happy birt-day, Jesus!

we had ourselves a merry little christmas (or two, or three)!  due to a combination of me wanting to soak up the Christmas fun and simultaneously feeling quite tired, I don’t have many pictures to show from Christmas this year . . . (although I am hoping that our families will come up with some great ones from their cameras soon!)

We started our celebrating with Nonna and Pop Pop and Aunt Courtney, and it was very fun!

Nonna and Pop Pop really out-did themselves this year!  Tee Pees!

new toys and chocolate treats!

    

the boys “napped” (or didn’t nap at all) in their tee-pee, so sister had to have her very own tent as well . . .   and, little miss, out on the town!

    

On Christmas Eve, a special visitor came by our house . . . William said, “Santa really, really sounds like Uncle Bubbles, Mommy!”  ha ha!

Christmas Eve was a sweet (and crazy) time of celebrating and wrangling children during the family service at our church . . . all of the kiddies went up front and sang Go Tell it on the Mountain.  Despite the fact that my children have been belting out the lyrics as loudly as humanly possible, they were all frozen with fear and barely moved their mouths on Christmas Eve . . . but, it was one of my favorite memories of our Christmas this year.  So very sweet . . . and, we are well into January and still loudly singing!  (If I get my hands on any pics of my kids from the service, I promise to post them!)

As is with our crazy family and our traditions, we rounded out dinner at my parent’s with a rousing “Santa Box” experience (which was THRILLING for my children).  My Paps used to do the “Santa box” and Uncle Crifa-dor now holds the reigns . . . it’s a box full of goodies that are distributed wildly to the lucky soul who yells the loudest in excitement for the item.  Please note Uncle’s fabulous throw of some kind of amazing candy (?) in this picture . . . this about sums up the Santa Box perfectly!

Spider Man came out of the Santa box (wielding both a blow-up shield and a small red flashlight) and was a thrill for us all!

Uncle Crifa-dor spent the night with us and was so excited to see what Santa left him in his itty bitty stocking!    

 

books!

everyone got hats, which a sweet friend of mine made (she is a special helper of Santa’s, you know) . . . and which I especially love!

and, another of my favorite gifts to give . . .

    

Super hero capes!  (which I did NOT make, thank you etsy!)

    

We sang Happy Birt-day to Jesus, and Anna’s Christmas wish came true . . . she got to have her pink cupcake on Christmas morning!

and then we flew over to Sugie and Bumpa’s, capes and all, for more Christmas fun!

    

I hate that this picture is blurry, but it was my attempt at catching a moment . . . and I just love it!

I mean, who wouldn’t be thrilled about a toy trash truck??!?

a pink bike for the big girl!

and spiderman bikes for the big boys!

and after a day of fun with family and a long winter’s nap, sister got all dressed up for Christmas dinner.  This picture is one of my favorites!

Our Christmas was so much fun and so sweet.  We are continually thankful for the generosity of our parents and our families to us and our children.  It was such a dear thing to celebrate Jesus’ birth together this year, because our little ones are understanding more and more of why it is that we deck the halls, put a huge tree inside of our house, string lights on the front of our home, and sing carols and hymns all month long.  On Christmas night, it was really late and our kids were exhausted.  Anna was crying and I was trying to hurry her into her bed and run out of the room.  She stopped crying and said “mommy!  no pray!”  I said, okay, let’s pray, and I began “thank you, Jesus . . .” and Anna finished “ . . . thank you, Jesus, donkey.  thank you, Jesus, Mary.  Thank you, Jesus, sheeps.  Thank you, Jesus, Joseph.  Thank you, Jesus, cows.  Thank you, Jesus, baby Jesus in da manger.”  It was such a perfect reminder to me to not rush through the celebration of God’s love for us and His goodness in perusing us and coming near to us . . . and what a wonderful way to be reminded—by my littlest babe praying from her crib.  Oh, the sweetness!

We hope your Christmas was filled with JOY!  More fun to come . . .

Happy 2013!

on the off-chance that there is anyone out there who still looks at this little blog of ours, we wanted to warmly welcome you into 2013!

2012 was a very full year for us . . . welcoming hatch’s parents to richmond (how sweet it is!), 100+ showings at our old house, selling that charming old house, a trip to New York, not one-- but two--trips to Char-las-stin, tubes in Anna’s ears, a husband who honed in on his bat-catching skills, a trip to Emerald Isle complete with a broken collar bone for sister, learning to spell “H-U-D-S-O-N” (for both of our boys—still working on William!), a fabulous neighbor who removed a dead baby opossum for her screaming manic of a friend 20 minutes before a house showing (ie: yours truly), a trip to Lake Gaston, a fabulously successful year of work for Daddy (have I mentioned he won a work trip, and I. GET. TO. GO!?), Mama surviving having 3 kids 3 and under (and, briefly, 2 three year olds and 1 two year old!), saying goodbye to my Nana and welcoming sweet Jake into our world and our family, a new church family, a new house, a broken washing machine . . . and then dryer . . . and then car, a new-to-us car, new neighbors, a fabulous 12-days-of-Christmas welcome into our home (more on this soon!), my babies turning 4 and my tiny love turning TWO, new friends and wonderful old friends, new babies of sweet friends, and a God that faithfully provides for us and graciously forgives and gently loves and leads and restores.  We are so thankful for a very full year in our lives, and we are excited about all that 2013 has to offer . . .

