Time to start a garden!!

Since spring has finally come we decided to plant a garden, or at least started some of it inside so that it will be ready around May. Emma, Ethan and I planted some tomato, sunflower, green pepper and flower seeds. They are all growing pretty well in our front window. I hope that the kids stay enthused with this whole gardening thing so that I can have some help with it through the summer. In May we will plant the rest of the stuff outside. We also have green beans, peas, zuccini, carrots and pupmkins. I let Emma help me choose what we were going to grow this year. It should be fun!

Spring is on it's way

It has been a while since I have posted but that is only because there really isn't much new going on here. Ethan and Elle are on Spring break this week from preschool. I am not used to having them home all day so we will see how it goes. I hope to be able to keep them entertained enough during the day!
Although I am not happy that I lost an hour of sleep over the weekend, I am happy that it means that we are getting closer to spring and eventually summer!! On Saturday the kids put on their swim suits again and "went swimming" in the basement. They always ask if they can swim. In fact on Friday it was so nice outside that we went out to the back yard and Emma asked if we could put up the pool! There was so much excitement in her voice when she asked, but I had to tell her no, obviously. While we were in the yard the dogs decided to go under the deck and got covered in mud! That was fun to clean up. Luckily Tailgate is small enough to fit in the sink in the laundry room. He was easy to clean. Zoe on the other hand is so big and heavy that I had to carry her upstairs to the bathroom and that was less than fun.
I wanted to get the garden started with the kids this weekend so that we could have our plants started when it is time to plant outside, but that just didn't happen over the weekend. I hope to do that sometime this week, we'll see.



Emma had a patriotic assembly at school about a week ago and it was fun to watch the kids show off what they learned. They sang songs and talked about the many things in Washington D.C. and the bald eagle. It is amazing to me that she is already almost done with 1st grade! She is so smart and I just can't believe how much she has grown up!
Alana is growing up so fast. I guess she just wants to catch up to her sister and brothers. She has been pulling herself up on furniture for about a month now. I can't wait till it is warm enough outside to take her out in the yard and see her reaction to sitting in the grass. The other kids didn't like it the first time they were sat in the grass.
One last thing....12 days till spring!! YAY!

Happy Birthday Chris!

Today is Chris's birthday! We can't believe that he is 29! One more year and he'll be 30! It seems like it wasn't that long ago that we were teenagers and dating! Happy Birthday Chris!

Sitting pretty

Last night I was at the table helping Emma with homework and I looked out into the living room and saw this:

She has figured out how to sit up all by herself! I knew she was getting close but was so excited to see her actually sitting there all by herself looking at that book! Time is flying by!

Alana

Here are some picture of Alana. She is getting so big and I can't believe that she is moving around so well! Enjoy!

Blessings...

We are so lucky to have more sickness in our house! The kids have been sick off and on, taking turns. How great is that? They know how to take turns! Mostly the snotty noses and fevers but nothing really wrong except for having colds. It does make me glad that for the most part my kids are healthy and not sick. I think that I am more grateful for summer and good health during these long winter months!
One fun thing about this time of years is sledding! Sarah and I took the kids sledding on Saturday and had a great time! This was the first time they have actually gone sledding. I think that we might have taken Emma before but I really don't remember. Anyhow they had a lot of fun and Jack lasted about 20 minutes. Emma and Ethan went down with Sarah a few more times and we were done. I hope we can get out again sometime this winter and sled again, we just need the temperatures to be bearable!

Where has the time gone???

I cannot believe how big Alana is getting. Well and the other kids are too but it's just crazy how much she is growing every day! She has started to get her knees up under her and is scooting around. Chris considers it crawling but I don't really so much. Before I know it she is going to be moving every where and not really be a baby any more! I think I must be getting too busy to realize how quickly she is growing.

We got family pictures back in November but didn't want to post any since we were sending out Christmas cards with the picture. So here are some of the pictures we had taken! It went pretty well considering we have 4 small children! They were very good for about 30 minutes. I really want to make getting family pictures a yearly thing at least since this is really our first family picture! Enjoy!