Costume Closet

The Johnson boys cannot come to our house without getting out the costumes. Jeremiah bought some knight armour while he was here, so now he and Nathan can have sword fights. Just what we need, more weapons and fighting! (And look who's instigating it on the video!) Renee and her family left from our house today on their way to Oklahoma and then back to Pennsylvania. Have a safe trip! (Aaron has promised to start putting more pictures of their kids on the blog since Renee has slacked off.)

Baby Crazy!

One last kiss for the road!

Lily: "Will someone get this kid off me!"

Ashley was fascinated by Lily the last time she saw her in October, but this time she was completely enamoured with her. She was all over her hugging, kissing, and making sure that Lily had her "papi". Ashley is still in love with her pacifier (a.k.a. "papi") and couldn't understand why Lily didn't want hers at all times. Jeff - the speech pathologist - thinks Ashley's love of her pacifier is so cute, so he doesn't want to take it away from her yet. Nathan gave his up on his own before he was a year old. At this point, I'm thinking that Ashley might go to college with hers!

Merry Christmas!

Ashley & Mikayla

We've had a great Christmas today. The kids woke up early this morning and got their presents from Santa: a remote-controlled Spiderman robot for Nathan and a play kitchen for Ashley. We then went to Mom & Dad's for breakfast and more presents. Considering we have 7 (yes, seven!) kids ages 5 and under, everything went rather smoothly. Dad even planned a "treasure hunt" for us grown-up kids. It was a lot fun! We then headed to Perryville to spend the afternoon with Jeff's family.

Nathan threw out one last Christmas wish on me a few days ago. I'm thinking, "Great, what now? I have my shopping finished." Then, he said that he wanted to be with his whole family for Christmas. I thought it was so sweet, and I felt guilty for being so cynical. Well, I think he got his wish. I have escaped upstairs for a few minutes to download the day's pictures and post a few here. My final wish for Christmas is that Jeff will have both of the kids put to bed before I get downstairs! :) Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you have a blessed 2008!

The Fischer Family - Christmas 2007

Smarsh-smellows!

Mikayla, Brandon, & Nathan

If anyone needs a last minute Christmas gift for a boy age 5 to 45, may I recommend a marshmallow shooter. (Or as Nathan calls them "smarsh-smellows".) Nathan got one last night at the Adams' family Christmas from Meme and Pop. We had a lot of fun shooting mini marshmallows all over the house. (Sorry, Phyllis!) Nathan got the bow and arrow kind because the toy salesperson said it would be for him to load, but they make some that look like semi-automatic weapons for the older marshmallow shooting enthusiasts. It was a big hit with Brandon and Mikayla, too!

By the way, I don't know if marshmallows are good for dogs or not, but Jake loved them!

Kristmas with the Krebs

We went to Cheeburger tonight with the Krebs, and then they came over to exchange Christmas presents. They gave Nathan the perfect gift: 50 jars of Play-Doh. He talked them into playing with that first. Ashley also loved her dress-up shoes. I sent the older 2 Krebs' girls home with jewelry and card making kits that had over 1000 pieces each! You're welcome, Brett and Missy.

In chair: Morgan (4), Lydia (21 months), & Grace (7)

Everybody loves Play-Doh!

A girl can never have too many shoes!

Go Trojans!

Jeff and Nathan went to the Stephens Center this week to watch the Trojans play. It was some cheap entertainment, and it got them out of the house so I could finish wrapping Christmas presents. Since Jeff is still a student, the tickets were $4 each and that included a Coke and hot dog. They took this picture of Nathan with the mascot for Will. He is somewhat obsessed with them. At football games, all he wants to do is look for/meet/high-five the mascots.

Wonder Place

Jeff took the kids to the Wonder Place earlier this week. Having never been there myself, I don't really know how to describe it. I guess its like an interactive play place (?). They had a great time. Ashley's favorite thing was the water table, and Nathan liked the ball tubes.

South Arkansas Christmas

Jeff's out of school for semester break, so we went to El Dorado yesterday to visit an old family friend and to do a little Christmas shopping on the Square. The kids did pretty well on the trip. I, of course, spent most of the trip down there turned around handing them dropped toys, cups, etc., but they both slept most of the way back. I'm pretty much done with my Christmas shopping, however, Jeff still has quite a bit to do. He sent the kids to school today so that he could work on it, and I think he made a significant dent in his list. Now, I will just have to wrap it all for him!

Ice Skating in Hot Springs

Racheal & Nathan

Jeff & Ashley

Abby & Nathan

So I heard on the news that there was an outdoor ice skating rink in Hot Springs this year. I thought it would be so much fun to take Nathan ice skating for the first time. Let me set the scene: a cold but clear night in downtown Hot Springs, all aglow with Christmas lights and carols playing over the loud speaker. Sounds perfect, but as soon as we set skate on the ice, Nathan fell and started wailing. It took at least 20 minutes to make it around the first time with me clutching both Nathan and the rail. It soon got better as he (and I) got more comfortable on the ice. Jeff's niece Abby went with us, and we all ended up having a good time. The rink is no Rockefeller center, but it was a fun evening.

I got elfed!

