Year at a Glance

As Tori Amos would say, it's been a "Pretty Good Year." We've had lots of milestones, plenty of miracles, a few scares, and loads of fun and laughter. It's hard to believe another year has passed, yet it really becomes evident when I look at how much the kids have grown. They change so quickly, and are constantly surprising me with their wit and wisdom. They are what keeps me going each day--even if they have me sometimes wondering "Will this day ever end?" I love my life--and my kids--to bits, though. I wouldn't change a thing!

Surprise!

Since I was the only one interested in being surprised on the gender of this baby, I compromised and had the doctor write down the gender at my ultrasound two months ago. He put it in a sealed envelope, and I wrapped it up and hid it in the Christmas tree. On Christmas morning, after all the presents were opened, I pulled it out, and everyone gathered around to read the doctor's words........

......."It's definitely a boy!" I'm not surprised, as I've pretty much felt like it was a boy all along. But remember Keaton's prediction? ("I know it's a girl. I just know it!") He cried for five minutes when he heard it was a boy. He was just so certain it was a girl! I think he's finally adjusting to the idea. So, now if we could just come up with a decent boy's name...ideas anyone?

Santa Found Us!

Even though we changed things up a bit by giving each other homemade gifts this year, Santa still managed to find his way down our chimney to fill up our stockings and bring the kids each a really fun present.

Somehow, Santa knew that Delaney wanted a new Polly Pocket more than anything. But instead of bringing her a new Polly, he brought her a Polly Pocket board game that came with two new Pollys and four new outfits--hours of girlie fun! Santa brought Keaton a grown-up tool box with a real tape measure--just like Dad's! Addy got a super fun Princess coloring kit (how did Santa know that she is still obsessed with Disney princesses--especially Sleeping Beauty?) And for Mason, Santa brought a walker to help him along in his belated efforts at learning to walk. He'll be cruising around the place in no time!

Santa's presents were a hit, but the real treasures this year were the gifts we made from the heart. Here's a quick run-down on what everyone made:

Dad drew a beautiful portrait of Delaney, based on one of his favorite pictures of her after her ballet recital. He made Keaton and Addy a super fun bean bag set. Mason got a fun shape page for his quiet book.

Mom made Delaney and Addy each two outfits for their favorite dolls, Babe and Lily. Keaton got a toolbelt/apron made out a pair of denim overalls (he is thrilled to have a sufficiently masculine option for when he helps out in the kitchen and the girls don their cutesie aprons!). Mom made the cover page for Mason's quiet book.

Delaney made Keaton a Peter Pan hat (a real hit, given his obsession ever since Halloween). She made Addy a beautiful "grown-up" necklace using beads she chose in all Addy's favorite colors--mostly pink, of course! And she made a flower and butterfly page for Mason's book.

Keaton made Addy a super fun, frilly fairy wand since she too is still attached to her Halloween costume of Tinkerbell. For Delaney, he made a special bookmark since she loves to read. And he made Mason an A-B-C page for his book.

Addison made Delaney a special bookmark, and Keaton a fun felt-covered elephant pen that she chose from some projects we found online. She made Mason a 1-2-3 page for his quiet book.

Mason made each of the kids (with a little help from Mom) a treasure box for their seashell collections.

All of the kids colored a custom picture to serve as the artwork for CD covers that we burned for Dad, as he has been wanting some music for the car now that we have a CD player.

It was so fun to see how excited the kids got over giving their special gifts to each other. And even though the gifts were simple, we were amazed at how enthusiastically they responded to receiving them. We were slightly worried that the kids might feel somehow deprived since they got less than usual, but the exact opposite was true. This year's gifts had more meaning than ever, and were the cause of more excitement than anything we could have bought in the store. It really made us consider why we give gifts to each other, and put more thought into the gifts we choose to give. Far from feeling deprived, we have felt so deeply blessed this holiday season. In Delaney's words, "This was the best Christmas EVER!"

Christmas Eve Jammies

We carried on the usual tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve--that present invariably being new PJs, but this year there was a slight twist. This year I was crazy enough to make the kids their jammies!

I was pretty self-conscious of my inept attempt, until I realized that, considering the fact that I am a self-taught seamstress of limited ability (that is an understatement!), I used no pattern, and I had only left-over fabric to work with, I did a pretty darn good job! (Sorry, boys--shirts were a little beyond me, so bottoms will have to do!)

