Taking the Plunge

We got a 2004 Honda Odyssey on Monday afternoon and we're happy with it so far.  We're really blessed to have been able to get a car with only 53,000 miles on it for less than what we thought it would cost.  It has automatic doors, a CD player, and enough seats for our growing family (although, I must say that Abby counted the number of seats yesterday and was disappointed there weren't enough babies being born to fill the whole van).  Here are Roy and the kids saying goodbye to our trusty PT Cruiser and me and the kids cheering by our new van!

Bon Voyage, PT Cruiser!

Here are my valentines enjoying our pink Valentine dinner.  We are starting a tradition for the more laid-back holidays to have a fun picnic dinner while we watch a movie or show together.  The goal is to watch something along the theme of the holiday...we'll see how long that lasts. :)

We spent Roy's birthday weekend in Williamsburg.  Zwahlen family tradition, at least when it pertains to Roy's birthday, is to celebrate a birthday for as long as possible.  Roy stretches it out as long as he possibly can--this year was Thursday through Monday, possibly an all-time record.  We took the kids to the Bouncy House with their cousins and everyone had a great time.  Even though Sam ended up getting hurt and limping for several days, he was still in tears when we left.  This was the first time I haven't played in the Bouncy House with the kids and while it was still fun to see their faces as they came down slides and around obstacles, it is nothing compared to seeing their triumphant faces when they climb over an obstacle, discover a great corner for jumping as high as they can, or beating me as we race through the obstacle course.  I just wasn't willing to push my body that hard this time.  I'm too close to my due date to risk pushing myself so they'll have to save the taunting and winning for next time.  

The kids discovered the wonder of the jets in Grandma and Baba's bathtub.  Zach was not a big fan initially, but once he tried it for 10 seconds, he loved it.  Jets make a milky foam out of bubbles and all three kids giggled about being all milky, having milk hats, and any other milk reference they could come up with.

Grandma is always willing to read bedtime stories!  She somehow had space for all four big kids to sit on their recliner and they ate up the cuddle time.

It snowed the night before we left.  Abby and Sam played it in for about 5 minutes before they decided they were done.  We came home to nice weather and sunshine and even escaped to a park in the afternoon.  I am loving this winter weather! :)

Abby and Sam are the best little helpers right now.  Abby especially loves to help and enjoys having things clean when she is done.  If Sam can have fun while he is doing it, then he's all there, especially if it involves creating another mess.  We washed both cars after Roy got home from work one afternoon this week and Sam ended up soaked from head to toe, dumping the soapy water bucket prematurely, and polishing the drivers' side door area until it could not possibly have any more dirt.  Abby cleaned every tire, wiped down mirrors, and directed us to extra dirty spots.  It was a fun family moment!

The day has come when we must prepare to say goodbye to the PT Cruiser.  Roy would probably do a better job at doing a nice tribute to this car that carried him from Williamsburg to Provo, was the transportation on our first date, the envy of my sister, brought us and a trunk packed full of belongings to and from CA when we got married, got filled again a month later to travel to VA via Houston, carried us through 3 years of law school, traveled to Wise with us and made us new-to-towners even more distinctive and recognizable, brought two children home from the hospital, became a receptacle of goldfish, lollipops, and Happy Meal food, and has been a reliable, fun car.  It seems silly to be sentimental about a car, but as we have cleaned it out this last week, both of us have been flooded with memories of the eight years it has been in Roy's life and the journey that it represents in our married lives.  It's been a good road, PT!

Kid Summary

I feel like there are moments every day that I want to capture completely--the feelings, the laughter, the activity, the joy.  It is those perfect moments where I feel like we are doing something right as parents, that we are teaching our kids what is most important, that we are spending our time and energy building bonds and strengthening our family, that our kids know that they are loved and important.  I feel fulfillment and happiness in my role as a mother, not just during those perfect moments, but even when the road is bumpy and there are tears and frustration.  I love seeing my kids experience life through nature, music, learning activities, church, family, food, and imaginative play and feel so grateful each day that I get to be with them to soak in their love of life.  There are some things that I am particularly impressed with for each child at this stage in their life:


Abby:

• is becoming a great artist.  She drew a self-portrait today and, for the first time, made her hair yellow and curly.  Usually her pictures of people are all one color, but today she did different colors for different features.  I love to watch as she goes through the stages of art development and more closely observes the world around her to find what shapes make up what she wants to draw.
• comforts Sam when he gets crazy during bedtime.  And when Lydia kicks a whole bunch where Abby is trying to cuddle, she very rationally and calmly explains that she should calm down.  Abby is a great big sister.
• cannot wait for her sister to be born.  She wrote a song about how happy she is to have a sister, talks about how she wants to give Lydia her first bath (she remembers doing that at the hospital when Sam was born...a perk to being in a small town hospital), and already has plans to have a bunk bed in the room so all three kids can share a bedroom.  
• knows more about dinosaurs than me.  She picks out tons of dinosaur books each time we go to the library and quickly memorizes the facts about the dinosaurs in each book.
• seems practically ready to be a babysitter.  We had a sitter yesterday and last weekend and both times Abby helped her find things, plan activities, and gave us a full report when we got home.  Sometimes she seems so much older than 4.
• absolutely loves her family.  We talk about birthdays, interests, and activities of extended family members every day.  She wants to know how many more days until we see them, what they are doing at this very second, and then follows with how much she loves them.  

