"Best Christmas Ever"

"We had the Best Christmas Ever!"
I have heard those words more the last few weeks than any other year I can remember. I have heard it from my kids, their friends, my friends, our neighbors, our family, my co-workers, even the lady in line with me at the store. "The best Christmas Ever!"

Despite the cold, the snow and the economy, we were able to celebrate this season with love and laughter. Despite so many people downsizing, scaling back, giving less. Despite people being snowed in and snowed out. "The best Christmas Ever!"


I have been thinking about why. Why did my family have the best Christmas ever? Two words: expectations and meaning.


We lowered our expectations. We, as a family, talked about wanting, wanting, wanting. We discussed gift giving and how much we thought we should give and receive. We tried to remember what we asked for last year, what we received and if we even knew where all that stuff was now! We talked about reasonable expectations for gift giving this year.


Then we talked about meaning. We talked about why we celebrate Christmas and why we give gifts. We talked about who may need gifts more than us. Then we chose to do somethings different.


This year the girls asked Santa to only fill their stocking and to give their presents to kids who don't have as much as we do. On Christmas morning, when we ran downstairs to find our stocking overflowing with fun little gifts, the girls were ecstatic. They loved their paper and erasers. Their lip gloss and pony tail holders. Their candy, candy, candy. Claire even said, "I want Santa to only do our stockings again next year. This is fun!"


Now, the girls certainly didn't go without! Ella got her new desk and enough paper and supplies to man a Fortune 500 company and I'm pretty sure we now own our own American Girl Doll store thanks to Claire's collection, but they were grateful for it all. And, they really enjoyed giving their gifts almost as much as getting them this year. Ella especially enjoyed giving me the books she picked out all on her own. They had beautiful (see: voluptuous) "princesses" on the front. I'm sure Dave loved paying for those!


I feel very blessed this year that we were able to slow down, give thanks and enjoy this wonderful holiday together. We enjoyed our family, friends and lots of warm snuggling.

Merry Christmas everyone and God Bless!

The 2009 Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family!

This year I decided to mix it up a little bit and not include my annual Christmas Letter with our cards. Why not save a tree or two? So, if you are reading this, thank you! I'm glad you stopped by to hear all the juicy details about life at the RouseHouse in 2009.

We had a very interesting year, to say the least. As a family, we experienced a lot of change and growth. We have been challenged and rewarded and challenged some more. Above all, we have come together as a family more than ever before. 2009 has certainly shown us what is important to us and just how blessed we really are!

One of our highlights has been to watch Claire grow into an amazing girl! Where once stood a shy, nervous Kindergartner, we now see a strong, confident, happy and well-loved 2nd grader. Claire is right at home in school. She was fortunate to be allowed into ELP (talented and gifted program) again this year and even submitted a paper in the state-wide writing contest! When she's not busy "hitting the books" she is enjoying all of her friends and is becoming quite a little social butterfly! She is still very busy with swim team. She is getting stronger and more confident in her abilities every meet and we really enjoy watching her glide through the water and then laugh and play with her teammates. Claire is truly a great kid, inside and out and I couldn't be more proud, or thankful!

Ella has had a very exciting 2009 as well. She turned the big 5 on August 18th, and then started Kindergarten the very next day! As we expected, she is loving it! Ella really enjoys learning and, of course, playing with her many girl friends and boyfriends! She has a very patient and loving teacher who is just perfect for her. Ella also had a great year with her extra curricular activities as well. She continues to enjoy gymnastics and placed 3rd in her gymnastics meet this summer. She also had the great honor of playing the purple gumdrop in the Nutcracker. She is definitely right at home in the spotlight! Besides a few bumps in the road health wise, Ella is still our shining star! Always there to give you a smile or a hug or a laugh, and always there with a hand-drawn picture to enjoy!

Avery, oh Avery! God could not have made a more perfect third child! I'm laughing right now, just thinking about her. She has the greatest personality. Completely full of spunk and spice and pure attitude! She talks a mile a minute and asks questions constantly! She is never without a dog in her arms, usually a stuffed one, but sometimes it's poor Jack (our Shih-Poo). She is growing up so quickly and sometimes my heart breaks when I realize that my last baby is not much of a baby anymore. Avery's highlight of her week is going to school 2 days. She loves her teacher, friends and, mostly, washing her hands in the kid sized sink! She is also quite the little swimmer and tumbler. She definitely follows, very closely, her sisters' paths.

Dave has had a busy year. The economy has certainly not smiled on the car business, but he has had some great opportunities come his way and has landed at a great place. The coolest thing has been how we have shifted our schedules around and really allowed him to take over a lot around the house. If you come to our house in the morning, you'll find Dave up, getting the big kids dressed, breakfast and out the door to school. The three of them have really bonded this fall and it sure is nice sleeping in now and then!

I had a bit of a crazy year as well. I gave full-time employment a shot for half the year. It was a wonderful opportunity and I met some great people. I also realized that it's not the best thing for our family. So, I went back to part-time work as an Academic Advisor at DMACC. I am loving it and have really found my place. I like the balance it allows me at home and "out there"! I am very grateful for the time I have to volunteer at the girls' school and still spend some one on one time with Aves. I am also grateful for my wonderful husband. We will celebrate 10 years of marriage in a couple of weeks, and I can truly say "I've never been more in love"! I think the trials and treats we've had this year were exactly what we needed to grow stronger and closer as we begin our second decade together.

All in all, 2009 has been a wonderful year, thanks to our many friends and family that have walked through it with us. We can never express enough how much your friendship, love and prayers mean to us.

Here's to a healthy and happy 2010!
God bless,
David, Janelle, Claire, Ella and Avery and Jack our newest family member!

