Merry Christmas!

Just as everyone probably does, we had so many pictures from Christmas. I've tried to pick some of the best ones and put them in collages or this entry would go on for pages.

We had the missionaries from our church over for dinner on Christmas Eve. We opened gifts at home the next morning and let the kids play for a few hours before we packed up and headed to Aaron's parents. Naomi loved opening gifts and especially loves her new Bitty Baby.

Bruce got this punching ball for Christmas. His first hit was so funny. It bounced right back and nailed him in the middle of the head. He has had so much fun hitting it and so has Will (who actually claims this was on HIS list and not Bruce's. Oops).

Last year a new tradition was born at the Allen family Christmas: wrestling. We missed some of the cousins who weren't able to make it this year, but the kids still had so much fun. Madelyn surprised us in her willingness to wrestle. We've decided a craft war would be more appropriate for Elizabeth who was not at all interested in wrestling anyone. Aaron proved his athleticism in pinning his 16-year old nephew.

YMCA Basketball

Will and Bruce just finished up their season of basketball at the YMCA. It was fun to have them on the same team and have Dad coach them. They were often playing against friends from school which was also fun.

Will getting a high five from Dad after making a basket.

Will going for a rebound. He's pretty aggressive and not afraid to go for the ball.

Bruce dribbling and dribbling and dribbling. He was so proud of himself for bringing the ball down that he didn't want to pass it. He just kept dribbling. He did eventually make a basket!

Christmas picture and letter

We finally had everyone healthy so we had our family pictures taken. Will is extremely sensitive to the lights so we only got about three good ones where he wasn't closing his eyes or they were all red. Normally, he is the most photogenic of the kids. [Justin - 11; Elizabeth - 10; Will - 7; Bruce - 6; Madelyn - 3; Naomi - (almost) 2]

It would have been nice to have my braces off, but we didn't want to wait another three months.

Here's a copy of our annual Christmas letter. Merry Christmas everyone!

Gingerbread houses

Decorating gingerbread houses is an annual tradition in our household. I found this great recipe for these fairly easy gingerbread houses here. They are the perfect size for the kids. I usually make enough that they can pair up and work together.

Naomi was not interested in helping decorate the houses, but she did her best to eat her fair share of decorations.

Elizabeth brought out her Halloween candy (she still has a big bag of it) to add some variety to her house.

The kids love being in charge of their own house and getting to use my decorating stuff!

We're not professionals, that's for sure, but they had a great time. We love this family tradition!

I might be a little biased...

but isn't this the cutest little girl? I love her hair in pigtails! We just kept kissing and hugging her all day yesterday (and everyday) because she looked so cute! Her personality is every bit as cute as those cheeks! Love you, Naomi!

At least I'm teaching...

some good habits. There are a lot of things I don't do very well as a parent, but I feel like I'm pretty good at a few things. I read most everyday to the kids. As wild a child as Bruce is, he will usually sit amazingly still when I read to him. I love to read and so do my kids. I'm grateful I had a Mom and Grandma who read to me all of the time and passed along their love of reading too.

I love to run. I usually go to the YMCA to workout during the winter, but this old treadmill has come in handy the last couple of weeks because we've had a lot of sickness so I haven't been able to get out very much. When I'm done working out, Madelyn asks me each time if she can have a turn. I love that they like to exercise right along with me. When I run outside, Will is usually the first one to volunteer to go with me on his bike.

Tanta!

We had our church Christmas party Friday night and Santa came! Naomi loves to point out Santa (or "Tanta", as she calls him) and say "ho, ho, ho." However, this does not mean she was excited to sit on his lap. It's much more fun to point him out in a book or from a distance.

The rest of the kids did really well. Bruce was so cute and came running up to me after Santa arrived. He wanted to know what he had put on his Christmas list so he could tell Santa.

Madelyn was even all smiles while sitting on Santa's lap. This is about four years younger than Elizabeth started sitting on his lap.

