Are You Schocked to See a Post From Me??

It's been ages since I blogged. I'm not sure what has happened to me... I just haven't made the time for it. I have plenty of pictures that I need to put up, as always. Here are just a few. I also finally finished uploading pictures to a post I started back in September. You'll have to scroll back through my blog if you're interested. This first picture is of the kids in their Christmas church clothes. Alexa insisted they not have matching clothes this year. I knew this day was coming.... and it worked out fine. :) Quinten's tie looks a little funny- he's supposed to be wearing his sweater, but I just couldn't force it on him for the picture. I actually took this picture sometime in January.... because I totally forgot at Christmas. 9:00 church has taken it's toll on cute hairdos this last month. I hate doing hair. I'm just grateful to have everyone dressed and ready by 8:40!

These are their Christmas jammies... not matching... again.... Ahh, I'm going to miss those days. Alexa also informed me this year that she wants plain pajamas- nothing on them- just plain. Do you know how hard it is to find pajamas that don't have candy canes or reindeer or penguins on them during the holiday season?? Let me tell you, it took longer than I had anticipated to find something she would wear. And, I couldn't buy a set- I had to buy pajama pants and a shirt seperately. Oh, if only she weren't picky!

We had a pitiful snowfall one night. I was looking at my friend, Lauren's blog (she lives in Alaska) and laughing at the difference in our snow pictures. Ours are pathetic in comparison. But, the kids had fun... for about five minutes. Then, they were too cold and wanted to go in for hot chocolate. This is Quinten's "I'm very pleased with what is going on, but I'm not going to smile" face. It makes me smile. :)

Quinten got a tent shaped like a football for Christmas- everyone loves it. He actually wouldn't go in it at first, but has warmed up to it well- especially when his sisters join him.

The tent from the outside- full of stuff and people. They load it with toys, which I can't understand, because then there is hardly room to sit in it! More snow pictures.

Alexa's ball of snow that actually lasted about a week because it was so cold outside!

Callie's ball of snow that she tried to convince me needed to go in the freezer so she could have it forever. I said no.

We are all doing well. I'm always shocked at how busy we are even though our kids are small. School is going great for everyone. Alexa spends most of her spare time reading- she has started the Percy Jackson series again and has made it almost all the way through in a week. Both she and Callie are signed up for soccer this spring and are looking forward to that. I've started looking for a new dance studio for Callie. It's past time to get her back into dance. She loves it and still dances around our house whenever she hears any music playing. Callie is our social butterfly- it's so fun to have one kid that truly enjoys everything we do! Leah loves Preschool now. She still has her moments of uncertainty and asks if I am staying with her, but she puts on her brave face and climbs out of the van anyway. She is my sweetheart- still loves to be held and cuddled and I am glad. Quinten is... a handful. I spend most of my days averting disaster with him. He climbs, gets into everything, makes large messes, constantly dumps any food container he can find, has learned to climb in and out of his bed (my first child to ever do that), runs away at any store we go to without looking back to see if I'm following him (I am actually so exhausted from trying to contaqin him at the store that my arms ache and I'm sweating before we get back to the car), writes on our computer screen with any writing utensil he can find, colors on walls, hates going to nursery on Sundays (is actually hysterical as Sacrament Meeting is ending because he knows what is coming), hates having his hair cut, teases his sisters, pulls their hair, wants to play outside all day long (when we are getting out of the car he wriggles away from me, hops on a wiggle car and heads down the street. Sometimes he is at the corner before I can catch up to him), still loves his bottles, only has six teeth (if you can believe that....), and has the best smile ever. He's a boy. And I still have no idea what I am doing.

Our kids' best friends, the Sorensons, moved out of our neighborhood last month. They lived on our street and it was so convienent and fun having them nearby. We are all still adjusting, but it has meant more time at home, playing with each other. Last year around the same time, Callie and Alexa's best friends moved out of our neighborhood, as well. We've done it twice now, and I'm sure it won't be the last time. I'm constantly reminding the girls that my sisters are my best friends and someday they will feel the same way about each other, so it's good that we spend time together as a family. They are not always so sure about this, but we are working on it.

We have lots to look forward to this year: we're planning on spending another few weeks visiting my family in Washington this summer. My kids talk about it all year. They are so excited to be with cousins and their Grandparents. We are still working on our plans for our family vacation, as well. Nothing finialized, but maybe SeaWorld in San Diego... we'll see. I'm starting my training for the Marathon again. It's been ages since I ran consistently, but I now feel like it's time. I've had babies at my house for so many years, that it's just felt too hard to get up early and actually WANT to go running. Well, Quinten will be two in May. My kids sleep though the night (for the most part), and I finally feel like I am ready to get back into it. I'm so excited! My plan is to run the Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon in Seattle in June and continue my training after that for the Marathon here in October. I have great friends here who run, so I'll have training buddies, which will be nice. I hate starting from the beginning again, but it's necessary. I'm convinced the reason most people hate to run is because it takes so long to work your way up to a comfortable level of miles. However, because I've done it before, I know I can do it again, and I'm really looking forward to it- hard parts and all. I'm trying to convince Andrew that he should want to run too... he's not sold on the idea... yet. :)

So, that is our very long update. It's my goal this year to update this once a week... we'll see how it goes. :)