Mischievious Mason

Here is Mason's favorite spot to hang out lately. He especially loves to unload the dishes and silverware faster than we can load them. He's quite the helper, I assure you. (Now, if only he'd stop eating the dishwasher detergent! Fortunately, he's only done that once, but I feel fairly certain that he'd do it again if given the opportunity!)

Don't worry, that is not detergent causing him to foam at the mouth in the picture below. It's actually whipped cream! We can thank Grandma Kathy for getting Mason (and all the kids) hooked on having whipped cream squirted straight into their mouth whenever they see a can of it appear!

Because We Have Been Given Much

Several weeks ago, we asked the kids if they had any ideas on how we could make this Christmas extra special, without spending a lot of money. We talked about how we weren't the only ones whose Daddy had lost his job, and that some people had even lost their homes and barely had enough money to buy food to eat. The kids decided that we were blessed to have so many fun toys, and they thought they would like to share some of their toys with kids who didn't have as much. We spent the next Saturday going through our playroom. Each of the kids filled up a giant trash bag with toys that they thought other kids would be glad to have. The amazing part is, they didn't choose their worn-out, broken toys, they chose some of their very best toys.

We put a lot of thought into what we should do with the toys. We didn't want to donate them to D.I. or Good Will, because then someone would have to buy them. We wanted them to go straight to someone who couldn't afford them. However, because they were not brand new, we couldn't donate them to Toys for Tots. I finally decided that I would put an ad on Craig's List, saying they'd be available for pickup at a certain time. A couple weeks went by, and I still had not got around to posting the ad. The kids had even scattered quite a few of the toys that we had organized, making it tempting to just give up on the whole idea.

Pretty soon it was the Saturday before Christmas. I woke up feeling obsessed with giving those toys away. I spent the morning reorganizing the toys, getting ready to take pictures so I could post the ad. When I went to get my camera, my batteries were dead--and so were my backup batteries! I was pretty discouraged, thinking that I really blew it by waiting too long. I feared that it was probably too late to do anyone any good.

It was almost noon by the time I got the ad posted. I stated that we had some gently used toys in excellent condition looking for a new home for Christmas, and that they would be available until 4PM. I felt sure that I had waited too long; this would not be nearly enough notice for people to stop by. (I had intended, after all, to place the ad at least a week in advance!) But I had to at least try. No sooner had I walked away from the computer after posting the ad, then the phone started to ring. Minutes later someone arrived: a father of seven children who had just lost his job. He was filled with gratitude as he told us that these toys would be his kids' Christmas. Others who came had similar stories: one family member had just been diagnosed with caner and undergone extreme radiation treatment, making him unable to even hold his children; one family had recently moved from Michigan, and were forced to leave most of their children's toys behind. Within less than an hour and a half, everything was gone, and I had to remove the ad because the phone was ringing off the hook! We were left wishing we had more toys to give away, because we felt so good inside for being able to help in such a small and simple way. We realized that when you are focused on giving, you are a whole lot less worried about getting. It suddenly didn't matter that we wouldn't be able to buy as much for our kids this year, for we had been blessed beyond measure.

Four Year Old Princess

My baby girl turned four today. In fact, she informed me that I cannot call her "baby girl" any more, I have to call her "big girl." How did she get so grown up all of the sudden? We celebrated with a Princess party. The kids had fun decorating crowns, then the girls got to pamper themselves with nail polish and a makeover. I thought Keaton would high-tail it, by this point, opting to go do something more boyish, since he is, after all, definitely all-boy. But instead, he insisted on painting Addy's nails for her! She's showing off her beautiful manicure below.

After the make overs, the girls got dressed in fancy princess dresses and danced around at "the ball." The whole day was simple, fun, and surprisingly enjoyed by all the kids (even Keaton, amazingly. I think secretly he's just happy that he's old enough now to resist being dressed up like a princess by Delaney--which used to happen quite often, mind you. But now that Keaton is old enough to assert himself, he'll have none of that. Good sport that he is, though, he'll gladly dress up as a prince if it means he can join in on the fun!)

