her. 

We let her say the blessing on the food, and this is what her prayer consisted of: "Thanks for all my presents. Thanks for the cinnamon rolls. And thanks for all the things we have." That was it. :) Love it.

We let her open her presents after breakfast.

All day, every time I said, "Claire! Happy Birthday!" She would respond, "Thanks mom. Happy birthday to you too." I loved it. Such a sweetie.

Instead of taking treats to school, we actually took stickers. She loved it! The moment we opened the door and entered her school, she yelled out, "I GOT STICKERS!" Everyone was so excited and she walked around letting each person choose which sticker they wanted, then she'd put it on their hand. The kids loved it, and the teachers enjoyed it too. But best of all, was seeing Claire's face as she had something special to give to every person in her class.

The "library girl" visited their class today and read stories about snow (a request from Claire's teacher since we've told Claire for so long that her birthday is when it snows--and we have no snow). Teacher Mary said that when they sat down for stories, Claire climbed onto the couch, stuck a pillow under her feet, crossed her ankles, placed a tiny, baby doll blanket over her lap, and put her hands back behind her head. She totally lounged for the story. Everyone thought it was so funny.

For a special treat, I picked the girls up in Rhett's car. (They love riding in his car.) And then we looked at Christmas lights for a little bit. We got home and then ate dinner. While we were eating, I said to Claire, "Claire, I'm so glad you are in our family." Summer responded, "Yeah, because if you weren't in our family, then we would have your birthday, and I would have to blow the candles out!" haha. Pretty good thinking on that one.

And here she is eating her chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and strawberry icecream--all her choice.

For another special treat, we watched "Arthur Christmas"--which was really quite funny and cute.

After the girls were tucked in bed, I sang "Happy Birthday" one more time. Then said goodnight. It was a special day getting to celebrate having Claire in our family. We love her so much. She is a great example to us of kindness, manners, generosity, and gentleness. We love you Claire Bear!

Conversations

Conversation at the Dinner Table
Claire: "Dad, who made this?"
Rhett: "Who made what?"
Claire: "Who made this?"
Rhett: "Your body?"
Claire: "Yes."
Rhett: "Heavenly Father."
Claire: "What's it made of?"
Summer: "I know! Bones! And skin!"
Claire: "And skeleton?"
Rhett: "Yes. And muscles."

*     *     *     *

Conversation in the Car
Listening to a violin concerto by Mozart
Summer: "Mom, is this a cello?"
Me: "No. It's a violin."
Claire: "Are there drums?"
Me: "Nope. No drums in this song. Just violins."
Summer: "Are there trumpets?"
Me: "No. No trumpets. Just violins."
Claire: "Are there flutes?"
Me: "No. Just violins."

We're Thankful For . . .

My favorites from our Thankful Turkey:

Summer: I'm thankful for the wii!
Claire: I'm thankful for my smiling face.
Summer: I'm thankful for my new warm pajamas my mom made. (Oh yeah!)
Claire: I'm thankful for my smiley face stamp.
Summer: I'm thankful for the paper that I cut.

Thanksgiving

We got to go down to Idaho for the week of Thanksgiving. Here's a brief report of the week:

The Car Ride Down

I had quite a list of things to pack for the girls to do on the car ride down. Books, color pages/mess-free markers, cd's (West Boone Favorites, Primary Songs, and Fairy Tale stories), snacks, and a few home-made workbooks to practice writing letters, etc. These items were on as-needed basis, and we looked out the window and talked about what we saw for quite a while. About an hour and a half into the drive Summer threw up. She hadn't been acting sick at all, though she had snacked on a few starbursts. The roads had been windy, so we just thought she was car sick. She didn't throw up any more times after that, though we had to drive about 2 more hours to a car wash to clean the car seat off. The rest of the way, the girls sat quietly and looked out the windows. I think Claire looked at a total of two books, and we listened to the "Chewy, Chewy, Chewy, Chewy, Chewy, Bubble Gum" song about a thousand times. About an hour or two away from Shelley, Summer started asking if "we were there yet." All in all, I think it was a good drive down.

Grandma and Grandpa Searle's

We first spent a few days with Gma and Gpa Searle. We played, read books, watched movies, and got to make Gingerbread houses with Grandma. 

Grandma and Grandpa Kartchner's

Before we left for Gma and Gpa K's house, I started feeling sick. I was throwing up. And as Rhett says, "What happens in the bathroom, stays in the bathroom." So I won't say anymore about how sick I was. But I WAS SICK! Wow. It was pretty bad. The whole time we were at the Kartchner's, I was trying to recover. After not eating anything on Wednesday, I was able to eat a small Thanksgiving meal on Thursday. Everyone was so great about taking care of me as well as the girls.
Rhett's cousin Tate and Christa joined in the Thanksgiving meal, and Summer and Mason played really well together. It was fun to see them initiate a card game of Toy Story.

  I love this picture--not that it's super clear or cute of anyone, but I love the moment it captures of Grandpa on the ground with all the kids.

Though this one might depict more of what was actually going on.

 

Grandpa Barney's

Because I was still feeling a little sick, we stayed at my parent's during our visit with Grandpa Barney. My parents were at the cabin, so we got to have some good one-on-one time with Gpa B. We looked at Christmas lights, played, read, and had a nice visit.

The Car Ride Home 

The car ride home was a little more rocky than the drive there, though the girls did entertain themselves for a bit by tying the extra seatbelts together.

We also got to stop at Aunt Marie's house to gather some family history information on the Barney side. It was great getting to see her and the cousins. They played so well with the girls.

Pyper was pretty upset by the time we buckled her into her carseat again. I think she knew we had a long drive ahead, plus it had been a busy week and she was exhausted, as was everyone else. At about 6pm, the girl's heads started nodding to sleep (mine included!). Rhett did great though, and drove the whole way. We got home at about 11pm Liberty Lake time.

The best part was that even though I was sick, we have no complaints about the trip. The girls were great, the visits were fun, and we made some great memories. Thanks everyone for your great hospitality and care!

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

With a backyard looking like this in the summer . . .

you can imagine what the Fall looks like! 

 I have never seen so many leaves in my life! And these are just the ones that had fallen onto the trampoline!

Before we raked them up, we tried getting a few pictures of the girls in them. I think these picture sequences tell so much. I'm not sure why Summer was feeling a little grouchy, but Claire was sure having a good time!

 After Summer cheered up and Pippy joined them:

It's like Where's Waldo, but it's Where's Pippy???

 Jumping on the trampoline:

  Swinging into the pile dad made:

My favorite:

What a fun time of year! And a great place to spend it!

Halloween

This year for Halloween the girls were bumblebees. I guess I was kind of in charge of costumes this year. I found a killer deal on striped material for 60% off at Joann's. I cut two rectangles for each girl, cut strips along the side, then tied the front and backs together. I sewed a black ribbon to go over the shoulders, then we stuck them in black tights and black shoes with a headband and pipe cleaner antennaes. I also made their wings with some wire and black tulle.  Rhett added the bumblebee bum to them. They turned out quite cute. 

I wanted Pippy to be a flower garden, but we ran out of time, so she just wore orange and black striped tights over her onesie.
The girls wore the bumblebee costumes for our ward party, but the night of Halloween, they actually chose to be sister witches, which worked out better because the witch costumes we got were a bit big and could fit over the girls' coats.

It's gotten quite cold here, so we've been building fires. 

Of course, the first two nights we had a fire, the girls begged for s'mores. And how can you say no to all that gooey goodness???

Picture by Claire

Bringing Spokanites to Liberty lake

A few weekends ago, our law school friends, Josh and Rachel, attended a wedding a few hours away from us. After the wedding, they were able to come by and stay for a few days. We were lucky enough to have Daren and Heather come too. It was like the good old days--except we all slept under one roof! 

The girls were so excited to see everyone. The day before anyone arrived, Summer worked on drawing pictures for everyone. (Didn't quite finish, but they turned out cute.) While everyone was here, and if ever I wondered where Claire was, I would just have to find Daren. She was usually curled up under his arm next to him. It was so cute.

These are some of the pictures taken of the weekend. Thanks Heather for your great photography skills!

Claire, Daren, and Summer

Claire lounging

Not too great of Rhett and I, but we don't get many of us together these days. (Am I looking at a bill???)

Rachel and Summer

It was soooo fun for Summer and Claire to have playmates living with us for a few days! Summer and Lyla played together very well. It was fun to see how much she had grown and to watch the kids interact together. It was also fun to watch Mac and Pippy interact. So cute!

Love these pics of the girls playing in the leaves.

Rachel and Me

Claire's Best Bud

All of us again. 

It was sad not to have Andy and Jen with us, but we were so thankful that the Greens and Harris' could come visit. It was as if time had never passed. We appreciate their friendship and are grateful for their sacrifices to come. We miss them already!