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I think Elizabeth was feeling a little too cool, but did it anyway so she could get a little goodie bag! (Sorry about the poor quality photos. We forgot our camera at home so these are from a cell phone).

Swim team

For the past few years, I've been trying to talk Justin into doing swim team, but he hasn't ever really wanted to until this year. Truthfully, I didn't ever try too hard because the high school is at least 15 minutes away and they like you to practice at least three nights a week. Imagine sitting in a sauna for an hour and 15 minutes three nights a week with five other kids while he practices. Thankfully, we've been able to carpool with another boy from our neighborhood and Aaron picks him up some nights after work so it hasn't been too bad.

Last night after practice, Justin told me he kept track of how many laps he swam. He said he swam 1600 meters. That's a lot of laps!

Now for the sad news. Justin has had problems with his allergies for quite sometime. This year has been particularly bad for him. He just finished a strong dose of antibiotics, followed up by a CT scan. He still had a lot of infection in his sinuses so he is going to be having surgery December 31st (our choices were New Year's Eve or Christmas Eve) to have his sinuses cleaned out and his adenoids removed. He won't be able to swim for awhile after so we might be done with swim team for the season. I think Justin is really okay with it. He enjoys swimming, but it means very little time at home and a crazy schedule for the rest of us. I'm just anxious for him to be able to breathe through his nose without being stuffed up all the time.

I'm thankful for...{day 30}

sisters! Today is my oldest sister, Kris's birthday so I called to wish her a happy birthday. Unfortunately, with our busy lives, I don't get to talk to my family as much as I'd like. Last spring we had our first girls' weekend and it was so much fun. My sisters, one sister-in-law, Mom, and my 93-year old Grandma all got together for a historic weekend. It was so fun. We're hoping to get to do it again and hopefully get more of the sister-in-law's there next time. I love my sisters and feel blessed to not only have three great sisters, but eight great sister-in-laws (both sides included). I think girl time is so important!

I'm thankful for...{day 28}

visiting teaching. In our church, we are assigned to visit a few women each month from our congregation (we call this program visiting teaching). We share a spiritual message, visit, and check to see if they are in need of anything. We go in pairs. My partner has been the same since we moved here and I love her! I love the time I have to go and visit with women from church and get to know them better. Throughout the years I have been able to make some close friends that I might not have otherwise gotten to know. In Ohio, I visited a woman who is now 93 years old. She loved our monthly visits and always looked forward to seeing my kids. It was such a treat for us too. I have two pieces of artwork hanging in our house that she gave me.

I share this because I think it's important to take the time in our busy lives to serve others. I'm grateful for a program that gives me this opportunity because I know I'm a better person each time I do it.

I'm thankful for...{day 27}

college football. Our family loves to watch our Buckeyes every Saturday. We have a family tradition of eating nachos while we watch them play and (most) everyone wears their OSU gear on Saturdays.

Just as a sidenote, today is our 14th anniversary. I've already posted a couple of times this month how grateful I am for Aaron so I'll just say that I'm thankful for my favorite Buckeye!

We have little cheerleading outfits for the girls in a variety of sizes. Here is Madelyn in her first Buckeye outfit when she was 18 months.

This year Madelyn was supposed to be Cinderella, but changed her mind at the last minute. She likes to wear her Buckeye dress for Daddy!

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I don't want to leave Bruce out - he has OSU gear too.

I'm thankful for...{day26}

time spent with family,

yummy food,

a wonderful husband,

and sweet kids.

I'm thankful for...{day 23}

family. Aaron and I both come from large families. Our kids have somewhere in the neighborhood of about 50 cousins. They absolutely love when we get together with any of them! It goes without saying that with all of these fun cousins, there are a lot of fun aunts, uncles, and grandparents too. Holidays and vacations can be a little crazy, but the memories are priceless.

Tonight Aaron's sister and her family arrived to spend a few days with us. Our kids have been beside themselves with excitement. We have more family arriving tomorrow and even more on Thursday. Cousin heaven!

