New Year's Day - catching up and moving on - Christmas 2009 recap and SNOW!

Sometimes you just have to say enough is enough and move on, right?

Well, that sounds good to me...the things I would've blogged about if I'd taken the time (why do we always say "If I had time....I'd...." - truth be told, often we just choose to use our time for other things - let's just be honest here!) include more updates on Miss Baby as she has been growing and changing so quickly, school week updates...yes, I let that slip by the wayside round about the time we were hit w/the plague back in October and I just never got back "with it" in that respect....goings on with all of us...we're busy, 'nuf said....and probably more things that I can't recall right now.

So, a few highlights and then we will press on!

(in no particular order)

Thanksgiving Medieval Feast - I had planned to do a big post on this and share tons of pictures...guess what? I don't feel like doing all the pictures right now....so I'll share a few of the highlights and then we'll move on -

Ok, you caught me - I started this post and saved it to work on later and then went ahead and made that big ol' Medieval Feast post with TONS of pictures - sigh - anyway - if you missed it, here 'tis:

Medieval Feast

Christmas....too busy before hand and not enough time after to enjoy my parents' being here. Sigh. Why do I always think we'll just be sitting around, talking and "visiting" the whole time - then chaos sets in instead (oh yes, well, part of the reason involved a certain someone who did not start her Christmas shopping early like she said she was going to....I mean, who does that anyway? Not me, I tell ya, nope, not me.) Ahem...



Anyway, after much mad rushing around and gratefulness to my parents for watching over the children while I did said rushing around, I got it all worked out. Next year I'm starting in July....really....no, I mean it...



Christmas Eve and Day were very nice - we enjoyed watching the children open their presents and were very happy to see into their hearts as they each one exclaimed individually (and not in the presence of each other) how they couldn't wait to see how much the person they'd bought for would like what they'd chosen for them (each of the children drew names this year and had one of the other children's names and then w/assistance from CKB and I went shopping for that person). It was very special once again to see the thoughtfulness that went into the decisions they made for one another and such a blessing to see how well they know each other.

This was Miss Baby's first Christmas - can you see how excited she is?


She liked the stocking itself better than what was inside, I think!



And here she is getting into someone else's stuff.....isn't that always the way!



Here are a few more highlights from the day.....

Excited girls....



and boys....



and grandparents....on a side note...guess who was SECOND into the den to see the presents and tree...hint hint, it was NOT one of the children...and he likes blue....hmmm.....


Anyone need anything fixed? (or broken...ahem...)


Mr. A was more excited about his fruit and electric toothbrush that were in his stocking, than the little toys and candy! He proceeded to eat part of the apple and then wanted to go brush his teeth!


That boy loves his Daddy! Sigh....


who's that? uh...let's move on...


Miss A is excited to have some paper dolls to go along w/her Felicity books...


Miss E - a new watch - hooray! Now, didn't she already have a watch? Oh yes, it went through the wash a time or two...how did that happen, I wonder, no good Mama would let that happen, would they? I mean, I check every...single...pocket...every...time...don't you? Sigh....


Mr. E really enjoyed this! (so did everyone else!)



Ah, the expressions on Christmas morning...priceless!


Ok, moving on.....


Snow!!!! We've had 3 snows before the end of the year - amazing and our "snowiest" year in this area, yet! We're hoping for more! The best part is that it snowed on Christmas Eve and we had our 2nd white Christmas - an answer to prayer in our house this year - Praise God! The children played in the snow in Christmas Eve and again Christmas Day (after opening presents, of course, we must have our priorities right, now mustn't we?) - it was a lot of fun followed by hot cocoa and a nice warm fire!


Of course, there were snowball fights...


And lots of running around...


And snowmen....yes, with crayon noses and eyes and mouths...they use something different every year!


Wow, that snowman is good - he even caught a football!

and another....


Grandpa even got in on the fun....


Someone missed the memo on which gloves to get...hmm, those look a TAD big, don't they?


We like snow!!

Has it snowed in your neck of the woods yet?

Thanksgiving past - TOG Year 2 Unit 1 Celebration - Medieval Feast

With all the hub-bub surrounding Christmas and preparing for my parents to visit, I never got a chance to share about our Thanksgiving trip.

We headed up to TN as my sister and her family headed down to TN :) My brother lives next door and...well..they walked over.

