Kevin is in training with the SSA office in St. Paul. Elena is writing/reading like crazy. Lucy is enjoying the world of make believe and writing her own songs. Isaac is standing up and bear crawling, has 4 teeth, and can now drink through a straw! Emily is keeping busy with kids, LLL, Girl Scouts, and her job at Children's.
Elena's 2nd performance of the year! The little dancer had no problem going up on stage, but there was an issue with concentrating on her dance instead of the rowdy crowd. She really got into showing off - after her appearance on stage(as you can see by the pic of her alone.) I practically had to bribe her to take her tutu off for lunch! Look how close in size Elena and Maya are(the pic with their backs to the camera) and there is a 15 month age difference! 
We had a very busy and eventful Christmas. We saw lots of family and friends and even had a visit from the Fire Department on Christmas day (we smelled some gas, they made us evacuate, but in the end everything and everyone was fine.) We thank everyone for the great gifts. I had to go through Elena and the baby's room to reorganize after the holidays!
We managed to find a few days before Christmas to escape to Chicago. It was our first roadtrip in our new (used) Dodge Grand Caravan. Santa visited a little early and found a portable DVD player while he was shopping for food for the trip. We wish to express sincere sympathy to all who have done road trips with children who did not have this "necessary" device. We parked our Minivan at our hotel-6 miles from downtown- and used public transportation the entire time(i.e. the bus and our feet). It was sooo cold. Elena looked like an eskimo when we got her all suited up, but rarely complained of being cold. Elena loved the Chicago Children's Museum and spent most of her time making gingerbread cookies in the kitchen. She still searches for a "little potty" every time we enter a public restroom now. They had a miniature version of the public toilet. We also visited the Winter Wonderland on Navy Pier and saw the newest "Harry Potter" on the IMAX.
We finally had a large enough snowfall to enjoy our big hill in the back yard. Kevin and Elena made trails through the trees, and I watched from the warm house! With the 40 degree weather we have had the last two days, most of the snow has since melted.
