Merry Christmas, 2011

Here are a few pre-Christmas pix we tried to get for Grandma and Papa McCulley's annual Christmas letter...

We interrupted a golf game for this one! The guys were very gracious in holding back their shot since we were on the green and practically sitting on the hole!

Here are my 3 favorite little men on Christmas Eve. We went to service at Mimi and Poppy's church (where I grew up and also got married!) this year, then all went out to dinner (one of my favorite Christmas Eve traditions) at Cheesecake Factory. Yummo!

The boys got new jammies and also got to open one together gift before bed! Can you guess what was in the box?

....Shootguns!

I think this was last year's Christmas Eve gift as well. Not intentionally trying to make it tradition, but with a house of boys, it may very well be!

LOVE my boys!

We started the morning with cinnamon rolls. I was hoping for the from-scratch kind this year, but it didn't happen. Maybe it will be a tradition for a later season! : )

and read the Christmas story (our most favorite tradition)!

Then they dug in to their gifts! It was so.much.FUN!!!!!!

Wyatt sporting his new spiderman shirt and watch

more shoot guns! They are totally natural with weapons! I see law enforcement in someone's future... I'm hoping not, but I think it's inevitable! :)

I thought this pic was just precious of Isaac peaking in on his little $1 store treasure inside of the stocking...

Wyatt and I went to WalMart to let him pick gifts... He knew exactly what he wanted to get his daddy before we even walked in.... FISH! Daddy had to hold back the excitement a bit, but I think it ended up being his favorite gift of the year. Guarenteed it was given with the most thought and love from one very sweet boy named Wyatt!

Isaac trying to fit into Daddy's new shoes

Wyatt making a spider web with new crate paper

oopsies! For some reason Ike is wearing Micah jeans and on his tippy toes trying to get some goodies from the counter! :)

We spent the afternoon over at my sisters where the boys got to taste their first bit of prime rib and were given more shoot guns! :) It was a very FUN day!

Not sure wear the swim trunks came from.... Wyatt is in some kind of character form, I'm sure!

3 of the cutest spider men!

Not the best photo, bad had to post one with Mimi's black eye! Now that it's healed, the boys can think it's 'cool' picture (no, the boys were not involved in giving Mimi the black eye)!

And here's one last pic-sweet Great Grandma and Papa sharing Christmas with us!

Christmas, 2011 has definitely been my favorite so far! I loved getting to see all of Christmas through the eyes of my little guys this year--the lights, decorating, baking, reading the Christmas story over and over and over, the many questions, lots of laughter, opening of gifts, and time with family! These boys filled the season with much joy, awe, wonder and great imagination. What a treasured gift to get to see and feel and taste and hear and just experience Christmas through the life of little boys...with sweet perspective, amazing curiosity, and very teachable hearts.

"The enemy of value can be apathy from familiarity" -Jeff Terrell

Maybe that was just it for me this year... I was able to break out of the familiarity of Christmases past and really value the GIFT of Jesus right here in the present! I'm learning right alongside these little ones...some moments I'm teaching them and many moments they are teaching me!

Isaac is Almost TWO!!!

Here's our Isaac Owen just a month away from turning two...

Isaac loves glasses (often called "goggles"). I think I'm down to one pair of my own... the rest have either one lens or are so mangled that they got trashed! :) He finally got a pair of his own... we'll see how long they last!

Daddy and Ike bear gazing out the window!

This is the typical Isaac "cheeze" these days! He's a hoot!

First try on the potty.... his own initiative. I'm not even beginning that battle until age 3, but if he figures out on his own beforehand then I'll be very encouraging!

Look at that sweetness!

Isaac LOVES "brother" or "baby". I think he likes his lil bro so much because Micah really fuels his fire.... Micah Jay laughs hysterically at Isaac and Ike just eats it up!

