Christmas in Illinois

We spent Christmas in Illinois again this year and had such a good visit with Jon's family. I'm still waiting on some photos from Jon's sisters (hint, hint), but didn't want to put this off like I did last year. Our nieces and nephews are all getting so big! I'll start catching you up with Kristin's kids since she has the youngest one.

This is Aiden...I won't go into his story here, but Aiden is the cutest, happiest little guy ever! It's almost like he knows that Jeff and Kristin didn't have to take him in to love him and care for him. Like he's just happy to be where he is and he doesn't want to be a bother. He'll eat if you give him food, he'll drink if you give him a bottle, he'll sleep if you lay him down. And if you just look at him, he smiles the biggest smile every time. I know some family members are afraid to get attached to him in case he doesn't get to stay with Jeff and Kristin, but it is just about impossible not to get attached from the first time he smiles at you. He is just precious!

Next is Adrien (AJ) who's going on 2. He's the strong, silent type. He doesn't talk much, but when he does, he has the sweetest little voice. I don't want to forget how he says, "Hi, An Mamy" (Aunt Amy) and Babbi (Abbi) and Waweb (Caleb) and An Nonna (Aunt Tonya). He is just so cute!

And then there's little, entertaining Clayton...almost 3. My word, this kid has such a vocabulary. It's amazing! With Clayton, things are either big or they're big, BIG. He learned how to give zrbts (think back to the Cosby Show) while we were there and asked everyone, "Can I give you a zeebrt?" He is just adorable!

It's unbelievable to me how much Devon (above) and Alex (below) have grown up this year. Man, where did the time go? The kids all had such a good time together. Hopefully Alex and Devon will be able to come with everyone else to visit us this spring.This is Robin's youngest, Matthew, almost 2. He is just a goofball. The above photo is him making silly faces at me while he ate his lunch one day. It was fun getting the chance to play with him...hopefully he'll remember us next time we see him!And this is Matthew's big sister, Laura, going on 4. She is just getting to be so big and independent. What I love about Laura is that when she laughs, she means it. I can't believe how grown up she is. My kids had a really good time playing with her. It warmed my heart when we were saying good-byes and Jacob told Laura that he would miss her. I'm so proud of my kids...they are so great with the little ones and really enjoy playing with them. Abbi had a child on her back for much of the week.

The weather in Illinois ranged from 15 to 20 below 0 (yes, I was FREEZING!) and an ice storm that was so enjoyable to drive in (yes, that is sarcasm) to 60's, thunderstorms and tornadoes, back to snow. It was the oddest weather for Illinois in December. Since it was so yucky all week, we kept busy with lots of indoor fun...The kids taught everyone how to play Mastermind

We played lots and lots of Rita's Wii. It was so much fun! Those are my kind of video games!

The boys built lots of Legos

Robin and the girls made paper chains for the Christmas tree

Jacob stomped Uncle Craig at chess (and then I think Craig stomped him back...was there ever a championship game?)

Jacob made cinnamon rolls with Aunt Robin (it's tradition)

And several games of Apples to Apples were played

Naptime at Gwamma Weeta's (Grandma Rita's)...Clayton and AJ sleeping in the frog tent

Jacob building his new Lego set

I think Aiden likes his new toy! Looks like AJ likes it too!

Caleb painting his new clock from Craig and Robin

Jacob and Laura

Clayton and I

Christmas gifts

I know you're all waiting to see some photos from our Christmas in Illinois, but first you have to see what the kids did for gifts this year. Back in October, the kids started knitting (yes, even the boys!) hats and scarves for their cousins, aunts and uncles. All together they made 17 scarves and 12 hats. They did such an awesome job and I was so proud of them for accomplishing this big task.

Doesn't Kristin look adorable in her new hat and scarf?!

I think Clayton likes it!

Matthew will have to grow into his hat a little,

but at least it wasn't too small!

Books! Books! Books!

The twins recently discovered the non-fiction books in the kids section of our library. We usually have between 60 and 80 books checked out at a time. 1 or 2 them are Jacob's, 3 or 4 are mine, 6 to 8 are for school and the rest are Caleb and Abbi's...mostly Abbi's. Abbi devours books. Which is good and bad...it's getting harder and harder to find appropriate books for her.

If the kids are up before me, this is how I can typically find Caleb and Abbi. Jacob is either still in bed or building Legos.
I am so glad the kids all enjoy reading. Abbi taught herself to read when she was 5, and I'm not kidding. I had nothing to do with teaching her to read. I was so glad I got to teach Caleb to read. It was something I was looking forward to. All the books I read said that boys sometimes need a little more time than girls and not to push them. Better late than early is what most people I trusted told me. So I went very slowly with Caleb. I was so thankful that Jon trusted me with this...sometimes he would wonder if 'Caleb should be reading by now' but he never questioned me. My goal was to have kids who love to read. Even though Caleb started a little slower than Jacob and Abbi did, he loves to read. And he's a very good reader. I am so thankful to be homeschooling my kids...thankful that they can learn at their own pace and don't have to fit into the mold of what other's think they should be learning.

A few more precious memories

Okay, just a few more sweet memories to share. I came across these when looking for photos for Grandma's album and they were just too sweet to pass up. This was the day the twins were born,

November 10th, 1999.

Above, Jacob is looking at the twins in the nursery. I just love this picture of him.

And these pictures of Jacob holding each of the twins (above - Abbi, below - Caleb) are two that always melt my heart.

Such a proud big brother!

Memories with Grandma & Grandpa Grigg

All of Jon's family got together to make a shutterfly album for his grandma this Christmas. I had to go back and scan some old photos for our page and wanted to share a few precious memories. Grandpa Grigg passed away several years ago, which I think we'd all agree was a mixed blessing. I think we'd also all agree that his loss is still felt by all who loved him. I know some of Jon's cousins are envious that we have photos of our kids with Grandpa since most of them were not yet married or had babies yet. That has changed since Grandpa's passing, but I feel so fortunate to have these photos.

This was in May of 2000...the twins were 6 months old the first time Grandma and Grandpa Grigg met them. I couldn't believe it when Grandpa crawled onto the floor to discuss life with them. I just love the above picture...they were totally enraptured with him.

These two of Jacob giving kisses are so precious.

Sharing the sunny spot

I just had to share these photos of Toby and Phoebe. On sunny days, the sun shines right on our stairs in the mornings, and the pets love to fight over the 'best' sunny spot. Usually one or the other sits in the sunny spot, while the other sits nearby and glares at whoever has the supreme spot. Well, this is what I came upstairs to find one day last week. Aren't they sweet?

Proverbs 12:10 - A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal.

Christmas 2004

Yesterday a friend of mine at church told me she enjoyed the photos of past Christmases that I shared. I'm so glad that someone looks at my blog and enjoys it. I thought I'd share a few more of my favorites. These are from 2004. Our first Christmas in Georgia. We moved into the new house on December 6th, but that didn't stop me from putting up our Christmas decorations.

You can't have Christmas without a tree!

Jacob and all his new goodies.

Caleb getting snuggles from his daddy and his new teddy bear.

I love the expression on Abbi's face in these two photos.

Above, she's taking out the ring from Aunt Tonya.

Below, I just love that she's so excited about opening a box of markers. Look at that happy face!