Sam:

• has recently acquired a great love of monster trucks.  I need to record his fabulous way of growling, "Monster truck!" because his voice is so great and he scrunches up his whole face to say it.
• also loves to growl the names of various family members and turn it into a game where we answer back with his name.  It never gets old for any of us.
• loves when Abby throws snowballs at the sliding glass door (you know, the little tiny snowballs that come from our slight dusting of snow this winter).  He cracks up laughing as they explode and melt down the window.
• counted to 10 the other day with prompting with only two numbers.  Even with a sister who persistently makes him try to say various words and the frequency of time-outs he has to sit through, I was still shocked at my genius boy. :)
• now goes into nursery at church without crying and usually runs into the room without turning back to wave to Roy.
• learned how to ride a scooter.  We take the scooters out to the neighborhood basketball court and he picked it right up.  The handles are about eye-level on him so it's adorable to watch as he tries to steer, see, and push, but heaven forbid he not participate in something so fun!
• now sleeps in a big boy bed!  As long as he has his pillow, blanket, and two stuffed turtles, he does great.  Roy went up the other night to check on him and he was reading "Blue Hat, Green Hat" by the night light.  I remember making great use of my night light to finish up books so I can appreciate the pleasure of sneaky nighttime reading.

Lydia:

• will join us in about 6 weeks!  We are so excited to meet her!
• kicks pretty much all the time when a sibling is around.  If they are cuddling on my stomach, she nuzzles right into them (and usually kicks them in the process, which they find funny).  
• has 2 siblings who talk about her all the time and who cannot wait to cuddle her, give her a bath, and talk to her all about our family.

Life is good...

...when you share a room with your best friend!

Sam is 2!

Sam turned 2 yesterday.  I have been reflecting this last week on how much my boy has grown up over the last little while.  All of the sudden, Sam has taken off with his language abilities.  He understands so much more, says new words every day, has recently begun singing along with us, and constantly surprises us with his descriptions.  He loves monster trucks, turtles (hence the cake below), trains, all things Cars, being outside, and his sister.  

Sam loved his Cars cookie cutters from Mor Mor and Far Far. 

One of the several books he got for his birthday.  When Sam asks to have us read a book, he always says, "Read, read" and it just always makes me smile.  How can I resist that cute expression and the accompanying smile? 

An Imaginext truck, books, and a birthday card...where to begin?

Abby got Sam a dozen small, plastic turtles.  They have gone everywhere with us since yesterday morning.  Their adventures have included flying, diving, a bath, and being chucked over tables and at people.  

 

Thanks to the cool Stoddards and Parkers, Sam has Toy Story figures and a great Cars Memory game.  The coolest part of the game is the plastic cars that came inside...or maybe it's the lid that doubles as a hat...

Thanks to everyone who remembered Sam's birthday and helped him feel special.  When he woke up this morning, I asked him if he had a happy birthday.  He said, "Funny turtle cake", which made me feel like a super-mom, and then he talked about his books, turtles, and monster trucks.  We love you, Sam!

Pixie and Pirate Party Extravaganza

We celebrated Abby's 4th birthday the best way we know how...surrounded by fun friends!  Abby loves TinkerBell and fairies so we did a Pixie and Pirate party.  It was so much fun!  In fact, we had so much fun that Roy and I are still in recovery mode. :)  And so is the house.  But what matters is that we all had a great time.

The fairy pirate boat brownies were served with Neapolitan ice cream, Abby's current favorite.

Abby showing off some of the decorations beforehand.  You can't really see them very well, but if you look carefully, you can see little specks close to the ceiling.  We hung her 6" TinkerBell fairies from the ceiling and they looked like they were flying.  It was my favorite decoration by far!

Table 1 of 3.  Believe it or not, we had 3 tables out and there was barely enough room for all the friends.  If we counted right, there were 17 kids there plus a handful of adults.  Seriously, it was absolutely fabulous for Abby to have so many people she loves all in one space together.

More decor.

We left out only a few toys, including this Matchbox car pirate ship.  I'm pretty sure the boys played more with this than with any of the games.  :)

We started the party by dressing up all the kids in pirate or fairy costumes and then had games and activities through the house that they could do.  Of course, they were mostly themed around pirates or pixies.  Then Roy took them on an adventure through the jungle (he was dressed as a pirate fairy...or maybe it was a fairy pirate...he put on every piece of unused costume and it was awesome).  They walked through a jungle, down into a valley, jumped over the ever-expanding river filled with man-eating crocodiles, and finally up a mountain.  He told them that they had to dance for their fairy treasure (goody bags) and they did a freeze dance game, accompanied by their very own now-famous pirate fairy.  I put the freeze dance video below because it features some awesome dancing and it's just fun to watch so many friends having fun together.

Here they are, attempting to sit still so they can get the fairy treasure.  We had so much fun with Abby's friends yesterday and she was spoiled.  I love to see these friendships developing and watching these kids grow up together!

Christmas Outfits

It snowed last week.  I know it's January, but it's still kind of a bummer that we have to deal with snow.  But the kids loved it!  We put them in their new, warm Christmas clothes and they got to run around on the deck that had a light dusting of snow, just enough for toddler-sized snowballs.  My favorite is the third picture.  It makes me smile every time I look at it!