Like a shot in the arm...

Allie had a doctor's appointment this morning for her 4 year check-up. And thanks to her daddy, they went ahead and gave her her next set of shots. Oh well, at least they are over with now. We told her she had to have them so she could start school, but she wasn't really buying it. She did fine till we got back to the room, then you could see her little cheeks turn red and you could tell she wasn't feeling so good. When the nurse brought the shots in, she really flipped out, but when they actually stuck her she calmed down. She got a sucker, a sticker and four bandaids- who could ask for more? Poor baby, she got five shots, in the arm this time. Olivia also got a shot, but she didn't even know what hit her. The nurse was so fast she didn't even have time to cry. On the way to the appointment, Claire kept insisting that she wanted a shot too, but she quickly changed her tune when she saw where we were. For once, she was happy not to be included.

Well, we hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year's Eve and New Year. We don't have any big party plans, just having a little party here at home. Have a great day!

It could work for you, too...

I got a swivel sweeper for Christmas and I am quickly discovering how valuable it is. Just check out the pics below and you'll see what I mean:






Allie LOVES this thing. When she sees a tiny crumb on the floor, she busts this sucker out (no pun intended) and away she goes! Before long she's going to be making messes just so she can clean them up...

We've got a climber...

This is her latest accomplishment... this girl loves to climb!






Random quotes from the week:

After Claire failed to make it to the bathroom (during naptime):
Allie: "Mom, when Claire poops in my room, it makes me want to burp!"

After painting, Allison wanted to get her Wiggles mat out. I told her she had to clean up the paint first... her response (in a very polite tone): "Well, I think you should clean it up since you got it out for me." Needless to say, she got to put the paint up.

Happy Birthday to Nita (28th) and Brant (today), Hope you both have a great day and year!

16 mos old today...


After finding Olivia rummaging through some cake decorating stuff, Allie says, "Mom, what are we gonna do with that girl? Maybe we should give her away."


Not too much going on around here....

Allie and Claire love to paint... thanks Aunt Cheryl!

They came... at last!

As part of the girls' Christmas presents, my mom made them some new coats. My parents shipped them about 2-3 weeks ago, but they never came.... till today. We had all about given them up for lost, but lo and behold the UPS truck was able to get to our house today (yea!). Here's a pic of the girls modeling their coats. They are super cute and fit perfectly! Thanks mama/grandma, you did a great job, as always!

Christmas Morning

We hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas. We are home enjoying a lazy day, playing with new toys and gadgets. Here's a few pictures of what our day's been like (just throw in a little screaming and fighting over toys :)


Santa found us afterall...


Ticked-off b/c Claire took one of her dials off... (Thank you grandma and papa for the toy, she loves it!)


"I'm gonna ride in this thing even if it's with one leg in..."

"Finally... she's out."

"Fine, Claire... you can ride, but I'm driving."

These next few I took a few days ago. We've gotten more since then, but everything looks about the same, just deeper.

This is out our back door...

The girls have fun riding their bikes down the driveway...

The path to nowhere... the neighbors started clearing off the sidewalk so we finished it off; but now it's all covered up again.

White Christmas

Well, it's looking like we're gonna have a white Christmas here in the Northwest.... and a white New Year's and Valentine's and Easter and Fourth of July (just kidding, but not really). So for tomorrow, Charlie has to work through till Christmas morning, so weather permitting, the girls and I are heading to Dale & Peggy's tomorrow afternoon for a little Christmas party with their family. Then Christmas morning we will spend together opening presents.

To all of our family, we hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! We REALLY miss spending this Christmas with you, but we are very excited about seeing all of you soon! We love you -
Charlie, Anna, Allie, Claire and Olivia

Symphony

Saturday night Charlie and I actually got to go out by ourselves. Originally we were going to go out to dinner and a movie, but then Dale and Peggy (cousins) offered us their tickets for the symphony and offered babysitting. What a deal! We went and ate Italian food then went to the Holiday Pops concert. It was a lot of fun and very nice to get out and be by ourselves. The girls had a great time, too. Going to "Peggy's house" is the next best thing to going to Grandma's. Allie was thrilled that they ate fishsticks and frenchfries (so easily satisfied!). It was totally a win-win situation.

Update on the weather: First of all it is downright frigid. If you're out for more than 2-3 minutes your face freezes and you can't talk right. The snow, of course, is still around. We got about 4 more inches today. We haven't had the "blizzard conditions" that some people have asked about. It was windy today but not that bad, mostly just gray and snowy. I am very thankful, though, that it is all snow and not ice. The roads are slick but we don't have power outages and such, so that is a huge blessing. Please pray that the weather gets better, we are all getting a good dose of cabin fever.

I thought these were kind of funny...

These notices were on the Spokane county web page...

The public is reminded that snow-covered small cars that are parked on the side of the road can be mistaken for a pile of snow that needs to be plowed out of the way. Remove your car immediately, or clear off enough snow that it can be easily identified as a vehicle.

