The Falk Family Blog

In the blink of an eye…our baby turned 3!

Lincoln is a very sweet and compassionate little boy. He’s very affectionate and has plenty of hugs, kisses, and cuddles for his family and our cat, Mickey. If he senses that I am upset about something he will ask, “Mommy, are you happy?” He tries hard to please us and is quite good at it! He’s a bit sensitive and can get his feelings hurt by his peers (especially if they grab something from his hand). He is fairly easy-going and almost never throws a fit. Lincoln has a wonderful imagination and can play “guys” several hours out of each day. He loves playing with his little friends, cousins, brothers, and his mommy and daddy, too. His little heart is happiest when someone is playing “guys” with him.

Lincoln has the sweetest voice and talks so well! He loves music and falls asleep to his CD player every day. His favorite shows are: Caillou, Super Why, and his Playmobil movie. His current favorite color is, “dawk bwoo.”

* We all just love this little guy and his daddy and I are so proud of the big boy he has become!

** Time flies much too quickly. It just doesn’t seem fair. **

THURSDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

30

1:59 pm

The Birthday Boy

Today is your day. :-)

Lincoln enjoyed a lunch out with Mommy and Dadddy at Chick-Fil-A.

Wearing Grandma’s famous birthday crown.

Make a wish! Lincoln’s big brother’s are proudly watching him – I love all these sweet faces!

THURSDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

30

1:56 pm

2

Good-Bye Two’s

This picture was taken at Grandma and Grandpa’s house on Lincoln’s last night as a 2-year-old. (He was concerned with the eye on his pillow. He said it was looking at him and he wanted to know if it was scary or nice.) :-) Good night, my sweet two-year old… Oh, how I will miss that wonderful year.

Good morning to you, our big 3-year-old!

TUESDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

28

1:58 pm

Friends (and cousins) Party

We had a party for Lincoln at home a few days before his birthday since we would be in TN on his actual birthday. This also allowed for two birthday celebrations!

Owen, Lincoln, Jude, Josie, Hailey, Gavin, and Alex. The big kids (Ethan, Isaac, Annie, and Josiah) were part of the party as well. They had to eat cake in shifts.

Josie and our niece Claire. It was a special treat for Beth, John, Jude, and Claire to join us for the birthday party. They were in town for the evening during their holiday travels up north.

MONDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

27

8:08 pm

7

The Family

SUNDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

26

12:46 pm

Christmas Evening

This Christmas can be summed up with one word… NERF

Isaac’s new gun shoots up to 20 darts at a time! I love that Warren made this educational by using the boys new graph paper to compare the number of pumps to the number of darts released. Haha! (In case you’re wondering, it takes 23 pumps to shoot the full 20.)

Dan, Kari, and their boys came over for a while on Christmas night. Five little boys, two big boys, an endless supply of Nerf guns and ammunition made for a loud and dangerous evening!

Don’t let that sweet face fool you. ;)

Kari, what have we gotten ourselves into? And you’re adding another one!

SUNDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

26

12:46 pm

2

Christmas Day

SUNDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

26

12:45 pm

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas, Mickey!

Growing up, my mom made cinnamon rolls every Christmas morning. It just wouldn’t be the same for me without the smell of cinnamon filling the house while opening presents. This year, Warren put a slide-show together of past Decembers and played it on our TV with soft music. I loved it!

This is the last book Isaac needed to complete his set. He really enjoys reading about animals.

Lincoln calls these his “moving guys” because they can bend and move at all the joints.

Lincoln drew two guys for Warren. I framed his work of art so he would give it as a Christmas gift. Apparently, I didn’t explain that very well to Lincoln. He tried to give it to him the day before Christmas by waking him up and saying, “Here you go, Daddy. I made a picture for you.” When I told Lincoln that it wasn’t time to give it to Daddy yet, he ran back, picked up his drawing and said, “Wait Daddy, Mommy needs to wrap it.”

Ethan and Isaac bought gifts for the family from the school’s workshop. It was cute to see what they came home with. They did a great job thinking of what each person might like.

SATURDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

25

3:54 pm

Christmas Eve Night

I love the feeling I have before bed on Christmas Eve. The house is quiet, Christmas lights glowing, stockings filled, and the presents positioned with care under the tree. It’s a feeling of accomplishment and excitement…I try not to think about the imminent tornado just hours away. Instead I try to think about the smiles on the sweet faces of my three favorite little guys!

SATURDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

25

3:40 pm

1

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Christmas Eve

We have a tradition of letting the boys each open one gift after dinner on Christmas Eve.

