Weekend Fun...

This weekend was awesome!!  We had a TON of snow fall on us..probably a good 8-10 inches total.  This all makes for a treacherous drive for mom and dad but loads of fun for kids.  Sister K and Sister E spent the majority of their weekend outside playing in the snow.  They went sledding, built a fort and 2 snowmen.  Saturday and Sunday night they had a flashlight shoved into the fort so they could continue working on it well into the night!  A few times Sister E came in because she got hit with a snowball or snow got shoved down her coat and she was none to happy :)  She always went back out for more though.  I'll load pictures of the fort and snowman this afternoon, they are so cute.  Besides all of the snow fun, we also made the cutest snowflakes for our kitchen window.  Cutting the patterns gave Sister K the creative bug and she sat for what seemed like forever coming up with her own patterns (or at least trying).  She was having difficulty figuring out the folding patterns.  We also decorated our christmas tree this weekend.  Brother J was really enjoying himself.  Him and Sister K would get an ornament and he would hang it on the tree.  Well the light cord to be exact!!  He couldn't get to the branches because of all those silly needles:)  Brother S didn't enjoy it quite as much!  He didn't understand why he had to put the pretty balls on the tree.  Afterall balls are made for throwing right?  We have a couple of ornaments that look like apples and Brother J has attempted to take a bite out of them a couple of times.  When he realizes he can't bite into them he brings them to me with a puzzled look on his face:)  We also had grand plans to decorate a gingerbread house this weekend.  Of course we didn't get to it!  Time flies when your having fun.  Bubby spent his weekend doing what he loves - skateboarding with his buddies and Sissy went to a cookie baking party, a christmas party with her girlfriends and she worked!!  Yesterday all the schools around here had a snowday!  Being that Sissy is homeschooled she didn't.  When she left to spend the day with her boyfriend (Algebra 2 in hand) I noticed her away message read "homeschoolers don't have snowdays".  She completed her work and enjoyed her day none the less.  Well that's all for now, I hear two little men jumping in their cribs.  I'll attempt to post pictures this afternoon at nap time!  Talk to ya soon.

Our Reading Tree...

We have a reading tree in our home!!  It is full of mini beanies and other critters who enjoy reading books with the boys.  Beside the reading tree is a chair and a basketfull of books.  Normally the basket contains all Dr. Seuss books.  This morning mama got up before the crack of dawn and prepared a little surprise for the kids:)  When they came downstairs with Daddy this morning their little eyes beamed when they saw their reading tree all decked out in christmas lights.  Their basket of books was now full of christmas books!!  Inside this basket were gems entitled The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell, The Little Drummer Boy Board Book by Ezra Jack Keats, The Night of Las Posadas (Picture Puffins) & Merry Christmas, Strega Nona (Voyager Books) also by Tomie DePaola, to name just a few!!  After they stood for a few minutes and stared in awe of the pretty lights, Daddy read books to them with his source of light being the reading tree!!  While they read I prepared their favorite breakfast, grapenuts porridge!!  What an awesome morning!!

I Can Handle It...

At 37 I can handle it.  At 19,21,27 and 29 I couldn't handle it, but at 37 I can handle it!! 

This is how the scene played out...

2 year old mad as heck because he couldn't have more milk (only because we didn't have anymore until daddy arrives home from the grocery store).

Flying cheerios, flying couch pillows, screaming, screaming and more screaming.  Crying, crying and more crying.  His twin brother tried comforting him once with one of his cheerios...that didn't work either.

2 year old throwing himself around, even off the couch at one point!!

Then silence.  The end perhaps?  As soon as I look the fun starts all over again!!

This lasted for approximately 30 minutes.  What was I doing this whole time you ask?

I was reading Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse to his brother and sister, what else would I be doing!?!

He eventually got tired of all that fit throwing and gave up.

I WON!!  I WON!!  I WON!!

See I told you I could handle it!!

Our Patron Saint of the United States

Daily Readings (on USCCB site):
» December 08, 2007
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Collect: Father, You prepared the Virgin Mary to be the worthy mother of your Son. You let her share beforehand in the salvation Christ would bring by His death, and kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception. Help us by her prayers to live in your presence without sin. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Another Milestone Reached...

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY BOYS!!!!

Wednesdays wisdom

The Smithsonian Institution's recipe for genius and leadership:

(1) children should spend a great deal of time with loving, educationally minded parents;

(2) children should be allowed a lot of free exploration; and

(3) children should have little to no association with peers outside of family and relatives.

                                     

     ---H. McCurdy, "The Childhood Pattern of Genius"

A little behind...

  Wow, how the time flies!!!  I got just a little behind here.  So this post will be my attempt to catch you up on a few happenings here on the hill :)  Our TURKEY DAY was wonderful!!  Unfortunately Grandma and Grandpa S. weren't able to make due to Grandma being ill.  She so lovingly declined our invitation to prevent her wee grandbabies from becoming ill.  Thank you.  So our TURKEY DAY consisted of Me, my Beloved, and all of our 7 children!!  The table was full of goodies!!  A HUGE THANK YOU goes out to Grand ma S.'s boss who so kindly thought of our family when he ordered the beautiful, grain fed, natural, fresh turkeys.  This beautiful bird weighed in at 17 pounds and should have taken 5 hours or so to cook.  We (being the intelligent family that we are) decided it would be best to prepare the side dishes closer to the time the bird would be done!  Makes sense right?  Well the bird outsmarted us.  After just 3 hours of cooking it was done!! My Beloved checked it with a meat thermometer in several places (none of us could believe it was done!)  and long behold the entire bird was done!!  Imagine the panic here when we realiz ed we had nothing done to go with it!!  So like mad men we peeled potatoes, made wild rice, carmelized apples, sweet potatoes and squash, green beans, rolls, etc.  Thankfully it all got done and the turkey was still warm.  We all sat down and enjoyed the meal.  Although the gravy just wasn't right (that's because Grandma wasn't here and I just cannot make gravy!!)  Something new we did this year was to create a Thanksgiving tablecloth.  Everyone drew something on it.  It was alot of fun and it will be cool to pull it out again next Thanksgiving.  Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Talk to you soon!