Since my last post things were going well. Andy and I went out for Valentine's Day to this really awesome restaurant that's so expensive we wouldn't ever go more than once a year, but that is completely worth the money. We had an awesome night, and the kids spent the night with Andy's dad, which was so nice. We went to bed around 11:00, which seems to be normal for us these days, but instead of everyone popping their heads in just as the sun comes up around 7:00am, we slept until 11:00am! We were both shocked at what time it was when his dad called to tell us he was bringing the kids home. Anyways, Andy's also been working on finishing a room in our house downstairs. He's done so great. He built a wall and turned it into 2 rooms, and is putting in a bathroom. This is a picture of him sitting in a pile of dirt and concrete in the house to get the plumbing done. It was after a long day of jack-hammering and sawing and digging. I had to ask him in my sweetest voice to smile, because while he was in a surprisingly good mood for everything he'd done, he wasn't really in the mood to pose for pictures. The things I do for the sake of the blog. Last Sunday we had about an inch of snow, which had all melted by the time we got home from church. But, it was still snowing so we had to go out and play. The kids were freezing, so thank goodness we didn't have to stay out long. Falling snow just isn't near as fun as fallen snow. And, here's Alli all cheerful and pretty dressed up as Sleeping Beauty. So, after that, we got a little careless and left a pair of scissors sitting on the bathroom counter, and inevitably a child got them. Evan cut all of his bangs to the scalp and a big chunk out of the top. Andy had to shave it, which was traumatic for both me and him. He actually cried and keeps reassuring himself that his hair will be back. And after that it's been all down hill. He started running a fever Wednesday night, and Thursday I thought he was over it. I was telling everyone how nobody's been sick all winter and we dodged a bullet, and then that night I woke up at 3:00am to the sounds of big dry heaves. Thank goodness that's mostly all it was. I did have to change his sheets, but his clothes were fine and he didn't need a bath. He threw up all day Friday, and by that evening he was throwing up every 15 minutes and his fever was going up. We ended up taking him to the emergency room because he couldn't stand up and was just looking really pitiful - especially with his newly bald head. He was a little dehydrated, but not enough to start an I.V., so we came home and gave him a popsicle, which he kept down, and put everyone to bed. Saturday he only threw up once, and he ate 2 popsicles, but he didn't seem to feel any better. So, today, me and Drew and Alli went to church, and just as they were passing around the Lord's supper, Alli announced that she didn't feel good. We ran to the bathroom and made it just in time for her to throw up all of her breakfast. So, as of now, she hasn't thrown up again, but she's running a fever. I'm just praying that I don't get it. I absolutely don't have time to be sick!!!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. We've had a busy couple of weeks, although none of it has been exciting. Just the regular millions of things to do. It's funny to watch kids grow up and start saying grown up things. Evan and Alli have started saying things like "this is delicious" and they've discovered that when they don't want to answer a question or do what I tell them, a good response is "I don't feel good." Sunday, my uncle Tom, my dad's twin brother, was at church with us, and when we asked Alli who he was (because he looks exactly like my dad), she simply said, "I don't feel good." On the other hand, Drew has picked up all these little expressions at school, but it's funny because she doesn't quite know how to use them. For example, the other day I told her to put her book bag away, and as she was getting up to do it, she said, "You can say that again." She also told me that she has a friend at school who is getting on her nerves because she keeps trying to be "popular." When I asked her what she was doing to be popular, she said that she keeps saying "Holla," which for anyone who may not know is an incredibly annoying slang version of "Holler back." or "Call me later," or something. I've also decided that being a parent drives logical, intelligent adults to insanity, not simply for the fact that you walk around singing "Elmo's song," or find yourself at the dinner table telling 2-year-olds to put their underwear back on (things you never thought you'd say at the dinner table), but because one sign of insanity is that you do the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome. My children have made me insane because I say the same thing over and over (don't play in the toilet, stay out of my make up, etc.) and I expect them to do it every time, and I actully get upset that they don't, even though they never have in the past. It reminds me of that old tootsie pop commercial where the kid is trying to find out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop, and nobody knows because they always end up biting it. Well I wonder how many times a parent says the same thing over and over before the kid actually does it on their own. The world may never know.
