It is time!

That is, I have some time. So I might as well get around to that update I promised you all. I think I'll skip over Christmas, since it was over a month ago. (Although I do have some cards to mail, still. Maybe I'll get that done today, too.) Suffice it to say that we had a good time, ate some good food, and spent time in good company. Now, on to January. The new year started off great! Josh and I went to Disneyland for our 10 year anniversary. We had so much fun! When our sister-in-law, Tarra, dropped us off at the park, she said we looked like two happy newlyweds, holding hands as we walked into the happiest place on earth. I used to get annoyed with that stereotype. I've never liked stereotypes, really, and this was no exception. But when she told us that, I couldn't help but be happy that I'm still as in love with Josh today as I was 10 years ago. Actually, even more so. Happy anniversary to us!

The rest of January was kind-of blah after that. The kids are up to their normal shenanigans. Sophie is walking everywhere and actually starting to get a little stubborn. She doesn't have very many words, but that doesn't stop her from communicating. She was even scolding me the other day for suggesting something she didn't want to do. She got her little finger in my face and told me how it was going to be. What a stinker! She's a cute little stinker, though.

Ryan is finally having some success with the potty. He also likes to argue with us. The other day, Josh told Emma that she had "made a good point." Ryan looked at Josh and said, "Actually, Dad, it's not a good point," and then went about his business. He sings (mostly songs about dinosaurs) and chases the preschool girls into corners, making them scream. He insists it's a game. They have told me they don't like the game. No more free time during preschool, I guess.

Anna is funny as ever. We told her many months ago that if she stopped sucking her thumb we would buy her a doll. With other things going on, that challenge was put on the back burner. She recently reminded us of this, however. We keep reminding her that she has to actually quit sucking her thumb, which she doesn't want to do. She told me, "Just buy me a doll anyway." Now, she's decided to use her own money to buy a doll. That's fine. But her idea is that she will get paid for not sucking her thumb, and every time she realized she's not sucking her thumb, she wants payment. Every 5 minutes or so she is back asking for more money.

Tyler loves to imagine things. He has whole movies he's planned. Or sometimes it's just scenarios involving himself or his friends. He has to imagine with something in his hands, and it has to wiggle (like a string, or a jump rope). In fact we bought him a slinky for Christmas so he could have something new to help him imagine. He's also really into Harry Potter and the Narnia series. We just finished The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and he loved it. Now he and Anna have a new game to play; what secret world they can find in their closets and what adventures await them.

Emma is clever and witty. Her latest love is to bake. She loves to try cookie and brownie recipes the most. She does an excellent job. After Josh cut his finger trying to get one of her brownies out of the pan, she said she doesn't dare to make brownies anymore. Hopefully she'll get over that if I promise her I will do all the cutting from now on. She's also an excellent reader. She's almost done with the final Harry Potter. She's read the entire series in 8 or 9 months. That's a lot of reading to do. (Of course I finished the whole series in less than 3 weeks. But that's all I did for those weeks. And I'm not really trying to compete with my 8-year-old. I'm just funny.)

Now, my goal is to update more often. My kids are really quite funny, but if I don't immediately write it down, I forget what they have said or done. We'll see if I can stick to it. But, that's all for now.