Isaac’s gift: A word search book he has been wanting for a long time. I love that this made him so happy!

Ethan’s gift: An Amazin’ Hamster (Santa version)

Lincoln’s gift: A Batman action figure

My gift: A new lens for my camera!

Warren’s gift: A new coat which he opened earlier than Christmas Eve out of desperation.

Next, we had snowman soup and Christmas cookies! Ethan asked how many cookies he was allowed to eat. On Christmas Eve there are no limits. I told him he was welcome to eat until he felt sick. His response, “Seriously!?”

We hopped in the car and took a ride to see some Christmas lights.

Daddy read to the boys and then off to bed they went.

WEDNESDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

22

1:57 pm

5

The Christmas Ranch

We had such a fun night with Dan and Kari at the Christmas Ranch. The ground was snow covered, the walkways were icy, the air was crisp and cold, Christmas music played continuously, and we were surrounded by 350,000 Christmas lights.

Santa was quite personable with his high fives and conversation with the boys.

Daddy and Lincoln at the train display.

We warmed up with hot cocoa and goodies. They had the cutest gift shops!

The boys took turns as Daddy slid them along the icy paths. All the boys had a blast dancing to the Christmas music and slipping and sliding on the snow.

This tunnel was fun to walk through as the lights flashed and changed color.

When it was time to leave Owen and Lincoln were the last ones back to the parking lot. They took their time (as they always seem to do when they’re together) and enjoyed every minute of running and slipping on the ice.

It was a festive evening for sure. Our boys asked the next day if we could go again. :) We may have to make this a new tradition. What do you think Kari?

MONDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

20

11:04 pm

5

Annual Christmas Cookie Day

I set aside most of my day to prepare for our Christmas cookie decorating. It’s a lot of work, but the boys really do look forward to it each year. They are my all time favorite cookie. I grew up making these with my mom and when our boys are older I would like them to remember making them with me and their daddy.

SUNDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

19

2:41 pm

Snow Day!

Our school district has used two snow days before Christmas break! At this rate, the boys will have make-up days in June.

But, for now, they are enjoying the time off playing in the snow. And, most likely, we’ll have a white Christmas!

SATURDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

18

10:22 pm

Family Portraits

TUESDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

14

5:53 pm

Some of my favorite ornaments

Each year we add a new ornament to the tree. Here is our newest addition.

SATURDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

11

10:39 am

7

Cul-De-Sac Christmas Party

Our annual progressive dinner with the cul-de-sac was a great success! Everyone was feeling the Christmas spirit after a cold, snowy day.

It’s party time!

My contribution to the dinner. I love when I get dessert duty!

Some of the girls chatting and the first house – the main course.

The guys hanging out.

Lincoln and his cul-de-sac besties!

The kids enjoyed delicious hot cocoa while writing letters to Santa for the Macy’s make-a-wish foundation.

Both Ethan and Isaac asked for a Wii. Santa won’t be delivering that, I have a feeling. :)

Such a silly bunch!

The last house of the night was where the gift exchange took place.

Isaac loved his art box! He uses it every day.

Here is some of the crew acting a little less silly. In the cul-de-sac there are 14 kids and two on the way. It’s funny to think that when we built our house there were no kids around until Ethan was born. And since then 15 more! Our boys have a blast living here. They always have a playmate outside waiting for them. We have wonderful neighbors!

MONDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

6

2:41 pm

First Snow!

We woke up on Saturday morning to a beautiful view of snowflakes softly falling from the sky. With no place to go, we opened the blinds, made pancakes, and enjoyed a warm, cozy morning. It wasn’t long though, before the boys kept asking if they could go out and play. I know we didn’t have much snow, but they didn’t mind.

SUNDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

5

6:11 pm

Tree Decorating

I had visions of Christmas music playing softly in the background while our boys, filled with delight, happily hung each ornament with care…

*

Lincoln hung one or two and decided it was more fun to play with Mickey.

Isaac watched and said “this is boring.”

Ethan said, “OK, Mom, I hung some ornaments, but I have to work on something very important now” (a picture for his friend) .

Warren was in the Christmas spirit as he loudly sang along to the not so quiet music! (It probably would have been annoying to anyone else, but I secretly enjoyed it.)

Mickey seemed happy enough.

SATURDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

4

3:06 pm

2

Letter to Grandpa

I found this letter in Isaac’s folder from school. I love to see letters and drawings he makes all on his own with no help. I was impressed by this one in particular.

FRIDAY

DEC

- 2010 -

3

6:20 pm

6