I know it's been a long time since I updated, but life is just so busy! It's good though....we never have a dull moment! Since Christmas, I've been busy getting the kids caught up in their school work. we took off quite a while for the holidays. It was SO nice to enjoy the holidays without having to teach but now we are putting in a little bit extra time each day to get caught up to where we were before.
I also have been busy doing a little bit of babysitting and sewing on the side. The extra $$ is always nice. As for the sewing, I will try to post pics later.

Caleb enjoys his pancakes!

The two boys having fun on a dino at the Creation Museum. Yes...we went for the third
time a couple weeks ago. We haven't yet tired of it :)

The kids just itching to get the presents opened!

Caleb loved his Mega Bloks he got

This pic deserves quite an explanation! Lauren had started embroidering a
towel this fall, but when she ran into some trouble with it
and then started back to school, the sampler got neglected. One day back in early Nov. she
told me to NEVER look under her bed. On two different occasions she sneaked
the sampler to her great aunts and her grandma for help. The
end result was what I opened for Christmas. She made the towel
into a pillow for our bed and also had made a "wall hanging" all
on her that said "I love you Mom". When I opened it and saw what she
had been hiding under bed, I immediately started crying. It was just TOO Sweet.
I am so proud of my little girl and all her hard work!

Lauren also took her own money and bought Fire truck fleece for
the boys and made them each a blanket. The only thing
I did was cut them to size and slit the edges. She did
the rest, The boys were quite excited and
she was thrilled!

Michael and his new firetruck!!(Quite a battery hog! LOL!)

Caleb inspecting his new toys

Lauren and the art set she was wishing for!

The only thing on my list...a new coat. Guess I was good this year!

Caleb LOVES his new ball pounding boat

I love that look of surprise!!. Made all my hard work worthwhile!

A rare moment....Chris laughing for a camera. He couldn't contain his
joy. I knew he wanted a IPOD Nano (Gen3) pretty bad, so I put aside
babysitting money for a while. The joke was that I had to work pretty hard to throw
him off. For some reason, he was pretty sure he was going to
get one. I went so far as to wrap a Target gift card and included
a picture of one. So after all the gifts were all unwrapped, there was still no
IPOD. I think he gave up by that point. The trick was....I had it in his stocking. So
the picture is the result of finding the IPOD in the toe of his stocking. It
was worth it......and I might add, he's putting it to good use!!!

Lauren with Kirsten in one of her new outfits she got

I made Lauren and Kirsten matching night gowns. Lauren was thrilled
so it was worth the many hours I put into them.

For Christmas, we went to N Carolina and stayed with Kendall
and Leanna in their new house. I know it's not
a very good picture, but I think you can still what a lovely house they
have. I realized as we were getting ready to leave, we needed to get a picture!
Maybe a better one next time!

We had LOADS of fun eating and playing games. In this picture, we were playing "Pit".
If you've ever played it, you know how lively and noisy it can be. I guess it
made quite an impression on Caleb. Whenever he sees this picture, or if we talk about
Kendall or Leanna, or Josh, he starts saying "two, two, two." Its
so funny!

Opening presents Christmas Day

Michael playing his "car driving game" he wanted so badly! He
had plenty of help showing him how to play!



The kids with Uncle/Officer Kendall. They seemed a little
more subdued after seeing him in his uniform :)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Festivities

Finally....I've got one afternoon free to blog a little bit. This Christmas season has really been a busy one, but it's really been fun too! I enjoy all the busy-ness of the Season as long as it doesn't get packed too full! Last week we had a function of some kind to go to every night. This week has been full, but really nothing outside....just full of things we're done together as a family.
I realized after I uploaded all these pictures, that chronologically they are out of order. Sorry!
A week ago Friday night was our Young Adult Ministries party with our church youth group. The Durrs graciously provided babysitting so we were able to enjoy all the food and games without little ones!
Liz C. graciously hosted the party at her aunt's house in Indian Hill. It was a BEAUTIFUL house in a beautiful location!

The evening was full of good food and lots of laughs!

We played a game (not sure of the name ) where you start passing a large present. You keep passing till the music stops than furiously unwrap till the music starts again. If you get a layer opened (there are many layers to the gift) you get to keep whatever you unwrapped. Very fun!

Passing the box.....

Playing "Battle of the Sexes"

Thursday night was the Aldersgate Academy Christmas program. This year since Lauren and Michael are both in Music class, they were both in the choir. Below is a pic of Michael and his
Music Class friend, Kimberly. They always stood side by side like little angels and didn't move!

The kindergarten class provided the Nativity scene in the play.

Lauren and Caroline....very good friends!

Wednesday I took the kids to the Conservatory to try to get some Christmas pictures. Our good friends, Jenn and Katrin joined us there. We didn't get very good pictures, but we had a good time anyway!

Caleb and Katrin hugging.....for now! lol!

The sheep outside at the live Nativity were very close while eating. The kids were very excited! Since we live so close, this has definitely become a tradition! Sometimes we visit the animals several times!
Tuesday night was the annual staff and faculty (GBS) Christmas Party held out at the Higher Ground facilities in IN. It is always decorated VERY beautifully and was very enjoyable.


The highlight of the evening is the kids receiving their presents from President Avery. Caleb was able to walk up this year!

Girls opening their gifts.

Michael with friends, Adam and Alex Kelly.

Best friends.....

On our way home, since the temp was in the 50's, our family decided to enjoy Fountain Square a little bit. It was decorated so pretty and made a great place for some pictures. What I thought was interesting were people's comments about Lauren's hair. From previous pictures maybe you can see that I had braided it in a crown. Several people downtown commented on how beautiful it was and also a couple of the waitresses at Higher Ground. It struck me funny because you see it done so much at church. Maybe not a crown always, but French braids of some sort. I never really thought is was a big deal, but I guess others do.

A nice guy offered to snap a family picture by the skating rink.

Visiting a horse from the carriage rides downtown.

Looking in the store window.....I thought it made a neat pose.

Although I don't have pictures, crammed into last week was the Annual Christmas Walk-through here at GBS. The Staff and Faculty open their homes to the students for Christmas treats and drinks, etc. The dorms are also open as well. I'm not sure how many students and other staff and faculty friends we had in our house that evening, but I went through over 60 disposable cups....so I'm guessing it was around 60. The kids were thrilled!
We have since visited the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo, the Creation Museum (again), and went to the library to see the "Art Reach Theatre Co. of Cincinnati" production of the "Christmas Carol. We have visited with friends this week, and Wed night we enjoyed helping our Young Adult Ministry wrap and deliver Christmas presents to "Angel Tree" recipients.
We kicked off this week of events by singing in the cantata at our church. The title was "Mary Did You Know?" directed by Kristen Foster (who does an awesome job!). I hope the audience enjoyed hearing it as much as we did preparing and performing it!
After typing all this, I've realized just how busy we've been, but also how much fun we've had. Last year I was really struggling (with being sick) to celebrate the holidays. I didn't feel like doing ANYTHING. So this year I've kind of celebrated with a vengeance!!! I'm so thrilled to be enjoying this all with my family....that alone would be Christmas enough! Hope you all are enjoying the Season as well!!

Hurray for a brave politician!

Christmas Time Is Here !

After the program Saturday night.....
The Music Division........

Shepherds: Nathaniel Davison, Brandon Klotz, Lucas Ryder, Andrew Dahler,
Joseph and Mary/ Dwight Habecker, Heather Frazier Baby Jesus/ Hannah Deuel