December Seventh

Remembering the real reason for all this craziness.

We got the tree up today. So far it only has lights on it. The Nativity is up on the mantle. I like having that reminder there for me to look at every time things start to loose perspective.

December Sixth

Today is St Nicholas Day. The tradition of leaving your shoe outside your door to be filed with treats was passed down from my husband's German family. When I got home from work at 12:30am they were waiting for me to fill them.

Christoph had an interesting conversation with Emily when they were putting the shoes out. He told the girls the story of St. Nicholas. When he was done, Emily wanted to know who would leave the treats in the shoes. "St Nicholas?" she asked. "No" Christoph responded, "It's someone who loves you very much." Is it God?" was Emily's next guess. The correct guess of Mommy came third. She was rather disappointed to hear that St. Nicholas died a long time ago and wouldn't be doing the job himself.

December Fifth

Umm...the yummy smell of pine and my first bit of Christmas cheer this year. Our friends the Hoffmans send us a wreath every year for Christmas. It's a great gift. Perfect this year for starting off the decorating. Hopefully this weekend I can kick things into high gear. By this weekend, I mean Sunday afternoon, because I have to work Friday and Saturday. "Can we do it? Yes, we can!"

December Fourth

Micah, you're six months old today. Halfway to a year already. It's hard for me to believe. It's also hard for me to believe how incredibly sweet you are. Your gentle grin can brighten up the grayest day. You have the most patience of any baby I've ever seen, which is good because your sisters can be very demanding. You've mastered the skill of rolling over from your back to your tummy, but haven't yet connected that with the fact that your tummy is a place you hate to be. For some reason you've decided that sucking on the back of your hand, only your right hand mind you, is the most comforting thing you can do for yourself. You've given yourself a little hickey that never quite heals. You're following in the tradition of your sisters and are quite the little growler, although I'd say you've kicked it up a notch. Their growls were never quite as nuanced as yours are. You carry on entire conversations just in growls. I love the little sense of humor that you're developing and the gleam of delight that appears in your eyes when your sisters move into your line of sight. You enrich our lives everyday and I love you!

December Third

Wednesday is library day at Emily's school. Every Wednesday they get to bring home a book of their choice. This afternoon I was delighted to find "Harry the Dirty Dog" in her backpack. This was a childhood favorite of my brothers' and mine. It was great to read her the story of the little white dog with black spots that got so dirty he became a black dog with white spots.

December Second

This is the part of Oregon I absolutely love. It's was a beautiful, gorgeous Fall day today. Yes, it rains a lot here. However, very few weeks go by where amidst the rain one of these days doesn't sneak in. Their gray sky bookends make me appreciate them all the more.

December First

November is over. After a weekend of hanging out with my brothers, playing video games, watching movies, and being generally lazy it's time to get back in gear. There was a sink full of dishes and a room full of laundry waiting for me. Back to life...