quotables bonanza!

1/27 ~ Exacto was practicing Keep the Commandments and Rosebud was singing along, "Keep the commandments, keep the commandments, unless there is safety, unless there is peace. . . ."

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~Rosebud: "Mommy, would you like me to tell you a story?"

Me: "Sure!"

Rosebud: "Once upon a time Rosebud was playing with toys quietly while Mommy was teaching piano lessons, and then she saw a big gray eyebrow and it swallowed her and it went to [Hummer’s school] and the eyebrow spat her out and Hummer said, "Whoa! Hi, Rosebud!" . . . .And then the eyebrow thing ate Rosebud in its stomach again and it went to Nana's and Grandpa's house and spat him out and Nana and Grandpa said, "Whoa! Hi, Rosebud! Would you like to eat some food with us?" And Rosebud said, "Sure." And so she got to eat a whole bunch of food. And I think that's the end."

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1/24 ~ A Rosebud joke. . .

Where do pencils go on their missions?

To California!

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1/12  ~ To illustrate how out-of hand the grammar police have gotten around our house, especially when it comes to adverbs. . . .

Me to a restless Rosebud: "Go ahead! Go potty!"

Exacto: "Go PottiLY."

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~ Me to Exacto: "You don't hafta be the grammar police. You can just be happy!"

Exacto, sweetly: "Being the grammar police makes me happy!"

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~ Rosebud singing the Primary birthday song: "If I had a gift then it would be. . . ."

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1/1/14 ~ Rosebud: "I'm going to hug Benjamin."

Me: "How are you going to do that?"

Rosebud: "I'm going to reach my hands way up high in the air and hug them together." (which she did, very sweetly and lovingly).

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12/28/13 ~ Hummer advising Fluffy about to leave on a bike ride. He recommended that if he needed help, to "look for a grandma or mother with children." I agreed, and then he clarified: "A grandma or mother with children who are HAPPY and CONTENTED."

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~ Exacto had the chairs in rows in the living room while he mopped the kitchen. This became an airplane for Rosebud: "We're flying to Marzipan!"

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12/27/13 ~ We passed a place where we had forgotten to attend their Santa event a few weeks before. Rosebud said thoughtfully: "If I were there now, I would say thank you to him!"

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12/24/13 ~ Rosebud, just before going to bed on Christmas Eve: "Want me to tell you what I wish for from Santa?"

Me: "Yes."

Rosebud: "To see when Jesus was born."

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12/23/13 ~ Rosebud: "Can I watch The French Stole Christmas?"

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12/19/13 ~ Rosebud had moved to Fluffy's seat while he was away taking care of the laundry. I said: "Rosebud, you'll need to move to your spot when Fluffy comes back."

Rosebud: "I don't want to. I refuse."

Me (calmly): "Rosebud, you'll need to move to your spot when Fluffy comes back."

Rosebud: "Okay, I will. I promise, Mommy."

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12/16/13 ~ Rosebud lying with her head in my lap: "I think you are my favorite pillow."

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12/6/13 ~ Hummer to Rosebud: "Do you want me to tell you what C-T-R stands for?"

Rosebud (without missing a beat): "It doesn't stand for anything, bud!"

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12/5/13 ~ Me in a warning tone to Hummer: "You're burning your own bridges."

Fluffy, cheerfully: "I'm burning my own britches!"

2013 ~ family letter

This here is a digital version of the letter we sent out. I wanted to preserve the formatting as much as I could – hope it’s not too tiny! Feel free to zoom in. :) By the way, the photo below was taken by Kelly Hicks (whom we wish had moved to Colorado with us, and highly recommend to all Arkansans!) and edited by my sweet sister Becky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Mom, Merry Christmas!

Week of December 23 – 29

It was a mad dash to the finish line but it happened – a magical Christmas day. Our first Christmas in our new Colorado home.

I am finding that part of the joy (and stress) of moving after so many years in one place is reworking traditions. Figuring out how to adapt the old ones we really want to keep but also discovering new delightful ones. You know me well enough to know that I am very sentimental, and traditions are a really big deal to me. :)

A new tradition that we added this year and have loved: “25 Days of Christ” family scripture study. I modified this lovely idea to fit our family better and changed the time-consuming handmade ornaments to these (which possibly are against copyright laws but I figured it’s impossible to buy them this small anyway, and I’m not going to sell them, and yes, maybe I’m justifying, but it really added a lot to our celebration this year and I refuse to feel guilty. haha!).

