Annalynn and Basketball

Annalynn loves basketball. She goes every Saturday, and every Saturday morning, way before we have to leave she runs to our room and panics that we've missed basketball. This week I was able to take her without the other kids, so I got a video of all the fun.



And here are a few stills of the day:

Teething

This smile is a rare moment of a very long week. Poor Jenika has four teeth coming in and has been crying A LOT lately.

I guess Tylenol and naps can only do so much.

I know I'm not the only one going nuts when Evan went up to his baby sister around 3 PM yesterday and pleaded, "Jenika, please stop crying! You're driving me crazy!"

Part of me

So we did a little photo shoot and I decided that I like pictures of me with my glasses on. It's just become part of my personality. Just like I'm a short hair kind of girl. I think I look more sassy and cool with the glasses on. But maybe I'm delusional. Any thoughts?

Looking in a mirror

Some people say she looks like her father. I don't see it. People used to call Nate a mini Jonathan. I have my little "mini me" too. And I like her.

Whole bunches.

The girls

I rarely do professional pictures. Mostly because the only place to do them around here is far away. The thought of driving 45 minutes and then trying to get my kids dressed, cute and happy overwhelms me.

I know, I'm a wimp.

And I'll probably regret it.

But I save a lot of money...and...we take a lot of pictures with our camera. When I was looking through our Christmas pictures I thought Annalynn's faces were hilarious. It's obvious we don't take very many family group shots. I have a neice Annalynn's same age who knows how to pose for her mother's pictures like she's in a beauty pageant. We obviously have a lot of work to do with our daughters.

In Jenika's defense we did just wake her up from a nap. She always falls asleep on the way home from church.

Primary Activity Day

I can never get enough of her little dimple.

It's a joke in our house that Primary Activity Day is always on a day when I work. I only work two Saturdays a month, but I do the Saturday schedule four months in advance, but somehow my Saturdays to work always happen to be the same day as the Primary activities. So I've only been to one in the seven years we've lived here. But as always, Jonathan is happy to take the kids every time. This time the kids all got to go in their jammies for a breakfast party. P.J. stood for prayers and journal. All the kids got a journal and Nate has been writing in his every night since he got it. He just writes a few sentences of what he did during the day.

Nate was in charge of the getting-to-know-you-game so he could pass off a scout requirement. It was a big hit.

The game was that everyone took 7 M & M's and each color was linked to a question like "What is your favorite food?" "What do you want to be when you grow up?" He made a big poster for everyone to see. All the kids sat with their new teacher and answered the questions. Evan of course just wanted to eat his chocolate. All this talking was not what he had in mind.

Evan in his Seal jammies. He has one more year in nursery. Jenika officially enters nursery this month. She's gone in a couple of times for a little while. Like all her siblings she loves it. What's not to like about playing with toys, singing, and eating snacks?!?

Can't Help Being Cute

A picture of the kids in their Christmas outfits after church. Grandma and grandpa helped everyone with their smiles.

I don't know what I was attempting to say here. But I liked Nate and Annalynn's smiles.

I think I look like my mother here.

Evan is hilarious when he plays his new harmonica. He's like a real soul man.

He'll do a few chords then sing, "My dog's name is Rover"

Soulful Harmonica Interlude

"He sleeps on my bed"

Chord. Chord. Chord.

"He cries in the night"

Lots of blowing in and out on the harmonica.

"But I pat his head"

Well, he didn't really say all that.

What he sings is actually really amazing and sweet. The kids each got a musical instrument for Christmas.

I love that they love singing.

All the time.

Books, books, and books.

Oh how Jenika loves to read books. Here she is the other night just chillin' with a book.

Peas in a Pod

"Hey, Annalynn let's buy that app!" True story. They bought the deluxe version of "Line-Up" the game somehow. I don't even know how to do that yet!

Teething and a New Toy

The Ipod Touch is the family's new favorite toy. Thanks grandma!

Hugs and Kisses

I'm a very lucky mommy.

Truth Be Told

So far Evan plays with the dollhouse a lot more than his big sister.

Is there anything cuter than a girl in a homemade purple tutu coloring?

I just need to have a soda once in awhile.

Why do we only have sparkling cider on special occasions? It's so yummy, we should get an excuse to celebrate something at least every month.