I'm thankful for...{day 22}

my wheat grinder. Aaron and the kids gave this to me for my birthday a couple of years ago. I have been baking all of our bread for a few years now so it really comes in handy. Everytime I catch myself complaining that I need to grind wheat again, I am reminded of the people who lived 100 years ago and grinded it by hand and suddenly it doesn't seem such an inconvenience.

A couple of weeks ago, Justin ran out to swimteam carpool with a piece of bread and jam in his hand. The Mom later told me he was telling them how good my homemade bread is. Last week I had just pulled some bread out of the oven so I dropped off a loaf when I picked up her son. I saw her the next day and she told me their family ate the whole loaf that night. She said her son has decided he wants to sell it on the Internet. This is such a Justin statement - no wonder they're friends!

I'm thankful for...{day 21}

church (www.lds.org). Today we had such uplifting talks that were very motivating to me. Although there were many people in the congregation, I felt like many of the talks given were for me personally. It was just what I needed!

I'm also grateful that I'm able to serve with the children at church. I've been working with them for four years now and I still love it. I love their comments and sweet spirits. I love their innocence and wiggly bodies. I love that they are so pure and want to do what's right. And I love to be in their with my own kids so I can keep an eye on them! :)

I'm thankful for...{day 20}

our woodburning stove. We lived here for two years before we started using it and now we love it. It keeps our house so cozy warm and cuts down on the heating bills. I also love it because we work together during the summer cutting, splitting, and stacking the wood. It's a family effort!

I'm thankful for...{day19}

Bruce! Today was a busy day so we celebrated Bruce's birthday last night. He was thrilled because he brought treats in at school today and had his buddy Carson came over for lunch so he was able to celebrate for two days! Bruce is so full of life that he is quite a handful. I don't know that I could honestly say that I'm thankful everyday for his energy. With his partner in crime Will gone all day this year, it leaves him home half day with nothing else to do but annoy his little sisters. He can be very sweet to them, but he definitely knows how to push their buttons.

I didn't think a pocketknife was a wise choice for a boy we have nicknamed Mr. Destructo, but I guess his Dad has a softer heart than me because he bought him one. We'll see how long before he loses it.

What do you buy for a boy who loves to bang on everything? Drums, of course! They are actually pretty quiet and he is having a ball with them (this was also Aaron's idea - good choice on this one).

As is tradition, I will share a few things we love about Bruce:

• listening to him talk. I had to record him a few days ago because one day I will miss hearing him not be able to say his r's and l's.
• he is the best helper. He will stay outside working with Aaron longer than anyone and is probably the best worker too. As long as he is focused, he is the best helper!
• snuggling to read books. He can be running around crazy (and he usually is), but as soon as I sit down to start reading to Madelyn, Bruce is on the other side of me and loves to snuggle.
• he loves life. Bruce just loves everything. This is sometimes a problem because he can't control his excitement, but gotta give him credit for being excited!
• he loves his little sisters. Again, sometimes he has a hard time controlling this love (do you see a pattern here?), but there is no doubt he loves them.

This year Bruce lost his first tooth, started kindergarten, is learning to read, and loves to write "I love Mom" and "I love Dad" on nearly every piece of paper he can find. We love you too, Bruce!

I'm thankful for...{day 18}

our YMCA. We've been members of the YMCA for over eight years now. We were members in Ohio before we moved here. I love it because I can get a workout uninterrupted and the kids have fun in babysitting. I have a friend who works in babysitting here and she has girls the same age as my girls so they love to go. This helps me not feel guilty for leaving them there, even though it's only a few hours a week. I know they like it as much as me because one time when I was training for a half marathon and there way too much, we pulled up and Will said, "we're home!"

I'm not the only one who enjoys the Y. The boys just finished playing soccer and are now playing basketball and Justin is on the swim team. The kids all take swim lessons during the summer. This is one membership we definitely get our money's worth!