Too Bad It Wasn't Cats ...

Today I took Selah to see an allergist. She has had eczema on her face for a few months now and nothing we've tried has cleared it up completely. Thankfully, we have some answers, though allergens aren't an exact science. The only thing she really reacted to was dust mites and it wasn't major. There were a few food allergies that were possibilities, so we'll be investigating a little further on those. For a week we'll cut tomatoes, oat, peanut butter, and eggs from her diet. Then we'll add them back one at a time to see if there's a reaction.

She fell asleep on the floor the other night while waiting for Daddy to take her upstairs.

That's a pen mark on her jaw. She loves to color! ("cu-wer")

The Fellowship of the Ring

Last summer, Jeff was really excited about introducing the kids to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. He spent a good amount of time reading it aloud to them and got finished before school started. They looked forward to every installment, even getting me to read it when on road trips while Daddy drove. Not long ago, Jeff decided to begin reading to them The Fellowship of the Ring. It's become a nightly ritual - well, not every night, but whenever possible. Now, any time Daddy announces, "Zeit zu Bett gehen!" ("Time to go to bed!") Selah does this ...

... tugs the book down from its place on the bookshelf and ...

... takes it to Daddy!

Pavlov would be so proud of her!

Sunday Night Entertainment

Sunday nights are always a lot of fun for our kids. And why wouldn't they be? The kids have an actual audience other than Mommy and Daddy!

Selah playing "Got Your Hat" with Mr. Kris

Now she's moved on to her favorite game - "Got Your Shoes"!

Miss Hope, playing "Pretend to Read", wherein Selah has a book and gives you a book. You read aloud while Selah ignores you and reads HER book aloud. But you can't stop reading or you will get in BIG trouble.

Miss Hope and Miss Amber

Jacob harassing Joe ... because Joe was harassing Jacob ... while Ryan, Andy, Eli, and Hunter have no sympathy for the boy!

Big Brother is Watching!

Our sweet little Selah has really taken to her big brother lately! She follows Joe wherever he goes, holding her arms up and saying, "Hold! Hold!" He kindly picks her up and carries her around for a bit, talking to her and laughing with her. She is, shall we say, certain about what she wants, and asserts herself pretty well! She brings him books and says, "Ree, ree!" She tugs his hand to show him how she wants him to sit with her or play games with her.

While I was writing this post, Selah saw the pictures, pointed to Joe and kissed at the screen!

Joe's reading, and Selah is knocking on the picture of the door.

Ring around the rosie!

Joe is a terrific big brother! He's very patient and willing to play with his determined little sister.

Doppelganger

Kaity and Joe decided to try to pull one over on me yesterday! They each dressed up as the other and then began to act like each other, too. The kids had so much fun acting out (and exaggerating) the other's typical actions and preferences.

Note that they even traded jeans!

In this picture they're pretend arguing over the Wii remote and what show they'll watch. I had to make them stop when Selah started crying because she was so confused by their behavior!

(One of) Daddy's Princess(es)

I Think She Knows the Drill

Today Kaity was upset about something that had happened, and I sent her to my room so we could talk privately (she wasn't being disciplined, this was just a talk). Nosy-Nellie Selah followed us in there and stared us down while we talked. After a few seconds Selah walked over to the pocket shoe hanger on the back of our door, pulled out Daddy's belt and brought it to me! She had the most serious expression on her face! Kaity and I just exploded with laughter, but Selah didn't get it. She stared soberly at us for a beat, then said, "Uh-oh!"

And now, some pictures of Kaity conducting school for the day:

Please excuse the mess on the kitchen counters. It's the aftermath of feeding 16 people the night before, plus making hummus first thing in the morning.

Kaity reading "The Stallions of Lipizza" to Joe.

Her Father's Daughter

Selah got hold of Daddy's VW magazines a few days ago. She was so cute browsing through them!

A (Long) Christmas Summary

Well, this is one of those times when I feel like Inigo Montoya - "Let me esplain ... no, no, there is too much. Let me sum up." We had a lovely Christmas, and here's a rundown of how it went:

Christmas Eve: We woke up, got our stuff loaded into the car - kids, presents, food contributions - to head to Jeff's parents' house. The minute Jeff put the car in reverse to leave the driveway, Selah put her breakfast in reverse, if-you-know-what-I-mean. It was the first time she'd ever thrown up and I'm sure the looks on our faces were priceless! Anyway, she spent the weekend sleeping. We went on to see Jeff's family and had a great time. Much food was consumed and many lovely presents were given and received. I didn't take pictures because 1) I forgot the camera out in the car and 2) I had an increasingly heavy toddler sleeping on me most of the time.

I do have a picture, though, of after we got home. Joe's favorite gift of the day was a tool kit, complete with hardhat, suspenders and safety goggles.

We also continued a family Christmas tradition of watching the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and the German tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve. It's a running joke now that it's always their new pajamas.

Yes, Joe is still wearing his safety goggles.

Christmas Morning: We woke up at home and opened presents pretty early. I didn't make a fun, delicious breakfast because when asked what they wanted, my precious taste-challenged family responded with "Eggo waffles" and "cereal". Plebeians.

For Selah, we just polished up the kids' outgrown Little People.

Kaity with her Phineas & Ferb magazine

Joe, assembling Legos from his big sister.

Selah, on her new tricycle from Grammie and Bobba! "No, Selah, don't text and drive!"

Here's one of my favorite gifts from my Handsome:

Star Trek salt and pepper shakers! Sweet.

Christmas Day: We left after packing the car again to head over to Mom and Berk's for the rest of our Christmas celebrations. I don't have many pictures of that, either, because as you may have guessed, the camera was in the car again. Anyway, we had a delicious lunch of lasagna, more lovely presents, and a wonderful time spent together. Mom and I were even able to carve out a couple of hours' time just for the two of us!

 Bobba with Selah, who was still sleeping.

My big brother Stuart with his sweetie pie, Tara.

My Little Monkey

Joe has developed quite an affinity for tree-climbing!

Picnic

A few days ago the weather warmed up enough for the kids to have a picnic outside. Joe came in and helped me fix sandwiches and sides for their lunches.

They chose a really picturesque part of the yard ... not!

Cutest Little Dishwasher

I was cooking dinner and washing dishes the other day with a little helper when I decided to pause to take pictures.

The apron Selah is wearing is a sweet little half-apron given to me by my dear friend Lisa. It was her grandmother's.

Jeff was in the kitchen making us some French press coffee to go with dinner - waffles and bacon.

"Look, Daddy!"