Monkeys & marshmallows

What do you do when big brother is out having fun in the snow and you have to stay inside?

Why, play with marshmallows of course! Who knew a marshmallow stuck to the forehead could be so much fun!

Thank goodness, best friend Mo is there to provide comfort as little boy watches big brother have fun.

Its official...he's growing up.

Lego's have landed at our house!

And he has loved every moment of it. (And so has Daddy!)

I love that concentration. Hopefully that will all come in handy in school!

And how could he not be excited...its a gas tanker!

A new view

Do you suppose someone should tell him that the basket doesn't add any height?

Merry Christmas

On a distant night not so long ago, a baby was born in an unexpected setting.

As a gift from God, that baby was born to rescue me, and you.

Merry Christmas to you.

The Langni

How the Langni decorate for Christmas

We love to get out all the ornaments and hang them up together. Okay, really...I put the hooks on the ornaments and Aaron supervises the hanging of the ornaments.

Breven really enjoyed being a part of it this year. He would walk over to me waiting for an ornament, say "tay too" (thank you) when I gave it to him, run over to Aaron, hand it up to him and say "tay too" and then run back to me again. It was one continuous loop:)

And the boys decided to get extra creative so the ornaments won't all be at knee height.

Can you tell how proud of himself, B is?

star pops

Guess what Mommy and Daddy gave us for dessert? After eating aaallll our dinner?

Yea...thats right. Star Pops!

And man, are they good!

I don't know how my hand got all blue, but I've got to find a way to get it off. Can't impress the ladies with a blue arm, you know.

You know, I don't think Noah cares so much about impressing the ladies.

but that's okay cause it just leaves more for me...How you doin'?

Breven's sleepsack

If you came to visit our house on a typical day, this is often how you would find B.

He LOVES his sleepsack and if we have to go anywhere, its a struggle to get it off of him. So, most days I let him lounge around the house in his sleep sack (who wouldn't love being surrounded by a warm blanket all the time?!?!)

Mr Studious

This is his favorite place to be after we go to the library. So glad he digs reading!

Birthday celebrations

My big 4 year old! We spent the evening at some friends house to get some stuff ready for his big party the next weekend. He has surprised me a lot recently...When asked what we should have for dessert for his actual birthday, he asked for pudding. I can't tell you the last time we had pudding!

Little man is so proud of himself. He's finally beat Daddy!

The biggest surprise N gave me recently was when I asked what kind of cake he wanted for his party. We had been talking about fire trucks and I just assumed it would be a firetruck cake, but no...only a TRASH TRUCK would do for this 4 year old.

How on earth do you throw a trash truck birthday party?!?!?

But in typical Emy fashion, I dove in head first and found that we actually had quite a lot of fun getting "Trashed" at his party:)

His trash truck cake.

I have to admit, I really had a hard time deciding what games to play. The problem: half of the people Noah wanted to invite to the party were adults. There weren't actually any other 4 year olds. The people he invited ranged from 1 to 30ish:) And trying to find games that would be fun for all ages (with a trash truck theme) was really hard!! Aaron and I didn't finally nailed down just what we would be doing and how the party would go until the night before. But once we came up with the games, my husband did a great job figuring it all out and making it fun and challenging for all.

We played

-"dig for the clothes pins and paper clips" in shredded paper (which I should mention was Breven's favorite area. He was pulling shredded paper out by the handful)

-shoot newspaper trashballs into a trashcan

-Put on a trash truck worker jumpsuit (spin around 5 times and try to get it on)

Wouldn't he make such a cute trashman? Okay, so its a little big, but there's plenty of room to grow. (and plenty of time too, if Mama has anything to say about it)

I gotta sneak in a snuggle

We also had fun with the food. We made

-Junkyard dogs (corn dogs)

-Chicken scraps (chicken fingers)

-Moldy cheese wheels (quesadillas)

-Veggie Debris and sludge (veggies and dip)

-Fruitfly friendly fruit

Overall, the night was a success! Noah loved it and you could tell he was in his element with all his favorite Indiana people around him.

Oh the places you'll go!

When I stare into the black eyes of my little boy, I can't help but think of where he will go...

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

by Dr. Seuss (and some Mommy paraphrases)

Congratulations!

Today's a great day.

You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

If God's direction you choose

You've got nothing to lose.

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

What more can I say.

Your mountain is waiting.

So...get on your way!

Happy 4th birthday, Lovebug! So hard to believe it has already been 4 years!! Can you please stop growing?! Maybe I'll borrow that brick my parents always threatened to use to stop me from growing.

Your Daddy and I are so excited to watch you grow into such a great big brother, friend to others and child of God. We pray daily that you will chose God's way above your own and that you would listen to these 2 crazy people God is using to raise you:)

We love you!!

Mommy and Daddy

(Editors note: While I am fully aware that this is well beyond his actual birthday, the meaning is still the same:))

Another tradition

A friend introduced me to a great new tradition that I'd like to share with the boys.

Counting down the 25 days to Christmas by upwrapping a new book each night and reading together as a family.

I've been collecting books all year long and I went to pull them out and wrap them...and it turns out I only have 13. Sooo, maybe we'll do the 12 days before Christmas until we can add to it. (hello, after Christmas sales!!!)

I've been thinking alot about traditions this year and what I want to carry on to my children. (if you didn't already guess) I've been thinking about how I can make Christmas day more about Christ and less about "what I'm getting". I've come up with some great ideas, but I'd love to hear more...what traditions do you have to make it more Christ-centered? Any ideas or suggestions for me?

Betcha didn't know...

...that there was helicopter papparrazzi flying around the stable that night!