Our Little Picasso

Faith had her art work chosen and displayed at Gallery One for the month of December. She was soooooo excited!!!! We were all VERY proud of her, especially Jensen! Our little family of five got to go see it on "opening night" during our town's First Friday Artwalk! It was quite the affair in there with live piano music, appetizers, wine, LOTS of people and our VERY excited children. This is also were Jensen informed a room full of people that I call him, "Stupid!" Nice. Real nice, son. Story to follow...and JUST for the record, I DON'T call him stupid.

A Note for Jensen's Wife

FYI...when Jensen makes comments that may easily be offensive, he truly doesn't mean it. He's just a man. He can't help it. Men don't come wired the same as women. Please don't get upset when he says things like, "Mommy, you look so beautiful. You look just like a hippo!" Really. He truly meant this as a compliment. He was so excited and sincere as I know he will be in your marriage, too.

A Word, or Two, on Our "Duperhero"

The "Duperhero" in our house:
-Runs the fastest
-Shouts the loudest
-Taunts the most
-Flies the highest
-Sneaks the best
-Pushes the hardest
-"Un-nerves" like you wouldn't believe
-Loves to be rough and tumble
-"Gackles" (tackles) the greatest
-Bounces the best on the furniture
-Climbs to the highest of places to rescue a binky or piece of cake

But with, or without, his "Duperhero" outfit loves the deepest, helps the most, cuddles the sweetest, compliments like no other and gives the very BEST Eskimo kisses.

Oh, how blessed we are to have a "Duperhero" like Jensen in our lives! We love him greater then any Superhero strength!



Pictured here with his "Duperhero" bat costume, princess wand, and binky. I guess I owe a post on the reintroduction of the binky...

Faith's Snow Shoot

Love, LOVE, LOVE these sweet pictures of Faith in our first big snow if the year! The pure joy on her face is priceless and what childhood should be filled with. Jensen opted to stay inside, it was too "coady" for him outside that day.

Just Jacob...

A post devoted SOLELY to our Sweet Baby Boy Jacob. Who is ONE!!!! Just how did that happen? What a complete and utter blessing he is in our lives. A perfect addition to our little family. All of us Rotter's would agree that life wouldn't be the same without him. Jacob is just all around sweetness...with a bit of determination thrown in to complete the perfect package. Let's be honest, to survive with big brother Jensen...determination is needed for sure! :)

At ONE, Jacob...
-weighs 20lbs 13 ounces
-has 8 teeth
-is on the RUN (started walking at 10.5 months)
-says about 18 words including mama, dada, baba, papa, nana, up, more, ball, cat, dog, hi, bye, this, yea
-loves to give kisses and has progressed from his "African" tongue clicking to actual kissing noises to let us know he wants a kiss!
-Loves to "pet" mama when he's eating
-Still not sleeping through the night, but is getting better
-loves his blanket at night and rubs the satin edge while he falls asleep
-has mastered opening cupboards, finding toothbrushes, and eating out of the trash...all very desirable traits to have
-LOVES being in the mix with Faith and Jensen
-laughs at all the right times

Here are a few pictures from Jacob's Birthday. On his actually birthday we had cake at home which he loved. He picked up the entire plate and ate the cupcake that way. The next weekend, we had a swimming party/Haiti fundraiser for Jacob! What fun we had and what generous friends to donate to Haiti in honor of Jacob's birthday!

Create a photo slideshow

Christmas

Christmas in Photos:

Greetings From Our Family to Yours!

All things considered "tacky," this is our Christmas card for 2009. I could claim it's due to us being more environmentally friendly seeing as how 2009 was a big year for us environmentally. We potty trained Jensen AND signed up for recycling. Yes, both in the same year. I could claim it's to be gentle on the pocketbook, because last time I checked there were no coupons for stamps...you know me and my coupons. I could claim that even though I LOVE getting and giving Holiday cards, it's because Christmas cards really don't have much to due with the actual origin and meaning of Christmas, but don't tell Hallmark. But truthfully, I ran out of time. Somewhere between teaching, mothering, wifing (is that a word), being an accountant, personal shopper, elf, and spreading holiday cheer...I simply did not get to cards. I'm hoping for Valentine's cards, but don't don't hold your breath. My CPR card expired in the spring and I'm feeling a little shaky on my first aid skills.

For a small glimpse into our lives, feel free to scroll through the blog. If you'd like to be a regular "reader" on the blog, leave a note w/your email address in the comments. I usually keep it locked as private. Something a bit creepy about random blog stalkers (like myself) reading about the kids. BUT, you too, can gain membership for FREE...no coupons needed!

2009 has been a great year for our family from the birth of Jacob in January all the way through December it's proved to be a wonderful year for our family. Joe and I are loving each and every minute with the kids (okay, some are a bit more hairy then others) and are trying to treasure them, as we are already witnessing just how fast time flies.

Jacob (10 1/2 months) started WALKING this week. He looks a bit like a drunken sailor, but he's officially on the move! He is such a sweet, sweet boy who just takes "it all in" day in and day out. Still not a sleeper, but I'll take the middle of the night cuddles any day! He can't get enough of Faith and Jensen and is starting to interact with them more and more.

Jensen is our little "Joy Boy!" He can turn the saddest of situations into pure joy. Last week, I found him cutting the beard on my prized antique (it was my dad's-sorry I just called you an antique, dad) plush Santa. After a stern lecture and time out he was crying these HUGE walrus tears, and calling mommy a "Bad boy!" At my wits end I was saying (yelling), "Why, WHY would you cut Santa's beard?" He whimpered back, "My couldn't see his mouth!" All I could do was laugh. Luckily, I caught him just one snip in and Santa's beard was saved. If anyone is sad, he is the first to notice and cheer you up.

Faith is still creative and determined (gets that from her father) to the ends of the earth. She is on a bunny phase lately. As in, she's convinced she's getting a bunny. She writes letters about when she has a bunny, goes to the pet store to check them out, creates special bunny food, created a bunny trap in the back yard (in which a very large, brown-haired, brown-eyed, three year old "bunny" actually ate the carrots in the trap). On top of all of this she is the BEST big sister. She loves her brothers to pieces and goes to no end to be sure they are happy. We've even caught her in a few "white-lies" protecting Jensen.

Joe just rounded out his hunting season with a cougar. Whatever happened to bringing home a Christmas goose???? And WHEN is chicken season?!? All joking aside, we are really proud of him. He loves back country hunting and we love that it makes him happy.

I'm still busy teaching and loving being able to spend half of the day home with our kids and the kids of my teaching partner (we job-share, kid-share). The kids keep me busy and I wouldn't have it any other way!