I realize it is time for a quick update.  Mostly my mom realizes it for me.    I feel like I should start off with Christmas, even though it was three months ago.  Here are the kids on Christmas morning, our first Christmas away from Utah.  

Speaking of Christmas away from Utah, here is what happens to your rootbeers in Wisconsin if you leave them in the snow for a couple hours.  

We had December and January off, before my final push to graduation.  We spent the time on the road interviewing, getting caught on some relaxation, and doing a little family vacation.  The kids had a pretty good time at the water parks, where we spent the last week of January thanks to the Hansen's inviting us to their timeshare.  My kids would rather drown than wear these floaties, but I convinced them to wear them for part of the time.  That way I didn't have to watch them.  Just kidding Mom.

Sam is in to building things.  He loves Kid K'nex.  We highly rec commend them for your children, as they are one of the only toys that Sam has played with consistently pretty much everyday for almost a year.  He is a little rambunctious and loves to tease his squealing sisters.  But he has a very sweet center and the tenderest little conscience you've ever seen.  He hates getting in trouble and hates seeing other people get in trouble.  He'll plug his ears or run into another room if someone in TV is doing something wrong (apparently fight scenes don't count).  A little while ago we went to a movie and I told him as we were walking in to put his treat in his pocket because the people didn't want us to bring treats in.  When we got to the front door, he wouldn't come in and said he didn't really want to see the movie anymore.  Eventually we figured out he was just worried about having a treat in his pocket.

Kate is a cutie.  She is my nap buddy, the only kid who will snuggle with her dad.  She is in princess La La land most of the time, wears a dress as often as we'll get one down for her, and carries around her little princess dolls everywhere.  For as girly as she is becoming, it is obvious who she spends most of her time with.  If you ask her favorite colors she'll say pink, purple, and blue.  Her favorite animals are kitties and sharks.  If she can't dress up like a princess, she'll pretend she's Batman.  She is a good example of the perpetual abuse cycle, passing on to Maggie, the abuse she gets from Sam.  Here she is dancing with Sam, who she convinced to be her prince for the dance.  (If you look close you can see Tricia's new haircut).

Maggie is on the verge of walking.  She can only take a step or two on her own, but she can cruise when she's pushing a cart.  The kids have learned to take advantage of this, taking turns making Maggie push them around the house on their little car.  Maggie is happy to comply.  This little girl LOVES her mom.  She cries when she walks out of the room.  She cries if Tricia hands her to me. She recently began to tolerate me once she's scouted the house and is sure Tricia is nowhere to be found.  This little girl can turn it on and off faster than anyone.  She can make the saddest most offended faces you've ever seen when a toy gets taken away, and then be back to her happy self the instant she gets what she wants.  So naturally, she usually gets what she wants.    

 

A week from tomorrow we find out if we matched into our residency.  We are going for a super competitive one, Radiation oncology, and there are only a hundred and something spots nation wide to go around.  Pray we land one of them.  The good news is, that probably means we'll be blogging again sometime later this month to let people know what our future holds.