Merry Christmas everyone!

We had a great week of Christmas activities. Praise God that we were all healthy enough to enjoy the festivities. The girls still seem to be fighting congestion, but I'm thinking it might be teething related. And I have received word that we did manage to infect a couple of family members with strep (Seth's mom, my sister Amber and niece Alyssa).

We started last Saturday with Seth's immediate family. Here is a picture of my kids with Seth's sister's boys: Mark (in the yellow shirt) and John (spiderman shirt).

Christmas Eve was a sick day at home but we did manage to open the boys' pedal tractors in the evening. Ephraim got the Case IH tractor and Emmet got the John Deere tractor. SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED!

Christmas Day was spent with my parents and we opened our stockings in the evening. The boys were most excited about their $1 Teradactyl dinosaur. Sometimes you just never know what's going to be the greatest toy to them.

Friday the 26th was the extended Van Zante family. Here are Eliza and Eden at the party.

Saturday was spent with my parents and my sister's family.

Sunday was the extended Ferguson family. (I'll post a picture later.)

Monday night we finally had a good time for the girls to unwrap their Christmas gift from Seth and I. Okay, they actually didn't even have to unwrap it but there was some assembly required.

We hope everyone had a blessed Christmas!

Strep throat for everyone

Monday night I felt a tickle in my throat and by Tuesday I thought I should probably go to the doctor because this sore throat felt different than others. Yes, I have strep throat and am now on amoxicillian. Tuesday night Seth felt his throat getting sore so he went straight to Urgent Care to get some medicine, too. By Wednesday morning (Christmas Eve Day), it appeared that the kids were getting it too. So, "Mama called the doctor and the doctor said: Antibiotics for everyone". I ventured to the pharmacy today and now all six of us are on antibiotics. It is kind of strange how strep throat has a lot of symptoms and we all have different symptoms. Anyway, we should all have enough medicine in us to be better by Thursday and beyond.

Away in a Manger

Our church's Christmas program was Sunday night. Ephraim and Emmet both had parts in the program. Ephraim was one of many shepherds and Emmet belonged to the flock of sheep. They each sang about three songs and did very well. As a parent, you just never know what your child might do on stage. I took some pictures of the kids during rehersal on Saturday and some during the program on Sunday night. Ephraim is in the middle in the brown robe with red belt.

Emmet is in the middle with the kahki pants and plaid shirt. They are singing "Away in a Manger" and doing the actions.

Ephraim and Emmet both have very large Sunday School classes and they both look forward to Sunday mornings and seeing their friends.

I also took a picture of Ephraim, Emmet, Eden and Eliza Sunday night after the program. (Eden has the pink shoes and Eliza has the purple shoes).

Saturday night hair cuts

Twas the week before Christmas and the boys desperately needed a hair cut. . . I have cut Seth's hair since we were married and knew that I would cut the boys' hair, too. Little did I know that Ephraim and Emmet would be deathly afraid of the scissors and clippers. Just in the last year we have finally gotten Ephraim to sit for hair cuts. Praise God! Getting the job done in the past has typically involved some sort of restraint and a long extension cord on the clippers. . . We have even cut his hair while he has slept. Yes, that's desperation. Well, Emmet was no better at hair cuts and we've had to restrain him also, while he kicks and screams that "It hurts me." And once Emmet gets too itchy, then he's done with the hair cut. After getting advice from a friend, she mentioned using a hair dryer at the same time as the clippers to remove the trimmings. Here's what actually happened.

It was Emmet's turn for a hair cut. We had the vacuum handy to suck up the trimmings from Ephraim and Seth. I started clipping Emmet's hair and Seth just started vacuuming the trimmings right from the clippers. It worked wonderfully and Emmet didn't mind! And he sat for the entire time. Another answer to prayer. Now, I should mention that the whole time the vacuum is humming and the clippers are buzzing--two toddler girls are standing at the bathroom door's baby gate wailing. I don't know if they were scared or just wanted to be a part of the action. Eden is a long ways from needing a hair cut, but Eliza could probably use one soon. I try not to think about how she will handle hair cuts.

