December This and That

I am finally posting some of our Christmas happenings. I started to do this on December 22nd, but I am just now getting around to finishing it. I am starting to feel caught up from Christmas!

So, here are some of the things that kept us busy last month. What a wonderful December we had. I love celebrating Jesus' birthday!



In Germany, children set out their shoes and St. Nickolas comes on December 6th and fills them with goodies if they have been good little children, and he brings them a switch if they have been naughty. :) Jack and Ella and Linc all got a few goodies.




Here we are making buckeyes. They are Ella's favorite holiday treat. Isn't she sweet in her kitty cat headband. You just never know what you might find my children wearing...



The bigger kids had the opportunity to sing a couple of songs at church with the other preschoolers and kindergartners. Ella even sang the angel part of one of the songs with a couple of her friends. She did a really great job! I really wanted to post the video, but it is just too large and it was taking forever to upload. Jack was also cute up there singing - he was wearing a new watch from his Great Grandma Ruby and he kept looking at it and waving at his dad. :)



These are pictures from Christmas Eve. We attended the family service at church where Ella sang the third verse from Away in a Manger with a group of children. Then it was just our family celebrating at home. We had birthday cupcakes for Jesus, lemon with jello-cake frosting. And the kids each got to open up one gift - their new jammies. Then Jace read Luke 2 and the kids used the Fischer Price nativity to show what Daddy was reading about. It was a fun night.



Of course there was lots of traveling and visiting. Lincoln was sick on Christmas Day, so that made things a little interesting, but we managed. :) This picture was taken at my parents. All in all we had a wonderful Christmas and we are looking forward to the new year!

Time for the Tree....

Jack and Ella are so excited for Christmas this year! They can hardly contain themselves. Jack anxiously waited to be able to help put ornaments on the tree while Jace set up the artificial tree and then worked to find enough lights. Jace even had to go to Walgreens to buy a few lights before it was ready. It was all too much for the excited Jack. And so Jack waited and waited. At one point he said, "This is the worst of my life." Meaning this is the worst day of my life. :) But finally it was time to decorate and it turned out lovely and Jack made it through the worst of his life.

On the move...

So Lincoln has started crawling. He is not in a hurry though. He can get where he wants to go but he isn't moving too fast (thank goodness : ) ). I thought I'd post this video of him getting around a little bit and clapping a lot. He is so sweet and growing too fast. He was eight months old this week already!

Our Halloween 2008

I feel like Halloween is a distant memory (even though it was just Friday). Somehow it feels like we are on to the next thing already - thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas. But wanted to share the photos of our witch, Larryboy (from Veggie Tales), and Lincoln Road (I know that is corny, but we wanted him to be Lincoln something and I didn't think Lincoln Log or Abe or a penny would work this year; he is too little for those costumes). Halloween was a week long event for us, with activities at Jason's work, Ella's school and actual trick or treating on Friday.

We had a fun time trick or treating with some of our friends, the Olsons and their three kids. And the kids brought home tons of candy! It is all Jack has eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner since Halloween. And there is plenty for Jason to eat too. :) Enjoy the pictures!

Pumpkin Heads...

We carved pumpkins today. And I know some of you who are reading this blog will completely understand this post's title, but others of you might wonder. : ) The Ruby family (my family) has a long standing tradition of holding a carved pumpkin in front of the carver's face for a photo. It ends up looking like you have a "pumpkin head".
Ella worked hard on trying to carve her own pumpkin, but ended up with some help from Dad. Jack was excited, but not quite able to plan and carve his pumpkin, so I asked him what shape he wanted eyes, nose and mouth to be. Jace carved one for Linc of course. Now to roast the pumpkin seeds....

Lincoln's Dedication

This past weekend, we dedicated Lincoln. Our parents and Aaron, Meghan and Will were all here to be a part of it. Geoff Moore was even at our church on Sunday, so it was a very special service that Linc was dedicated in! :) Pastor Scott did accidentally call Lincoln, Jackson, but he corrected himself and he said a very nice prayer for him. It was a nice day; we had a nice Sunday dinner together after church at our house, and we had the chance to visit a little.

Isn't he so sweet?

A Busy Saturday

The first Saturday in October, Uncle Aaron and soon to be, Aunt Meghan were here visiting. We all went to Safety Day at our local Home Depot - Jace's work. Jack and Ella were able to check out a rescue helicopter and fire engine. Jack also climbed all through our friend, Deputy Olson's police car. They also made wooden fire engines and got their third Home Depot aprons.

After going to Home Depot, we headed to Clare to attend a good-bye get together for Great Grandma and Grandpa Ruby before they headed to Florida for the winter. We had a nice time visiting with family. Ella was able to ride on one of cousin Chad's horses with his daughter, Kristin. Jack, I found out later, was feeding the horses and the dog summer sausage. I am sure he gave them a stomach ache; I saw him come and get probably a dozen pieces of sausage. I should have known he couldn't have been eating all those! I think Great-Grandma and Grandpa had a fun visit. I know we all did.



What a crew!

Lincoln is Six Months Old.

Lincoln was six months old this week on Wednesday. We took the kids to a local park to take some good pictures of the three of them and of Lincoln especially. They turned out cute...

How time flies!

Ella is a Kindergartener!

Ella started school this week. She couldn't wait to go! Even though she was slightly nervous, she did great and had a wonderful first day. She has a nice, brand new teacher and only sixteen students in her class. They read the book The Kissing Hand. Tomorrow she will start riding the bus. She is looking forward to that.

Labor Day Weekend

Over Labor Day Weekend, Jason had two days in a row off, so we took advantage of having a Saturday as a family to spend time blueberry picking (I remembered my camera) and seeing a minor league baseball game in Midland. The Loons even won.