the January lull...

Isn't it always the case that January is just a bit dull after the excitement of all the holidays? Well, with being sick this year over the holidays, we've just been trying to get well and get the house back in order since then. Plus, it's been so cold for a chunk of the month that we just didn't do much that we didn't have to. I guess we did have a few "exciting" things happen, though.

Christohper did get his first haircut the first week of January - just a trim around his ears and in the back.

Before.....

During....

After....

The kids playing on the floor in the kitchen (I think I was fixing supper)....

Katherine hanging out with dad Sunday afternoon.....

We are looking forward to Christopher's birthday this week - I can't believe he's actually going to be 1-year old) and his doctor's appt on Friday. He's BIG and I'll be really interested to see how heavy and tall. More to report next week!

On the Mend

Well, John did get the stomach bug, but we are all on the mend. We are back to our "schedule" after the holidays and will FINALLY get our Christmas tree taken down tomorrow - when it's 15 degrees outside, there's not much else to do. So then Christmas will officially be over. I'll post more pictures soon. I can't believe I'm starting to think about Christopher's birthday, but we have to - 2 more weeks! He's grown so much, but it's still hard to believe it's been a year since he was born. Anyway, more time to post later. Gotta go!

Sick additions

You can add me and Katherine to the list of sickos in the house. It appears that everyone is on the mend, though. Slowly but surely. Please pray that John does not get it, as he is the only one who has managed to dodge the bullet thusfar. Also pray for healing as it's hard to care for one sick child, let alone two or three at the same time -especially when I am sick as well. Prayers for quick healing would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Happy New Year!

Well, not the greatest New Year's Eve ever. I was reminded today of last New Year's Eve when we, at 12:15 went to turn off our gas fireplace and go to bed and the knob broke, leaving us with a fire going and no way to turn it off - it took us about an hour to figure out how to turn off the gas to the fireplace without turning it off to the entire house and we had to get it fixed to the tune of a few hundred dollars. Anyway, this year was not alot better. I got Christopher up from his nap around 3:30 and he proceeded to throw up on me, followed by 3 more times over the next 2 hours. After getting him to bed around 6:00, the rest of the evening was fun and he slept great. However, at 10:00, Elizabeth threw up in her bed. She proceeded with 4 more times over the next 3 hours until finally at 2:00 I went to sleep in the couch with her on the floor beside me and the washer going with the 3rd or 4th load of laundry (sheets, clothes, towels, etc.). Fun, huh??? The are both feeling better today, but not 100%. We all slept until 8:00 this morning and then hung out and watched the Rose Parade. Elizabeth and Christopher took LONG naps this afternoon, so hopefully a good night sleep tonight will do everyone good and we will be back to normal tomorrow - am I too hopeful? School starts back on Thursday, so we will soon be back into the normal routine and figuring out if the closure of Highway 40 will affect my drive taking Katherine to school (for those who aren't in St. Louis, a 5 mile stretch of a main interstate in town is closing for a year and Katherine's school is very near it). Here's to 2008 and hoping for a great year!

Christmas Fun Part II

Christmas morning was chilly, but green - no snow. It's ok. It makes traveling easier for everyone. After Christmas Eve church, we came home, set out treats for Santa and his reindeer (peppermint bark and milk for Santa and goldfish and apple juice for the reindeer) and the kiddos went to bed. We awoke to this beautiful tree and lots of presents (there were no presents under the tree until Christmas morning). We made sausage bread for breakfast (see picture below) and for the first time I had help!

After we ate breakfast and got dressed, we set out to see what Santa left us... a Covenant Christian School shirt and dress up clothes - among other things.

Grandma and Grandpa Bauer and Grandma Dana and Grandpa Ken came over soon after and we had an enjoyable day with lots of fun, food, and family.

Katherine learned how to play "grown-up" dominos - and she even won a couple of games! She had fun playing with the grandparents while Elizabeth and Christopher were taking naps. We hope that everyone had a joyous Christmas - on to 2008!!!

Christmas Fun Part 1

The Saturday before Christmas, we went to my brother's house with my parents for the Emery Christmas festivities. For those who don't know, Kevin (my brother), John, and I went to the University of Illinois and my mom and dad went to USC. It just so happens that Illinois and USC are in the Rose Bowl this year, so Kevin got, for John and my Dad, Rose Bowl t-shirts (see below the 3 of them modeling them a bit) and also appropriate attire for watching the Rose Bowl next week. Thanks, Kevin - FUN!

We had a fun day of family time - it's always fun to get the kids together..

We got a pretty good picture of the grandkids with my parents - Kaiser, my nephew, wanted no part of it.

Here's the boy cousins - I think their first picture together!

Kim and Kaiser

Oh, yeah, and there were presents, too!

Daddy-Daughter Time

We had a full weekend of Christmas activities, and they started last Friday nite with some "Daddy Daughter Time" for Katherine & I. We went to a Dierberg's Cooking School Gingerbread House Class. Julie had done the honors of preparing the house pieces ahead of time, and Katherine and I had the fun of decorating the class. Katherine was very creative, working in the mediums of M&M's, jellybeans and wheat chex - just to name a few. It was a fun experience to create something special together and we had fun showing it off to everyone over the holidays!!

Thanks Katherine for a great Daddy-Daughter Date!