Today

This is my personal hell on earth:  a Joann Fabric store at Christmas time.
I was here because I love my family.  Sigh.

 Cora had a 5 minute holiday song performance today.  The cutest thing is how excited Layla and Finn get when they see Cora perform...NOT the actual songs, haha.  Cora is..."absent" during most of the performances.  She just stands there, looking around, twiddling her thumbs...like she has no idea why they're making her stand there at all! She's so not Layla when it comes to performing. 

My kids are obsessed with tape.  I'm pretty sure they'll all get one in their stocking.  Today Finn made himself a tape dispenser made out of paper.  With real tape on it.  Good times.  :)

Jonas had to work a bit later tonight, so the kids and I ate without him. 

After dinner we turn out all the lights and each have our own candle.  We say "Thank you God for..." and then fill in the blank.  The kids give little sermons.  Jonas and I say things like "bed time" and stuff like that.  Cora was giving a mini sermon here.  

Normally it's very black during candle time, but with the tree AND the Advent wreath in full glow, it was almost light enough for pictures!

Lately:

This past Saturday was Berube Baking Day.  We baked from 9:00 a.m. until around 5:00 p.m., with plenty of breaks for church gossip discussions and music changes.  ;) .

This year I was a DUD of a contributor.  I am FEELING MY AGE as a pregnant lady, folks.  I took a nap for an undetermined amount of time somewhere in the middle of the day.  I did most of my work sitting down.  Lord have mercy.

It was killing the kids that *I* was at Grandma's house all day, and they were not, so they joined us for the last few hours.
Cora ate about 30 of these chocolate covered pretzels.  

 A few pics of some products.  Lots-o-chocolate this year...

Anja joined us for the first time this year!  Growing a new batch of  family bakers, one child at a time.  :)

Sunday night we met at the Horsman's house to celebrate Henry's 7th birthday.  Layla ran into my room the night before and said "Mama!  I know the PERFECT gift to give Henry!  I'll play him a violin concert!!"  Sigh.  My sweet, sweet girl.  So, she did, and Jonas played along and made her sound even better.  Henry loooooves violins, so this was really a gift he did enjoy.  

I cry when she plays, sometimes.  I can't help it.
My baby can make beautiful music!  Well...almost.  :)

She adores performing.  Stage fright is not a part of her vocabulary.  

This was Finn on Sunday afternoon, just eating an avocado for lunch.  You know.  As all kids do.  

Also, let's be honest about his diet...avocado and strawberries are some of the few fruits and veggies he LIKES to eat, willingly.  It's just fun to have photos like this sometimes, to balance out the many chicken nuggets and pizza photos...

A typical afternoon around our house this week...Layla with her lego friend legos, the latest obsession.

Waving good morning to Papa at breakfast.

This past Thursday Layla and I had a "come to Jesus" talk with her room.  Things got out of control in September and October, when I was out of commission.  Things are now back in excellent order, and we ALL feel better about life.  :) This picture was taken mid-cleaning, when Papa texted us "What'cha doing?"

The game "Hi Ho Cherry O" is super annoying to anyone age 7 and over, maybe, but man am I glad we have it.  This was tonight:  Finn and Cora started playing of their own free will, and it required exactly ZERO adult supervision because the rules are that easy.  This is me, crying tears of joy and gladness for this stage of parenting.  HOPE lives in the FUTURE, fellow parents of young children!! :)   But, also in the here and now...for me.  Haha.

20-ish weeks

Come on, Lisa.  I was thinking I would do a side-by-side of the last 3 kids belly shots, but turns out I was LESS than stellar at that.  My pregnant brain thought I took more than I did.  So here is what you get:  Me, December-ish, pregnant with the last 3.  I took basically NO photos when pregnant with Layla, so those don't exist...

Christmas time pictures, pregnant with Finn.  I've got nothing else...haha.

Child #2

Christmas time pictures, pregnant with Cora. 

