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!

Merry Christmas

This Christmas I was reminded why I rarely take pictures of my children. It started out with trying to take a Sunday picture in front of the Christmas tree. I finally got so frustrated Pete took over. This picture shows how the process went. At least Abbie and Josh were both looking at the camera in this picture.
For Christmas Eve, we were invited over to some friends house for a Scandanavian tradition.

We talked, sang a few carols, and then were visited by Santa. The kids were all told before we started caroling that if they heard bells they were to be as still and quiet as they could, and Santa may drop by, but if he heard them he would leave. We had a room full of kids and I thought for sure there would be plenty of noise. However, there was not a peep from the kids. They sat in awe as Santa dropped by and left them each a present. You would have thought Abbie had won the lottery from the way she acted. Her night was made!
After the visit from Santa, we went back home and read the Nativity while the kids acted it out using the Little People nativity. Then we exchanged sibling gifts and got our new Christmas Pajamas. After watching The Grinch, it was off to bed. I tried telling the kids that Santa wouldn't come until they were asleep, but Abbie reminded me all they had to do was be quiet like at our friends and Santa would never know they were there. Try arguing with that!

Christmas morning, Abbie woke up with the flu. After throwing up, she felt much better and perked up as the day wore on. Josh and Kelly slept until about 7:30am which made for a nice relaxed morning. The kids enjoyed themselves, while Pete and I enjoyed them. We spent the rest of the day playing with toys, talking with family, and snacking on food.

Thanksgiving

First, we started off the holiday with the kids making turkeys! This was something I remember from my childhood and is a tradition I hope my kids will remember just as fondly. Pete was on call, so he didn't get to join in the fun with us but the kids did a great job and enjoyed eating their turkeys almost as much as making them.

For Thanksgiving, Pete actually had the day off! After not celebrating last year, it was nice to have a Thanksgiving dinner again. We got together with some wonderful friends and enjoyed both the food and the company. Thanks Jamie and Nick for including us in your family!

I am so thankful for all my blessings. I have a wonderful family, both immediate and extended. We are blessed with great friends and all the temporal things that we need. Most especially, I am thankful for my Savior. I have always thought it so appropriate that we start off the Christmas season with Thanksgiving because it puts me in the right frame of mind for celebrating the birth of Christ. May you all have a wonderful Christmas season!