DO NOT ALLOW CHILDREN TO DIG TUNNELS OR BUILD FORTS IN SNOW BERMS IN THE MIDDLE OR ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD OR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET! Plow operators cannot see children hidden in the snow! Children should be restricted to playing in yards, parks and playgrounds.

Important Note: yards, parks and playgrounds can not be identified currently as they are covered with 3 ft of snow

The latest trend in fitness...

Shoveling snow. It's all the rage here. Five or six times a day and you'll have arms you never thought you could have.

Things are looking a little better around here today. The snow has stopped for the most part, which we are very thankful for and the sun is shining. I think our snow total was around 28 in (on top of the existing 4), that's what Charlie heard this morning, hard to say for sure. It's very dry and powdery, great for the skiing I'm sure, plus you don't get soaked when you have be out in it. Charlie was able to venture out to work yesterday afternoon. The worst part was getting out of our neighborhood, but with the help of several of our neighbors, we finally got him out. He took call last night, then got home a little while ago. He said he was actually busy all night; people were actually coming in for scheduled inductions. Crazy! Well, that's all we know for now. They're expecting more snow on Sunday/Monday (can't wait!) and no temps above 20 till Jan. Plenty more reasons why we are ready to head to the lower 47 (jk).

Chains and snowtires required...

That's pretty much the consensus around here, and of course we don't have either. We are literally snowed in. Spokane has had around 23-25 in of snow in the past 24 hours and it is not finished yet. I have never seen this much snow, granted I've never lived in a snowy place, but even people here are saying this is a record for a 24 hour period. We started our day, dark and early at 6 a.m. when Charlie attempted to go to work. He didn't make it past the driveway. We spent the next 2 hours trying to get his pickup back in the garage. Then he gets the great idea to try it in my car since it is a little better equipped for snow.... that was a no-go as well. So he gets to spend the day at home. Maybe tomorrow, too. The crazy thing is we've met almost all our neighbors this morning as everyone is out shoveling snow and pushing each other's cars out (actually back into their driveways b/c there's no getting out). So here' s a few pics.

Can you tell I'm running out of things to do?

This is how we've spent our day. The snow is coming down like crazy and is supposed to continue through tomorrow night. It is really pretty! I can only remember one time growing up when I saw this much snow, growing up in Texas it just didn't happen much. So I am enjoying it.

Charlie got off work this morning and he stopped and got me roses for my birthday- what a good guy! He also got me a new Casting Crowns Christmas cd, which is very good. I went the day after Thanksgiving and bought a new comforter set for our bedroom, so I told Charlie he didn't have to get me anything else, but he surprised me anyway. My hubby is also making me dinner (tortilla soup) and a lemon meringue pie (yum!) for dessert.

More snow

Didn't your mother tell you it's cold outside?

I promise these are not the same children I dressed this morning.

The big 2-9

I'm 29 today. For anyone reading this (who is older than 29), do you remember anything vivid or exciting from 29? I'm pretty sure most of my years just run together so I was just wondering. Anyway, Happy Birthday to me!

Aw, mom... it's just a little marker

Let me see if she's available...

If you've called our house in the last few months, you probably had to go through Allison on the phone first. She LOVES to talk on the phone, and answer it. So this morning, I fixed the girls up watching Dora so I could shower and get dressed. When I was done, I came downstairs and noticed the phone laying next to the couch.

Me: "Allie, did someone call?"
Allie (in one long breath): "Yeah, it was your mom she couldn't talk to you so I said I love you and I hung her up."
Me: "Grandma called? Why didn't you bring me the phone (as previously instructed)?"
Allie: "Cause you were busy."

So a few minutes later, I called my mom back and she laughed at my secretary. She said (after about a 15 minute conversation with Allie), " I asked to talk to you, but she said you were busy. I said "can you take the phone to mama?" She said no b/c you were taking a shower." We both laughed.


So, if you call, I'd be happy to talk to you, but you'll have to get through my secretary first.

Before the day is over...

I realize both of you are probably asleep by now, well maybe not, but we just wanted to say Happy Birthday to Eric and Jase. We hope you both have (had) a great birthday today!

They weren't kidding....

About the snow, that is. It started yesterday afternoon and has snowed on and off since then. Heavier at times, but now the wind is blowing pretty hard and the temp is dropping. When Charlie got home from work last night, he took the girls out to play. He shoveled off the driveway, then they took turns sledding down it. We also had a little snowball fight, mostly Charlie and me, but they girls got into it a little.
Claire was not amused by the snowballs. She accidently got one in the cheek and it was all downhill from there. She insisted on going inside.


This was after she got hit with the snowball. She did not let Charlie forget about that one. She's still talking about it today.


In the snowy street...



Allie going down the driveway... they used the shovel for their sled

Charlie and Olivia... she really likes the snow

This morning I took the girls out... it was cold!

Allie trying to take Olivia for a ride, but she kept falling off.

We're supposed to hit -1 tonight... burrrr! Monday we're supposed to have a high of 2. That's a HIGH of 2 degrees.

Christmas lights...

