Sunday Update

This picture is taken from our patio and looks up to Gma & Gpa's house. The flower garden is under snow. The fire pit has been steadily used by Dime. :-) He'll spend 2-3 hours outside hauling scraps from the woods to make a nice warm fire.

Once school started it has been a race!! I'm not sure who's winning, but I sure am exhausted. It has been nice this weekend to catch up with some rest, this and that, and not feel like I'm on a treadmill with the speed turned up. (Although I sure could use some exercise of that sort.)

My Baby Darling got her First Tooth!! Just in time for her birthday. She's been waking up several times during nap time because of it bugging her. I'll be glad when those bottom two are in.

Duke has new glasses!! What a project. His second pair broke and when we tried to get them fixed, nope, too broke. New frames were the same price as a brand new pair, his prescription was too old to just order them, gotta bring him in for a new eye exam (he gets so car sick, he hates to go anywhere!), bring him in, need the glasses ASAP so find a store that has the material to make them that weekend, travel to the store, find out the memory metal frames are more expensive, wait 2 1/2 hours in the mall for them to finish, and finally drive home happy!! :-) Darling loved the play place at the mall.

Drum had an exciting Saturday. He got to go on a CAP fieldtrip. They got to be in 3 different simulators. He had a blast! Then he got to spend the night at his good friend's house. So much boy fun!! He's been talking non-stop since he got home. :-)

Darling got a new nickname from Daddy - Button-Eyes. She has such sweet button-eyes. :-)

A friend of Dot's spent the weekend with us. She and Dot made muffins and nibble sticks, went sledding, and played games. She was so sweet to play with the boys while Dot studied homework.

Here is a picture of Duke's remote control car from his Uncle for C-mas. He enjoyed it so much that he purchased another one, and Deer & Dessert used their money to get one for themselves. They have had a blast! In this picture: Dessert= Red, Duke= White, Deer= Silver. (notice I used colors not car names. Yes, I am a woman!)

A before and after picture of Dot's hair. She needed a trim, but was nervous about my cutting it. So, I took a picture of what it looked like so she could see. The visual worked and she let me do a little trim with a picture afterwards to check out my job. :-) Technology

Perky Penguins

Thanks to Jeannie for the idea for the olive penguins. They were a cute and fun to make. Mine seem a little like they are wearing helmets and holding spears in this picture. They also look like they ate as many Christmas goodies as I did this year. :-)

Night Time Routine

Mom: Good Night, Dessert. I love you.
Dessert: Good Night. I love you, too. xoxo
10 minutes. Dad & Mom start reading and some conversation with complete sentences and thoughts.
Boys: We forgot to brush our teeth.
Duke: I can't find my toothbrush. Darling took it again!!
Get up, find toothbrush, listen to brushing of teeth
Boys: Good Night. Love you. xo
5 minutes. D & M start reading and some conversation...
Hear lots of jumping, giggling, etc. from boys room. Get up!
Mom: If you don't be quiet and go to sleep, I'm going to .....
4 minutes. D & M turn off lights
Dessert: Mom, I can't fall asleep.
Mom: Lay still and count to 100.
Dessert: I can't count to 100.
Mom: Count to 10, 10 times.
2 minutes.
Dessert: I counted, but I still can't fall asleep.
Mom: You need to lay still.
Dessert: My head hurts.
Mom: It hurts because you are so tired and you need to go to sleep.
Dessert: I can't fall asleep.
Mom: You need to lay still and then you will fall asleep. Go to bed.
Dessert: I'm afraid. Duke has a scarry story on.
Mom: It is not a scarry story. Just lay still and you will fall asleep before you hear the story.
Dessert: I can't lay still.
Mom under breath: (I know, because then you might fall asleep!)
Get up, tuck Dessert in bed. Give him kiss so he dreams of Mom loving him not ....
60 seconds. Hear feet.
Dad: Get in bed or I'm going to ......!
Dessert whimpers as he leaves the room.
60 seconds. Quiet reigns.

Our night time routine with occasional varriations. :-)

Christmas Season Happenings

Drum had a great time making these goodies with another family. This Mom did this activity with 4 BOYS. WOW! I was impressed. He had so much fun.


Deer played the flute and was in the Christmas program at our church.


She did a beautiful job. We are so grateful to her favorite teacher, Andrea. She has just loved lessons and is looking forward to getting back to them after the Christmas season.

