Christmas Cards

I like to make a photo card for our family every Christmas. It's great to see the way our family is growing and changing, and when I put all the cards side by side it gives such a great picture of us. The tough part every year, is getting a picture. Some years I can just run back through photos that are already taken, and find a good one, and we are set. Other years (like this one) I can't find a good one, and we have to go through the painful process of getting all the kids dressed in presentable clothes, hair brushed, and smiling like they are halfway happy to be there. If you have kids, you know what a challenge that is. Even more when there are more of them.

So yesterday, I decided it was time. I told everyone to get dressed nice from the waist up, and to look happy or there would be trouble. Great motivation huh? Here are some of the results:

What an afternoon. At least the Christmas cards are done and ordered! Next year I promise I'll get more group shots before November, so we can all avoid this pain!

Things Kids Say

John had to repair a pipe outside the house today. The kids were all pretty impressed when he fired up the blow torch, getting ready to solder the pipes together.

Johnny: Dad, have you done this before?
John: yes, lots of times.
Johnny: Oh good, then you're qualified.

: )

Birthdays and what matters

So this last week I celebrated a birthday. Some people would call it a "milestone" since it was marking another decade. DECADE--yikes. Sounds serious. I was thinking about turning THAT NUMBER, and it was really depressing me. After all, THAT NUMBER seemed to signify the beginning of middle age, and words like "frumpy", "out of touch", and maybe even "old" came to mind.

I have to say that my birthday was lovely. My family and friends helped me feel very special and appreciated. Not one word about being old or frumpy or even out of touch!

Today I spent most of the day surrounded by other Moms, and the Lord brought to mind that many of these ladies are my age, or even *gasp* OLDER than I! What a thought!! And these ladies are some of the most beautiful, sweet women I know. Words like frumpy or out of touch don't even cross my mind when I think of them. I kind of felt like the grinch when he realizes that Christmas doesn't come with all the decorations, trappings and food. . . . maybe it is somewhere inside. Maybe someone's age doesn't define them, what is on the inside does.

Maybe turning THAT NUMBER isn't so bad.

Dinos, Rocks and Minerals --oh my!

Yesterday we got to go out to the foothills and learn about "rocks and stuff". Perfect timing, since we just finished a unit on Rocks, Minerals and land formations last week.

Things we liked best:
Jesse: "Rawr!"

Johnny: "the gift shop"

Hannah: "looking for fossils"

Rebekah: "those glow in the dark rocks"

Emily: "that I got to hang with my friends"

Hmmm, doesn't sound as educational as I had hoped! There was a little museum, an instructional time, and then each child was given an egg carton. They were to put one rock/mineral/gemstone/fossil/cool thing into each compartment. A big area of rocks/gravel/treasures was available, and we all dug in. Too bad Jesse doesn't get counting. I think he had 10 things in each compartment!

At least there was lots of info presented on Rocks, Minerals, their uses in every day life; dinosaurs, fossils, gemstones. . . . and I enjoyed digging in the dirt looking for stones and fossils too!

More birthday

Since Rebekah was gone for the weekend, of course birthday celebrations had to continue through the week. She ended the week long celebration with more friends at our house.

first there were costumes. . .
then some crafts. . . .

and then apple bobbing!!

Jesse got way more into the games than some others. . .

and apparently, the gifts were just what she wanted!

What a party : )

The best weekend of my life

Well, it wasn't the best weekend of MY life, but it was for Rebekah. She had been looking forward to the Father Daughter retreat since it was announced at church over the summer. It happened to fall over the weekend of her birthday, which made it even more special. Even getting lost on the way up the mountain didn't dampen her spirits, and it turned out to really be a special time for her.

Horseback riding, time with Dad, time with friends, time with God, a weekend in the mountains, not to mention dinner out on the way there AND the way back. Truly, the best weekend of anyone's life!

Then presents when she got home. Even if she was bone tired!!

FAIR!

Sho doesn't love the fair?! Every year we have a good time, and this year was no exception.

We visited the animals

Made rounds on the tractor. . . .

and even roped a few animals!

The kids all wrote book reports to earn free rides, and enjoyed that too. . .

Some discovered new strengths. . .

but for some it was a bit exhausting too. . .

What a great day we had.

Disaster

Okay, so it won't make the news, and there are much worse things that could have happened today. Nevertheless, this was a disaster to me. I was clipping right along this morning, started a second load of laundry, but left the lid open so I could add a few more things. As usual, I got distracted. When I went back finally, I looked in the washer and my heart sank. There, in the middle of all that water, was my coupon folder. It had been there for a while, because it had sunk.

Do you have any idea how many coupons I have? oh my, what a disaster. Wet paper is SO hard to salvage.

Of course, the kids were only too happy to stop their lessons and help me lay out the coupons to dry. Here are the results:

I guess I won't be making that trip to the store today. . . and I'll be sure to close the lid to the washer next time.

Violin Masterclass

Back in March, Hannah got to go meet and play for Michele George, at a Suzuki Masterclass. It was exciting and fun for her, so when Mrs. George came here for another Masterclass this weekend, both Hannah and Rebekah got the chance.






Each student prepared one piece and got to play it for Mrs. George. They got a short lesson from her, and got to listen in on all the other lessons. I was quite impressed that Hannah and Rebekah sat through THREE HOURS of lessons that day! They were rewarded by getting to play all together at the end.





Mrs. George had them play an arrangement of Pachelbel's Cannon in D, made so even the beginners could take a part. Actually, she called it Taco Bell's Cannon, which was very much appreciated by the young students, especially since it was lunchtime!

New Shoes!

