Guy Time at the Zoo

Last weekend I went to visit my parents in (COLD) Missouri.  Meanwhile, it was 70 degrees in South Carolina, so Daddy took the boys to the zoo on Sunday afternoon.

The boys are asleep and Tony is out running as I type, so I have no narration for these pictures.

 (I'm guessing Jeremiah is roaring like a lion.)

Fun Dip

Jeremiah was getting ready to eat Fun Dip the other day, and he handed me the candy stick that you are supposed to use to dip in the powder.  I told him he needed it to get the powder, and he said, "It will be easier to lick it."  As you can see, he stuck with that plan.



Christmas #4 (The Last One!)

A few days after Christmas we headed to Tony's brother's house for our final Christmas celebration.

Every year we take a photo of all the cousins together.  This was one of our more successful years:

(Ben, if you ever see this, I apologize that this was not the best shot of you.  It was the only one with everyone looking at the camera.  Also, you were making that face.)

Also, it appears my younger children are Santa-hat challenged.

I have noticed while editing these pictures that Joseph is very expressive when he opens gifts.  Not all of the pictures of this made it onto the blog, but there was one similar to this at every gift-opening event:

Of course, because there was still snow on the ground, Joshua wanted to go out and play in it:

(See the wagon lying on its side?  Noah stood in it and rode it down the hill like a sled.)

It was interesting to see the combinations of cousins that played together throughout the day.  Eventually the three year olds paired up:

And with that, our Christmas marathon ended!

Christmas #3

Christmas Eve day we travelled to Grandma and Grandpa's house, and this is where my Christmas documentation began to fall apart.  For example, we ate the traditional Christmas waffles at Tony's Uncle Bob and Aunt Judy's house on Christmas morning.  I took my camera.  I never took it out of its case.  Then we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house and opened gifts.  We took some pictures and got a few good ones, but then my camera began to act up and the batteries started getting low.  So, while we had a great time there, I have very few pictures to show for it.

Joshua wanted to have a snowball fight as soon as we got there.  Unfortunately, this part of the state got a lot less snow than where we'd started the day.  Still, the boys managed to talk Grandpa into a snowball fight every day we were there:

(By the way, the good thing about snowball fights with Grandpa is that the kids aren't throwing at each other and getting angry with each other.  They are ganging up on a common "enemy.")

Grandma fills a stocking for everyone:

Joseph and Joshua painted ice cream bowls for Grandma and Grandpa's gifts.  Here is Grandma with hers:



We also played Wii and played cars and read books and played games and watched football.  You'll just have to try to picture all those things in your mind.

One more Christmas to go!

Christmas #2--Whitener Christmas

It's a multiple-post day--don't miss the snow post below this one!

Our first stop in Missouri was Grammy and Granddad's house for Christmas with my family.

After 13 hours on the road, we needed a little time to wind down before bed:

A couple days into the visit, it was time to open gifts.  The three oldest grandsons read from Luke 2:

(I don't recall anything particularly humorous in the Christmas story, but Joseph and Alec seem amused.)

The present opening was chaotic enough (and in not great light for photography) that we don't have any spectacular pictures of it.

Here's Grammy:

Granddad:

And, look! I was there:

The little kids playing with some of their new treasures:

The big kids:

(Can you tell my boys don't own DS's?)

(Tony and my brother and sister-in-law managed to avoid the camera.)

Grammy playing one of the boy's new board game with the crew.

Not until I was editing this photo did I notice that Joshua had borrowed someone's DS.

On Christmas Eve morning, as we were preparing to head to Grandma and Grandpa Campbell's house, Grammy and Granddad got about 4 inches of snow:

A few days later when we returned to Grammy and Granddad's, there was still snow left for sledding:

That toboggan is the one my brother and I used as kids.

I, for one, could not believe that Tony sent Joseph down this hill toward that concrete bench.  He did tell him to steer around it:

If you could hear Jeremiah, he was saying, "Are you all right, Joseph?  Are you all right?"  (He was.):

Snow!

***Edited to add a final picture at the bottom***

I'll resume the Christmas posts (3 more to go!) another time.  For now, I have snow pictures from today's for-once-they-didn't-exaggerate snowfall.

Our birdfeeder (not pictured) has a spring-activated cage around it that keeps the squirrels from eating the seed.  This morning I quickly realized the snow was weighing it down and preventing the birds from eating.  This cardinal was glad I went out and cleaned it off.

Joseph spent much of his time with his hat in his eyes.  I don't know why.  Harley (see him in the top corner?) loved leaping and playing in the snow.

 Yes, Joshua is smashing snow on Jeremiah's head.  The snow was too powdery to make snowballs.

 Jeremiah wanted to be the measurer.

 Because he kept his head raised,

 Jeremiah's snow angel was headless.

We measured 5 1/2 to 8 inches, depending on where we were.  It probably averaged around 7 inches.  I'm guessing Thursday is the earliest the kids could go back to school, and they are already scheduled to be off on Friday and Monday.

Late in the afternoon freezing rain began to fall, adding a layer of ice on top of all the snow.  Here is a picture taken while it was still falling:

Christmas #1

Because we were heading to Missouri for the holiday, we had our own family Christmas celebration a week early.

We started by reading the Christmas story from one of our Bible storybooks.

Then it was on to stockings...

...and gifts.

Joshua doesn't seem too sure about this game!

I love the way Jeremiah is using his feet to hold the gift while he unwraps it.

Joseph is very expressive when he opens gifts.  Right after this he jumped up and gave Tony a big hug.  For some reason he sensed his mother hadn't picked out the Swiss army knife.

Joseph had been wanting an ESV Bible so that when our pastors preach, his version matches what they are reading.