It has been so busy and so fun to get down to the business of making cookies and finishing the shopping. We made gingerbread men, roll-out cookies, candy-kiss cookies (which we always make with hugs), Russian tea cakes, melting moments, Keebler bars, peanut-roll bars, fudge, million dollar bars, and fancy pretzel sticks. Our friends, JoAnn & Lorissa, came to help with the roll-outs.














The pretzel sticks turned out so cool!! We scooped carmel, white chocolate, or milk chocolate on them. Then we rolled them in nuts, mini choc. chips, cherry chips, crushed candy, toffee, andes mints, or sprinkles. Then we drizzled milk choc. and white choc. over the tops. We flipped them when dry to do the other side. So beautiful looking and I especially like the carmel, nut ones. They make the pretzel less crunchy and more chewy.


Here is Darling, entertaining herself while Mom is busy. :-)





We went caroling with friends at the nursing home after lunch out on Sunday. The kids had so much fun and I know they blessed the residents.


We celebrated our family's Christmas that night. Dessert opened his present from us and stated,


"I don't like this! Why would you get me this?!"


It was moon sand. He wanted Spiderman action figures but I knew his Grandma had one for him, and not wanting him to only get spiderman things for C-mas, we got him Moon Sand. Needless to say, we returned it. We had a great evening relaxing with each other.

Monday we finished up some baking, etc. and then went to Dunk's folks up the hill. We had a fun evening. For the first time we had Gma & Gpa open their gifts from the kids first. It was nice because the kids got to see them open their gifts and enjoy what they brought. I'm sure we'll do that again.


Uncle "Santa" and Aunt Sandy Claus joined us in the evening. I won't show the pictures of Darling freaking out about sitting in Santa's lap. She loved the teddy bear he brought her, though and carried it around all evening. Anyone see Duke's Texas toothpick strapped on the belt in the picture? He wanted a "BIG" knife for C-mas and Papa answered his prayers for one. :-) He even got to cut Gma K's birthday cake with it the day after C-mas. If I get a picture e-mailed, I'll be sure to post it. :-)



Christmas Day we did stockings in the morning and then went to my folks for a full day with the cousins. Uncle P brought snowmobiles!!!!!! The boys were soooooo excited and spent tons of time on them. The rest of us just ate, rested, ate, played, ate, visited, ate. :-) The next day we celebrated my Mom's birthday with KFC and ice-cream cake. It was great to stretch out the holidays and get more time with the relatives we don't see often enough. I wish I took more pictures of the fun times. Here is Cousin L and Dessert playing another game of UNO!!! Here are my two C-mas princesses. Dessert finally got his Spiderman action figure.
The cousins got matching hunting jackets and hunting books.
Deer & her cousin got books they enjoyed going over and over. Papa rocked the little ones.

Contentment! Bah, Humbug!!

This is an updated paper I wrote when my kids were little. :-) It was a good reminder to myself, so I thought I'd share it.

As we enter into the Christmas Season, we will be hearing and reading alot about contentment. We are told and we tell our children to be content with what they have. A very scriptural concept.
Contentment is fantastic, but doesn't God also talk about knowing how to abound (Phil. 4:12), letting our requests be made known to God (Phil. 4:6), and filling our cups to overflowing. Don't fathers today model God our Heavenly Father? Doesn't the Bible say fathers like to give good gifts to their children and so much more does God!
There have been numerous stories told about children and adults who prayed for a non-essential item and received it. I do believe they were thankful for what they already had, but it is not a sin to desire something extra nice or just for fun.
Our kids have alot said about don't do this, don't do that, etc. Is this a time for another Don't? Don't be discontent. Don't want "you name it".
I think it's time to focus on the positive aspects of giving and receiving at Christmas time. We need to have positive , practical ways of encouraging giving at Christmas time and the gimme, gimme attitude will fade in the experience and joy of giving to others.
Here are a few starters:
* Have the child think of another child who has less than he has. (Angel tree, etc.) Once chosen, give him a list of jobs he can do to earn extra money. Encourage creativity in finding other ways of earning money to buy the child a gift. If at all possible, let him meet the child he gets to get a present for.
* Encourage your children to make their own Christmas lists of who they would like to give a present to. This has really helped our family focus on others at Christmas time. It also helps the kids to appreciate the work that went into remembering others and the time and money someone else invested in them.
* Talk often of the Christ child and what He gave us. Make ornaments for the tree telling of the gifts He gives us: Salvation, forgiveness, heaven, joy, family, friends, etc.
* Volunteer at Salvation Army or another center when they serve a meal. When I was growing up, our family did this a couple years. It was an eye opener to see children so poor and happy. It was fun to feel like I could actually "do something" for someone who needed it. When I went back home, I definitely felt more content and grateful for what I had.
* Visit the nursing Home and sing Christmas carols. This reminds us and our children how much our good health is a blessing and how short our time on earth is. The contentment one feels after such a trip is priceless.
I think anticipation and excitement are great blessings. When you anticipate this Christmas Season, may it be with the discontentment that comes from still wanting to finds ways to bless others and the contentment that comes as the result of seeing those goals become reality.
Merry Christmas!! :-)

Notice new heading? etc.

