snow snow snow SNOW

well..... our expected 1-3 inches turned into 7 overnight and it's still coming down!!! school is on a 2 hr delay this morning. we've been digging out the gloves, snowpants and hats and boots... finding out what fits who from last year. i think besides snow boots we are doing good!!! :) the kids are thrilled... me? not so much! LOL i'm sure we'll be drinking hot chocolate after a tromp in the backyard!

4 generations

While at my parent's house over the long holiday weekend, my grandparents came down to see us. We snuck in a 4 generation picture to document the occasion. On the left is my Grandma, followed by my mom, and Carissa is sitting on my lap. My mom is the only girl in her family (6 brothers!). I am the only girl with 2 older brothers, and Carissa is the only girl, surrounded with her 3 brothers. So, you see, the 4 of us need to stick together!! :) Good memories!

.... all i want for Christmas....

IS MY TWO FRONT TEETH!!!!!





Noah lost his 1st top tooth the day after Thanksgiving while we were at Grandma and Papa's. He announced it gleefully at 4 am when he came in to wake us. "Today is a GREAT day. You know why? My tooth fell out into my hand while I was sleeping!! Today is a GREAT day!"

Last night his 2nd top tooth fell out during the night. "Mommy, Daddy!! Mommy, Daddy!! My tooth fell out!!!!" Man, the toothfairy is sure getting hit up this year! And he has 2 more on the bottom that are lose!!!

Here he is before he left for school :)

DAD PILE UP!

Just a pic for fun. The kids all piled on Eric tonight. Note the missing tooth in Noah's mouth!!!
The second one is days from falling out too. I guess we know what song he will be singing
this Christmas.... "all i want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth....." :)

to good not to share....

in serious need of an update...

Well... in the lack of feeling like i had anything grand to say, i've not blogged for weeks now! My time has been consumed with the normal day to day... laundry, vacuuming, dishes, cooking, diapers, chasing around the 2 and 3 yo and playing peek a boo and bouncy bounce with the baby. Not to mention the head colds, chest coughs, and PINK EYE (yes you read that right!) that has been being shared around our humble abode. No one will ever be able to tell me that my children have trouble sharing. Sense of personal space and boundaries mean little as they continue to love on each other and exchange the crud! LOL

Actually, in all seriousness, it is a JOY to watch our kids grow up and see the love they have for each other. The other night, Noah fell asleep on our bed while Eric was rubbing his back. Eric was on the phone with an old friend. I went through the motions to get the other 3 in bed and tucked in. Eric said he's put Noah to bed when he was off the phone. I can not LIFT Noah's 45 pound dead weight body up onto the TOP bunk! NO way, NO how!

Carissa came out of their room, probably a good 20 minutes later. Eric had just gotten off the phone and was going to put Noah down soon. She came out and in a very pitiful sad voice said, "Daddy..... mommy said you were going to bring Noah to bed... I can't fall asleep with out my Noah in my room...." Awwww..... :)

Often as adults we are constantly wanting more.. bigger, better, nicer etc... and it is such a great reminder to me when I can see how much my kids love each other. Is their room cramped? YUP! Four kids to ONE space, makes for cozy living... Do they think they are over cramped?! NOPE. Do they feel entitled to more space? NOPE! Do they beg and plead for their own room? NEVER have.... of course, begging and pleading would make no difference anyway ;) Seeing their contentment reminds me that simple is good. Keep things simple. Keep things REAL and KEEP family in the forefront!

TO totally change the subject here.... We had our first Parent Teacher Conference for Noah. I was a bit apprehensive ... completely unsure of how he was doing... but we got great news! He is doing very well. Math is his strongest subject right. He is NOT a fan of writing (wanting to be a perfectionist has something to do with that I believe... who wants to write when it can't be beautiful the first time?!).... but he is daily improving in his writing AND spelling skills... and his phonemic awareness... I came home the other night and saw that he'd written on the bottom of the calendar. This is what it said...

"I lf my dad"

"I lf my mom."

Pretty cool, huh?! I love seeing him start to write things! He's very aware now of the words around him and he wants to sound them out ... or he'll notice if a word has more than one O or whatnot... Like when we went to Goodwill yesterday... in search of size 6 jeans... the boy has outgrown every pair of pants he owns!

I guess my lack of nothing to say turned into quite a ramble!