By the way, you can tell it's been a busy week because there aren't many pictures. This picture of Alli is her showing off her busted lip. Nobody told me there was a main artery in you bottom lip, but aparently there is because when it's hit it bleeds profusely and you'll be convinced that your child just knocked out half their teeth. This picture of the kids sleeping cracked me up. They all sleep in the same room and then the other room is a play room. Andy built a trundle bed for Evan, which people have referred to as a drawer. Poor Evan for having to sleep in a drawer. Anyways, one night I was at school and Andy got called out to work, so his dad came over and watched the kids. Evan and Alli convinced him that Evan is supposed to sleep on the little fold out couch, so he put the couch up on the bed for Evan to sleep on. And then there's Drew with her leg flopped over the edge. Pay no attention to the mutilated mini-blind in the background. This is me and the kids killing time in the car while Andy ran into a store, and then me and Drew one night when I actually took time to fix up. It doesn't happen very often so we had to capture it on film.

This weekend on a spur of the moment whim we went up to Gatlinburg. Andy and I usually go up for our anniversary because it always falls on the MLK holiday, but this year we decided we needed a family get-away, so I called Friday about 4:00 and got a reservation, and we left by 6:00. I've never packed so fast in my life, especially with so little laundry done! Andy had to take wet jeans with him and dry them when we got there. At least they were clean. Of course, as it seems to be this time every year, they were calling for snow up there this weekend, so when we were about 30 miles away at the bottom of the last bit of mountains we had to cross to get there, we were turned away because the mountain was closed. We ended up going about an hour out of our way around the world to get there. But, the kids slept the whole time, so it wasn't too bad. We got there about midnight and crashed. Our place was really nice. We got this 2-bedroom condo, because there were no 1-bedrooms available, so the kids got to sleep in their own king size bed. The next day we took the kids to the aquarium up there, which was awesome. It's kind of expensive (not as expensive as Atlanta's new aquarium), but it's definitely worth the money. The kids loved it. They have this moving sidewalk that you ride a pretty good way through a glass tunnel with fish swimming all around. I've never seen the under side of so many fish before. It was weird because there were different kids of sharks right in our faces and freaky looking eels and some other really strange looking fish that I don't know the names of. It was neat, though. We also got to watch a diver feed some fish, which made me shiver because as soon as she got in there they completely swarmed her. You couldn't even see her. It was like the old Hitchcock movie, The Birds, except with fish. Of course they had the area where you could pet some of them, but all the kids would do was touch the water. They're completely fine with never touching a ray or a shark or a crab at this point. Frankly, I am too. The next day we went and saw The Chronicles of Narnia, which was great. I read the book to Drew, being the super-mom that I am :), so the movie was really exciting for her. Alli and Evan slept through most of it. They're at the perfect age to go to the movies, because they sit still and watch for the most part, and they're still free. Of course, we spent the rest of the time eating too much and laying around, which we all needed desperately - I mean the laying around part. On the way home we did get to cross the mountain and see why it was closed Friday night. There was probably 2 feet of snow at the top, and since the kids rarely see snow, we had to stop and let them play for a while. Alli wasn't crazy about it because she kept falling and freezing her hands since nobody had gloves, but Drew and Evan enjoyed getting to throw snowballs at each other and me and Andy. It's not very often that we actually allow them to throw things at each other. We're home now, and I'm spending my time doing this instead of the mountains of laundry that are nagging at me. Plus, the house is a wreck as usual, which is ridiculous since we've only been home for a day!

This week we went to Discover Mills Mall, which is an outlet mall about 45 minutes from where we live. They had some pretty neat things hanging from the ceilings, so my mom and I sat in the floor of the mall all for the sake of taking cute pictures. Evan loves posing for pictures, but he hasn't quite mastered the art of the fake smile. They also have a place where you can go race these mini electric cars complete with a mini track, so we had to stop and watch that for a while. While we were there, we happened to see the infamous Runaway Bride! It was a pretty funny event. I saw her first, and I recognized her, but couldn't remember where from. Then I thought maybe she knew us because she looked surprised to see us. Then I realized that it wasn't surprise - it was just her naturally bulging eyes - and that she was the runaway bride. She lives somewhere around here. Andy actually knows her family because her mom was part owner at a sporting goods store in Gainesville, and she (the runaway bride) worked at the OBGYN that my mom and I go to. Anyways, as for the kids, they're as wild and crazy as ever. I've been slowly and casually working on potty training for the past couple of months, and, as I suspected, it's been less than enjoyable, which is why it's been slow and casual. I refuse to stress over it. Alli has actually done pretty well. She tells me when she needs to go and only wears a diaper to bed now. Evan is another story. At first we thought he was gonna do great, because he always wanted to go, but the excitement wore off, and now he doesn't care at all. So, since they're using the toilet, we decided that we should take the door knob cover off the bathroom door to give them access to the bathroom whenever they need it. We soon regretted that decision. The toilet mysteriously started getting really sluggish. It would flush, but not really well. It finally got to the point where it was a complete disaster and it would overflow and it was just unusable. Andy plunged as much as he could and nothing helped. He decided to borrow one of those snake things from his dad and give it one more try before we caved and called a plumber. He finally pulled a washcloth, of all things, out of the toilet, which irritated and relieved us at the same time. But it still wouldn't flush. So, he started again with the snake, and this time he pulled out a zip-loc bag and a spring about an inch in diameter and about 2 inches long. We laughed in between our rants about our children's reasoning (why would flushing be the best option for getting rid of a metal spring!? - No, they didn't swallow it for anyone who might be considering that), and now the toilet works like new. However, the door knob cover has been replaced and there's no more sneaking in the bathroom. My mom says the only bad things about having kids are potty training and teaching them to drive. So far I agree.
