Mewwey Cwrissmass!

3 Days until Emma's first Christmas!

Celebrating Sam's Birthday!

Sam with his "haul" he got a bow! He would now just like it to get above zero so that he could actually go outside and shoot it. He went out with Ryan on Saturday and they set up the target in the barn thinking that it might be warmer, but after a couple shots each, they were back inside. It is just bitter cold and it cuts right through you.

Me and Sam at 3D... those dimples just kill me! LOVE 'EM!

We try to take the kids out for dinner just by themselves for their birthday, but since we were just leaving Noah to tend, we decided to take Emma with us. We had a great time at 3D eating mongolian BBQ! Sam decided it was his new favorite.

I was just finishing wrapping up Sam's presents when Mara came in and had to help! I had nothing left to wrap, but that didn't stop her. She found a scrap of paper and asked for a piece of tape and wrapped up the phone. Just as Sam was unwrapping the first present (an i-pod shuffle from YiaYia and Papou) the phone rang! I quickly threw the package to Sam and said "quick open this one and answer the phone! We all got quite a laugh out of that one. Funny Mara!

Happy Happy Sam, ELEVEN!

Oh! how I love this kid!

Such a cute personality! He is forever thinking that life is a game, and he is out to win!

Always a loving brother who is more than happy to help out and hold the babies!

It snowed again this morning! Sam was glad because he'd been praying for snow on his birthday and his prayer was answered! I was hoping I could post some pictures of Sam as a baby, but I don't have a scanner, and so I will just have to post some of my favorites of him! How blessed I am to have such a great kid as a good example to the others. Sam is inately good and I love his innocence! He is so fun to tease, and dishes it right back out. It seems like only yesterday that I was so young and unknowing about all that life was about to dish me as I held that sweet little baby and realized he was mine. I had never been happier! I remember that first Christmas with Sam just six days old and realizing how much love you could have for someone and catching just a glimpse of really how Mary must have felt holding her firstborn and knowing that His life would be so hard! I am sure she must have felt the feelings we all feel as parents of wanting to shield our little ones from all the trials of the world, but knowing that it is what all must pass through. I am so grateful for her enduring strength and her example of motherhood. Oh how I wish I could be as good a mother as all the good examples I have around me. I am so frateful for this time of year that allows me to reflect on the BIRTH of our loving Saviour and all that his life means to me and my eternal family.

The kids have found a new favorite pasttime! That is Caleb driving and Max and Noah getting pulled around on the sled. I remember being a kid and driving on our three-wheeler through our backyard and thinking it was the greatest thing ever. On Saturday, it was so so cold and blowy

(-14 with the windchill) and the kids wanted to go out. We couldn't get the 4-wheeler started, so I thought they would be inside in a flash, but they dug snowcaves and stayed out for almost an hour. Record time with that temperature. I was so nervous that they would get hypothermia that I kept checking on them and they were just having a grand old time. All the boys. We had them bundled up really good though, with scarves around their face, so only their eyes were poking out.

I was cold enough inside, but Mara insisted that she go out. After 10 minutes of getting her bundled, she lasted 3 minutes. We froze all weekend. Our poor animals are really cold. I now know what cold means, and any digit below zero is not just below zero like I used to think! There is a huge diffrence between -10 and -30. I now also know that just because you bring your shoes inside after walking in the snow, it doesn't garantee that they won't be frozen to the kitchen floor when you go to get them. BURRR!!!

What A Weeeeeeek!

