No, this is not a political diatribe on capitalism or our consumerist culture. This is an introduction to the most effective tool we have ever seen in parenting. And no, I’m not talking about allowance as bribery, either! The Family Dollar system has transformed my family with four children from being resigned to never EVER going shopping with the boys again (even with 3 adults present I felt they were out of control!) to constantly receiving compliments on how well-behaved my boys are in public. Read on if you’re curious.

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So I thought we were looking at a miracle when it hit 50 degrees on Sunday and sent the boys out to play in just sweaters and scarves, then Tuesday we had a high of 60! If that’s not park weather I don’t know what is. I even took Eva outside to play. Well, observe from the baby carrier anyway! She would watch her brothers climb and swing and just giggle and gab… she’s already SUCH a chatterbox. Now if only I could catch it on camera… and figure out how to upload it.

I’m posting pics from Sunday, and Tuesday. Alas, last night it snowed and hasn’t really let up since. We’ve already got at least four inches.

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In our church it is traditional for the father to give the child their name and blessing, similar to a Christening in other faiths. Oftentimes special counsel or blessings are given at that time, and it’s just a unique opportunity to get a glimpse into how Heavenly Father sees this amazing little person so new to us. We blessed Evangeline on Sunday, and the Spirit felt there was just wonderful. We feel she will be such an influence for good in the world, and we are so blessed to have her in our home. She is one of the most joyful people I know, and she’s only an infant! We love her so much. Here are some pictures to enjoy:

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So my post about Micah & Lizzie’s gift made me want to post about all the cool games we got from Matthan and Brenda. I would highly recommend all of them! WAY fun.

Here’s the list:

Coloretto

Vikings

Express

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Mystery Garden

Battle Ball

Bohnanza

I love that they included some great preschooler games like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Mystery Garden, a game with cool little figurines (Battleball), and that all of them are games we can play all together or at least with Neils soon if not already.  Thanks again Matthan and Brenda for such great gifts!

The fun part of our vacation began once we hit the road to Ohio. It was slow going thanks to very cautious drivers in the snow, but we made it by the evening after Christmas. I don’t know why, but none of us seemed to be in photographer mode as we ended up with very few photos, none of Conan’s beloved siblings,  nearly none of our nieces and nephews, and zero group shots, which is sad since it may be quite awhile before we are all together like that again… in fact it’s probably safe to say that may never happen again! We were a little crowded (9 adults and 9 children–three of which were infants– in a 2 bedroom condo!) but it was wonderful to be so close. We played many games, took excursions to the zoo and Chuck E. Cheese, met up with one of Conan’s Middle School friends and his wife, and attended the temple. All in all, a wonderful vacation!

I think it’s safe to say, Grandma was in HEAVEN having so many grandbabies to love. Here is Milo and Peter dressed as twinners! 

She used her zoo pass to get us all in to the Columbus Zoo to see the Christmas lights… apparently that is a MUCH bigger event than I was anticipating! The line for parking snaked all the way to the road, and the zoo itself was no less than crammed. Talk about nervous-making! (Anyone read the Uglies series? Sorry, but that vocab is habit-forming!) It was a good thing we had so many adults looking out for the kids, because if you thought visiting a crowded zoo was difficult in broad daylight, imagine it at night, with a million twinkling, twirling lights to delight and distract them! Yikes. But it was lots of fun, and the kids really got a kick out of the light show set to Christmas music on the pond, though we pretty much just caught the finale with Neils’ favorite Transiberian Orchestra tune, Christmas / Sarajevo 12/24. Kind of a Carol of the Bells meets heavy metal number. Somehow the cutest photos I thought I was getting turned out to be video, which I still can’t figure out how to upload. Sorry kids! 

Our Chuck E. Cheese excursion:

So.. this really was a cute photo-op with Eve being totally delighted with her cousin Peter, and him just gabbing away at her… but we were too slow. Ah well, Peter is still adorable!

The Bella Bambina:

This year we decided that although we are very fond of seeing extended family at Christmas, we are not fond of becoming a moving company in order to do so. So we celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas day at home before heading to Ohio for some fun and games with family and friends. Love you all and hope yours was as happy.

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He’s really 3! I have thought of him as a three year old since the torrent of birthdays in October, and now he’s finally really truly three! Umm… in two days. But today was his birthday party, so as far as I’m concerned, he’s three. Oh, whatever. Enjoy the photos.

 (BTW– since there are so many pics I opted to post just the thumbnails, but click on any photo to enlarge it)

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We are lucky enough to have grandparents willing to overcome busy work schedules and fears of flying to come visit us from the other side of the country! For Thanksgiving week (Wednesday to Wednesday) my parents have been here enjoying the holiday, getting to know their grandkids again, and helping out. We (meaning Dad & Conan) have a repaired lawn tractor, a freshly mopped floor, clean AND folded laundry, a "spoiled" baby, and happy kids. Here’s a few photos to show how it went. Don’t know how, but we never did get all the grandkids together in a shot with both grandparents. I just was NOT the camera person I usually am this week! We had all kinds of plans that went awry, so we did NOT get all kinds of deals on Black Friday (more on that another day), we did NOT visit Bronner’s and the world’s largest nativity in Frankenmuth, we did NOT give the boys their much needed haircuts, or get portraits at the photo studio.

 But we did…

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OK, so our baby is growing, which is good, but she’s really just a little peanut. Well, more like a little grapefruit…

Oh, wait a minute… 

            there she is!
 

So hopefully that puts things into perspective. That is not an abnormally large grapefruit or anything. Her head is just that tiny!