Sugar Cookies

First, I think that you either grow up making sugar cookies a tradition or you don't. I didn't grow up making sugar cookies so this activity does not come naturally to me. The past few years I have made the cookies from scratch. This year, Betty Crocker did the hard work and I added the eggs and butter. We make a great team.

Here are a couple pictures of Ephraim and Emmet using the cookie cutters. I have to pick the play doh off of them because we are going to actually be using them as COOKIE cutters.

Ephraim

Emmet

We do end up having a great time decorating our cookies with friends from church. And it has become a yearly tradition which we enjoy with the couples in our Bible study/fellowship group. Here is a picture of Emmet and Ephraim coating pretzels. However, we did discover the kids were eating directly from the fork they were using for dipping the pretzels. We tried to take home the ones that our children dipped. The children all have a great time playing together. There were 14 kids there but there could have been as many as 21 amongst our ten couples.

Eliza sampling a decorated cookie. She will nibble and nibble.

Eden sampling a decorated cookie. I had to take the picture fast because she was ready to shove the whole thing in her mouth. It is interesting to see the different personalities between Eden and Eliza.

Stay tuned for Christmas program pictures!

Moving Day, part 1

We went ahead and moved a few things on Saturday. Mostly our basement and attic stuff. The boys wanted to stay and help us load boxes and Ephraim did a good job helping. Emmet on the other hand was cranky one minute, happy the next and then whining after that. I suppose his tumble down the attic stairs didn't help his attitude at all. (Yes, I feel terrible about it. He had his snow boots on and just missed a step. We all heard him fall but none of us saw it. We estimate that he fell from about halfway down).

Here is a picture of the boys in a box.

Of course, with this being a really busy day for us, it ended on a high note! Emmet went potty twice in the toilet. Yes, we get excited about the little things in life.

We had originally put the Christmas tree up at the new house, but we brought it back home and put it up again. Here's a picture of putting up the tree the 2nd time.

Ephraim with an ornament.

Emmet putting all his ornaments on one branch.

Eden (in the red) and Eliza were intrigued by the lights.

Stay tuned for pictures of cookie decorating!

Change in plans

Well, we were planning on moving to our "new" house this weekend but there has been a change in plans. After spending many days of cleaning over there, having the carpets cleaned, having the ductwork cleaned/deodorized/sanitized, etc, there was still a smell in the house. After several "discussions" with the cleaners & the trustees of the house it was decided that the smell was coming from all the dog urine in the carpet and carpet pad. We talked with the trustees and demanded that something be done. We got a call at 4pm today that they are carpet shopping. That's what we wanted to hear :) There has been some other issues (i.e. mice) with the house but I think we have them taken care of as well. Needless to say, there will not be an indoor pet or indoor mouse problem while we are in possession of the house.

For those of you who may not know why we are moving, here is a recap. This summer there was a farming opportunity advertised for a young couple who would like to get involved in farming and make it their life's work. We applied, were interviewed and eventually offered the opportunity. It is a farm south of Fremont that a gentleman with no heirs left in a trust for 100 years, to be reasonably leased to a young couple for a 5 year term. After your 5 year term, it is anticipated that you would have enough money saved to buy a small farmstead of your own. We are quite excited about this opportunity. The house is a little bigger than where we live now and we will be in the Fremont school district so Ephraim will be able to ride the bus.

So, that's the latest.

W A N T E D:

Qualified person to potty-train stubborn, uninterested 3-year old boy. Job may take days, weeks or months (hopefully not more than a year). Your house or mine. Serious inquiries only, please.

