Playing catch-up...

Sad story.... not even getting pictures from December off the camera until April haha. Here are some of the things we have been doing!

A few days after Christmas we headed up to the temple visitors center to see the lights. They always have fantastic trees throughout the visitor center and a room full of nativity sets from around the world. This year they also had the "Reflections of Christ" photos on exhibit, it is such a touching display. Sadly it was not a white Christmas this year (it never is here in Virginia.) It was not even cold enough for winter coats which actually made for a nice time outside with the lights.
New Years day we went bowling with the Spanbauer family. They have 4 boys close in age to our 4 girls and the kids always have a good time together. We bowled two games, ate way too much candy and had a grand time.
PAH!! SNOW!! We had a grand total of 3 snowfalls this winter. Only one stayed on the ground long enough and produced enough snow for sledding. Lizzie LOVED being in the snow. I had to drag her kicking and screaming home even though her lips were blue and her fingers and toes had become little popsicles. She was not happy I made her sit still for a photo op - she knows there is no time to waste when there is snow on the ground in VA... it is gone in a flash! Note everyone is wearing rain boots... I don't feel it worth the investment to buy snow boots for everyone when they are only going to wear them once. Sam and Emma had fun building a jump and catching some air. Sadly I didn't get any good shots of them this year as I was too busy chasing Lizzie and Max.

St. Patricks Day! I was feeling really horrible that day so I didn't go all out like I usually do for this holiday. I did manage to get shamrocks painted on everyones cheeks (but no pics) and a green dinner of lime jello, green beans, green salad, green rice and green pork chops which we all agreed would be better served for Halloween snicker.

For spirit day in March Sam's school had a 80's day. We had fun decking her out with stuff.. I made her leg warmers from a pair of soccer socks. She loved the outfit and hopes fashions will go back to the 80's again. I actually liked the 80's despite the big hair and the spandex heh.
Emma dressed up for wacky day at her school. Poor Mandi was sick that day.
CHESS CLUB! Our friend Barb got the girls hooked on chess. They joined the chess club at Sam's school and have been going every Friday since October to play. I figured I would take the camera one day and get some shots of them playing chess.


Lizzie goes mainly for the food..... she doesn't have anyone her age to play yet.Stay tuned, more updates to come!

Back to the keyboard!

People have been asking me why I have not been blogging as of late. I have been far to busy worshiping my porcelain gods or contemplating doing so. This pregnancy has had me so miserable it has been all I can do to keep my kids fed, dressed (hair not always done - but we try) and to their various events. Laundry has gotten done for the most part but housework has been sorely neglected as well. It's a good thing this is not my first pregnancy because I would NEVER have wanted to get pregnant again (and will not do so again after this haha!). It has been like having a severe case of stomach flu for 4 months. In order to go out I have had to wait until I was dry heaving to make sure I would not make a mess in the car or wherever I was going.. it led to doing a great deal of things on an empty stomach. I was worried how it would all affect the baby but the baby is growing just fine...good thing I have plenty of fat reserves. The past 2 weeks I have actually been doing much better. I am still nauseated most of the time but only throw up a couple times a week which is 500x better than how things used to be. I have gained back the weight I lost plus a few pounds so that should get the midwives off my back. The only thing I regret is not catching a video of Lizzie doing her own version of porcelain god worship. She spent so much time in the bathroom watching me heaving over the toilet I am sure she finally decided that must be what they were for. One day she went into the bathroom, lifted up the toilet seat and did her own pretend version of throwing up. I about died laughing. She would do that once in a while.. some days it was funny other days it was downright depressing. I haven't seen her do it since March. She actually has used the potty herself twice so I guess she decided sitting on it is much more pleasant than throwing up into it... I wholeheartedly agree! Well enough of the potty talk and the poor me stories. We have actually been having lots of fun despite it all!

Lizzie's F.H.E.

No Michelle Kwan... yet!

Yesterday I (Billy) took Sam, Emma, and Mandi ice skating. It was Emma and Mandi's first time and Sam's third or fourth. We had a blast! Emma and Mandi picked it up pretty quickly and, by the end of our two hours, were skating independently and doing a lot less falling. I am always amazed at how quickly these girls pick up new skills, it is fun to watch!

Enjoy the pics and short vids. Sorry some are sideways, I will try and fix it for my next post. -Billy




(Mandi) Not so sure about this...

Ok, let's give it a try...

Maybe I better keep trying!

Watch me get better at this...

Getting Better

And once more...




Emma gives it a try...




Check her out at the end!




The one and only Samantha!




