Our family pictures... I'm not sure why there are lines that showed up through some of them. That never happened before. (It took too long to load them so I didn't want to delete them and reload. Sorry.) Lol. A friend in our ward took these pics. She studied photography in college and is starting a business. So she took our pictures for free. She wanted them for her portfolio. We think she did a wonderful job. :)

Birthday Girls.....

Savannah and Heidi had birthdays in January. Savvy is now 4 and Heidi is 3. We celebrated their birthdays together. We can't believe that they are getting so big. Too quickly. Heidi is completely potty trained. She was my most difficult one to potty train. She is so stubborn and only wanted to do it her way. She definitely likes to challenge her dad and I. But, we won. As we usually do. Savvy is looking forward to her next birthday already. Because she will be 5 and she knows that that is when she will be starting school. She likes to practice writing her alphabet letters. Both girls are each other's buddy. It's going to be interesting when Savvy is in school all day. We can't imagine what life would be like without these two beautiful girls!!

Ugh... Playdoh

Those of you who know me, know that I hate Playdoh. Heidi got a variety pack from her nursery teachers at church for her birthday. So, I had to let her play with it. It looks like bubblegum stuck to their faces. But, it isn't. It's Playdoh. They got to play with it for a few days. I got tired of picking it off of the floor and finding it in the living room carpet. So, it went in the garbage. I know, terrible mom!! :)  It was fun for them, while it lasted.

Santa's Visit - 2010

Santa (a.k.a my dad) came to visit again this year. Amazingly enough, the kids don't know that it is 'Pap'. I think that Lydia suspects that it is. But, she hasn't said anything. Heidi was sitting on the potty when Santa walked in. The other kids were upstairs. They didn't know that he was coming that night. Santa 'ho ho ho-ed' a bit and they came running!! Heidi ran out of the bathroom with her pants down around her ankles screaming "Santa's here!! Santa's here!!". Then she turned around and started to sing "shake your bootie, shake your bootie, yeah yeah...". And she was shaking her bootie. Poor Santa could barely contain himself!! It was so cute!! This is a tradition that was started when Lydia was born and the kids look forward to seeing him every year.

Leib Elementary Spelling Bee - 2010

Marshall was picked, along with one other kid in his class, to participate in the kindergarten school spelling bee. He unfortunately got out on the first word he was given. Which was 'bowl'. He says that he will never forget that word. We told him that we were so proud of him because he was able to be in it. :)

Fall Fun....

The kids loved to rake the leaves into little piles and jump into them. Well, I should say that the younger 3 kids did. Lydia seems to think that she is getting too old for that. I literally had to threaten her to get her to sit in the leaves for one picture. That is why she looks so "thrilled". I think that you are never too old to play in the leaves.

Update...

Sorry! I forgot my camera. I can't post any pics. But, I wanted to post an update. These last few months, leading up to December, were fairly uneventful. Then, our transmission in our car decided to crap out. Again!! (We just put almost $2000.00 into in not even 2 years ago.) So, for the last 2 1/2 wks we have been using Pap Shoemaker's old blue car (used to be Aunt Peg's). Mainly for Jason to get to and from work. And for me to get groceries. That's it!! My parent's have been a huge help in letting us use their SUV to get to church and stuff that the whole family needs to go to. But, mainly just had the blue car. We are hoping to get our car back in a few days. (The guy hasn't been working on it for this long. He had other vehicles scheduled. Ours was unexpected. So, we can't be too upset.)

We had a nice Christmas. Busy. But, nice. The kids had a lot of fun Christmas morning. 'Santa' brought them a Wii this year. That was the last thing that they opened. And have been playing with it ever since. We bought a bird hunting game that has become and obsession for me and Jason. I can't let him have the high scores. I go and beat him. I tell him that this is why I don't hunt. I would have to outdo him and he probably wouldn't like it.

Marshall was in a school spelling bee a few wks ago. He was 1 of 3 picked from his 1st grade class. He got out on his first word, bowl. I knew as soon as the teacher gave that word to him that he would probably get it wrong because he got it wrong every time we practiced. But, he tried his best. He was happy because he got a t-shirt for being in the spelling bee.

We are trying to potty train Heidi. I thought she would be my easiest. But, I am wrong. She is my defiant child. It has been 2 wks and she is still having accidents. And, on purpose, I think. She'll have really great days. Then, the next day, nope. Not so good. I just keep telling myself that she won't be starting kindergarten in a diaper. Right??

Nothing much really going on with Lydia and Savannah. They are just being the wonderful girls that they are. Both are VERY girly!! Savannah loves to dress up in princess stuff. And Lydia has become very aware of what she's wearing and how she looks. I'm not ready for this. OY!!

Well, that's about all there is right now. I'll try to remember to post pics next time. :)

High Point (not sure if it is spelled as one or two words....)

My mom and dad took us on a drive a week or so ago and we went to Chickies Rock and High Point. The kids loved playing at both spots. The Susquehanna River is in the background.There is a lot of history to High Point. It offers a beautiful panoramic view of the river and various points.

Me and Jason

These pics were taken at High Point. The Susquehanna River is in the background.

The Chickens

Our chickens and our first egg. The kids really have a great time playing with the chickens. The rooster doesn't have his spurs in yet. (The sharp, pointy things that grow on their legs.) When he does, we'll have to watch that he doesn't hurt anybody with them. But, right now, he is gentle and fun to play with.

Goodbye Uncle Seth... We'll Miss You!!

Seth with the kids before he left for Utah. Seth's friend, Alyssa, is also in the last pic. Savannah is missing from the pics because she wasn't feeling well. She wasn't very cooperative when it came time to take pictures. Oh well. She misses Seth. We all do. (BTW, for those of you who don't know, Seth is now going to school at UVU. He and our cousin Jeff Shoemaker moved to Utah the end of July. They have an apartment and are enjoying being on their own.)

First Day of School

These pics are from the first day of school. Marshall picked out that shirt because it is one "that Seth would wear". And, Seth was so proud when he saw the pics. :)  They had a great time. As they put it "It was the best day of my life!!" I take that as a good sign of a great school year to come. I hope. Savannah and Heidi like to wait out for the school bus with them. It has been so quiet with the older 2 gone during the day. The lil girls just play and color with each other. I have to admit, it is sort of nice. But, I do miss Lydia and Marshall.

Jib Jab

I was having some fun messing around with the Jib Jab website. Hope you enjoy the little videos... :)  (I am not sure why Ryan Sechrest is included with my kids. Jib Jab adds random people to fill in the 'heads'.)

Devil's Den, Getttysburg, Pa

We took the kids to Gettysburg again this year. We went on July 3. The weather was wonderful. The battlefield was packed with people. And the kids were having a blast climbing around on the rocks of Devil's Den. What a fun day!!

Sachs Covered Bridge

These pics were taken at Sachs Covered Bridge in Gettysburg. There are many stories of hauntings that have happened on this bridge. We were not lucky enough to encounter anything supernatural. Although, I was looking!!