Yay! Jesse has cute new shoes! Thanks to Sarah, Jesse is sporting some oh so soft cute truck shoes by Shoeszoo.

check out the details here:

http://uglygrayhouse.blogspot.com/2009/09/congratulations.html

Thanks again Sarah--so sweet of you!

Guy

So Jesse doesn't really like to talk much. If he can get by with just one or two words all the better. His vocabulary is becoming pretty big, but those words seldom get used more than one or two at a time.

Yesterday John had a student over to help him paint. John introduced the kids, including Jesse, and told them his name. For the rest of the day, Jesse called him "guy". That is his general name for most people outside of the family. "uh guy" can be anyone from the cashier at the grocery store, to his Sunday School teacher. Jesse is an unbiased kind of person, "guy" encompasses all ages and both genders.

So, if you come to my house and hear yourself referred to as "guy", now you'll know it is a term of endearment!

NOT back to school day 2009

Our annual holiday of the homeschooling kind finally rolled around again today. Usually for NOT back to school day, we go out to breakfast, then on to the beach, just our family. This year, we did something different.


first, it was off for a yummy breakfast!

After that, we headed for a local waterpark where fun was had by all!

We actually spent the entire day there. I mean, we got there when they opened, and left about 45 minutes before they closed. I was impressed that Jesse had a nice nap, poolside of course. The boys and I enjoyed NUMEROUS trips around the lazy river (thank you Lisa!). . . . . re-named by Johnny as "the wavy river". The girls spent time there, as well as the slides, and a little time on the little kids playstructure as well!

Our homeschool group went today as well, so everyone had friends to play with. What a great day. We are now all VERY tired, and a little sunburned--well some more than others!

One sad note was that Hannah's new beautiful bathing suit did not arrive in time for today's trip. Of course, what was waiting on the porch when we got home--yep, the new bathing suit. I guess we'll just have to go back to the park one more time before it closes for the season. Who ever heard of a waterpark in CALIFORNIA, closing for the season?!?

oh well.

Because I love free stuff!

Thought I'd post a link to a contest I'm going to enter!
http://uglygrayhouse.blogspot.com/2009/09/back-to-school-and-back-to-blogging.html

Funny how you find out friends have blogs, and you didn't even know. Now I have more to read!

I'm looking at a new pair of soft shoes for Jesse. As of last week he had 2 pair, but we lost one shoe (still hoping to find it around here) from one pair. The other pair I had to wash, after he stepped in something yucky. Never leave soft shoes out where the dog can get them : ( SO mad at our dog!!! This is the second time he's chewed up a pair of soft shoes! I guess he loves the feel of soft leather too. ugh.

So, I'm off to shop.

Tune in later for a report on "NOT back to school day" which is being celebrated here today!

What in the world happened to summer?

I cannot believe that it is the last day of August!! We have already gotten a week of school under our belts and are talking about Friday School, Halloween costumes and October birthdays. Where did the summer go and why I haven't I written in so long?!?

The pool. That is my only answer. We found a little oasis at the pool this summer, maybe I should say poolS, and spent many hours there. You can't beat free, and free swimming is even better. All 5 kids enjoyed the water, and I enjoyed the naps afterwards.

We still have a few pool days left, and I for one am looking forward to them. Our Annual NOT back to school day will be Friday, and where else, but at the pool! A waterpark to be precise. Can't wait, stockpiling the sunscreen in anticipation.

Ah, summer we will miss you!

Cow Appreciation Day

Bet you never heard of it. We did. It was Friday, and anyone who dressed like a cow, got a free "combo meal" at Chick Fil A. Well, 5 combo meals and 2 milkshakes later, we mooooooved ourselves on outta that restaurant, feeling very content.

Unfortunately, I only got pictures of 2 of my little cows, but make no mistake, we ALL dressed up. It was great. Lots of fun and laughs, and some good food too.

Pride goes before a fall

Having 5 children, I often hear "I don't know how you do IT" or "wow you must really have IT all together". A little confession: I don't even know what IT is! Even if I did, I'm sure I couldn't get IT together, or even find IT most of the time. I will say those comments stroke my ego though, but that can be highly dangerous, considering how things go around here.

A few examples. . . . . . yesterday, at the pool, Jesse was jumping off the side, for me to catch him in the water. At one point he sneezed, and to my surprize and amazement, a little popcorn seed landed on his lip. I don't even know when we last ate popcorn around here. At the risk of sharing too much, I'll tell you it was covered with snot, so I KNOW it came out of his nose. Yuck. I guess it's a good thing that it came OUT, instead of the pediatrician finding it at his "well baby" visit next month.

Another case in point, also yesterday. The kids were all playing outside after dinner. Since it is summer, there is lots of sidewalk chalk, as well as bikes of all sorts, and other toys. As we started picking up to come inside, I asked Jesse to help get all the pieces of chalk. To my horror, he walks over to my van, reaches INTO the tailpipe, and pulls out some chalk. Of course, trying to get IT together, I scold him, citing the dangers of hot cars etc etc. Of course, he stares at me, smiles, and reaches back into the tailpipe for more chalk. At that point I did what I should have done before, *I* look into the tailpipe. Don't stand near next time I fire up that thing. Ya might get hit with the few pieces that are more than likely still in there.

So you see, I don't have IT all together. In fact, IT is probably shoved up a tailpipe or in someone's nose!

Making brownies

Made brownies with Jesse last week. It was a huge issue to get him to let go of the spoon, so I could pour the batter into the pan. Then quick as a flash, he tried to pick up a brownie. . . .

so much for BAKING the brownies!