After a special birthday dinner, we ended the day by opening presents and eating a princess cake. (I had to think of some way to use the pink sugary-sparkles that Addy chose for her cake! A mouthful of crunchy sugar is not my idea of a mouth-watering cake, but apparently it's every four year old's dream!) I think the day was a success. Addy felt like a princess, and literally had a ball. And one of her favorite parts was being spoiled by everyone since it's a rule in our family that no one has to do any chores on their birthday!

The Blessings of Unemployment

We had seen the writing on the wall for quite some time: Brent's company was headed under. Sure enough, in the beginning of November they declared cChapter 11 Bankruptcy. At that point, Brent had survived three layoffs. Confused as to why he still had a job, but grateful nonetheless, Brent continued to work there, even while madly looking for another job. He was hoping to have a new one lined up before being let go. Unfortunately, that was not the case, and he was laid off the week before Thanksgiving. Surprisingly, rather than feeling overwhelmed with stress, we have both had a peaceful feeling about the whole thing. And we have been miraculously blessed in so many ways. Below are just a few of the blessings that we have enjoyed:

*Time! It has been an amazing blessing to have Brent home over the holidays. There are no other circumstances where we would be able to enjoy so much time together as a family. We even took a fun trip to McCall, where we had a blast playing games, swimming, and just hanging out. We also trekked through the woods to cut down a Christmas Tree! (The picture above, while totally unrelated to unemployment, still just warms my heart. It's the boys snuggled up for a Sunday afternoon nap!)

*Shifting Priorities. As we have tried to cut back our expenses and reflect on what is really important, we have realized that it's not things that matter so much, after all. Much of what we used to think about doesn't seem to matter now, and we're aware of blessings all around us that we never even stopped to consider.

*Medical Insurance. We are lucky that my pregnancy will continue to be covered.

*A Back-up Mommy. Brent has been so helpful with the house and kids. That has been a tremendous blessing, especially when it comes to lifting Mason. Brent has almost completely taken over caring for him, as my back has bothered me so much that even lifting him in and out of his crib or high chair has not been fun. It has been a real relief to me to have Brent here to help with that.

*Opportunities out of the Ordinary. Having Brent home has allowed he and I both to spend lots of time volunteering in the kids' classrooms, visiting grandparents--even grocery shopping alone--all things that were never quite as easy to fit in before.

Thanksgiving Feast, Preschool Style

Today Keaton joined in celebrating a long-standing Initiative Learning Center ritual: the annual Thanksgiving Feast, where the preschoolers and kindergarteners dress up as pilgrims and indians, and prepare a feast in honor of the first Thanksgiving.

The kids had fun eating cornbread with butter they had churned themselves, applesauce, pumpkin cookies, chicken, and loads more. I had fun reminiscing about my own feast: I still remember putting on my paper pilgrim hat and apron back when I was in kindergarten. I'm thankful that my kids have had the chance to carry on the tradition at such a great school!

Predictions

We had our ultrasound yesterday and are thrilled to report that everything checked out great! (Isn't technology amazing?) We opted to be surprised about the gender, but that doesn't stop us all from speculating...here are everyone's predictions.

Brent: "I'm going to have to go with boy. Just a hunch...that and it would be too easy to name if it was a girl so I'm going with Murphy's law."

Shannon: "It's probably a boy, because that would be just my luck (since we're totally stumped on boys' names, and have no trouble at all with girls' names)!"

Delaney: "I think it's a girl!" (With more than a little bit of wishful thinking evident in her voice.)

Keaton: "It's a girl. I know it's a girl." When asked why he thought that, he simply says, "I just know!" (By the way, he keeps insiting, despite all evidence to the contrary, that there are two babies in there. Heaven help us!)

Addison: "It's a boy baby! Is it gonna come out now?"

Mason: "Da!" (He's probably the only one that's right!)

Playschool Party

Keaton and Addison had fun throughout the month of October attending a playschool put on by the Child Development class at Nampa High School. Several of the other "students" were already friends of the kids. Here they are with a few from our ward.

On the last day of class, they had a Halloween party and the kids got to wear their cosutmes and Trick-or-Treat throughout the classroom. My little "Peter Pan" and "Tinkerbell" had a ball, and got loaded up with goodies.

