It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

It's that time of year again. And today as I write this the sky is gray and the ground is wet and it's a little cold outside. Not only is it beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my living room but it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas outside too (today, not sure about tomorrow but we'll take it when we can get it.). As is our custom, the day after Thanksgiving we began our festive preparations. We didn't actually finish them until the next day, Saturday, but then it's fun to spread it out. This year, with an extremely active 17 month old in our house we opted for a smaller tree that we could put up out of his reach. The kids actually really enjoyed it because as they decorated the tree they were able to decorate all the way to the top. When they were done we put it up on the table and have been able to enjoy its beauty without little hands always pulling everything off. In fact the first time Isabel came out of her room after resting and seeing the tree completed and up on the table she drew in her breath and said "Mom, it's so beautiful!" I love my childrens' easy ability to appreciate what is beautiful even if it's simple! As she looked at the tree she said "Mom, I'm so excited! We get to celebrate Jesus' birthday!" Again, an appreciation for what is simple and yet true. May she always keep the love of Jesus at Christmas!

One of our favorite family decorations are my Nutcrackers. I have collected nutcrackers since I was in high school. I love their festive, beautiful look and have enjoyed having them as a theme to my holiday decorating. Pulling the Nutcrackers out of their box and newspaper wrapping every year is a highlight. The girls, and this year James helped a little too, enjoy being handed one in it's newspaper and gently unwrapping it and seeing which one they got. Then we line them up on our hall tree and they fit perfectly, surrounded by beautiful lights.
We are now enjoying our Christmas home, spreading cheer throughout the house all the month of December. I hope your holiday decorating has been as fun and memorable as ours has been; and may your holidays be filled with celebrations of the coming of Jesus to save His people from their sins!
Merry Christmas!

Boys and Their Hats

There is something about boys and hats that just go together. And as most men will tell you the attachment that men have with their hats never goes away.

Climbing part 2

How could I possibly forget to add this little shot of my boy climbing up our slide?

For those of you unfamiliar with our backyard; we have a pretty steep hill out past our yard. The people before us built a playhouse on the hill with a slide that comes down to the yard. The kids have to climb a brick wall to get to the playhouse and they love being up there. When I discovered that Brenton could climb the slide he was banned from that portion of the backyard. Recently I tried putting a chair in front of the slide so that he could play out there with his big brother and sisters without being in any danger of falling off the slide. However, with the slide blocked he decided to give the brick wall a try and I found him up on the porch of the playhouse. So...once again, he is banned from that portion of the backyard for now, until he's older and safer or I can be outside with him. Some say that "necessity is the mother of invention", in Brenton's case it's "curiosity is the mother of invention". He will figure it out given enough time. Again, keeping me on my toes and I'm surprised that I haven't been to the doctor or urgent care more often with him.

Just like his Mom

My Mom tells me that my fourth born is just like me in one specific way: he climbs on any and everything he can possibly get to before I can get to him. I can remember two pictures of me as a toddler which prove her point. In one I am standing on the first shelf inside the refrigerator and in the other one I have managed to climb on top of the table (or maybe it was a piano, mom you can correct me) "conducting" or singing to anyone available to listen. And with that I present to you the many ways which I have found my dear Brenton as he has become more mobile.


Helping me do the dishes.


One of his favorite places is on the top bunk in the girls' room. I really have to watch him there.




As you can see, he really likes climbing into the back of this truck and hangin' out.

Thanksgiving Fun With The Gardner Family

We had the pleasure of spending Thanksgiving day with our good friends Danny, Hallie, Pearson and Zach Gardner, as well as Danny's mom Marilyn. We also got to meet some new friends Jeremy and Noel. The weather was nice, the food was good and the company was great.

Recent Trip to Great G-Ma's House

Last Sunday the Worsley clan drove down to Heather's grandparents house to celebrate her 91st birthday. It was a great time of hanging out with her family and enjoying the wonderful temperatures of Palos Verdes.

James' New Favorite Toy

As most of you know our daughters have always loved to play dress-up. Well, that addiction is spreading to other members of our family. Recently, James was given a $5 gift and he spent it on a cowboy hat. With his new hat and his recent halloween costume, James is now dressing-up almost every day.

Man he is cute!

Our Boys

One of the blessings that Heather and I have enjoyed over the years is watching Isabel and Acacia develop into best friends. Our girls, for several years now, can hardly take doing anything apart from one another. They play dolls together, they read together, the play outside together, they get into their dress-up together... If one gets an invitation to a birthday party the other instantly assumes its for them as well. They can't fathom being apart.

Well, Heather and I are now watching the same thing develops between our boys. Brenton is now getting to the age that he wants to play more and more with his bigger brother. It is so heart warming to watch as James gets down on his knees to chase Brenton. He even takes into consideration that Brenton crawls much slower than he does so he waits for his younger brother. Our prayer is that these two boys will continue to grow up becoming the best of friends.

Pre-School Here I Come!

James started pre-school today! It was with mixed emotions that I walked him down the street to his first day of school. He was very excited to start school and "sit on the rug, and hear stories, and play outside..." He finally got to carry his lunch box, with a lunch in it mind you, and walk to "his" school not Acacia's and not "Tinkerbell's" as he lovingly calls his oldest sister. He's become such a big boy just in the last month and I am excited to see all he will learn. And yet, Brenton chose to take an exceptionally long nap this morning and the house was strangely quiet. I don't know if I will be able to get used to having three kids in school 2 days a week. As my grandma told me many times a few weeks ago "enjoy them while they're young because they grow up way too fast". You're right Grandma, every moment with my precious little ones is a blessing. And now I get a new blessing: a few precious quiet moments with just Brenton. That will be fun too.






