Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This Christmas, all of our plans fell by the wayside. All of our kids got sick. It started with Ursula. She had fevers that came and went. Then it moved on to Harvey. And finally, Rowan caught the same bug. Whatever it was started the week before Christmas and is finally dwindling down on the last day of this year.
I think Harvey has dealt with the symptoms the worst. Maybe it's because he's 2 years old. He has really been the most crankiest pill for about a week. I think I've heard the word "mommy" about 70,000 times since he got sick (and the majority of those have been in a whiny tone).
We had planned to drive to my sister's house and have dinner with my family on Christmas day. However, Harvey was having the worst of his fever on Christmas Eve
and the following day.
Rowan was sad that she didn't get to wear her Christmas dress to church and we were all sad that we
didn't get to see our family.

The more that I thought about it, I realized that Christmas was probably the best time to have all the kids get sick (even though no time is a great time). Since Andy had the holiday off, he was able to help me with the demands of all 3 kids. This was great until he started feeling sick too.
Luckily, he didn't get all the symptoms the kids had. He mostly had congested sinuses, no fever. But we all know how men handle any kind of illness. :)
He really did help a lot. But to be on the proactive side, I started taking Airborn to help me stay as healthy as I could. I've been doing most of the dirty work around here.Both Rowan and Harvey enjoyed sorting the gifts.

Although they aren't pictured, Rowan really liked the Barbies she received.
Harvey got a nice Mack truck (from the Cars movie).

Andy helped Ursula open her big present - a rocking pony that plays music when you press the ear.

It quickly became a free for all as the kids played with all the toys, regardless of who they received them.

Ursula is crawling everywhere, checking out all the toys.

Even though this is blurry, I liked how she looked in this picture.

Our little princess on her little pony. She does rock on it, but we have to keep a hand behind her so she doesn't slide off the back end.

One smile we got out of Harvey.

Ursula was mesmerized by Maria and the Von Trapp children.

Harvey is down for the count. There was only so much that he could handle this Christmas.
We hope we are all "back in the saddle" again soon.

Best wishes to all our friends and family for 2010!

Almost Christmas

About a week ago, we visited my parents in Janesville. I had to give my mother a gift that she bought for my father and we all wanted to see the Christmas lights display at Rotary Garden.
Andy and I were able to get some shopping done while my folks watched the kids. This was very helpful. It's so hard to do any shopping with Rowan and Harvey around.

After shopping, we took Rowan and Harvey sledding on the hill in my parent's yard. Once Harvey saw Rowan slide down, he was so anxious to have a turn.

He was not scared at all.

They did a great job of taking turns and even went down together a few times.

Brave little boy going down face first!

Ursula was not ready for sledding, so she stayed inside with Grandma.
She really enjoyed looking at Grandma's ornaments on the Christmas tree.

After dinner, we went to the Rotary Gardens. Harvey was very upset and did not want to leave the house. It was quite a struggle to get him into the car. He kind of whimpered and cried on the drive. But once we got inside the main building, he was thrilled to see the large train display on the floor.
"Down, down, down!", he shouted. He wanted out of my carrier and onto the floor so that he could see the engines better.

Both Harvey and Rowan enjoyed watching the trains.

Unfortunately, I did not get any photos of the lights display outside. I had Harvey on my back in a carrier, Andy had Ursula in a sling and Rowan was charging right ahead with Grandma and Grandpa. Our hands were full!
But we did have a really good time. We hope to make this trip again next year and also do more sledding!

Christmas is coming...

The little "elves" in Santa's workshop are getting all excited for the big day!
There is such a hustle and bustle about the place.

Rowan is helping make cookies for the big guy (and for everyone else too)!

We even made a house out of gingerbread!

Only 4 more days to go!
Which list will the kids be on by then???

The Cat

Here is our "cat" that got to stay a few days at Grandma & Grandpa Allord's house. Rowan helped Grandma with a few chores and got to watch a few movies.

She put some ornaments on an ornament tree.

She helped Grandpa play Shrek dentist many times.

Rowan felt strongly that she did not need pants in order to help place ornaments on the Christmas tree. I heard she did a good job with them and let Grandpa hang the fragile ornaments.

Rowan and Grandma made some crafts too. Here she is making a snowman with glitter. She gave him a button for nose.

Here is Rowan's angel that she made - glitter and all. I know she had a really good time at the Allord's house. Many thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for their hospitality and generosity!

While the cat's away...

....this mouse will play.

After Thanksgiving, Rowan spent a few days at Grandma and Grandpa Allord's house.
We had only Harvey and Ursula to watch at home, so that meant it was somewhat quiet. There were no wrestling matches to referee, no fights, less crying....
I attempted to make some home made play-dough for Harvey, but it turned out more like rainbow pizza dough. He wasn't too sure of it at first but then he enjoyed playing with it.

When it was time to wrap up, he became quite upset and did not want to put it away.

Harvey and Maverick are enjoying watching the squirrels. The window is at that perfect height for both of them.
Harvey didn't ever ask about Rowan and didn't mind one bit that she was away.

Thanksgiving 2009

This Thanksgiving, we had our family meal at my folk's house in Janesville. Besides my family and my parents, we were also joined by my Aunt Carolyn, Uncle Darrell and my cousin Sean (from Omaha). Andy and I wanted to do most of the cooking for the meal and wanted to try something different this year. We wanted a non-traditional meal. After tossing around ideas such as Chinese stir fry, crab rangoons, enchiladas, tacos, curry, and arabic foods....it finally dawned on us to try making a meal that reflected our heritage - German! We tried quite a few new recipes I found online and it all turned out pretty good.
Rowan was a very good helper and offered to wash dishes while we were cooking in the kitchen. When that batch was done, she took off her apron. Aunt Carolyn said she would set it aside so Rowan knew where to find it if she washed more dishes later. Rowan replied, "No, I'm done washing dishes."

We got the dishes and food on the table for a 3 o'clock meal. Both kids were very hungry and Harvey was tired. He normally naps about this time.

From top to bottom: Sweet and sour green beans with bacon crumbles, German potato salad, Spatzel with paprika chicken, home made saurkraut, applesauce, and pork loin roast with yam stuffed granny smith apples.

It all looked so good, but poor Ursula didn't get to eat it.

Here is the apple strudel I made.
Whoops! I forgot to drizzle the glaze on it.

Rowan did a good job eating her meal and she got a small slice of chocolate peanut butter pie. I think that pie was the only non-German dish served.
I'm very thankful we were able to share time with our family. I am also grateful that the foods I made turned out tasty!

Late November

Harvey's latest silliness has him crawling under Ursula when she's at her activity table. He giggles when she steps on him.

Rowan played peek-a-boo with Ursula the other day. Ursula was just squealing with delight.

It's great when the kids can entertain one another while I'm fixing their lunch.

And when Rowan saw I had the camera, she said I should take a photo of her. When I held up the camera, this was the pose she came up with. Pretty creative of her. :)