Christmas and New Years

Well to sum it all up, Christmas in 2009 was just as eventful and full of surprises as ever! Our month of December started out strong in the celebration of the Advent season. Alexis and I worked hard at putting the advent calender together, and getting it hung in plain sight. As usual we were cheerfully consistent for the first couple of weeks, but as things got more busy the harder it was to keep up. But we enjoyed the scripture we read, the jammie drives (with the cats), painting dads toe nails, and all of the hot cocoa. I love how Christmas brings us all so close together.

A couple of weeks into December we celebrated Alexis and Kendra's birthdays. It was fun. We had pizza at the local pizza place in town, and some family and friends joined us. I think for the sake of Alexis and Kendra we should start celebrating their half birthdays. They really don't get the celebration that they deserve in mid December.

My sister and I made a last minute trip to visit our parents for my dad's 60th birthday. It was the most fun I have had with her in a very long time. We only took Ben (hers) and Chelsey, the two smallest ones, with us over the train. We had some very very funny moments happen that probably would not be appropriate to share on a public blog! LOL!

Once all that was over it was time to get down to the nitty-gritty of planning Christmas. Alexis, Kendra, and I were all apart of the church choir this year. (Along with Brant, Rachel, Tage, Simon, and Violet) So we all got to sing together at our Church Christmas party. There was a lot of preparing and singing to build up to the big day. But what a blessing it was.

Our Christmas week is always packed with activities, eating, and resting in between all of the busyness. This year Scott's schedule was pretty flexible. He did miss out on one major thing, but there is always next year. So, Sunday was our Christmas party with our church, and on Monday my parents came into town. We all gathered for dinner here that evening which was a lot of fun. All of the kids were so excited to see Grandpa and Grandma and Cash (their dog), and of course to see Grandpa carry in all of the Christmas presents. On Tuesday the weather was so nice. It felt like early spring. So we spent most of the afternoon walking along the river down at the park. It was very beautiful. That night we were privileged to listen to our main church choir sing the Nine Lessons and Carols. Something the choir does every year, and every year they get more and more beautiful!! Sigh...

Wednesday we took all the kiddos to see Santa!! What a great Santa he was. He put all 7 kids, mine and my sisters on his lap at once and sang Christmas carols to them all. That was before taking the time to talk individually with them all. Well, except Chelsey of course! Once the kids were all hyped up on Santa we took them to Costco for Pizza and hot dogs, and some last minute Christmas shopping.

Thursday was Christmas Eve...At Last!! My sister put on a beautiful, yet relaxing and fun dinner, as usual!! The ham was great! We eat with my parents, My sister and her family, and another family that we love dearly. Yet another Christmas tradition. So after dinner, we saw Scott of for the night. (YUK, night shift on Christmas Eve!) The kids opened their jammies and ornaments and off to bed.

Scott joined us the next morning, Christmas morning, as the girls were tearing into their stockings. But before we could even begin to think presents, mom needed to have a cup of coffee and something small to eat. That's right...mom's Christmas present came early this year. Well actually just after halloween. By Christmas day I was about 2 months pregnant! That's right. I am expecting baby #4. YAHOO! But at that time the only people who knew were those who were at dinner the night before when we finally announced it. We new all along, and it was a very hard seceret to keep.

So the girls opened their presents, and they were so generous and thoughtful of each other. I loved watching them watch each other and get excited for each other. Especially for Chelsey. Chelsey got a little overwhelmed with all the excitement. But Alexis and Kendra were good about taking breaks and playing when needed.

Once the mess was all made and cleaned up, off to my sisters for breakfast, more presents, naps, and our usual Christmas movie. We have all gone to the movies together every year for the last...5 years or so. Everyone really enjoys this tradition, and it is a great mid day break.

Christmas was great this year. Every year we come closer and closer to Christ through the celebration of his birth. The ultimate birthday party. Well at this point I am totally distracted and have completely neglected my family. So I will have to come back and update the new years later. Merry Christmas everyone!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!!!

Some families get all bundled up, gas up their chain saws, pack up their sleds and head out somewhere like up the Icicle, the Eniat River, or up as far as Lake Wenatchee. But the Byingtons get all bundled up with drinks in hand and head out for Fred Meyer to find that perfect tree.

Into the store we go to gather some extra Christmas lights...

Chelsey riding around in her SHOPPING CART. Ohh what fun!

Lazy Weekend

What a lazy weekend this weekend turned out to be. But I guess that is ok considering how busy the next few weeks will be through Christmas. We really just stayed around the house, watched way to much tv, went for a couple of walks, talked about Advent and sang psalm, went to church and played in the little bit of snow that we had for a day. It has been a long time since we have had a full weekend of nothing to do. So even though at the time I may have felt totally grumpy and bloated from not doing anything, looking back it was actually fun. Chelsey had us all rolling with laughter as she pounded her head into the ottoman, walked around the house with her belly popping out showing us her new found bellybutton, and stomping through the snow. And it was so nice having Kendra home (she has been gone for a week with Grandma) reminding us of the energy that she provides for our family. And watching Alexis in the choir this morning singing "O Come Emanuel" made me realize how big and beautiful she is becoming. (tears...she will be 9 this week). And lets not forget Scott rolling around on the floor as the girls totally whoop him at many rounds of wrestling. Girls Rule, Boys Drool!! At least in this house!Anyways...point...sometimes having a lazy weekend may feel discouraging at the time, but looking back can be very rewarding.