James and his teacher, Miss Sherri.

James is Three

A few weeks ago are oldest son turned three years old. It's hard to believe that he has grown up so fast. So many memories come flooding back to mind as I sit and think on this little guy. We had such a rough start as he cried for the first 6 months of his life. For some reason he started crying at 3 weeks old and didn't stop for months. He would cry for hours and hours and hours. We thought it would never end. And yet, it did indeed end. It didn't take long for James to start showing that he was a kid with a big heart. He went from crying all the time to loving all the time. If you have ever been around him you know what I am talking about. His favorite thing to do is give people hugs. He especially loves to give hugs to his mommy, his sisters, his grandmas, and his Sunday School teachers (Mrs. Mailander most of all). We are very thankful for this little guy and can't wait to see how God uses James' loving heart.

Summer Fun Part 2

The second free day activity we planned was an outing to the Griffith Observatory. Again, Jason and I had gone once before in the evening on our own and I wanted to give the kids an opportunity to experience it. Isabel had learned a little about what a planetarium was from one of her favorite books Fancy Nancy Sees Stars and I knew they'd enjoy learning about the planets through the hands on exhibits at the observatory.
The girls loved walking through the planet room where there is a scale of the solar system. They were able to learn a little about each planet and see what they'd weigh on each one. I think on half of the planets my kids wouldn't even exist, they weighed about 1/2 pound. The girls were also able to attend the planetarium with Jason. Unfortunately, children under 5 were not permitted so I walked around with the boys while the girls and Jason watched the show. This was a great teaching opportunity for Jason too, to discuss with the girls the truth of the creation of the universe as opposed to what modern science might say.

The kids "orbiting" the sun. Out in front of the Observatory they have a solar system on the ground showing the orbits of all the planets. The outer planets orbits go almost all the way to the parking lot. Here Isabel and Acacia are following Earth's orbit and James is walking on Venus.

The balcony allows for a view of the famous "Hollywood" sign.

Isabel and Acacia examining a miniature of Jupiter.

Isabel and Acacia getting a lesson on the universe from Albert Einstein.

Brenton was happiest getting out of the stroller to crawl around at lunch time.

Summer Fun

Jason had been scheduled to teach summer school this summer. We found out two days before school was to start that his district decided to cancel summer school due to the education budget issues in the state. We greeted this news with excitement, knowing that God would provide all we needed and that included time for Jason to be home with the family for the summer. With a whole summer ahead of us I sat down and considered activities that I would like for us to get to do together this summer and places I'd like to take the kids (that didn't necessarily cost money to get in). I put together a calendar with activities placed throughout giving us some days out and some days at home. The following is a summary of our first family excursion.
A few months ago Jason and I went out for a date night to a restaurant down in Glendale in an open air mall called the Americana. At that time I knew I wanted to come back with the kids some time. It's a beautiful open air mall that has a fountain programmed to music and a trolly. So, on July 2nd we packed up a lunch and headed down to Glendale. We ate at one of the many tables outside next to the fountain and got to watch it perform to a Frank Sinatra song.

The girls watching the fountain dance to the music. It was really fun little show.


The Americana is across the street from the Glendale Galleria. We walked over there after playing at the fountain for a little while. Jamesy loves the Lego store and enjoys the boy dress-up that can be found there. Here is my little Knight, Sir Smilesalot!

Friends Enjoying One Another

Recently we spent some time with our dear friends the Gardner's. Our kids had a great time swimming with Pearson and Zach.

Meet Fiona Bergin

At the recent Moore Family Reunion (Heather's side of the family) our girls spent a good amount of time with their 2nd cousin Fiona Bergin. Her parents are Mark and Acacia Bergin (Acacia is Heather's cousin and our Acacia's namesake.) Fiona is a darling little girl that we got to take home with us on Friday night for a "cousins" sleepover.

Fiona feeding the rabbits at the cutest little petting zoo in San Juan Capistrano.

The girls eating their lunch outside, under a tree, just before Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Moore's 70th Wedding Anniversary.

He's Just So Cute!

ji'ijl

My Two Babes

Obviously Heather is my babe in one sense and Brenton is my babe in another. This picture was taken at the zoo, just before the bird show.

Tide Pools in Dana Point

This past week we were in Dana Point for a Moore family reunion (Heather's side of the family). Wednesday afternoon the family went out to the tide pools close the hotel. Unfortunately, the tide was still in and no creatures were to be found. Good pictures of the family were found though.

Heather and the kids walking down the stairs to the beach. Unfortunately, the tide was still too far in for us to find anything in the pools.

The girls had a fun time walking along the rocks to the tide pools.

Oh wait! We did find something in the rocks. We found Brenton.

Future Photographers

Heather purchased two digital cameras for our duaghters. They weren't expensive, they're not that nice and they take horrible pictures. But, it gives Isabel and Acacia the experience of taking pictures and learning how do to it properly (ie. not putting their finger in front of the lense).

(Acacia took this picture)

(Isabel took this picture)