Good-Bye January!!!

Dear January:

I have such mixed feelings about you. There are things I like about you and things I don't like about you, especially this year.

Things I loved about you this year, January-

1. Celebrating Jordan's 6th birthday and making her dream come true of getting the American Girl doll, Ruthie

2. Organizing like crazy- got Jordan and Cole's room mostly done, all bathrooms cleaned out, hall closet and kitchen done.

3. My kitchen makeover- for the first time since our wedding, we have matching dishes, enough silverware, and my dream come true, RED cookware! (Thanks to the hubby, I know he would have rather had a new TV)

4. Finally, hanging a mirror in our living room, especially after talking about it for 3 years!

5. Reading, reading, reading- I've enjoyed several good books and the girls and I are moving through the American Girl books (even Dad takes his turns every other night)

6. Having the month off from my college classes

7. Coaching Ashton's basketball team- so much fun and these girls are really improving!

8. Crafting away and being lazy on snow days...can you say Mario Kart on the Wii?

Things I didn't like about January-

1. Always feeling cold

2. The stomach flu, ear infection and RSV for various family members

3. The fact that Cole will STILL not sleep through the night

4. The mess that is called our basement

So there you have it. The good outweighs the bad, but I am never too sad to see you go. I'm ready for February.

Love,

The Mama

Regarding the pictures- Had to include the photo Regan took of me, loved the expression on Cole's face in his pic and don't know why I don't have any pictures of Ashton from this month!

My Jordan is Six!!!

Today is a big day for us....Jordan's 6th birthday. No one anticipates or embraces a birthday like Jordan. I just returned from having lunch with her at school and it seemed that at least half of the staff (teachers, lunch ladies, aides, etc.) knew it was her birthday because at some point she had had a conversation with them about it! She got up bright and early this morning, dawned her new birthday outifit, combed her newly cut hair and inquired at least 10 times about opening presents! (We wait until after dinner at our house) There is one thing that she wants very much...we will have to wait and see.

For now...I am so thankful for this sweet girl in my life. She has brought so much happiness, joy and love. SIX things to remember about Jordan:

1. She just has a way to people's hearts, something about her sweet ways.

2. Although she is sweet, this gal does have a temper- as soon as she started kindergarten this year, we really saw that side come out more than ever. If she gets mad, watch out!!!

3. Jordan knows what she wants in life- whether it's the color of her shirt, the flavor of ice cream, or the activity of choice...she has an opinion and will not be swayed. Peer pressure means nothing to her which for the most part is a good thing! She makes a choice and sticks with it.

4. She is a great sister- loves to play with Ashthon, lets Regan have her way and takes care of Cole. I can't believe how patient she is with Cole, probably more than me a lot of the time.

5. Right now, favorite activities include playing Wii, anything artsy, Barbies, playing in the tent downstairs, and learning to read.

6. Jordan loves spending time with the people that she loves, whether it's running errands or just chatting, she loves to be together.

Happy Birthday Beanie!

Baby, it's Cold Outside!

Wow, is it ever cold around here! I always seems to forget how January is in these parts. We had a really fun New Years Day. Some of our good friends, the Hamiltons, drove up from Des Moines for the day, and we always enjoy seeing them and their cute boys. This week, the kids finally went back to school and we had some more crazy cold, snowy weather. There have been plenty of opportunities to wear snuggly robes from Grandma Cindy, and we've taken advantage of the indoor pool at the YMCA to try out our new goggles. Cole-man is 10 months old and has had a terrible ear infection for over a week- his parents finally decided to take him to the doctor. And finally, our friends introduced us to perler beads and the girls have been busy creating in their spare time. If you haven't tried perlers, you need to buy a bucket at Walmart or Michaels and get busy. It's the perfect activity for these chilly days. This week we are looking forward to celebrating Jordan's 6th birthday. I cannot believe she is that old!

A Very Merry Christmas Season!

Some of my favorite memories of this Christmas season:

-Making Christmas cookies with my girls on a snow day

-My piano recital with my 13 very special piano students who made me so proud

- Reading "Jingle Bells, Homework Smells" to Jordan's kindergarten class and having lunch with her

-Gingerbread houses with Ashton's Class

-Regan's preschool program

-Delivering Christmas cards at the Lutheran Home (nursing home)

-Christmas Eve with good friends, food, games, and much laughter!!!

-The looks of total surprise when our girls opened the Wii

-Eating Christmas breakfast and dinner on my mom's china dishes

-Cole's 1st Christmas

-Relaxing and being together as a family!

Happy New Year...2010!

Wow, it's hard to believe that it is 2010! As I look back on 2009, I feel so blessed. It has been a great year for our family. We have been so glad to be back in Iowa, feeling settled and peaceful. And we were so blessed to get to have our little man join our family back in March. During 2009, I had a private blog where I wrote a short journal entry each day and posted one picture. While it will be a treasured possession and something I am so glad that I did, I cannot attempt to do that again. It was a lot of work. This year, I am going to try for weekly updates and photos. That way, the granparents can see some pictures of the kids and I can at least jot down a few things that we are doing.

A Look Back at Halloween

Since Thanksgiving is almost here, I wanted to get a few pictures posted from our Halloween fun. We really did have a good time and did a lot of fun things this year. Some favorite memories:

-Carving pumpkins- I love it, Tod tolerates it! After all the pumpkins were carved, we took them out to the porch, then realized that the door had locked behind us and we were stuck out in the cold. Even worse, Cole was in the house. Thanks to our trusty, resourceful neighbors for helping us get back inside!

-Parties, parties and more parties. The girls had a very fun Girl Scout Halloween party and also celebrated at school. I loved going to see them in the traditional school Halloween parade- brings back lots of memories from my elementary days.

-Trick or treating as a family on Oct. 30- our city's rule! It was a cold, blustery Iowa night, but we still managed to cover most of the neighborhood and get a ton of candy! This year we had the Cat in the Hat, High School Musical Cheerleader, Tigger (she insisted it was just a tiger) and a baseball player (who stayed snuggled in his stroller) We live in one of the best "trick-or-treating" neighborhoods ever- nearly everyone participates and lots of people dress up and decorate their porches, doors, etc.

-Tod's family came up for the weekend, and we had such a good time together. The kids loved seeing cousins Kayla and Leah and going to the trunk-or-treat at church- again more candy!!!

Pride of the Wapsi

We couldn't miss out on our yearly pumpkin patch tradition! October was very cold here, so when we finally had a free Saturday and it wasn't rainy, we decided to just go a head and go. I'm so glad we did. It was so fun to take the girls and Cole was a good sport too. I took one of my favorite pictures of him and Tod together. The girls favorite part was the blow up haunted house.