Funny kids.

Carson during his afternoon "quiet time." He often listens to a book on CD in this position.

We have been having daily dance parties in the playroom. Pandora's "Toddler Radio" is great.

Faye has taken to riding in her doll stroller instead of pushing it lately. She has also been stealing all my necklaces, putting them on, and wearing them around all day. She has also been making lots of friends at church: she tackles, hits and bites other babies and children.

We read the cutest book called, "The Gingerbread Girl." (SPOILER!! She is smarter than her brother, the Gingerbread Boy, and outsmarts the fox.) So somehow these two talked me into making gingerbread people and decorating them. At least I had leftover icing from Christmas.

While we decorated I kept pretending the gingerbread girl was trying to run away and I was holding her back. Carson's too smart for me, but I think Everett was trying to decide if it was for real.

Lovely girls!

Sometimes Everett just doesn't want to go to bed yet. (He takes a great afternoon nap, so I don't really blame him for not being tired at 7 yet.) So he gets to choose to sit here in the time out spot or to lay in bed. Lately he's been sitting here for several minutes, entertaining us with songs and chatter until he decides he's ready for bed. I sort of love it. (I also LOVE Faye's new/old high chair that she can't stand up in!!)

These three.

It's funny how in a matter of minutes I can go from feeling like my kids are the most wonderful things in the world to wondering why anyone ever describes children as sweet and innocent. I go from snuggling a sweet Everett to recovering from another Faye smack-in-the-face. I go from watching them adoringly as they participate in library storytime to the frustration of getting out of the library without tearing every book off the shelf. We go from playing/wrestling on the floor to everyone's crying and injured. I go from feeling confident in their progression to wondering if they will ever be truly kind to each other.

This mothering business is a crazy job! The wonderful thing is that they go to bed hours before I do. I can filter out the bad of the day and remember the good. I can pray that I will be a better, more loving mother tomorrow. I can sit and record their little lives in pictures and words and feel so blessed that I have three little people to love. They are good children after all.


(P.S. I do not scrapbook. But with a Groupon about to expire, I have been dedicating HOURS every day to making Faye's first year book on Mixbook. It's going to be awesome, but I cannot believe how many hours I am spending on this!! I feel like I haven't participated in real life for days. I think I can get it done by the end of the week. See you then, real-life people.)

Post-Christmas Activities.

A little hike on the Appalachian trail.

Faye is asleep on my back. (This was actually at the end of the hike.) Everett really wanted to sleep, and his poor little head kept bobbling. He whispered to Rick, "Is there a bed... outside?"

At the beginning of the hike, Carson heard there might be snakes or even bears near the trail. He freaked out a little bit, but Pappy can always help him get over his fears.

We went to the Festival of Lights at Bull Run. Faye thought it was fun to be out of her car seat and in the front. Carson asked me to take a ton of pictures of the lights, which obviously all turn out pretty much the same.

At the last minute, we extended our stay to not miss out on the New Years festivities. My mom and Mackenzie ran a 10k, and we enjoyed the post race party!

Both boys really didn't want to ride the pony, but I made them. I'm still not sure if that's being a good or a bad mom?

Banging pots and pans at... 7:30!

Really fun game night with the Taggs.

Christmas Day 2011.

Presents.
Church.
More presents.
Delicious Christmas brunch.
Really big presents outside.
Christmas feast at Tagg's/Gram's.

Mac 'N cheese!

My mom's big gift: a buffalo skull! She was pretty excited about it.

Ready for the big reveal.

So turns out Carson was extremely disappointed that his new bike (actually a hand-me-down, thanks Jeanel!) has no pedals. But today for the first time he rode it down the sidewalk and had fun!

This kid, on the other hand, had the perfect reaction. He said quietly, "it's what I always wanted!" Later he asked me if Santa went to Ace Hardware to buy the tricycle for him, since he had seen it there. Cute boy. He's working on learning to pedal well.

Watch out when this girl's behind her new stroller. (Another hand-me-down, thanks Reagan!)

Pappy probably takes the cake for the coolest gift received. A unicycle!

Gram's house. Oh the memories from Christmases when I was little!

It's Christmas Eve In Washington...

That song seriously came on just as we were driving into my parents' neighborhood on December 24th! The 5.5 hour drive there was amazing. We woke the kids up at 5:30 a.m. and put them straight in the car. They didn't sleep but were quiet and calm for the first couple of hours; I handed out breakfast; they did a few books and activities; Faye napped a little, and then we were there. It was the best drive we've ever done!

The whole Dickson family was together for the week, and we had lots of fun. Here's Christmas Eve.

"Bethlehem dinner." Hummus, pita bread, dates, olives, etc. (So we cheated a little and had some grilled chicken also.)

The wise man.

A shepherd.

Joseph leading the donkey.

Mary and Joseph.

Mary checking out the wiseman's gifts.

Angel!