Waaaaaaay Behind!

Well, it's pretty obvious . . . with 4 kids & 12 pets (yes, I said 12) I can barely keep up! I've gotten pretty behind on my blog updates . . . so 9 months later here's what we've been up to . . .

In March . . . Anna turned 3!!!!! Our baby is growing up!

Over Spring Break we made a trip to Arkansas to visit Bittie . . . that was a fun time! The kids loved staying in a hotel, swimming in the pool, and hanging out at the retirement home with Bittie and her friends (seriously, they did!!!)

Then came April . . . . Lucy turned 6!!

And we celebrated Easter - This photo was after posing for my COUNTLESS retakes . . . they earned this one :o)

In May . . . Kevin turned 9!! He had a Sleepover Bowling Birthday Bash with his Buds!!! Yes, we survived!!

Then summer began . . .

Lucy performed in her dance recital . . . so beautiful!

We climbed on some big rocks . . . Elephant Rock State Park!

Rode on the Amtrak train to downtown St. Louis . . .

And spent some time at a lake house with good friends!!

The Greenwald's, Mondl's, and Eastlund's

We finished up a great baseball season -
Gary coached Lucy's team (the Bees)

Kevin pitched for the first time,

and Jason made the All-Star team!

Then it was off to Florida for an AWESOME family vacation!!

To finish off the summer . . .

Our friends from Australia, the Witt's, came back for a quick visit! It was fun getting together with a couple of families for a reunion BBQ - We miss them!!

We went camping and fishing

Welcomed a new nephew/cousin to the family . . . Baby Justin!

And welcomed Pet #10 . . . Kevin's snake, Clementine! We also got the girls a Betta fish named Flipper - pet #11 (no photo but he's blue if you're wondering)Then it was time for school to start!

Jason - 7th grade, Kevin - 4th grade, Lucy - 1st grade, and Anna - PreschoolAnd with that began the new sports seasons -

Football for Jason - Here's #28 (Jason) holding for the extra point in the Championship Rose Bowl - his team won!!! Go Falcons!Soccer for Kevin and Lucy! Both of their teams won their divisions as well!

What a Greenwald Season - three 1st place championships!!!

Anna is still a spectator but not for long - next year she'll be joining her own teams!!!

Then came Fall - Pumpkin picking!
Halloween - a basketball player, soccer player, penguin, and Tinkerbell!

and Thanksgiving with the Cousins

Finally, we just enjoyed a blessed Christmas season!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!
Off to bed in our new Christmas jammies!

Well, that's the update - did it feel like 9 months worth??? And if you were wondering about pet #12, Jason just got a Betta fish for Christmas (no photo yet - he's red). His name is Blitz! There! A semi-complete account of the Greenwald's 2009. I'll try to do better in 2010!

Until the next update - Happy New Year!

Amy (and the Gang)

Is it spring??

What a gorgeous day we're having . . . sunny, warmer, a little breezy . . . definitely feels "springy"! I've got some windows open and am starting to feel the need to clean! Notice I said "starting to feel" the need to clean - I'm not actually getting to it yet :) Gotta love spring cleaning! We're all feeling better from our last horrible cold!! It just feels like a great day!

Not too much to update . . . kids are still hanging in there with school. It's almost spring break and we're planning a trip to Arkansas to visit with "Bittie" (my grandma/Dad's mom). She hasn't seen all the kids for a couple of years . . . so it's definitely time to get down there!

Oh, and we've added yet some more to our family (yes, I am crazy) but I have a wonderful hubby who understands that this is just who I am. This time we've moved a few of the bunnies from the rescue home over to our home - not actually adopting them (just a technicality cause they will live here permanently). They are bunnies called "sanctuary bunnies" meaning they were not up for adoption due to various health/behavior/age reasons. But the director was encouraging volunteers to take a few of them into homes for more direct contact and to make room for more "adoptable" bunnies . . . with Easter coming she says the foster home will really fill up. People getting rabbits for Easter and then changing their minds shortly after . . . Anyway, there were 3 of the sanctuary bunnies that had really grabbed my heart . . . so we opened our home to them. There's an older "huge" french lop named Shantay. . . seriously, huge!!! Bigger than our cat, Nemo!! She has problems with her eyes and needs daily medication - but she is just huge and cuddly!! Then there's Tikki (a mini lop) and Taca (or as Gary has renamed him "Taco", a dutch mix). They are two little guys who have been together for about 3 years. Tikki is deaf - but besides that these 2 are fabulous. Because of their age (5ish), being bonded (having to stay together), and the deafness no one was adopting them. So sad!! Well, the kids love them . . . they are definitely snuggle bunnies - if one is getting love, attention and petting the other runs (literally) over to get some too!

So that brings the bunny total to 5!!! Jason's Who-Dey upstairs, Our 1st Daisy Girl on the main floor, and the new Shantay, Tikki and Taca downstairs. It's definitely a full house . . . but that's it, no more (famous last words)!! And a special thanks to Nana who is "sponsoring" our new little friends with food, veggies and supplies each month - it's like having pet rabbits without changing a litter box, right, Nana?? Thanks for helping out!!

Hope everyone is well and having a great day!

Catch ya' later!

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!!