Notice the new picture? Thanks to qtpies for the lesson on blogging basics. I learned a ton, but it'll take me awhile to use what I learned. The days sure are crazy around here. I've got a couple kids with off and on sore throats and ears. Nothing serious but just enough to worry about someone getting seriously sick around Christmas. I'll be glad when I get through the last of everything (ie. last piano lesson, last art class, last Awana, last speech club, etc.).
I went to Speech Club with the older kiddos, and when I got home I found out Darling only napped 1/2 an hour and then cried and cried most of the evening. Sooo sad. I think that'll be the last speech club for me for awhile. I couldn't do that again to her. I've left her before and she did great, so it might have just been a bad night.
Tomorrow I'm going to ladies night out!!! (But I might bring Darling after her night tonight) I'm so excited! I'm planning to bring Melting Moments. They do literally melt in one's mouth. One of my favorite Christmas cookies. I got the recipie from a dear friend and have made it ever since.
My top 4 Christmas cookies are: (ps. I did keep having to up that number) thick gingerbread cookies with lots of fluffy frosting, thick sugar cookies (sprinkles ok, frosting perferable), Russian teacakes (or whatever you call them), and almondy melting moments.
Sunday School program is this Sunday. Pray for the cast (they need the help) and mostly for the director (it's hard to put oneself into a program and anticipate a stellar performance from kids who are looking forward to getting offstage and to the cookies.) (I remember wanting temporary glue for keeping kids in place with quiet mouths - at least until they were supposed to speak) (ps. I know it's ok if a production isn't perfect, part of the memories and all, but have you ever been the director?)

Confession is good for the Soul.

Does that mean this is Soul Food?

I have a confession to make.

These are my favorite candy bars. I ate one of these this weekend.

Well, technically I ate it on Friday and Saturday.

Well, technically I ate it mostly late Friday night with the rest being eaten on Saturday between 12:00 and 1:00 am.

It sure was good! :-)

If I don't feel truely sorry, is it still a confession?

Beautiful Snow!

We are experiencing a beautiful winter snowstorm and winter wonderland around here. Everyone SLEPT IN!! Darling slept 'til 12:00 noon! (She nursed several times but kept going back to sleep.)
Dunk got corn for the corn stove this morning, and Dessert got to play a little in the corn bin.







Dessert and Deer did some painting.















The boys had shoveled several times by evening. Here they are hard at work.










Dime made a snow saying for his sister, who is snowed in at a friend's birthday party. (We miss her!)






It's been a nice, quiet day. :-) Well, as quiet as a day where we are in the house, mostly, can be. :-)

Watercolor Art by KP

Deer & I went to an art show tonight with a mom friend and her daughter. The girls' art teacher displayed her art work and had prints and originals for sale. The teacher specializes in watercolors. They were fantastic!! I loved the vibrant colors!! She gave the girls free bookmarks. It was really enjoyable to view her art, and I thought it was well worth the money they asked.

I loved the picture she had of some steps with a couple barrels with flowers overflowing out of them. She also does great daisy pictures. I would love to learn to paint like that. She is amazing. Ok, now I'll just let you look at the pictures and quit talking about them. (These are some of the notecards I bought.)

Bathing Beauty

She just is so cute! Gma W's sister, Great-Aunt J, has to see these, because Gma wants to brag on her grandbabies.

Soup, Glorious Soup!

My mom gave me her turkey bones!! Yeah!!! I got to make turkey noodle soup. It was soooo good. My kids finally got tired of hearing me say, "Mmmm, this is soooo good. Isn't this soooo good?"

Sweet Nails!, Fantastic Food!, Awesome Company!

Last night my Mom hosted a first-time Ladies Night Out with my two sister-in-laws and myself. We had a great time. It was so fun to visit and relax while we got our nails done and backs massaged in their fancy chairs.

