marshmallows

This is how I found Afton one day recently when I ran upstairs to grab something. I guess she thinks (or would like to think) marshmallows are one of the four food groups. At least she has dinner ready though :)

thoughts

It seems like December is my month to think and ponder things more than usual. Here are some things rotating through my mind. Sorry, no pictures on this post.

- Oh, how I have missed my running and my music. Although it is terribly time consuming it has been so nice to be running again. I have forgotten though how hungry I always am when I am in running mode. I am ALWAYS hungry right now and have been having second dinners around 10 at night lately :)The sad thing is I am not even running long distances yet and am always hungry.

- Two years ago this month (right before Christmas), I was put on bedrest for 15 weeks!! I am forever grateful to all that helped out by coming to our house, taking care of Ethan and Lizzie, dinners, thoughts, prayers, phone calls and so many little things. I have these two precious souls to hold and love. Thank you.

- Christmas- Oh, my gosh... is it already the 7th? We have the kids done ( their yearly dose of pajamas and a Caldecott book) and Santa has told us he has wrapped three gifts for each of the children. Whew!!! Jim and some family and neighbors still need to be crossed off the list though.

- And finally, CAN I JUST SAY I HATE THE COLD!!! I have decided that one of my life goals will to be one of those older people that spend their summers in Logan and winters in Arizona. Yes, that sounds nice.

Okay time to go eat some food and watch Seinfeld or Scrubs.

Our new addition...

We got this a few weeks ago but it is still new and exciting for us. I had put Ethan on a waiting list for piano lessons being told he probably wouldn't get to the top until spring or fall of 2010. Well he got to the top in November of this year! We needed a piano and so here we go.
Like our house wasn't noisy enough before.... let's add a piano into the mix :)
I also am going to be taking piano lessons and should be at the top of the list around Jan. Until then I sneak a peek at Ethan's lesson book when I can. It has been so fun to have piano music in the house. Chances are with four kids at least one of them will really like music so we are excited and curious to watch how each child does with it.

E squared

This picture just reminds me of our e squared duo (Ethan and Elizabeth).
Every once in awhile they will have a "sleepover" which means Ethan lets Lizzie up on the top bunk. They read books together and Jim and I can hear them talking and laughing much later than bedtime.
For the most part, Ethan is so patient with Lizzie and Lizzie in return is usually willing to play Star Wars or Pokemon or Indy with Ethan.

Since the day we found out we were pregnant with Lizzie, Ethan has been very protective of his little sister and takes such good care of her. They certainly still have their sibling moments but for the most part it is so fun to watch them interact with each other.

Carving Pumpkins

I am just going crazy today with updating the blog :)
Here are some pictures when we carved pumpkins together as a family.

Halloween

This year for Halloween we would like to introduce Dorothy (played by Lizzie), The cowardly lion (played by the girl who doesn't like to try new things aka Lilly), the scarecrow (played by the girl who does a lot of things without thinking them through aka Afton) and of course Indiana Jones in Army disguise (played by Ethan)

Time Capsule

The other night we made a family time capsule to be opened in five years. We did foot and hand prints, pictures, certain lists of likes/ dislikes and what we want to be doing in 5 years and of course an impromptu family picture.