Good Christian Friends, Rejoice

Advent Days 8, 9, 10

I couldn't wait to get home on Thursday after school because we were finally putting up the tree.  I'd been anticipating it all week long as had Myrick, but things did not go according to how they should have in my head.  As I was rearranging and cleaning the living room, the kids fought and screamed their heads off over the sound of the vaccuum and the Christmas music in the background - truly a joyful noise!  They were in rare form so we ended up putting them upstairs to play by themselves, which they happily did, while Nate and I had some wine as we hauled it inside and strung it with lights.  I only wish we'd grabbed the video camera as the kids came downstairs because Pender's reaction was priceless.  He did his little jig and babbled in his sweet little voice, clearly delighted by the lit tree in his living room.  Tonight will be the hanging of the ornaments.  Perhaps it will be a little more peaceful tonight...

Friday brought a rare treat our way - a date night out in the big city with friends and without kids!  Wow!  The kids were with Tom and Sally while Nate and I enjoyed a lovely dinner at a real restaurant with great company and a sweet downtown strung with holiday lights.  Can't remember the last time we did something social with other adults and no kids.  And while it was a great time, the best was coming home and looking at my kids sleeping snuggly in their beds.  Myrick and Pender woke us up as the often do on the weekends, with them playing and squealing together over the baby monitor in their room.  I can't describe what a beautiful wake-up call that is.  They were having such fun together that Myrick came in and asked if we could get up and get Pender out of his crib so that they could play together.  I know it won't always be this way, but I sure do cherish this phase in our lives and am so grateful that they enjoy one another's company.

This morning held a trip to the church kitchen for holiday baking with other moms and kids.  We baked and frosted dozens upon dozens of animal-themed cookies to sell tomorrow after church for our heiffer project fundraiser.  What a great time playing with kids in flour, dough, and icing!  You can hardly imagine the mess that remained when they were finished, but it was worth it.  I guess I'll have to do some more of this with Myrick in the coming days.  She really enjoyed it!

Myrick and Pender play with their Little People nativity scene

Advent Day 20 and 19

I think I'm counting backwards, aren't I?  Ugghhh.  I don't think I'm going back to fix the titles.  Perhaps I'll start counting forwards from now on, like our advent calendars.  Speaking of...

We have two advent calendars this year.  One is like the ones we've had in the past, a chocolate-filled cardboard one that is just for this season where you open the little doors.  Myrick loves it, of course, but we also have a new one this year.  Each day of advent, you hang a piece of the nativity scene onto the quilt building up to baby Jesus on the last day.  After bedtime story, she never fails to remind me that it is time to hang the new piece.  She is loving going through the bag of items and finding just the right one to hang.  So far she has hung all of the buildings, the star of Bethlehem, a sheep, and tonight was the first of a couple of camels.  My favorite part, though, is that after she hangs them, she plays with them.  Tonight the sheep and camel had quite the conversation about the bright star.  I know every parent thinks they have the cutest kids in the world that do the cutest things, but mine are really just the greatest.  They are so precious and dear.

You know how "they" (whoever "they" are) say that the car is a great place to have conversations with your teenager because they get to avoid looking you right in the face?  Well, I'm also finding that it's a great place to connect with my pre-schooler.  Maybe it's just because as a 2-working-parent family, more of our time is spent in the car out of necessity than I'd like, but I'm trying to appreciate our togetherness time, even if it is while driving.  A couple of days ago, Myrick says to me from the backseat, "Mommy, can you write Santa a letter?"  I, of course, think that a list of what she'd like is coming next and that won't it be cute to go drop it off together at our little local post office.  I was wrong.  Instead she says, "Can you be sure to tell him that I've been a good girl?"  Oh, my heart.  She's been quite preoccupied with the song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," especially the line about he sees you when you're sleeping... he knows when you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake.  And admittedly, we've used that as incentive for better behavior in her moments of not good behavior, saying things like "I sure hope Santa didn't see you throw that truck at Pender."  Oops.  She's really taken this to heart.

Da Moo

Pender's vocab is increasing by the day, and much like his sister, he is fascinated by the moon.  I remember when Myrick first started talking how delighted I was to hear her speak her first words, and with Pender it is no different.  It is such a joy to hear him working out his thoughts as best as he can - sweet, sweet sounds!  I can't get enough of his little voice.

Advent Day 21

Yesterday we realized at the last minute that if we didn't get to our in-town tree farm, we'd have to wait more than a week to get our tree. So we woke the kids up from their naps, bundled up, and headed out for a little tree-cutting.  We went to this same family farm a couple of years ago, and they didn't disappoint - a lovely place with good cheer served up with your tree, along with a cookie for the kids in their cozy little pay-when-you-cut shack.  We had fun weaving in and out of the trees deciding which one we'd take home.  Pender loved playing peek-a-boo in between the rows, and Myrick enjoyed some non-stop chatting as usual while she helped us look.  Perfectly timed, as we were the last customers of the day before they closed for the week!