. . . may you always have someone jumping on your back and grabbing your necklace . . . and may you smile huge and pretend it’s not happening . . .

. . . and may your year be filled with loud giggles and squeals, snuggles, elbow jabs, and high kicks . . .

2013 . . . we are ready for you!  Happy New Year, and we hope your Christmas was FULL OF JOY!

F O U R.

At long last, I am playing a teensy game of catch up on the blog.  With our move, four birthdays, and Christmas around the corner all in under two months time, it’s been a challenge for me to keep up with daily life (or, rather, figure out what daily life looks like in this new space and place) and this little ole blog has been neglected a bit (that said, if you are so inclined, I am loving some instagram these days, and you can follow me there:  shannonreppard).  Because Christmas is upon us, I had to not wrap presents and, instead, write about my babies--Who are FOUR.  I have no idea how it happened.  I have threatened them with my Nana’s words of putting bricks on their heads to stop them from growing up so fast, but they don’t love that idea for some reason! 

while I remember the days were long and bled into one another, I so wish I could scoop up these tiny things one more time and smooch them!

one.

two.  (I cannot even stand the chub!)

three.

I don’t know how my tiny babies who were 6lbs, 12oz and 5lbs, 11oz are now FOUR and talking and debating and giggling and making jokes.  While there are definitely some crazy moments involved in raising two energetic boys who no longer nap and who really thrive by destroying things, playing loud games of pretend (most of which involve rescuing someone or something) and climbing up things that no one should ever think of climbing, we LOVE watching these two interact, seeing how their little minds work, hearing how they think about things (when there is enough silence for one of them to actually start and finish a sentence without being interrupted, that is!), and we adore their smiles and laughter.  These two are quite hilarious, and the amount of energy they have truly amazes me! 

it is quite challenging to get two four year olds to smile for a picture.  welcome to my world.

priceless.

saying cheese does not actually equal smiling . . . interesting thought . . .

50% smiling . . .

and . . . RASCALS!

The boys’ birthday was on a Sunday this year, and we had a great little morning of opening gifts as a family.  Anna had decided that she wanted to get her brothers umbrellas for their birthday—they had seen them in the store, and there was much excitement to be had.  One of the sweetest things to me about this morning was that my boys felt fully celebrated and Anna was SO VERY PROUD to give her gifts—oh, I loved it!

the anticipation.

the joy.

the thrill.

the pride.

for their birthday, I went into their classroom to read this book—of which they got a copy for their special day.  I had one of those “I can’t believe I am doing this—I am actually a mom—moments.”  It was so fun and so sweet, and the kids loved it.  Hudson may have played with the hair of a little girl sitting next to him (which was SHOCKING to me!) and William may have had a hard time not interrupting me every page, but all in all, it was very fun and a sweet thing to do. (miss jenn, this picture is for you.  they were BEYOND EXCITED about this!)

daddy wanted to get his boys their very first super-hero action figures.  I think that Batman was well received . . .

sister was there and enjoying it all!

later that day, we had a “things that go/construction” party for them.  dear friends of ours borrowed a digger (YES:  BORROWED A DIGGER) from another friend and brought it to our house.  I thought my boys’ eyes were going to explode.  They could not believe that a digger was at their house.  And, they even got to ride it.  It just doesn’t get any better than that!

william taking his turn.

so excited he didn’t know what to do with himself!

hudson’s turn at the wheel!

    

even cousin charlie had a ride!  Anna and Jake decided not to ride, but they agreed to pose instead!

    

MY BOYS!

our littlest digger!

this big ole boy is so much fun.  Hudson is quite energetic, but very sweet and compassionate.  I have loved seeing how he cares for his sister or for other people in this past year—it is so dear to me to see that God has gifted him in this way.  He is a big ole boy with a huge heart.  He loves to pretend he is a lion, dress like spiderman, read books, sing, practice writing the letter “H” on my furniture (!), and he is a great helper and encourager.  I adore this strawberry blonde boy of mine! 

 

this child of mine, is definitely mine.  he is a lot like me, so I hear.  he talks up a storm and is happy to chat with almost anyone who comes across his path.  we love seeing how he thinks through things, and mr. william asks a lot of very detailed questions in order to fully understand things.  he is full of energy and love to play hide-and-seek, dress up like superman, carry around tiny things, paint, sing, take pictures, negotiate and debate, and help lead the troops.  william likes to know what is happening around him, and he seems to be somewhat fearless little leader.  it is so neat for us to see how God has gifted him with the ability to reason in a way that is sincere and genuine and thoughtful.  this boy is driven and determined, and I love that about him (except when he won’t do what I am asking him to do!) 

and, while we are not in a single picture with our children, we were actually present for their birthday.  our budding photographer, william, took these gems!

and, well, as for us . . . we continue to be two tremendously grateful (albeit somewhat tired) parents of three little ones who keep us on our toes (or scrubbing crayon off the walls.  again.) and keep us laughing A LOT.  william and hudson, I have a hunch that FOUR is going to be SO MUCH FUN!

 

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