Merry Christmas To All...

Dialouge from Christmas morning~

4:48 AM- I hear the baby crying... (thinking to myself)- UGH! Hurry, I have to get to him before Luke and Owen wake up. I reach Jude before they hear him, or so I thought. Jude is soaked- UGH! again! Maybe I can get him changed, fed and back to sleep before Luke and Owen wake up this early. No such luck. Jude starts bucking on the changing table- he's WIDE awake, it's Christmas morning, of course- he's ready for presents... still no big boys... yet. All of a sudden, in the pitch of darkness.... in the loudest voice EVER!!!! "MERRY CHRISTMAS, MOM"!!!! I nearly jumped out of my skin, it scared me so much. And so the day began...

And a day it has been so far- I LOVE watching my boys with the wonderment, excitement and love all at once. Santa is so huge to them. Now, of course they do know the true meaning of CHRISTmas and briefly pause to remember that we're celebrating because of the birth of our savior- but come on, Santa to a 7 and 4 year old takes over their entire being for a few short hours on Christmas morning. And so it should....

Merry Christmas to all of our loved ones... And Merry Christmas to you, my boys. I am so blessed to be loved by the four of you. My cup runneth over....

'O Christmas Tree....

Okay, so I said I was only going to put up 1 tree this year... I lied, fibbed, joked... I guess the Christmas spirit came over me. I couldn't stand just having 1... so I put up 5. I know, I know, I will be cursing myself when it comes time to take them down. But in the meantime I LOVE those really early mornings (4:30 AM) when it's quiet in the house, I sneak downstairs, start some yummy hazelnut coffee and sit next to a lit tree in complete darkness. It's "my" time. I look forward to it every December. Then slowly the kids awake- I hear cooing from a crib, a little Owen scampering downstairs, a bigger brother searching for the elf.... and Jeremiah still snoring :) 'Tis the season...

SNOW DAY!!!

I think Jeremiah was more excited than anyone because he got to get on his "tractor" to play in the snow. Although we didn't get a ton of the white stuff we did get a lot of ice! Santa is frozen to our front door! Luke and Owen are camped out on the couch where they'll most likely remain all day. I'm okay with that- for today, and tomorrow they'll be shipped outside to sled or make a snow fort. CHRISTmas break has begun- 1 day early. I've got a million things to do before the big day and our trip. I've had to remind myself many times to slow down and enjoy this time of year. I'm reminded of something our pastor recently wrote and said "I pray your experience of Christmas is not so much of a baby in a manger, but of a risen Christ who calms the wind and waves. Not so much of a present colorfully wrapped under a green tree, but of a sense of belonging and hopeful anticipation for God's reign on earth to reclaim all that is born of darkness. After all, God is in the details".

Random December Photos

WHEW! It's been a wild December so far! We celebrated Jeremiah's 34th birthday on December 8th, we've had christmas parties galore and more to come! Here are just a few random moments in time-

Moses in the Bulrushes and 'Juder' Soup???

Okay, so this isn't really a moses basket, nor is it Moses- but there's something about putting your sweet little infant in a basket and ooohhhing and awwwwing because it's just too darn cute. Jude is crawling all over the place now- including in and out of baskets- he's even cruising along the furniture. It won't be long before he figures out the stairs- time to call grandpa Steve to put the gates back up! As for the 'Juder' Soup- no Jere and I don't really plan on cooking him. For some reason we've taken a picture of all 3 boys in a pot on top of the stove- again there's something about putting your kid in a pot like he's so yummy you just want to eat him up. Okay, that didn't sound right but for all you parents out there maybe you understand what I'm saying.

We've had a busy week so far- Jere and his dad are working on finishing our basement. At least getting studs up and insulation in place! Yahoo... now I can ship the kids down there and not worry about all the toys everywhere! We're all back into routine from Thanksgiving break and counting down the days till Christmas and Disney World!

Before I close, I want to send out best baby wishes to a couple of people. My best friend Alecia is expecting her 3rd (her 2nd is Jude's age- sorry Alecia, I just 'outed' you) and to Whitney- I hope all is going well- can't wait to meet baby Docken!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

I hope you all had a blessed holiday today! We celebrated at my parent's house with both my brothers and their families. It was a house full of giggling little kids. My mom celebrated her birthday today as well~ Happy Birthday, Mom! THEN... out of nowhere Mr. Claus himself appeared!!! The kids (and adults) were speechless! Santa (the exact same Santa!) has been visiting our family since I was about 3 years old~ so for 31 years I have sat on the same lap and expressed my deepest Christmas wishes. And every year I am near tears at the wonder of this man! It is truly amazing to watch my own children stare in awe at Santa. Their sweet little smiles suddenly turn solemn when he asks if they've been good "ALL YEAR LONG". Luke tattled a little bit on Owen, but I think he'll overlook it this year. The Juderbug wasn't so sure about him~ but he gave it his best shot. So the official Christmas holiday has begun... we're off and running!

