Stats

The Finn man officially turns 6 months tomorrow! He had a check-up last Wednesday with his new doctor, who, by the way, I really like (thanks, Dad, for the recommendation). He's a bit of a light-weight, but don't be fooled: his brain should be big enough to outsmart Sherlock Holmes, not to mention some jock bully. 

Height: 39th percentile

Weight: 13th percentile (he's just a little guy)

Head Circumference: 98th percentile

Let's hear it: "Heeed! Pants! Now!" Mike is so excited. I can only hope his hair comes in red.

He also had some shots, the poor little tyke. Here he is after I nursed him, making himself feel better with a blanket and his fingers.

Awwwwwww

And here he is with Dad on our walk last night. He was so happy!

Hello Santa!

We saw a fun, white-and-red-striped mailbox in the post office down town, so we came home and wrote a letter Saint Nicholas. I meant to snap a shot of the mailbox when we went to mail it, but I forgot both the camera and my phone! But here's the sweet little work.

I drew that sad little purple candy cane for Miss Fi per her request. The blue one is about 2/3 Madie and 1/3 me--she's just starting to make recognizable shapes--and the green one in the middle is all her. 

And her adorable letter! I love this! Just in case you can't read it, it says, "Hello, Santa! It's Christmas! Please fill my stocking. I want candy canes from you in my stockings. (So does Mumma.) They're really nummy. And please give my friend Lottie green candy canes. One, two, three candy canes! Have a merry Christmas!" 

I'll be honest, I prompted her--hello! She's 3. She doesn't know how to write a letter. She hardly grasps the full concept of it. But I tried really hard not to put words in her mouth. I would just say things like, "How should we start it? We could say, Dear Santa, or Hello Santa," and she said, "Hello Santa!" It was so cute. And sounds just like her.

She said the sun was in her eyes. 

And then she played with Dad's swim goggles, while wearing her snow suit, and these are the awesome shots I got.

Joys

So I'm skipping a bit here and there on this Christmas photo thing. Partly because I'm just not going to get around to posting every single day, and partly because some of them I think are a little dumb. For example: "Favorite Christmas Movie." (That was Dec. 2.) I can tell you that: probably The Muppet Christmas Carol, but there are others that tend to fight for my attention, depending on the year. I don't know though, maybe I'm just not artistic enough to think up some adorable way to photograph that. (Actually, I know I'm not. But that's really okay with me.)

These photos are for the 3rd and 4th--"Red" and "Joy." Here they are in one sweet little package:

It's so fun to see the kids getting to the point where they can really play together. Madie is slowly (sloooowly) learning that some things that seem painless to her are torturous to Finn, and Finn is responding more and more to Madie's antics as he gets older. My red afghan was a gift from my Grammy Haskins from about 15 years ago or so. I love it. In fact, I'm wrapped in it now!

One little tid bit of information that has nothing to do with the photo prompt: that sweater Finnegan has on? Mike's. ****Awwwwww!**** It says it's a 12-month. Yeah...not gonna be happenin' in June, I'll tell ya.

Monday was so nice I called Mike to ask him on a lunch date with the kids and me. We picked him up from work and drove a mile or two down the road and hopped on the trail next to it. We only had about a half hour before Mike had to be back at the lab, so we kept it short, but it was nice to see him and good to get out.

My View Today

My friend Aimee posted this on Pinterest and I just saw it and figured, why not? 

December 1st: Your view today.

I'll be honest, this first one is kind of cheating. It's not exactly a "view" like you're thinking, but it is one of the first things I saw this morning, so I'll count it. And it's a great symbol of what today is: Mike's birthday! He told me a few days ago he was having a hard time deciding between pistachio cheesecake (which was supposed to fix the indecision problem!) and the fruit pizza I made this summer.

"But, I think we'll just make fruit pizza my Father's Day tradition." 

Hey, at least he makes it easy.

But then last night he said, "Ya know, I just keep thinking about that fruit pizza, and I think I want it for breakfast." Good thing I bought that extra package of cream cheese yesterday, just in case. 

Dear Mike,

Today is your birthday. And since you're kind of an intrinsic part of our lives, I figured I'd put up a couple of pictures that show how much we love you.

You're comforting.

You're funny.

And because I love you more than anyone else in this family, I thought I'd put these up for you. Behold! Feast your eyes!!!

A note to our readers:

If you're under 18, you should look away.

If you have any self-respect, you'll stop right now.

You're all a bunch of sickos.

Basically, the kids compared to me are love-amateurs. Happy birthday!

Thanksgiving and Beyond

Sorry this is a few days late--we've been having some technical issues loading pictures from our phones. I think we have it figured out now though. 

