Our Tree Is Extra Pretty This Year...

...because Moriah picked it out.

 Oh, we all went along to the Christmas tree farm; but while the four older boys were all running off to look for the candy cane tree, and while Benjamin and I were slowly bringing up the tail end of the procession, Moriah was staying close by her daddy; and when she spotted this tree, she told him it was the one.

She was right, and Jeff and I both think it's the prettiest one we've had for quite a while.

The girl has good taste.  :)

The Quilts that Grandma Made

Some years ago (don't ask me how many), Jeff's mom gave him a quilt she had made (for his birthday, if my memory is correct, which it might not be!).  That quilt has shown up many times in pictures on this blog--most recently, in this post from earlier this week in which you can see the quilt on the back of the little couch that Josiah and Benjamin are on.  Besides the fact that it features the rich earth tones that Jeff is so fond of, we love it for how warm and cozy it is, a fact I can readily attest to because of the warm and cozy nap I had under it just this afternoon!  :)

The next time Jeff's mom gave us a quilt she had made was when Moriah was born; this time, it was a cheerful, feminine! :), soft mixture of pinks and greens and yellows.  You can see it in this blog post, although I probably have better pictures somewhere else.

When Jeff visited his mother in California during the summer before Benjamin was born, he conveyed to her my wish that she would make a quilt for Benjamin; and while there, they visited a fabric store, sent me pictures of possible fabrics, and together we decided on the materials that would be used for Benjamin's quilt...which she then made and brought with her when she arrived soon after he was born.  Here is Benjamin on it when he was one week old, and here he is at one month.  I continued to use that quilt for his monthly pictures, and someday...oh, someday!...I will finish that series of monthly posts about Benjamin's first year of life.  :)

I had no idea whatsoever that my dear mother-in-law would be making another quilt and carrying it east with her to Virginia; but soon after she got here for this last visit, she carried something up from her room and handed it to me.  It was, to my utter surprise, a quilt she made for me.  :)

Look at these fabrics--just look at them!  Are they not perfect for me??  Music, a piano keyboard, blue and white (my all-time favorite color combination), even the snowflakes in the wintery piece of material--it is all ME!

My heart was filled with joy at this unexpected, wonderfully thoughtful gift.  I like all of the quilts she has made for us through the years; but without a doubt, this one is my favorite.  :)

Wordless Wednesday {So Long, Farewell}

The Big & Little Cliffords that Live in My House

Josiah has a big red sleeper that always makes an appearance at Christmas (when all the children wear sleepers), but which he wears at other times as well.  And when he does, Moriah calls him Clifford.  :)

Recently we realized that Benjamin has a red sleeper, too, so now we have Clifford, the Big Red Dog...AND Clifford, the Big Red Dog When He Was a Little Puppy.  :)

We sure do love our Cliffords!!  :)

Bonus Week on a Bonus Trip!

Every year, Grandma Fisher comes and spends a month with us, just like she did this past May.  But this year, we asked her to come and spend another month with us, and she graciously agreed--but not for Christmas because it would be too cold and it might snow!  Some of us actually LOVE snow, but not my dear mother-in-law, who lived for many years in Big Bear, California, and had to deal with major snowfalls and all the inconveniences they bring.

At any rate, this 2016 bonus trip came in November; and she arrived on the second day of the month and planned to leave on the last day of it...except that when we took her to the airport on November 30, her flight was delayed so much that it would have been impossible for her to catch her connecting flight in Philadelphia.  Jeff talked with the ticket agent for a while and tried to figure out a solution to get her home to San Diego; but in the end, the best thing to do was to extend her trip for another week.

This bonus week was probably the busiest week of our fall semester; I'm not sure if it was a good or a bad thing that she had to be here for all the hustle and bustle of it!  ;-)  But we were sure glad to have her here for some special events  

Like visiting a nicely-done outdoor nativity play after David's gymnastics class last Thursday.