An beloved old tradition that didn’t work so well in our new circumstances: 25 Days of Advent activities. It was simply too busy. I am starting to realize that these Coloradoans around here love scheduling events! All the stuff flying onto the calendar was really good stuff, but after the more quiet Arkansas Christmas seasons we were used to these daily advent plans just fell more and more behind.

Oh, well. We’ll adapt it next year – I already have some good ideas. . . .:)

This was one of my favorite Christmas Eves ever, thanks to sweet Bob and Dani who invited us over.

Dani’s parents were there still from Italy, and Daniela and her mom had prepared a fabulous feast including several traditional Italian dishes. (Prosciutto, crostini di ricotta fruttati, stufato).

The cousins love playing together despite the age difference, and we all think Baby Simona is absolutely sweet and wonderful.

I wish I had gotten a good photo of her in her beautiful Christmas dress, but here’s one of her enjoying our concert. :)

After dinner and the concert, we had amazing desserts – Panettone (a traditional Christmas cake, below), torrone, and salame dolce.

They were so sweet to us! We felt honored and so welcome and loved.

Hummer and sweet Stephen

We came home and had our traditional eggnog and pumpkin bread and then DC and I were up till 12:30am with preparations. I’m glad we could do it together. :)

Christmas day was wonderful. It started at 7am (thank you, Sweet Ones, for not getting us up any sooner!). We came down and did the stockings first.

Then we had Abendbrot. . . for breakfast! :)

We had planned it for the night before but no one was hungry enough for it, and we all loved it for Christmas breakfast, so that may be a new tradition. Then we read the Christmas story from the Bible.

Back to present-opening, which took all day, and was punctuated by lovely Skype sessions with family members.

My favorite parts were the sibling gifts that they had picked out and earned the money for. It was so sweet to watch the joy on both faces as a gift was opened.

Rosebud said later that the gift below was one of her favorite parts of Christmas.

Our resident squirrel Branchy Kum-n-Go made an appearance, too. :)

This was Rosebud’s other favorite part – her gift to Daddy. :)

Awesome gift from Hummer!

It’s an oboe reed. And it was a hot item – since being opened it’s already been played on for hours. No, Exacto doesn’t play the oboe. He just plays the oboe reed.

Best. Gift. Ever!

Part of Santa’s gifts were snow clothes and toys for all the kiddos. He knows we’ll use them here. :)

Dinner was Tallarín, a traditional Bolivian recipe I got from my sweet friend Vicky (I miss her!!). We loved this for Christmas dinner – will definitely repeat next year.

Ended the day with our last day of special scripture study, which was reading The Living Christ and watching this video. It was a perfect way to wrap up the beautiful Christmas season – I loved how close I felt to our Savior Jesus Christ through these readings and discussions of the events of His life.

Later in the week we went to the Denver Temple and visited the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. (Thank you so much for the family membership! It was awesome!)

Last night we went to the Gardens on Spring Creek, which were very creatively and beautifully lit for the holidays. It started snowing while we were there, and indoors was a free magic show, and it was just super fun.

(I love DC’s fancy hat here. :)

I told you I would try to take a picture by the Christmas tree today before church, and I did, although it’s not the best picture. The caption should read, “Why we were late to church.” (ahem)

or perhaps, “We love Nana!”

Which we do. :)

Love,

Michelle

Merry Christmas from the Fiddler's Family

I wish I could send each of you a real one of these! Hope you're having a wonderful holiday!

 

 

We rejoice in the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, the cause for the dearest hopes of our hearts.

How we love Him and praise Him!

Merry Christmas.

 

And if you really, really love us, you might enjoy reading the following "Dictionary of Bakerish Terms". . . .

ben·ja·min \'bӗn-jə-mĭn\ 1. Fourth son whose 3^rd birthday was celebrated this year with Aunt Becky and cousins Jozef and Jenya. 2. Beloved member of the Fiddler family who is daily remembered and missed.

DC \abb. Darling Cutie \ 1. Refers to a professional violinist with a strong preference for ice cream and an ever cheerful disposition, despite an unsuccessful audition with the Utah Symphony in September. 2. One who is grateful for his current position with the Arkansas Symphony and Rockefeller Quartet. 3. Husband and father who displays willingness to camp with scouting sons and to pace a room with infant daughter for hours at a time to the strains of Beethoven violin sonatas. 4. A traveler on occasion, including a trip to his brother Bob’s wedding this year.

exacto \ĭg-zăk'tō\ 1. A very exact, precise member of the Fiddler family, often observed reading, doing homework, or fulfilling his duties as a deacon. 2. The first child of the Fiddler and his wife, has been known to read the dictionary for fun (just kiddon!), and play the French horn at school. 3. A twelve-year-old boy with an everlasting craving for chocolate, ice cream, and Fablehaven. 4. Has been known to express excessive interest in the computer, as well as measurable diligence in Scouting achievement, having nearly attained the rank of Star.