Isaac is very hands-on! I'm finally able to leave him in a room alone with Micah while I step out for a minute or two.... but I'll often find Isaac on top of Micah trying to wrestle when I return. Yikes! Micah seems to hold his own though.

Isaac has a very tender and sweet, compassionate heart as well. He "shhhhhhhs" Micah when he cries and tries to sit him back up when he falls over. He makes sure that we pray with Micah each night before bed.... It is pretty cute to see Isaac standing right in front of Micah's crib with his blanket in hand saying "Pay, Pay" (Pray!).... Melts my heart!

First try in the big boy (toddler) bed! This was definitely not by our initiative, but out of necessity! Isaac figured out how to get out of his crib one night while Joe was out of town. It was a very Looooooooooong night for us both. I guess a very short night is a better description. At some point we both tuckered out on the couch together!

We tried everything in hopes of keeping this boy in his crib, but the little Houdini found a way out each time. After a few sleepless nights and when all other attempts had failed, we decided it was time to make the closet his new room. Yep, we did it.......... we locked our son in the closet! I have to add that it's a pretty large closet. We put the crib mattress in there, put up some glow in the dark stars, bought him a turtle night light, cut and extra inch off the bottom of the door to create air flow..... There you have it, problem solved. Isaac was a happy camper (after a couple of kicks on the door!) and we were sleeping again. If you are a parent I know you totally understand......... you do what you've got to do to get a little shut-eye! :) Our little buddy still needs some definite boundaries and confinement. He's got the routine down now of locking the door himself (I must note that I got locked in with him one afternoon during naptime.... Wyatt eventually came to my rescue! Whew!), turning on his turtle night light, saying prayers, and off to sleep he goes... Fun Facts About our 23-Month-Old:

ISAAC....

-refers to most people as either "a girl" or "a guy".... no names, just their gender!

-used his first 3 word phrase this month, "Go bye-bye mama" :( It was really cute... he was wrestling with Daddy while I was getting ready to head out to the store, apparently my conversation with Joe was interrupting his tackle time with Daddy so he was ready for me to leave! :)

-refers to his brothers as "Wy Wy" and "Broter" or "Baby"

-cutest word he says is "walrus"

-now says "pease" So cute!!! Still does the sign language too!

-loves guns. I guess this goes along with having a big brother. He makes the cutest shooter sound

-gives lots of hugs and kisses

-understands everything..... He's very SMART!

-is so much FUN! He is my little sunshine! :)

Isaac Owen, I hope you always have the gift of making others smile and your passion and zeal never fade. I love you SOOooooo much! Thanks for making my days full of sunshine! Mommy

Micah at 8 Months!

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Fun Facts about our 8-Month-Old:

MICAH....

-added a top tooth this month for a total of 3!

-dances!!!!! It is soooooo cute.... he's got some good rhythm already!

-is starting to cry when Mommy leaves the room

-always looks like he's chewing bubble gum... I'm guessing he's got more teeth working there way down.

-loves to eat. He devours a jar of food and cries hysterically until you open the second!

is such a roly poly... he's got so many fat rolls that you can barely see his features... not sure who he looks like yet.

-many people say he resembles my dad! I guess he's got some Schulze blood! I think my dad is a very handsome guy so this is definitely a compliment to Micah!

-is really beginning to squeal and babble

Micah, I know our days of you just being a content little baby, happy to sit on the floor and observe all around you are drawing to an end. I know you'll be scooting and crawling, walking and running all too soon. SOOoooooo, I'm totally soaking up the sweet baby moments when you fall asleep in my arms or when you hang out, perfectly content to sit on my lap while I read a book. I so love these days and would just keep you here forever if I could....... but I suppose I'll have to let you just keep on growing and gaining independence... for this, I rejoice! Love you, my sweet Micah Jay!

