It's 2009?

Really? I can’t hardly believe how quickly time has gone. It feels like only weeks ago that we added Alissa to our family. She will be 9 months old in just a few more days! Leah will be 5 this year and Caleb will be 4! It’s scary to think about Leah starting Kindergarten this year, so I better not let myself think about what the future hold and just enjoy all the moments as they come!

Happy New Year to all!

Christmas is past and now it’s time to get the house back to normal. Down come the tree and all the decorations. When I was putting them up, I keep thinking how everything I put up would have to come down. I didn’t do as much this year, but I did plenty and now it’s time to put it all away.

Since I didn’t start this blog until after Christmas, I didn’t get to share any Christmas pictures. Here are some.

Can we open presents now?

The kids were so much fun this Christmas. Their excitement is contagious. Alissa was able to be involved in the excitement as she crawled around exploring all the new toys. She wasn’t exactly able to open anything, but it was still fun watching her explore. The kids received lots of new toys and couldn’t decide what to play with first. The highlights included a 3 foot fire truck for Caleb, a new John Deere tractor and some wagons. Leah received lots of new Barbies and clothes along with some new princess Polly Pockets. After things settled down, I got out a gift that was technically for Alissa, but really for all the kids. I bought 100 balls. Last summer Caleb got a very small blow up pool as a prize during vacation bible school. It is way too small to take outside and put the kids in. So I decided to get a bag of 100 balls and make it a ball pit. This has probably been the biggest hit of all Christmas gifts.

They love to jump in from off the couch.

They love the crazy thing. I would have thought that 100 balls would have filled the thing, but really there is plenty of room for another hundred, which I have contemplated buying. However, there is a reason I have yet to purchase said balls. 200 balls would be all over the floor instead of 100. They love to try and knock the balls out when they are jumping in them. This only makes a few fall out. But they also love to dump them out. Caleb likes to pretend that the pool is a tractor tire that he drives around the house. Very creative, but what do you think happens to the balls when he tips the pool on the side? I do make the kids pick up the balls, but getting them to pick up 100 balls without getting side tracked is harder than picking up 100 balls myself. Not to mention that I find balls all over the place that we some how miss and roll off some where. I am glad that they love it and are having a blast with it, but I am still not sure that 200 balls would make it more fun for either or us.