For Thanksgiving we went to my cousin's house an hour and a half away--or, if you're us almost two hours, 'cause I was the navigator and I'm an idiot. It was a lot of fun to get together with Ashleigh and Dickon and Lincoln and their families--or at least Ashleigh and Dickon's families. (C'mon Link! Let's see some ACTION!) ;) 

I am ready to EAT!

The beginning of the spread. Mmmmm!

We didn't get a picture of it, but John did the turkey in the brick oven out in the yard. It was soooo good. Smokey flavor and moist! Oh, man, it was awesome. Not to mention it opened up the ovens inside for other use! In our back yard, I think we're definitely going to have to build one of those!

This is what Madie did while we ate. She sat at the table long enough to argue about being allowed to eat just cornbread, then dismissed herself to go play with dolly on the couch behind us. Psh! She feasted later though. Cheerios. It's a crime.

After we ate we went for a stroll with Ashleigh, John, Max, Lottie, Pip and Lincoln. One thing I love about eating with Ashleigh is she always suggests a walk afterward. Mike often does too, but I wish we lived on a quieter road so we didn't have to drive to the carriage roads to do it--not that they're far away, it's just nice not to have to pile into the car to go for a walk. Next year...next year.

Finn in a hand-me-down of Pip's. We forgot it there! :( It is so cute!

On Friday it was in the 50s! So the kids and I went for a walk along Bubble Pond. It was beautiful! Lots of people were out with all the good weather, but we got there a bit early and missed any thing you might call a crowd. We saw them heading out as we were coming in.

Not an incredible picture, but this is the bridge at Bubble Pond. Bridges like this dot the carriage roads--18 in all, if I remember right. Each is a little different, but they're all beautiful.

Madie checks out some red berries on the edge of the pond. The coat is also a hand-me-down from Lottie. Madie calls it her "kitty-cat coat." Hahaha! I crack every time!

I wanted to go to the end of this turn, but Madie insisted we turn back when we were this far. Maybe next time. I've never actually walked this particular road before.

I guess it was a good thing I did though, 'cause I would have been doing this for that much longer. One woman I passed was like, "Woah! Super mom!" No, not super mom. Super woman maybe, but super mom would have figured out a fun way to get the kid to walk the 3/4 of a mile back.

The front view. Look at those cheeks.

Then we headed to the library. This is one of the most beautiful libraries I've ever been in, and I'm happy to be back to it! I'll have to get more pictures of the actual library itself some time, but in the mean time, feast your eyes on this:

"Oh sugah! Aw, honey, honey!" He's gonna be a heartbreaker, ladies. Sorry.

Madie Convos

It's been a bit of a stressful day--or month, really, but I'm trying to take it one day at a time, so I'll just retract that part (only not really, because I feel like wallowing just a bit, and I want you all to share in the misery that is sleep deprivation). But posting things to my new Pinterest board, "Stupid Stuff on a Stick" is helping me feel better.

These Madie convos will also help me feel better--and you too!

The other night, as we're getting ready to take Madie up to bed.
Mike: "Madie, do you want one of us to take you up or do you want to go by yourself?"

Madie: "One of you take me up."

Me: "Who should take you up? Me or Dad?" I lean back and "inconspicuously" point to Mike while mouthing, 'DAAAD. DAAAD.'

Madie: "What?" I continue mouthing and pointing. "What? What'd you say, Mum?" More mouthing, slightly whispering. Madie gets a look on her face that clearly says, 'You're insane.' "What, Mum? I can't hear you." Madie continues playing with her dolly on the floor. "Mum, will you take me to bed?"

~~~~~~~~~
Today I found out that one of Madie's preschool teachers was in a minor car accident the other day. She's okay, but won't be in for a few days so she can recover--she complains of some soreness (I assume from whiplash). On the way home, I mentioned this to Madie.

Me: "Hey Madie, did you know Ms. Meagan was hurt in an accident?"

Madie: "Oh. Did the floor hurt her?"

Me: "You mean did she fall? No. She was hurt by her car."

Madie: "Is she squashed?" (We've been going over the importance of staying out of the way of cars, hence the term 'squashed'.)

Me: "No, no, she's okay, she's just a little hurt. But I was thinking maybe we could think of things to do to make her feel better. Do you have any suggestions?"

Madie (after a moment): "We could bless her. And then all her owies would get better."

*Cue melting of Mumma's heart.* We have been praying for Aunt Kaitlyn and Aunt Holly lately and it was sweet that Madie realized that the power of prayer can have an effect on the wellbeing of others.

Well, as usual, I was right. I do feel better.