Her brothers continue to love her and hug her and give her toys and occasionally wrestle with her too. When the boys are snuggy in bed I place her on top of them to give goodnight hugs, she usually gets their noses with her mouth and the boys think that's hilarious. 
I've learned early on in our marriage to just go along with my husband and his plans because 99% of the time they are awesome, amazing, efficient and beautiful. Here's a post about the remaining 1%. Quite literally the next day a man came out to make sure the chimney was clean. After the inspection, work began in full force. It looked like he was breaking into a vault, layer upon layer of plaster, wood, cement, and finally, the inside of the chimney! 
My husband never ceases to amaze me with his vision for this old house. He took some old "lick 'em, stick 'em" stone from his shop and with mortar, applied them to the wall for the rustic look. They also act as an insulator. man, he's a cutie!!! 
He was finished in no time at all. He's a machine!
Our friends GAVE us their old wood stove, they were buying a larger one for their home.
Seriously, GAVE it to us!
It was pressure-washed, polished and installed:
IT
IS
AMAZING!!
When it's doing THIS outside, we are toasty warm! We are so grateful it was able to work out so nicely. The average temperature throughout the day is 78* although occasionally it will get up to the mid 80's, especially during the night. It is what I call our "perpetual newborn" because it needs constant care. But, it gives it return so we don't mind looking after it!
I have fond feelings when I remember my childhood and the warmth of a wood stove. I don't have fond memories of carrying wood inside each night from the "lean-to", but apart from that it is a pleasant thought! When I was extra cold my Dad would hold me above the stove, the warmth radiating all over my back, my legs, my head. It was heavenly. On cold mornings my Mom would lay my clothes around it, getting them really warm and then quickly dressing me. I can almost feel the warmth of it even as I type the words.
So, Winter, do your best....have at it!
"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth,
for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire:
it is the time for home."
~Edith Sitwell~
What a fun day.....relatively speaking, getting our Christmas pictures taken. My husband kindly drove to my sister Von's house to pick up her couch for the shoot. Bless his heart. We put down an outdoor carpet we had and flanked the side with old suitcases we have. The backdrop are the doors from our old carriage house. They work great for "shabby chic" picture taking. The boys scarves were "made" by cutting a large scarf in two! My cousin Sharalee is an aspiring photographer and her work is beautiful. She has an eye for details, especially in capturing faces. Thank you Shar for taking the time out of your busy life to come and capture ours. If you would like more information on scheduling your own family photo shoot with her, she can be reached at BenHalvorsen@aol.com And thank you to my sister Janet for dropping m & m's into Shar's hair to get the boys to smile and for totally bribing Tyler with a new Thomas train!! Shameless, shameless bribing!! So without further ado:
Where it all began...
pretty sure I love him more now then ever....
yep, I'm sure!!
one of my favorites:
Paisley's birth announcement picture, sent out w/ our Christmas cards to save on postage!
i mean seriously, this FACE!! 
Conveniently, Luke had fallen two days before this leaving a lovely little bruise on his forehead!
This picture captures him quite well; perfectly content to be alone.
JOY from the soul, coming through his eyes. Luke has what I call the "soul stare." Looks like you can see right into his little soul when you look in his eyes! 
The boys with their hero.
WHAT is happening to my little boy? He's getting so big!
It wasn't easy getting him in a shirt "with lots of buttons." Probably his least favorite thing is to wear a shirt "with lots of buttons." but as previously mentioned there was bribing involved....not something I like to make a habit of, but I was desperate to redeem ourselves from last years picture!!
my little boy is growing up.
Here's to Christmas, 2009. 
"Bless every twig upon my family tree."
My Baby is growing up, she's not a newborn anymore. She takes my breath away if she lays on my chest too long, that's how I know I'm past the "newborn" stage with my babies. Technically I think it's 0-6 months/newborn, 6-12 months/infant, 12-24 months/toddler...not sure on that. Anyway, she's sitting so well on her own. She enjoys this time of interacting with the world around her. I can't believe I'm already opening the Tupperware drawer for her, handing her the spatula and measuring spoons to play with. I feel like she was just born! She's getting "big" in my arms. 29 inches and 20 lbs. She's a workout hidden in footie pajamas!! She is such a JOY! I think I've said that repeatedly, but it's more true then ever. 
She rarely cries for anything, but when she does cry it.is.loud! She is easily soothed and LOVES to be talked with. The boys adore her and I often will find her with about 40 toys surrounding her. She's starting to fuss when I leave the room, but beams that smile of hers if I peek my head around the corner. This little girl can SMILE! She is by far my most smiley baby and I just love it. It's amazing and fascinating to me to see my children's temperaments so evident at even an early age. Take for example this picture of Luke at Paisley's age: man, he was cute! And to this day, this is his "look"~~somber, sensitive, inquisitive. It took work to get him to smile. 
My husband is finally home after more then 48 hours of plowing, salting and plowing some more. We got about 18 inches of snow. I've been snowed in with the children, trying my best to wear them out w/ playing outside, hot meals and warm baths. They've watched enough videos to last a month. I've kept the home fires burning....literally. I'm so glad he's home again, and I have to look at this way, he was plowing coins!! I'm sure it must feel so good to be lying down in bed. It's almost 1 am and I better do the same.
We ate a nutritional dinner at "French Fries House".
The kids thought it was so special having their own tickets. Tyler held his almost the entire show!
The children could hardly make the seats stay down, they weren't heavy enough! It was cute watching them find a comfortable position and wait for the show to begin, their little legs half way pointing to the sky! 
The show was OUTSTANDING! It felt like we were on Broadway, more then on Prince Street. The cast of little "orphans" were amazing! They could sing, act and dance, probably the reason they got the part! Annie was very talented and sang her songs perfectly, I was very, very impressed. The scene changes were so efficient and timely and the sets were pleasing to the eye from any angle! I'd love to see it all over again.....better yet, I'd love to see the theatre from the view of the stage. Someday I'd like to be acting on that stage.....someday!
After the show, because life is short and you're only young once, we walked across the street to the charming Prince Street Cafe.
We let the kids pick out whatever they wanted.
When they were finished, they played with the toys while Mary Jo and I visited. It was delightful. This picture cracks me up. Tyler had found a small hole in the floor and was looking for treasure, such a boy! I love it!!! Sweet, proper Josephine was playing nicely with her toys!
Time to go, we closed the place down....I went outside and asked them to smile nicely through the door.....here is what transpired.....
and yes, Mary Jo, we'll show these on their wedding day!!!