Emergencies

"Today, I will not have any emergencies. There are no emergencies!" -Ann Voskamp

First trip to the ER: We were having a calm morning (I realize that calm is a relative word... most of you would probably not consider our kind of calm to be your definition of the word!). I had gotten in a work out and a shower and was drying my hair while the boys were calmly playing together (I must admit that we were a bit out of routine this particular morning... I normally try to have all of the above done before my boys' feet first hit the floor in the morning! So maybe they were lacking a little parental attention) when Wyatt comes running into the bathroom screaming that Isaac hit him with a toy. Sure enough, blood dripping down the one side of Wy's face, was a pretty deep (small, but deep) battle wound. Well, the Lord in his Providence had provided me a way out... My sister was already planning to come over for a play date, so I was able to leave Isaac and Micah to take just Wy guy to the ER. Wyatt was all about the experience at the hospital while he got to watch TV in a treehouse and play with the ipad.... but it was another story once the doctor came in with gloves and a silver tray of tools. FREAK OUT!!! They had Wyatt wrapped like a mummy and a nurse's body weight pinning him down just to keep him somewhat controlled while (luckily) able to glue the wound...

Wyatt graciously reminded Isaac over and over and over the rest of the day that he was very disappointed in Isaac's behavior. About 24 hrs later right before we were supposed to be eating dinner and preparing to leave for small group, Wyatt decided to shove Isaac into the corner of a table. Now who is disappointed? All day long it seems that we talk about not repaying evil with evil, but boys will be boys... Now Isaac is screaming (and this boy is TOUGH, I tell ya) at the top of his lungs and won't even take a sucker to make the pain subside (that's when you know Ike is really hurt... he does not pass up candy). The pictures do not do it justice, he had a HUGE goose egg on his forehead. I can hardly stand to see my boys hurt! This is one time that I can feel my blood boiling...

A couple of days later Isaac got a very big, fat, bloody lip from jumping on Wyatt's bed and landing his mouth on the headboard. Ugh.... I can totally handle blood and guts UNLESS it involves my children, then I'm as squeamish as a little girl! Oh, and I've got to throw in the frog story. I thought I had caught a great deal by using $5 coupons at Hallmark that were about to expire toward 6 cute, little frogs for Christmas. (Note to self...when you buy living things prior to Christmas, you have to care for these living things until you gift them.) I came home with a cardboard box and went straight to my bathroom. Apparently Wyatt was curious.... something about an old cardboard box that in his mind must have read "There's something in there for me.... I can't wait for Christmas!" While I was unloading other things out of the car, my little help disappeared... right up to my bathroom. We crossed paths in the upstairs hallway and he had a look on his face that cause me to RUN to the bathroom.............. Much to my dismay, there were 3 overtuned frog tanks and 6 baby frogs bouncing all over my bathroom. Oh my! I screamed.... a squeamish little girl scream. I don't handle frogs in my bathroom well. Thankfully, Joe rushed in to the rescue of these frogs! There should have been a recording, it makes me laugh out loud to now replay the scenario in my mind. What a day and what a way to start out the Christmas season.... there's more to this story but I stop there!

Wyatt and Ellie finished the week with a little painting party--body, hair, tables, etc...anything but the paper they were supposed to be painting. I guess that's what you get for leaving 2, 3-year-olds alone with paintbrushes.... their creativity ran a bit wild! : ) But they were pretty stinkin' cute and very proud of their artwork!

I had been praying through a list of 10 points for joyful parenting and got stuck on #3 (the quote at the top of this post) during this very 'eventful' week. I don't know much about this author, but must initially wonder if she has boys?!! There seem to be many emergencies in our world. None that have been life-threatening, so I guess they haven't actually been real emergencies, but they were enough to get this momma's heart pumping! However, this quote has caused me to take time to stop and reflect on my responses during these sudden, unexpected events ........ am I able to rest and abide in the Sovereign One, even during the emergencies of life? He is Providence. And I'm thankful for all of the little ways he kindly and mercifully provided and cared for us during this events that seemed like emergencies to me.... all while being sifted through his very hands...under His control!