The other pictures here are of Drew with her Barbie mansion that is completely furnished with a bathtub, bed, kitchen & somewhat working appliances (a light, a ticking timer, and a ding when the timer's finished), and a fireplace and couch. I love Barbies. This is a picture of Evan with a knot on his head that wass so big it looked like he was trying to grow a horn. It's gone down a lot. I don't know what he did. All we heard was a thump and a scream from the playroom and when we got in there it was instantly welped up. The only explanation from him or Alli was that he fell. And, here is Alli with a Happy Birthday hat on. It's a big birthday cake with candles, which are hard to see in the picture, but every time we go to my parents' house

she wears it. She spent about 30 minutes outside helping my dad gather sticks for a fire with the hat on. It's funny because she wears it around as if it were a serious fashion statement. The seriousness with which she wears it is what makes it so cute.

We made it through Christmas and it was a lot of fun. The older the kids get the more fun it becomes. This was Evan and Alli's first year to understand what was going on, so all three of them had a great time. I think today for the first time all week I feel like my house is back to normal. Toys are all out of boxes, tags are all off of clothes, and wrapping paper and tape are back where they belong. We made a trip to the Potter's House (similar to Salvation Army) yesterday to get rid of all the clothes that were too small and the toys that they've outgrown. I think because my mom was such a yard sale person when I was a kid, I have a really hard time letting things go for free, but I've decided that the time and energy it takes to put on a yard sale aren't worth the small amount of money we make. I did have one to get rid of all the big stuff (car seats, play pen, swing, etc.) but now that it's just clothes and worn out toys, it's not really worth it. So, we're still on sugar rushes from the left over stocking candy, and the kids are staying pretty sticky from candy canes and sweet tarts, but other than that Christmas is over. I mentioned before that I thought I would be sad, but I have to say that with 3 full days and 4 parties, I had my fill and I'm glad it's over. I can't wait till next year, though. Yes I can. Hope everyone has a great new year. My resolutions are the typical get in shape, eat right, be a kinder, more patient person. I never make new year's resolutions because I generally make them every Monday and they last until about lunch time, but I've decided with the year I've had, it's a good year to give it a try. By the way, these are all pictures from my mom's house. We only took video of Christmas morning at our house. Alli is showing off a new shirt, Evan is sitting next to The Thing (from Fantastic 4) and King Kong, who are hugging, and Drew is holding Sarah's baby, Colin, who is gaining all his weight in his cheeks from what I can tell. Mom also greeted us at the door with the camera, so I thought I'd include these pictures since I never put pictures of me and Andy on here.

