How many more days?

We need to buy one more gift. Find and wrap a gift that's gone missing. All the other gifts are wrapped and packed. Clothes need to be packed for the kiddos and I, J has his packed already. There are at least three laundry baskets of clothes in my room that need to be folded and put away. The car needs to be packed. I work tonight, tomorrow night and Friday at 11 am. Everything needs to be done before Friday morning because we will be leaving as soon as I get off work around 5. I'm thinking of getting some food from work before we head off so we won't need to stop again. 12 hour drive then we arrive in Michigan. It will be a white Christmas because there is already snow in MI and no sign of it melting. I love snow. I plan on taking the girls sledding for the first time. Oh how I hope our plans go more smoothly than hoped.

We Tumble

Oh Holy Night

 O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;

It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,

Here came the wise men from Orient land.

The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,

In all our trials born to be our friend!

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His Gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother

And in His Name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy Name!

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

O night, O holy night, O night divine!

My Growing Boy

I am officially declaring my baby boy a toddler boy.

Wednesday night J converted N's crib into a toddler bed. He has successfully slept two nights in it and has had successful nap times too. His crib was the last thing connecting him to babyhood. It is kind of sad but no one can delay growth and I am glad my little baby boy turned toddler is growing into a man.

And while we are on the topic of growing up. Terrible Twos have hit as well. Can you say "tantrum"? The other day I was telling him to leave our room.(we like to keep the children out of our bedroom as much as possible so it doesn't get littered with toys) At first he threw himself on the floor then inched himself forward every time I told him he needed to go. Then he got in a crawling position, still with his head on the ground, and crawled out of the room pushing his head out. DRAMATIC!

So heres to growth and waking up to a little boy staring into your face saying "cup, mama, cup"

Ten Days?

Seriously? Do we only have ten days left until Christmas?

That means I have ten days to finish shopping, wrap presents, pack our bags and the car and head up to Michigan. Ten days.

We are leaving the night before Christmas or Christmas morning.... we still haven't officially decided yet. I think it will depend on the weather. If it looks like the roads should be alright we will probably drive through the night and go to bed early Christmas night or take a nap after the festivities. The great thing about driving through the night is that the children should sleep the entire time. That equals less stops which means we should arrive in good time.

I hope ya'll have fun these last few days before the big day getting ready. No stressing, it should be fun. :-)

Library

The girls and I ventured to the library today to sign up for a library card and pick out some books. The trip was long over-due. I've just never been composed enough to take three kids to a place where talking in a normal voice is unacceptable. With three kids there is a greater chance of one being grumpy. Actually we are thankful when only two are upset/screaming their head off- at least it isn't all three? So the thought of the library- yes that would be awesome, with two kids, just one or can I go by myself?

J's semester is done so he is home and able to watch little N(the one that it most likely to run, scream, cry... all things that should be done somewhere other than the library). So I saw my opportunity and took it. The girls and I went to the library, signed up for a card and filled a basket full of books. We can check out 5o at a time, WOW.

More library trips will be in our future, maybe next time we will bring N with us.

Car Conversations

M "What is zero plus zero?"

L "Zero"

M "Yay! You win!"

M "What is cow plus cow?"

L "Two"

M "That's right! Two cows!"

M "What is gate plus gate?"

L"Two"

M "That's right! Two gates!"

M "What is donkey plus... ummm donkey?"

L "Two"

M "That's right! Two donkeys!"