Christmas Pictures

Here is Erin and Richard on Christmas morning.

Here is Kelly and Ian checking out Kelly's camera.

Here is Andrew opening his Moonshoes. One of the few things he asked for and a big hit with everyone.


Don was showing his hot wheels, but he didn't really know how to hold them up to his face so we could see. It was very cute.

Kelly also got some good pictures on her camera. We may have to post more later.

Taking the Cake

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I know this is a little late. I thought about posting, but ran out of time. Christmas around here is pretty hectic normally, then I had the great opportunity to make a wedding cake for my nephew Josh and his bride Jennifer. This was fun, but did add to the craziness. It turned out to be a nice cake, but I am glad it is done. The reception was Saturday the 27th. It was beautifully decorated and very nicely done. Good job Julie and Rochell and crew.



This is the cake on display at the reception. I decorated styrofoam for the reception on the 20th in Arizona, but this one is all real cake. I liked this one better. Last weeks had fewer flowers, I upgraded for the reception where I would actually be able to attend.

9 Months Today

Richard is 9 months old today. It is fun to watch him grow. I took him for his checkup this morning. He is 17 pounds 6 ounces. For getting an early start, he is right on track. He is only in the 10th percentile for height and weight, but his head is in the 75th percentile. I guess it is no wonder he has a hard time sitting up for very long. His head is too heavy to hold up! He was anemic enough that I have to take him to have some blood work done to make sure there is no other problems, but the Doc didn't seem too worried about it. I am grateful for modern medicine that keeps us healthy. He doesn't care if he rolls over or not, and he is content to just watch things. Unless he is alone in a room he stays pretty happy. Thank Heavens for a mild boy. I can only pray he stays this way, but with Don as his example for the next two years I don't know if that will happen. ;-)

All I want for Christmas....

Kenna is so excited. She finally lost her two front teeth. All in one week. They were loose for weeks, and I thought they were never going to come out. She tries to sing the song, but all we know is the main line. I guess it is time to look up the whole song so we can sing it all.

Let it Snow!

TThe kids were excited to finally get snow. They came home after school and played outside for a while. Erin created a snow mountain on the back of the truck. She was excited last night that it was almost the only snow left after a day of melting. Of course in Albuquerque where no one knows how to drive in snow, they canceled school yesterday. By noon the roads were all clear and dry. Fun Fun. Now we will have to make it up after Memorial day.
Ian swept the snow off the side walks, and wrote please stop on the road. He was having fun. He also enjoyed shoveling off the neighbors driveway when they weren't looking.
Don Refuses to wear a coat most of the time. I was glad to get boots on him. He won't wear socks though. Where did such a strong willed kid come from. I am sure he is nothing like me! :-)
Kenna is getting ready to throw a snowball at me. She was pestering Marlin all night to make a snow man. even though the snow wasn't sticking together very well. She was out almost all night.
Andrew was also out almost all night. He loved to play in the snow. It was fun to watch him. We talked about not going to Mancos this time of year because there is too much snow, and not much to do, But Andrew was ready to go and spend the entire time outside. I don't know how long he would last in "real" snow like Mancos. Then he would just be stir crazy stuck in the house.

Gotta Love Kids

I was reminded of this event when talking to Dan and Rochell at their house today. I decided I had to share it with others.

Andrew is quite the kid. He often does things that he thinks might be cool. Usually they aren't so cool to Mom. Things like dropping bars of soap into toilets, making experiments with flour and water etc.

I was out running an errand on Election day. I left the kids home with Ian and Kelly in charge. Driving down the street I glanced at our house and saw something bright pink on the white brick of our house. Upon closer inspection after parking the van, this is what I saw.....



This was some pink temporary hair color we had from Halloween. I can tell you it colored bricks better than hair. So much for putting things on the refrigerator to keep them away from the kids. Andrew had to scrub and scrub with a brush for about 20 minutes to even get it partway off. I did inform him that usually it isn't a good idea to spray your name when you graffiti. It is hard to avoid getting in trouble.

Someday I will learn that you have to lock things up. (Sprays not the kids!)

STREP!! - Yuck

We made it all last school year with out strep in our house. (After Kenna had her tonsils out) Not so this year. The kids have all had a little stuffiness, and on Monday there was no change. Andrew said hi throat hurt, and so I looked at it and it looked fine. So I sent him to school. When I picked him up his teacher said that he slept in class. They have a rest time, but he usually doesn't sleep. He was so out, they let him sleep for over an hour. Well he then came home and didn't move off the couch. Erin also came home Monday not feeling well. By bed time Kelly complained of a sore throat.

Tuesday morning all three were dragging. I looked at their throats and they were yucky. So after a trip to the Doctor, and three $20 co-payments later, I ended up with all three on Antibiotics for strep. FUN FUN. Thankfully Kenna, Don, Ian and Richard seem to be fine.

Unfortunately, Marlin has been feeling bad, and today he hit a wall. I am convinced it is also strep because he has a sore throat, and aches. I don't know if he will go to the doctor or not. I think he needs to. We will see what happens tomorrow.

With any luck I can avoid getting it, but my track record isn't so good in this regard. I usually end up with it also.

Being sick is just no fun. I guess Andrew may be the strep carrier this year. Now that he is in Kindergarten he may bring home all the things we didn't get last year.