Valentine's Day

We LOVE Valentine's Day in this house.

The Christmas decorations come down and BAM, up go the Valentine hearts and wreaths and flag...Valentine's colors go so well with our house....the hearts go so well with what we want to show to all...LOVE! It's also extra special as Jayna celebrates her 1/2 birthday at school on the 13th and she ALWAYS takes Valentine sugar cookies for her treat!

Anyway...it was quite the busy Valentine's Day Week...as are many weeks with a family of 6. We've survived busy weeks before, and I'm sure they will come again. However, this year, I completely missed the importance of NOT being busy on Valentine's Day.

(Just a side note...so disappointed in all the activities scheduled for the actual Valentine's Day. We must be "odd" in that we love to celebrate it as a family. Ellie alone had 4 activities that were at the same time or overlapped. Insane.)

So let's back up....Monday the 13th was no school for Ellie and an appointment day for Jayna as well as her 1/2 birthday. I did not know that during her appointment, she was dwelling on the "bummer of the 14th" when we'd be so busy that we would not truly celebrate as a family. I figured, if we had a special breakfast time in the morning, all would be well. It wasn't. After the kids got to school, I was on the phone with the woman Jayna had lamented to the day before and it hit me hard... the 14th was special to the girls and we had to change some things. Andy and I text'd back and forth a few times and decided to yank the kids from EVERYTHING other than piano lessons that afternoon and we were celebrating as a family in the evening. Since I know Jayna stews on things, I even called the school to have the message passed on: "No choir tonight...we're celebrating Valentine's Day!"

That morning, though, we had to deal with the mini-snow storm that blew through the area. While Colin rode his bike in the paths, I shoveled the strange white stuff that has been absent from our state....yes, it may have melted in the next couple of days, but the piano teacher was coming and I hate for people to have to walk through the snow if they can avoid it!

Next order of business....the balloon decorating. I LOVE Pinterest. I had seen an idea of helium filled balloons floating above a bed with notes of love attached to the bottom. I knew I wanted to do it for Andy but I was scared of the balloons. For some reason, a certain 3 yr old toddler still loves to put strange things in his mouth! Anyway, when I went to the party store to order the balloons, they had a deal for the mylar heart shaped balloons. Sweet! I had the kids each take a heart note and write what they loved about Andy. As they got so excited about blessing Andy with these balloon-cards, I realized that Andy would be fine with 4 less balloons...I was going to bless the kids as well! When it was all done, there was a balloon love note in each child's room as well as 6 balloons in our bedroom. Andy LOVED it, as did the girls....as for Colin, I'm quite sure he didn't "get it" yet.
So after school, we told the girls the surprise....we were going to leave RIGHT after piano lessons and go to Stevi B's for pizza and we'd even play games. We never play the games...never. They were over the moon excited...it's the ONLY place that all 4 will really eat a decent meal. We were ready to "love" the kids by taking them to a crazy restaurant! It was very successful...everyone's love tank was filled...especially Colin's, when he got to play the "car game", as seen below!

Until next year....Happy Valentine's memories...know that you are loved, friends and family!

Christmas....everywhere!

"It's the most...wonderful time....of the year!"

Our tree is up....our tree is decorated....
And daily, I am showered with drawings and stories by Ava...either of an elaborate princess or the Christmas Story. One day, I was even presented with "Jesus' Life Cycle".
Speechless....we have been speechless.

But, one of the best gifts this season has been the random set ups of nativity sets.
We have a lot of them. I think we have 6 "play" sets that are non-breakable.
This year, in an effort to occupy Colin while I fix the girls' hair in the morning, I set up a "center" in our upstairs hallway of 2 of the nativity sets. In the mornings, after Ava was ready, you could usually find her setting up the nativities with Colin.

But these above are the 2 sets I captured photos of in our downstairs family room. The one on the left was done the first day I pulled out the Christmas decorations. The one on the right was done just before Christmas Eve...and I love how the remote control basket is over turned to allow for the angel to be "high"!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas and more...

What a fun Christmas we had this year! We've enjoyed each day of the girls' vacation and the children have just engrossed themselves in playing with their new things! We had some Christmas laughs this year--Colin was VERY into opening gifts, but was quite a menace--we had to strap him in his chair to allow the gift opening to go smoother! We also got a laugh when, 3 days after Christmas, Ellie said "Mom...what is that bag under your bed?!" Oopps....THAT is where her last gift was stashed! It was fun to see the girls so excited to exchange gifts with each other, to be so thankful for each item opened--it was just heart warming.

The girls' school did a project this year---the children actually became published authors! We had let the girls believe we were not ordering the books, when in reality, we had arranged with their teachers to get the books to me "secretly" for Christmas. It was fun to see their reactions as they discovered their books under their stockings!

Above, you will see a collage of Ellie on Christmas day--she was very into the lip gloss she got, her new clothes, and her Packers lanyard for her YMCA card--now there is no excuse for losing that card in the swimming bag right?!

