Top Christmas

Wow it has been a whirl wind of Christmas celebrations since I last posted. Having an almost two week break has been fantastic, and we are very glad we have these last few days to re-cooperate from the holiday celebrations.

We finished up exams on Tuesday and then headed to John's parents on Wednesday for the annual Christmas decorating extravaganza. It has become very entertaining with 3 little boys wanting to participate in the fun. :)

 The cookie decorating group minus Grandma Top.

 We love christmas cookies! :)

Then on Christmas Day we went to Sioux Falls to spend the day at his sister and brother-in-law's house. We played the increasingly exciting game of 'Deal or No Deal' and even came away with a decent amount of cash this year. We also opened stockings, ate way too much for supper, and opened gifts. Caleb is too little to play with his cousins yet, but he did enjoy watching them run around and open their presents. It was a lot of fun to have the whole afternoon and night to be able to hang out together.

 Grandma Top and Caleb by the Christmas tree.

 Grandpa & Grandma Top

 Ethan (4), Braden (2), Caleb (5 mo.)

 Aunt Tianna with Caleb

 Andrew and Amber (Andrew won deal or no deal this year)

 Caleb's 1st fishing pole- not sure if John or Caleb is more excited. :)

 The kids and grandkids.

The whole gang.

VW Christmas

Our Christmas parties began a little early this year. For the past ten years, my mom's side of the family has gone to a hotel the weekend before Christmas. Everyone comes and we eat way too much food, play volleyball in the pool, play cards, and enjoy the weekend lounging around. It is so much fun, and we look forward to it every year! What a great idea by my grandparents to allow all of us to be together for the weekend under one roof...just a really big roof. :)

 Caleb and I got there early Friday to spend the afternoon with grandpa and grandma.

 Caleb and my cousin Darci's little girl Sierra. She is so cute!

 I think this was when Caleb was supposed to be napping and grandpa was napping instead. :)

 Caleb and my cousin Danielle's little boy Deacon. 

 Caleb's firs time swimming! The water was a little cold, but he did great and even gave us a few smiles (and no crying!)

 Thanks to my California friend Gina for the swimsuit. 

 Our tradition of pool volleyball. Scott's team usually does quite well. :)

Playing cards with Danielle, Deidra, & Darci. I always look forward to catching up with these girls!

 The gang before opening gifts Saturday night.

 Tony & the snuggie...a perfect fit! 

 Grandma & Caleb on Sunday morning. 

 The whole group. (Missing Jody & Shane & the girls).

I love these two boys in blue.

Thanks again Grandpa and Grandma for a great weekend!

Zumba

I love to run, but sadly the Minnesota winters do not allow me to do this very much. Thankfully, there is a zumba class in town. A woman from our church leads the class in the building right next to our house twice a week. It is a mixture of dance/step aerobics/cardio workout, and it is so fun! I go with a couple of my friends, and there are women of all different ages in the community that go. It is a great way to work out, get out of the house in the winter, and see some friendly faces.

Caleb is of course the only boy, but I think he loves it...I'm not sure what his father would have to say about that. :) I bring him in the carseat and he watches us for the first few songs, falls asleep, and then wakes up when we have to leave. He is such a champ! I know it will be a lot harder to go once he starts moving around, but for now I am thankful that I can still get some good workouts in with him.

Caleb snoozing while we work out. :)

Christmas is almost here

I cannot wait until Christmas break. I love my job, but I love being with Caleb even more. And I am so excited to not have to rush out the door to school and to be able to just relax with Caleb and John at home. What a blessing to both be teachers and to get to have this time off together.

With basketball season in full swing, Hispanic Bible Study, school events, and friends, it seems like December has been a little crazy. I think that makes me anticipate our time together even more over Christmas. But even among the hectic schedule, we have had a few Sunday evenings where we are all home together. I truly cherish this time together-Caleb sleeping on John's chest while I do my Bible study by the light of the Christmas tree.

I'm hoping for a lot more nights like this with these two during Christmas break...

Daycare

I love teaching, but it was still a very hard decision to leave Caleb in the hands of someone else every day. Thankfully, God provided the perfect situation shortly before Caleb was born.

John is the freshman and assistant varsity basketball coach at the high school, and we have become very close friends with the varsity coach Jamie, his wife Brigette, and their kids. Well, Brigette had a younger sister who was living in Wisconsin, and they decided to move back to Edgerton so her brother-in-law could teach at the grade school. Her sister was looking for a job and wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do, so she threw out the idea of doing daycare for Caleb. Her sister prayed about it and said yes. We were so excited! We really had no idea what we were going to do with Caleb, and this seemed like the perfect fit. Even more crazy is that Brigette's sister was also my cousin's best friend growing up, so I already knew who she was. She also went to Dordt and played volleyball for a few years, so we had lots in common.

 The three of them-6 1/2 mo., 3 yrs., 4 1/2 mo.

We have been more than pleased with having Becca take care of Caleb. She is an answer to prayers and then some. Becca has a six month old little boy and an almost 3 year old little girl. She is one busy lady in the mornings, but she always has a smile on her face. She just shines the love of Christ and I LOVE that Caleb is in her care every morning. It is such a blessing to know he is in good hands. Her daughter is also such a sweetheart and loves to help with Caleb. One morning she told her mom that her head hurt, and Becca asked if she needed to eat breakfast to help it go away. She said, "no...I think I just need to see Caleb." :) So I think Caleb is getting along quite well with her kids, which is always a good thing at daycare! :)

More than just watch Caleb, her and her husband have become some of our good friends. We love to have game nights with them, go to basketball games together, and just sit and talk when I pick Caleb up after school. I truly appreciate her friendship, and I am so glad they decided to move back to Edgerton!

Caleb all smiles at daycare.

Rolling Over

Caleb is officially rolling...apparently for some time now. When Jody and Shane came out to visit, Caleb rolled for the first time from his stomach to his back. Jody and John witnessed the event, but I sadly did not. Then for the next few weeks I never saw anything. I put him on his stomach and tried to get him to roll, but nothing happened.

Then on Saturday night, I laid him on his back and went to the bathroom. I came back and he was on his stomach. I was very surprised and once again very sad that I missed it! All of our friends came over that night (17 adults and 11 kids), and I told everyone the story. My friend who watches Caleb every morning finally let it slip that Caleb had been rolling from his stomach to his back for some time at her house. What a sweetheart for keeping it a secret for so long since I hadn't seen him do it.

Apparently Caleb is shy about rolling in front of me, but I finally did see him roll on Sunday. John and I were in the kitchen, and he didn't know we were watching. He lost his toy giraffe and flipped himself form his back to his stomach to grab it. We were such proud parents. :) So since I have finally witnessed the event and he has been doing it at daycare for a few weeks, I am now officially calling him a rolling baby.

Maybe his new movements will start working off some of the chunk on his legs. :)

Basketball season

It's getting colder, and that means our family has switched from fall fishing to winter basketball. The boys have had a few games already, and today was their first Saturday game. Caleb and I rode with john's parents to Marshall to watch the games. Caleb held up through the fire alarm going off, a very loud buzzer, and screaming fans. He also went to the game Friday night and did well, even with getting passed around a lot. I think he is going to have to get used to being in the gym, so hopefully he likes basketball as much as his daddy. :)