Anyway - we decided to forgo traditional fare this year and instead celebrate Medieval-like with a Medieval Feast. Our 3 eldest children as well as my sister's 2 eldest are all studying the same time period in history this year and we had just completed Unit 1 of the year - The Medieval Period - so it seemed like a good, fun way to do things - together.

The preparation ended up being a bit more than I'd bargained for (ie, took me a lot longer than I'd thought it would!) - a lot due to the fact that we had to transport a great deal of stuff up to TN - but we managed.

All of the "students" participated in many ways - we had jesters, ladies, a young maid, a page or two and a squire who would be knighted at the end of the feast!

Here are a few pictures....

My sister, R, began as Surveyor of Ceremonies (I picked this task up about halfway through - she was better at it, and should've just done it the whole time, but I'd agreed to split the job in half and, so, I did)


She was announcing the King and Queen - here they are.....trumpets blow......
Dad (King Grandpa) really got into his role and spent some time working on his costume - too cute! Love you Dad! (you too, Mom - great job finding the crowns!)


We had many ceremonies and presentations along the way.....

Our niece, Lady CF



Her sister, Maiden CA


Our eldest, Jester E making money appear out of "thin air"!!!


Our second in line, Jester A juggling scarves


Our third, Squire E



Our eldest again, back from jestering, she is now Lady E



And, our second back from jestering, now Lady A



Methinks the Queen has had too much "wassail" (apple cider, really) - here, the Queen is enjoying the antics of the Squire as he approaches the King for knighting....you had to be there.



A few ceremonies....presentation of the upper crust to the King

Maid C is ready for the presentation:

and here she goes...


The laverer for the King and Queen to clean their hands....


Time for the knighting!

King Grandpa really got into his role and at the request of the squire, the King brought his military sword down from the attic to use in the knighting ceremony....





At the end, King Grandpa presented all of the children with banners heralding the Order of the Renaissance (the next period of history we're working on) - it was a lot of fun to see how much my parents got into their roles of King and Queen!



I don't know that we'll attempt something like this away from home again, but it sure made for some good memories!

Here are a few shots from the end of the feast - all the students are in this picture (and one extra, not an official student, but he will be soon!)


and a few candids of most of the group during the feast....CKB took Miss Baby inside because it was getting colder and colder outside and she'd about feasted enough :) Oh, and that empty chair there at the front...that's mine...I'm never in any of the pictures, imagine! :)





We'll leave you now with a shot of the littlest lady who came on over to the feast from next door, my brother's oldest, niece N

pulling up and on her way!

Guess what Miss Baby has been up to the past few weeks?


Yes, she is super-mobile-baby now - yikes - she is so tiny, yet will pulllllll with all her might to get herself up onto her knees and even onto her feet sometimes - yikes!!!

Watch out big brothers and sisters - she's about to give y'all a run for your money!

End of year musings on a New Year's Eve

Catching up at times seems a daunting endeavor...there are so many things I would like to have blogged about, not only for others who read, but for myself, to remember - the days are passing by so swiftly and the children are growing up so quickly...but that's as it should be.

This year has been a very busy one, as they all seem to be, but especially the ones in which a new family member has been born. Miss Baby is 11 months old now - she has 2 teeth and 2 more about to come in, she's pulling up and "army crawling" all over the place, she's verbalizing and communicating with us in so many ways and has uttered her first "mama" and "dada", however her favorite "word" right now is "ah-ha", she is an absolute delight.

Mr. A is growing so fast! He is full of mischief and as sweet as sugar. With his rosy cheeks he looked like a little elf the past few weeks - he is so smart, learning to read and always trying to keep up with everything his big brother and sisters are doing. He may be an engineer some day as he delights in dismantling things and trying to see how they work. Look out world!

Mr. E has such a sweet heart - he always wants to take care of his baby sister, he's constantly wanting to use "his money" to buy something for someone else at the store, his favorite past time involves a little cartoon named Mario, however a new game, Mousetrap, trumped video games this evening as his "want to do" item for the night. He's bright as a whip and can answer math questions faster than his sisters sometimes!

