Since her last post we have had 3 more kids, been to the moon (and back obviously), and vacationed in the
Mediterranean. Well maybe not all that, but there has been enough time for all that to happen. Sorry, we will try not to let this happen again. We know the Grandma's really enjoy the updates and pictures. There will be a lot of random pictures so bare with me.
OK let's start off with the kids. My memory is a bit fuzzy because my has wife slacked
sooo much and hasn't blogged since before Halloween, so I will start. Our theme for costumes was Grease. Dexter and I were T-Birds (I had the most awesome wig but we don't have a picture- I know bummer). Lucy, Hazel and Mom were the most beautiful pink ladies you ever did see. My wife made the
poodle skirts with the help of a friend. We all looked awesome but the camera ran out of battery before we got a family picture. The kids are what matter anyway. I gotta say Dexter looked PERFECT, his hair was all greasy and hung perfectly from his cranium. He even had a little Elvis like stance when he was in costume. I really wish I could have grown up in that era. When we were all dressed up we put on some music and the kids started dancing together. It was super cute. We have pictures. Here are a couple:
I know, I know we have the cutest kids EVER!
Unfortunately, most of November (and right up until now) one or more of the Saupe clan has been sick with the cold or flu. Every single one of us has had both in the last six weeks but in between all that sickness there was some highlights. We celebrated my wife's birthday. Dad and Mom got to go to the Coldplay concert which was extremely good. I was a little annoyed at the sound level, but now that my ears have stopped ringing a month later I can forgive and forget.
Then Thanksgiving was spent with most Rainbow's siblings at Nina & Rett's house and we all had a great time. Thanks, Nina, for hosting. It was great.
The next big thing was that Hazel popped out a couple of teeth. So now she has her two front
toofises and just keeps getting cuter. Don't believe me... Well then
BAM!
She is such a joy. Even teething with a cold and/or flu, horrible diaper rash, immunizations and flu shots she is the sweetest little thing. We are lucky she is ours. At her 6 month check-up (which was really at 7 months) she was 19 lbs 7 oz and 29.75 inches long. A good healthy size but there was a bit of a concern that she went down from the 95% in weight to the 75%. It was most likely that she has just gotten over a very bad case of the stomach bug but it will be monitored because if it continues to go down that could indicate the previously blogged-about heart issues could be an problem. But I am chalking it up to the flu for now. We will see in a few months at
her next check-up.
She has also started sitting up and crawling which scares Mom because now she has 3 very mobile children. But it is great to see her grow up. Crawling is still somewhat
manageable. When she starts running with the other two, that's when we are in real trouble. And with the way she picks up new skills it will probably be sooner than later. We have started bathing her in the tub with the big kids. She loves it, so do Dex and Lucy. It is cute and much easier to get them all bathed.
Aren't they cute in their towels? Have I
mentioned how cute our kids are?
The kids are also really enjoying dance parties 
lately. They like to turn on the music channel on the TV (probably because we actually don't own a stereo) and dance away. Lucy especially. The other day we were in the McDonald's play place and she started dancing around and shouting out, "Look at me guys! Think I'm cute?!" She dances all day long. 
I also took my life into my hands by getting up onto the roof and hanging up Christmas lights. They look great. I have a picture of the masterpiece I put together on the lamppost but not the house. You'll just have to imagine the most beautiful and elegant Christmas lights and that is what ours looks like.
In an effort to gear up for Christmas we took the kids to see Santa Claus. This Santa really made me mad because we couldn't take our own pictures because they wanted you to buy theirs. Okay, that is fine but then the Santa better be worth it. But he wasn't!!! The kids were a little scared and shy of Santa but did Santa try and warm them up with some Ho-Ho-Ho's or asking them what they wanted, or even giving me or the kids EYE CONTACT!? No, he was horrible. Didn't even say a word. I was made. So it was a bust. We did get a picture where Dexter looks terrified and Lucy is screaming but we will have to scan it in.
Today we made our 2nd Annual Saupe Gingerbread creation. Last year was a train. This year we had two houses. The kids and I had tons of fun. Lucy took the philosophy of "two for me, one for the house" policy when it came to the candy and ate more than good for her or her teeth. It was great. Hazel had lots of fun watching. Can't wait for next year when she can
join in on the fun. 
It feels like we are totally unprepared for Christmas. Most likely because everyone has been so sick for so long. It takes a toll on everyone when no one feels well and days on end are filled with diapers, snotty noses and puke (with the occasional snow storm that makes it hard to leave the house). We didn't send out cards this year and Christmas presents will be late this year but to all our loved ones: Please know we LOVE you and think about you all the time and hope that the spirit of Christmas is with you and you can forgive us of our faults and forgetfulness.
Merry Christmas everyone!
It really is so fun to see your kids grow up (and a little bit sad too). But one thing I have really been enjoying is watching Dexter's sense of humor develop. A few months ago we were watching Montser's Inc. and for the first time he was laughing along with the movie at the parts that HE identified as funny. It was really cute. Now he does it all the time and he picks little catch phrases out and repeats them non-stop. Today he was cracking himself and Lucy up saying, "We don't need no stinking badgers!" I must have heard that 50 times today. I am sure he saw it on some cartoon he shouldn't have been watching. He also decided today that he was five. He wanted to be 5 because he thinks that is the age that he will be allowed to watch "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" on Cartoon Network. I guess his friends that are 5 must talk about it or something. I asked him, "Five! How did you stop being 3 and skip right over 4?" His answer was "I turned 4 but then ate a lot of healthy food that you gave me so I growed up to be 5, okay!" Well, at least it was the healthy food that did it, right? 
That is right; Dexter's luscious locks are gone. As I sat down to cut his hair Rich asked him if he wanted short hair like Daddy and he said, "Yes!" So the buzzer came out and the hair came off.
