Twin Day!

My sweet mother-in-law texted me one day while shopping and asked, "How do we feel about matching clothes for the kids?" I smiled as I replied, "I'm fine with matching every once in awhile - but don't want them to be twinsies every day :) " On our next visit to MI, the kids had red matching shirts waiting for them! Lucy thinks it's really fun to "match" other people so she didn't need much convincing to dress the same as Michael for the day. (She's become a bit particular about choosing her own clothing - this is helpful... most days.) :) 

Apparently, Michael was excited about matching too! :) 

I've learned to be happy with pictures that are "different" from what I used to anticipate (both kids looking at the camera, smiling) - and have found myself loving the quirkiness and personality the camera can capture.

Although it stinks when the picture you like best turns out grainy... :) 

Yep - real life... Lucy spitting at Michael and Michael gearing up to hit Lucy. Oh sibling love. 

"What do you mean mom? We're little angels!" :)

Lu seems so inquisitive to me in this picture. 

Those eyes.... I could stare at them for hours.... 

Michael went through a "Help I'm stuck on the chairs!" phase... he quickly learned that his feet were inches from the floor and that he could slide off easily. 

Oh, and Lucy has learned how to "smile" nicely for the camera.... it's pretty sweet. :) 

I love these two kids. 

Twin Girls & Their Babies

Lucy has many small friends in Pampa that are very dear to her (and her parents!). One of her buddies is Karsen. Karsen is an energetic, smart, fun-loving girlie who loves her mommy, daddy and her bitty-twins (who's names change on a regular basis - Brad and Lulu have been honored to have the babies be given their names in the past!). Karsen's grandma ordered her a matching outfit set for her and her dolly and when the shipment arrived, she had received a double order! :) Karsen's mommy was so sweet to think of Lucy - the girls love love loved their outfits and put them on right away: 

It can be difficult to keep two girlies still for pictures! :) Especially when they are so excited.

Thank you Karsen for sharing this sweet gift! Caroline (Lucy's doll) has even shared her outfit with Ellie so she can match Lucy - we've gotten lots of use out of it! :)

Felt Advent Christmas Tree

Taking a few "pins" as inspiration (see here, here, here and here) I made our kiddos a felt Christmas Tree for them to decorate and re-decorate throughout the Holiday season. As I was thinking through this project I realized I could incorporate my desire to do a daily "Advent" activity with the kids every day in December, leading up to Christmas, with this fun little tree! I had read (again, via Pinterest) that my favorite children's bible, The Jesus Storybook Bible, had 21 stories leading up to the story of Jesus' birth and 3 stories about that momentous event... 21+3=24! Perfect for an advent story each night. So we incorporated a new tradition this year at the Kidder house - a nightly story as a family and new ornament for our little kid-frendly tree. 

Curious how it turned out? 

Isn't she cute? Definitely not perfect, but I had so much fun putting this together - I love it anyway! 

Here are some close ups of the ornaments:

Most of the ornaments were random fun shapes that didn't coordinate with our nightly stories but these (and one of the stars) did- The cross was put up the night we read about Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac. The manger, on the night we read about Jesus' birth. (A star, the night we read about the Shepherds hearing the good news about Messiah's arrival) And the crown the last night we read about the visit from the Wise Men. (Also special for our family - Lucy made sure the crown went on the very top of the tree because our tree topper is a crown! :) )

All of the ornaments were made of two layers of felt - I bought pretty cheep felt and wanted them to be sturdy. I had fun embroidering the ornaments!

I decorated some of the ornaments with glitter! Who doesn't love a little sparkle around the holidays?!

I loved the way these ones turned out! I used our big set of cookie cutters as a "stencil" for most of the ornaments - some (like the manger) I free-handed.

I have plenty of leftover felt to make new ornaments for future little-ones (I'd happily move one of the white circles with cut-outs to the real tree! :) ) 

As for the tree, I bought a yard of extra-long felt at JoAnn's, folded it in half twice (short ways to make the tree double thick and long ways so I could try to make it symmetrical) and lightly traced with a sharpie a "Christmas tree" shape - Brad will tell you... this was the hardest part for me.... I may have cried because I thought I ruined it. But it all ended well. haha!

In order to attach the tree to the wall, I sewed some (4) "Loops" onto the back of the tree (before I sewed the two layers together). 

See the ribbon "Loop?"

That way I could attach a 3M hook to the wall and hang it up easily! I sewed the two layers together and the tree was done! 

