New Toys

New toy for me... camera lens!
New toy for my kids - the bubble wrap that it was shipped in.

Good thing we are scheduled for haircuts this afternoon.

Big Kid Beds

Yesterday, Tommy and Ellie spent their afternoon climbing up and getting down from the bed in Ellie's room.  They scattered all of the diapering supplies, grabbed all the things that were on top of her dresser, and climbed up to the higher bookshelves in her room to empty it.

When I commented on how well they were climbing up and down (with the use of an overturned trick-or-treat bucket) they grinned from ear to ear.  So I asked (as I do regularly) if they were ready to sleep in their big kid beds, and they both said yes.  I installed gates at their doors so they couldn't get out to play with each other during the night, and off to bed they went.

Ellie was excited to sleep in her "big bed" and after comfortably
arranging several pillows, fell straight to sleep.

Tommy was excited too... until I left the room. Then he was up repeatedly, and crying for me.
Eventually, he lost the privilege of the big bed and I put him in his crib.

I slept on the couch last night so that I would be nearby if there were any issues. In the middle of the night when Tommy cried to get up I put him in the big boy bed.  Then I fell asleep at the other end waiting for him to get to sleep. When I woke up he had turned himself around and we were sharing a pillow and he was hugging me.  I love that boy. :)

Sleeping tonight.  We'll work on the covers some other day.
For now, they are just using their familiar blankies.

Not willing to lose his privileges again, he went to bed without tears.

And these are just some cute dress-up pictures from a few days ago...

Happy Birthday, Tom!

A half century old.

Five decades.

Over the hill?

Sometimes I think of life in terms like this.  This year, as I approach this big mile marker, I don't want to think in this way.  And as Tom reached his 50th birthday today, I realize that I am not looking at him this way at all.  Instead, I am just thinking about another year of growth and accomplishments, and how my love for him is continuing to grow.

This year, I see a man who has worked hard to further his education and career.  He graduated with a Doctorate in Educational Leadership.  He has continued his career as a high school teacher, but has also been invited to speak at conferences, has taken on extra responsibilities at school and extra work for the state to allow me to continue to stay at home with our children.

Tom has grown as a father.  While he doesn't exactly run to change dirty diapers, he does play with Tommy and Ellie every day.  He works with them to help them love books.  He reads scriptures with them, he prays with them, and he sets a good example for them by showing love to all of us.  Every day we each receive kisses and expressions of love from him.

Tom has developed a willingness to get a little silly with us.  Most people probably see him as a serious figure; did they think he would dress up with his kids for Halloween?  Or for the Christmas party?  Or that he would wear his baby's first birthday hat for this morning's birthday picture?

I think my sweetheart is aging gracefully, and I love him more each day.

 

Happy 50th birthday, Tom!

It's a One-derful Life

I may be a bit behind, but as of 10 minutes ago, I have crossed one resolution off my list.  I have finally finished and ordered my photo book documenting another year in Tommy and Ellie's life.
Now let's see if I can stay on a roll and get the first half of the next book finished this month and then finish the whole book shortly after their next birthday.

Click here to view this photo book larger

You'll love Shutterfly's award-winning photo books. Try it today.

Christmas

This year we tried hard to focus on Christ, explaining that his birth was the reason for our celebration.  Using an advent calendar to count down the days to Christmas, each day we read parts of the story of Christ's birth, followed by the chocolate treats from their calendars.  Not sure how we will get them to read the scriptures from now on, but candy definitely did the trick in December.

Our ward party did a great job of setting the scene and making the story come to life.

We also had several celebrations with family.  The first came last Sunday at Sandy's house.  We had our traditional Chinese dinner (not sure how that one started) followed by playing the game "Celebrity" and then our white elephant exchange.

 



Google auto-awesomed a few pictures of the tree and made it twinkle.  Magic. :)
(Especially since I don't remember them actually twinkling in person.)



Tom brought a book to keep himself entertained. 
I told him I am going to start taking a picture of him with his book
at each gathering so that I can keep track of the years by what he is reading. 
I'm happy to say that he didn't get very far into it this time.

Somebody has been playing with fireplace tools. 
Thank you, Rachel, for cleaning him up.

I insisted on having chopsticks for the meal.
Much to my surprise, both of my kids used them with no problem.

See?  They did better than many of the adults.

Ethan, Phoebe and Johnny shared the couch, as always.

Wyatt came for the first time in a few years.  It was great to see him.
While we could see Emma in person, it's not so easy here because
I was taking pictures in the dark without a flash, so any movement causes blur.

I think the blur that Phoebe is holding is an EZ Foot scrubber.

View from the hearth: Ellie, Sandy, Cole and Megan

A less (although still) blurry shot of Emma shows her opening a frog pillow pet.
 I tried to get my kids to steal this, but they kept finding things that
they liked even better, like that giant stuffed zebra that Ellie
grabbed up, or the match box cars that Tommy went for.

Bridget came with us so that we didn't have to leave her home alone.

Johnny put Ellie up on his shoulders even though she was eating.
Now that's cousin love!

Just chillin'.  Sandy, congratulations for fitting your butt in the tall chair!

John, I think shaking the presents before choosing is cheating.
And cameras don't lie.

Rachel with her blurry friend Nate.
The cheese balls came home with me.

 

 

On Christmas Eve, we spent time with Grandma and Grandpa Selvage.

 

Another auto-awesomed Christmas tree.  I have to admit this one needed it. :)

This little elf is awesome all by herself.
No assistance from Google needed.

Tommy added his own lighting accent by finding Grandpa's flashlight again. 
It's his favorite thing to do here, surpassing even Christmas gift opening.

Grandma Selvage loves giving gifts, so Christmas is the perfect holiday for her.

Tommy really liked Ellie's new doll.  Or at least the stroller it came in.
 Ellie was nice and let him have a turn, but it wasn't easy for her to get it back from him.

Finally, with quite a bit of intervention,
Ellie gets her doll and stroller back.

Every year we have taken their picture together in this chair.

 

 

Then Christmas Day, we stayed in for time with just our family.

 

The first thing Ellie headed for this morning was the new doll stroller from last night, but she soon discovered the new table and chairs serving up their favorite food: French fries and "che-chup".  Note that she is keeping one hand on the cart full of groceries.  Lesson learned from sharing last night.

Tommy kept neglecting his own gifts, leaving them unopened in a pile while he took care of opening everyone else's gifts.  Here, he raided Tom's stocking for a chocolate bar.

Wheels, wheels, wheels.  Our house turned into a race track, with the kids chasing each other all over for about an hour.  They switched babies and transportation regularly and kept me guessing as to which one they would have on each round through the living room.

Is it my imagination, or is the doll laughing too?

I think the animal Ellie spies here is Bridget.

 

Google "auto-awesomed" a summary of my year from the photos that I uploaded.  I thought it was pretty cute, so here it is for you to enjoy...