Grandma and Grandpa Croker came for Christmas. The kids have loved it from the moment they walked in the door. I think their excitement was a little overwhelming at first. Logan is a pretty bouncy little boy and it is hard enough for me to handle all of his lap jumping enthusiasm and I live with the kid.

We had a wonderful Christmas and got an extra bonus when Grandma and Grandpa’s flight home was canceled.  They were going to leave on Wednesday the 26th, but didn’t get out until New Year’s Eve.  That extra part of the visit was almost better than the first half.  There were no preparations to make, everyone was used to each other…

Oh, but I forget the singing and anticipating and present opening and turkey roasting and stuffing making and pie baking.

The first half was better.

Oh the magic of Christmas!

I didn’t quite get my Christmas card printing done in time for Christmas this year. I guess they’ll be Happy New Year cards instead. They star our little friend Nutty, the red breasted nuthatch who frequents our bird feeder.

As I reflect on the past year I am so thankful. I couldn’t imagine being happier. That is almost entirely Barry’s doing. He is better than I could really say with words, and I stand in awe of this little family we’ve created– the feeling we have in our home, the rocks and drawings and books and chubby smiles. The games, the singing, the building, the playing. Bringing a fourth little person into the mix has made things a little busier, but has brought us so much closer. It seems like there’s nothing we couldn’t do together.

In so many ways the time goes by slowly– like waiting for Bary to come home from work after a long day of diaper changes, book reading, rocking, fight diffusing. But it goes by so fast! My little baby is already learning to walk. My little girl doesn’t look so little anymore with her big new teeth trying to fit into her little mouth. I really do love this time of having little ones– the boundless energy, the snuggles, the unconditional love and admiration, the hilarious observations, the wonder of seeing things new through fresh eyes. These are my treasures. There are so many things that only I will remember– that time will erase for them. What a gift– as long as I keep my eyes open, my sense of humor, a little patience, joy, love, and remember how fleeting it really is.

The new year will bring new adventures, new dreams to follow, new things to learn. Amid all the change there will be some constants– the beauty of our family, the knowledge that “home” is wherever we are together, faith, growth…

Wishing you all joy, love, and creativity in this new year!!

Ian got a little wooden car push toy. I didn’t think he’d be pushing and walking right away, but Christmas morning he crawled straight for it, pulled himself up and tried a step or two. By the evening he was doing laps– with a little help when he got stuck. He’s fine going in a straight line. He lets us know when he’s run into a piece of furniture or wall he can’t maneuver around.

Not only did I get a camera, but there was a really big box behind the piano I had never seen before. We have been kind of needing a computer– but I was sure that would wait until we moved next year. I must admit our 20 inch iMac is much nicer to look at and work with than our tiny 12 inch PowerBook was.

The kids got tons of things. Christmas times four is pretty big over here. Fortunately most we got lots of books and toys that provide lots of open ended creative play. Marbles, doll house furniture, a sewing machine, clay, electrical circuit making stuff, Playmobile guys, legos– they’re cover most of the flat surfaces downstairs.

Just photos tonight:

More here.

Barry got me a Nikon D40 for Christmas. I better get busy blogging so that someone else can see all my photos. So, real quick, here’s some photos of my cuties out on a walk on Christmas day.

I’m spoiled in love and cuteness here, I am.

A few months ago my little niece requested a pink elephant for her birthday. Well, as I was searching through my boxes of scraps I came across a forgotten wool/cashmere blend PINK sweater. It was destined to become an elephant!

Brenna named her Emma and had a very hard time parting with her. I do have some more sweaters…

We thought it would give us a chance to get to know the parents of all the kids that spend so much time in our back yard if we had a Croker Heights

Christmas party. A very good time was had by all.

It started snowing first thing this morning, which added even more magic to the anticipation for the guests to arrive.

The highlight of the party was rock smashing– and not just any rocks, mind you. Rock breaking has been the past time of choice down in Croker Heights. They all collect rocks and break rocks and use rocks as their money, so one day I got a bug to find geodes that we might be able to break open. A little Googling and I hit the jackpot. I got a box of rocks all ready for smashing.

Aren’t they cool. Parents had fun too. It was very exciting to see what treasure lay in store. We found the best technique was to put the geodes in an old sock and gave it a whack or three. The sock helped keep all the pieces together and then the kids each had a red paper bag to keep their own pieces in. Some had bigger crystals than others, some had some iron mineral deposits, one of them had globby looking calcite instead of quartz crystals. It was way cool!

We also made graham cracker houses and ate goodies.

Merry Christmas!!

So one weekend back before Thanksgiving we got a babysitter so we could go on a date. I hopped on my mountain bike (which I haven’t ridden on dirt since we moved to Ohio in 2003), put the video camera in a pack and followed along with my knight in shining armor:

That’s what you’d call him, right?