Work in Progress

Here is my Advent calendar as of right now. I still need to find more numbers and I am toying with box decorations. But keeping them simple. Let me know what think.

Craft Night

My friend Arah and her family did these darling trees for a project on Thanksgiving. I loved them so much we had to have some. Abby had so much fun, but would load her pin up with a bazillion buttons if you didn't watch her.

I wasn't sure how many buttons or pins it would take, so we are sharing this tree. I will probably go get a couple more. Gotta love the projects that Abby can do without huge supervision.

On Martha Stewart's website (under the kids' section), there is a darling Advent Calendar using boxes. I found some fun boxes shaped as stars, snowmen, squares and rectangles. Here we are in the process of making it.

All the kids kept saying how much fun they had.



With the boxes, you can fill with all sorts of fun things. And they are big enough for everyone to enjoy a treat every day.

I also started a jar that will have a family activity to do each day of December. It will be a kind of Advent calendar as well. We brainstormed and came up with all sorts of ideas like, going for a walk, going to the library, fixing dinner for breakfast and eating it in our jammies, having a family Christmas movie night, decorating Christmas cookies and such. One child will draw in the morning before school and we can all look forward to our family activity later that day.

When all crafts are complete, I will post pictures. I only have until Saturday so we know they will get done. I guess they could always end up in the never finished pile, like all the kids' stockings.

Guess who dressed herself????

Guess who is pleased with how she looks??? It was quite the ensemble and I couldn't resist sharing.

Here are Abby's birthday kabobs and dip. Abby loved the sprinkles and licking the spoon.

Still no pictures...

I did say when the house was quieter. I forgot that Isaac had a dentist appointment this morning--he popped a crown last Wednesday. (I think it was just before Halloween we were in for a chipped veneer and they just had their cleanings a couple weeks ago. I feel as though we live there. I should probably start paying rent--oh yeah, I already did that with the small fortune we spent on Isaac's mouth.) The rest of the day continued to be hectic. Life with 4 children will do that to you. Not to mention coming off a Holiday weekend . It was just 4 days, but I fell out of routine. Abby has snack(to celebrate her birthday) tomorrow for school and since they don't want sugary foods, I am making fruit kabobs with a dip. Some days it seems never end. So hopefully tomorrow sometime I can get the pictures in.

Attention!
For anyone that is nearby (or can be nearby) we will be serving Abby's favorite foods on Saturday. Hot dogs and cake. When asked what she wanted to go with it, she answered, "ketchup". So hot dogs with ketchup it is. All are welcome to join for this fine feast. Just let me know so that you too may have a hot dog. I will be discussing this with her further as I can't serve just hot dogs and cake. There will be sides and ice cream as well.

And The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney with Care

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and enjoyed 4 whole days with Kevin. Thursday was a quiet day with just us. We played gamed and ate to our hearts' content. Friday we ventured out and Anna and I went to a movie while the others played Glo Golf. Anna and I went to Enchanted and LOVED it. It was delightful. Kevin and gang had a blast doing the golf thing. Saturday was another quiet day spent at home decking the halls. We are very happy to have Christmas music playing in the background and to have the decorations up. Tonight we decorated our Christmas tree. There is still a bit more to do, but it definitely looks a lot like Christmas here. Yippee!!!! I will post pictures of the festivities tomorrow when the house is a bit quieter.

I hope that everyone else had wonderful weekends with their families. Love to all!!!

Little Pilgrim Girl

Abby had her "Harvest" party this morning. They made these pilgrim hats, played pin the hat on the turkey and ate soup and cookies.

They also made these Squaw hats--that's what the teacher called them. There was a little boy there I could not convince that his hat was a warrior hat, not a squaw's hat. She's showing off the turkey she made.

I just laughed at calling it a squaw hat. I guess when you go to a Lutheran preschool, you don't have to worry about being politically correct.

Abby's great-great grandmother was a full blooded Indian, can't you tell by looking at her???
Personally, I think she looks more pilgrim than Indian, but 100% adorable!!

Turkey Cookies

We decorated these cookies this afternoon. Anna using her creativity.

Isaac working hard to make his turkey.

Anna had a friend over for the night, so that's Christie in the picture. Nice, nice girl.

Help me decide

So I am trying to decide which color shirt to go with. Shall we go with black? Or winter white?

Being the little stinker she is, as soon as she saw new clothes, she promptly removed the tags. So we will be keeping both, but which is better for pictures and all the holiday festivities???? I will go with black shoes no matter what, but will coordinate the tights.

Happy Birthday Bob!!!!

Bob was King for a day. (Actually, 2 days) Saturday we went to dinner at a fun place they cook the dinner at the table. Here's Bob with Olivia and Maggie at the restaurant.

Bob and Jodi at dinner Sunday at Mom's. Bob picked pot roast. It was yummy. We all enjoyed it, but Olivia loved it most.
Bob's place setting.

I've been tagged

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. I am a kitchen control freak. I do not like to give up my kitchen. If it is going to be given away it has to be pretty. Dinner has to be color coordinated. And if serving somebody other than family, it can't be a new recipe.

2. I read whatever I can get my hands on. I just read the Twilight books in 3 days. I love horror, have read Lance Armstrong's auto-biographies and absolutely love romance.

