Merry Christmas!

Just a glimpse at our Christmas.

It truly couldn't have been better--except maybe Josh Oliver getting sick.

Treats From St. Nick

Today is St Nick's Day--oh, the excitement!

The boys put their shoes out last night and then woke up super early to see if he had left them something.

The must have been good boys because St Nick had, indeed, come for a visit!

Guess Who Broke His Arm?

Josh Oliver broke his arm last Wednesday, and it has not slowed him down one single bit!

It wasn't awesome timing considering he did it the day before Thanksgiving and I had a ton of things to do, but really isn't that the way it usually goes?

He was apparently standing on the footboard of our bed, said to Henry, "Watch me!", and then jumped backwards off the bed. Obviously he didn't land well!

By the time we got to the Emergency Room he was no longer crying, and other than holding his arm and not putting any weight on it, he looked fine and he moved his arm normally.

Ben and I both knew without a doubt it was broken, though. It was all exactly like when Luke broke his arm at 17 months--only then it took a full 24 hours for us to realize something was wrong!

It took 4 hours for them to get him all splinted up, but he did awesome. He was super cuddly and a bit sleepy, but also silly and tear-free!

He had to wear the terrible above-the-elbow splint/cast for five days, but on Monday he got his awesome neon green permanent cast. He was so excited!

Olivia, who went with us, thought it would be even better if he broke the other arm and got a red cast so he could look like Christmas!

A Date at the Duck Blind

Henry and I went on a date today after we took Josh Oliver to school.

I let him plan it.

He picked a walk down to Great Grandpa's lake so he could show me the duck blinds.

It seemed like a good idea until we got about 100 yards down the road. It was super windy and below freezing. We dressed warm, but I obviously underestimated how cold it was going to be.

When we got to the blind, he opened it up and we climbed inside. I was ecstatic to find a single glove the boys had left behind from their hunting trip last weekend. I really thought my hand was going to just break off, it was so cold!

We hung out in the "warm and toasty" blind for awhile. Henry told me all about what they do in there, how shot gun shells work, showed me some goose blood on a decoy. He is very knowledgeable!

Here's some of his duck calls:

(He always talks like he's making a documentary when I tape him!)

On our way back we looked for some nice "snowman" rocks--we were just so numb from the cold that an extra five minutes or so didn't make a difference.

After that we went to Target and warmed up with some hot cocoa.

I don't really think I want to do it again until it warms up a bit, but it really was such a fun date--and such a very Henry thing to do!

The Year I Overcame My Fears

Clearly, I am thankful for all the obvious things, Ben, our boys, our family, but this year I was equally, if not more, thankful that my Thanksgiving Dinner turned out so well.

It sounds a little shallow, but I was really, really worried about it!

I mostly feared that big frozen butterball.

I'd barely even seen a whole, raw anything before--let alone cook something like that. I went back and forth about passing the turkey off to someone else, but ultimately I decided to do it on my own.

There were some set backs. I shed some tears and said some choice words as I tried to get it thawed and into the brine, but in the end it turned out better than I thought. It was so juicy and delicious!

This year was so different from the last Thanksgiving I hosted. Everything came together so well. The food was good, my tables were nice, and I planned it out well enough, that there was no stress on the Thanksgiving Day.

I absolutely love this holiday--and now I can say that even on the years I have to host!!

The Day Josh Oliver Got Married

Josh got married on Saturday.

She was a princess.

From the minute Emery walked in the door, Josh was in love.

He spent the party watching her and trying to sit next to her any chance he got. Occasionally he would steal a feel of her beautiful dress--touching it oh so gently.

I even heard him invite her up to his room, but she passed on that one!

Towards the end of the party, Henry came inside and announced that Emery and Josh Oliver got married. From Henry's account, Josh asked if she wanted to, Emery said yes, they kissed or hugged--I heard it both ways--and the deed was done!

He's a fast mover!

Arm Candy

Silly Bandz have taken over our house.

Luke got a couple of packages of them for his birthday and so the craze began for the Jonker Boys.

Henry especially loves them. He likes to wear as many as he can get his hands on. He also made a yarn necklace to hold some of them. The boys also now have couple of actual Silly Bandz necklaces.

I don't totally love Silly Bandz--it's a pain finding them all over the house--but I get why kids like them. They are pretty neat and kind of fun to wear!

Ben on the other hand HATES Silly Bandz.

I often hear him mumbling grips about them. He also likes to question whether boys actually wear them. (Hello?! All kids wear them!)

He's apparently forgotten back in the day when he french rolled his jeans--I often question whether other boys actually did that!

I don't know where Ben's coolness has gone!