happy b-day Dad!

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." --Abraham Lincoln


"I am thankful for 'tickle city'!"

"I am thankful Dad is my Dad because he's smart. And because sometimes he found my doll Emily in the car for me."

"I am thankful he plays football with me. And that I can play football with him."

"I am thankful he loves me and that he loves Jesus."

this is for the grandparents

I was experimenting with the video feature on our camera (the kids were expecting me to take a picture at any moment, so kept posing)...but the end of this video is so cute I knew a few people would enjoy it greatly. Isaac to Dad's rescue!

really want to see

I made a new rule several years back of "no more war movies" together. I'm not anti-war...far from it...but simply found the gratuitous violence less than relaxing when we get the chance to watch something together. There's always exceptions to that rule and true stories always tip the scales for me to break "the rule." The movie Defiance that is just coming out is definitely one of those exceptions. We've been waiting and waiting for it to come out...and are both eager to go see it.

www.defiancemovie.com

here we go!

Pittsburgh's going to Super Bowl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big Ben and Polamolu did us proud...

January 11th is my sister's b-day, so the boys were thrilled to celebrate at her house (and get to watch the Steelers game on the big screen). In classic aunt amy mode, she gifted (on her b-day) every member of our family with terrible towels! Maddie has got the twirl down...she watches every moment of the game (stopping to play little people with Isaac along the way) and then stands up and twirls a towel in each arm at all the right moments.

Our kids favorite teams are the Boise Broncos (where Tom grew up), the Pittsburgh Steelers (where I grew up), and the Green Bay Packers (where they are growing up), although we really miss Farve.

another free photobook....

details here

if noone else benefits, I still brought a laugh to my mom's face (she is highly amused by my efforts to share the bargains) and she deserves a laugh after watching my children for countless hours while she was with us last week!

Christmas festivities

I love this picture that reminds me of the feeling of being surrounded by those I love. Thanks to all who made our Christmas so special!

Josiah in his prized Polamolu (am I even spelling that right?) jersey...clutching his Boise Broncos shirt and ball (and wearing the hat!)...priceless picture that summarizes his gift interests this year.

Maddie had twins! She's a really great mom and relishes her newfound authority in all the issues twins entail. She promptly named them "Ella" and "Ellen"...but later switched to "Ella" & "Gina."

Josiah and Cole with their b-b guns in the backyard. A classic coming of age Christmas moment.
Nana at "the" Taste of Home visitor's center. It was so exciting to take her there as she really loves their publications and is a superb cook. Any of you that have gotten recipes from me...chances are, they're from my mother-in-law!

Nobody reads stories like Nana!

A long-awaited moment...cousins sleeping out together under the Christmas tree!

A prettier pair of princesses you just won't find. Their evident love for each other in this picture is exactly how they are in real life. I just love watching them together. One time Jeff was painting (back in PA) and had Becca with him on a job. He called me asking if Becca could talk with Maddie a few minutes because she was losing interest and he was closing in on finish. They talked for 45 minutes!! About the most mundane details...the color of their fancy dresses, fancy shoes, the color of the walls of the rooms they happened to be standing in, and on and on and on. One of those conversations we will be telling them about for years to come I suspect.
Beautiful Aunt Krys with sweet twins Grant and Graham. They look so festive in their red shirts together. This trip, Grant was definitely the most social (but both of them easily make up to you). Our funniest story was how they both loved Gramps' cashews. They would find his can at all hours of the day and come up to him with a little shake of the can and a little grunt that they knew Gramps could never deny them. I think they cleaned out the whole can between the 3 of them!

Jeff celebrated a b-day at our house. What a treat to share it with him.

The gals escaped on Saturday to head to our favorite tea-room in Antioch (thanks Katie & Matt, we used your gift cert.!) and really enjoyed the ambience together.

• Christmas dinner....we look like such a small crowd minus the kiddos. Early Christmas morning, we shared presents with both my sisters and mom who drove up from Chicago. It was really magnificent to have both sides (at least in part) of our family together. Our hearts are really full...and I know that sounds trite and cliched...but there's no other way to say it. We've been richly loved and blessed by the heritage we come from....and we are so blessed to be able to have the gift of loving all our family in return. That reality was so real and felt in our hearts this Christmas.

• I did not have a digital camera that was working this Christmas, but was able to lift pics from Nana & Gramps camera before they left. So, I do not have pictures of my family that was here for Christmas or of the day we all went into Chicago to the Children's museum (batteries died that day). It was interesting to just enjoy the moments without concentrating so much on how to capture them on camera. I think there's a real lesson in there for me to truly live the moments, not just "preserve" them. This morning a friend was telling me about driving up the street in our town only to look up and see the moon gigantic as it rose. She said her first thought was to look and see if she had her camera or phone to take a picture, upon realizing she did not quickly came to the conclusion that a camera could not even come close to catching the majestic quality of the moon at that moment. I think parenthood/family is like the moon...sometimes such a part of our life we take this incredible gift and take it as commonplace...or we carefully preserve pictures, maybe even diaries, when in reality these moments are indefinable yet totally livable. There is something in these relations, these connections that has written in their very core who we are, who we are meant to be, and what we are created for. Oh sure, we botch things up all the time, we live very imperfectly...but the whispers of a deep longing, of a fulfillment and a calling onward, outward and upward is nontheless there.