True Love

Girls need chocolate

Like boys need electronics.

The grandparents provided his favorite Christmas present. Now he can talk to Victor whenever he wants!

And grandmas always need snuggle time with babies and books next to a warm radiator in a comfy rocking chair.

The best kiss ever

Nate and Annalynn got a chocolate orange and Evan and Jenika got these huge chocolate kisses in their stockings. Jenika didn't know quite what to do with it until Evan happily showed her that you are supposed to eat it.

For the next hour or so, you couldn't get that kiss out of her mouth.

She just sat there in her new kitchen booster chair eating her chocolate.

I think it was this moment that she decided that Christmas ROCKS! Those are the eyes of a girl on a sugar buzz.

Three Cheers

It's pretty incredible that those two people are smiling. We made them stay up with us until 2AM finishing some last minute wrapping. I have this terrible habit of waiting until Christmas Even to wrap all the presents. I seriously couldn't of done it without them. Jonathan was busy most of the night putting together the dollhouse. The night before mom did a little presentation of the nativity story with candybars. It was pretty neat and I think we'll make that a new tradition that we'll have to pass on to other family and friends. Have I mentioned how cool my inlaws are lately?

Every girl needs some pink pom poms!

Jonathan's mom put together a beautiful scrapbook of pictures of the their family over the years. I love gifts like that. It will be forever treasured. The kids love seeing pictures of their dad when he was little. She even included the wedding pictures of the siblings. That gift was a true labor of love. I find myself becoming more homesick lately as the kids are growing up so far from cousins and grandparents. So that little scrapbook got me a little emotional. I have a little plaque that says Family Is Everything and it is one of the big life lessons I've learned.

I wanted to get dad some books, but I didn't know which ones he had read. So I filled this huge box full of books. Mind you, they were all from our little used book store upstairs in the library. But he found five or six that he hadn't read, out of the the 40 or so I put in there. It takes a special person to be excited about opening a huge box of used books. But he's just that kind of guy. Maybe that's why I like him so much.

Panoramic

We have four nativity sets. I get one for each child to set-up at Christmas. They are all kid-friendly. I think Evan and Jenika played with theirs almost everyday this December. I would walk into the dining room and Jesus would be on the table one day and the windowsill the next day with the shepherds crowded around him. Or Mary and Joseph might be sitting on a chair quietly by themselves. I've always wanted one of those gorgeous hand carved olive wood nativity sets from Bethlehem. But not just yet. I love watching my kids rearrange their nativity.

See the cool dollhouse in front of the window? It's taller than Annalynn! Thank goodness Santa knows how to shop online! We've always laid the stockings on the table. I haven't found stocking holders for the mantle that I really love yet. We put a chocolate orange at the bottom with other fun little things like a box of cereal or new gloves.

Everyone got a new towel this year. Everybody is a different color. Now I know whose towel is still on the floor! I love my dining room. It is the prettiest room in the house, especially at Christmas with the candle lights in the windows. When someone comes in the dining room for the first time they inevitably say, "Ooo, I love this room!" And I'll say, "Me too." Our marriage survived wallpapering that room. I chose the color to match the marble in the mantle. Great grandpa Seal's needlepoint fits the room perfectly. We got the huge black mirror for $50 bucks at JCPenny one year. I really enjoy having dinner parties in that room. Not many houses have dining rooms now. I'm a dining room kind of girl though.

The kids didn't wake up until almost 8AM! Jonathan raced downstairs and set up the camera to take the traditional Christmas morning "coming-down-the-stairs" photo. See the round port window on the left? Helen told us when we first moved in that her two nephews would stand and look out that window every Christmas morning and wait to see if she and her husband were up yet. When they got up, the boys would wake their parents up and ask them to make Helen and Ed hurry over so they could open up their presents. This old house has so much history. Helen's husband was born in Annalynn's room. Pretty amazing!

Gifts of Love

Grandpa was happy with his new jammies.

Here's everybody with their new p.j's. Annalynn is so tired, she has to hold her eyelids up. See, there is Evan with that dog on his lap. Nate looks so grown up in his bathrobe!

Jenika is intrigued by a piece of chocolate disguised as a gold coin. Edible money? Does it get any better than this?

