Holiday Fun at the Berry Christmas!

We had Christmas with my side of the family last wknd. It was a lot of fun - including the 10 inches of snow they got in Indiana! My mom and dad always have a separate party for all of the little cousins... and there are a lot - there are actually three missing from the picture, and 4 more on the way! So next year will be a crazy picture I'm sure! But we always have a lot of fun - especially when the babysitters come and we all go out as adults :)

I caught Henry using his new drill the other day. It was a birthday present from his Aunt Tabby - and not until he saw Anna using the goggles, did he get brave enough to put them on. I walked out into the living room, and there he was hard at work! It was hilarious!

We took time to build a snowman before the snow all melted. We came outside yesterday (when it was 60 here!) and the head had melted away... Henry kept asking "what happened?"
We also went to cut down a christmas tree with Devon and Beth. That was fun and Henry loved watching Uncle Devon use the saw. He talked about it the rest of the day.

Henry was pretty pumped when he woke up to snow on Wednesday morning. Almost as excited as when he saw that daddy was still home b/c school was canceled... He could hardly wait to get outside. We got this snowsuit at a garage sale for $3 this summer - he looks like a large blueberry! We couldn't stop laughing... all the neighbors thought it was great! ;) The snow was wonderful - a great way to start off the month of December!

We spent most of Thanksgiving with Jonathan's family. We had a great time and Henry discovered that he enjoys pies and peppermint bark much more than turkey and mashed potatoes. In b/t dessert, he did find time to help Grandma do some baking and hang out with his uncles watching the Colts and building blocks.


We also pulled out some of our Christmas decorations. The manger is one that 7 of my siblings would recognize. Somehow I was the lucky recipient to take it to my own home - must be I was the one at home when Mom decided she was done with it :) I'm sure it has seen much better days; however, it will be perfect with two little boys since the angels are missing all of their wings and some are missing their arms. But, baby Jesus is still in tact as well as Mary and Joseph and the Shepherd. Henry really enjoys baby Jesus. He took him into the bath with him - which was probably good b/c I have no idea when the last time was that any of these figurines recv'd a washdown!

This is Henry at dinner time tonight. If we turn the screen on the camera so he can see himself, he's delighted just to entertain himself. Too funny...

Here are some new pics of the fam. Henry is getting better and better at playing the guitar with respect. And his lessons with dad are coming along quite nicely. He has also had some more birthday cards stray in this past week. He has thoroughly enjoyed getting those and opening them. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving and catching up with family and friends!

It was Henry's birthday yesterday! The big 2! He got homemade blueberry muffins in the morning... his favorite! We started the day in Superman PJ's and ended the day in Thomas PJ's - Uncle Devon and Aunt Beth surprised right before his bedtime with a cake! None of us had candles, so he got matches :) He didn't know the difference - he was thrilled with this unusual bedtime snack. He also got to open his present from us - a new CARS pillowcase. He was pumped!! I love the simplicity at this age. He also visited the doctor... 29lbs, 36 inches. A healthy young boy!

My mom, bless her heart, came to watch Henry, Levi & Cam while we went to Covington, KY with one of my sisters and her husband. We had a great time! And so did my mom (so she says!) -- however, when we tried to snap one picture of all 4 of them to document the end of the wknd, Henry would not cooperate... come to find out about 2 hours later, he was running a 102 fever with vomiting soon to follow... poor guy. We were just so thankful that the Lord allowed that to come AFTER we ret'd home - that would have been horrible for my mother! Needless to say, the next day followed with pacifier (which is normally not allowed out of his bed), his blanket, AND a full day of Curious George. All things he loves and has limited access to.... you can only imagine what the next day followed with... a whole lot of discipline! :)

One of Henry's newest tasks is to help set the table... while this usually results in more work for me in the end, it does allow me that extra 5 minutes right when I'm trying to get food on the table w/out him hanging on me :) The last time he was told to set the table, he got out every cup he could find in the bottom cabinet... including all of the tupperware. As you can tell, we sat down to a very nicely set table that night! :)

Ok, we've had a lot of picture-taking opportunities lately... so you'll have to check out the new ones below this post. But these pictures are from Jonathan's classroom... he dressed up as "super non-fiction man" -- ;) Yes, his students loved it... so original. For those of you involved in elementary education, I'm sure you can appreciate the humor! Henry hung out on the student couch (which I'm sure is infested with germs!) and watched the kids engage in crazy halloween activities!

We didn't take Henry trick or treating the other night - but we did pass out candy on our front door step. We had about 150 kids come by! We actually ran out of candy... but we did hand out gospel tracts, so we were thankful that we were able to give out so many! Henry would stand on the steps yelling, "c'mon" to everyone who passed by. By time we came in, he had a piece of pizza and a reese cup, and then conked out within 10 minutes. It was a fun evening!

Henry got a return letter from Levi and Cam (his cousins) the other day. He was pretty intrigued with it -- he immediately began pulling off everything that was glued to it... the googly eyes, the puffy balls, the beads - He thoroughly enjoyed it! :)