He's Arrived, He's Arrived~

"At holiday time Santa sends me to you. I watch and report on all that you do. My job's an assignment from Santa himself. I am his helper, a friendly scout elf." So this morning the boys awoke to our "elf on the shelf". And what a morning it was. "Ben" was waiting on the mantle with a book to explain how he "works". He will watch over the boys every day and then report to Santa each night. Every morning he will be back from the North Pole and be hiding in a new spot. We aren't allowed to touch him as this will cause his magic to go away! My dear little Owen is mesmerized by Ben! He can't hardly stand to be in the same room with him- I'm not sure if he's scared of the elf or scared of how "naughty" he's been :) This is the greatest tradition! Thanks Sara for filling me in! I wonder if Ben will tell Santa if I've been naughty or nice!

Surprise!

Today is Luke's 7th birthday- it's hard for me to believe he's that old already. Where has the time gone? He was just a little baby screaming 22 hours a day, never sleeping and wanting to eat all the time- wait a minute that was just yesterday. Not much has changed :) No really, we are so blessed with such a nice young gentleman.

We celebrated with a surprise party at Family Fun Center with 11 of his closest little buddies and cousin, Tyler. Surprisingly, none of the kids spilled the beans prior to the party. Tonight we had the family dinner at our house. My "champagne taste" little boy chose prime rib with mashed potatoes for his entree- UGH! Next year it will probably be crab legs!

Happy Birthday, my prince!

He Makes a Mama Proud!

For anyone that knows me well, they know there are three things I absolutely adore... weddings, babies, and christmas. I can't get enough of any of them! In a perfect world there would be weddings all the time, babies galore in beautiful little satin bows and yummy chenile blankets, and christmas would be year round. Or at least at my house my husband would let me put up my christmas tree by my birthday- the first week of November. In the eight years we've been married he's only let me do that ONCE! And yet, he still denies that I conned him into it. Oh well. I know now that I have a child after his mother's heart. All of the boys have their own christmas tree that decorates their room each season. Owen has been begging for days to decorate his- so I finally got it down this morning and said maybe we could work on it this weekend. Well, tonight I found him in his room with the tree all decorated and with a sparkle in his eye. It almost brought a tear to my eye! No, seriously, it did! So the official Mieska christmas holiday has begun. Now it's 2 against 3 and really, Jude doesn't count yet because he can't talk. So I have faith that Owen and I will eventually win over Jere and Luke and my tree will be up by Sunday- Wish me luck!

Across the Miles...

My very dearest friend surprised me for my 34th birthday on Friday- Alecia flew all the way from Virginia just to spend the weekend with me. What a great surprise! Apparently she and Jeremiah had this planned since August- sneaky little creatures! She brought along her daughter Grace who is just 6 days older than the Juderbug. We had a great time chatting and laughing and drinking some wine- took us back to our college days, however then we could only afford the cheap Boone's Farm wine from the local 7-11 (is that really considered wine???)

We had a jam packed weekend with activities for the boys. Owen and I were able to fit in a bit of ice skating in Omaha. Jeremiah's grandpa from Minnesota was able to make a trip down with his Aunt Connie as well. Whew! By Sunday night we were all exhausted and ready for bed. Now it's birthday week for Luke- he'll be turning 7 this Sunday. Stay tuned for more photos from the upcoming party.

May The Force Be With You!!

My young apprentices performed well this Halloween. We used the power of The Force to summon our friends and their families for a night of fun, follies, spirits, laughs, and LOTS of candy! Tonight was a festive Halloween. The weather was perfect, and for once, the kids didn't have to go trick or treating in stocking hats. Daylight savings worked out well this year also, the boys actually had to eat real food before they hit the streets and got filled up on candy. I realized tonight, that we have been blessed to be able to live in such a fantastic neighborhood full of kids and youg parents, but most of all we are blessed to have such great friends that we can share these great ocassions with them and their families. Thanks Koubsky crew and The Lang Gang! Sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite!:)

He must REALLY be old!!!!

Owen called his Grandpa Steve yesterday to wish him a Happy Birthday and also to find out how old he is. When Grandpa told him, he said "wow, that's really old!" Funny how 4 year olds have no concept of age. Really grandpa isn't THAT old :) We had a nice dinner with Peggy and Steve and Jenny and her family to celebrate. All the cousins TRIED to gather for a photo, but with 2 babies under the age of 1 it didn't go too well.

SHHH!....We're Hunting Pumpkins!

Last Sunday we had our annual pumpkin hunt at Pioneer Trail Orchard! It was a windy and cold afternoon but the kiddos didn't mind. They found their perfect pumpkins from the patch. As many of you know I often and lovingly call Luke "Charlie Brown". Partly because he has a big charlie brown noggin (again, I say this lovingly), but also because I loved Charlie Brown as a child. The pumpkin patch always takes me back to the Great White Pumpkin- I recall evenings during Halloween week when Charles Schulz cartoons were a family favorite and we would all gather round the TV and watch together. If you have a chance this week- read a great Charlie Brown book... I know we will.

What the Wookie?

It's Chewie's first Halloween in a couple of weeks and his costume finally arrived. Big Brother Jedis were anxious to see him in his furs..Poor kiddo seems a bit shocked, surprised, overwhelmed. Hopefully the force is with him. Happy 1st Halloween, baby chewie!