Miss A has a very giving heart as well - she never pauses for a moment when I ask for her help with something around the house - she is always near when her baby sister starts to fuss and constantly amuses Miss Baby on car trips from her seat directly behind Miss Baby's seat. She tries her best to keep up with her Daddy on Sunday mornings and marks all the scriptures in her Bible until she runs out of bookmarks and then bemoans the fact that she can't mark any more places. She is a precious girl.

Miss E - ah, the eldest. Always there to enforce the "rules" with her siblings (or try to) when I'm not right there in the room. Confidante and best friend to Miss A - they are inseparable at times. Ever reading, she would stay up all night with her nose in a book if we would let her...and sometimes I'm tempted to just let her read as long as her heart desires. Time is short and one day she will have so many responsibilities of her own.... Loving and dear, she is growing up so fast...9 soon....the last single digit age....where does the time go?

CKB and I have had a wonderful year - watching our little ones grow and learn. Trying our best to guide them on their way...looking to God for our help. We've been so blessed. CKB continues to fill 2 regular appointments and we visit on the remaining Sundays. The folks in all of the churches in the area have made us feel so welcome since we moved up here about 3 years ago. Those of you who knows us, know where "up here" is and the churches I'm referring to, no doubt. Again, we are so blessed. We have made some new friends this past year and I've tried my best to keep up w/the friends we already have, but know I've failed in keeping up with everyone as I'd like to - I often "blame" it on a large and busy family, but I do intend to try to do better. Miss Baby is growing and I hope to have a tiny bit more time here and there to do things in her second year of life while watching over her as she heads into toddler-dom. We'll soon begin our second half of the school year - we have much to do before the end of our studies this year, but we're well on our way. I'm not one for making 'resolutions' - what's the point anyway? I do look forward to this coming year with great anticipation - we have exciting news to share soon, we will be celebrating in February a momentous occasion (more on that soon as well) and I'm sure there are many unexpected surprises in store for us as well.

My prayers are with you all, our most loyal readers and those who happen by now and then, for a wonderful new year filled with manifold blessings from on High!

Happy New Year to you!

What we had for Christmas dinner....

Well, Christmas 2009 has come and gone.

For dinner, we had:

Turkey breast stuffed with ...what else, stuffing!

I saw a cooking show around Thanksgiving and decided to give the quicker and easier a try for a change...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/oven-roasted-turkey-breast-with-leeks-and-cornbread-stuffing-recipe/index.html

Review - stuffing that was cooked alongside (what didn't fit inside the turkey breasts) was too dry - otherwise, yum! By the way, did you know that leeks are the national dish of Wales? Well, I didn't either, but my Dad did...who knew?! I don't think the gal at the grocery store was all that impressed with that little tidbit of trivia, but hey, Dad likes to share such information whenever he gets the chance...makes life interesting, right? :) I better watch out next time a game of trivial pursuit is proposed.....anyway....

Sweet potato casserole - yum yum
Cranberry sauce
Rolls - you know the ones, w/the "slits" along the tops? I'm sure they have a name...but I don't feel like going out to the freezer to look at the extra package we have left to see what they're actually called...they're the ones, the ones we always had at Thanksgiving and Christmas...those!

Hmm....I think that was it for the food - we kept it simple...kept it sane.

Dessert.....drumroll please...pumpkin pie, pecan pie, Bluebell Vanilla Bean ice cream and sugar free cool whip for my mom - yum, yum, yum :) Classics!

Oh yes, and we all drank water...I know, boring, but I ran out of time and didn't get any sweet tea made - horrors.

So, that was our Christmas fare - I hope yours was super yummy! Next year I will make pies the day before...or something...anything, but not all on the day of - even w/keeping things a bit simpler it still took a lot longer than I thought it would!

And no, no pictures of the food this time around....we were too busy eating I guess!

What are you having for Christmas dinner?

This morning at breakfast I asked the children what they'd like to have for Christmas dinner. The responses were very interesting:

Mr. E loudly proclaimed - DONUTS!

Mr. A chimed in with - BIRTHDAY CAKE!

Miss A replied - PIZZA?

Miss E said she had 3 suggestions...nachos, burritos, and frito pie - hmm, I see a theme here...

So...what are you having for Christmas dinner?

Fall Piano Recital

We made it to the Fall piano recital this year - yay! The weather wasn't crazy and I wasn't pregnant and concerned about slipping on the ice, therefore we went!

This was Miss A's first recital and Miss E's second. They both played very well and Miss E even sang along to her pieces which surprised us all, including her teacher!

