Lone Man

Poor Josh. This is what happens when you live in a house full of girls. Sorry buddy!

Minnesota Cold

Temp: -24 degrees Farenheit (with windchill)
Snowfall: 16 inches in one storm

Vacation anyone?

Beatiful scenery from across the street

Pete all bundled up to face the cold

This is the view of our deck from our sliding glass door

Gratitude and 4 kids

The past few weeks have been a little crazy with everyone adjusting to a new baby. Lately my attitude has been something like - "please, just let me make it through the day and still be sane".

Unfortunately, my family has probably received the brunt of my emotions. I keep focusing on what my kids aren't doing rather than what they are.

Fortunately, the lesson in Relief Society on Sunday was on the Divine Gift of Gratitude by President Monson. The following quote struck a cord with me. He said "We have all experienced times when our focus is on what we lack rather than on our blessings...We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude." After hearing that quote I decided I needed to change.

Today wasn't easy, but I tried to think of something to be thankful for when things got hard. Sometimes I did better than others. I guess you could say I am a work in progress. The one thing I can say, is that I did notice that my family did better when I focused on the things to be grateful for, rather than on the negative. That alone makes it worth while!

On a side note, here are some updated pictures of Allison.

Ali's first bath

Abbie being the best big sister ever

Dad and Ali - both fast asleep

New Addition

Allison Ruth Anderson joined our little family on November 3, 2010.

She weighed in at 7lbs 7oz and is 19 3/4 " long.

She is such a great little addition. She already fits in with her red hair and fair skin! We are so excited she is finally here!

First Day of School

It's that time of year again! Abbie is a big 1st grader now and loving it. She wasn't nervous at all to go to school. In fact, if you ask her what her favorite part of being in 1st grade is she will tell you it's being able to go all day!
Josh is going to Bethany Nursery School for preshcool this year. He was pretty upset that on his first day, he had a fever and had to stay home. Luckily he felt better so he could attend his 1st "second day" of school. I thought he would have a hard time, but since they start out playing on the play ground everyday, he is in love!
He is such a funny kid. They made chocolate chip cookies one day and after eating one his teacher said he got kind of a wierd look on his face. She asked him how he liked his cookie and he responded, "It's not quite what I expected". What a silly boy!

Abbie's Birthday

I can't believe Abbie is six. For her birthday this year, she choose to take one friend and do lunch. Madi and Abbie have know each other since they were born, so of course she wanted her to come. She choose to eat at the grape place (aka: Olive Garden) and then hit the mall for some shopping. She obviously didn't get that one from me since I hate shopping. It was fun spending time with just her which doesn't seem to happen often.

She has wanted an american girl doll for a few years now, but we wanted to wait until she was a little older and make sure she REALLY wanted one and could take care of it. She choose one that looked just like her. It has long red hair, fair skin, and blue eyes.

She loved all her gifts from her brother, sister, and grandparents!
Since Abbie told me I could make a fairy winx club cake, Belle cake, or a flower cake; I went with the easier of the three and made her a flower cake. She couldn't decide whether she wanted cupcakes or a big cake, so we made both.Happy Birthday Abbie! We love you and are so proud of the young lady you are turning into!

Summer Fun

This summer has been lots of fun and a little crazy. Sorry for so much in one post, but at least its done! Abbie's last day of school was June 11th. That day we got together with some friends and had a little end of school party. She loved her teacher and really enjoyed her first year at school.

Abbie and her teacher Mrs. Sullivan

Abbie and her friends

The next day, Abbie had her dance recital. She has loved taking dance this past year and has made some good friends. I worried that she would freeze when she was on stage, but she smiled and did great. She loved performing for people and the fact that she got a rose and ice-cream afterward didn't hurt.

Abbie and her rose

Abbie and her best friend Maddi

My parents were able to come for Abbie's recital and stay for awhile. We spent a nice relaxing time with them visiting the Science Museum in St. Paul, going to Oxbow Zoo and just enjoying their company. I was even able to go with Pete to Wisconsin for his ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support for all you non medical speakers) course and enjoy some alone time. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Grandpa and Grandma Ashcroft with the kids

Josh and his scary dinosaur face

Our next big adventure was traveling to Utah for a few weeks of much needed family time. Thanks to everyone for making time for us. It was fun to see how much everyone has changed. We spent time playing with cousins, having BBQ's, water parties, taking family pictures with both sides of the family, and just enjoying everyones company. I guess I should mention that the "we" I refer to was mostly me and the kids. Pete was able to fly in late Friday night (or rather early Saturday morning) and spend Saturday with family. Then we had to leave early Sunday morning for the non stop drive back so Pete could be to work Monday morning. What a good sport he was!

Water fun with the Cousins

Kelly and Josh loved this crab

Family Picture

Sleeping Babes

(This is just a side note. In order to watch TV, my kids have a special spot to sit. They all love it, and no one will give it up, so this is what we get! How funny little kids can be.)
P.S. In case there is anyone we haven't told yet, we are expecting our 4th child November 10th. Much to Josh's dismay, it is a girl. We couldn't be more excited and while we are anxious to meet her, I am in no hurry for the craziness that will follow!

What's Missing?

