'Cause My Wife Can Outshop Your Wife

This is the weekend that we always get next year's clothes for the children. It is a tradition that we stumbled onto when Grace was six months old. We were out on the weekend of Martin Luther King Day and decided to go into the Gap. They were blowing out the clothes. We realized that this was the weekend to shop and it has been a tradition ever since.

Saturday was our shopping day this year. We went to Old Navy where all the clearance items were 50% off. Mary found:

• One pair of pants for Herbert Nenninger.
• Four shirts, a hooded sweatshirt, and sweatpants for Joshua.
• One pair of flip-flops, one pair of slippers, seven shirts, two fleeces, and two pairs of pants for Caleb.
• One pair of pants, one pair of flip-flops, and one shirt for Grace.

How much did those 22 items of clothing cost? $56.00.

Mary knows when to find a deal on new clothes. (Caleb got more clothes because he likes the style of Old Navy clothes and needed more this year.)

Aren't You Curious ...

... as to what we are calling the new baby?

We usually have a name for the baby while it is still in utero. Grace is the exception, though at the very end of the pregnancy we would joke that mother and child created "Mary full of Grace." Caleb was called "Bebub" because that was all Grace could get out. We had the first two names picked out and we found out their gender. That really limited our creativity. We did not find out the gender of the next two children. This lead to Robert being called baby Gertrude before his birth. Joshua was Mortimer Aloisius, of course.

Well, we have a name for the new addition. This baby is called Herbert Nenninger. Now before you start rolling your eyes, you need to know that Grace gave the baby that in utero name. You might think it is an odd name, but if you have a child about 3-8 years old who watches some of the kids' shows on PBS, ask them if they know this name.

If you don't, then just google it.

It Finally Happened...

Mary trimmed Joshua's hair today. I was prepared for a real haircut, but Mary knew that would have been too big of a shock to my system. So she just took a little off the top. She is happy because it is not as crazy, unruly and tangled. I am happy because we kept some of those curls. Here he is before the cut. This is the after picture. (I don't know why I was so worried.) Lastly, here is a picture that Caleb took of Mary and me at the kitchen table. We rarely get pictures of the two of us, so I thought I should post this one. (Nothing like a winter hat on a cold day to properly fix your hair. And don't forget to say hi to Mary's grape!)

A Saturday Trip (Updated)

I forgot to mention that I saw a guy at the mall wearing a cool t-shirt. It even took me a moment to realize what he was wearing. This is what it looked like.

I love Pixar! (I also added a new photo to a story below.)

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We went to the mall on Saturday. The reason for the trip was Grace and Caleb got Target gift cards for Christmas. We had promised they could use them this weekend. When we got to Target, it was completely picked over. Target did not have what the children wanted. We told them we would take them to the mall if they would give us the gift cards. (We can always use money for Target.) They quickly agreed.

We did not go to our "normal" mall, but one that is a little farther away. The reason for the pilgrimage was an American Girl store located in that mall. Grace wanted to check it out and use the gift card (and a little of her money) to get something.

We split up at the mall. Grace, Joshua and Mom went to check out the American Girl store. Caleb and I went to the Lego store. Caleb and I found a nice gift fairly quickly and went to find the girls. It took a couple of minutes, but we did eventually find the store. (Just follow the trail of girls carrying dolls.) They had a great time. The store had a bistro, a salon to fix a doll's hair, and tons of toys and outfits. Mary and Grace were in seventh heaven.

They got out of there without too much damage and they are looking forward to going back there soon. (Although, I might need to confiscate money, credit cards, and any spare change if they start going there a lot.)

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Speaking of the Lego store, I saw a great t-shirt there. A child was wearing a Nike shirt that said, "Your Mom paid me to take it easy on you." I laughed. Could you imagine playing soccer or basketball on the playground with a kid wearing that shirt?

Do you know why it really made me laugh? I often wonder what happened to different groups from high school. What happens to the jocks? Where do they end up? What happens to the nerds? Where do they congregate after school?

Ever since Caleb got into Lego, I figured out one place nerds congregate. It is at the Lego store. They are there with the next generation. (Or they are still there for themselves.) Given that fact, I am a little surprised if the kids at the Lego store are the great athletes, but that is just me.

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Caleb told us that the Bionicle that he bought was a "bad guy" on the way home. Mary asked him if the other Bionicles were going to revolt when Caleb brought home a bad guy to all the other good guys.

Grace said, "What is a revolt?"

After a couple seconds pause, Mary said, "It is an uprising."

I said, "Were you trying to decide between that and an insurgence?" Caleb thought that this post needed a picture of his Bionicle, Tarouk.

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A little further down the road, we passed a car that was pulled over by the police. It was pulled over right in front of the State Police barracks. Either that guy did not notice the two signs announcing the police barracks or he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Maybe both apply in this case.

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Sometimes we drive on the Massachusetts Turnpike. I am always grateful when we get off on 95/128 and don't have to head into Boston. Did you know it costs an extra $1.15 to go 1/4 of a mile further on the Turnpike?

