Another peaceful Sunday!! In our house, Sunday is "Family Fun Day" - no work allowed, only play together as a family. Needless to say, the kids LOVE Sundays and so do Rod & I. So far today we've had coffee and home made waffles, snuggled and watched cartoons, gone to Church and lunch with Gma & Papa, and worked out as a family. Right now Rod is playing Wii with Evan & Loren. I would love to join, but Evan's going through a bit of a mommy's boy stage these days - his bout with Strep throat isn't helping that - and I don't want to take away from their moment. Paige is having fun playing Barbies by herself downstairs with no sisters or brother messing things up, so I'll post and keep her company. Here are some snapshots of what's been going on with us this week.

Reason 671 why I love my kids' school! The girls are above holding their Lenten crosses. Every child and teacher in the grade school and preschool had to decorate a cross. Then on the Mon. after Ash Wednesday they all got together in the gym and chose a cross "secretly." You don't tell whose cross you have, and no one tells you if they have your cross. You are to pray for the person whose cross you got throughout lent, and their family, and then after Easter they will get together again and find the person they've been praying for. The girls have done an awesome job remembering our "Lenten Angels" as Loren likes to call them.

OK, good thing Rod never reads our Blog b/c he would Hate that I posted these, but come on!! This is Evan being a Musketeer. He has on Brooke's boots, Paige's Hello Kitty gloves and the sword is his. I think the t-shirt makes it even better, don't you? I only wish I had video of him doing a somersault then hopping up saying "On guard!!" Sorry for the fingerprints on the lens again! He's apparently a bit of a Clark Kent - taking photos by day, dueling bad guys by night!

This may be my favorite photo of all time! The kids were eating Girl Scout cookies by the space heater - we love the spacer heater around here - while Rod and I were in the kitchen cleaning up supper. Rod walked into the living room to check on them and busted out laughing. Evan had melted the chocolate on his cookie and smeared it all over his face. I promise, we did not do any of that - he did it all himself. Isn't that wild? Look how even it is!! Even a mustache! And no one in our family even has a beard!! I love it!!

My pretty girls before Church this morning.

Just some random pictures of the past few weeks.

Brooke on Valentine's Day

Loren's Y basketball team - even though we don't (officially) keep score, one of the other moms was couting and they won every game!! Not that it matters!! Loren really liked it and we're thinking this may be her sport!

Loren moved into Evan's room several weeks ago, and promptly declared she did not want to sleep in a baby room. So, very sadly, I painted over the awesome mural my friend Natalie (see Paige's bday deco's!) had painted on the walls which were, I suppose, "babyish" for a 9 year old. The challenge was finding a room that fit both of their personalities. Good old brown!! I think it turned out awesome! Evan had a tough time adjusting and kept asking me to change it back, but he's grown to like it, too!

Snow days!

Hello again! I am, like most of you I'm sure, totally sick of snow!! So I am posting these pictures of a great time we all had in the cold white stuff to remind myself that it is fun when you look at it through a child's eyes - even a big kid's eyes!

Loren & Dad trying to slide down the hill without sleds.

Brooke making me snow cookies.

I think he had fallen about 15 times by now, and his boots had fallen off about 10 times, but he did NOT want to call it quits!

Just plain beautiful!


I love this picture because it's so "real." There's Brooke, sucking her fingers which she's only supposed to do in bed. I'm pretty sure I'm telling her not to. Paige has obviously been crying about something, which is an almost daily occurance! And Loren is letting Evan do whatever he wants as long as he'll be close to her. A typical Sunday in the Hoelscher house.

Tonight I had a great prayer group, and walked into my house at 7:00 feeling so grateful and blessed and "filled up" I couldn't wait to see my family. As I walked toward the bathroom where Rod was already doing baths I was met by 2 crying children, and by Rod's face I knew it hadn't been a good evening. We said a quick hello, he gave me a summary of what had gone wrong since they got home, and then headed out the door to a meeting. The evening did not go smoothly for me, either. Evan did not recover from having to get out of the tub and after crying (yelling) for 30 straight mintues it took me an hour and a half to get him down. Brooke & Paige got in trouble for fighting in bed, loudly, just as Evan was almost asleep only 35 minutes into my trying. I was short with Loren several times as she tried to tell me about her day because she's the one least in need of my attention, or so I tell myself. As I sit here now it hits me - how fragile my gratitude and joy are. How little it takes for my high to disappear. Shame on me. My trials are nothing, and I should know that better than most because I have the honor of watching some amazing parents walk their paths every day. What if God got frustrated with me that easily? I ask more of him than these beautiful children ever ask of me. What an honor he has given me, to raise these 4 beautiful children while on this earth, and how selfishly I resent it sometimes. So once again I will go to bed praying for help and promising to do better tomorrow. And because they are so much closer to God than I am, my children will greet me with a hug in the morning and once again give me another chance with no strings attached. So who's teaching who? I think I'll go kiss them good night.

Quick post - crabby kids upstairs with husband!! This is from Paige's birthday, then her party. The awesome cupcake toppers were made by my friend Natalie. Thanks again, chicky!!

Well, better late than never! I am doing my monthly post! We have been snowed in for 2 straight days now - Rod could finally get out with 4-wheel drive once the maintainer went by after lunch. The rest of us are stuck in here and going a little stir crazy. So I took a little time for myself to get some pictures of the last month up. Like many we had to change our Christmas plans thanks to Mother Nature. But also like many, there were things about the forced quiet we enjoyed. As some friends and I decided, maybe it was God's way of saying "slow down and remember what this season is for."

Modeling their new comforter.

Just because she's so cute!!

Loren & her friend Bailey at their Christmas program.

Brooke with Santa at her preschool Christmas party.

The kids modeling their "letters" in their lockers. (notice the Evan fingerprint on the camera lens!)

Painting pictures for the Grandmas!

Evan loved this and painted about 25 minutes longer than his sisters!

Loren making the famous Hoelscher sugar cookies for the school party.

On the 23rd Uncle Ryan & Aunt Elizabeth brought their presents over. This is always very exciting for the kids!! You'll see why in a second!

Brooke with her new Karaoke machine.

Paige with her DS

Evan with his combine - he immediately noticed "it has a combine head and auger!"

Loren got an iPod nano - which Mom borrows regularly since I don't have an iPod!

The future looks a little scary - notice the song?

Evan with his ornament for the year.

All of the girls had made us ornaments at school. We were so proud because they were all so excited to give them to us they forgot to even ask for their presents until after we ate. Here are the 2 Loren made us.

Brooke with hers - which was a "victim" of her little brother running laps around the tree for the last few weeks.

Paige with hers. Just loved them all this year!!

Somehow, the only picture we got taken Christmas Eve of the kids. Evan's not even in it!! I guess that drive home from mass in Columbus at 35 mph had us all a little frazzled! Plus, my camera is on the wrong setting so it's all fuzzy!!

Loren reading the new Christmas Eve book we got - Rodney the Reindeer. I couldn't resist! (Still on the wrong setting!)

Finally in our comfy pj's!

Celebrating Christmas with the Hoelschers after papa came to get us in the 4-wheel drive. We'd been stranded at home by this point for 4 days!! The matching jammies are from Grandma!

With the Barbie House!!

Our little farmer and (some of) his new equipment.

My "baby" turned 9 and wanted a Lego cake. Let's just say I'm not that good at straight edges!



I guess Brooke got this idea from Loren's Christmas program!



Somehow the only picture I took at my parents when we celebrated Christmas there on New Year's Day.

This is for my friends who live in warm states - this was storm #2 (we've had another since) that left us trapped in our house for days and burned 30+ hours of my vacation!