Grandpa is showing us how to be more frugal, by buzzing Jackson's hair in the front doorway. "Welcome to the Schwartzs everybody, just step over the hair"...nice!

Abster is walking all over the place! However, she is using the Jeff Galloway method for running a marathon. Run several miles then walk a mile, only she is walking ten feet and crawling two feet until she gets to her desination.


Abby got a new buggy, but Jackson and Catie quickly took control of it and pushed each other down the drive..."real fast!" It always amazes us how no one wants to play with their own toys.


We attended the Silent Auction and Family Fun Night at Jackson's school. First, we enjoyed dinner brought in from Bambinelli's. Then, we showed off our dancing skills with some "freestyle" moves Jackson taught us. We had a successful night of bidding on various items at the Silent Auction. The highlight was our winning bid on Principal for a 1/2 day, the best $51 we ever spent! Steve was disappointed when he found out that it is Jackson that gets to be Principal and not himself. Jackson has lots of plans for the school, including no homework, and only "Specials" classes (art and PE).

Jackson out on the dance floor...

Jackson and his friend Josh reading Kung Fu Panda... a door prize from the event. Catie even won a Cinderella book.



Jackson's first grade science project was to choose an animal which they would like to learn about, and make a model of the animal. The choice of animal was a no-brainer for Jackson! Above, a possum made out of a milk carton. Thanks Grandma Moe... She kind of forgot the the students are supposed to do most the work...

Spring is here!

Catie will not wear a swim cap in the pool but likes wear it around the house... go figure.

The kids enjoyed a superhero party at Isaac's house few weeks ago!

Jackson had his friend Ian over to play... It was a gorgeous weekend, 70 degrees and sunny both days, so we were able to spend some time outside. Ian and Jackson are two peas in a pod. Both love possums, and as you can see above, both love to be silly!




Abby is into the Big Wheel just like her brother and sister, only she likes to go backwards...




Unfortunately, Jackson shows not desire to play a "regular" sport like baseball. No worries, because Catie and Abby are picking up the slack.

The Great Blizzard of '09!!

The kids sneaked EVERY pillow in the house into our bedroom (on Steve's watch), and had a blast jumping on them and building forts.

Jumpin' on the bed (again, under Steve's watch)...

Here is our "blizzard"! We have gotten about 4 inches so far, and it is still going strong... The kids could not wait to get outside to play in the snow, but had to wait for Abigail to finish her nap.


"Sam" the Snowman looks kind of feeble but it's understandable for our first snowman ... We had a great time working on our snowman and having an intense snow.

Abby's First Birthday Party

We celebrated Abigail's 1st birthday by having some friends over for a little party and cake. Above, Abby is "wrestling" with her friend Ariel.

All the kids, enjoying some pizza.

Our littlest princess during the "Happy Birthday" song...

Abby didn't know quite what to make of the cake. It took some encouragement from Daddy and Catie to get her to try it.

Abby is a future Miss Manners, as she had no desire to make a big mess with her cake like Jackson and Catie did for their 1st birthdays.

The other kids seem to be enjoying the cake more than Abby. Mmmm, finger-licking good! Just think of all the germs on that cake!!!

Jackson had to "create a hat" for the Valentine's Day party at school. He made a Brown Eyes/Valentine's hat as you can see above. Mr. Creativity was a big hit exiting the car pool line this morning.


Below, Abby post-cake...

Happy Birthday Abby!

Happy Birthday Abby!! We can't believe that our little baby is already a year old!! She is standing on her own, but hasn't taken any steps just yet...

One of Abby's favorite tricks is to sneak into the bathroom and get into the toilet paper (and sometimes into the toilet).

Jackson lost his second tooth!

Catie turns 4!

Our little Catie turned 4 on January 5th! We celebrated her Birthday by holding a joint party with her friend Isabella at Monkey Joe's . We had about 25 of their friends in attendance, all bringing much needed new toys for the two princesses.

Here the girls are awaiting the birthday cupcakes!!

Jackson enjoying an intense game of air hockey...

Catie with Monkey Joe! She was one of the few kids that was not afraid of the purple freak...

We are so proud of Jackson! He received 2 awards at the Midvale Awards Ceremony... Academic Achievement and Art Achievement.

Catie looks so pretty in her new dress and "super fast" sneakers. It was about the coldest day of the year, but she refused to wear the shirt that goes underneath.

At yet another birthday party, Catie is enjoying one of the three cookies she decorated and ate under Steve's watch.

Uncle John and Ann H made an igloo! The dimensions of the igloo are 8 ft in diameter and 55 inches in height. It was -18 at the cabin, but it didn't stop them from sleeping OVERNIGHT in the igloo!! Apparently it was close to 20 degrees inside with 2 candles as heat. Crazy...

Snow in Georgia!!

Happy New Year!! We spent our evening with our friends, the Shores. Above, Jackson and Isaac playing a little guitar...

Happy New Year!!

Our plan was for Abby to sleep in the Pack and Play. Unfortunately, Abby didn't want to miss out on the festivities. She woke up after about an hour and wouldn't go back to sleep. So, we were home in bed by about 10:30pm.

Here's Catie on her new Big Wheel...the Pink Express!

On Friday, we went to "Snow Mountain." They have been making snow here for a few weeks, and had over 30 inches of snow covering the equivalent of 3 football fields. There were 11 tubing runs, as well as an area to make snowmen and angels.

Here's Catie, ready to go on the tubing run...


Daddy and Catie, ready to go...

Jackson at the bottom of the run... we went on one of the starter runs, which was slower than the others, and he seemed to enjoy it.

Jackson, with "Sam" the Snowman.

Okay, so here's how most of the day went. The kids complained about the cold, the rain, and totally freaked out when a bit of snow got in their boots. These kids would never make it up north!!