Christmas Baking

Every year, we do Christmas baking. Some things are staples and some things rotate in and out of what ends up on the Christmas plates. We spent the 23rd of December cooking. Here is everything set up to make some fudge. One of our family favorites is sugar cookies. We make them for most holidays. Here are the cookies after we have decorated them. These are the elves that helped us with the decorating. Every Christmas plates needs something to serve as a filler. This year it was muffins and Rice Krispy Treats. Here is Mary making the muffins. I love our Christmas traditions and it is a lot of fun to cook with the kids.

Passing Resemblence

23 months is a great age. See if you can recognize our "twins." (Though I really should not post this since it is just fodder for Mary to demand a haircut for Joshua.)

Resolutely

I like New Year's resolutions, but it can be hard to keep track of them and really follow up on them. I thought I would put mine on the blog, so I can report on them once in a while. I hope it will help me increase my accountability for them. I have decided to focus on three resolutions for the first five months of the year:

1. I want to read 10 books by the end of May. I have gotten off to a good start. Already I have finished The Tipping Point and Outliers both by Malcolm Gladwell. (They are books that Santa brought me.) I loved them both. I need to read at least 8 more, but the real hope is to get into a more consistent reading cycle since it is something I love to do.
2. I want to lose 40 pounds. It will be interesting to see how on I do on that one.
3. Lastly, I want to get in a better scripture reading habit. We always read as a family. I usually read, but never at a consistent time. It is time for me to find a time that works and stick with it.

Well, those are my goals for the first part of the year. We will see how I do.

(If you are wondering why I chose the first five months of the year, you might need to read both of these posts.)

Merry Grinchmas

Caleb was excited really excited irrepressibly amped and stoked for Christmas. It would be difficult to imagine him more excited for a holiday than he was for Christmas. But sometimes it can be difficult to deal with that level of excitement...

Mary and I got ready for bed on Christmas Eve in relatively good time. We stayed up and watched the news, but things were good to go. At about 1:00 am, Joshua threw up (well it was closer to spitting up). Mary cleaned him up while I checked the bed. There was nothing on it. But in order to make that assessment, I had to turn on the light in the bedroom. I woke up Caleb. After Mary bathed Joshua, we laid down with him for 20 minutes to ensure he was feeling fine. I took him back to his bedroom and put him in bed. Caleb was still awake at 2:20 am. Joshua would not let me leave, so I laid down for 30 minutes. When I left, I don't think Caleb was quite asleep. It was 3:00 am.

I quickly fell asleep only to be awaken by Caleb at 5:45 am. He wanted to know if Santa had visited us. He wanted to open presents now. I told him he should go back to bed or sleep with Dad. (Really I was just too tired to function.) He laid down but was incredibly restless. I drifted off and then I felt Caleb climb back into bed with me.

He was shaking with excitement as he said "Dad, we have more presents downstairs than last year AND Grace got a new bike!"

Now I was getting mad. Caleb knew that he was not supposed to go downstairs without the rest of the family.* Fortunately, Mary recognized what was happening. She told Caleb to come over to her side of the bed. They talked about how exciting presents are and how we could open them soon.

Gratefully, Mary saved Caleb from me, the Grinch.

* Now you may say it is hypocritical of me to complain about children going downstairs before the rest of the family. When I was younger, I never went downstairs before the rest of the family and told my parents about it. I just went downstairs. Why would you tell your parents?

If I am feeling nostalgic one night, I will have to type up the Christmas stories from my family.

Theory of Relativity

At lunch, Caleb looked at Grace's cup of milk and said, "I have less more milk than you do."

Head Over Heels

Grace took a gymnastics class this year. She really enjoyed it. Ever since, we often find her doing this: We are definitely head over heels for a our sweet Gracie.

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This post was written while listening to this song, which may or may not have been subconciously influenced by Swiffer.

Eyeballs (Updated)

Joshua and Mary have hung out together a lot more since Grace and Caleb are in school. Joshua like to follow Mom around and do whatever she does. So while Mom is getting ready in the morning, Joshua can be found trying on Mom's shoes, or asking for deodorant and Chapstick*. He likes to be where she is. This has lead to a funny routine when Mary puts in her contacts. After Mary has put her contacts in, Joshua pretends to dip his finger in the saline solution and place that finger next to his eye as if he wears contacts. Then he says, "Eyeballs."

I laugh whenever I am around to see it.

*Joshua calls Chapstick "Ma". We are not sure why he calls it that. We think it is because of the kissing sound that you make after you put on Chapstick.

Brothers

What do you do when you go to check on your sleeping children and one of them is missing? I checked under the bed to make sure he did not fall out and climb underneath there on accident. Then I looked in the top bunk. This is what I saw: (Joshua is holding Caleb's blanket even though he brought his own.)

I think that after we tucked Joshua in this evening, he got out of his bed in a completely dark room while carrying his blanket, pacifier and polar bear (just visible under Caleb's dinosaur pillow). He climbed up the ladder into Caleb's bed. Then he snuggled up to Caleb and promptly fell asleep.

Those two brothers have done funny things together but this one takes the cake.