See?!

And because I NEEDED a way to display and organize the ornaments while they were waiting to be put on the tree, I made a little garland - You know me... I love banners, garlands and anything I can hang with a swag! :) 

I bought inexpensive wooden tags, paint and stickers and made little numbered tags for each ornament. 

Isn't it fun?! :) I am SO looking forward to continuing this tradition in the years to come! We had a great time reading as a family and personally - I found my heart was more focused on the "reason for the season" when I was reminded about it daily.

Here's our real (fake) 2012 tree!  This is the first year that our tree has seen the same house two years in a row! Do you see the crown on the top? :) Next year's holiday craft NEEDS to be a tree skirt! 

Ok, so I know that it is March, almost Spring... almost Easter - but tell me about your family's Christmas holiday traditions! :) 

11 Months Old

(Michael took a tumble in our hotel room in Minnesota and came home with a scratched up nose!) 

11 Month Accomplishments/Activities (not all things on this list can be counted as an accomplishment... :-/ )

• Nursing Strike 3.5 days - this. was. horrible. We were traveling in Michigan and this kid would. not. nurse. :-/ Thankfully he is back, but as a result of the "strike" we had to cut down to nursing 3 times a day from 5-6. 
• Two new teeth (maybe the reason that the strike happened?)
• Climbing the Step, our boy is no longer contained to our sunken living room - he has discovered how to climb over the step and a whole new world has been opened to him! 
• Pulling himself up to standing, in bed, on the coffee table, on the play kitchen - Lucy's creations are no longer safe on "higher" surfaces! 
• All 4s! Sometimes he pushes himself to his hands and feet, a nice little triangular shape with his bottom high in the air. :) 
• LOVES making people clap and laugh. This is especially evident at meal times, he is thrilled when all three of us copy his actions. 

To see Lucy at 11 Months, click here!

My Grandpa Gordy

On November 9th I woke up to a text message, "Grandpa with Jesus." There were more details in the text, but those words were all that mattered at the moment. My dear Grandpa had struggled with Alzheimer's for years and although seeing my Grandma faithfully, lovingly care for him was a blessing - it was even more of a blessing to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that my dear Grandpa was with Jesus. No more suffering, confusion or pain. I wrote in an e-mail to my friends later in the day, "The words of 1 Peter are true for my Grandpa today, he has a complete understanding of God, is fully sanctified and gets to praise Jesus face to face today. He has his memory and can bask in the glory of the God he loved with his whole heart." 

Grandpa meeting Lucy for the first time. August 2010

4 Generations, Grandpa Gordy, My Dad, Me and Lucy. November 2010

Meeting Michael, February 2012

Helping Lucy put her shoes on Ellie, February 2012

We quickly packed up and headed to Minnesota to be with family. It was the fastest pack up we've ever done - and we Kidders are known to be pretty spontaneous. All of my pictures from this trip are from my phone, I forgot my camera in the hurry to get out the door. 

 Our kids are traveling champs! 

 Of course we had to refuel along the way. :) 

We made it safely to Minnesota and settled into our hotel. There was a beautiful family service on the 11th - Grandma and Grandpa have 10 kids, 48 grandkids and 16 great grandchildren - all of the families were represented. It was a special service worshiping Jesus as a family and remembering together special memories of Grandpa. 

After the service our little family headed to the Mall of America for a few hours of rest - and to celebrate my birthday! :) 

Michael looking dapper at Buca De Beppo

 My daughter and me... she sang me happy birthday - made.my.day. :)

There was a memorial service the next day, it was a PACKED church. My Uncle Tom did a great job on the service, he incorporated all of his siblings into the eulogy and spoke of how each of them are continuing Grandpa's legacy. It was beautifully focused on Jesus. 

My Grandpa did a lot in his life. His book, Discovering The Bible, has been translated into 6 languages so far. He started a hospital in Hong Kong and had a distinguished medical career in the Twin Cities too. But the things that stand out to me the most about my Grandpa is that he loved Jesus, he loved his wife so very sweetly until the very end and he was passionate about people loving the Word of God. 

Brad took this video in August 2010 when we took Lucy up to Minnesota to meet all her extended family. It's so special to me - I can't watch it with out tearing up. During this particular trip up north, we were able to stay with Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Gordy and have such fond memories of Grandpa's observations of Lucy: 

Back to this most recent trip, while visiting Aunt Jana's house, Lucy was told that there was a "Bob" living down this drain - it was so funny, she kept yelling down there, "Hello!? Bob? What are you doing down there?"