Jessica F. sent us a funny little animated e-mail of them as elves. While I wasn't brave enough to put my own head on an elf body, I did "elf" the kids. If you want to see the animated version, click here: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1344821119.

Glo-oooo-ooooo-oooria!

Nathan: "Glory to God and peace on the Earth!"

Nathan had his Christmas Program at preschool today. He said his line very well and sang most of the songs. Unlike last year, no articles of his clothing were unzipped, removed, or seriously misshapen during the performance.

(Jeff's videography is a little shaky.)

Christmas at the Capitol

Ashley loved the fireworks!

Christmas Parade

We went downtown with Fisch last weekend to watch the annual Little Rock Christmas Parade and lighting of the Capitol. The parade was slightly improved over previous ones. We got there late on purpose and caught the parade near the end of the route. That was the way to go.

Christmas Card Picture - Take 2

I was just telling Jeff tonight that I'm a little bit sad that this will be our last Christmas with a baby in the house. I'm not rethinking anything, just a little sad about it. One thing that I will not miss is the drama of trying to take a Christmas card picture. We tried again Wednesday afternoon. Everyone was in a good mood...the weather was nice...it seemed perfectly reasonable to set out on my own (again) with a toddler and a 5 year old to try to capture the perfect shot. However, the session ended with lots of crying and screaming (again) and a few mediocre pictures. Here's one that is deceptively cute. While it looks like the kids are walking together and holding hands, Nathan is actually dragging Ashley up the hill while I'm screaming, "Go to the car!" I'm holding on to the unrealistic hope that it will be easier next year when they are 2 and 6. Here's hoping!

Road Hogs

Smiles before...

Big smiles after!

How 'bout them Hogs! We just got back from Baton Rouge with the Fowlkes. I don't think we could have picked a better road game to go to this year (or in the last 10 years, for that matter!) Death Valley lived up to it's reputation of being hostile, but we escaped unscathed and with a win over the #1 team in the nation. It really doesn't get much better than that! Go Hogs!

Men at Work

After we enjoyed our Thanksgiving Eve meal, I took full advantage of our friends and shamelessly asked them to haul in our big Christmas tree from under the house. When we moved into this house (7 years ago next week), we had a wimpy little 6 ft. tree from our apartment days. I went overboard the next year and bought a 9 1/2 ft. pre-lit tree. It weighs about a thousand pounds, and we affectionately refer to it as "Big Bertha". We (I mean, Jeff)drags it out every year, and then we struggle to hoist the middle piece on to the base without killing ourselves or breaking the window. This usually starts our first fight of the holiday season! So, thanks again guys! Next time you come over, I promise not to put you to work.

Little Deer Chief

Nathan had two Thanksgiving parties at preschool this year. One day he was pilgrim and the other he was an Indian. His Indian name was "Deer Chief".

Thanksgiving Eve

Brandon, Amanda, Mikayla, Brett & Lydia

Ashley's first real Thanksgiving dinner

Grace and Morgan enjoying the dessert sampler

We celebrated our favorite holiday (Thanksgiving Eve) a little differently this year. A storm knocked out the power at Mom & Dad's house about 3 o'clock this afternoon, so we changed our venue and met at our house. We frantically cleaned up and finished our dinner preparations just in time. We had a great time and good food (LOTS of good food!) As is tradition in the Fischer family, we wrote on the tablecloth what we were each thankful for. It's always nice to look back and see who has gathered around our table over the years.

Flying Fish

Nathan

Will

The Fowlkes were in town Saturday for the game, and we all went to the Flying Fish afterward. The boys did really well at the game, but they were getting a little crazy by dinnertime. These pictures were taken shortly after Nathan dared Will to kiss one of the fish on the wall. I'm afraid these two are going to get into a lot of trouble in the next few years!

"Hi!"

At age 5, Nathan is learning about blogging. He loves to look at the pictures and wanted to post a video message for his cousins:

(Not Quite) Picture Perfect

I tried to take some pictures of the kids outside today for our Christmas card. I was by myself with them and was overall unsuccessful. It is really hard to get a 5 year old and a toddler to look at the camera and not make a weird face at the same time. Here's a sample of my dialogue with them today:

"Nathan, look at the camera."
"Ashley...Ashley, look at Mommy."
"Nathan, look at the camera and put your hands down."
"Ashley...Ashley, look at Mommy."
"Nathan, I said 'Put your hands down'!"
"Ashley...Ashley, look at Mommy. I've got a leaf on my head!"
"NATHAN, PUT YOUR HANDS DOWN!"

Oh well! We'll try again another day!

Boo!

A few quick pics of Nathan and Ashley at home before we went trick-or-treating:

Another trip to the zoo

We bought season passes to the LR Zoo last spring, so we go all the time. Not that the zoo is that great, but the kids love it and pushing a stroller laden with 70 lbs. of kids and gear is great exercise! So last week, Mom, Renee, and I took all the kids. Even though we were at the zoo, you will not see any pictures of animals because I have stopped taking pictures of the same ol' elephants and gorillas everytime we go. They do have an old/new carousel at the entrance of the zoo. It is restored antique carousel and is worth the extra 2 bucks per person.

Baby Yee-Yee

Ashley was just crazy about Baby Lily (pronounced "Yee-Yee" in 19 month-old-speak).