Annalynn and I discussed one night before Christmas that we love Christmas Eve more than Christmas morning. She said she likes thinking about all the presents that Santa is going to bring. The joy of the anticipation. On Christmas Eve everything seems happy and perfect in the world. I like imagining their faces as they burst into the dining room and see all the pretty presents under the tree. This year was a lot of fun. More than I've ever had. I loved having 8 people in the house. For those who don't really know me. I'm a people person. One of my mottos in life is More the Merrier! There were a ton of presents under the tree. I kept to my budget though. My kids get really excited about little things. Nate loves his new sled that goes so fast, I have to pray he doesn't crash into the house when he comes down the hill. Annalynn got a new Hannah Montana poster and the coolest dollhouse you've ever seen. Evan got a huge dumptruck and helicopter from grandma and grandpa. It was such a happy, good Christmas. But Christmas Eve will always be the best.

Traditions

Every Christmas Eve we go to our neighbor's house to exchange presents. Helen actually does a great job every year of getting the kids presents that they like. She got Nate a dinosaur that you construct with a motor, Annalynn got a new drawing set, Evan got a flying superhero and Jenika got this stuffed dog from L.L. Bean. She loves it. Evan loves it more. This is Jenika's "Don't-take-this-toy-away-from-me-Evan-or-I'll-scream-again!" face. Helen got us a fancy crockpot. I always struggle in buying gifts for our neighbors. What do you get old people who have everything? They are all very generous with us and our kiddos. We got them some yummy lotion, chocolate, a picture mat, a puzzle, and a plant. They both seemed to like their gifts.

Blurry, but cute nonetheless.

The traditional opening of the Christmas Eve pajamas is always highly anticipated at our house. Nate has been asking for a bathrobe since October when it started getting chilly. He wears it all the time now and LOVES it. Good job grandma and grandpa. Red and blue are his favorite colors too. He couldn't be happier.

Annalynn was a red haired, brown eyed baby who was very, very cute. Jenika is just as beautiful as her big sister with her blue eyes. She has the firecracker personality to go with her red hair too. Someone at the library told me recently that all my kids have great personalities, not a dull one in the bunch. I would have to agree.

Oh, what a night!

Then the Whos, young and old, would sit down to a feast.
And they'd feast! And they'd feast!
And they'd FEAST! FEAST! FEAST! FEAST!
-Dr. Suess

I love our tree. The kids love getting out the decorations and remembering each ornament. All of our ornaments have special meaning. Someday I'll have a cute matchy-match tree. But the kids love decorating our tree with all their treasures of memories.

Up a Notch

Everybody wants in on story time. And if reading one book isn't enough, you can listen to two!

If only I could put a ponytail on the top of my head and call it a day.

Hey mom, enough hugging! A girl is trying to eat here!

Food always tastes better on pretty china dishes with candlelight. The traditional Christmas Eve chicken cordon bleu dinner with sauerkraut and fresh cranberry sauce was a hit as usual.

Party time!

Windham school district had a big Christmas party for the first 100 kids who signed up. I thought this would be a fun activity for dad and the kids to do while I was at work the Friday before school got out for the long break. Jenika is always happy to be out and about with the big kids.

Jonathan and Nate informed me when I got home that they were essentially the only white children out of the 100 that attended. They got lots of attention though and had a good time with lots of free games and candy.

It was a snowman theme and they had snowmen everywhere. Annalynn liked playing pin the glove on the snowman because the girl doing the game didn't make her wear the blindfold.

I can't even tell you how many pictures I have of grandma and grandpa Seal reading to my children. It would be fun to do a blog post with all the pictures I have of grandparents and books with my Seal pups. They are good sports about it and my kids absolutely love it. I do too.

Three of my babies

Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters.

Evan was a sleepy boy at the Christmas party.

Annalynn wanted dad to take a picture of her because she liked how her hair was curling.

She is finally walking all the time now. Nate walked at 9 months. Jenika was 16 months. She is such a smart girl though. Whenever I tell the kids that it's time to go, she always brings me her shoes to put on. She loves to dance and clap her hands. She always takes a stuffed animal or book to bed with her. She is a happy, happy baby.

