Time to Decorate

 My kids LOVE Christmas.  What kid doesn't?!  On Friday morning I let Greg sleep in (10:40-do I get wife of the year for that?) and we got out all the goods.  Boxes and boxes.  We moved furniture, set up the tree and hung the garland and other trinkets around the house.  Later in the day, after Greg and Ryan picked up Nathan it was time to decorate the tree.  The kids LOVE this part.  Opening up their boxes with their ornaments is SO exciting.  I love watching them as they remember all of the ornaments they have received over the years.  They hang them so tenderly and lovingly on the tree.  I am one of those moms who really doesn't care what my tree looks like.  It is all for the kids anyway, so I let them make it the way they want (I do try to get the ornaments evenly spaced but that is due to my crazy need for symmetry). 

 As the hanging continues Ryan makes sure his are all in an area where he can see most of them together.  He is so proud with how high he can reach.

 Nathan is in a stage of goofy faces and weird voices.  He understand the need for the ornaments to go from top to bottom and all around the tree.  Since he has the most ornaments he helped get them all over.

Annie is learning a little bit from her brothers.  She has loved playing with the ornaments ever since they were put on the tree.  They talk to each other, move around, and have lots of fun.  I could stop her, or just say, "whatever?!"  I choose the later because I love hearing her imagination at work.

I love Christmas time.  I love teaching my kids about giving and more about Christ's birth.  I love seeing their faces light up with traditions of the past.  I love hearing Greg sing Christmas songs.  I hope that we can make this year a special one. 

Thanksgiving

Of course I forgot to check the battery on my camera before we headed over to Greg's family dinner.  This is the only picture I got of the whole day.  

I wanted to take pictures of all the yummy food I made, or ate.  Oh well.  I was in charge of a 26lb turkey this year.  Greg got me worried that it wouldn't be done in time and I would "ruin Thanksgiving" so I woke up early and started the bird.  It was a little dry, but it was done.  I could've slept in and it would've been perfect.  I also decided to try a few new recipes: cranberry-pomegranate sauce, french onion soup stuffed mushrooms, and potato bread-spinach-feta stuffing.  They were all really good and I am glad I was able to find time to make them all.  There were so many other yummy things at dinner/lunch-Thanksgiving.  I felt like I wanted to eat more and more, but my body just wouldn't do it.  Oh well, the past few days we have had plenty of leftovers-good thing I like turkey sandwiches.  It was a nice day, being with family who we don't see very often (weird since they mostly all live here in this state).  There was volleyball, board games, hackey sack, bubbles, i-phone playing, and just good ol' running around.  

We got home around 5:30 (my folks back home hadn't even started their dinner).  We sent Nathan off to his cousin's for a sleepover and Annabelle surprised us by wanting to sleep on Nathan's bed.  I think she just wanted to be out of her room when Callie is trying to go to sleep.  It is pretty funny, Callie will fuss a little or just "talk" and Annabelle the other night was tired so she yelled, "Be quiet Callie!" and "Stop talking Callie!"  I was laughing downstairs because I knew that first, Callie can't understand, and second, hearing Annie's voice probably only made her more happy and excited (she LOVES her big sis).  Silly kids.

Here is a picture of all the fun turkey decor the kids made in school, or at least some of it.

We truly are SO blessed in our family.  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Fall Leaves

Who knew that one tree worth of leaves could produce so much fun?!

 

 

 

 Yes, Nathan threw them right at me, and yes, Callie was in heaven eating all the leaves she could get her hands on.  I love my kids!!

Disney On Ice

Since we decided that Disneyland wouldn't be much fun until Callie is at least 2, we thought Disney on Ice would help Annabelle stop asking to go there, for a little bit at least.  Everyone did really good.  Callie slept through most of it and while it wasn't the most comfy for my back, she wasn't awake and fussing so it was worth it.  Not having to nurse her is SO nice.  I love just pulling out a bottle.  I am glad that we went and even more glad that everyone seemed to have a really great time.

Happy Awesome Day

Four kids is pretty tough.  Not that any one of them is so awful, but the combination of hormones, independence, dependence and needs really can drive me crazy.  Every day I vow to be better-to be slower to anger, to say more kind words, to just make sure my kids (and Greg) know how much I love them.  But then every day life gets hectic, I get flustered and feel completely lost in all the wants, needs and responsibilities I have to accomplish for 6 people.

Lately my oldest has been really wanting his independence.  He doesn't like to be told what to do and when to do things.  It causes power struggles nearly every day.  Thursday was one of those days.  After Greg headed off to work and as I took a shower I started thinking, again, how I just didn't want our family to feel so angry and unhappy with each other.  So I came up with Awesome Day.  Annabelle and I made the sign.  We got balloons and even bought a few presents.  We had a yummy snack awaiting the boys and jumped out from hiding with a big "Surprise!"  I think we did surprise them, I hope so.  I also came up with a new idea-the awesome jar.  Whenever someone comes and tells me that someone else has done something awesome we can put a quarter in the jar.  And when the jar is full we get to spend the money on something fun together.
We played our new game, Robo Champ and made origami with the new How-To book I found.  I also got the kids more silly bands, only to find out the next day that they are now banned from Nathan's class.  Oh well.  Here are some pictures if you were wondering what silly bands are.  Just rubber bands, in weird shapes.  They are all the craze.  When they first started getting cool I swore I would never buy something so silly.  Then I thought about when I was a kid and wanted to be cool and maybe wasn't.  So, I bought these first 5 and the kids were so happy that they didn't have to earn them with their Felix Bucks because I just gave them to them.  See, sometimes I can be nice, if only they will remember those times instead of the other times.