3. I am a toenail polish nazi. My toes have to be perfectly polished at all times.

4. Shopping gives me energy. I could go all day and be jazzed at the end of the day. My friend and I used to do our Christmas shopping by starting Downtown Seattle and working our way to Bellingham, hitting malls and outlets along the way. When everything closed down at midnight we would head home.

5. During Oktoberfest I like to cook German food for the family the whole time. Kevin loves it.

6. I am going to break the rules and not tag people. One of my good friend's just lost her precious baby girl and my friend's in Spokane have other things on their minds right now. Thoughts, prayers and hugs go out to Arah and Matt.

My Husband, My Hero

Here is Kevin and his mom. I couldn't find a picture of just him. Guess who is getting his picture taken next????

Kevin rearranged his schedule so that I could come up to my Mom's for the weekend and surprise her. He took Monday morning off and is taking the kids to the dentist so that I can be here. It was my brother-in-law's birthday yesterday and my dad's today. Thank you to my wonderful husband for making this possible!!!

We didn't do much. We went to a yummy fish and chips place, did a bit of Christmas shopping and then met Bob and the girls for dinner and a movie. We went and saw The Game Plan. Loved it.

New Blog!!!!

At my good friend's suggestion I have started a new blog dedicated to food and recipes. I am hoping that everyone will have fun and help contribute to this. Let me know if you want to be added to the contributor list. The more the merrier!!! And tastier!!!!! Click on What's for Dinner on the left.

What's for Dinner????

Here's what we had for dinner tonight. Baked Potato Soup. The kids loved it so much they all had 2 bowls each. I loved the Baked Potato soup at a yummy sandwich shop in Spokane. They served it on Thursdays. I messed around with recipes until my taste buds were happy again.

Anybody who knows me or my family, even just a little, knows that we find a lot of enjoyment in our food. Kevin and I went to Disneyworld on our honeymoon and most of our memories are of what we ate (and how much we ate). In giving directions, it's always turn right at that yummy Mexican place or 7 Eleven. My mother is probably asked every day what she had for dinner by both my sister and me. Anna wakes up every morning with the same question on her lips before breakfast has passed through her lips. I often ask my friends what they are having. Some friends have been participating in dinner groups--those kind of scare me. Any opininons out there on those? I love to read recipes, talk about them and swap them with friends.

Too Much Candy!!!

Anybody have a hankerin' for something sweet? We still have a ton of candy after letting the kids pig out for a week. I always let them have a free for all for a short time after Halloween and then I make a big community bowl. The only problem with that is Kevin and I do the lion's share of eating. This year Butterfingers and Milk Duds have been hitting my spot. Noah's been enjoying peanut butter cups. Anna prefers plain Hershey bars--go figure. Isaac has been living off of Mike and Ikes and Abby hasn't chosen just one favorite. She likes to line a bunch of candy up in a row and have me help her pick what she should eat. She then chooses something different altogether. My life in a nutshell.

Too much time on my hands--or too lazy to get my butt out of bed???

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays Abby and I like to take it slow in the morning. I try to be showered and dressed by the time the bus driver drops Isaac at the house at 11:10. I don't always make it. I like to take this time to clean the house and plan menus and try (emphasis on try) to get organized. Especially Monday mornings as we recover from the weekend. This morning as I was lying in bed with Abby glued to my side I decided there are some kids shows a lot less annoying to listen to than others. (Today was one of those had to crawl back in bed mornings after getting lunches fixed and the 3 older kids out the door) On my bad list is The Upside Down Show and Wonder Pets. How these shows continue to be made is one of those mysteries like Teletubbies. I will admit to liking Little Bill, Franklin and Backyardigans (We are watching mostly Noggin these days). I readily admit I know way too much about the kids shows that are on. Anyone else have opinions?

Turkey Update

I gave the turkey a ride to school this morning after dropping Abby off at preschool. There were a few other turkeys already turned in. Isaac's turkey rocked. My boy may be weak at coloring, but his turkey kicked all the other turkeys' butts!

Isaac's Turkey

Isaac was given this turkey as a homework assignment for the family. He had a blast doing it I helped with the feathers, feet and chest, but then Isaac started to go out of order and not in a pattern. I handed over the decorating to Kevin. Isaac had the right to decorate it how he wanted and without me getting frustrated. (I am not the most patient and often want to just take over the homework, cooking, or project. Kevin is the one with the patience--he'll be teaching all the kids to drive!!!!)

He is very happy with his results and the turkey will be getting a ride to school whe he is all dry.

The turkey came home from Parent/Teacher conferences. I went to Isaac's first. He is doing great in everything, but coloring. My child is failing coloring???? He knows his letters and sounds and can count to 100, likes the organization and schedule of school, is friendly and doing well. So I get to set aside some time each day to color with him.

Anna was next and is doing great in all she does. Her teacher adores her. She has really figured out how much fun reading is and spends most of her time reading. It's fun to look at books with her. She has discovered Ramona, Little House and Judy Blume. I am rereading most of the books with her. It's fun to share that with her.

Noah was last on the list of conferences. We spent most of the time trying to figure out how to keep him challenged. There was talk of giving him 4th and 5th grade math, but the teacher worries about what he'll do when he gets to those grades. His teacher is very sweet and feels guilty she can't listen to all his ideas. I told her not to worry about it, that nobody has that much time in the day. We are still working on self control--I'm thinking maybe a martial art.

It is fun to hear all the delightful comments about the kids and to know they are all doing so well. It makes all the hassle of homework, getting them to read and getting up in the morning is all worth it.