Destined for a place in front of our new window

Myrick's shutterbug debut - watch out Poppy!

The Good Moments

Because why on earth would you post pictures of the less-than-perfect sibling moments...?

Playing on the firetruck after breakfast in footie jammies - and BOTH are smiling and laughing!

Snuggling together on the couch in the mornings.  They both like to sit touching each other and under the same cover.  How lucky am I, even if it is just for a moment in time!

Knock-Knock, Who's There?

I guess all pre-schoolers go through a knock-knock joke phase, don't they?  Myrick has been in one for about a year.  Some are funny, many are made up, and we laugh at all of them despite their funniness or not (and many of them are just downright silly).  So having an older sister who never stops regaling you with her endless arsenal of knock-knock jokes makes you think you should get a few, too, doesn't it Pender?  And here we go...

Advent Day 24, 23, 22

And so continues the countdown and the making of Christmas.

A few moments from the past few days:

Paper-chain making and pulling out the Christmas books were the plan for Friday and Saturday. We have collected a lovely bunch of Christmas story books over the years and take great joy in pulling them out during this season. So far we've already read Stranger in the Woods, Winter's Gift, An Apple Tree Christmas, and some others I can't call to mind at the moment. We always read each night before bed, but now there is the added excitement of going through the Christmas box to find the treasure for story time! Even Pender is becoming quite the "reader", going to the bookshelf first, then grabbing paci and puppy before plunking himself down in the reading corner for his story and snuggles. It's the best time of my days.

So for "girls' time" Myrick wanted to get started on making our paper chains. We made a really long red one that is now draped over our curtain rod in the living room and a smaller green one that hangs in the doorframe between the kitchen and living room. It was great to notice how far her cutting skills have come in a year. Last year I did most of the cutting, and she would help link the stips of paper before stapling them. This year I drew lines down the paper, and she cut them all by herself with varying degrees of accuracy but such a lot of concentration and focus! Now she wants to make a purple chain for her bedroom...

On Saturday we all went to a regional production of The Nutcracker at Exeter High School. What a place with a real auditorium and stage - amazing! Myrick enjoyed it and even got into the dancing during the Chinese music (standing in the row and wiggling a bit), but Pender was amazing! For the entire first act he just sat there quietly enjoying the show on Nate's lap. He didn't fall asleep despite his lack of a real nap, and he even made it through the second act without incident! Wow! I, particularly, enjoyed the three older ladies sitting just in front of us, when at the end of the first act as the snow is falling down and the snowflakes have just finished their dance all looked at one another and said, "Just beautiful!" Watching it performed by a company of young dancers sent me down memory lane and made me wish there were someplace nearby for taking adult classes. I miss my days of ballet classes.

Last but not least, I suppose I should mention that with a new choir director at the helm of our church, Myrick went to children's choir rehearsal on Wednesday evening. The only song that I recognize that they are rehearsing for this season is "Away in the Manger" which means that is the only one I can help her with in the car on the way to their sitter's in the morning. The other ones Nate is practicing with her at the piano in the evenings after dinner. Today they sang "Sing Noel" in church. Myrick mostly stood there wiggling back and forth and smiling with a little singing while being accompanied by dad on the drum and the director on the piano. She may be too young, a conversation Nate and I still need to have, but she seems to have enjoyed "singing with the big girls" today. It remains to be seen how she will do as an angel in the Christmas pageant at church... Our director asked me if Nate knew how talented he is and then said to me during fellowship hour that he wanted to use Nate's many musical talents without exploiting them. I must admit that even I didn't know Nate could sing and play African spirituals the way that he has these past two Sundays. The congregation is so appreciative and supportive of him.

25 days of Advent

Haven't posted in forever, but I think it is about time. Although advent is really longer than 25 days this year, our official family advent countdown calendar was started today, so it seems like the right time to start collecting these holiday memories. As my mom says, it is time to make Christmas. We began by putting the candles in the windows tonight, and tomorrow will bring hanging the wreath on the door with our new silver bow and starting to cut and tape together our red and green paper chains that get hung around the living room. Apparently this is something Myrick remembers fondly from last year and has been impatiently waiting for!

Here's one from a recent ride down the road to the sitter's house in the dark mornings:
Myrick in the backseat: "Oh no! The Christmas zebras fell over!"

Me driving: "What?"

Myrick: "Look! Their zebras fell over!"

