Dear Blog,

I have not forgotten about you. Please forgive my lack of attention. See the thing is, it's cold and dark and boring and January runs right into February and I swear spring will never come. I know it's not your fault. Please accept this post as a token of my gratitude for your willingness to stick around. Thanks, Chelsea

This is Luke. This is the day he dressed himself. He insisted on swim trunks and jacket, I insisted on the shirt. This is Luke being mad because I was taking the pictures, he was not. More about his anger issues later. I took him to the doctor this week and he's tall and skinny 31 3/4 inches high and 22.5 pounds heavy. He was mad there too.

This is some stuff I sent to new baby E. We are happy to have him in the family. Unhappy he is so far away. I liked how these things turned out, burp clothes, pants and onesies. Pants are folded because they were weird, but I sent them anyway.

This is the bench that Roger built. We knew we wanted a bench when we removed the closet. Yes, it doesn't have a top yet, but baby steps people, baby steps. I had to talk Roger into believing he could construct this. I swear that man can build anything, it's awesome. Total cost up to now: $4.28. Still needs a top, hopefully it will have one soon.

Close up. I'll post before, during and after pictures after it's not topless anymore.

Luke has serious anger issues. I guess it's difficult to be 16 months old. He hates to be told no, he gets mad when he can't figure something out. We laugh. We are excellent parents. Here he is in action trying to conquer a gallon of distilled water. Note his dismay at not being able to open it or lift it. Note his glee when he notices I've got the camera. Is it too early for some anger management? Maybe I could go with him, I blow my top sometimes too.

The Holiday Fun

I can't believe our glorious Christmas break is almost over. I get depressed just thinking about it. We have had so much fun. The girls were so excited for Christmas. I think Roger may have been even more excited.

The kids got new pajamas on Christmas Eve. This is pretty typical of our attempts to get Luke to do anything other than what he wants to do.

Luke got a new bike for Christmas. He's holding some bouncy balls in his left hand. The balls and a snack container were the big hits with Luke (note to self, don't spend more than $2 on the kid)

The girls both got Wii controllers and nun chucks. However there was no Wii. We opened all the presents under the tree and no Wii system. Ashby being the very kind heart she is commented a few times that maybe we should ask Santa to bring it next Christmas. After all presents were opened we found a suspicious note in the tree. In it Santa explained that he had dropped something in the toy room on his way over the house. Lo and behold it was the Wii. Ashby's never been so excited. She's done nothing but play the Wii since.

If you're in the neighborhood come on over and the girls would love to challenge you to a game of bowling, both girls consistently do better than Roger and I. I can't believe it's back to the grind in two days. I already can't wait for next year. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a very happy new year. We love you all and thanks for all your love and friendship over the years. Happy 2010.

The First Thanksgiving

No, no, I'm not talking about the first Thanksgiving ever recorded in history, which there's much debate about anyway, I'm talking about the first Thanksgiving that I've ever hosted. I was so nervous. I've never cooked a turkey before and I've never been in charge of cooking for lots of people before either. Richard and Nancy and kids and Nancy's sister Ruth came from Virginia and Bryan and Anna and kids came from Ohio for the big day. We had 16 people here for dinner. Luckily the turkey turned out great for my first attempt and everything else was pretty good too. I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, but here are a few.

There was much pie making going on. Here's Nancy and Ruth making their family favorite, pumpkin chiffon.

Here's Richard and Roger making berry and cherry pies. Richard was helping, he was looking at recipes, promise. (Sorry to catch you at the computer Rich.) I am happy to loan out their services for a small fee...

This was a pretty standard match up over the weekend. Ashby and Asher catching a few shows during previously mentioned pie making.

And this pair, oh dear this pair, they were inseparable. I think I heard Naomi say she was ready to move in and Avery was accepting with open arms!

Of course I can't forget Luke. He participated by getting under our feet all day and pulling out all the clean dishes from the cabinets. But oh my look at that hair!

On a completely unrelated note, here are the girls today with their Christmas Countdown chains. I can hardly believe it's November 30th and they are ready to go already. Usually I forget about it and remember it sometime around December 5th. And here's another reason to pat myself on the back, see Avery's skirt? I made that out of one of Roger's old shirts. I'm as pleased as punch about it. Unfortunately Avery wants nothing to do with it and only wore it today because nothing else was clean! I really am sounding like a self centered bore aren't I?

I do just want to include how grateful I am for all my many many blessings. I'm so grateful for family and friends who are near and far. I'm grateful for my sweet kids, I'm not sure what I would be without them. I'm so incredibly grateful for Roger. He is my everything and I know without him I'd be nothing. I'm grateful for the lessons we are learning as we live so far from where I grew up. It really sucks sometimes, but most the time it's really great. We have accomplished a lot but I know we had nothing to do with it. Heavenly Father truly knows us and knows our needs. I'm so grateful.

Just a few

seconds of just a few steps. I'm so surprised at Luke's sticktoitiveness. He tries and tries and tries walking. He's getting very good. Although at times he does look a little like Frankenbaby because he won't bend his knees. He's our earliest walker by about three months. Go Lukie, go!

Hurry quick...

before the next holiday. Just when you thought you were done looking at kids in Halloween costumes, I'm fashionably late posting these. I was terrible at taking pictures, I was too busy having fun. I'm also a terrible mother because I didn't dress Luke up, he wore a costume for all of about 5 minutes. I'll pay for his therapy later.

Avery choose this beautiful fairy costume from Grandma Worth's costume store. The wings kept falling off and people would say what a beautiful princess she was, which infuriated her. Couldn't they see she was a fairy? Here she is marching in her parade at school.

Ashby chose a knight costume and I told her she had to be Joan of Arc if she was using that costume. We learned a little about Joan of Arc and she was very good at telling people that's who she was dressed as. Here she is at her parade. I was able to help in her classroom this year (thanks Maria) and I marched in the parade with her class.

This little horror will have to suffice for Luke. I've never been more grateful to be done nursing. Yes he did that with his teeth.

Seven, really?

Ashby celebrated her 7th birthday on Saturday. For those of you keeping track at home, yes all of our kids had their birthdays within one months time. I'm exhausted! I can't believe that Ashby is seven. I've said it before and I'll say it again, where does the time go? She went from this:

to this, in what seems like no time at all.

Ashby is a very good sport about her birthday being so close to Halloween. She likes Halloween themed things for her birthday. These were the cupcakes she shared with her first grade class.

This is Ashby with her cake, can you see the theme? We love you Ashby, happy birthday.

The wrath of the Jack-o-Lantern

Yikes.