1st Lost Tooth

Annalynn has been trying to loose this tooth for about a month, and Monday (1/18) at a bonfire it fell out while eating a cupcake.

Accessories

Annalynn was chosen to be the angel for the nativity program at our church. I knew she would be the perfect choice! They suggested that she wear a white bathrobe, sheet or towel. What?!? Not my daughter! We promptly went to Gymboree and found this pretty sweater dress on clearance for $8. We knew it was meant to be. A member of the Primary Presidency made this cute little halo out of real feathers. She even let us take it home.

Annalynn loved having a new dress and being the center of attention. She's a lot like her mother.

Nate even had a real wood shepherds staff that we happen to keep up in our attic for such occasions. He was the envy of the other sheep herders that night.

Here's a picture of me singing. This is one of the last pictures we took with my hair long.

Fashion Statement

We look like such cheapo parents in these pictures, it cracks me up. Here is Annalynn getting ready for an early morning sledding adventure. We recycle pajamas. These used to be Nate's, but they are warm and nobody sees her when she gets ready for bed.

Additionally, poor little Evan doesn't have any boots that fit him except for Annalynn's old pink ones. Evan is the opposite season of everybody else in our family. So far the neighbors haven't said anything yet.

Nate was one of the shepherds at the ward Christmas party nativity. I think he looked great. He had on a pillowcase with a blue shoe string and Jonathan's old bathrobe. He's standing next to Victor who is obviously one of the wise men.

It was a sweet little program with all the primary children involved and singing Christmas songs.

Annalynn at Basketball

For weeks Annalynn has been preparing for Basketball, because Afton so wisely offered to let her sign up for it. Her biggest concern was if she would have other girls to play with. Saturday all the wait was worth it, and Afton again was proved to be the coolest mom ever. Annalynn had her first practice/game and despite the ability to dribble, shoot, or really do anything with a basketball, Annalynn had a great time, and there was another girl on her team. When they were told to pair up for a drill, Annalynn was quick to choose this other girl as her partner, evidently not wanting to be paired with any of the boys. At the end of the time they had one-on-one and two-on-two practice, and it was "great" according to Annalynn. Thanks Afton for being such a wonderful mom (and wife).

Enjoy a few of my pictures, I'll post Nate's later.

He's the best!

I seriously love this guy. Isn't he the cutest? How is it possible that he looks the same as the day I married him over 12 years ago?!? One more class to go and he'll be finished with his second Master's degree. I think we'll have to call him "Master, oh Master" now. He works harder than anyone I know. I'm so proud of him. Thanks for another amazing year sweetheart! Onward to 2010!

Librarian-in-training

Jenika loves helping Mom at the Library. She already has a love of books!

School Christmas Music Concert

Every year at this time, is the annual Christmas Music Concert, officially called the Winter Concert. All five grades sing a few songs, all of which I have now heard at least five times. This was Annalynn's first "gig." She was very excited.

Afton asked me earlier that evening at dinner, "Can I just go to the concert by myself?" Annalynn almost burst into tears and said, "Mom! I want to go too! It's my first concert singing! Can't I go too?" We told Annalynn that of course she and Nate are going. Mom just wanted to go by herself to watch them sing.

So I elected to keep the kids home so the concert could be enjoyed by the rest of the audience and Afton. Evan and Jenika also had more fun at home. Nate and Annalynn reportedly did really well, and I'll post a video later. Here they are all dressed up.

Mothers and Daughters

Since being married I've learned that Afton has very different ways of sleeping. If she had her way, she would sleep corner to corner in our bed leaving me very little room.

Fast forward to Annalynn. She's surely following in her mothers sheets. Last night when checking on her, we found her sleeping this way.

(click image to enlarge)

(click image to enlarge)

Jenika demonstrates how to eat an Oreo

I found this fascinating, that our 15 month old has learned the art of eating an Oreo. Now, I wonder who she learned this from?

Before I Forget

Just some random things I wanted to share...