Miss A played: Jolly Old St. Nicholas, Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Miss E played: We Three Kings, Silent Night and Up on the Housetop



I wish I could share a recording with you, but for now that isn't possible. We hope to get a copy of the one that their teacher's husband made, but it may be a while before he's able to get copies made and out to everyone.

Here are some of the children enjoying refreshments after the recital...I think Mr. A is playing the trumpet....?



Miss E and Miss A were thrilled that Grandma and Grandpa came in early for Christmas just to be able to be here in time for their recital.

Playing around with depth of field and my Canon today

I haven't been spending much time with the camera lately....too busy spending all my time with the children instead of photographing them!

Today, however, I took a few minutes, grabbed the camera and played a little while the children played around me...yes, I should've been folding laundry, but, well, I didn't.

Here's one of my favorites from today...Miss A

Container Store Curbside Pickup

It really was that easy - amazing! Now, seriously, some of you other stores out there - offer this service...please?????

The Container Store will bring your order to your car!?!

I placed an order today at the Container Store website and lo and behold, there is an option to pickup your order at your local store (if you have one). I wasn't too thrilled about this at first because it'll be a tad of a drive for me and the little ones, but the item I was ordering would've cost a lot for shipping so I decided to take the drive later this week to pick up said item.

After I made my choices, put in my info. and clicked "checkout" I found out when printing my receipt that there's an option for having the order brought out to your car....whaaaaaat???? Where have you been all my life, Container Store? Well, all my life since I had children, that is!

Now, if only I could do ALL my shopping at the Container Store.....I can dream, right?

I'll update later this week to let you know how it all works out...supposedly you call the store 15 mn. before arrival and then when you arrive and they waltz right out with your order - I can't wait! I sure hope it's really that easy!

Who needs Mario when you have Luigi?

Isn't he adorable?




(Thanks Aunt R for finding this for us!)

A new level of torture....

Just when I think it's stressful to go shopping at a store like Hobby Lobby with 5 children and I tell myself I'll NEVER go again with all 5, by myself....I make the mistake of going on a Saturday (because CKB can go too) ....in the month of December...with all 5...and the rest of the world.

Yes, the rest of the world was there today. Apparently one lovely (mucho sarcasm here) woman (I will not say lady because she did not act like a lady) thought that 6 people (ie, us) waiting for our son (numero 7) to open the door for us was an invitation for her to barge in front of us and sail on in while we stared at her (probably open-mouthed) and wondered at her rudeness....as if that wasn't enough, another lady followed her right on in as said son still was working on getting the door all the way open so the stroller would fit through. Imagine. This time of year I am appalled at the rudeness displayed all around me.

There was one nice lady in the store, at least one, anyway, who very carefully maneuvered her TINY Hobby Lobby basket past 3 of the children as they looked at ornaments and told me she was trying to make sure she didn't bump any of them...what a contrast from the man who actually laid hands on Miss E's shoulders and pushed her aside one year because he was in some giant hurry to get past us - excuse me???? Who does that anyway?

So, I have decided it would be LESS stressful to go shopping mid-week sometime...in the morning...with all 5 children RATHER than go on a Saturday with all the crazies.

There, I said it.

At least around Christmas, that is.

The rest of the year....well....I might have second thoughts.....

Hex quilt update

Well, I actually remembered to snap a few quick pics of my grandmother's hex quilt while we were at my parents' house for Thanksgiving - yay, me!

Anyway, here it is - 2 pics - I haven't had time to examine it to see if it's a 1 patch (all hex's different) or if there are any repeats. If you feel like doing that for me, by all means go right ahead - I don't know when I'll get a "round toit" ;) (Wait a sec, I just took a quick glance and see at least one repeat, so there are probably more - so now you don't have to do anything - aren't you happy?)

Good SNOWY morning to you!

We awoke this morning to this......






our 1st snow! Now, I say 1st for 2 reasons, 1. I hope it's not the only snow we get this year and 2. because it is the 1st snow :)

Anyway, Mr. A was the first one up this morning and after CKB showed the snow to him (that is STILL falling, by the way), he exclaimed, "I have to go tell my friends!" :D Shortly thereafter there were 4 little folks peering out the windows watching the snow fall. Ahhh.

What's going on in your neck of the woods?