These Small Hours

We had a surprise visit from Santa Claus tonight. The kids each sat on his lap and assured him they've been good all year. Tyler was fascinated...

...and loved chewing on his candy cane (wrapper still on).

Thanks for making a special trip to see us, Santa.

Merry Christmas!

First haircut

Bat baby for Halloween

Brothers

Happy baby

Tyler is 4 months old now and is the perfect baby (and I'm not biased at all, of course). He is happy nearly all of the time and even if he's crying, can be consoled very quickly. He rolls from tummy to back sometimes, is always drooling, and LOVES to play with his toes. We all love having Tyler in our family.

(In no particular order)
Nathan turns 5 on October 6

First day of school - Aug. 30

Harrison turns 10 - double digits!

Story time with dad

Dogs

When I was 12 years old I had an accident that caused a lot of damage to my face. Since then I've had braces, multiple root canals, oral surgery and this latest installment: a septorhinoplasty to correct the cosmetic damage of my previously broken nose and to open my airway so I can breathe properly. I won't go into details, but I will say it was extremely painful! The first picture below shows the before pic and the second one is the 3-week-after view. My nose is a little bit straighter now, but is still swollen some. Mostly people don't notice the subtle change, but it's great to be able to breathe properly now and not be so self-conscious of my crooked nose.

I've spent the past 5 weeks falling in love with my sweet baby boy. It's so wonderful to have a newborn in the house again. Since the time Nathan was born almost 5 years ago, manufacturers have come up with some fun new baby things. Here are my 2 favorites:

I've used this cover for privacy and modesty while nursing. I'd never pay their ridiculous price - I had a coupon code for a free one, but you seamstresses could probably make your own easily.

We believe there are many benefits to swaddling a newborn baby. We swaddled our other kids with regular baby blankets so when I found these special swaddle blankets I was excited. I love the design and how they fasten easily with Velcro (although the ripping Velcro is a little noisy at 3am). Tyler loves it too, see?

In April we moved from the heart of Grangeville to a house just outside the city limits. Here are a few things we like about our new place:

Top 10 Things About This House on Highway 95:

1. Lots of trees all around the house give us plenty of shade to keep cool on hot summer days.

2. These Tiger Swallowtail butterflies play in our yard every day.

3. There is so much space for our large family inside. We're not tripping over each other and there's always a place to find peace and quiet. (My room has a door... with a lock!)

4. An entire wall of built-in shelves for our books and movies

5. Trash, water, sewer bill is included in the rent.

6. The water tastes good! Not since I lived in my childhood home have I liked the water enough to drink it without some kind of filter.

7. We have great neighbors. Our landlords live next door and are so very nice. Here are Rio and Jack riding one of their horses in our front yard:

8. The dishwasher is so quiet I barely know it's running.

9. Main level laundry. I love not hauling laundry baskets up and down stairs.

10. The fabulous yard. There are fields to explore, trees to climb and a great view of the mountains.

There are a few things we aren't crazy about - like the old house smell and the fact that there's carpet in every room (even the kitchen and bathroom), but we're very happy here and blessed that we found such a nice place that's just right for our family right now.

NATHAN!

Here's some pictures of our new little guy:
1st day home from the hospital - 7/17

1st bath - 7/23

Blessing day - 7/31

A tired boy after a big, big day!

On June 1st I had my annual spring piano recital. I was very happy to include a new student this year - Jack! He started taking piano lessons in January and has been excited about developing his new talent. He played Halloween Night and The Bunny With No Name at the recital and performed beautifully. Including my own 3 children, I teach 10 students and enjoy watching their musical talent grow.

The 2010-2011 school year was great. We are so pleased with how well the kids have adjusted to living in a small town. While sometimes it feels like opportunities are limited, there are advantages too - like the smaller class sizes that offer more one on one education between teachers and students. Here is Jack on the last day of school with his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Wassmuth:

Mr. Stefani was Rio's 2nd grade teacher this year.

And Mrs. Allen taught Harrison's combined 3rd/4th grade class.

In April our family moved from our small house in town to a larger house with a great yard just outside of town. We love our new place, but we've had problems getting an internet connection set up so I've got some catching up to do. Rio turned 8 years old on April 7th and was baptized on the 9th. It was so great to have some visitors come to Grangeville to share her special day with us.

Rio has continued her sewing lessons and is modeling a new skirt she made. So cute!

She also had a dance recital and did a great job. What a beautiful, talented girl we have!

Rio has been working on a new talent: sewing! She has been taking sewing lessons once a week for about 6 weeks now and has completed her first project - a beautiful quilt! Her teacher says she's doing very well and learns quickly. We're all looking forward to having a seamstress in the family.

Remember my Two Little Monkeys? They're getting so big!

Last night I hosted a Stampin' Up! workshop and had to show all the fun things I came home with. Thanks to DeAnn Rauzi for being a great demonstrator and be sure to check out her blog to see some cute crafting ideas.

Every year for Valentine's Day Micah does something super thoughtful - and usually yummy. I thought after 10 years that it was my turn to do something extra nice so I planned ahead and had a friend teach me how to make hand dipped cherry chocolates. They turned out great! I redecorated the lid of a candy box and put it all together to complete the presentation. Micah loves them!