So I'm the counselor in R.S. in charge of HFPE. But now the name has been changed to "Other R.S. meetings" and that just doesn't have the same catchy ring to it like "Hey, sisters come to Enrichment" like "Sisters, welcome to the Other Relief Society Meeting". Any suggestions? What does your ward call your monthly gatherings? And any fabulous ideas that you would like to share from amazing R.S. programs you've had, I will gladly welcome with open arms. I've had some challenging callings in my life, but this one tops the list for me. The easiest part of the calling is the teaching. I'm not the most creative person, but I do love to throw parties!

I have a good visiting teaching companion. We both like to celebrate little accomplishments in the lives of those we visit. We brought some sparking cider to a sister we visit whose husband got a job recently. She also threw me an early surprise birthday party last night before everyone leaves town for Christmas. I stayed and visited with her for over an hour after everyone left. She's become a good friend. It's always nice when you get along well with your VT partner! We have a lot in common too, so it makes it nice. And we visit really amazing, great sisters. I have a testimony of visiting teaching! It has blessed my life so much here.

I'm also the choir director of our ward and I can't wait until our Christmas program. I think it's going to be so wonderful to have all the musical numbers and hear from the Bishopric, all of whom are excellent speakers. We have managed to sing every month this year. They are just hymns and we don't practice. It's just an instant choir and it has worked well for our ward. So many of us live far from the ward so it is difficult to come for practices. But we have many musically talented people in the ward.

We had a little sister RM party for a newly called sister missionary in our ward. We all got together and talked about our missions and ate good food. It was a nice evening and it's been fun for me to see this girl grow up in the ward and now be on a mission! She'll do a wonderful job. She has a beautiful testimony.

Nate led a song in our ward Primary Program. He is so talented musically. He's taking piano lessons too. It's been a little tricky for him to catch on to all the fingering of the piano, but I'm thrilled that he is learning the theory and how to read music. I'm a big believer that everyone needs to know how to read and lead music. He has a wonderful piano teacher from our ward who comes to the house for his lessons with her little 1-year-old. She is also the nursery teacher and Evan LOVES her.

When we went around at Thanksgiving to say what we were thankful for Annalynn said she was "thankful for Jesus dying for us, my health, a nice warm house and a family that loves me." I'm glad she realizes all those wonderful blessings in her life.

Evan is in a UCONN study and his vocabulary was up to a 6 year old level in some areas. The administrator said, “Evan you’re a genius!” to which he promptly replied, “I’m not a genius, my daddy is a genius! ” Who knows if he really understands what that word means. He’s not really a genius, but his glasses and constant grin sure make him yummy. When Jonathan came home later and when Evan ran out to greet him on the driveway he gave Jonathan a big hug and said, "Dad, you're a genius!" Needless to say, Jonathan was happy with his son's latest expression.

Before we left with the Elders in our ward to the town tree lighting Evan told us, "I'm nervous to see Santa."

Jonathan asked, "Why buddy?"

Evan replied, "Because I've been naughty."

We assured him that 2-year-olds are all good boys.

Evan saw Santa and requested a tow truck and helicopter.

On the way home Evan reported, "That Santa wasn't very good."

"Why do you think that, Evan?"

"Because he didn't say 'Ho, ho, ho!' to me."

Annalynn asked Santa for a dollhouse. Oh, my! Santa had no idea and better get cracking on that one!

Nate is truly his father's son and asked Santa for a calculator. By the look on Santa's face we are pretty sure most 9-year-olds don't have that on the top of their list.

Random Funnies

My temple fell off my glasses. I had to walk around Vermont like that all day. A few people noticed and gave me some odd looks. But that's okay.

The girls in the tree house at the museum.

Jenika took her first real steps in the Niantic children's museum. She is walking a little bit more each day. I think it helps that she goes to a babysitter's twice a week now where a little girl her age is walking. She seems more more motivated to walk than crawl now. Nate walked at 9 months, Annalynn at 10 months, and Evan at 11 months. Jenika is 15 months! I'm sure she knows that I want her to stay a baby.

Start to Finish

The one who started it all.

I am so thankful to have an eternal family with my five favorite people!

Behold your little ones

Perhaps Jenika was inspired by the movie, Christmas Story, that we had watched just the night before. But she decided she wanted to make sure the granite was as cold on her tongue as it was on her fingers. It took us by surprise, but Jonathan managed to get it on camera.

One happy boy. As always.

It was a beautiful day for a temple trip. So glad we went and made some super memories.