:)

Pizza Sticks

Here it is. The recipe for Pizza Sticks that I promised earlier. I stumbled upon this recipe in Oskaloosa's Fellowship Bible Church Cookbook 2008. We really like it and it is simple and fast to make.
1 tube refrigerator breadstickes
24 pepperoni slices
2 T. Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 C. pizza sauce
Separate breadsticks. Place 2 or 3 pepperoni slices on the bottom half of each breadstick. Fold remaining portion over pepperoni. Seal ends. Twist 1 or 2 times. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Combine Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Sprinkle over each breadstick. Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutess. Serve with heated pizza sauce.
**I like to sprinkle them with mozzarella and cheddar cheese half way though the baking time.
Give it a try. We hope you like them as much as we do.

Sunday afternoon

Sundays. It is our day of rest and worship. It usually starts out with pancakes and bacon (all prepared by Seth). Then it's time to get everyone dressed for church. After church, we try to enjoy a nice lunch at home. And then what? That's the great debate at our house. Nap or no nap? Seth says "Yes, a nap for everyone." Jenny says "Quiet time is fine. If the boys take a nap then they don't go to bed until 10pm." I don't think we'll ever get this one settled. On this particular Sunday, Seth was the only one who got a nap.


After "nap" time, we had a great visit with Seth's paternal grandparents. They still live in their own home south of Eddyville and they are in their 90's! The boys always enjoy Elizabeth's cookies and lemonade. They also like playing with the tinker toys and farm animals--all toys from Grandpa Arlin's days.





Eliza was able to show off her new walking skills for Great-Grandma Elizabeth.




And I snapped this cute picture of Eden and Elmer playing with the wooden blocks.

Our Sunday evenings usually conclude with some form of pizza (I think I'll include my recipe for pizza sticks in a future post) and a Veggie Tales movie before bed.

Sickness

Where do I start to explain our weekend? Remember from my previous blog that Eden puked on the way home from Sears. Well, it must have been more than too much candy. We were fine Friday night and all day Saturday. Saturday night about 8:30 Eliza started thowing up. Emmet joined in by 10:00pm and Ephraim joined in by 11:00. Eden woke up with all the commotion. So, we had all four children awake from 10pm until 3am Sunday. Keep in mind that neither Seth nor I had been to bed yet-we were almost 24 hours without sleep. By 3am Sunday we were able to get a little bit of sleep before the next round started at 7am Sunday. I didn't feel sick until 6:30pm and Seth felt it coming on by 8pm. With this came mounds and mounds of laundry (blankets, pillows, pillowcases, pajamas, towels, washcloths, etc). On the bright side, it was a fast-moving virus because we are all fine now. We'd all had our flu shots but this must have been something else or a strain that isn't covered in the shot.

There are no pictures of this episode.

On a different note:

Examples of what happened in our house this week when I wasn't looking:

Emmet unrolls the paper towels

Eliza bites off the end of a marker and has blue drool for the afternoon

Examples of what happened in our house when I was looking:

Emmet adds too much parsley to the cheesy potatoes and we end up having potatoes with our parsley instead of parsley with our potatoes

Emmet uses a red marker on the carpet

Emmet takes the kitchen sink hose, turns around and hoses the floor (twice)

Eliza deliberately puts her toothbrush in the toilet (it's in the garbage now).

Eliza took her first step last week. Of course we didn't get it on film. But she did take TEN steps last night, giving us plenty of opportunity to get it on tape and take photos. She walked from the chair to the footstool and back!

Picture time!

Brrr! Time for the winter coats today. I had the day off and had scheduled the children for pictures at Sears in Ottumwa. We managed one group shot, individual poses and one pose of the twins. The boys did excellent. The girls did okay. I thought they would do better since our appointment was at 10am. Oh well. If we got too many good pictures then I would have a harder time ordering photos or I would just spend more.

Our photos are available online but you will have to create an account with Sears. The website is www.searsportrait.com
Click on View My Pictures
Get a pencil now because the Session ID is 46041A107899312
The Session Password is DPWMFYXKD
If that's too complicated, many of you will just have to wait until our Christmas card comes in the mail.

