Uuuggghhh!!

Well, the last couple of weeks at the Greenwald house have not been pleasant!!! We've been hit HARD by some nasty little virus that seems to be swarming the St. Louis area! It started with Jason on Feb. 7, traveled to Kevin, then Lucy, quickly made it's way to me and is now visiting with Anna - that's 17 days with someone sick! And it has everything . . . fever, headache, cough, sore throat, stuffy nose, etc, etc, etc! Only Gary seems immune at this point . . . I'm not sure how he's managed to escape it! We've even shared it with Nana, Grandpa, Aunt Beth and Jack (you're welcome, guys!!!) Hopefully, the Iowa and Colorado air is germ free for you all! Cause this is NOT fun! We'll be glad for some spring air . . . open up the house, get the kids playing outside, that always seems to help with these winter colds!

Take care! Stay healthy! We love you!
Amy

Happy To You!

Happy Birthday to You!! (or as Anna says "Happy to you") GeeGee celebrated her 97th birthday last Sunday!!!! You go girl! We all got together for a family dinner/birthday party complete with GeeGee's favorite foods, cake (there's always cake) and some presents! One of the sweetest gifts of the day was from our giver, Kev! It's hard to think of something to give someone turning 97 who seems to have everything . . . but not for Kev. . . he came up with something from the heart!!! Let me start by explaining that GeeGee is known for slipping a paper clip onto the cards she gives to everyone on their special days. And the fun part is seeing a paper clip on the outside of the card and knowing there's something attached inside (a check, some cash, you get the idea)! So Kev (on his own) fixed a card for GeeGee with a paper clip!!! And then on the inside was a $1 bill attached (that's a lot for him - he only had $2 to his name). GeeGee seemed to love it (check out the picture below)! Love ya Kev!

We are so blessed to have GeeGee with us - not all kids have a great-grandma around (and they still have two great grandmas)! She's such a wonderful person, a gentle, sweet soul! As the kids say in their prayers "Thank you, God, for GeeGee!"

Enjoy the pics . . . it was a great day!

Gift giving time (the paper clip)!!

Jack helping out!

All the great grandkids!

The Greenwald's

The Koerber's

Nana, Grandpa and GeeGee

Who-Dey

Call us crazy but we've just added another furry creature to the family!!! Jason has been saving his money to adopt his very own bunny from the rescue home where we've been volunteering! He's had his eye on a special little guy . . . and this weekend (with his saved allowance, Christmas money, and Birthday money) he reached the amount he needed to purchase all the necessary items (cage, hay, food, litter, bowls, etc) and the adoption fee. So this weekend we built the cage, set up everything, then went and picked up the new addition. We even found out he was chosen for a local commercial for the St. Louis Mayor's reelection campaign (it will air locally in March) Jason has named him "Who-Dey" (the name of the Cincinnati Bengals mascot) and is so proud and excited to have this new responsibility/friend!

Introducing Who-Dey . . .

What's up there?

Cool View!

"Ummm, Hello . . . who are you?"

"I think I like this place!"

Jason and Who-Dey!

Snow Day - finally!!!

Well, it finally happened . . . we have snow! A decent amount too!! And with that came 2 snow days!!! The kids are thrilled - and having a GREAT time sledding down the backyard hill. Even Anna has gotten in on the action. Jason pulled out his skateboard ramp, drug it to the backyard, and added extra excitement to the ride (the Pam he sprayed on the bottom of the sled didn't hurt either!) Thought I would share a few pics . . . ENJOY!

Little Pink Snow Bunnies

Anna's very own sled!

"Again, Seson"

Big brother - Big helper!

WHEEEEEEEE!!!

And if you don't want to wait for a sled . . .

just go "penguin style"!

WE LOVE SNOW!!

Happy Milk Day!!!

Hello, again . . . How was everyone's week?? Ours was good! Let's see . . . normal school days, everyone healthy, basketball practice, family haircuts, bunny feeding. . . you get the idea. Lucy is selling Girl Scout cookies for the first time this year . . . She's so excited. Wish we lived closer to some of you to ask those famous words "would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies" but Lucy's doing great here! If you buy any cookies from a cute little girl in a uniform out your way, imagine Lucy! She's loving it! Oh, and Jason is planning his birthday party for next week . . . He's so excited. He's having a few friends over for a sleepover! Gary's going to take them bowling for a couple hours, play some flag football (if the weather cooperates) and head up to our rec center for some basketball - wonder who will be worn out? And my job is to just keep feeding them when they pass by the house!!!!! Sub sandwiches, pizza, ice cream cake, donuts, etc. . . . and I'll squeeze a fruit or veggie in there somewhere - I at least have to try! Well, I guess that's about it for the week around here - pretty calm as far as Greenwald weeks go!

But I do want to share one more story with you before I go . . . For us it's another priceless Kev story!

