Photos from January '09

I know I am WAAAAY behind on posting to this blog. I apologize to all my friends and family who check regularly for updates. I think I'll blame it on the third trimester of my pregnancy. Of course, that will mean that now that I am no longer pregnant I'll have to come up with a new excuse if I'm that big of a slacker again!

Avi and I made some Bird Beaks. She is modeling hers. They were really cute and opened and closed when you opened and closed your own mouth.

Here's Avi with a rubber band ball she made. We all spent a while working on those one afternoon.

Playmobile Christmas Scene & Jack

We went to Dayton, WA the day after Thanksgiving and got to enjoy the Christmas kick off celebration there! If I could choose a small town around here that I'd LOVE to live in, it would be Dayton. I love that place. It oozes quaintness! Anyhow, they also have claim to the oldest existing train depot in the whole state. It was at that very antiquated train depot that they had a Christmas bazaar. I found this fully intact & unused Playmobile set for only $3.00!!! I couldn't NOT buy it. The kids were excited to put it together and I wanted a photo of the complete set before any pieces were lost. I'm proud to say that I still have the complete set and there's not a single piece missing. We'll get to have fun with it again next year!

And THIS, well, this is a picture of Jack before the largest of the birch trees came down. Sadly, we now have no trees in our front yard. But, no trees are better than two dead birch trees. We'll replant a single tree after we get a stump grinder out here so we can reclaim the yard! Isn't Jack a cute kitty?! He's my black version of Buster (the big grey kitty I had for nearly 18 years!).

The kids put on a Christmas Play

I am always amazed at the infinite creativity of my children. Without any input or ideas from me they put on an entire play by themselves about the angel telling Mary she would give birth to Jesus (the son of God), Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, and the angel proclaiming the good news to the shepherds. They worked very hard at creating their set (atop Avi's bed) and Azriel played the angel telling Mary she would be with child, then Joseph, then the angel that appeared to the shepherds. They drew and colored the Star of Bethlehem, shepherds, and even wisemen. They used little sheep that they'd made MONTHS ago at a friends home as a craft. They put a lot of thought and effort into their production! Avi played Mary, of course, and she even "gave birth". This was a surprise to me and we all about died laughing after the birth scene, especially since they used Liberty's little plastic baby doll that had recently been in the tub. When Az pulled the baby up it had it's first potty, all over the bed. It was so hilarious and kind of ruined the spirit of the play but made it that much more memorable!
Hope no one finds the birth pictures offensive...

December Snow in the Desert!

We had a tremendous amount of snow in December of 2008 for the desert! I think that over several snowy days we accumulated 8-11 inches, depending on who you talk to. Though this was NOTHING compared to the 6+ feet of snow that they had in Spokane, which is a mere 2 hr. drive from us! The kids had lots of fun and Mark even managed to take them sledding a couple times at a local park with a great sledding hill. Unfortunately I didn't go along to take photos.

Az, somewhat innapropriately dressed for snow play! I told the kids to get INTO the car without getting snowy and wet but they couldn't resist.

At least Avi was DRESSED for the occasion!

PRESENTS!!!

Christmas was so much fun this year. We've had 3 Christmases in the desert, without family. It was so nice to get to go and spend Christmas with my parents. For Christmas we only get the children one big gift each and then their stockings. Avi got a sewing machine this year (it's what she asked for) even though her Mama does not know terribly much about sewing. I really want to learn so I guess I'll have to get on that. It's hard to teach something you don't know~! Thankfully Grandma Trudy gave Avi her first lessons in sewing and Avi had LOTS of fun creating little shirts for her Webkins with Grandma. Azriel got his Red Ryder BB gun. Mark always told him that he could have one when he was 6. He is thrilled beyond measure with it and gets to go out target practicing when Papa's home on Saturdays. He is very conscientious and is following all the safety rules and the parental rules. Grandpa Ron got Az a real SWISS ARMY pocket knife. He only gets to use that when he's being supervised and I keep it in my sewing box high atop my computer desk when it's not in use so that it won't get lost. I want him to have it as he grows older. Anyhow, it was a fun and eventful 3 days over at the Wheeler's. We had snow on Christmas which is really rare for the Seattle area. It was so beautiful and the flakes were HUGE! Nothing like Christmas with SNOW!!!

Avi opening up her gift from Grandma & Grandpa. It's a FURREAL parrot. She'd been wanting that for a LONG time! She's still thrilled with it today and is taking good care of it!

Az is excited about a HOTWHEELS computer game he got!

Liberty playing with her loot.

Christmas 2008

Az and Avi opening up some gifts!

The collection wouldn't be complete without a photo of Grandpa Ron and his coffee. He has a hard time waking up for Christmas (or any) morning. Also in the photo is Uncle Cameron (or my youngest brother) and Az, of course!

Christmas Morning

Sorry my Christmas entries are so late folks. We had a wonderful time at my parent's home. It really made our Christmas special. It was wonderful to be with family again. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and with Grandma and Grandpa!

Christmas at Grandma & Grandpa's House

Liberty on Christmas Eve, just shortly after we'd arrived. We had a LOOONG drive in the snow. The drive normally takes us between 3.5-4 hours but because of the inclement weather and my careful (SLOW) driving took us a full 6!

The silly kids on Christmas morning before the present opening extravaganza began.

Before the kids were up. Libby and I were hanging on the couch so I snapped a few shots of the awaiting presents and tree.

Random Cuteness from this past week!

My girls in the tub together.

Jack, watching the girls in the tub from a safe vantage point!