Then we enjoyed a fantastic meal at Olive Garden. Our waitress was so pleasant and the food so flavorful. I felt like the rat on "Rat Tooting" (as my niece calls it) as I enjoyed the many flavors in the food.

We had such a nice long visit. (Notice the word "long", as in more than one subject discussed) It was so fun to talk without kids running in and out and between our conversation. (Could I agree again with that last statement: It was sooo fun to talk without kids running in and out and in and out and between and around and under and over our conversation.)

Thanks, Mom, for a wonderful treat. I feel so pretty with my dolled up nails. :-)

Forgiveness

At Notesfromthetrenches.com she posted about the fact that this is a good time a year for thankfulness and had in hand with that is forgiving oneself. I loved a number of her items and thought I'd add them on my blog:
This year I forgive myself for:
1) Being only a good enough mother. (I have high expectations)
3) Losing my patience when a deep breath and little bit of understanding would be more appropriate. (Or maybe they could work on aiming more accurately.)
4) Not changing the sheets on my children's beds as often as I should. (Unless quarterly and/or when vomit strikes is the appropriate amount of times.)
6) Eating junk food in the pantry so that I don't have to share it with my children (I am only thinking of their health.)
8) Getting dressed at 4pm so that my husband will not think I was in my pajamas for the entire day (why do I do this? would he even care? or notice?)(on this one I rarely stay in my pjs but some days I don't do my hair or makeup until before he comes home and I can't believe the company that can arrive on those days!)

Our Family

Yesterday we took family pictures! They are taken on our property, which was cool for us.

Darling was a little under the weather so we had trouble getting her to smile. This picture was the closest to a smile we got.

Finished w/ Lord of the Rings

We finished the Trilogy! Last night Dot, EB, TB, and I watched Return of the King. I liked how they finished the ending. It gave closure to the Hobbits. I KNEW Frodo was going to join the Elves. Gandolf does so well. I love how important each Hobbit was to the end of the story. They were essential to the final result.

I passed my Test and found out my Elven and Hobbit name. You may now call me:

Luthien Lossehelin (Elven) or Rosie-Posie Bramble of Willowbottom (Hobbit)

(I don't know how to give the u and e in the Elven name the proper punc. on top)

Today we do family pictures. Yikes. Please pray they go well. We are going to do them outside (yes, I do know the high today is going to be 44) They shouldn't take long. :-) Next time I will aim for earlier in the year.

Dime is singing today in church and I don't get to be there. :-( Darling is still recovering and we felt she should stay home as much as possible. She has the runs from the antibiotic, so I've been giving her a bath 2-3 times a day to keep her bottom from getting sorer than it is.

Still Sleeping!!!

Darling has been trouble sleeping, thus I have been having trouble!! (besides the regular trouble I have falling asleep or going back to sleep) She has her bottom two teeth about to pop through and been sick with a chest cold. Yesterday we went to G&G K's for Thanksgiving and her grandparents gave her the magical touch. SHE SLEPT ALL NIGHT!!!!!!! Well, from 11:00 til 4, nursed, then 4-7, nursed, then 7-9:30, nursed, STILL SLEEPING at 11:45!!! She is going to feel so good when she wakes up.
I felt like a new woman when I woke up. I coulda gone jogging! (Didn't as we are planning family pictures today~which canceled because of cold and snow on ground, replanned for Sun afternoon~and needed to get ready, plus I haven't done it for AGES and didn't want to be sore!)
The kids are all excited because we are starting the process of putting up the Christmas tree today! I like putting it up while on school vacation this weekend and then puttting it down before the new year while on C-mas vacation. Less stressful when we have several days to sort through the stuff.

Nov. This & That

This week I've been working on a test. It is a Lord of the Rings test by EB & TB. :-) Dot wanted to see the Lord of the Rings series and friends of ours had them. Dot arranged for their two daughters to come over and I agreed as long as I got to see them as well. It makes such a difference to watch a movie like that with someone who can explain what is going on.

They come over and we hide ourselves in Dot's room to watch them with the door locked (against prying eyes who like to sit outside the door). It has been a blast! I have really enjoyed watching and learning about this famous trilogy. The girls made Dot and I take a test they made about the two movies we have watched so far. It has been fun to study for it and has really helped to solidify what I've seen and learned. I am looking so forward to seeing the last one, Return of the King. See! I even know the name of the third movie - I'm impressed with myself. lol Out of a 50 point test I have 6 I can't answer. I like Treebeard the Ent. The Ents help with a little humor in the 2nd movie.