As you can see, we had lots of fun!

Nothing... and I mean NOTHING is safe anymore!

Well folks, that's it. Lizzie has learned that not only can she climb chairs, but she can also drag them to desired locations to access things we mistakenly thought were safe from her grasp.
Here she is enjoying free access to Mom's purse.
Her response when I told her that was not for her to play with?

Ha ha ha ha phhhhhtt!

She is way to cute for my own good. So far I have found her on top of the table, on the kitchen counter, on the computer (chewing on our webcam ack) on top of our VP... you get the idea. The only places she hasn't conquered yet are the stove, the fridge and the entertainment center. I am sure her guardian angels (as with all toddlers) are quite worn out by the end of the day.

On another note:
The girls are all in girl scouts and just did their Christmas service activities last weekend.
In addition to the food and money we gave to help needy families, we also asked the girls to donate one toy in good condition. Everyone went up and spend some time mulling over their stuff. After everyone chose something to donate we sat around the table for dinner. Mandi was sniffling and sobbing. We found she felt "heartbroken" because she was giving away her favorite kitty. We explained she could pick another toy and it didn't have to be her kitty. She replied that her kitty was the most wonderful, soft, cuddly kitty and it would make someone much happier than anything else she had. I was so touched by her actions. When given the choice, she chose to give her favorite toy because she felt it would bring another child the most happiness instead of giving something she didn't care that much about. Here she is giving her kitty one last hug before taking it to her service event.

I hope I grow up to be like Mandi.

O Christmas Tree...

Decorating fun! We decide to go with a Douglas pine instead of a Frasier Fir this year. Man they smell heavenly although the branches are not quite as firm for holding the heavier ornaments.
We always get our tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving and decorate it Sunday evening so we can have maximum enjoyment through the holiday.

Sam kicks off the decorating fun.
Gotta keep 'em out of Lizzie's reach
Ah, the perfect spot!
The ornament lady (yes we love decorating the tree in our PJ's!)
Lizzie's first act of destruction

Emma's turn to top the tree

Super Sam to the rescue!

Finished tree. Yeah, it looks funny but I guess everyone who has had a toddler "gets" it.
Speaking of toddlers... I think our tree ate her... or perhaps she is eating the tree?

Thanksgiving

We had a lovely day! We probably had the smallest group we have had in our home for years which was nice. I do love the fun of having lots of friends and missionaries over but sometimes it is nice to tone it down a bit. Our house is tiny, 1500 square feet spread over 3 floors, so one can imagine the challenge of fitting 12 guests plus our 6 in a 500 sq foot space which is what we did last year. Our kitchen is a galley kitchen which fits 2 at best. To get to our basement you have to go through the kitchen so the traffic of people going in and out gets crazy. We always have great fun regardless. I admit I do look forward to the day when I can have a bigger kitchen and not have to shoo my children out so I don't step on them.
This year we had 4 guests, all of them delightful company and good sports! Our pipes in the upstairs bathroom broke so we were down to one bathroom. Our furnace also died several weeks ago so we have been thankful for warm clothing around here. Fortunately the oven combined with lots of love kept us warm through the day. We got up and got the turkey and the rolls going and then hung out and did this and that. Lizzie will decide she is tired and take naps in the oddest places. Took me some time to find her this time around, I was starting to panic heh. She is under our table in case you can't tell... too tired to finish the apple I saved her from the stuffing poor thing.
After rising for 4 hours, the rolls (boy were they good!) were ready to shape. Samantha did a fabulous job! They looked so pretty and practically melted in your mouth.
Everyone came and hung out and enjoyed good eats! Afterwards we watched movies, played games and chatted. Samantha and Emma put on a wonderful magic show for us with Mandi serving as an always hilarious MC. We liked her turkey jokes. It was a fun and relaxing day.
Some of the things people mentioned being thankful for: Friends, family, gospel, Jesus Christ, food to eat, a roof over our heads, and... (thank you Billy) dog hair. He claims without dog hair Max would be a fright to look at. I am glad he is able to think of such profound things as dog hair.....

The food did have some odd effects on us.
This was quickly solved by dashing upstairs to eat pumpkin and apple pie.
Here is the Thanksgiving song the girls sing for us every year... to the tune of Friar Jaques

Turkey dinner, Turkey dinner.
Gather round, gather round.
Who will get the drumstick,
Yummy yummy drumstick?
Me oh my, Me oh my.

Mashed potatoes, cashew stuffing,
Pumpkin pie, cream piled high.
We were all much thinner
Until we came to dinner.
Me oh my, Me oh my.