Priorities

When you are four years old and mom yells, "Garbage truck!" you come running no matter what state of dress you are in. Even if that state is underwear- only. Usually Mac would run outside but mom draws the line there. No running out to greet the waste collector in your skivvies.

Christmas Break-down

No we didn't break down over Christmas, this is just the break down of our Christmas break. (Clear as mud?)
Before Christmas I made a list of things I wanted to do so that we could use our time well creating family traditions and making memories. I didn't want to get to the end of the break and say, "Oh I wish we had..." Overall it turned out to be a fantastic time with the kidos and hubby.

Chilson Center indoor pool/splash pad- check
Gingerbread houses- check
Visit giant snow piles at the mall parking lot- check
Volunteer with flood relief- check
Visit Christmas lights- check
Put up "Called to Serve" wall- check
Make Christmas sign for mantle- no check, maybe next Christmas
Play basketball at the church with the boys- check
Mop- check
Enter a photo contest- no check
Take the boys to the out door ice skating rink- check
Sledding- check

The ones without a check obviously weren't meant to be done, or at least weren't that important after all. Other highlights not included on the list were attending a local Zumba class, having the Sister missionaries over on Christmas, finding a local sculpture zoo, and acting out the nativity story as a family. Here's to intentional parenting. 

Just in case you missed this picture in Zach's weekly family letter. It is a work in progress and will have pictures of many more missionaries soon going around the sides. 

My best baby holder

We have been blessed with a very peaceful baby. And by peaceful I mean sleepy. Lincoln is always in some state of sleepiness, either getting ready to nap, napping, or just waking up from a nap. It's a lot of hard work to grow so much. When he cries you know he is either hungry or wanting some assistance going back to sleep. Usually holding him is enough to send him off to baby dream land. So far David has proven to be my best baby holder. His older brother finds it some what of a chore and my other two children are just too small to really heft Lincoln's weight yet. It is a sweet to see the two of them together, makes me happy. David takes after his father in this regard, the champion baby holder. 

Swetsville Z00

 Zach saw this gem on a colleague's facebook page and decided the admission price was right so our family took a field trip. Fort Collins' very own whimsical sculpture garden. It did not disappoint. This artist makes his sculptures out of old car parts and the like so the boys were sorely tempted to climb on them but we tried to curb that inclination as they ran from creature to creature. It was fun to imagine one of these on our front lawn if we could afford such an ornament.

Having a bad hair day...week... month...year

Ruth is going through a bit of a hair phase. I say phase because I hope she grows out of it, or rather her hair does. Basically since she got any hair worth speaking of,every morning she has woken up with atrocious bed head. Nothing a little spray conditioner and some patient combing won't fix but if left to it's own devices her dirty blond wisps sprout out in all directions in true Medusa-like fashion. Not exactly princess material before her daily grooming, but darn cute. 

Tradition in Question

      Meet the sole survivor of our Christmas gingerbread trio. This is Mac's confectionery creation. I was sad I didn't get a picture of the other two before they bit the dust.  Four batches of dough and a good five hours went into the making of these bad boys but I ran into all sorts of problems from lack of experience and a poor design. It seems like a wonderful tradition but I'm questioning weather it was worth all the time and effort for 20 minutes of decorating by the kids. I suggested to Zach that we use a kit or graham crackers next year but he was appalled. Homemade gingerbread or don't bother. Hmmm... we shall see. I think if I do it again they will definitely be smaller and the front piece will extend up to the roof for more support. Perhaps I am wise enough now to make a successful go at it. Hopefully those lessons will be as sticky in my brain as the royal icing on the house. Oh the things we do for our kids!

Christmas Nativity

This is the cast and crew of our first annual Hutchins Christmas eve nativity. Meet the adorable shepherd Kenny and his sheep dog Ruthie, the angel Gabriel and our wise man David, and of course Mary and baby Jesus played by yours truly and Lincoln. Being the versatile actor that he is Zach filled in for all the other parts- Joseph, King Herod and the scripture reader/narrator. Besides getting a little rowdy the kids did a good job following along. Getting to wear costumes from the costume box didn't hurt either. It's fun to have a family big enough to put on our own nativity.