• Enough run-on sentences...but enough to say I am grateful and at rest as 2009 has quietly swept us into it's presence.

we're having a snow day!

Yeah for no school, tunnels, snow angels, eating snow (I think you can guess which kids liked which activities best) and most of all....yeah for a VERY white Christmas!

good thoughts

Because I am in the midst of trying to mail out Christmas cards this post really spoke to me on simplifying. While I love both the sending and the receiving of cards (because I'm a bit extroverted and love connecting) I thought this lady's thoughts were really good to read in the midst of the process. And the following quote relates to so much more than sending (or not sending)/receiving cards:

I will assume my friends will be understanding and gracious, and they will still like me, even without cards. Benefit of the doubt is a gracious gift: it makes it so much easier to live with others. When you give benefit of the doubt to others, you are saying, "I am looking at the best in you."

"I am looking at the best in you"...I love that line.

compliment?

Overheard on the way out the door this morning to take the boys to school:

Maddie: "Mom, why do you look prettier than me this morning?"

Gingerbread Houses

Yesterday we were really impressed by the Build & Grow program at Lowe's. Our kids were able to participate and build (from wood) gingerbread houses. Your child gets goggles, an apron, a badge for that day, and the project kit for that day. On future visits (they offer programs 2x/month) your child can earn additional badges to add to the apron for every workshop they complete. And, I would have to say that this is a pretty foolproof program...Tom was traveling this weekend so I took all 4 kids by myself (with no idea this would involve hammers and nails). I was proud of the boys for completing their projects by themselves...and impressed with Lowe's for designing real projects that teach building skills yet remain age appropriate. Isaac enjoyed his sucker immensely during all the pounding and banging...when he decided to start exploring under the table, fortunately the boys were almost through and we were able to make a quick escape before bringing down the store.

How we remember advent...

You ask what I am doing to celebrate advent? I'm searching for Jesus. Every day. Literally. We have a nativity that has a minute sized Jesus that is removable from it's manger and can be placed in Mary's open arms. This nativity set is plastic and made for children to manipulate. While last year the thought of Jesus possibly being a choking hazard was an issue...this year we are passed that stage. Little Isaac is obsessed with finding Jesus each morning upon waking. Usually he gets placed in the other nativity...but sometimes he goes missing. Hence my searching. Although it initially amused me greatly...it also packed a punch. Am I searching for Jesus? Am I helping my children develop skills to strengthen faith or hinder it? So I am thankful for my daily (or multiple times a day) reminder to stop and look for Jesus.

Thanksgiving Trip

These pictures are not complete (hopefully I'll be back to add more later) as I was using our old camera (remember "rolls" of film!) for most of the trip. We got a new camera (yeah!) at a Black Friday sale....only to be disappointed greatly in it's performance (to be returned)...and my sister offered to gift us with her old one (yeah again). So the pictures I have are from the one day I used it on vacation and show our visit with Krys & Jeff.

Not shown:

Tom and I completed a 6 mile run Thanksgiving morning, making that officially a new annual tradition for us (began last year). What fun to run together...something we are never able to do...through beautiful pennsylvanian snowy woods. Unfortunately I still managed to eat enough to gain weight over the holidays. But I'm still workin' at it...down 17 lbs. from when we started...with a long ways to go.

We enjoyed congregating with lots and lots of relatives. My mom's family is a living testament to family ties and enveloping love. So fun to bring our kids home to be with all of them.

A quick drive down to West Virginia allowed us to spend the night with Jamey & Cara and kids. It is so funny how we've been friends for so long now that we inevitably tell the same stories when we are together...they only seem to make us laugh harder. The boys are so into football, the girls so girly...and Isaac and Karis just can't seem to keep their clothes on around each other (see here). I know, I know...this could be a problem.

We were so surprised by Beth making an extreme effort to fly from TX to be with us. Amy & Steve coordinated their flights to come in at the same time. Unfortunately Beth's luggage is L-O-S-T as in not yet found (have you even heard of that before?)! Beth did a lot of soul searching that week and made the huge decision (that we are so excited for her about) to move to Denver, Colorado in the new year, pending her house sale. She is a fantastic nurse practitioner that either hospital is lucky to have. We are already dreaming about camping in the Rockies with her (the boys thought the decision was a no-brainer). While at my mom's I reveled in her famous french toast, and also enjoyed Amy's dutch babies recipe...I guess we Coleman's know how to do breakfast! Mostly, I delighted in watching our children be loved so richly by those I love so deeply. So much to be thankful for together.

The night before we were to leave, we were able to connect with Tom's sister Krys (on their way back home), her husband Jeff, and their really fun, sweet kids. Becca & Maddie just love each other. Neither of them has any sisters to "get" the whole girl thing...but they surely get it going on when they are together! The pictures will tell more than I could ever say...