Merry Christmas!

It's a few days late but Merry Christmas anyway!  It has been a busy week for us, but a week filled with fun, family, and friends!  We attended two different Christmas parties with friends.  One had the theme of Elf the movie!  Even Buddy made an appearance!  Since the kids have not seen the movie the theme was over their heads, but it was still fun!  Sadly I have no pictures of Buddy.

On Christmas Eve the kids were in a Christmas program at church.  Shane was a Shepherd and Faith was a donkey!  It was very cute!  The group of kids helped the pastor share the Luke 2 story, and they

 sang three songs. 

 

 Faith in her donkey costume!  The kids were able to choose what part they played in the program, and Faith wanted to be the donkey that Mary rode to Bethlehem.

Here is Faith Christmas morning!  Steve had to work on Monday, but he was home for Christmas day!  And we were able to actually have a traditional "Christmas morning" with opening gifts as we were just staying home and not traveling anywhere!  It was a treat!!  Faith did wonder if she was on Santa's naughty list as she received books and clothes! 

The day after Christmas we celebrated with Steve's family.  For Shane, this was the year of the action figures!  He was thrilled to receive Buzz (his third - he wore out the other two!!), Zurg, Iron Man, and an Ogre! 

 

This picture of Olivia was taken on Christmas Eve after her bath!  She didn't want to be left out since the other two kids needed one before church that evening!  She was one month old yesterday, which seems crazy to me!  In some ways it is as if she has been with our family longer than that, and yet a month has flown by!

Christmas Cookies

It hardly seems like Christmas until the Christmas cookies are made!!  For the kids at least that is the case!  They had been asking when we were going to bake them, and so we finally did yesterday.  It ends up being quite the process having to chill the dough for two hours in the fridge before they can be rolled out and shaped.  Then after the baking is the decorating!  And despite all the work that it is, it is always worth it watching the kids enjoy it all so much!

 

She is becoming quite the decorator!  She did the frosting all on her own this year!  Shane still needed some help!  And thankfully we can take all of our beautifully decorated cookies to church on Sunday to share during the coffee hour!

 

I can hardly do a blog post without posting one of baby Olivia!  Shane, my big helper, just loves to hold his sister!

Christmas Program #2

Last night was a special Christmas service at the Presbyterian church called "Lessons in Carols."  Faith was asked to read Genesis 22:15-18, which was the second lesson of the program.

We practiced at home for a week, and even after all that practice, I was worried about how she would do!  Would she read slowly and clearly??  Would she get nervous??  I began to realize that I was anxious for the two of us and she had zero anxiety!  And of course she didn't want Steve or I to go up there with her!  She did really well - at one point she lost her place, and rather than panic, she calmly found her spot again and continued reading!  Steve video taped her reading, and I'm glad he captured it for us to watch for years to come!

 

Olivia attended the program too, and she wore her first non-pajama outfit!  A big occasion that I'm sure she will be glad we documented!  The kids are in one more Christmas program which is on Christmas Eve at the Lutheran church!

Latest Excitement!

The new baby isn't the only excitement in our house!  Last week Faith learned to ride a bike without training wheels! We were amazed how well she has done!  Since that first day, she has gone on a number of bike rides!

 

The girls next door have outgrown their trampoline, and so they gave it to us!  Faith and Shane are having the best time on it!  It's really cute to hear them talk, play, and be imaginative on there!

 

Yesterday was Shane's last day of preschool before Christmas.  Some of the kids were part of telling the Christmas story in chapel; Shane was one of the Magi!  He was really into his role and did a nice job!  H enjoyed wearing the gold crown and cape.

 

The kids continue to enjoy their baby sister!  It's been so cute to see how much they love her!



New Beginnings!

So we have a new baby and a new blog!  While I had not intended the two to go hand in hand, it became inevitable!  With this blogging website, there is a limited amount of storage space for pictures on the blog and right as our little princess Olivia was born, we ran out of space!  After trying to do some manipulating on the old blog, it became apparent that rather than not post any pictures (they are the best part after all!!) I should just start a new blog!  So here it goes! 

It's really hard to believe that Olivia is now over two weeks old!  Time is sure flying by!  I can already tell that she is getting bigger as she has already outgrown her newborn size diapers and most of the newborn size jammies!  Two weekends ago we enjoyed having many visitors who all wanted to meet the newest Poelstra!  Grandpa and Grandma Bruinsma came out for a visit from Michigan...

And Aunt Renee, Uncle Joe, and Grandpa Poelstra came over as well!  It was quite a party!  Thankfully Uncle John and Aunt Sue dropped by too and brought a delicious lunch for us all to enjoy! While we settle into our new normal life as a family of 5, we have all been adjusting well.  It helps so much that Steve has been home from work as he is such a huge help!  He has been taking the older two kids out for many adventures, and it is just great to have him helping around the house too!  We will all be sad to see him go back to work!