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving at my folks. Mmmm. Good food!! Dot is going over Wed nite to help with the pie baking Thurs morning. She LOVES to bake pie. Lucky for us, we occasionally get the results of her "gotta make some pies" urges. I don't make pie crust anymore, Dot is so much better at it. She'll probably always have the pie baking job for Thanksgiving when she gets older.

Uncle J helped Dot with Physics!!!! She gets it!!!! I was so excited when Uncle J offered to help Dot study. She has been struggling along and hates to call for help. Uncle J seemed so less threatening. Gma W has been asking what Physics is good for (in a good way) and now he needs to help her have a good answer for that question. :-) It seems fitting he should help as he is the reason she is taking it this year, before Biology, etc. He always said he thought Physics should be studied first and so when the opportunity came up for Dot to take the class, she was in. Uncle J's a science and math wizard (that's why I listened to him). We'll see whether our experiment continues on to Drum & Dime. :-)

Darling has been under the weather. We took her in and her cold is upper respiratory. I was so thankful it wasn't worse. Her cough has been getting better but will probably take a bit to be all gone. I'm so glad she hasn't had a ton of nose gunk to give trouble with nursing.
I kissed Dessert good-night last night and realized he had a fever. He still has a mild fever this morning and hopefully it is just a 24 hr. mild bug and won't mess up Thanksgiving plans. He's still sleeping.

Dunk has off Thurs and Fri!! We hope to do family pictures on Fri. Please pray they go well and turn out well. Pictures are so nice to have when DONE. :-)

We had fun at Karokee at our church last week. Dunk and I (kindof) sang to the song by Garth Brooks, "Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House". That should be self explanatory why we like that song. :-) It had been awhile since we heard that song, so that was why I wasn't too bold on singing it. I couldn't get the tune right. Jerry did fantastic. I want to get that Shania Twain song "Man of Mine" or something like that, and learn it for Karokee. My sister-in-law D has that CD and introduced me to that song. Fun! We plan to bring the older kids next time as well. They would love it - we think.

Darling can now stand up in the middle of the living room floor and walk! She is amazing. We are looking foward to seeing the tree lights reflected in her eyes.

Only 7 more days (five in one week, two the next) of school before Christmas vacation for us!! We started early so that we could have a big break at C-mas and we are so looking forward to it. Last year we started early but worked right up to C-mas, because needed to take the time after Darling arrived. It didn't feel as much of a break, as I think it will this year. Can I say that again? ONLY 7 DAYS!!

Darling's Dedication

Yesterday, we dedicated 10 mo. Darling to the Lord. Dot, Drum, Dime, & Deer sang "Your Eyes." They did so well and I was so proud of the kids as a Mom. It is amazing that my children have grown so much into such beautiful people to enjoy. Definitely not perfect, but worth the work to get them to days like this. :-) Both sets of Grandparents were in attendance as well as Uncle J. God Bless You, Darling. We love you so much. The kids were so glad to sing for you on your special day!

The Great Hunt!

The boys have been very excited about their first hunt this year. Last year, Drum broke his clavicle before hunting season, so he had to wait until this year for his first hunt. They are hunting at our place and at Papa K's.

Sunday Dime went to hunt with his Gpa. K. They were out in the stand when Papa noticed Dime taking off his glove slowly and lifting his gun. He wondered what Dime was doing because he couldn't see anything. All of a sudden, Dime shot. Papa asked, "What did you shoot?!" Dime exclaimed, "A deer!"

A pine tree was blocking his view of the deer. It was a 4 point buck. Dime was so excited and proud. Still is!! :-) He has the antlers for his fort, a few deer steaks, and deer sausage coming for the freezer. We were so excited to get the phone call before church that morning! (Keep praying Drum gets a deer.) :-)

Old News. Good News.

I had to post a couple pictures from Drum's adventure with the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) a month or so ago. They got to go on a plane that refuels these jets. It was an awesome experience! Drum is the cadet in the middle.

This is Dessert in his Spidy outfit. The older kids gave to him as a surprise gift last month and he has so enjoyed wearing it. He gets embarrased and will stand in a corner if too many people are around. He loves to climb trees, posts, refridgerators, and even the corner of our house!
We were wondering whether this cutie should join the red hat club! :-) She is so fun!


PTL! Deer's flute is fixed and waiting to be picked up...and...we found someone who can get a violin for Dot online!!!! (at an enormously less expensive cost than the music store) We hope to have it by Thanksgiving. Thanks to those who prayed!