Growing Pains

Caleb is a growing boy. He has been eating a lot lately. A couple of hours after a meal, he will tell us that he is "starving." Today was no different.

He and Grace were playing loudly while Mary and I worked on a project. We sent them to the basement to play. Caleb came up a couple of minutes later carrying a box of Nutri-Grain bars. He asked if he could open them. We said no because those are for school lunches. Five minutes later, he was back with a box of graham crackers. We told him that we would be leaving soon for dinner at our friend's house and that he could not have those either.

He put the box of graham crackers on top of the bars and said with an annoyed expression, "This is my Mom won't let me have it pile."

A Note for the Last Post

Did you notice that Mary has posted for the first time? Pretty cool, eh?

The other thing that I thought Mary was going to write in that post is that we are expecting again. The new addition should be hitting the scene in May, if all goes well. We could not be more excited. Mary already had her ultrasound and everything seems okay. We did not find out the baby's gender, so we are expecting a surprise!

A December to Remember

Jared and I joke every year about the Lexus commercials and the big red bows you see on top of their cars. But, it is their slogan that has me thinking this year: "A December to remember."

December evokes many memories for me. For some reason it is the month with tragic memories in our child bearing existance. I remember the year 1999 when we were in the midst of infertility treatments and finally got pregnant … only to lose the baby 8 weeks later and a few weeks prior to Christmas. I remember the year 2005 when I was pregnant and doubled over in pain sure that I would miscarry again. Well, I was only partially right. I was pregnant with what was thought to be twins and was losing one to miscarriage while still being pregnant with the other. December was the beginning of several long months of bleeding that eventually made my water break early and our sweet Robert was born too early to survive at only 24 1/2 weeks old. I have a necklace that I have worn everyday since that reminds me of Robert. This December, without my knowing it, the clasp on my necklace broke and I have lost my pendant. Truthfully, it has been a bit devastating for me. Why December?

I have thought this month about these experiences and what they have taught me. Then, I remember it is not about me and my babies … it is about THE baby. It is about the baby that came down to earth to live and die for all of us. It is about remembering all that this baby has done for us so that I can see my baby again. It is a month to remember both the good and the bad. Perhaps the marketing department at Lexus is not that far off. December is definitely a month to remember.

The Little Chef

Joshua loves his Momma. He loves to spend time with her and work in the kitchen. If Mom is going to cook something, he is going to be working in the kitchen with her. He used to follow her around in the kitchen looking for a handout the older kids did not know existed. Now if he sees Mom go into the kitchen, he grabs a blue stool so he can help out.

If you are cooking and need flour or sugar, just ask Joshua. He will run over to the pantry and grab the containers you need. He just loves to be involved.

How much does he love it? Today Grace asked Joshua if she could help make the cupcakes with Mom. Joshua's emphatic response was, "NO!"

Joshua is our little chef.

Redefinition

I was talking to Grace the other night and Caleb came up to me and said, "You're a nerd."

I said, "Thanks."

Caleb turned around, looked quizzically at me and asked, "What does nerd mean?"

I said, "A nerd is someone who likes to learn and study. They are usually pretty smart."

Grace said, "I want to be a nerd!"

And Caleb said, "Me too!"

I loved it. Some of you may say that I left details out of that definition. The way I figure it, they will know something about the social awkwardness/stigma sooner or later. I mean, they are related to me.

Mr. Handsome

It seems that Caleb has done so much growing up lately. It has been fun to watch him transform. He is learning, helping, trying to stay a little more calm and is a fun element in our home.

I took this picture of him helping Mary frost cupcakes this morning. He does so much to help and he looks grown up. (We just bought him this new dress shirt. He has grown out of everything else. I am sure this shirt will soon be suffering from the same fate.)

Outfits

I gave the children a bath before church today. After his bath, Joshua decided to put on his bear pajamas. Since our church is so late, I did not see much of a problem with it. When I saw him later, I thought those pjs are one of my favorite outfits that he has.

Why?

Who wouldn't love to see Joshua's little bear bottom running around? What are some of my other favorite outfits that the kids have had? Well, I loved this outfit that Grace used to wear. I would call it her yogurt outfit. (It has fruit on the bottom.) And one last picture with Joshua properly in it.

Aren't Children Great?

Grace has really started to read and I don't mean that she has just learned to read. She has known how to read for a while. Now she has a reason to read. She has discovered the "Ivy + Bean" series and it has captured her. It has been rare to see her without the book for the last two days. I am excited that she has begun to learn the power of books.

Now I am faced with the question as to whether or not I should read her books to know what has captured her attention.

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The other night it was Caleb's turn to pray. He said a short prayer and end with this comment, "... and thank you for our clothes. Amen."

I did not know what to say.

(Although, every day many people are grateful for my clothes.)

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Did I tell you that Joshua likes loves adores eggs? If you want him to do anything in the morning, just tell him that you will take him downstairs and make him eggs for breakfast. He will do it as fast as he can and when he gets downstairs he will go over to the cupboard with the pans and try to open it.

Joshua know what he likes.

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If you want to listen to a good song, here is a group of guys we know from church singing an a cappella number.