While taking the pictures we had to keep the girls entertained with fruit snacks and Smarties. That was evidently too much for Eden. On the way home I smelled rotten milk and made a mental note to check under the seats for a forgotten sippy cup. When I got home, I realized that Eden had thrown up and had it all over her coat, pants and the car seat!

Oh, prior to coming home we made a stop at the grocery store for some much needed milk. Yes, I conquered the grocery store with all four kids but I would not recommend doing this on a regular basis. The boys were excited to drive the police car cart. Eden sat in the cart and Eliza sat in the front part of the cart. There really wasn't a lot of room for groceries! I think we could be heard throughout the store. Ephraim and Emmet were hollering "Beep, Beep, Get out of the way, dude" and "Whoooooooooooaaaaaaaa". And, of course we would have to run into an acquaintance of mine who is a judge.

Time Change :(

Okay. I do not care for the time change. The kids are not handling it well. For the past FOUR days, all FOUR kids have been awake at 5:50am. It is eerie how they are waking up at exactly that time. Emmet wants his breakfast right away. Ephraim wants to watch cartoons (which aren't on yet). Eliza wants to start playing and Eden wants to rock in the chair. I'm hoping we can transition out of this phase soon.

Here is cute picture of Emmet and Eden. Eden was standing on the back of Emmet's bike and Emmet said "I take Eden for ride." That looked a little dangerous so I got Eden to sit down. Then they both had fun riding around in the basement. Emmet took Eden to the zoo and to Casey's for doughnuts.

Purr-fectly Sweet

We spent some time outside on Tuesday, even if it was a little chilly. The kids are always excited to be outside. Here are some pictures of Eliza and our kitten. The kitten was pretty laid back and put up with a lot! Eliza followed the kitten all over the back yard. Ephraim and Emmet have named the kitten "Pumpkin."

Eden wasn't really into the kitten but here's a picture of her in the swing.

Fall Fun

Fun sayings:

From Ephraim (when we were talking about taking our vacation in 2009 to California): "We're going to have to pack a lunch. . . and supper."

From Emmet (when told it was time for a bath): "I'm not girty, uh-huh." Now it is a no-bath phase for him. I'm lucky if I can get him in the tub twice a week. And yes, he pronounces dirty with a "g".

Fun with Pumpkins:

We carved two of our pumpkins Sunday night. Neither Seth nor I really knew what we were doing, but figured it couldn't be too hard. And it wasn't too hard.

Teeth, teeth and more teeth: Eden and Eliza both have one-year molars coming in. Eliza has been a little crabby with it. Here is a cute picture of them from a couple weeks ago. Eliza is in the purple dress and Eden in the green dress.

Eden & Eliza are "One"-derful!

We had a joint party with both sides of our family on Sunday for lunch. The theme for Emmet's half of the party was cows and farm animals, complete with a cow pinata. The theme for the twins was pink and the #1. I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and then put farm animals on top for Emmet's cake. The girls each got their own #1 cake. I frosted Eden's in pink and Eliza's in purple.

We were all amazed at how neat the girls were when they ate their cake! So, I do not have any pictures of them with frosting in their hair, on their toes, etc.

They got a lot of neat gifts, too! The grandmas both got them dolls--pink-outfited ones for Eden and purple-dressed dolls for Eliza! They even got a baby stroller (which Emmet was pretending was a lawn mower). Here's a picture of Eliza in the stroller and it really isn't sturdy enough for her. And yes, she climbed in it by herself.

Lastly, here's a photo of Eden taking a couple of steps. It really is kind of hard to get the picture of their actual first steps. But Eden has just started taking a step or two in the last week.

Happy Birthday Emmet!

This post will be about Emmet. He turned 3 on October 18 and he will proudly tell you how old he is. This first picture demonstrates his "3".

