Luca and the Fairy

There are several books in our house that have been read so often that Luca has them memorized. This comes in very handy when I ask her to "read" to Court. I had assumed that her talent was limited to short board books and repetitive stories until I overheard her reciting her new book from Grandma- The Dollhouse Fairy, twenty-eight pages long. I love hearing her say words like "enchanted" and

 "mischievous".

(This video was too large to load on the blog so I opened up the movie maker program on our computer and played around until I figured out how to shrink it. Still too big. So I pushed a few more buttons and managed to split it into two videos, still not working so I split it again. Now it is very ghetto (4 clips?!?!) but at least it will load. And all that really matters is that you can hear Luca's voice, right?)

A New Year

 A few of my blogging friends have inspired me to try and capture the small things in life by posting a picture for every day. I have no great faith in my ability to keep this up but it's time for New Year resolutions, right? And if nothing else, it gives me a new format to try out. So here we go:

 Joe took the kids and I up to Omaha to tour his job site, and of course we had to check out the machinery. Surprisingly, Court was much more excited about them from afar. Luca, as you can see was more than happy to take the controls.

Personality? (and ok, yes, this picture is from November as illustrated by the Thanksgiving Tree behind him, but I forgot to post it earlier and he was just as impish on January 2.)

One of many surprises I found on the camera card. Luca has been photographing again.

Have you ever found pine cones in your refrigerator? Luca explained: "Those are things for us to make a craft with, I just put them in bowls so you would remember". She has been on a craft binge lately but I'm still unsure as to why the supplies needed to be refrigerated.

Saturday night bath time! Court loves him some "bub-boos".

Silly Straw!

 As I sat on the couch Sunday night watching the game with Joe, I slowly became aware that a bug was stalking me, I got that hot feeling in my chest and an ache between my shoulder blades that always signals a fever ahead. By Monday morning, I could barely move. Enter my sweet, wonderful, capable daughter. I managed to haul Court out of his crib and get his diaper replaced and then I turned him over to his sister. She fed him, played with him, periodically checked to see if I needed a drink or more medicine or a book (she knows me) and in general ran our household with aplomb. I kept waiting to hear the argument that would necessitate me leaving the bed but instead I heard fits of giggles and phrases like "you want to play that game now Court? Ok, but first we need to put these toys away, then we can get that game out." and "Court, shhhh...Mommy is sick, we have to be quiet. How about I read you this book?". What a wonderful blessing my Luca Bean is! Influenza laid me low for a full week but thanks to my hubby, my neighbor and my Luca, I was well taken care of. And praise the Lord no one else has gotten it, thanks in part I think to this arsenal.

Snow Happy

I love the camaraderie of our neighborhood, all of us out scooping the sidewalks while the kids build forts and generally knock the snow right back onto the sidewalks. There's always that hint of friendly competition too...who will get theirs cleared first?

 

 

Court's first snow! First snow as an upright walker anyway. He was a little unsure about just what he was supposed to do...it's hard to walk in, it's easy to get stuck, not to mention it's a little hard to see in the glare. Good thing he has Luca to demonstrate, and a Daddy to facilitate (and a Mommy to cheer)!

 Our angel making an angel.

 Little break

 Run!

Christmas!

Okay, so I didn't do so well taking pictures this Christmas but don't let the shortness of the post fool you, there was a lot of merry!

 Luca was on the gingerbread house bandwagon early in December (she remembered from last "Chismas time") and this year Court joined in. A friend suggested a glue gun in place of frosting for sturdier construction and while Luca and Daddy handled icing with finesse the glue saved Court's house from collapse.

 We started a new tradition of camping out in sleeping bags, fireside, Christmas Eve night and then opening stockings first thing Christmas morning.

 Oh yeah. Nothing like a new skid loader!

 Luca's dollhouse. Joe and I were up some late nights and worked through several nap times. At one point during December Luca asked me to wrap one of her presents in pink paper. I informed her that I had already wrapped all of her gifts and she said "No you haven't! What about the surprise one that you and Daddy are making downstairs?". Too smart for her own good.

 This years additions to the Nativity (can you tell we have a boy in the house?) dinosaurs and Secretariat.

Isaiah, Luca and Miya at the Christmas Eve Concert. Growing so fast!