I finally figured out she meant the illuminated reindeer that people put in their yards as holiday decorations... really? Zebras, Myrick?!

Another notable moment:

From the backseat on the way home from her sitter's the other day, Myrick asked when we were going to start our own decorating. I told her that first we'd put the candles in the window but not until it was December. I looked in the rearview mirror to see huge crocodile tears streaming down her face. She says through her tears, "But Mommy, I really want colored lights, not white ones." Oh my! I didn't see that coming. So she settled for having white candle lights as long as we have colorful tree lights. Guess we'll be going to the hardware store before Sunday since all we have are white tree lights. Time to update to LED's anyway...

The pictures are from our "photo shoot" in front of the chicken coop. Trying to get Myrick, Pender, Small Fry, and Whidbey all behaving, smiling (as much as a chicken can smile...), and looking at the camera at the same time is nearly impossible, nevermind using the self-timer and keeping the camera aimed and centered - sheeesh! Nate notes that our children look Scandinavian or like we're all from Minnesota. Interesting...

Last Days at the Local Beach

What a brave girl - she's happy to put her head completely under the water now!
Not so sure about this chilly water, Mom!

Playing together...

Collecting sand to splatter on his sister.

Digging a canal - her latest obsession.

Summer Soccer for Tots

Stealing the ball from a teammate made him stop in his tracks and cry. It must be confusing for them to be told to always share and ask permission before you take something from someone in the rest of their lives, but then when you get on the sports field be instructed to "steal" a ball away from your friend.
Chasing down the ball - all smiles!

Myrick and a teammate sharing the net for a little rest break. Four year old soccer is strenuous stuff!

I've loved taking Myrick to her local summer soccer camp this year. Getting to know the other kids that she will spend the next 13 years with in school has been interesting and fun! Here are some shots from her first forays into soccer - too cute!

A Little of This and a Little of That

On the "drive" home from the lake, Pender falls sound asleep at 5:15 pm. The drive takes only seven minutes!

A little soccer time in the yard with Daddy before dinner

Great summer day here filled with a little of everything as the summer winds down: classroom prep time, swimming in the lake, soccer in the yard, harvesting blackberries with the neighbor's kids, and my all-time favorite... leftovers for dinner!

Dot Has Some Adventures

by Myrick Abigail Oxnard

Chapter 1:
Once upon a time when Dot got lost she didn't know where she was. So when Daddy looked and looked, he couldn't find her. But in the morning Papa came over to build Myrick's jungle gym. Myrick loved her jungle gym. Myrick really, really loved her jungle gym, and it was so great. She jumped up and down and yelled "Yay!" When Dot really wanted to not get lost anymore, Dad was walking Whidbey and Papa was walking hisself, but when they opened the woodshed, they found Dot. She was so silly, she was on the tractor, and was really, really excited to see Daddy. Daddy put her back in the chicken coop.

Chapter 2:
This morning when Sassy was walking with Dot, Dot flew up on the jungle gym and it was so silly. She was on the little board that was very high up. She flapped and that's what she said. She flew down and it was so silly, silly, silly, and we all said, "What did she do?" And she flew down.

The End

Puddle Stompers

Although it was a rainy day here, we forged ahead and went outside despite Pender not having proper rubber rain boots or even a rain shell. He clearly didn't seem to mind!

Swimming in Traverse

Great visit to Traverse City this year--surprisingly warm weather and water, and strong breeze to boot. Pender's first time out there, and it took him some time to warm up to being on the dock. Myrick, on the other hand, practically ran down the dock and jumped off! Not so sure whether this fearless phase is a good thing.... With her life jacket on, she followed cousin Maddie's lead and perfected her 'swimming' (mostly consisting of flailing around in the water with gradual net movement in one direction).

Fortunately for Pen, the trip coincided with a burst in his appreciation for climbing stairs. Lots of stairs to choose from at Barking Waters, and lots of people around to keep an eye on him! Myrick, meanwhile, had some quality art time, painting with Maddie in the living room.

Jumping at the Dunes, floating down the balmy 'flat Platte', taking my honey for a spin in a Sunfish (reminiscent of our honeymoon days)--good times....

Traveling Tunes

Nate is sort of famous for his CD mixes (yeah, he's a little old school which is one of the things I love about him), and he has made several mixes for the kids already, in addition to many road trip compilations when we were just young married things traveling all around. So for our 60+ hour/3,000 mile summer road trip, Nate made a mix CD for the kids. Myrick's favorite song has turned out to be "Hit the Road Jack". She frequently requested it while we were driving and still loves singing it. I think this clip was taken on our first day in the car as we were stuck in DC traffic. Thank goodness for a 4 year old's ability to lighten the mood at the end of a 10+ hour day in the car!

