advent

we are enjoying the advent season here in NW ohio. it's been fun to relive Christmas through the eyes of a child. mattie's nativity is the only Christmas decoration in our house as yet...but for some reason that feels ok. we've been trying to teach her the names of the characters in the nativity, and nine times out of ten she can correctly identify baby Jesus...though she can't quite say his name! we have also been listening to lots of kids' Christmas music (thanks, mom & dad kauffman for the old tapes!), which has been fun...and brings back great memories! the message in all of these songs is so true and refreshing in its simplicity - that Jesus is the one gift that means EVERYTHING!

here are some pics from the last several weeks. enjoy!

she's enjoying being read to more and more - we love it!

reading a bedtime story with daddy. gotta love sandra boynton books!

entertaining in the kitchen. she likes to put "food" on the plates and pretend to pour milk from her sippy into the cups.

playing with her nativity set, an early Christmas gift

lately, when mattie sits down somewhere, she will pat the place beside her and emphatically say something (we can't quite decipher it yet!) to indicate her desire for you to sit by her. even if the chair is only big enough for her, she still wants you to sit! mattie wanted both gramma and me to sit on this chair with her, so we both squeezed on and had uncle joel take a picture!

grampa, did you teach her to do that??

making sure gramma & grampa put enough cheese on the pizza bread

playing with pots and pans in gramma & grampa's kitchen

mattie taking huge bites of gramma's yummy pumpkin bars!

cousins hanging out with uncle kevin on thanksgiving day

the next day daddy had her in this onesie!

game day! this is for you, uncle joel! she's not too happy, though... wonder what that means??

mattie can climb onto this chair all by herself! she looks so big and grown up in this picture!

birthday celebrations

glenn and i love the month of november...partly because we enjoy the fall season, but mostly because it is the month that we both celebrate our birthdays (one week apart). anyone who knows glenn well knows that he loves to celebrate his birthday. we actually talk about a "birthmonth" around here!

the morning of november 5th, glenn woke up to the smell of chocolate cake. i thought he might like some for breakfast! he couldn't eat too much, though, because his dad and brothers (wendell and galen) treated him to long johns from the doughbox bakery for morning break. glenn spent part of the afternoon working on a masonry job he was asked to do for a neighbor - something he really enjoys doing. then after mattie woke up from her late afternoon nap, we all headed to the china garden restaurant in bryan. glenn had a craving for his favorite general tso's chicken. mattie liked it, too! at the restaurant glenn made a connection with the owner (who cloyce sells produce to from time to time), and we ended up getting our meals for free! after mattie went to bed we watched a movie that glenn had picked out at walmart (gotta love the $5 bin!). throughout the day he got to open a few fun gifts and watch a belated 5-year anniversary gift - a smilebox slideshow that was nearly 30 minutes long! he also received a special card from mattie. :)

i turned 30 this year! i really don't feel very old...just ridiculously blessed. i have an amazing husband, a precious baby girl, a loving family, a job that i enjoy, a warm and cozy home, etc. what have i done to deserve all this?? God is so good, and i am thankful.

one of glenn's main gifts to me was a trip to harrisonburg to reconnect with friends. we dropped off mattie at gramma & grampa's in dalton :), swung through columbus to watch stryker boys run at the state cross-country meet, then headed south to harrisonburg. we had a great time visiting good friends from our college days - jeanine & ry wilson, matt hunsberger, radell schrock, tabitha gingerich, and nicki oswald. we ate dahl saag from the indian-american cafe (my favorite!), and kline's had chocolate peanut-butter ice cream!! it was a fun weekend. i especially enjoyed the car time with my hubby. we read a newberry honor book (a corner of the universe) to each other - we really got into it!

on the day of my birthday the nofziger clan had a small supper party for me. when i walked in the door everyone was dressed in scrubs! i felt right at home! glenn had brought scrubs for us to change into, too. it was a good time, and the food was delicious - swiss steak, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole made-to-order by mom!

my birthday celebration is actually still going on. beginning on november 12th, i started receiving little numbered notes from my husband. it didn't take me long to realize he had come up with 30 reasons why he loves me - so sweet! he knows how much i appreciate reading notes of encouragement - it's one of my love languages. it has been so fun to find these notes in strategic places for the last week. i feel so loved! you are the best, glenn!

mattie wanted to try on the stethoscope

the scrubs gang

good times at kline's dairy bar

my good friend, tabitha

this greenhouse had broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce. the other was full of carrots and red beets.

radell, glenn and matt in front of one of the new greenhouses on radell's farm (seasons bounty)

mattie's first general tso's - happy birthday, daddy!

morning break

eating doughnuts!

around the house

here's a little taste of what mattie's "into" these days!

mommy's little helper

lots of climbing these days!

mattie likes to pile toys, shoes and clothes on the rocking chair in her room and then sit in the middle of everything.

assuming the position. how appropriate that she's squatting beside the diaper champ. :)

thank you, Jesus, for pumpkins!

mattie looks so little in her big pink coat!

i love this face!

harvest mattie

one day while i was working on the computer, mattie removed all of glenn's john grisham books from the bookcase in our room and pushed them, one by one, through the spaces of the safety gate. i think she enjoyed watching them fall down the stairs. i took a video of her doing this, but it was too big to post on the blog.

mattie loves to move things from place to place. she got these green plastic bowls out of the pantry in our kitchen. she also likes to push things off the edge of the bathtub into the tub (washcloths, shampoo bottles, cups, etc).

fun with uncle joel

these pictures were taken during a visit to dalton in the middle of october. mattie had some good bonding time with uncle joel. :) she learned how to play some fun instruments and sat still for a story about kittens. i think uncle jason even got to hear part of the story all the way in north carolina via a text message. :) what kind of cat was that??

i really wanted to post the video we took of joel reading the kitten story, but the file was too big!

flashbacks III

i have way too many pictures!! these are just a few days' worth...still in may when mattie was 11 months old. think i may have to take a break from the flashbacks and post some more recent pictures next.

another one of the pool gang

daddy loves his matteakins

crazy daddy - are you tickling my toes??

she kept making this face while in the pool. i think she loved it!

...and things!

fun with rings...

daddy time!

i wish my eyes were that blue!

trying out the new raft - my little blue girl

playing with cousins and second cousins at a nofziger family get-together at holiday inn express in montpelier, OH (thanks to a connection grandpa nofziger made from pumpkin sales)

ok, that's better. i feel safer up here!

i'm not so sure about this, daddy!

i love her chubby cheeks in this one!

some favorite shots from a random photo shoot in our backyard on a warm spring evening

peek-a-boo!

mattie trying out her new raft - getting ready for summer water fun