We got the family a wii this year for Christmas. Andy got it all set up the night before and we had 3 items wrapped for the girls to "discover" the gift. To see them open these items, click HERE. The wii continues to be a big hit--it's been fun for all of us! And Colin? He sits on the ground watching and cheers when the machine cheers!

Jayna was thrilled with EVERYTHING. She loved her American Girl tee shirt (middle photo), her play school toys, books and games. She just loves life!

Ava REALLY wanted a snow globe this year...and look at the bottom right photo--her very own snow globe...and it is a family of 6 outside a church! It is a prized "toy" by all...we've even caught Colin carrying it around (yikes!). She also REALLY loved her Super Why "Princess Presto" cape, tierra and wand (middle photo).

Colin....he is the proud owner of the "biggest little Hawkeye fan" shirt, more books and another magnetic fridge toy. As you can see by the lower right photo, he was REALLY enjoying a chocolate chip cookie fresh from the oven on Christmas day!

After opening gifts, we spied Ava snuggling her new horse, wearing her Princess Presto pieces and watching the Nutcracker on TV!

One of the things Ellie did this vacation was make almost all of our dinner on evening--we called it Meatloaf a la Ellie! She was very excited to mush the meat...and then decided it was VERY cold! It was delicious though! :)

On New Year's Eve, we all had ice cream sundaes with a variety of toppings. Colin didn't like the ice cream, so he enjoyed smarties. In case anyone is wondering....huge bowls of ice cream and smarties are not the best sleep aids for children....

As you will see on the left side photos below, the girls tried to have a sleep over in the pink room. We got them all situated, gave them "talk time" and then put them to bed....2 hours later when we went in to wake them up to see the ball drop, we couldn't find Ellie! She had moved from the floor next to Jayna onto Jayna's bed! After watching the ball, she went back into her bed and Jayna into her own bed! So much for the sleep over!

On New Year's Day, we enjoyed playing as a family in the YMCA's gymnastic's center and then had dinner with friends. The girls really got into dressing up (middle picture below) and we even had an impromptu 40th birthday celebration for Mike!! Happy Birthday this week, Mike!

Happy New Year to everyone!
Here are some fun short videos from our week:
Top: Ava dancing to the Nutcracker
Bottom: Colin dancing while being trapped in his seat

Christmas Eve!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE GLYNN FAMILY!!!!
December 24, 2009

Today we woke up to a strange day--the front windows were all iced over and upon stepping outside, we could walk on top of the snow!!! Andy started to shovel and then tried out the snowblower....but I prefer to call what he did today "ice-blowing"! It was a fun day and the weather did not impact our activities. We had much fun playing outside in the snow/ice this morning--all 6 of us were out, which was a first for this family. Colin didn't like it THAT much; he really did not like the feel of boots; and didn't feel the need to keep his mittens on. We'll have to work on him.

Our friends had told us that IF we talked to the snowplow people; they would dump all the snow in our yard....how neat is that? So, last week, I spied a snowplow in the cul de sac and ran outside to ask if they'd make us a pile! Sure enough, we have the start of a sledding hill! The girls had such fun today, sledding down into our front yard! Ava tried it a few times, but she preferred to play with Colin and eat the snow! Down below are videos of the girls sledding and Andy "ice-blowing", as well as amazing Ava snow pictures that Andy captured.

Above, we have a collage of our evening. We went to church, as we always do on Christmas Eve. It was wonderful and we (Colin and I!) almost made it through the entire service! Maybe next year?!?!? We have a crazy tradition in our house....every year on Christmas Eve, we go to 4pm church and then out to eat to McDonald's....which has always closed at 6pm. This year, we arrived at 5:30pm only to find that they closed at 5pm! What a bummer! Wendy's had their lights on and sure enough, they were open, so our tradition of fast food on Christmas Eve continued! And how did that tradition start, you ask?! Well......years ago, we were trying to decide WHAT to do for dinner after church since we usually leave early in the morning on Christmas for one of our parents' homes. It has become a fun, crazy tradition and now, I guess we'll have to alter our dinner time or just make it a fast food tradition!

When we got home, we let the girls open 1 gift...their matching Christmas PJ's. We enjoyed finishing our Advent calendar and the girls were whisked off to bed....so Andy could finish assembling their gifts. It's currently 10:45pm and he's yet to come up from the basement...I'm wondering if he is PLAYING with the gifts?!

This year, we are staying put for Christmas. What a strange feeling that is, to not have to rush to pack for a trip. We are excited to give the girls/Colin all of our attention and make it a full family day tomorrow--after the crazy fall we've had, we are all excited for the day tomorrow!

But nonetheless, let us not forget the reason for the season....that Jesus was sent from above, to save us from our sins. Happy Birthday Jesus.....and Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas #2 and more...