And like being in our city's Christmas parade on Friday!  :)  The kids and I had been invited by our friend Amanda to be walking with her company's group in the parade, so since Grandma Fisher was going to still be here, she got to ride in the company bus.  :)  The pictures are very low quality, but they give a glimpse of Grandma Fisher holding Benjamin before the parade started, Moriah holding Amanda's dog before the parade, and Benjamin all bundled in his snowsuit and ready to march!  :)  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to include a crying-face picture, but during the parade, he was really very cheerful.  :)

During this bonus week, Jeff and I seized the opportunity on  Saturday evening to have a date; grandmas are superb babysitters!  :)

And then on  Sunday, a very special event occurred--one that made her delay totally worth it (in our opinion at least...I don't think her grandsons in California were very happy that Grandma wasn't coming home when she was supposed to!).  Sunday afternoon was the Christmas concert of the Shenandoah Valley Children's Choir, an event that is always exciting but which was particularly historic for Tobin since it was the first time he has ever performed in a formal SVCC concert!!  He had been pretty disappointed that Grandma wasn't going to be there for it, so of course he was thrilled when it turned out that she could be there!

Historic occasions can't go by without photographs, so here are the choristers with Grandma Fisher...

...with each other...

...and with me.

And here is my sweet, handsome Tobin with Mrs. Anderson, who directs the Prep Choir that he is a part of.

These five choristers are part of the same church...

...and are all good friends.

It was really a wonderful concert, and I'm very grateful that Grandma Fisher could be here for it.

Another significant happening during this bonus week is that, at nearly 15 months of age, Benjamin has suddenly figured out how to travel and is now a man on the move.  Like Tobin and Shav before him, he is a scooter, so we have had three crawlers and three scooters.  We like to keep things fair around here.  ;-)  For quite a long time, Benjamin would sit on the floor and turn himself around in a circle, but he couldn't seem to grasp how to move forward--until just a few days ago when he fairly suddenly got the hang of it.  It is so much fun to watch him move, and it reminds me of the amusement I got from watching Tobin and Shav when they were little guys scooting along.  It does mean I have to be a whole lot more vigilant these days about where Benjamin is and what he can get into, but I am so happy that he learned how to do this while Grandma was here so she could have the fun of watching him transition into the mobile stage!

The Finest Age

When he was only nine months old,
  And plump and round and pink of cheek,
A joy to tickle and to hold,
  Before he'd even learned to speak,
His gentle mother used to say:
  "It is too bad that he must grow.
If I could only have my way
  His baby ways we'd always know."

And then the year was turned, and he
  Began to toddle round the floor
And name the things that he could see
  And soil the dresses that he wore.
Then many a night she whispered low:
  "Our baby now is such a joy
I hate to think that he must grow
  To be a wild and heedless boy."

But on he went and sweeter grew,
  And then his mother, I recall,
Wished she could keep him always two,
  For that's the finest age of all.
She thought the selfsame thing at three,
  And now that he is four, she sighs
To think he cannot always be
  The youngster with the laughing eyes.

Oh, little boy, my wish is not
  Always to keep you four years old.
Each night I stand beside your cot
  And think of what the years may hold;
And looking down on you I pray
  That when we've lost our baby small,
The mother of our man will say
  "This is the finest age of all."

~ a poem by Edgar Guest, from a book published 100 years ago ~

Why I'm Not Blogging (Much)

When I first started blogging, I had two children.  Life was busy, but not too busy to find time to blog.

Through the years, my number of offspring tripled; and each time a new addition to the family came along, my dad would say something like, "You probably won't be able to blog as much after the baby is born."  But somehow, despite the unsteady waves that rocked my boat each time we adjusted to a new member of the family, I still found time to blog fairly regularly.

Having a baby didn't keep me from blogging.

Having a teenager might.

So far I've discovered three ways in which my teen (and his next youngest sibling, who follows closely in my firstborn's footsteps) have made it extra challenging for me to keep up with this blog.  First, they stay up late. (10:30 is official bedtime for Josiah and David. Do they ever get in bed at that time? No, never.)  Second, they want to talk. (That's a good thing. That's a very good thing. After the noise of the day subsides and they get a chance to talk without younger siblings interrupting, it is a great opportunity for us to connect.  So I'm not complaining!) And third, they use the computers. (I can't blog if I can't even get close to a keyboard!)

If my blog presence is scarce in the future, don't be surprised: it probably just means that I'm hanging out with my favorite teen and tween.  After all, it's more important to live life than to blog about it!  :)