Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Greetings Family and Friends,       

How are you? How has your year been? Thanks to those of you who have blessed us with your own Christmas updates. We love hearing from you, and we hope to hear from the rest of you soon!

As for us, if we had to describe our year, it felt like a return to normal for us. OK-- normal for having a 6-year old and 3-year-old triplets! For example, instead of having swings, exersaucers or a changing table, our dining room now has a table and chairs in it. How normal is that? Some nights after putting the kids to bed, we just talk and watch TV. We went a long stretch without doing that! We have no booster seats at the kitchen table anymore, and our Christmas tree has no gate around it. Best of all, we were blessed to be able to finish our basement this summer, so most of the toys now reside there. So, the transition from a daycare center to home is going very well! On top of that, no one had surgery or went to the ER this year, either! That hasn't happened since 2004 for us! (Urgent care center visits for sprained knees or extracting broken Qtips from ears or don't count, do they?)

So, since we spent a lot less time at doctor offices, we were able to do some fun things this year. We attended 2 family reunions. We boldly drove the clan to Colorado (only 2500 miles in the van) to see Dave's family. We also took a trip to Canton, OH to see family on Amanda's side. After the kids proved to be so adventurous, we tried some other "firsts" with them, like a bonfire, the zoo without a stroller, a family hike, and movies. We are really enjoying this age with kids and the whole new world that has just opened up to us as a family.

As for the kids, Alyssa is now in kindergarten and absolutely loves it. We are amazed at all the things she is learning, like reading some words already and writing sentences. Alyssa and Lauren took a ballet class this summer, and enjoyed every minute of it. They were also very excited to become roommates this summer, in a pink princess garden room. Lauren, in addition to ballet, has turned out to really enjoy sleeping in on weekends (one day until noon!), puzzles, coloring and music. She walks around often singing little songs she has made up. Lauren, Drew, and Jack are now in their first year of preschool. They are learning a lot about their letters and numbers and seem to enjoy school as well. They also have done a great job with potty training (not without incidents, though), just in time for those funds to go towards the grocery bill. Drew, especially, has grown to be a voracious eater. He works up an appetite running around the house doing sports drills he invented or asking lots of questions about the world around him. Jack and Drew also took a beginners sports class this summer. While Drew couldn't get enough of learning more things to with balls, Jack seemed more interested in calculating the circumference of the balls. His curiosity continues to grow as he tell us all the things around him that are "coo-ul," and he shows a deep love for animals by pretending to be one or cuddling up with 3 stuffed ones as he goes to sleep. He also claims to have seen a crocodile when we were in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Dave continues to run some races throughout the year (including a marathon relay), although he's been sidelined with some minor injuries. He also got to return to his homeland - a Notre Dame football game this year! He and Alyssa enjoyed a trip out the FL for his cousin’s wedding, too. Amanda's health is better than ever, and she's been doing some exercise of her own and is almost back to normal (just had to use that one more time). She has also been organizing some playdates using our church’s warehouse. But the best playdate of all, was getting to see her sister and hubby (who happen to live in Hawaii) ALONE thanks to the World's Greatest Husband manning the fort. It was a great time to visit, while enjoying some much needed relaxation, peace and quiet!

Well, that should do it for our family update. We'll leave you with some favorite 2009 quotes, as we wish you a very Merry Christmas and all the blessings from God in 2010!

God bless,     

Dave, Amanda, Alyssa, Lauren, Drew & Jackson

Alyssa: "Does God have a wife?”
Drew: (while watching a robin in a tree) "He is looking for his wallet."
Jack: "This needs new batteries" (referring to a pencil that needed sharpening) 
Lauren: (suddenly in the middle of lunch) "My armpit is cold."

PS We had rounds and rounds of fun this Christmas. How about you?

A Day to Remember

Yesterday was quite a day at our house. First, Alyssa started things off by being the special helper of the day at school. She was pretty pumped and couldn't wait to hop on the bus and go fulfill her duties.