So, this is what the holidays have done to me. I guess since I’m in school and Drew’s in school, I thought Christmas break would be a time to relax and enjoy life and get ready for Christmas. I was right about the getting ready for Christmas part, and while I am enjoying life, there is nothing relaxing about it. I actually didn’t even know this picture was on here until I went to put the pictures on the computer. Anyways, I figured since we’re the only non-Jewish people in the world who celebrate several days of Christmas, I need to start posting gradually to fit it all in. This first picture of Drew and Alli is actually at home playing dress-up. Drew is wearing her Chinese dress that Erin got her from her study-abroad thing last year, and Alli is in some sort of flapper dress that someone in the family got her. Alli thinks whenever she puts a dress on she’s Cinderella. So, here are the kids at Andy’s mom’s house on Christmas Eve Eve (the 23rd) in front of her tree. It was the first present-opening of the year, so, as you can tell from the pictures, the kids were quite wound up. They had a blast. Drew and Alli got the Cinderella talking kitchen, which you can sort of see in this picture taken this morning. This is Andy putting it together with them waiting not so patiently. Evan got a big truck full of blocks as his big gift, which he is now pushing around the house at top speed, terrorizing every one and enjoying every minute of it. This morning he got himself dressed, which I had to get a picture of since he put all his clothes on backwards. He was pretty proud, and I hated to burst his bubble and fix it. Andy said we should just let him go like that, but my OCD was screaming “It’s not right!,” so I had to fix it. By the way, I don’t really have OCD for those of you who don’t know that I self-diagnose constantly with whatever latest disease trend is out there. Well, I guess that’s it for now. We have the Clarks and Andy's dad tonight, which will definitely be a late night for us, and then tomorrow Santa comes, we have church, and then we do my family. It's funny how it's sooo busy and exhausting, but when it's over I'm kinda sad. Plus, it means I have to go back to cooking real meals. Ugh! Oh well, I need to go get my dessert made and all my pigs wrapped in blankets for the big Clark party tonight. Merry Christmas!!!

This week, we finally got in the Christmas mood. We've all been so busy that we haven't had a whole lot of time for it, but it finally happened. Wednesday we traumatized the kids by forcing them to sit with Santa and get their picture made. Drew was fine and really wanted to tell him what she wanted, but Evan and Alli were much less than thrilled. We took them to the Santa at Andy's mom's bank with all kinds of bribes. Santa had stickers, Glenda (Andy's mom) brought cookies, and I had Reece's cups. Thank goodness nobody else was in line at the time because bribes weren't cutting it. Somehow, after about 10 minutes, Andy somehow talked them both into it and the pictures turned out really good. He's just got a knack for talking people into things they don't really want to do. The Clarks are born salesmen. After Santa, we went to the Magical Nights of Lights, which is a big park that you drive through full of Christmas lights. It takes about an hour to drive through the whole thing. I think it was more fun for me and Andy to watch the kids than for the kids to watch the lights. They loved it. This is them in front of SpongeBob with Gary (his pet snail) pulling the sleigh. Immediately after the lights we went to church where Alli and Evan's teacher reported to me that they were unusually wound up during class. I guess all the excitement hadn't worn off yet! These pictures of Evan and Alli are just ones that I thought were funny. Andy keeps saying that Evan looks like a punk, and Alli just looks goofy. They're so cute, though!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. Being in school and dealing with end of the semester projects and finals has kept me pretty busy. Plus, there were the holidays and all the craziness that goes along with them. So, a lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. First, we had to take Evan to get a hair cut so he could look nice and groomed for all of our out-of-town company that was coming, and he looks so cute sitting in that barber chair. The place where I take him is so funny. There's nobody in there under 60 years old, but they're the sweetest old men, and they're so good at doing just a regular old boy haircut. So, after the haircut, Thanksgiving came. On Tuesday Drew had a little program at school. It was really cute. They made their own costumes and sang some songs and did a little play thing. She was an indian woman. You can see from the pictures how much smaller she is than everyone else. It was a really cute program, and I never thought I could be so proud. Anyways, we spent Thursday with the Clark's and then Friday with the Kinzel's. I love having Thanksgiving dinner twice. Especially since we don't have it at our house and don't get to enjoy all the leftovers. The kids did really good. These are just some pictures from my parents' house. Here's Erin reading to Alli (yes, she actually sat still for more than 30 seconds), and Evan drinking something. I don't know who's cup that is. They don't discriminate between germs. If it's drinkable, it's fine with them. This picture of Alli on the counter is her attempting to dry dishes. That was pretty cute. And, here's Alli holding the newest addition to the family, Colin. She was so excited, and once she got to sit and hold him, she decided that next she needed to stand and hold him. It was pretty funny. And, I have to add that Colin is sooo precious. He's so calm and sweet and he smells so good. In this last picture, Drew finally lost some teeth. She lost the first one the day before Thanksgiving, and then lost the other one about a week later. It was somewhat traumatic, though, because she tends to be a bit of a drama queen, which, I have to admit, she inherited from me. I remember doing the same thing. She was excited, though, and the tooth fairy brought her a 2-dollar bill for each tooth. It was fun playing the tooth fairy on the first one. The second one was fun, but Andy and I were so tired that it was a big decision deciding who would stay up till she fell asleep. We finally agreed that the fair thing would be for both of us to do it together, but I'm pretty sure Andy didn't hold out. Anyways, that's the update for now. Now that school is ending for the semester, hopefully I can keep things a little more updated.