Thurday night we went out to see some Christmas lights. We were out on a boat in the middle of a lake, it was really windy and cold! It was also really foggy which made it difficult to get any good pictures. The lights were pretty good, but the girls (all 5 of them) really had a good time. Afterwards we went and ate at a little restaurant downtown and there were some carollers who came around and sang. This first picture shows them; they came over and sang for the girls- they were really good!



Singing Christmas Carols...



Allison, the diva. Those are sunglasses she has on. You know that fog gets pretty bright! :)




A shot of some of the lights...




Us...

Warming up with some hot chocolate...

Lucus and Natalie...

More lights...

HE does it again!

I got a job offer today- I'm so excited! It's with another female dentist in Enid. She was super nice the other day when I talked to her, but in our initial conversation she didn't sound like she really had room for a second associate. Then today, when I got back from running errands, I found a message from her on our machine. So I called and she said she had done some thinking and talked it over with her other associate and she wanted to offer me a couple days week. She's in the middle of building a new practice, so once that is complete I would have the option of working more. Once again, God delivers in the unexpected way! I have not given a final answer b/c I wanted a little time to think it over, but it sounds like a great opportunity for us. Please continue to pray for us.

Since I had my moment to wallow in self pity, I've gotten my sanity back. And I was able to get all the laundry done which made me feel like a new person. There's something about a clean house and all laundry washed and put away that just boosts my spirits. Call me anal, but it gives me a nice sense of accomplishment. And I know there are more of you control freaks just like me out there. (You know, the ones who have to have all your lines straight when you vacuum.)

Anyway, I appreciate all the nice comments and your prayers. And really, I don't have room to complain about anything; we have more than plenty and we are all healthy. I just often forget how spoiled we really are.

We are looking forward to tonight. We are going to Couer d'Alene to see their big Christmas light display with some friends of ours. We have become really good friends with a couple here, they are stationed here with the Air Force. They have two little girls, ages 4 and 1. Our girls just love all of them so they are really excited about all of us going out tonight. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow. Oh, and we're supposed to get a big snow starting tomorrow. Their saying 8-12 inches for Spokane. I'm kind of excited, it's not that often I see that much snow. Hope everyone has a good day!

Encouragement comes in the form of the dryer repair man

This week has been pretty crazy to say the least and it is only Wednesday. Monday we spent the day running all over town buying Christmas presents (actually I ran all over town, I think Charlie went to maybe two stores) but I think we got it all done. Then yesterday, our dryer quit and the day got even better when my prospective job fell through. Then to top it off, Claire took such a long afternoon nap, that she peed in her bed, but I couldn't wash her bedding b/c I had no way of drying them. Needless to say, I was getting a little stressed. Stressed b/c we just spent a good chunk of money on presents, then the dryer breaks, I lose my job, and we are trying to build a house and move in a month which will require more money. I'm stressing about money and typically that's Charlie's job. So back to the long story; I had agreed to work 3 days a week at one place, but then yesterday they informed me that they now want a full-time dentist instead so they offered me that. Not really interested in that, so today I spent the day talking to several doctors trying to find a place to work. I did find one that was optimistic, so I'm praying that something will work out there. And it is nearby where we will be living so that is even better since the other would have been a pretty long commute. I was pretty bummed about the first job not working out, but then something in my head (or maybe it was just Charlie) kept telling my that perhaps God will open up a better opportunity for me. Anyway, I'm trying to stay optimistic about it. I just hate job hunting... with a passion. And it's even worse doing it from 1700 miles away. Oh well, I know God will provide. Things did start looking up when he sent a nice man to fix our dryer today. It was the end of the day and the guy had already worked us in to his schedule, then he told me that the part we needed he didn't have with him so he would have to run into town to get it. But he said he didn't mind going and getting it if it wouldn't interfere with my schedule. I told him I would gladly wait for him. So about an hour later (about 5:30) he was back and he fixed the dryer good as new. Then out of the blue he started asking me about my family and such. He asked what my husband did for a living, yada... yada... yada. I told him he was a doctor, so he goes on to say he doesn't see how young couples do it these days, coming out of medical school in debt up to their eyes ( I just kept nodding in agreement). Then, he surprised me by saying, "Well, you'll do fine. God will bless you..." Amazing how God provided a complete stranger to give me just the encouragement I needed after these last couple of days of craziness. And it didn't cost us out the wazoo. And Claire can have clean sheets. Things are definately looking up.

Party Time...

This past weekend was super busy for us. We had Allie's birthday party on Saturday, then Sunday Charlie had to work so the girls and I went to church then we came home and got ready for our small group (from church) which we have at our house every Sunday evening. We had a lot of fun but we were all exhausted (still are). Here are the pics from her party (they are in backwards order). She wanted Strawberry Shortcake so we had to oblige. We invited the kids from her sunday school class (about 8 kids), but they all had siblings and everyone showed up. It was a little chaotic but I think they all had a good time, even the adults.



After-party race in the backyard to work off a little sugar :)







Decorating sugar cookies

Opening her presents

The cake (made by her daddy)

Blowing out her four candles