Here goes - The kids learn a lot of basic history in school - from historical presidents, wars, inventions to various significant individuals. However, as you probably know, kids don't always understand everything they learn or hear. That's what happened here . . . Kevin has learned about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from year to year. But I guess no one had ever made a clear connection from the lesson they were learning about to the day off from school to honor him (or Kevin missed that part in the lesson) Anyway, Gary was taking his turn tucking the kids in bed on Friday when Kev asked why they didn't have school on Monday. Gary (thinking he was entering a wonderful, historic discussion) asked Kev why he thought they didn't have school on Monday. Kevin's response was because it was "Milk Day". Gary said "What is that" . . . Kevin said "I don't know, maybe the day to celebrate whoever invented milk!" Everyone take a moment and picture a classroom calendar that has the initials MLK written on that Monday square . . .

Now, needless to say, Gary didn't let Kev go to sleep thinking we were having a holiday to celebrate a cow (although we do like animals around here). He went on to ask if they had learned about Dr. King in school . . . Kevin said yes . . . So Gary went on to have that wonderful, historic discussion he thought he was going to have at the beginning of the conversation! Then came down stairs and tried to share the story with me between the giggles (OK, Gary doesn't really giggle but you get the idea) . . . Cracked us up!!!

Well, I hope that made you giggle a little bit!!! For us it's another classic Kev story (we should write a book)!

So Happy MLK Day everyone!

Love ya,
Amy (and the gang)

Baseball Season???

Hi, all! Just thought I'd try posting again - see if everyone is able to get access to the blog! I really hope this works out for all!

We're back in our routine (I think!) The kids went back to school last week! That sure quieted things down a bit around here!! I'm not sure if Anna likes the "alone" time or misses the chaos!! But she's sure happy to see everyone when they get home! Jason did great with his first semester in middle school - all A's and a B+! And let me tell you he worked HARD for that B+. She was one tough teacher! Our sports calendar just keeps moving along too - Jason with basketball, Kevin and Lucy with indoor soccer . . . and can you believe baseball??? The sign-ups are this month and Jason's team started some indoor practice!! I don't think I'm ready to think about baseball yet - it's too cold for baseball. And if that's not enough we have flag football for the boys the end of next month (Lucy can't wait until she's 6 and can play flag football too!) I know it sounds like a lot but it's pretty much 1 sports season per kid at a time. But if you multiply that by the 3 older kids it equals one full calendar!

Kevin has also been enjoying his cub scouts - time to make that pinewood derby car to race! And he's loving his chess club at school - he can beat big brother - wow, that was big the first time that happened!! Lucy's starting to prepare for her dance recital in June (she LOVES dance) . . . and wants to start playing the piano. I would love for her to learn the piano since I play too! The boys have not been interested in that thus far . . . but Jason is enjoying his trumpet! He's thinking about switching to drums next year (as if it's not noisy enough around here) But I'm all for music so we may have to give it a try!!

Oh and Jason and I have been volunteering at a rescue facility for pet rabbits. We adopted a rabbit from there last May and decided recently that we would like to help out some more. So we go about once a week to clean cages, feed the bunnies or just love and hold the little furballs! It's been great . . . and Jason has really been working hard there! I'm glad he's learning a little bit more about volunteering and serving others!

Well, I guess that's a pretty good summary of the Greenwald Household for the last few weeks! PLEASE post a comment and let us know about your days!

Talk to you soon! God Bless!
Amy

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

Finding the Perfect Tree!!

(it's the one to the left)

HO HO HO!

Hi, everyone!!! Gary and I decided 2009 seemed like the year to try the blog world!! We think it will be a quick way for everyone to stay up to date on what happens in the life of the Missouri Greenwald's, check out recent pics and maybe hear a funny story or two :) Hope you enjoy peeking here now and then and leave a comment about how you guys are doing too!

Well to get started . . . we've had a great holiday season filled with love and excitement. Anna was really into everything this year . . . candy canes, presents, Santa and, of course, her "Baby Jesus People" (that's what she calls her Fisher Price Little People Nativity Set). We never knew when we might find Mary driving the school bus, Jesus riding in the helicopter, or a shepherd in the doll house kitchen cooking a meal for the other doll house people. She really cracked us up! And Jason, Kevin and Lucy started finding gifts for each other from the "treasures" in their rooms, wrapping them up and placing them under the tree right after Thanksgiving! There were definitely some surprises under the tree this year :) But it was so exciting to see Christmas through their eyes!

The Boys!!

The Girls!!

Santa brought Jason a cell phone . . . COOL!!

Kev got his very own PURPLE camera!!

"It's real NOT a toy!!"

Lucy got a My Twin doll . . .

it's ordered customized to look just like her!

Anna is into dress up

so she got some rockin' pink hair!!!

And we can't forget about sweet Daisy under one of the trees!

She liked to try and pull the paper out of the bags!

Also, thanks to all for the packages/gifts that arrived at our door . . . everyone was so generous and we all had a great time opening the gifts and thinking of you all!! The kids (and adults) are busy working on the thank you notes - Lucy's little hand gets tired but she wants to write all of hers by herself!! I'll try to send a translation in the envelope for the Kindergarten spelling she's using!! So cute! Well, enjoy the Christmas pics and feel free to post a comment so we can hear about your holidays!! We love you guys!