Addison especially loved going to school like a big girl. She feels pretty left out most of the time, since Delaney and Keaton both get to go to school and she does not. Luckily, she is still easy to please: she gets excited about having "school" at home with Mom. She really gets into it. In fact, during school, she refuses to call me Mom--only "Teacher"!

A Little Silly and a Little Sweet

Here's a glimpse at the adorable faces that light up my days. First, there are two goofballs bundling up to play outside on a day that was threatening rain. (Just the idea of a possible rainstorm gets them excited about wearing their rain gear!)

Here is the day that Addy "decorated" herself for Halloween.

And I caught these two snuggling the way they used to all the time when they were babies.

And here is Mason trapped in the "cage" that he loves to crawl into over and over. Gotta love life's simple pleasures!

Mason's Latest Trick

Ever since watching the kids at swimming lessons, Mason has discovered a whole new level of fun at bathtime. Every single time he takes a bath, he dunks his face in the water and tries to blow bubbles (or, disgustingly, drink the water, which I wholeheartedly discourage, of course). He's not afraid to dunk his whole face, even, and he often puts his eyes in the water, too.

Of course, it's Murphy's Law that I can never quite capture it successfully on video, but you can sort of get the idea. If you watch really carefully you can even see his bubbles in his second attempt.

Just Like Christmas!

Out of the blue today we got a fun surprise--a package in the mail, all the way from Japan! Sweet Aunt Kenzie mailed us a whole bunch of goodies. My favorite? The plastic sushi set! Thanks, Kenz. You're the best!

Keaton had a blast with his cool Japanese police car. He especially loved the cool sound effects--even the Japanese police officer that he can't understand!

Addison loves her Disney princess accessories--especially the dangly earrings. She's definately all girl!

Check out Mason's stylin' Japanese shoes. He's happy to be in the "Pal's Club" with his cousin Teagan who has a matching pair.

Back to School

We have survived our first full week being back in school. (Most importantly, we've found carpools, so we're down to making only two trips a day to the school instead of four. Thank goodness!) Delaney is in first grade this year, and Keaton is in preschool. Delaney enjoyed being the experienced big sister--she had the same teacher Keaton has this year for preschool, so she had lots of fun telling him exactly what he could expect.

Delaney was not overly excited to start first grade. In fact, she was downright dreading it. However, after one week, I think she's kind of come around to the idea of it. Still, there's one dealbreaker for her--math. If she doesn't have to do any math at school, then it's a good day; if she has to do math, it's a "stinky" day! (On a side note, thank goodness Delaney is required to wear a uniform. You should see the outfits she comes up with for herself. At least with uniforms, she looks a bit more acceptable, even if she still insists on tennis shoes with tights and a skirt!)

Keaton could barely contain his excitement about starting school. In fact, for the last few weeks, he's been asking me first thing every morning, "Is it fall yet?" and later, "Is it September 8th yet?" When the big day finally rolled around, he was the first one up in the morning. He proudly dressed himself in his new duds, donned his backpack and name tag, and fixed his hair in his signature hairstyle (heaven help me, he insists on fixing his own hair in a "faux-hawk" every day. This day was actually on the tamer side!)

Poor Addison. She was just as excited as the big kids were that they got to go back to school. She cheerfully dropped Delaney off in the morning without any problem. It wasn't until we went back in the afternoon to take Keaton to preschool that she finally felt jealous. And who wouldn't? Keaton's preschool room was hard to resist--it had a full-size mural of the ocean painted on two walls, puzzles, books and toys lining the walls, and fun kid-sized tables in the center. (Delaney's boring old first grade classroom with regular desks was a little easier to resist, apparently.) But instead of staying and playing like Keaton, poor Addy had to come home and take a nap. Good thing she's such a faithful napper. By the time Addy and Mason have woken up from their naps, the other gets are getting home from school, and it's almost like they were never even gone!

Picture Perfect

This picture warms my heart. Not because it's compositionally or technically perfect, or because the subject matter is so compelling. It's far more complicated than that. I love this picture because it represents a minor miracle.

This is the first picture that Delaney has willingly let me take of her in probably a year. For some reason, she has developed a rather intense aversion to having her picture taken. The only pictures I have of her lately are ones that I have either taken on the sly, or taken after a serious bribe. So the fact that she asked me--begged me, even--to take a picture of her with this bottle of apple juice (does she even like apple juice that much?) was a huge step for her. I love the moment this captures. In this moment, however fleeting, Delaney is happy, and that makes this picture perfect to me.