Then, the other 4 of us were off to our last Bible study meeting of the year. Every year, they do a cute Christmas program with the kids on the last day. So, we practiced the songs on the drive there, and they seemed to be looking forward to the big show. The teachers dress all the kids up like angels, by giving them tinsel halos and putting on men's white dress shirts backwards. It looks so cute! They did pretty well and didn't seem to be nervous at all for their big stage debut.

They sang 4 songs. I hope you don't mind me sharing videos of all of them, but there is so much to watch in each one, I couldn't narrow it down!

First up is "Happy Christmas Time." I love watching Jack do his motions for the song in this one. The kids look confused halfway through, because the parents started clapping before the song was over. You can also hear all the cameras clicking around me.

Next up is: "Go Tell It On the Mountain". See if you can tell from this clip which of the triplets was the squirmiest in the womb. I love the look on Drew's face, too.

Then they sang "My God is So Great." I love to watch Lauren on this video. She is so emphatic with her pointing.

And they finished with the tradition of singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. My favorite part is watching them bow and clap at the end.

And as if that wasn't excitement enough for the day, Alyssa was finally ready to give her first tooth to the Tooth Fairy. So she wrote a note, got a note back, money changed hands, and everyone was happy. OK, I was pretty worn out by then, but all in a day's work, right?

God bless,

Amanda

Breakfast with Santa

Today was our church's annual Breakfast with Santa, and we had a great time! They made an awesome breakfast (donated by Steak & Shake, too!) and had lost of festive decorations everywhere. The kids did pretty well getting a picture taken with Santa (although the boys weren't too sure about him, so we jumped in, too). They loved the stocking full of goodies that they received afterwards and looking at all the gingerbread houses. I think their favorite thing was the balloon animals, though. Not only did they get dogs, but leashes to walk them on, too. When Lauren's balloon broke, she got a flower. And, it's surprising more didn't break after the leashes were transformed into swords. We were also blessed to catch up with some old friends, too.

As you have come to expect from me, here are some pictures of the action. (I hope to get more up on Facebook, soon.)

It gets us in the mood for Christmas every time.

Hope you are enjoying the festivities of the season, too!

God bless,

Amanda

Make the Call

We have some exciting news. Guess what happened at our house this week?

Yep, that's right. Alyssa lost her first tooth! Being 5 brings lots of milestones, doesn't it?

It's been loose for a while, and I thought for sure it would fall out on Thanksgiving. But a few days later, Dave helped the process along, as you can see. She was so excited to go to school and get a sticker and write down when she lost her tooth. It's a big deal, when you are a big, bad kindergartener, you know.

Alyssa told us she wants to wait a few days before the Tooth Fairy comes, because she wants to keep her tooth. We told her the Tooth Fairy would probably leave it, if Alyssa asked for it in a note.  She's worried that the note won't be found, though! So we are still waiting for Alyssa to tell us to "make the call."

So until then, here's where her treasured tooth resides. Aunt Jill got this for Alyssa years ago, and I was frightened at the prospect of finding it. Turns out, Alyssa knew exactly where it was and pulled it out seconds after her tooth was free!

As if seeing my eldest having a toothless grin isn't enough, there are all kinds of other changes going on here! We've been moving lots of furniture around (that which we didn't break, anyway), teaching kids how to sort laundry (they appear to be colorblind so far), and getting rid of all of the booster seats (guess how many times a meal I have to say, "sit down"?), and sometimes little people use the facilities without any help at all! Most importantly, I am proud to say that today is the first day that no one had an accident! No more diapers here during the day and we are making progress at night. (In case you are wondering, we are planning an exotic family cruise with all the diaper money we will soon be saving.) Just more evidence that they are growing up fast, huh?

We hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving (we did!) and that you are enjoying the fun happenings of the holiday season.

God bless,

Amanda