Picture updates

There is a lot of pictures on this post. That is what happens to a busy mom. You get it all in a big clump of pictures. But what can I say...I could narrow it down to a couple of pictures, but I am biased. I think my girls are so stinking cute I can't decide which to put on so I put them all. Thanks giving pics coming soon. :-)

In the kitchen...
I think Alexis has cookie dough on her cheek...

cooking always requires research first...

In no particular order, our kitties.
Notice Simons sweet smile in the background. Chelsey's Kitty

Friday Morning

My morning started out with getting up at 5:30 with Scott to make coffee and to see him out the door for the day. I am always so tempted to go back to bed once he leaves, but with a bit of coffee and a little local news I was feeling up and ready to go about my day. I was pondering what to do today, seeing that it was Friday and there was not a whole lot of school work to do today. We actually had a day to spend at home with out commitments. Thank goodness! Alexis got up and watched the news with me, it was actually very nice to have that quiet time with her. After a while I had gone into check on Kendra since I hadn't heard any movement from her at that point. She was just rolling around in her bed slowly waking up. About 10 min later Kendra came out to where I was and told me her arm was hurting where she had had her seasonal flu shot the day before. I noticed it was swollen and red so we went into the bathroom to get a better look. While we were in the bathroom Kendra said she thought she was going to throw up. So I got her situated in the bathroom and went out into the living room to tell Alexis I would be with Kendra, would she please take care of Chelsey. While I was with Alexis I could hear Kendra hit the floor. I ran into the bathroom and found her lying on the bathroom floor with her head behind (YUK) the toilette. (she had been hugging the toilette afraid she was going to throw up) She had passed out. I quickly picked her up, she didn't wake up right away, so Alexis called 911.
Alexis did such an awesome job through the whole thing. She found my phone right away, was quick to scoop up Chelsey and take care of her, she even packed a couple of bags in case we all had to go in the ambulance together.
Once I was on the phone with the paramedic Kendra started to wake up a little. She was so grey. There is nothing worse in the world than seeing your child totally colorless and out. (that is the best I can descried it) So there was a big party of EMT's that came including Uncle Brant and Aunt Rachel (thank goodness for them). The Emt's checked Kendra's vt and all was fine. But given her history I went ahead and took her to the hospital. When we got there she still was not herself. I still had to somewhat carry her around. But once we got into a room and she threw up a couple of times, turned on the "cable", and was given some apple juice she seemed to perk up. The only real concerns were that her heart rate would jump up significantly as soon as she would sit up. That and the fact that she was dehydrated. There was no determination as to why she passed out. The Doctor said that sometimes the feeling of getting ready to throw up can cause your blood pressure to drop so much and so fast that you simply pass out. Either way...Kendra is feeling sooo much better now. She has been holding fluids down and is working on some toast.
While I was sitting with her in the hospital room, I just happen to have Alexis's bible with me. I opened it up to work on a study I am currently doing and was lead to Philippians. This is what it said..."I can do everything through him who gives me great strength." Philippians 4:13. At that time I knew she was going to be fine. We had been praying for her and had many people calling saying they were praying for her. God is so so good to surround us with so many wonderful faithful family and friends. Even when things might seem intense, it is only a moment and the Lord is faithful to prayers and will protect those in need. In the end this ended up being really not that big, thank the Lord, and Kendra is just fine. Seeing Kendra on the floor gave me a quick glimpse of what my life would be like without her. And I am so so thankful for minor blood pressure drops due to throwing up! LOL! And not something more than that. "In all things give thanks" 1Thes 5:18 Thank you to all of those of you who were prayer for her.
In conclusion my Friday morning was not the calm quiet morning I had hopped it to be. LOL! But that is all part of parenting I suppose. :)

Chicken on the Bone

Tonight we had chicken on the bone for dinner. Chicken on the bone, drum sticks, chicken legs, it's all the same. Chicken on the bone is Kendra's all time favorite dinner. She loves to hold the sticky piece of meat in her hands and devour it. So tonight I was watching her eat her chicken on the bone with such bliss and I was reminded of a time when she was three years old. We were having chicken on the bone for dinner before heading to our friends house to celebrate Mr..."s birthday. (you know who you are) She was sooo excited to be having her favorite dinner that she was sure he would share in the same excitement as her. So she saved one of the chewed up bones, put it in a zip lock baggie, and presented it to him for his birthday. She was sooo proud of this sacrificial gift that she was presenting to him for his birthday!! I will never forget the looks on both of their faces. One of pure discuss trying to be kind, and the other of pure pride and excitement....I love three year olds!!

It's fuzzy but oh so cute!!!

Miss Chelsey 13 months