The Little Langemann Family: Collins come to Call

Having had a couple weeks of adjusting to three little ones, I felt ready to decorate for Christmas, and Hope and Joy were all excited to help Mommy.

They were so cute, and helpful, but when you're working with figurines and ornaments, it's kind of hands-on for Mommy, so I didn't get many pictures of the process. In this one they are peering down into the box that holds the nativity scene, seeing what was left to pull out.

Hope was all excited to hold Philip in her room, and hurried to find a book she could read to him. She picked one she had memorized, and they were away. :o)

We cleared away the shelf full of stuffed animals to put out their Little People Nativity set from Grandma Lorrie. Hope remembered it from last year, but it was a whole new delight for Joy-Belle. :o)

Our sweet friend, Deborah, from church, wanted to come over and love on the kids one night... bring it on!

Hope discovered if she sits with Philip like this in the big rocking chair she can actually "rock" him.

I missed the real picture here... I think they were taking turns lying on the floor putting their heads on each other's tummies and laughing. Oh yes - and that's raisins you see in Joy's teeth - her latest favourite snack.

A much anticipated visit from their Collin Aunts and Uncles happened the weekend of Nov 23-25.

It was soooo good to have them come, even though they had to get up earlier than they would have liked because we still had construction going on in our basement.

And what started out as just Chloe and Lydia planning to come see us turned into all my siblings plus our wonderful Grandma coming up for the weekend. It made for a busy and full house, but we loved every minute of it, even though we all got sick afterwards.

The girls knew what to do with all the extra big people around too! They had no lack of attention, let me tell you. :o)

I was so glad Grandma could come. She is one of my heroes, and it meant a lot to me that she could meet Philip while he was still little and light enough for her to cuddle. :o)

My sis's were very gracious and each did some baking for the freezer during their stay.

Lydia made her famous cinnamon rolls, with helpers of course, and Chloe made bread.

Hope and Joy thought the electric mixing stick was loud, hence the hands over the ears.

Hope can still sit with Great Grandma too, because she sits still and can balance herself. :o)

So lovely to have a baby in the winter, when you can just stay indoors and cuddle the day away.

Thanks to Great-Granny Cote for the cute tin soldier sleeper set for Philip. I was rather happy she was in England when Philip was born, because he got some unique clothes. :o) Hope loves this outfit on him, and thinks he should wear it lots. :o)

Chloe was busy while she was here... she did a big grocery shop for me, and spent some time out with Luke, and did the evening cooking for me. So finally, after supper on Friday, she got to hold Philip. :o)

Not sure what they were doing, but Luke had Joy up to something.

Thanks for the pose, cute child.

I was busy in the kitchen and heard the girls and Great-Grandma doing something in the living room. When I peeked in I discovered they had made a train and were merrily going somewhere in pretend-land, which is only a breath away in our house, let me tell you.

Hope is starting to get into asking "Can you tell me a story?" Well, Great-Grandma was a great person to ask! She had Hope snuggled on her lap for a good 20 minutes telling her stories from her own childhood. Meanwhile, Joy was happy to have Daddy and story books all to herself in the girls' room.

It was a very special time.

On Saturday, more family came to add to our fun. My newly married cousin, Cassy, and her husband, Jordan, live nearby in Leduc, but we hadn't actually got together yet. Having Grandma here was the perfect excuse to remedy that. :o) They're from BC... as any sports fan might guess from Jordan's shirt!

Luke was the other one who was busy while he was here, but he did squeeze in some good Philip-holding time too. :o)

Philip really looked small on him, with his big hands and broad shoulders. :o)

Luke was doing the "Movember" thing... :o) and couldn't wait for Dec 1st!

"Auntie Cassy" snuggled the little guy off into dreamland. So precious. :o)

And he stayed there for a good hour too... he just loves being warm and cuddled.

She's gonna make a great Mom someday... the girls came along with a storybook and she charmed them with reading some too. :o)

Then they got the real deal - Auntie Chloe (the culprit, err, I mean, the generous sister who gave us that lengthy book) read Curious George to them. It's only 45 pages, but it does get a bit long sometimes for the one reading. :o) And of course, you can guess which book is their current favourite. :o)