Now, if I could just get him potty-trained. We have had three in diapers for the last year. Emmet is also in that "nap or no nap" phase. If he gets a nap, then he's up until 9 or 9:30 pm and if he doesn't get a nap he turns into a grizzly bear about 6pm. I'm not sure which scenario is best.

Also on the 18th, on our way to my parents' house, we had to stop in town at Mahaska Drug. After a bit of a frosting fiasco, I decided it would be best to buy the frosting needed for the birthday cakes. However, buying them meant a trip to the store with four kids. And as my luck would have it, the cake deocrating supplies are in the far corner of the store, past all the breakables and nearly buried under boxes of yet-unpacked Christmas decorations. Not to mention the 15 Christmas trees that we had to weave around. I was glad to get out of the store with all four kids and nothing broken!

Stay tuned for posts about the birthday party for Emmet, Eden and Eliza.

6 Little Pumpkins

Saturday afternoon/evening was spent at my parents' house to see my sister Amber and her two kids Garret and Alyssa. We really wanted to get a picture of the 6 of them together. And we were quite surprised by their performance!

Left to Right Back Row: Emmet (age 3), Garret (4), Ephraim (5);

Left to Right Front Row: Eden (1), Alyssa (2), Eliza (1)

Preparing for the party!

We are busy preparing for the BIG PARTY on Sunday. Emmet helped me bake one of the cakes. He started to lick the spatula and I told him "Ewww, no." He says "Why, mom. 'Cause it gots rott'n eggs tin it?" (It's raw eggs, Emmet). I know, I know, we all grew up licking the beaters/spatulas.




Emmet is also the new housecleaner. He works for free and misses a few spots. But he gets an E for effort.

Here's what Eliza will do if you aren't looking.

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Eden: "Does this hat look good on me?"




And lastly, a photo of Ephraim showing off his somersault moves.

Check-ups

We spent Tuesday morning at the doctor's office. Emmet, Eden and Eliza all had their well-child check-ups. We arrived at the clinic and I realized that I forgot the diaper bag. It was all packed and ready at home! I had no sippy cups, diapers, tylenol or snacks for the next three hours! Somehow we survived thanks to our nurse who had a few crackers.

Eden weighs 21 lbs 14 oz and is 28 inches long. Eliza weighs 19 lbs 9 oz and is 28 1/4 inches long. They are both meeting their milestones and have maintained their percentiles. (Yes, now I realize that Eliza is a few ounces short of the required 20lbs to be forward facing. I'll make sure she gets an extra piece of birthday cake on Sunday). The girls each got three shots and had blood drawn for lead testing. Emmet had one shot and blood drawn. Emmet was the brave, big brother. Eden started crying sympathy tears when Eliza was being pricked and poked. It was kind of cute.
God Bless!

October

Okay, after reading several other blogs from friends and family I figure that this is something I would like to do. I used to scrapbook so I think this is a replacement for that. Otherwise my only hobbies are laundry and dishes. Besides, I think there are a few people who would like to be a fly on the wall in our house.

Here's the latest. Eden and Eliza turned one on Friday, October 10. We will have a party for them on Sunday, October 19. We will also be celebrating Emmet's 3rd birthday since his birthday is October 18. They will probably have a combined party for quite a while, but from what I hear from others, it will be okay.

Turning one for the girls meant that they are now forward facing in the van. YEAH! And no more bottles. I took them away Thursday night. We have even downsized the diaper bag. Eden is taking one to two steps and Eliza is moving pretty fast holding onto the couch. (Eden is in pink, Eliza in yellow).

Emmet is going through a puking phase. I don't think he's actually sick. I think he's just tired and when he gets upset, then he throws up. The other night, he puked when we told him it was time for bed. We cleaned it up and then Ephraim said it still smelled in their room and he was going to cover up the spot with towels. "This is a three towel job, Mom" was his response. :)

Ephraim is in Pre-K all day/every day at Fremont Elementary School and he loves it. He turned 5 in May.

Okay, that's my first post. I will try to post something once a week unless we have fun stories to share.