While Caleb is at school and Luke is asleep, Abby and I have our time together.   Sometimes we work on letters and numbers and coloring.  Sometimes we play ponies or Strawberry Shortcake.  Often times, she gets to watch a show of her choice, and I then I get a little Mommy time.  One afternoon last week, Abby and I played dressed up and had a tea party.  Abby's tea set was a gift from my mom. With great excitement Mom bought it when I had was pregnant and had just found out that Abby was a girl.  Mom had bought it to keep at her house, so she could have tea parties with her granddaughter.  Abby was only one when my mom died, so they never did get to have any tea parties together.  But before she died, she went around the house and put a piece of masking tape on item after item.  The tea set received a piece of tape that said "Abby".  I cherish seeing that tape with "Abby" written in my mom's handwriting on it.  Abby loves playing tea.  Luke loves to play too, but for him it is all about making clinking noises with the tea cups and saucers.  We have now learned to play during naptime!  One day Abby said that we should pray before we had our tea.  She prayed, "Dear God, Thank you that Grammy gave me this tea set.  Please help Mommy make sure that Luke doesn't clink it together and break it.  In Jesus Name, Amen."

 

 

Christmas Morning and More

This post is going to have to just be a bunch of pictures. Otherwise I won't get caught up ever! So here we go! The kids sitting on Grandad and Tammy's couch wearing their new Christmas jammies  

Later that night watching the Chip and Dale and Donald Duck apple core episode. My dad loves to show this to the kids, and everyone of them has the wording figured out (Apple core, Baltimore, Who's you friend?, You, Whack). Even Luke now says apple core. This will be a lifelong memory for them! 

Our sweet three babies waiting ever so patiently to open their presents! What's this?

A basketball... one of Luke's favorite things right now Abby got Cinderella and the Cinderella movie. Caleb got Star Wars Legos.  

A couple more shots of Abby gearing up for the snow with her sweet little chapped lips and face!

 A Family Picture from the day that we celebrated Christmas back in ABQ Goofy Caleb trying hard to smile for me!

  

Abby doing the same!

Cousins!

  

Sisters!

 

Abby opening a present at the Pace Christmas  

My sweet big-eyed nephew Benjamin... isn't he precious?  

The Michael Pace Family

 

  

The Lodge and Pace grandkids in their jammies. We are miss McKenzie and Shelby, who live in Alaska.

A silly picture

Christmas Snow! Tres Piedras, NM

As usual we headed to New Mexico for Christmas this year.  We arrived in Albuquerque and spent a day there before heading off to Jon's mom's cabin in Tres Piedras, which is a small little spot in Northern New Mexico.  For the first time ever, we got to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day with Jennifer (Grandma Peters) and Terry (Grandpa Terry).  As is always the case, the kids spent some time playing in the snow.  I love that they are making these memories of sledding at Grandma's cabin ever year at Christmas time.

Luke got all bundled up and could barely move, but he liked being outside.  Most of the time, we just carried him around, but he did have his own little tiny pair of snow boots.  I think he was just adorable in his snow outfit!

Luke got this basketball for Christmas, and he insisted on bringing it outside.  Carrying a big baby and a basketball and trying to keep from slipping was not easy.  The basketball went right back into the house.

This made Luke cry and fall straight down onto his face in the snow.  Daddy rescued him, but he had some serious tears on his cold little cheeks.

Pictures around the house...

I have my camera ready often and try to take lots of pictures of the kids doing their ordinary activities.  I also try to capture some portraits of them often.  Here are some random shots from around the house before Christmas break.

This one of Caleb will be a favorite mine! It is going on the wall somewhere! Love the light, love Caleb's shirt, and love my sweet Caleb!

 

Here are few of Abby, who has become quite the little poser lately!  She went from NEVER ever smiling for a picture when she was a baby to really knowing how to work the camera!

The whole crew... we admittedly do this often at our house!

Little Lukers.  He was smiling for me because I had been taking pictures of his brother.

This pig has been one of Luke's favorite toys in the last year.   It has been well loved!

Luke LOVES LOVES LOVES airplanes right now.  He talks about them frequently and imitates them by "flying" his hand through the air and making plane sound effects.  Of course we had to put an airplane on his Christmas list!