What an Invention!

Who invented these?

Tyler and Jenna came home from school with these "straws". I don't know if they have a name or not. I have never seen them drink hot chocolate so fast! The picture was too cute not to pass along. I think they look a lot like Harry Potter.

Our American Idol

Our American Idol....Megan loves to sing. Sometimes instead of talking she'll sing it to you. I am not sure what exactly she is singing about other than she mentions her cat. She is so much fun. We love you Megan.

Tyler's Hidden Agenda

For Christmas we got a Wii and with that came rules. Mainly for Tyler. Being 8 he enjoys playing games and watching TV. So we put a few rules into place... One is that he has a time limit, but if someone (in our family) wants a playmate on the Wii that time doesn't count against his time. He has become very creative in how he attempts to manipulate that rule.

One day Jenna was going to go play at her friends house and as she is leaving the house Tyler says, "Jenna, I would have thought you would want Lily to come over and play bowling. You know how much fun Lily has when we bowl!"

Yesterday the girls were going down to watch a movie and Tyler says, "I thought you'd want to play with that thing we got for Christmas since you can watch a movie any time."

Today Tyler is telling me about his Family Home Evening. It's on Sharing. He wrote it himself. He talks of the Glenn family (not sure where that name came from) and they got an XBOX for Christmas. Tommy was playing and when his sister kept asking to play he would tell her "just five more minutes." Tommy's parents told him to let his sister have a turn. What would you do if you were Tommy? I asked him what his activity would be and he said that since there are five of us and only four can bowl then we'd be able to practice sharing by all taking turns. How GENIUS!!!

Oh...Megan!

Oh... Megan! She is so funny the things that she says and does. I had to blog this because I just read a cute story on Michelle's blog. A few days ago, after the kids had been playing together for 2 long weeks, the girls were downstairs playing so nicely when Jenna starts crying and Megan comes up the stairs. Justin says to her, "Megan, why is Jenna crying?" Megan says, "I was mean to her." (At least she in honest) Justin replies, "Well, you can go back downstairs and play nice or you can go to your room." Megan continues through the dining room (heading to the hallway) and replies, "I go to my room. And NOT shut the door."

Another cute thing: Yesterday Megan was at my sister-in-laws house (Jammie) playing with Brandon (2yrs). After being there for about 20 minutes Jammie calls to tell me that Megan said something funny and she had to call me before she forgot. Apparently Megan wanted to play house and she says to Brandon, "I'll be the Mommy and you be the Honey." Huh?? Where do they come up with these things??

Christmas Morning

OH CHRISTMAS TREE...

It took almost three hours to go through it all.

Megan asked Santa for "lots of Barbies". She got Barbies and a Princess Tea Set. She was very pleased. All Jenna wanted was a Webkin. She didn't care which one. Santa had it easy. I think this is the first year she actually got what she asked for. Hooray for Santa!!

Tyler wanted a Nintendo DS with the game Pet Dogz 2. But his Daddy had to break the news that Santa wasn't going to bring a Nintendo DS because Santa knew that Mommy and Daddy had already bought a big present for the family. So when Christmas morning came, Tyler saw Pet Dogz 2 for the Wii. Tyler figured it out.

WE GOT A Wii!!!!

Justin and I got a few accessories to go along with it for us...

Mario Kart and Guitar Hero.

Here are a few highlights of the day...(I failed to get pictures of the entire family playing the Wii).

What a beautiful Princess! She wore these accessories around for days.

THE WEBKINS FROM NANIE! THEY WERE SO THRILLED!!!!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

'Twas the night before Christmas ...

For Christmas Eve we spend the night at Grandma & Grandpa's house with all the cousins. We have done this 3 or 4 times and the kids love it. We love this time even though we don't end up with much sleep. Here are the kids in their new PJ's.

*Megan, Tyler, Jenna, Ian, Brandon, Mya is in bed*

To help us remember what Christmas is all about, we watch Luke 2. It was also a great way to help settle them down to go to bed. Although not much can help when you know what is coming the next morning.
I think Tyler had it the worst. He was up 5-6 times. In the end I think Justin and I ended up with 3 hours sleep. Of course it's only one night and it's just as exciting for us!! Our family stayed in the big bedroom in the basement, so each time the kids had to get up to go to the bathroom, we had to shield their view of the tree, so they couldn't see anything until everyone was awake and ready. It was pure torture!!!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends! I did send out a few Christmas cards, but didn't include my usual Christmas letter. Instead I decided to do it on our blog. This year has once again flown by. It's hard to believe that we are another year older and wiser of course. We continue to be blessed by the Lord in our lives. We enjoy being together in our home and have lots of fun together as a family. We miss our family who are not so close to us and our friends who have moved away (or are away). Now to update you on what's going on here in Nebraska.

Let's start with the smallest... Megan is three and a half. She started preschool this year (twice a week). It was a rough transition for her, but after about 2 months, she is doing great. No more clinging to mom's leg or crying. Now when she she asks, "Where I go after nigh night?" I say preschool. She gets excited and says, "With Miss Cheri and Miss Rose?" She has been in speech for a year now and doing wonderful. She loves to play babies, barbies, color, and play animals with the other animals in our house (her siblings). She keeps us smiling and is a pure joy to have around.

Jenna is 6 and finally has lost her two bottom teeth. The first one she pulled out herself and the second came with the help of her fork while eating dinner...oops! That was a painful one (it was not quite ready to come out). Jenna is in First grade and doing great. She enjoys reading and loves to draw and color. Jenna started gymnastics this fall and loves it.

Our oldest is still a Football fanatic. Tyler is eight and a half and lives for Football. It doesn't matter who is playing or what is on Sport Center, he's there listening and soaking in all the information there is. Tyler played Soccer in the spring and Football in the fall. He does very well at both, so it will be interesting to see what happens in the future. Tyler is in the 3rd grade. He's doing very well in all his studies and continues to amaze us with his memory. I wish I would remember that he's right most of the time when he throws stats at me. Other than playing football or watching football, his other favorite thing to do is play "animals". If you come to the house and hear lots of barking, don't worry we didn't cave and buy a dog, it's just our three little rascals acting like dogs.

I am staying busy with all the kids activities of course, but I am able to get out of the house and work a bit each month. Children's Physicians has been very good to me. I work 16 hours a month and enjoy the perks that come with that (free advice). I enjoy working out at 24 hour fitness, scrapbooking with friends, girls night out and hanging out with my family. Church continues to keep me busy as well. I play the piano in Primary, the Organ (every 6th week) and am the cub scout leader.

Justin is working for Deloitte Tax and enjoying it. He seems to keep a good work/life balance which the kids and I appreciate. He has loved playing soccer in the spring and fall with some friends on a local Catholic league. His church calling is still the Executive Secretary. He is a great help to me and the kids love their daddy!!

During this holiday we hope you enjoy this holiday season and wish you lots of peace, love and most of all JOY! Keep in touch!