Since Abbie started kindergarten, she has been constantly asking when she is going to lose a tooth. A few months ago we went to the dentist and she told Abbie that since she got her teeth later (around 11 months) she probably would be a little older before she lost any. She assured me that her teeth were in no way ready to come out. Well, a couple of weeks ago Abbie told me that she had two loose teeth. I blew it off and kept reminding her the dentist said it would be awhile. When I finally bothered to check, sure enough her two front, bottom teeth were loose. On Thursday she hit her mouth on something and the first of two teeth became loose enough to pull out. She was so brave when Pete pulled it out. This is our child who usually has a breakdown when any medical intervention - including but not limited to LOOKING at a sore- is needed. Today, Pete pulled out her second tooth out. I guess if it were Christmas we would be singing "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth". Congrats Abbie - and again - you were right and I was wrong!

The Big #4

A few weeks ago Josh celebrated his 4th birthday. He is growing up so quickly. Pete had to be into work early, and so Josh kindly agreed to wait until lunch (when Pete could run home for a few minutes) to open his presents.

In case you can't tell, Josh absolutely L-O-V-E-S dinosaurs. He was in heaven.

Part of our birthday tradition is letting the kids pick what they will eat for their meals, so later that night we ate corndogs and cream of chicken soup. Some friends came over to celebrate with us and help us eat the cake. Suprisingly, in-spite of his love of dinosaurs, Josh wanted a Spiderman cake.

Thanks for being such a wonderful part of our family Josh! We love you.

Kelly's Birthday

I can't believe my baby is 2!!!! Maybe she seems so little because with all of our other kids, we've had a new baby by now which makes them seem a lot older.

We decided to keep Kelly's birthday simple this year and just do family stuff. It was a nice and relaxing day. We started out the day with Kelly opening presents before Pete had to go to work. I think she was a little overwhelmed.

Then it was off to her favorite breakfast....hot cereal. After Abbie went to school; Kelly, Josh and I just hung out playing with her toys and going for a walk. For lunch we went to the park and had a picnic. Pete was able to join us, so that made us all happy.

For dinner it was grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. We ended the night with chocolate cupcakes and ice-cream.

Kelly is such a lovable little girl. She loves to cuddle. At night, she will wake up and call for dad. When Pete goes in, she will lay a pillow down on her floor next to her bed. She will say "cuddle" at which point, Pete will lay down on the floor and Kelly will lay down with him and cuddle. After just a minute or so, she will give him a kiss and climb back in her bed. Then she is fine for the rest of the night. The other day while I was cooking, Kelly came into the kitchen with her "baby" and was taking care of her. She said her baby couldn't sleep and needed to "cuddle" like daddy does, and then she laid down on the floor with her baby. So cute!

We are so thankful that Kelly is a part of our family. Happy Birthday Kelly!

Catch-up

I guess I haven't downloaded pictures from my camera in awhile. So, I am going to do a quick catch-up.

Josh's preschool group went to the Nature Center for a field trip. I was very proud of him. Even though he was really scared, he went up and touched the snake. They had a lot of fun and saw lots of different animals.

Here are some pictures from Valentines Day. We got together with our best friends and the kids made valentines day chocolate suckers. They had a lot of fun...even the little ones got to get involved. This is the first year since 18 something that we haven't gotten snow in March. On one of the warmer days we decided to take advantage and go to the park. The kids love playing at "Allegator Park".

This is Kelly's version of dress-up. She has her legs through the arm of one of Abbies shirts with a belt. Very stylish. Maybe she'll go into fashion....

Vacation

Last year at this time, we went with the kids to the Wisconsin Dells. They had so much fun, we decided to make a tradition of it and do it again this year. Pete's mom was able to come with us this time which made it special as well.

This trip is a nice break from all the boredom of winter, although it does make me get a little spring fever. The lodge where we stay connects to a walkway that goes to all of the indoor wateparks - so we don't ever have to go outside. Abbie loved being able to "swim" (with a life jacket), hot tub, and go on the waterslides. Apparantly you have to be 6 yrs old to go in the hot tub (Wisconsin law). I figured she was close enough and took her anyway only to be told by a lifeguard that we had to leave because she was certainly no more than 3 yrs old. Huh??? Josh loved trying to find the elephant (don't ask) and playing with Grandma. Kelly was a little more water-shy than we thought she would be. About the only thing she liked was riding on the intertube down the lazy river and in the wave pool. I forgot my camera, so JoEllen was nice enough to take a few pictures for us.

**Caution-you may need sunglasses to look at the following picture...remember red heads can't - not don't... CAN'T- tan.

Thanks to Grandma, Pete and I even got to spend some time at night by ourselves. It was a great trip and we look forward to going again next year.

With the rest of his time off, Pete replaced all of the upstairs doors. Pete wonders if its weird that he likes doing these home projects with his time off. I don't have a good answer. Anyone else.....

Ta-Da!

You would think all home improvements would be done prior to or shortly after moving in. Not in our home. I think we've done more in the past 6 months than our whole married lives. (Ok, so in all fairness, most of our married life has been spent in apartments!)

Pete has had a little more time off this month, so we embarked on replacing the tile in the upstairs and downstairs entryway. I have HATED this tile since we moved in. Pete tried removing it when we moved, but decided that nothing short of an earthquake was going to do the job. Luckily, for a Christmas/Birthday present, Pete got the next best thing - an aircompressor with a tool on it like a mini jack hammer. It really isn't a big area, but it took a whole day to get the tile scrapped off the basement floor. The upstairs entryway was much easier.

Here are a few before and after pictures!