Delaney's Surprise

Delaney has a surprise that she's excited to share with everyone.

Here's a close-up of the message on her shirt:

It's true--we are getting a new baby. In March! Go figure--seven years to get pregnant the first time, two years the second time, and nine months the third time. I guess the third time's the charm.

Birthday Boy

Mr. Mason turned one year old yesterday! It's hard to believe a whole year has passed since this sweet, happy baby came into our lives. He is such a joy. We figured that after three happy, content babies, we were due an honery one, so we figured our fourth would be the one to give us grief. But that is far from the case with Mason. He is happy much more often than not. He's almost always smiling. We're so grateful we have him in our family!

He looks kind of like a deer caught in headlights in the picture above. I think he was a bit overwhelmed with all the attention at his birthday party. He sure had fun, though. He especially loved digging into his cake!

My, how you've grown!

Here's looking back at the first year of Mason's life. He was a cutie--and a sweetie--from the very beginning!

Our Poor Little Sickie

We had quite a scare. Poor Mason has had a cold for about four days--the same cold that all the other kids had had over the last couple of weeks. It didn't seem to be any worse than usual--until Tuesday. After an unusually long nap (I had to wake him up after four hours) I went into his room and saw his little chest just heaving up and down. I picked him up and carried him out to the family room, where I laid him down so I could get the phone, the thermometer, and some medicine. He was totally lethargic, and didn't even respond when I laid him down. I packed up the kids and drove to the Urgent Care clinic. They took one look at him and sent us across the street to the Emergency Room. We didn't even have time to sit down at the ER before they rushed us back to a room where about 6-8 people immediately rushed to work on him--putting him on oxygen, starting an IV, drawing blood samples, taking X-rays, etc. His room was pretty frantic--unlike anything I've ever experienced in the ER before, where usually you wait hours to even see a doctor. Within 20 minutes, they told me he had pneumonia and they were going to be transfering him by ambulance to the Children's Hospital at St. Luke's in Boise. There he spent just over 24 hours in the ICU, and then another four days in the Pediatric unit. He received excellent care there, and was such a trooper the whole time.

It wasn't until we were settled in the ICU that I learned the reason for the near-panicked frenzy back in the ER. A nurse informed me that, since Mason was breathing 120 times a minute--more than three times the normal rate for his age--they were worried that he was going to wear himself out and just suddenly give up and stop breathing. She said that is the risk when babies are working that hard to breathe--they just simply give up, without warning. Thank heavens Mason didn't give up.

Big Little Sister

I was shocked to learn today at their checkup that Addison has finally caught up--and actually surpassed--Keaton in size. They've been pretty much neck and neck for several years now, with Keaton usually just barely bigger (an inch or so taller, and maybe a pound heavier). In the last few months, they've evened out, and now Addy is actually 1/2" taller and 1.5 pounds heavier. She must have had quite a growth spurt lately, because this picture was taken almost exactly a year ago, and Keaton was quite a bit taller than Addy. One thing remains the same, though. They're still great buddies!

Pool Party

We "upgraded" this year from the little 8-inch deep inflatable pool, to a 3-foot deep pool. Nothing fancy, but loads of fun for the kids to cool off in on hot summer days. All of the kids love playing in the water! (Delaney snuck inside to snuggle up in her blanket before I could snap her picture. The water was pretty cold since it was the first time we had filled the pool!)

Addy especially loves the pool if she has free reign of the floatie. She loves to paddle her way around in circles. She even withstood a dunking when she accidentally tipped over. She didn't like it at first (she was pretty shocked!) but she got right back on and went back for more!

Keaton, on the other hand, has no fear of dunking. He's so brave in the pool that it almost makes me nervous. He'll dunk himself under water and come up shaking his head and rubbing his eyes so much that I'll think he's lost his footing and slipped under on accident. So when I rush to him to "save" him, he tells me to let him go so he can do it again!

Mason has always been a water baby. He loves splashing in the bath, and he's equally at home in the pool--even though it was shockingly cold the first time we filled it up! He got pretty tuckered out after this swim. He was so relaxed, he just about fell asleep on the floatie!