You wouldn't believe what I have sitting on my kitchen counter - about 20 minnows in a cleaned out cider jug being air-rated by Jerry's old air compressor that doesn't work well enough for filling tires, but is making the fish dizzy. The minnows are left over from the guys ice-fishing trip today. Great! :)

Happy Birthday Anna!

Anna had her birthday right before Christmas. Emily was in a rare mood and wanted her picture taken, so she snuck in next to Grandma. :)
Happy Birthday Anna!!

The Adults at Christmas

We forgot to get a huge group picture, and some kids had left, so we went with the adult picture this year. :) Easier to arrange, less stressful, but still eyes were going different directions. :) Fun memories!

Crack-Shot Josiah

Josiah LOVES hunting. He was out target practicing with his gun, and this wild rabbit made the mistake of moving. He's been hunting it for while, but was glad to finally bring it in.

Emily with The Boys

I'm gonna 'hoot' you!

Ryan and Mark have been helping Emily dress up in their western stuff. She loves it!! She runs around with them, trying to keep up with what they are doing. She likes to think she's in charge, but usually they are cleverly directing her. :)

Sister Love!

Everyone should have a big sister like this.
She plays dolls, reads books, sets up tea parties, does nails, goes sledding, bounces on the tramp, and gives lots of hugs and kisses. :) And she even takes a picture so we get to remember those fun times.

Cookie Baking

We've been doing alot of cookie baking last week. Emily really enjoyed the candy kiss cookies. :) She helped unwrap the kisses, and carefully taste tested the final result. :)
We still have fudge to make, and the roll-outs and gingerbread are mixed up, but not cooked yet. We'll see what day we get them made. I love my gingerbread recipe made with honey and lots of spices. So thick and nummy.

Narnia Premiere

On December 10th, at 12:00 am, we went with friends and family to the Narnia Premiere!!! We had a blast! We arrived early enough to visit and hang out together, eating popcorn and candy. What a fun memory and movie. :)
Girls:

Boys:

Dad & Mark:

Pre-movie Narnia game! :)

Ouch!

I sprained my ankle bad on Saturday morning. Been keeping my foot up (as much as I can stand), and icing it. Don't like the hobbling around. Every morning when I jog, my prayer is one of thankfulness that I get to jog that morning, as I really enjoy it (once I'm out the door). My mantra lately:
Lord gives, and Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

WAA - A few more pictures.

Our squadron's Public Affairs Officer shared some pictures of the day.
This was the hardest to watch. My heart ached for this Dad:

Honoring a soldier after placing a wreath:

Taking wreaths around the cemetary:

Getting the correct information on where we will be working.
See the big pile of wreaths:


A few of the crew line up for a picture.

A beautiful wreath-filled cemetary:

Pictures by Maj. Sprouse.

Wreaths Across America 2010

Saturday, I took three cadets (my two boys and a friend) to the annual Wreaths Across America at a cemetary an hour and a quarter away from us. We packed the car well, in case we ended up in a ditch. The roads were terrible by us, but better as we headed north.

After meeting our group, we caravaned north, and eventually made it to our destination - Camp Ripley - where we participated in a ceremony, and then all headed out to put the wreaths on the gravesites. It was cold, but enthusiasum was high.
It was very moving to present arms at two gravesites where the families placed wreaths on soldiers that had died within the past year. Sobering.

The cemetary looked beautiful after we were done. I was so glad we made the treck to participate, despite the storm.

On the way back, the roads were driveable until we hit the last three miles off the main road to our driveway. Driving those three miles was like taking our van in a ditch. We couldn't slow down, or we would have been stuck in the middle of the road. The drifts were unbelieveable! I was bouncing through them with snow flying by the windows, and the boys encouraging me to not stop or slow down. :) I just hung on, and kept going. What a relief to turn into the driveway!
I'm already looking forward to participating next year.

Jeffrey's Fine Arts Night - 2010

Last Friday was Jeffrey's first Fine Arts event! We were excited to go see him perform percussion that evening. Joy and I made cookies and brownies to bring. I ended up getting no pictures of him during the performance. :( But have a video clip! which I'm going to try to upload. It was an awesome night of song and Christmas cheer. Thanks, Jeffrey!! and Great Job!!

My Sweet Ballerina :)

Emily's been joining her little friend, Maddy, while she takes lessons from Joy.
It's been a blast and Emily just loves getting to dance with her friend.
They are so sweet. :)

Up the Down Staircase

Last weekend, Josiah was in a play called, "Up the Down Staircase". He was one of the rascals in the back of class. Jerry & I thought he did too good of job. :) One of his teachers came up to us at intermission, and said that she could see that Josiah would like to act that way during class, but not to worry, he doesn't. Thanks, we needed that encouragement. He did a great job flying off his chair when he tipped it over (the audience gasped). He pushed kids out of the way, slouched, dropped books, talked while the teacher was talking, etc. You can see in the pictures above, that he got a chance to talk to the teacher one-on-one.
Way to Go, Josiah!!! Great Job!!!

I Dream of Homework?

The other night Jerry was up working on the furnace, which was giving us trouble. He crawled in to hear me talking about homework in my sleep.
Homework?! Yeah, I worry alot about the boys not getting their homework done.
But this is crazy. :)

I'm Tired with a capital T.

A week to two weeks ago, I was too busy and forgot to take my synthroid for at least 5 days. I knew it didn't affect a person right away, but wasn't sure how long it would take, or whether I'd even notice. I guess I noticed. Now I'm paying for it. Anyways, I think that is why I feel like someone tied a ten ton brick to my legs. I'm not sick. Just tired. Bummer. Hope it doesn't last five days.
Resolution: I will take my thyroid meds. I will. I will!
And I'd go take them, but it's such a project to get oneself up from a seated position.

More Cute Quips

This past week, Josiah & I were up late doing Geometry homework. We were discussing obtuse, acute, and right triangles.
Josiah asked,"This is an acute triange. Right?"
"Yes," I replied.
Emily who was standing close, looked over, and said, "That's not a cute triangle. Only little ones are cute." :)

What?!

We were talking about Emily and funny things she has said. We remembered this one:

One day we were hanging around at home, when 2 year old Emily started singing, "I don wanna wiv. I don wanna wiv!" We were shocked and wondering where she came up with that!! Then we remembered that the older kids had been singing the song, "Comatose". It goes: "I don't want to live, I don't want to breathe, 'les I feel You next to me."
It was ok at home, but when she started singing it at the grocery store, I strongly encouraged singing something else, and no more singing that song around Emily! :)

Quit Taking Pictures of Me!

But you are so cute! :) Even when you are screaming at me. :)

Ryan's Broken Arm

Ryan broke his arm awhile back. He tried to do a no handed cartwheel off the tramp. He landed it successfully a couple times, but then missed and landed with his weight on one hand. It broke clean through the bone, just above the wrist on his radius. (Yes, I did lecture him later on what came next - his neck! And don't you ever do that again! :) They actually splinted it, which was really nice, as eventually I was able to take it off so that he could shower, and then wrap it back up. The Dr. told Jerry that he could cut off the ends of the splint (by the fingers) in a week or so, so that he could use more of his fingers. It worked so nice. He now has his splint off, and is enjoying the use of his arm.