hum·mer \'hŭmər\ 1. a nearly-seven-year-old boy in the Fiddler family with a distinct affinity for applesauce, pineapple, maple syrup, and “Wosebewwie” sic. 2. The third child of the Fiddler and his wife, a devotee of all things 1^st grade, especially his teacher. 3. Contender for the title of “Top Reader” of his class, he unfortunately considers the stairs in the Fiddler home his “stomping ground”. 4. Often exhibits a contagious giggle and a knack for some pretty sweet dance moves.

lar·ynx \'lar-iŋks\ n the upper part of the trachea containing the vocal chords.

mi·chelle \mĭ-'shĕl\ 1. Adult female member of the Fiddler family, known to be semi-permanently attached at the hip to the youngest member of the Fiddler family 2. Mother of five, age 30-something, showing an affinity to cooking and blogging, and a desperation to get more organized. 3. One who is known to read too much, and who strives not to covet others’ digital SLR cameras. 4. Exhibiting an inclination to reverse the effects of aging on her children.

rose·ber·ry \'rōz-bā-rē\ 1. The pinnacle of sweetness and adorability, having blond hair, four teeth, three larynxes, two blue eyes, and one tenacious predisposition to awaken multiple times at night. 2. One year old on 12/21/10. 3. Also known as “Brunhilda” (see above regarding number of larynxes). 4. A word describing “the cutest object in the universe” (according to her brothers).

fluf·fy \'flŭf-ē\ 1. The second child of the Fiddler family, being 9 ½ years old, and having nearly achieved the Bear rank in the Cub Scouting organization. 2. Refers to a peaceful boy with a propensity to get straight A’s and devour great literature with a hearty appetite. 3. Having the quality of or pertaining to a young man with a penchant for harmonizing ad lib, as well as playing the violin and piano. 4. Also refers to one who grows out of his clothes faster than his mom can buy them.

More pictures of the best Christmas present ever. . . .

I wrote this post on Dec 26, and then didn't publish it. Bear with me, here! I have lots to share, but it may be a bit delayed. I LOVE having a newborn again--so, so happy!!!!

We took these at the hospital on Dec 21st and 22nd. . .

 

 

 

 

 

We are at home and resting a lot now. I'm so grateful for my parents' help! It is good, so good to be home.

I'm typing one-handedly, very happily. :) Can't wait to tell you about the miracle Heavenly Father blessed us with as we tried to get home from the hospital on Christmas Eve. . . .

Day 13 - { christmas }

Another Christmas post - I don't want it to be over yet! :)

I am so grateful for the celebration of Christmas and for the joys it brings! I know I am a bit late with this, but I thought I could follow the tradition of celebrating Christmas until Epiphany. :)

I want to share with you my absolutely favorite scene from any Christmas movie is 17 minutes into "Mr Krueger's Christmas." It makes me cry every single time.

Meridian Magazine interviewed Director Kieth Merrill about the making of this movie a while back, and I loved reading what he said about filming that particular scene:

Following the rehearsal of the scene where Mr. Krueger visits the manger and pays homage to the Christ Child Jimmy pulled me aside and said, “I need to do this in one take.”

He had certainly proven his ability to nail a scene in one take, but on our low budget I only had one camera and I needed coverage to make the scene work. Cinema 101. Wide. Medium. Close Up. I tried to explain. Then, in that private moment, he shared his feelings for the Savior in a way that in our Mormon tradition was akin to bearing testimony:

"For me this scene and these words are very personal and very real and I will  not be able to do it twice."

I am confident in telling you that Mr. Krueger’s emotions as he kneels and talks to the Babe in the manger reflect in reality the feelings of James Stewart toward the Lord, Jesus Christ. The reverence for the Savior of the World so beautifully manifested by Mr. Krueger was a genuine sentiment for this marvelous actor. . . .

 

 

 

Take 4 minutes and watch this--it is so uplifting! (drag the button over to start at 17:00').

Lo, I am with you always.

You promised that,

and when I realized it was true

my soul flared up.

Any unhappiness comes

from forgetting.

-Rumi

 

Blessed be the birth of our Truest Friend and Savior, Jesus Christ! He is always near us.

He came to earth not only to save us, but to understand us completely. When I can remember that, I feel peace.

 

Sources:

Wikipedia

Meridian Magazine

Joseph Brickey, "Journey to Bethlehem"

Liz Lemon Swindle, "Be It Unto Me"