 

 Auntie Jana and her favorite nephew and neice. :)
(I can only say that because their the only ones right now)

Our trip to the Twin Cities was a very quick one, but we were able to see my mom's parents too at their favorite Denny's! Which was conveniently located in the parking lot of our hotel! We very much enjoyed our breakfast with them. 

 Oh! And Uncle John came along too!! (You thought I was going to forget about you didn't you Uncle J Bob?) :)

We are starting our Daughter's addiction to hot drinks early... she liked Caribou, but prefers Starbucks (sorry Minnesota Cousins - I know that's sacrilege to you!!) :) 

 And of course, we HAD to get us some CHIPOTLE while we were up there! 

Then we headed home! On the road again, 

We made it home safely and upon arrival I had a birthday card, dated Nov. 8th, from Grandma and Grandpa - the tears flowed all over again! It meant/means so much to me to have this one, last card from both of them. 

I am so thankful that I do not mourn without hope - I miss my Grandpa but I know I'll see him again. I've never lived close to extended family, but both Grandpa Gordy and Grandma Bonnie made me feel individually loved (a hard thing when you're #16 of 48 grandkids!) and cared for. I hope my life will someday be defined by love too - love for Jesus and love for those around me. 

Kidder Kid Conversations

Ok, so I am 3 or 4 months behind in my blogging... there is a lot to catch you guys up on! Michael had a birthday, Christmas happened and we have some big "Our family is in transition" news! Just because I haven't been blogging doesn't mean that our kids, namely Lucy, haven't been funny. My note on my phone is overflowing with funny things she's said - so let's get this catch-up ball rolling with some funnies! 

Around Christmas, bringing a book to Brad,
Lucy: "Can we read this book about Santa-No-Closet?"

Lucy, "talking" on the phone with Tinkerbelle: "Are you eating with Peter Pan?"

Lucy: But I don't have any money!
Sarah: (Breaking into song) It's not about the money money money...
Lucy: Thanks for reminding me 

Lucy: Good night! Sleep tight! Don't let the baby piglets bite! 

(She still says this, we find it too cute to correct her)

Lucy: "Mommy! I always wake up the farm, since I was a little chicken. I say Cock-a-doodle-do!!!"

Lucy: "Look at those rhinos!"
Sarah: "I don't see any rhinos silly."
Brad: "oh Lu, those are cows! But if you ever do see a rhino - please let us know!"
Lucy: "They are not cows... They are rhinos."

S: Well, what do you want for presents for your birthday?
L:Maybe a record collection?
S: A record collection?
L: "Yeah, that's when I turn on the music and shake my belly and dance! Can we get that from the store?"

While eating dinner, during a lull in the conversation,
L: "Daddy is so gorgeous, he is so gorgeous."
S: "haha! yes he is Lu, yes he is" 

Lucy: (As I'm crawling in bed with her to wake her up from a long nap) "Mommy? I spy you with my eye" 

L: "Let's pray for Ellie!"
B: "Jesus, thank you for Ellie and the  happiness and comfort she brings Lucy."
L: "She doesn't bring me! I bring her!"

Upon seeing a little boy, at Walmart, in PJ's that look a little too familiar:
L: "No! Those are Michael's pajamas!" 

After a horrible mouse encounter (thankfully Brad was home) during which I screamed and was sent to my bedroom.
Lucy: Mommy are you scared of mice?
Sarah: Yes Lucy I am.
Lucy: I'm scared of hand driers. 

(I felt very understood and loved by this statement. Because she does. not. like. hand driers!)

Lucy stuck a play candle into the cushions of the couch and exclaimed: "Happy Birthday to the Couch!!"

While playing with finger puppets:
Sarah (as a chicken): "Cluck cluck, how are you today Mr Octopus?"
Lucy (as a octopus): "I need to get back to the sea" 

Sarah: "Hey there little Miss!"
Lucy: "I'm not a little mess, I'm a BIG mess!!" 

Lucy, after passing gas: "Oops, I just tweeted."

After receiving her milk from the McDonald's drive through,
Lucy: "It's got a clown on it!"
Sarah: "A clown? Oh! That's Ronald McDonald! He's the McDonald's clown."
Lucy: "Wonald McDonawld?" Hehe "That's a funny name!"