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!

Christmas and the new year!

I have been really busy and have not really had much time to get on here long enough to write anything. We had a great Christmas. The kids had a lot of fun being with family and getting to play with new things! Chris got a dog from his parents for Christmas, a cute little black Pomeranian named Tailgate. Lots of people think it is an odd name but I think it is cute! He is a dog anyway, what does it matter! He gets along with Zoe just great and I am actually thinking that he might get Zoe into shape! She weighs about twice as much as she should! Anyway he is doing well as far as not making too much of a mess in the house.

So I have this goal this year to actually get into shape! I can tell that I am getting older and that my metabolism is slowing down...I can't seem to get rid of this last little bit of weight and fit into all of my jeans! It is really sad to me that I can only fit 3 pairs of pants. If anyone has any good ways to avoid sweets and get in a short workout that is actually beneficial then let me know! I really want to get into shape more for health reasons more than anything. So anyway I hope everyone had a great Christmas and is having a good new year so far!

Thanksgiving weekend

Just thought I would update how our Thanksgiving went. On Thursday we just had a little Thanksgiving with our family and took the kids to the 3D version of Bolt. They liked it but I really think that we could have gone with out paying so much! Jack was in and out of his seat for most of it going from next me down to Grandpa and back. Ethan wouldn't wear his glasses because he hates wearing glasses (we are always telling him to put his glasses back on!). It was a cute movie but we could have gone to the cheap theater to see it!
Friday we just hung out at our house until dinner time when we went to my parents house to see my siblings. It was fun and we got to see Aaron and Jenelle which was nice. I haven't seen them since their wedding in July when Alana was just 5 days old.
Saturday we went and got family pictures! It was fun and frustrating at the same time. The kids did really well for the first half of the session but got sick of having to do things that they just didn't want to. I will put some up after we send out our Christmas cards! They turned out so cute!! We went from there to Grandma and Grandpa Diegel's house for a Thanksgiving dinner there. Jeremiah cooked most of everything and it was so good! We got to see Chris's Aunt and Uncle from Indiana and some of his cousins from there too.
We always put up our Christmas tree on this weekend and when we got ours out Emma made the comment that it was "Sooo Boring". We got a new tree last year when they were on sale and this one has white lights instead of colored ones like out old tree. Oh well she got over it. The kids were really disappointed when we got their trees out and realized that they can't have them in their rooms because there is a warning on them that says they contain lead and you should wash your hands after handling. You know they would be touching those trees like crazy so we ended up getting rid of them. They had a lot of fun decorating the big tree though and we had a fun night!

Tis the season...

Here are my top five reasons to hate this time of year:

5. It is way too cold outside!

4. The sun shines and gives you the illusion that it might actually be warm outside. When you go out you are smacked in the face with bitter cold winds.

3. The kids can only stand the cold weather for so long so they don't stay outside much. When they come in they bring with them loads of snow that melts all over the floor. Every time you walk somewhere near the area they came in, your socks get wet and you have to get a new pair! Then the kids are "SO bored".

2. The Holidays force you to eat way too much food, stretching your stomach to a size that would only suit a horse.

And finally #1....

1. The kids get sick. Then they get sick again, and again. I spend so much time trying to clean the house and sanitize it and it seems to do no good because they just spread it to one another. I am such a nervous wreck from thinking that any moment one of them is just going to throw up all over the floor!

Well there it is, the top 5 reasons I hate this season! I know it seems depressing but it could have been 10! I couldn't help posting this. Ethan is sick today and it is just a reminder that this is just the start of a very long winter! Enjoy the season!! :)

Snow!!!!!

It was the first snow of the year on Saturday and the kids just had to go play in it. Every day Ethan asks if he can go play in the snow even when there isn't snow on the ground! I can tell that it is going to be a long, cold, wet winter!