The Mustang

So after driving our Forester for twelve years, the husband went and got himself a shiny new car last month.  We're hanging on to the Forester for the time being- that faithful old car has been with us since very nearly the beginning of our married life together and has seen us through quite a lot.

Most notably, the birth of each of our kids.

All four were born in different hospitals, delivered by different doctors, in two different states, and went home in different infant car seats.  The only thing that's been the same (aside from having the same mom and dad, not a small thing in itself I suppose) has been the little gray Forester that Phil and I would get into on our way to the hospital and that brought each new little one home.

So no, we haven't said goodbye to it just yet.

But we did say hello to a new car in the driveway.

For as hard and as faithfully as this dear man has worked to provide for our family, I'm just really happy he's now able to do something nice for himself.  That I get to tool around town in the seat next to him is the icing on the cake.

As for the kids?

They each think Daddy's new ride is pretty cool. (Daddy took her to dance class in his new ride).

Especially when the top's down.

So when he says, "hey, wanna go for a ride?"

The answer is pretty much always yes.  Especially when there are built-in babysitters (Phil's mom and brother who stayed with us over Christmas) at the house.

We slipped out for a bit on Christmas day just us two.  Plus the Mustang.

Oh and he had ten days of vacation which always brings that smile back.

Cannot ever get the goofy outta this guy.

As close to normal as I'm gonna get.

Thinking deep thoughts.

Or maybe just wondering when I'll be done so he can jump back in to that car.

Happy for you, honey.  Love you.

The Ballet Performance

Ahh.  So behind.  But now looking back on all the December pics, I remember why I'm so behind.  It was a crazy month.  Full of fun.  Busy.  Thankful for a slower pace now.

So Allie's taken a ballet class this fall.

Here's our girl.  And yes, that would be another little ballerina climbing the pole behind her.  This is a very serious ballet class, in case you couldn't tell.

And here's our girl with the reindeer antlers I had no idea she was supposed to have.  Thankfully another mom had an extra pair.  (What mom has extra pairs of antlers on her??  Not me, that's for sure.)  I depend on the kindness of other moms, is all I have to say about that.  (And why yes, that would be the ballet teacher's son perched atop that punching bag looking thing behind her.)

Comparing antlers.

She loved her antlers.  Or maybe was so relieved to have antlers on her head, rather than be the only one antler-less.  In any case, she didn't mind a bit that they were brown.

Allie's enthralled audience.

One more rehearsal.

With her game face on.

Dancing to the Beach Boys' "Little Saint Nick".

The Christmas Recital

Then it was time for the kids' second piano recital.

He played "Joy to the World".

His look of sheer relief.

She played "Holly Jolly Christmas".  She worked really, really hard to learn this song and pulled through in the eleventh hour.

This is how we make it through long periods of having to sit quietly.

Group shot.

So, so proud of her.  Of them both.

Daddy slipped out and bought her flowers.  Because that's what her daddy does.

And because Mikey wasn't really into getting flowers, this little sister got flowers too.

Thanks, Uncle Tim for teaching piano to these two.  And more importantly, for teaching these two about God's love through His gift of music.  So thankful for you!

Oh Christmas Tree

And then it was time to decorate the tree.  Not as early as we usually do it, but still well before Christmas, so I considered us golden.

This "four kids sitting on our tree" picture appears to be turning into a thing for us.

He tried to be more helpful this year with actually hanging the ornaments on the tree instead of just chucking them into the tree.  He did however, resort back to chucking method if it kept falling off.  Which is why I only gave him non-glass ones to hang up.

With so many helping hands, we got the job done in no time.  And they did such a nice job that neither Phil or I felt the need to go back and redistribute some of the ornaments.  Either that, or we were just too tired to care.  Or maybe it was a little of both.

This year, Lauren got to hang the star on the tree.

With a little help from her daddy.

Good job, team!