DIY weekend

..and this was the result!

some old christmas pics....

These are just some old Christmas pictures... Uncle Thomas' visit and, of course, Malachi playing football.

Boys will be boys -- and brothers will be friends

Micah and Malachi have been getting along really well lately. They make up games and stories to act out. They wrestle, play "doggie," play "hutball," fight, and wrestle some more. They are completly different and jealous of each other, and then in the next minute, they are best friends, making a fort together under the table.

They are brothers. It's an relationship never know. I'll only observe it, as an outsider.

So, I'll just continue to chronicle my findings here. (-wink-)

This is a pre-nap wrestle.



After dinner, we turned up the music and I took this video of the boys.... uh... dancing? (it's about three minutes long...)




Micah and Malachi, reading at the Library.



Mathias just crawls on top of Micah and Malachi to join in the brotherly brawls.

Micah's growing up

When i asked Micah what he wanted most for Christmas... he said a shaving kit. So, he got one. And he loves to shave... especially with Daddy.

Micah is slowly entering the "boy" stage. The REAL boy stage. Where he tries to connect with Daddy every chance he gets, and disconnect from mom every chance he gets. I don't mean that he doesn't want me around. It's just that, things that used to make him adore me, he now loathes. Such as: bragging about him to people, getting down on one knee to embrace when I pick him up from school, and being silly in public (like skipping through Sam's club singing "Lions and tigers and bears, oh-my!")

Oh my. I'm not ready for this. I'm struggling to find new ways to connect with him. Teaching him at home helps. Because it gives us a "shared interest." We can study science or social studies and talk about his ideas and things that interest him.

But this "boy" thing is what I dreaded -- when laying on that table, belly exposed, and the doctor looked at the fuzzy black and white screen and announced "it's a boy!"

Boy? I don't know anything about boys!

But until now, it hasn't been so bad. I can throw a ball, and can hang out in forts and can even wrestle around on the ground. But that was KID stuff. This is BOY stuff. And no matter what I can "do," I'm not a boy. And so I don't fit in. And Dr. James Dobson, in "Bringing up Boys," says that this is a good thing. and necessary thing. He is a boy. And one day a man.

and I will forever be "mom." Unashamedly embracing, and embarrassing, mom.

Friends for Christmas

We have been blessed to have such wonderful wonderful neighbors who have not only become friends, but have become like family too. We had them over for a Christmas meal and to exchange gifts... It was like an early Christmas for us.

I'm quite frequently amazed at how good God is to us through the people He's placed around us. Without my family close-by, it has meant so much to have people embrace our family the way the Halls have.



Malachi said, "take a picture of me, mom." And then he posed like this. *sigh*



This is Abby, modeling the skirt we got her. :D



Micah and Jackson. friends.



Mathias, welcoming our friends with his sweetness.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

We've gotten something like 36 inches of snow just in December, here in Rochester. It's crazy. But the boys have enjoyed it very, very much.

The O'Brien Boys

This is the state you would find each boy in, at any given time of the day. :) I love it.