Christmas 2009

After getting home from the hospital a little before 1, Kaitlin kindly helped me stuff stockings and put the gifts around the tree while Kevin went to the pharmacy. I'm quite certain I have never moved so fast so early in the morning!

Discovering the mysteries that hide inside the stockings...

This boy loves dental hygiene! I think he would have been totally content with just his new automatic toothbrush!

At Grandma & Grandpa's the unwrapping continued...

Lincoln was so tired! While the adults were eating dinner, I peaked around the corner and found him with his blankie, curled up on the chair sucking his thumb! So darn cute!!

Well, the morning was a little quieter than most, as Kacia was a little more calm than her normal self. But I think she still enjoyed the day from the comfort of the couch and Rylin & Lincoln had a blast! Kacia was quite worried that she wouldn't be able to open up her gifts, but she seemed to do just fine with the assistance of mom or Rylin. After a morning at home, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's, and the fun continued. Oh how I LOVE Christmas!

Christmas Eve in the ER

Well, after a really fun day of opening gifts from friends and extended family, hanging out with Kaitlin & Ian and the Goldens, going out for Christmas Eve dinner, then church service, I thought we our night was going to look relatively boring. All of the wrapping was mostly done, stockings needed to be stuffed, but that wasn't going to happen until the girls would finally calm done and drift off to sleep. Kaitlin and I were picking out what movie to watch, when all of a sudden there was hysterical screaming, the kind of screaming that makes your stomach drop and it's so loud you kinda just freeze cuz you're not sure what to do. I rushed into the girls' room and Kacia was on the ground- not crying, but just screaming that she hurt her arm really bad, that she broke her arm. I quickly picked her up and rushed her to the family room to inspect the injury. I'm quite used to my girls making big deals out of little injuries, but one quick feel of the arm and I told Kevin we had to go to the hospital. He ran and found the keys, and we rushed off to the hospital, pajamas and all! And rush is an understatement! I'm quite certain that my husband ran about 8 red lights as I sat in the back and tried to talk to Kacia about silly things, anything to try to distract her from the fact that her arm looked seriously distorted! I'm quite certain I will never forget the shocking way her arm felt in my hands as I so briefly examined it through her thick fleece pj's!

Well, our night in the ER, was a first for our family, we got there a little after 8, and I remember Kevin telling me Merry Christmas as we both watched the clock strike midnight. They had to sedate her to reset the arm, and they splinted it until the swelling goes down and she can get a more permanent cast this coming week. (She was pretty funny as she woke up, "you look like you have 4 eyes" then she'd drift back to sleep, wake up and say the same things over and over again!) The staff was so kind and they took great care of our little girl. I'm quite certain she was mostly in shock, because I've never seen her be so brave! From what we can gather from the story, she was leaning over her footboard trying to look down the hall to get a sneak peak at presents when she somehow fell and obviously landed really, really wrong.

We are trying to look at the good points of the story- it's her left arm, so she can still eat, draw and play wii, it's not a leg- so she can still walk, Kaitlin and Ian were here so Kevin and I were both able to rush off to the hospital without having to think about the other kiddos, it's Christmas break so these first few days of intense pain and needing assistance can be spent at home without missing out, it's winter so she doesn't have to miss out on water activities, etc. God is good, bones will heal and our little girl will most likely never try to sneak a peak at Christmas presents again!

(Kevin has pictures on his phone, I will try to post them when I get them)

Laundry Basket Fun

This is the girls last March. They love to make "beds" for themselves, complete with a pillow on the bottom, pillow for the back rest, and the favorite blankets. There is always a pattern to the way the beds are assembled and which items are used, and whose basket is which one and so on. But honestly it's been awhile since I've seen them to it. (Maybe the baskets are always too full of clothes!)

Apparently my sweet, thumb-sucking, very busy, almost 18 month old little guy is continuing with the family tradition!

Clapping for himself. He has two blankets and a couple of books in there as well.

Once he saw the stool next to him, he decided to try it out as well.

So this is the kind of stuff Lincoln does. He makes big piles of blankets and pillows in his closet and just sits in there waiting for someone to come and play peek-a-boo. And if no one comes, he picks up the blankets one by one and moves them from one location to another, over and over again. He loves to play in our pop-up fort and under the slide. He is excellent at entertaining himself- which I find an incredibly wonderful attribute! He also loves to put things into other things, including himself. Yesterday the item of the day was his diaper box. He toted that around, putting things into it, books, blankets and then kept attempting to climb into the already full box.

I am absolutely loving this stage. He is so much fun and the differences he brings to our family continue to shine forth!

Fun with My Big Girl

This is her laughing at the pictures of herself slurping her cone, and the pic of the two of us and my wrinkled cheek.

Slurp. Slurp.

It's so great to be able to reward good behavior instead of always feeling like I'm just harping on the bad.

So back when Rylin had cut her hair, Kacia found it "unfair" that Rylin was able to get her hair cut. It was easy for me to see Kacia thinking that the punishment Rylin received might be worth enduring if it meant getting her own way, and wanting to avoid a personal haircut that could turn out horribly wrong, and desiring to reward patience and obedience- I made her a deal. If she would allow Kevin time to get used to Rylin's haircut, we would cut her's too, and we would make it a fun experience. We would go just the two of us to a salon, instead of a kitchen chair, and then we would go to lunch or something special after. So the time finally came during Thanksgiving break, and one evening we ditched everyone else and had a girls night. We went and got her haircut, and right next door happened to be ColdStone. It was really fun to have one on one time with her and to just be silly!

