Anybody else out there feeling a little Christmassy? Yeah, me neither, but our Christmas never got blogged so I’m doing it now. We have finished the Classical Conversations co op portion of our school year {GLORY!!} and it’s left me with a little more time, so hopefully I’ll be able to do some back-blogging of family stuff that’s way overdue. I almost decided to just scrap it and start fresh with Spring time posts, but my momma heart won’t let these memories go undocumented. The thought of it kind of gives me this nervous twitch. So here we go. Christmas in April.
There’s a lot to be said for having tons of family close by. My kids are never at a loss for a cousin playmate. In fact, at times that cousin line gets blurred and those relationships resemble siblings more than cousins. Very rarely do I have to find a babysitter. There’s always an aunt, uncle, or grandparent ready to pick up the slack when I can’t. Truly, it’s a huge blessing to have so much family close by and I do not take it for granted!
But you know what else is pretty great? Cousins that live halfway across the country from one another. Cousins that go years sometimes without seeing one another, yet take all of 15 seconds to start playing when they reunite. The drive out to Missouri is always so exciting, full of anticipation at meeting up with these people that we love so much and see so little. I’m always amazed that there is never that awkward “let’s get reacquainted” phase between these cousins, even when it’s been sooooo long since they’ve been together. It’s more like “Hey, we belong to one another” and they instantly start behaving as if they see each other daily. It’s pretty wonderful to witness, and I wouldn’t trade seeing this kind of a cousin relationship for anything. Well, except maybe a move a few hundred miles closer. 😉
This Christmas at Collin’s parents’ house was Amazing. We spent a whole lot of time doing pretty much nothing but watching these six kids together. And eating really well. His mom is pretty great at the food thing. It was like a week long slumber party, with mattress after mattress littering the floor of the basement, quilts hand-made by their great and great great grandmothers piled high on each one. Cousins EVERYWHERE. It was perfect.
They stayed in their pajamas a lot. They flew remote control helicopters and the adults cringed every time they crashed into an antique something or other. They played about a million rounds of Suspend and Spot it.
Uncle Byron may look a little serial killerish here with his fresh out of bed hair and giant knife in hand, but trust me, he’s harmless. He’s a chef and the boys were completely entranced by his knife sharpening skills. Actually, we all were.
Collin says I have a weird kid foot obsession. I say every momma has it. He says that 11 and 7 year old feet no longer possess the cute factor. I say that when they are the 11 and 7 year old feet of my nephew and niece, they most certainly do. =)
This little chick makes me smile big time. She is stinkin’ HILARIOUS and I will frequently bust out into inappropriately timed laughter due to a Camille memory.
We all love her. And sometimes that love hurts, as evidenced by CB. =)
Bella and Clara Beth are the same kid in two different bodies. It seriously KILLS me that we do not live close enough for weekly play dates.
MaMa is an incredibly gifted seamstress. More than anything my baby girl wants to learn to sew, and unfortunately that’s something that I can’t teach her. Reattaching a button pushes my sewing abilities to their limits. But over Christmas they made a nightgown together. To this day she wears it nightly, and I predict that she will continue to, even into the 95+ degree heat of the summer. I mean after Elsa, snowflakes are season-less, right?
Jake just wanted some bacon pants. Deep down, don’t we all?
This is a picture of a girl who’s love bucket has been filled to overflowing. You want to win her heart? Quality time is where it’s at for my chicken. If MaMa were closer I think CB would have all of her friends enrolled in a MaMa led sewing camp and they would have their own clothing line that would rival Matilda Jane any day. 😉
This guy moved on from the request of bacon pants to underwear made out of the same silky fabric that Clara Beth’s nightgown was. Remember how I said that Camille keeps me laughing? So does Jake.
And I know this post is getting incredibly long, but I have to include the images from their gift to MaMa and PaPa as well. An updated portrait. In the last one the girls were all still in diapers, so you can see it was time for an update.
Their ranch is one of the most beautiful places on earth! Can you even imagine this being your morning coffee view everyday?
And finally, the horses. Because they are beautiful.
Expect a few more randomly timed posts from me in the next few days. And then we’ll hopefully move on to more sunshiney, beachy, all the HOT things summer time posts!