Child #3

 Christmas time, actually 20 weeks here, pregnant with #4 (boy).  

Child #4
(time for a haircut, mama!)

Week 2 of Advent

This week in church Rachel Gustafson gave a wonderful sermon on Mary.
I was totally blessed by it!  Man, Rachel is a great writer and speaker!  God is going to continue to use her for sure.  :)

Saturday afternoon we picked up our tree, so Sunday we put lights on it as a family.  Finn was VERY involved in this process.  

We light the Jesus middle candle just because it's going to last, and because we're rebels...haha.  

Serious business.

Finn then spent ages making "snow flakes" like he learned in Sunday School.  

They were...ah...unique.  :)

Finn took this photo.  He was laying down, underneath the tree, and insisted it was such an amazing view he had to take a photo of it.  Love him. 

This afternoon the kids were playing a very unique game: their Octonaut toys discovered their Manger scene toys, and there were lots of conversations like this: "Pretend Jesus didn't know it wasn't a REAL shark!!!"  Imaginations know NO bounds.

Tonight, after dinner, we added the ornaments to the tree in between music lessons.  

These two did 95% of the decorating of the tree this year.  Cora had an epic emotional meltdown and was sleeping sound by 6:25 p.m.  God bless early bedtimes, said all the parents everywhere.  Also, older children are the BEST.  They are so useful! Haha!

I forgot to tell you what our family movie night movie was on Friday:  Mary Poppins!  BIG hit, as expected.  

Enjoying this slow season

Folks, I've really been enjoying myself lately.  Not in a "LIFE IS SO WILD AND CRAZY FUN" kind of way, but a more settled, peaceful "this is GOOD stuff" manner. 

Winter in MN makes you slow down...if you are smart.  It's always a bit of a jarring feeling, coming off of the high that is summer and fall around here.  We do ALL THE STUFF in those seasons, because the weather and light permit it, and it feels fun and full of life. 

But stopping and *not doing* are also delightful, and winter is the season we revel in that around here.  We routinely have nothing going on at least 6 nights of the week...and it is glorious.  We go to bed early...and the heavens rejoiced.  We read books and sit by the fire...*a single tear of joy floats down Lisa's cheek*.  Hygge is a word that is huge in popularity these days, and so it's starting to annoy me, but it's likely a good word to use for the season we try to embrace in winter in the Schaefer house.  We rest.  We don't do.  We are still.  We sit around and read.  We are at peace, and we embrace the cozy anywhere we can find it.  It's so.lovely.

So, here are a few photos of us doing this lately:

Two nights ago I introduced Layla and Finn to the Nutcracker Ballet via YouTube.  It took Finn a while to get that it was not a play..."Wait...NO talking??  At ALL???"  But he got it eventually, and the really loved it.  I was frankly surprised.  They asked to watch it again tonight.  Here we are enjoying it in my bed, in the flannel sheets and cozy extra blankets.

Funny side note:  The last 15 minutes of the ballet were mostly a male and female principal dancer doing some amazing moves and showing off.  As most of the dancers had been female up to this point, Layla made a note of this to Finn and said "See, Finn?  I told you boys can do ballet!  That guy is doing a great job!"  Finn says in kind of a quiet, determined way "Not THIS guy..."  Layla says "What do you mean?  That guy is doing great!"  Finn:  "When I said this guy I meant me."  

This morning I said "yes" to Cora asking to play a game on my Kindle.  Here she is, resting against my pregnant belly, kindly letting Finn WATCH ONLY.  ;)  I spent a good hour in bed after waking up, just snuggling with the family. 

Today Jonas and I picked up our Christmas tree TOGETHER, for maybe the first time in 8 years (since having kids), after a lunch date.  Then we watched White Christmas tonight.  I mean, come on.  What is more seasonal than THAT day, right???  :) . It was fun to see Layla and Finn really lock onto the dancing this year...