Pender's Moves

Pender loves to dance, and while taking a break from the sunshine and waves, the kids watched a little PBS with just enough background music to make him want to boogie! Love it!

Cousin Camp 2011: Outer Banks Style

For our third annual Cousin Camp, Akie and Poppy decided to have a destination vacation at a place that we have great family memories of, the Outer Banks of NC. Although we didn't get back to Emerald Isle, the house mom and dad rented between Duck and Corolla was fantastic with plenty of space for all of us. It was beautiful but strange to go back as an adult when we haven't been in over twenty years! The dunes seemed smaller and more grown over and there weren't as many spectacular seashells as mom and I remembered; Jes did manage to find whole sand dollars, though! I love how each day began pretty early (because of the four early rising kids, of course!) with a walk on the beach to collect shells. Jes thought to bring little canvas bags that they each decorated with their name, and they were perfect for dropping all of their shells into. Some of the memorable highlights:

• the fox that we watched for several evenings at dusk who came sneaking though our front "yard",


• The Outliers family book club even though everyone made fun of my prepared questions,


• watching the kids splash in the tide pools during low tide,


• cooking for each other and enjoying all of the delicious food,


• Myrick getting some prickly pear needles stuck in her foot at Kitty Hawk and howling like she was dying,


• enjoying a trip to the Wright Brothers Museum with Poppy


• lifting the kids over the waves with the kids in between Akie and me


• Pender crying on the beach every time Nate or I would walk towards the ocean,


• making sand castles and moats with Myrick and Nate,


• using the outdoor shower to get the LOADS of sand out of the kids' bottoms before heading inside,


• and of course turning around to see one of the boys with his britches down peeing into the sand bank - hilarious!
  

Thank you mom and dad, for a great Cousin Camp - we will be talking about it for years to come. As much fun as it was for the adults, however, I know Myrick really missed being in SC at the place that she thinks of when she thinks of Cousin Camp and Akie and Poppy. Next year will have to be back to the place that she loves the best!

Sorting her seashells into organized piles - Mommy and Poppy approve!

Decorating Chris's and Jes's birthday cake

Maddox, Myrick, and Nixon - did I get the boys right, Chris???

Happily and safely in his chair - Pender didn't like the sand very much...

Focusing on decorating her sand castle with seashells

My trepidatious son - the waves were also not his favorite!

Low tide

The Gift of an Ordinary Day

Honoring the Kids' Summer

Excited to be in the wood shed

Picking the beans she planted

Helping Daddy stack wood

We put them to work young here in New Hampshire

Myrick enjoyed it and didn't react too strongly when the Wicked Witch of the West made her big entrance

Past his bedtime, but what a trooper - he loved it!

Waiting for the show

Pender before "The Wizard of Oz" in Prescott Park

Berry stained mouth

Nate and Myrick having tent time

First time camping out in the backyard - just a tad excited!

Tub time

Playing among the birches

Pender enjoys the blueberry buffet

Ready for a romp in the berry patch

I was reading an article in today's local paper about how kids these days spend their summers versus kids in the past. The article contrasted today's kids as being over scheduled and overstimulated to those in the past as having hours upon hours of free, unstructured time. I'm leaving out a lot of important details, but the simplified 'moral' of the article was that there is much to be gained from providing kids with both: the structured time and activities do keep them physically and mentally active while the unstructured free time opens up their creativity, self-motivation, and imagination. I liked how the article talked about striking the right balance during the summer with your kids. Looking at how our summer has shaken out, I think we've done a pretty good job with this. We've had lots of family time while away on vacation, Myrick has some structured summer activities like swim lessons and tee-ball/soccer camp, and we've had several playdates to keep her socially engaged. At the same time, I cannot even begin to count the hours we've spent among the wild strawberries, raspberry patches, blueberry bushes, and blackberry patches just wandering, searching, being amazed at the sizes, shapes, smells, and tastes of the things we 'harvest'. Both Pender and Myrick have spent a great deal of time outdoors this summer occupying themselves among the blueberries or playing with sidewalk chalk in the driveway or building canals and castles at our local beach. One thing that has amazed me is how Myrick has managed to occupy herself with books this summer. She started waking up pretty early and was waking up Pender, too - this was not good for Pen, so we devised a strategy to get her out of their room and into ours if/when she woke up early. We made a cozy book-nook on the love seat in our bedroom and leave a stack of books next to it. She has regularly spent an hour reading to herself quietly in our room, and around 7am she will walk over to my side of the bed and kiss me to tell me it's time to get up. Amazing that she can do that and that we get extra sleep! Anyhow, here are some shots of summer around the house.