Thanksgiving Pictures

The twins looking far too old!

Me & my boy!

Alex entertaining the girls

Kevin makes really good gravy- not a gift of mine!

Breanna always does a great job with the turkey. I've discovered that I actually do like it when it's cooked right! Don't know how I've escaped having to make one, but I hope my luck doesn't run out because I'd be clueless!

We had a wonderful thanksgiving this year. We were missing some of our normal company- the Bonnins and Washington siblings, so it seemed a little more empty without them, and we hope that next year, they can all join us again. But at the same time, it was one of the most relaxed, stress-free thanksgivings I can remember (not that any of the above mentioned people are stressful!). And as we sat around the table- the ten of us- laughing and being silly, I was reminded of how truly thankful I am that God brought my sister and her entire family down to Redding so many years ago. They are such an important part of our daily lives and it is such a true blessing to be able to experience life with them. The twins- now in 8th grade, started kindergarten in Redding, and I think of how much we would have missed out on if God had not moved them here. So as we laughed about Rylin being thankful for jello, and Alex for world peace (he was spinning off of Kacia's very beauty-pageant answer of "friends and family") inside I said a silent prayer, thanking my Father for His incredible sovereignty in leading our families to grow up together! We love you Pete, Breanna, Michael, Allie and Alex!

Never Too Late for a New Tradition

This year I started a new tradition. I gave the kids their Christmas pajamas the day after Thanksgiving- which is the day we start celebrating the holiday. I figured we may as well get as much use out of them as we can, plus it's another way for the kids to get super excited about celebrating this wonderful time of year!

Rylin's 4!!

Rylin loved all the phone calls from her family on her big day!

Sportin her new Dora sunglasses

Rylin loves to be my helper in the kitchen!

Do you think she enjoyed herself?

Our little girl is a four year old! Her birthday was last Sunday and we had a great time at a gymnastic party for her. I've been waiting to post the pictures until I had time to write about what she is like at 4, but time is hard to find right now, so I figured I should get the pictures up before it's December!

Thanksgiving Memories

So I'm not a huge fan of Thanksgiving food, but it's really more about the holiday itself that I love. This morning I was showing my girls the parade on tv with the big balloons and telling them of how Auntie Bre and I used to watch this while Grandma Michele would look on from the kitchen, and all of a sudden I got a little nostalgic. So as I stood in my kitchen preparing food for later today, I started thinking of all of the things I associate with Thanksgiving and of all of the Thanksgivings that stand out the most to me. My mom was quite traditional in celebrating the holidays, and the older that I get the more I see how ingrained this is in me, as this year, with it just being the Goldens and us, we have the freedom to mix it up and go out of the box, but our menu consists of primarily the same dishes.

Here's my thoughts: Today I miss the Wednesday night pie social and service at church, my brothers coming home all muddy from football, celebrating with the Pieczonkas, and Tim & Sabrina, James & Samantha, and Kaitlin & Ian.

Here's the years that stick out: 1995- Breanna was so sick pregnant with the twins, she stayed upstairs all day on my parent's bed to escape the smells, but she insisted I sneak her up bites of mom's stuffing. I, being the "obedient one" was scared of getting in trouble- but she was quite convincing.

1998- My first Thanksgiving with Kevin's family in Redding. Little did I know that this town which decided to scare me with an earthquake that weekend, would be the town that would become my home and the place I would raise my children.

2001- Our last Thanksgiving with mom, too many thoughts to share.

2003- First Thanksgiving with baby Kacia, and fun game day with family and Zach & prego Megan

2005- Rylin was 2 days old and we hosted the day. I thought it would be easier that way, but I turned out to be an exhausted emotional mess. (But very thankful to no longer be pregnant!)

There's many more thoughts in this head of mine today, but the bread machine finally stopped mixing so it's time to form my last batch of rolls and get the stuffing in the oven- mom's recipe of course, afterall, we are going to Breanna's and I'm not sure she'd open the door if I brought a different one! :)

Today I am thankful for the ability to remember and reminisce. God didn't have to allow our minds the capability of remembering but He did, and today I am thankful for a head full of memories that make me smile and laugh, traditions I can teach my children, and the way I can look back and see God's gracious and kind Hands at work continually in my life. Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall Festival

Rylin started off by painting Dora which I attempted to draw on with a pencil. The eyes were looking good, and even the mouth at one point, and then somehow it became a little more abstract (see below).

Kacia wanted to be independent from the beginning, and so with no real plan in play, she just picked up a brush and started going.

This is Lincoln's pumpkin. I know what you're thinking- not bad for a one year old, but a little weak for a 30 year old.

On Halloween, we gave Lincoln a mohawk. So we shaved the sides, and then he went down for his nap. The bedhead he woke up with was quite entertaining. It had so much movement and body! Oh my guy is too cute!

This was a picture I took for Kevin, so that he could see the incredible height from the side.

He was our skater boy, complete with new Vans, a Hurley t-shirt and a tiny little skateboard that spent too much time in his mouth. I liked the fact that all aspects of the costume are very practical and useful, and once you take the hair away, pretty normal.

Rylin was Dora, a little more pale than normal, but complete with an outfit that clashes just perfectly :)

Kacia was a cheerleader for WSU. This was a recycled costume of Allie's, and Kacia liked that it was for the school that Uncle Tim can't get away from. :)

So here's my pics that I never loaded from our Fall Festival. It was one of those crazy days for me, Kevin worked all day and I tried to do too many things with the kids that I became grumpy and stressed, but we survived, and for the most part- even had a little fun!