I don't really have any cute pictures to post seeing as how I keep forgetting my camera, but this last week has been one that I don't EVER care to remember. I feel like all I have done is run from one event to another! The kids had their Christmas programs at school, which I was totally thankful they still called Christmas programs instead of "Holiday Programs" They sang Hanukkah songs and snow songs though, so as not to "offend". They did such a good job. Caleb's grade sang "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" poor kid, this would be the third year he has sung that and meant it. I'm beginning to wonder if that kids teeth will ever come in. Noah was, of course, ticked off that I made him wear a button-up shirt, but he got over it, and actually had a smile on while he performed. He got sent home a letter saying that he needs to be assessed for the accellerated program, apparently he gets his work done too fast, gets 100% on it and spends most of the day reading in class because he is done. I knew he read a lot at school because he tells me all the books he's read that I don't see him reading at home. When I asked him if he wanted to do it he gave me a very enthusiastic "YES!" Since he doesn't get too excited about much, I figure he must be as bored as his teacher thinks he is. I am excited for him and that opportunity. He won't have to go to a special school or anything, he will just get pulled out of class once a day and given harder work at a faster pace. Sam played the french horn for the band concert yesterday, and did such a good job. There are only two french horns and for the performance that they did for the school, the other horn player wasn't there, so he had to do a solo in front of the whole school, and he did awesome his teacher said. After the performance they did for the parents, his music teacher said that Sam has real talent, and that she was totally impressed at how much he had learned in such a short time. Caleb and Max just finished up soccor, when they first started, they were wandering aimlessly and never got in contact with the ball much, but by the time they finished, they were really good players. They both got more agressive and started to pay attention and understand what was going on. There last game was really a good game, and they played awesome. It helps to have such a great coach!
My first semester is over, thank goodness! Ryan spent most of the week in Chicago, and it was really hard to be alone with the kids and try to get to all their events and finish my school work. Him being gone totally made me appreciate all that he does to help with the kids and house and animals. I am so glad I have him. He got home last night and we ran from one party to another, and came home and crashed. My plan was to go into town to finish my last Biology test, but we woke up in the middle of the night to blowing wind inside our house(the new windows help, but there is still a draft from our garage and attic that really feels like wind blowing in our house.) and the windows covered with snow. The sun room is full of snow and the garage door blew open and the garage is full. Ryan went out and the chicken door had blown open and they were full of snow and the barn was covered in snow as well as the goats. Sam was out there with him and said that the cobwebs in the barn were covered with snow and so there were strands of snow crisscrossing all over the barn. The weather report on the internet says that it is -7 with the windchill, rest assured, it is WRONG! Our temperature gage outside says-30! that is more like it. It is freezing. I won't be going into town for anything today. Not with 3 foot snow drifts blowing wind and snow and ice. I think I will be curling up by the fire in my pajamas drinking some hot chocolate stirred with a candy cane and topped with whipped cream, and relaxing from the awful crazy busy week that I had! Oh, and I will try to get in the Christmas mood since It doesn't feel like Christmas yet to me since I have been so consumed with school work!

Arrow of Light!

I am so bummed that I forgot the camera, but Sam got his Webelos, Faith in God and Arrow of Light tonight at scouts! It was such a neat ceremony that they had for him! I was totally touched and the reality of just how old he is getting hit me full force! Wow, I will have an eleven year old. He is turning into such a good kid who is so fun to talk to and do things with. I love being with him, and hope that his wanting to be with his friends more than wanting to be with me will not come anytime soon! I miss him when he is at school, and am so thankful for him! They had a bridging ceremony where he crossed over into Boy Scouts! My little man is growing up. It is so fun to see the kids grow and become their own little people!

~*Emma Causes a Christmas Laugh*~

We were reading books last night around the Christmas tree, when Emma reached up to grab an ornament off the tree. It wouldn't give, and so it made the branch bounce up and down when she let go. She immediately started bobbing her head up and down. It made Caleb laugh so hard, and between the two of them, we all started laughing. I only caught it really good once on the video, but she just kept doing it over and over. Oh! how I love little babies and the joy they bring to your otherwise mundane existance. It's a good thing I have so many babies so that my life is rarely mundane!

What's fun about winter!

I couldn't leave that depressing post up, so I had to post what is so fun about winter! The kids love the snow, and can't wait to get home from school so they can play in it. The problem here is that we don't get much snow at once. The "good" thing is it's so cold that even a skiff stays for days(that is a problem for one who is now frightened to drive on snow covered roads) Today Sam and Noah took the sled and pulled Mara all over the yard. She was in heaven and it kept her outside for longer that the usual 3 minutes and now I'm cold so let me in.

Kind Of A Dramatic Way To Get A New Car!

We had our first snowfall of the year and I am now one of the stupid people who got into car accidents when the first snow flew. I hate being one of those statistics. GREAT! I will just count my blessings that we are all okay and that everyone was in their seatbelts and we all had coats and warm shoes on because it was freezing. And I am truly thankful for that tree. It really wanted a make-out session with my van. The reason I am so thankful for the tree is because I could feel us starting to roll when all of a sudden, the tree stopped us. At first I thought that Max was hurt because he was freaking out and screaming and trying desperately to get out of his seatbelt. It turns out that he was just so hysterical because he heard the airbags pop, and smelt that awful smell, and thought that our car was going to blow up. That would be my fault for letting him watch too much T.V..

I couldn't find my cell phone, I thought maybe it had flown, but then remembered convienently leaving it by the side of my bed. The road was not a busy one, so when I saw a car coming I jumped out and flagged it down, leaving my kids crying in the car. The really nice man let me use his cell phone to call 911 who proceded to ask a million questions. I kept telling the person we were fine and that I needed to get back to my kids who were screaming in the car, but she just kept asking how to get to where I was. I know the phone had a GPS, and she could have pulled it up, I couldn't leave the guys car because his cell phone was plugged into his cigarette lighter. Thankfully my neighbor came by and took Max and Mara with him so that I could fill out all the paper work and everything.

Ryan came and rescued his damsel in distress, and the tow truck hauled our spoiled goods away. Ryan just said "That was a dramatic way to get a new car." truth be told, I really liked that car. Dangit!