  

We have all been trying to be more awesome.  I like having a fun word to use with the kids. Like, "Was that an awesome way to ask?"  The kids asked why I haven't taken down the balloons and streamers and I told them that we were having awesome month and maybe year.  As long as it takes for us all to be more awesome to each other.

Too Much Stuffing

No, I am not talking about my body and the fact that I haven't lost any weight since I started my boot camp.  I can do more sit-ups, more push-ups and even more burpees, but I just can't lose weight.  Anyway, tonight I tried out a new recipe: Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage and Apples.  It made a 9x13 and an 8x8.  There is NO WAY we can eat that much stuffing.  If you are wanting a side dish for dinner let me know.  I would be happy not to throw it away.  It was really tasty.  Here is a link to the recipe and a picture:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/10/cornbread-dressing-with-sausage-and-apples/

Reflections

Every year the school, well the nation, holds a Reflections contest.  There is a theme and the children are encouraged, but not required, to participate in any or all of the categories: literature, visual arts, 3D art, dance, song, movies.  Both of my boys have participated each year they were able.  Nate won a couple years back.  I love that they like to participate.  That they like to think a little harder and work a little extra.  This year the theme was, "Together We Can..."  Ryan worked really hard on his entry.  I was impressed with his painting ability.  His idea was "Together We Can Pick Up Trash".  

 

Nathan  ending up winning again this year.  He wrote a short story, which is based on a true story.  He was so excited.   I am proud of both my boys.  They both tired their best and did a great job.  Plus, Ryan was proud of his brother and Nathan didn't rub it in that he had won.  Way to go boys!!  Here is Nathan's story:

Together We Can Make The World a Cleaner Place!

Last year some of my friends and I started a clean up club. It was a really windy day and trash was blowing everywhere! We got everything from scraps of paper to empty milk jugs. Each of us got one or two bags. Once the bags were filled up we went back to my house to get Otter Pops because some days were very hot. We decided to get together every Tuesday to walk around the whole neighborhood to find trash to clean up. I like cleaning up because if you don't, the world would get so messy you might be swimming in garbage. Plus, swimming in garbage would be gross and disgusting. Please pick up trash whenever you see it, just like me. Together we can make the world a cleaner place by picking up garbage.

6 months

 Our little girl is a half of a year.  She is quite a joy in our house (despite that right now she has a cold and is really fussy).  The kids look for her when they get home from school, or wake up in the morning. She is super curious and wants to touch and put everything in her mouth.  She weighed in at 16.2 lbs today and only 26in.  She is definitely my littlest baby.  She is weaning a lot earlier than my other kids but she is just so distracted by them that it was getting really frustrating for me.  And, I am going to an all day conference in a couple weeks so now I won't have to take her along-yippee for me!

I put the pictures below to show how much she is loved by her biggest brother.  He is a great help, and like all of them, can get her to laugh quicker than I can.  The other day she was asleep as we were eating dinner.  She woke up but I left her up there so I could finish in peace and without her grabbing my food.  Nathan went upstairs to talk to her until I was done.  Then all of a sudden he was next to me, holding her.  I about fainted.  He was so proud of himself and his helping that I couldn't get too mad.  But, he had to lift her out of the crib (not easy) and then carry her down 13 or so steps, AGH!!  I don't think it will happen again.

We all love our little Callie-coo, Callie-cockatoo (her hair is not really sticking up anymore), Callie-belle, and I am sure there are plenty more names we call her.  We have survived the first half of the first year of her life. I call that an accomplishment!

HALLOWEEN!!

This year we decided to be Hippies.  Well, I decided and I didn't think it would be a big deal to the kids since they hadn't come up with any ideas on their own.  Unfortunately Nathan really didn't want to be a Hippie.  When we dressed up for his Cub scout pack meeting he was really upset and when people asked him what he was he said, "My mom made me where this."  Part of the problem was that he didn't really understand what a hippie was.  Also, he was concerned about people making fun of him.  And I finally learned that he wanted to be something scary.  I promised him that next year I would let him be anything he wanted, I would even buy a costume.

 

 On Friday the boys had their annual parade at school.  I wanted to go, but since Callie needed a nap and Annie was at her own party, I didn't make it.  Luckily the boys came home happy and no one had made fun of them.  Annie didn't wear her hippie costume to any of the three parties she went to, but was happy to put it on for Daddy's work party and the church party.  Right before we went to Daddy's office a wasp made it into our house.  Luckily I was able to trap him behind some blinds and we left him there to hopefully die.  Greg's office was a lot less crowded than in year's past.  I am not complaining, it was nice to not have to push around and through so many kids, and less candy means less candy so that is good, too.  After separating all the candy and Callie's nap, we headed to the church.  WOW!  It was SO crowded and chaotic.  It didn't help that Callie was fussy, but luckily we had seats to eat.  I had thought we would get a family picture there, but because it was so crazy we didn't even have time to think about it.  The kids had fun decorating cookies and getting their faces painted so it wasn't all that bad.

Saturday was a cold and rainy day.  Greg took the three older kids shopping so I could have a little break.  He came home with a scale (I really don't like weighing myself but oh well) and even a Christmas present for me.  When the time came for trick-or-treating only the three kids were dressed up and since it was raining Greg took them around the block and was back in about 30 minutes or less.  We all showered and got in warm pjs and watched G-Force.  We got rid of our candy fast by giving out handfuls but it seemed that every time we went upstairs and turned on a light someone took that as a chance to knock on our door.  The kids gave out some of their own candy and to the others we ignored them or told them we were out.

It was a long and crazy weekend.  And now I am stuck with a cold.  And Callie, too.  SO not fun, especially since it is a beautiful day outside.  I am glad we have a year a before next Halloween, it is so not my favorite holiday.  So, Peace Out!!