Yesterday after school, we celebrated 2009 Christmas, part 2!!!! Grammie and Grampy brought their tree (haha....wooden craft pencil tree!) and set it up at their apartment! We had a mini feast and had quite a few laughs as we exchanged gifts. Colin was VERY into the gifts, favorites being an Elmo book and Radio Flyer rocket....and a big laugh was the photos that we gave to Grammie and Grampy...HOW on earth did we forget to order individual photos of COLIN? Poor 4th child....already being forgotten!

Above you see the group photos taken by "the" tree...

The children opening gifts...as you can see, Ava was VERY into opening a stocking stuffer!

All 3 girls received vests this year...they were a HUGE hit. The above picture is the girls early this morning--they didn't really take off their vests all day!

Here is Colin and his new rocket....he just didn't want to get off of it, even to have the wheels put on! He has moved into the next stage of "kid"...he is very into his gifts/toys now!

Today, we went to Oshkosh to the Nutracker in the Castle at the Paine Art Center. It was beautiful! The children are very into the Nutcracker story and had lots of fun walking through the rooms. Above, you can see the family before and after the tour as well as the girls pretending to be nutcrackers and reading the "big book" about the Nutcracker story.

Cameras were only allowed in 1 room and the basement activity area. Above, the children were playing with the wooden toys in the 1st room. Colin was happy as long as you did not put him on one of the big scary toys....

And he was also happy as long as he was strapped in his stroller....which is a good thing!

After the tour, we went to the basement where they had some activities for the children. The girls loved the drawings, puppet theater and learning about various other things (like worms and composting!). It was a fun afternoon, a great kick off to Christmas vacation!

2009 Christmas, part 3 starts tomorrow, so stay tuned for more merryGlynngoround fun! The girls are giddy with excitement to exchange gifts with each other and we are looking forward to worshiping as a family tomorrow night to celebrate Jesus' birth. How blessed we are, to have a Savior sent to save us....Merry Christmas friends and family!

Springtime fun with the IL Glynns

Andy's family came up Saturday for Easter and with the nice weather, the visit was extra special!!!! The girls have been VERY into the musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and we had checked out the piano music from the library. I don't even think Andy's dad was in the door to our house before the girls attacked him with the music asking him to play the songs for them!

We had much fun playing outside, catching up, worshiping together on Easter, and the boys of the home really enjoyed that Easter afternoon nap! In addition, we had a blast from the past, watching old videos of the girls--and discovered how fitting this youtube video of the girls was for Easter. (If you have a minute and need a smile, click on the word "youtube" and you will see them sing 2 songs--this is back in 2006 and both songs are from a favorite video of The Donutman.)

Enjoy the photos....And the video too! (For all photos, to enlarge them, click on the photo. To see the video, click on the highlighted word(s).)

Kite Flying

Here is video of Grandpa sightreading the Joseph music:
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4

Grandpa playing Ava's suggestion: Hosanna!

Ellie and Grandpa playing one of Ellie's recital songs together!

Jellybean Blessings

Every year, at all of the 'major' holidays, I always have good intentions of blessing our neighbors in some unique way...and every year, the hustle of the holiday overtakes my desires! But this year, we accomplished our goal! Thanks, Jessica, for the idea of the Jellybean Poem!! (The girls later pointed out to me that the poem is actually included in the book "The Color Of Love"! Such memories the girls have!)

We sorted the jellybeans; we determined that each girl got to stuff 4 baggies and help tie them with ribbon. Ellie punched all the holes in the paper and I attached the notes . We then went to the 12 homes on our block and blessed them with an Easter greeting.

What we discovered was interesting....1) Amounts of jellybeans in a bag are not created equal (see photo of jellybeans in the bowls!).
2) The girls LOVED surprising the neighbors with a little treat!
3) The NEIGHBORS loved having a familiar face ring their bell and actually have a conversation with them!
4) That these little ways of blessing touched our lives just as much as the neighbors that received a sweet treat.

And as with most experiences that we all have, there is a "ps"....the day after we delivered the bags, I was running errands with Ava and we were leaving Wal Mart. Suddenly I heard someone say "hello....HELLO!" and I turned--it was the man on the very end of our street. He said to me "Say....thank you so much for the jellybeans and note...I really appreciate that...thank you!" We don't even know this man's name--he knows what our van looks like, he knows we have a little baby, and the girls refer to him as "the man who walks the dog that is afraid of children"!

Happy Easter!

How great it is to worship the risen Lord! Happy Easter to everyone, what an amazing gift it is to celebrate Jesus' victory over death and to have Jesus living within us! We celebrated Easter with Andy's family visiting us this year--it was quite the task Sunday morning to walk into church and put the girls to their test: to find a row in which all 10 of us could fit!

The girls are on spring break this week and already, we've had lots of fun....you'll just have to check back later in the week for more pictures and details!