Christmas Pageant

Our church decided to resurrect an old tradition of having a Christmas pageant this year. I think they did a great job of incorporating all ages of kids and youth. It was narrated by high schoolers, middle school youth were the principles, elementary school kids were the wise people, townspeople, and shepherds. And preschool-kinder kids were the sheep. This is the category into which Owen fell, and he had so much fun! I'll see if I can get some video posted at some point because it was classic as Owen belted out "Behold That Star" just a little louder and a little ahead of everyone else. Liz, the senior minister, told me afterward, "Owen stole the show." And at church the following Sunday she said with a chuckle, "People are still talking about your son." And to think that I thought there was a possibility that he would decide not to go on stage at all. Anyway, the pageant was great! All of the kids did such a great job!

Owen, Rachel, and Grace in the costume room

Owen getting his makeup on

During the pageant

After the pageant, we came home and lit the advent candles and put out treats for Santa.

Christmas Eve at Grandpa and Grandma's

As always, Christmas this year was VERY busy and VERY fun! We were nervous that all the snow in Portland would keep Britt, Pat, Rory, and Madi home. However, they endured a 5 1/2 hour car ride (yes, you read that correctly) from Portland to Corvallis on the 23rd, and we were so happy to have them in town for our traditional Christmas Eve celebration at Grandpa Stan and Grandma Linda's.

Quincy and Aunt Madi

Madi got the boys this great toy--it's kind of like a giant soft frisbee. Quincy especially loves it!

Owen and Quincy opening their trampoline from Grandpa and Grandma!

Owen didn't believe that the box contained a trampoline.

I love this picture of Rory chillin' on the chair at (almost) the end of presents.

Wait! There's one more present...

Grandpa Stan totally refurbished Britt's old dollhouse for Rory. He spent countless hours on it, and it's BEAUTIFUL!

All of the kids were excited about Rory's new dollhouse!

It was a really fun afternoon. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Snow Days

The Pacific Northwest was hit with some very uncharacteristic weather in the middle of December. Lots and LOTS of snow! Here in Corvallis during the week before Christmas vacation we had school canceled on Monday and Tuesday, had a late start Wednesday, a regular day Thursday, and then school canceled again on Friday. It was such a weird way to head into winter break. After our snow from that Friday disappeared, we just got a lot of rain. Salem, Portland, and points north all got dumped on for several more days. Here are some pics of the boys in the snow.

Weekend in Newport

This past weekend Brady's parents treated the family to our second annual weekend trip to Newport for the Sea of Lights event at the aquarium. They rented a house across the street from the beach with a gorgeous view. The weather was crystal clear, which made the view that much better.

Quincy and Rory looking like twinsies in their monkey jammies...

Grandma Linda brought stuff to make dough ornaments, and I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or the grown-ups...

Later we went for a walk and look who we found wandering the streets! Owen told Santa that he is hoping for a telescope for Christmas. He also put in a good word for Quincy who was napping back at the house.


Even though it was cool and crisp, the sun made for a beautiful day at the beach. I love this action picture of Owen running on the beach.
Rory on the beach...
Owen and Mommy...

The cousins spent a lot of time in the back bedroom reading, playing, and making mischief. Here are Quincy and Rory playing and maybe wrestling a little...And here is the end result...Quincy commandeered Rory's pacifier from her. You can see the look of utter pride in his accomplishment on his face.


I love this picture! Quincy is feeling his new baby cousin move in Aunt Britt's belly.
When it got dark it was time to head to the aquarium for Sea of Lights. They put thousands of Christmas lights around the outside parts of the aquarium. All of the indoor part of the aquarium are open. They have carolers and face painting. It was so pretty.

Last year Owen chose a reindeer with a scarf. This year he chose a harbor seal with a Santa hat.

I was amazed at how still Quincy sat to get his face painted. Here is the end result...a sparkly snowflake. In this picture he is pointing out a huge halibut to Grandpa.

Here are Owen and Quincy touching the anemones and sea stars.
It was such a fun weekend! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Sleep Laugher

So, we've all heard of sleep walkers and sleep talkers. Tonight I witnessed something that I've never even heard of before...sleep laughing! Here's what happened...
Owen had been asleep for about 45 minutes when I took Quincy up to the boys' bedroom to put him to bed. He had finished nursing, and I was just leaning over to put his groggy little self in bed when suddenly all of the smoke alarms in our house started going off.
Noni Jo was downstairs preparing Milanese for tomorrow's feast, and the smoke alarms started going off. All of them. Seriously. Every single one...including all three upstairs, which are located in the boys' room, in the bonus room, and in the guest room. All three of the upstairs smoke alarms are located within 20 feet of Owen's bed. Why am I telling you this? Because throughout the cacophony that was ensuing in Owen's bedroom, he did not budge. Not an inch. My point? Only that he was deeply sound asleep.
About 15 minutes later, things were all calm again, and I was again in the boys' room attempting, for the second time now, to put Quincy to bed. I was swaying with Quincy in my arms and softly singing "Lady Moon" to him when I thought I heard a little giggle. Then it was silent. Then I definitely heard another little giggle very clearly coming from Owen's bed. Pretty soon he was chortling and then full on laughing. It was so funny that it was all I could do not to laugh out loud myself. I nuzzled my face into Quincy's blanket and tried to stifle my own giggles as I thought about children's laughter and how it is one of the things that I am so thankful for.

Halloween

I'm so behind with my blog (as usual). I figured I should at least get our Halloween pictures on here before Thanksgiving gets here.

We went downtown and trick-or-treated the businesses. It's always a lot of fun. We paused for dinner at our favorite taqueria before coming back to our neighborhood and trick-or-treating a few houses. Then it was home to hand out some candy, and the kids were in bed by 7:00. The perfect Halloween!

Farmer Quincy and his ridiculously awesome barn that Grandpa Stan made for him

Sir Owen of Midvale and his buddy Batman (that's our friend Caden)

Farmer Q riding in his barn

QB1Our friends, Alex and Mia

This particular Snow White is Owen's friend, Livvy D. Never have I met a little girl with more character than Livvy D. I'd love to write a children's book about her.
Trick-or-treating at our friends, Tana and Jeff's, house

Quincy thought it was really fun to rifle through the candy we were handing out at home.

Pre-Halloween Festivities

First the pumpkin patch...Then the jack-o-lantern...
And, finally, the Monster March Halloween parade in Britt, Pat, and Rory's neighborhood...