There's always one in every group.....

My dear sweet Ella.

As many of you know, Ella has been having some "not so great" health the last few months. It all started a few months ago when a rash appeared across the bridge of her nose and cheeks. With that came complaints of aches and pains. Lots of aches and pains. Add to that, randomly appearing rashes that itch and irritate. All the while she started complaining of stomach aches and fatigue. The worse part was her change in personality. She has been struggling (to say the least) with her emotions. Lots of tears, meltdowns, and general moodiness. She is also tired a lot and just not her spunky self.

We tried to chalk a lot of this up to life changes. Ella started Kindergarten this year and that can be a lot on anyone. But, we just couldn't believe that was all there was to it. After all, she seems to love school and is doing very well. So, we started the "Tour de la Doctors".

Her pediatrician ran a huge batch of test, including a full screen blood test. Everything came back fine. Then we started with the dermatologist. He treated her with steroid cream for 3 weeks, that didn't do anything. So now she will be seeing a rheumatologist in February. Until then, her dr. put her on a strict no-dairy diet. We're going to see if a little Lactose-intolerance is to blame for some of this.

On the bright side, Ella is still growing strong. She is loving school and she is still my sweet, snuggly cuddle bunny. We just need to keep finding her strengths and encouraging her to be strong and grown-up and she'll do just fine!

Please keep Ella in your prayers, and maybe us too, as we have to live with her! : )

My great teacher...

My little Gumdrop, enjoying her bounty, after a wonderful performance in Ballet Des Moines' Nutcracker.


Ella is such a gift from God. I am amazed at what she does, what she can do, and most importantly, what she can make those around her do.

Ella just has this infectious personality that makes you want to hug her. She just makes you happy to be wherever you are at any given moment.

Ella makes me grateful for good friends that take time out of their day to support her and love her.

Ella makes me laugh at just about anything, because, well, she's laughing at just about anything.

Ella makes me want to fight like a lion to protect her from harm and hurt.

Ella makes me want to get up and do more, learn more, create more and live more.

Ella makes me proud.

Ella makes me want to pull my hair out at times.

Ella makes me feel so loved by my family, as they gather together to celebrate her successes and share in her favorite thing, dessert!

Ella makes me want to be a better mom. More patient, more quiet, more curious, more understanding, more fun, and more forgiving.

Ella is my angel. She was sent here to teach me about the good things in life. She is a great teacher!

Thank you Ella. I love you!

Tis the season

Christmas is here! Let's give a cheer. All together now. Put up the tree!

As is tradition here at the Rouse House, the Christmas Tree was put up the Sunday after Thanksgiving. This year was extra fun because all three of our girls are old enough to help.

They love going through the ornaments and finding the one that belong to them and reminiscing about when they got it. Like Ella when she saw her Baby's First Christmas Ornament, "Oh, I remember when I got this!" I smiled, as Ella was a whole 4 months old when she got that, but hey, who am I to say what she actually remembers and doesn't. The point is, she has happy memories. And isn't that what it's really all about!?

I also really enjoyed picking out their 2009 ornaments. Every year I give the girls an ornament that they will someday take away with them when they get married and started their own family tree. I always try to get something that reminds me of the last year. This year Ella got a Nutcracker, Avery got Elmo and Claire got a cute snowman.

I got a little tear in my eye this year as I realized that yet another year is almost over and my babies are getting so big. We say it all the time, but really, where does the time go? I am so grateful for the events in my life that have made me really slow down and enjoy the moment. I am so grateful that I have a God that loves me so much that he's willing to guide me in the direction he chooses, even if it doesn't seem like the path I want.

I am also thankful for the gift of humor. I pray that my children always keep me laughing, as I'm sure they will.

Rouse family shopping for their 2009 ornaments.

Mother all sentimental and glowing with holiday love and cheer.

Oldest daughter picking out her ornament, "Mom! I found the perfect one!"

Mother, thinking of something sweet like a smiling snowflake or peaceful angel, walks over to see.

The ornament: A stocking that says, "Santa, you can leave the presents, but please, take my sister!"

Nice, real nice!

Happy Thanksgiving

Holiday happiness

Ames to see our family and eat and eat and eat!

Playing games

Picking up, again and again

Yelling out the answer (I love Cranium!)

Tree hunting and holiday planning

Happy laughter from the girls, and the boys!

Apple pie, did I mention how good that was?

Never enough time with the ones I love

Kissing my babies goodnight and thanking God for family

Sampling a little of everything. What great cooks I have in my family!

Guitar Hero. Enough said.

Ignoring the occasional grumpyness. Give me a break, I'm tired!

Vicious game of (cards, train, jewelquest, dominoes, fluxx?)

Increased waistline by Sunday : (

No not that Jackie, the other Jackie!

Giving, getting, grateful for you all.

I'm not that old!

It just can't be! This can't be happening! Where did the time go?

My baby is 8!

It's official! We had the "well-baby" appointment today, although I guess it's called a "physical" now that she is 8 years old!

My Claire: sweet, sensitive, caring, kind, strong, healthy, funny, clever, loving, thoughtful, amazing!

She makes me so proud. She makes me proud to be a mom. Proud to be her mom.

She makes me want to do better. To love more, to live more, to watch more, to document more, to remember more, to be more present.

She makes me step back in awe at God's almighty ability. She it truly a gift from God.

I am so very thankful f0r her and for the village of people that helped make her who she is today!

And, most important, I'm so grateful for the village of people that are going to help me take care of her over the next 10 years. Because, as she reminded me, she is "half way to driving". Lord help me!

Here are some pictures from her awesome Waterpark/sleepover Birthday party: