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December 28, 2007

family

hope all enjoyed a very merry christmas. as for us, we are glad to have spent time together, time with family, and incredibly grateful to now be home.

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December 23, 2007

grateful

grateful:
for the joy of this season
for a helpful and loving husband
for the opportunity to mother these children
for our church, home, neighborhood, and good friends.

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December 21, 2007

exclamatory

"GROSS! SWEET! SICK!" and talk of sharing "best secrets"...

we have officially entered a new stage with our oldest boy and his good friends. oh my. so funny and yet so intimidating. today, aidan and his friend made their own arrangements for a play date (is it even still called that when you have a 7 year old?). they are now leafing through a book containing all of the pertinent info on the ghostbusters and writing their own books on the topic--all while stopping to comment on the slime shown on every other page with an enthusiastic, "GROSS!"

his friend is also filling his book with secrets...many dealing with girls. aidan just doesn't get it yet. thank goodness!

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December 17, 2007

a hoot

in an effort to adorn our tree, i made these owl ornaments. i had every intention of having the boys help me put these together but somehow ended up making around fifteen of them on my own. you may wonder why i chose to make owls, and i am not sure that i have a reason other than i just like them. i enjoyed using the vintage buttons given by a friend and practiced stitching on their bellies. these small creatures rested on my bedside table awaiting their completion, and a few have now found their place in our tree.

another creature that often can be found inside our bedside table is "hair." oliver's attachment to hair was immediate. it happened at the end of a long trip to the ikea in atlanta. oliver spotted this unusual alligator and begged me to buy it. i quickly said no and continued in my efforts to rally the other boys together while juggling the baby and making every effort to get out of the store with only the items that we had planned on purchasing. persistent oliver snuggled with the creature and batted his little pleading eyes at his dad and was soon rewarded with the stuffed animal. although i was a little frustrated that his efforts paid off, hair has turned out to be ollie closest friend. i often find oliver clinging to his new friend at night with both of their noses barely showing above their blankets. he often tags along as we walk to pick up aidan and abel from school each afternoon, and is sometimes buckled into a car seat next to oliver in the van. this new friend can also be found resting in mark's night stand. a couple of days ago i woke up at around 5:30am to the sound of ollie doing an army crawl across the bedroom floor. i soon heard mark's drawer open and close. then, i caught a glimpse of the stripped creature as the pair ran out of the room.

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December 06, 2007

catchin' up

wow, these last several weeks have passed quickly in our home. i cannot believe that thanksgiving is behind us with christmas quickly approaching. i actually feel a little resentful about it all...maybe it is the ultra organized me that seems to be in quite a fog after having my fourth child just reacting against being completely unable to pull it all together. i only hope that what my boys remember are my efforts and not all of my failures...

we enjoyed a short trip to nashville over thanksgiving where we were able to spend time with family and friends while showing off the new babe.

then, we headed home to begin another school week and celebrate aidan's seventh birthday! the only possible choice for a party theme was spiderman, of course; and his friends all seemed thrilled to spend time together shooting webs, running though our home, and playing kickball in the park across the street.

happy birthday, aidan! it seems impossible that you are now seven--filled with your own ideas (which are usually contrary to my own), reading everything in sight, smart, athletic, and kind-hearted. we are so blessed!

...and then there is this guy:

he is nine weeks old today and is already incredibly different from the newborn i brought home. smiling, cooing, and increasingly more alert. we could not enjoy him more.

oh, and i forgot to mention ollie's tragic collision into a main street building. this documents our first set of stitches. with four boys, i am sure that it will not be the last. in the picture, the cut has healed, but he is proud to show off his first scar. the er doctor mentioned that it was similar to harry potter's making ollie the coolest three year old in town.

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