The kids being SILLY before bedtime. I think they were SUGARED up because they were WILD. I let them have a fresh baked pumpkin cinnamon roll not too long before bedtime. BIG MISTAKE on my part! :-)

Az & Avi's Gingerbread House

I let the kids do the gingerbread house this year with almost NO help at all from me, except putting it together and doing th trim on the rooftop. They did everything else and had such a blast! Liberty sat at the table as they were creating, eating gross candy that came with the kit. She had fun too but I suffered her over sugaring up later!

Homeschool Talent Show!

Yesterday was the annual talent show for our homeschool co-op! Avigail was in it with the preschool class. We sang Jesus Loves Me in English, Spanish, and Sign Language. The children did really well, much to my surprise! I guess the little ones really WERE paying attention in class. I thought Avi might be the only one singing and signing but they all made a great effort to do well in front of the crowd.

Azriel went up with his Spanish 1 class and they did the cutest, SILLIEST songs with motions. He did wonderfully! It was a most enjoyable act to sit through. It brought lots of laughter to the audience!

I wish I'd been able to get better pictures.
We were way in the back of the crowded room and it was very dimly lit so I had a problem with focus, not having practiced enough (or read enough of my manual) with my camera!

It ended up being a LOT of fun for all. We were there for about 2 and a half hours of performances and all the children/teens were fun to watch. A lot of brave and talented souls!

Rockin' Round the Christmas Tree

The Borgeson children being strange in front of the tree! We put it up last night and today the kids and I put all the glass ornaments on. We only broke about 7 total. A couple of which were rather special in my view! Oh well. If I am going to insist on putting up glass ornaments with children in the house I guess I can expect several to die each year! They had fun though and so did I!

Thanksgiving is past...

Well, I'm back with another post. Long time, I know! No pictures this morning but I'll get to that later. Seems I haven't been wielding the camera as often as I used to or as often as I should! I have ZERO Thanksgiving photos. However, I DO have a list the kids made of what they're thankful for. I'll share those with you! Oh, and I didn't help them come up with the things they're thankful for!

Azriel's list:
Feasts
That the Pilgrims came to America
Love
George Washington
Our World
Our Home
Jesus
Our Family
God
Our Beds
Freedom
Bibles

Avigail's List:
Our Pets
Movies
Cousins
Friends
My Stuffed Animals
Our Aquarium
Cozy Blankets
Mommy and Daddy
God
Squanto
My Toys
Everything
Candy
Spankings (no joking!)
Food
My Brother & Sister
My Grandparents

Mark and I had lists too, but they're not nearly as entertaining!

For Thanksgiving we had Mark's mom over as well as his work mate, Pete. I made a brined turkey, stuffing (which didn't turn out so well), mashed potatoes & gravy, Butternut Squash puree, Green Beans, Party Salad, delicious rolls, and I don't know what else. Well, there were pies! I made an apple pie, a pumpkin pie, and a pecan pie. I can now say that every last piece is finally gone. I think Mark wants me to make another pecan pie and Pete wanted another apple pie so there might be pie crust in my near future! Maybe I'll make that today!

It's hard to believe that the month of November is already gone. I'm now 39, having celebrated my birthday on the 5th. We are now done with birthdays until the new baby comes in March. Then, of course, we have Liberty's birthday in May.

Speaking of Liberty, she's finally starting to talk. She's also starting to really blossom into her personality and test her boundaries. This is both fun and exasperating!

Azriel and Avigail are doing very well and are starting to get the hang of sounding out words. I think full on reading is not too far in their future! They are both bright and delightful children and their creativity knows no bounds. I think they're very artistic!

The kids and I began Christmas decorating yesterday. That was fun and there's so much more to do! Liberty is fascinated by the lights of Christmas and is thrilled whenever she sees them!

Mark took down one of the dead birch trees in the front yard this past weekend. Saturday we had an outside clean up and work day. I cleaned out the flower and garden beds and mowed. Mark cut down trees and his mother came over and raked 8 bags of leaves out of the back yard! WOW! The front looked so nice and now it's covered in branches. Fortunately the wood is nice and dry and beautiful and I think it will burn in our fireplace for a couple years. It's nice to not have to buy more wood. Mark did an incredible job of getting up there and safely cutting branches. Nothing got destroyed and he managed not to fall or get injured. I love that he can pretty much do anything he sets his mind to doing!

I can't wait to decorate the outside of the house with lights! That will have to wait for Saturday though! Mark is starting his second job today. This will be hard on all of us but it's necessary at this time. We're doing the Dave Ramsey plan. I'm following a cash budget and we're going to get our debts all paid off. We figure it will take about 2 years (on the high side) but hoping for less! The nice thing about this extra job he's taking on is that it's flexible. It won't interfere with his REAL job or any overtime he gets from that! And if we find it's far too taxing on him or on the family we can cut back some. It will be a learning & adjustment process but I think we'll all do fine. We have goals and we are motivated to make them happen so as long as it's a team effort I see us as being successful in this new, yet difficult, chapter of our lives. The bright side is that when it's DONE, it's DONE. We'll never go there again! We have learned our lesson the hard way and I think that sometimes that is the best way if you don't want to repeat your mistakes!

On to more Christmassy subjects...
We are going to go to my parent's home for Christmas this year. We are all so excited about that. The kids have already packed to go to Grandma and Grandpa's on more than one occasion. They were ready to go yesterday! We haven't been there for Christmas since they were babies. They'll get to have lots of fun with the cousins! I think it's been a while, too, since Mom and Dad have had little ones spending Christmas eve/morning at their house so I think it will be just as enjoyable for them! Though I'm not sure Grandpa Ron will enjoy the EARLY Christmas morning that comes with having little ones in the house! With enough coffee though, he'll muddle through! :-)

Well, I've rambled quite enough for now. Liberty is walking in here and I should go! I'll get on posting some recent pictures later today or this week!

Blessings to you and yours!