December 2010

Wow, looking at these pictures make me realize why I was tired in December! Enjoy some pics from some our holiday fun! This post is long, sorry!My friend and I host an annual cookie party-kids go home on with a sugar rush,moms go home with some great cookies!The balloon lady was awesome! My partner in crime, I mean cookies:)

We dropped in on the Handel's Messiah presentation at the local theater....at least the first half. Although all kids did well, I decided not to press my luck and we left during intermission.

The bells found in the foyer during the intermission were a huge hit.
All the kids played a song, with a little help!

Love the Macy's parade balloons at Universal!

LOL-as I was going thru pictures for a photo book, I came across last years pictures at Universal. Same photo, younger kids-I think Garry was wearing the same jacket!

Why do the kids insist on riding the one ride that gets wet?

It was only 50 degrees that day!

Santa's helpers!

Gma and Papa provided the kids (us) with a barrel

train and bounce house. We had a blast!

Awe, aren't they cute?

Well, they were! Uncle Jim thought it great fun to turn off the air to the house!You know we had to get in and ride, right?!
It's all good.....Until it's time to get out!Uncle Jim decided to try a different method (Charmin would
have made the ride much better, though!)We had one minor injury attributed to the bounce house. Aidan came out of the bounce house holding his hand and crying. We bandaged it up, figuring he had sprained it, but the following day we decided to have it checked out. Thankfully it was not broken, it was something called Nursemaid's elbow. A quick turn from the Dr put it back in place and he was good to go. As you can see from the picture, he needed a little Grandma help opening his presents:)
It's Christmas eve. Who should show up at our door but Old St. Nick himself?
I got lousy pictures-sorry:( No visit is complete without a present!Couldn't get the dog to turn TOWARD the camera:)Merry Christmas!

Homemade Christmas

Before I go any farther in my Christmas reminisce, I want to show you my exciting ( to me) Christmas project. Shelby has been asking for a kitchen to replace the one she has outgrown. Unfortunately, most play kitchens are designed for 3 year olds, and are much too short for the girl. After admiring all the kitchens on blogs (this being one of my favorites) I set out in search of my kitchen. Scouring craigslist for a couple of weeks, I couldn't find a center that worked with my budget. I decided that I could just use an old cabinet I had available and modify it a bit, when low and behold as heading to the grocery store, there was the very cabinet that I had been looking for sitting on the curb not 10 houses down! After asking the neighbor permission to take it, I zipped back home for some extra muscles, loaded her up and headed home. Gotta love free! So it sat in the kitchen as I worked on it for the next 2 weeks. This is last year I can work on a gift right in front of kids, but happily she never guessed what it was. Checking thru my pictures I am suprised that I didn't get a before picture, but it was a typical smallish entertainment center made of particle board. I had to do some tightening and gluing, but overall it was pretty sound. It was a huge hit, although in typical Shelby fashion, she asked for some "minor" adjustments. Lol, she is her grandmother's daughter!

The only modifications I did was remove the back board-it was falling off (she asked for it to be re-applied!),cut down one of the shelves to hold the microwave, removed the doors from the bottom and rehinge the one door to make it an oven. I primed it using Zinsser 1-2-3 so I didn't have to sand. The most expensive purchase was the spray paint -Rust-oleum Painter's Touch is my best crafting friend:) She did ask for the other door to be re-attached so" she wouldn't get confused when cooking!"

I had plans to go the the Goodwill Re-store for the faucet, but couldn't seem to get that direction. So I ended up with some plumbing from the big orange store. Faucet moves side to side, and the knobs turn. I didn't get a couple of things finished before Christmas, cutting out the sink was one of them. Since it was in the dining room, I didn't think I could convince Shelby that the hole in the center was for books. So that will get done this week:)We love Ikea! Curtain rod, dishes etc. came from there. I had the curtain material already on hand. . I did splurge on a personalized apron, but all in all I spent about $80 for everything used to create and accessorize the kitchen. The colors in the picture are a little off- inside the fridge area and under the sink are a bright green. It's a very colorful kitchen-I asked her when I started what color should I paint my new "bookshelf", so the color choices are all hers!Happy chef!

Now into December!

Still trying to get pictures uploaded from December. I'm trying, Ma!
Our annual tradition for the past couple of years has been to cut down our tree at a local tree farm. The kids enjoy the time spent there as there is plenty to do besides cut trees. They added a zip line this year so the big boys took a quick trip down the line. Should I mention the a couple of trees got a special watering from several small boys?!

Really, he's having fun!

A trip in the reindeer always bring lots of smiles

Giddy up

On the hay ride out to the treesI guess Garry was getting out of line?!

Say Cheese!

Little voices

The conversation at the breakfast table this morning-
Bryce: Was I born before Jesus?
Shelby: No Bryce, Jesus was born before you.
Bryce: How do you know?
Shelby: Because back then both boys and girls wore dresses, and you wear pants.
Bryce: Did they have underwear?
Shelby: I don't know. I think they had little pieces of cloths that they wore there, but sometimes they didn't wear underwear.
Bryce: They didn't wear any underwear!!!! (GIGGLE!!)

Here I am!

Trying to catch up-let's start with Thanksgiving, shall we? Daddy was home today, yeah! We had pancakes out on the back porch (didn't want to mess the dining table, besides it was beautiful that day) and then the Grandparents and Great-Grand came over for lunch. Filling our tummies, we enjoyed the rest of the day laying around and playing games.

Fun thanksgiving craft from 4-H! (Jazz's name made it
on both kids crafts as something they were thankful for)Pancakes!
Breakfast on the porchDinner time!Cheese!

The boys and the dog

Being a good pet owner requires lots of treats and goodies for the dog (at least that's what my hunny tells me-I think I'm being bamboozled!). So, of course we picked up a box of treats along with various other dog items when we brought him home. Bryce and Aidan love to give him treats. The other morning I noticed that the half full box of treats was empty. I asked the boys if they had given Jazz treats. Bryce replied " I only gave him 3, Aidan gave him the rest!" No wonder Jazz follows Aidan around!

Dog

If you know me well, you understand I am not a dog person. I'm ok with them outside, but inside? Not really my cup of tea. My hunny, however grew up with them inside his entire life. Lately, there has been a dull roar in the house over wanting a pet. It could contribute to the oldest and dad volunteering at the local pet shelter? I dunno. Anyway, there is a large furry creature living now living in my home. How large you ask? A 7 yr old German Shepard that doesn't have to stretch much to see the counter tops. Yup, insane. However, for a dog, it's ok. He is well past those puppy habits, loves the kids, and he doesn't climb the stairs so we only have to keep up with him on the 1st floor. And although I have made it very clear, I'm pretty sure dog lips have touched mine-at least indirectly thru the kids (yuck!). The kids adore him, and my hunny? He is ecstatic. Meet Jazz---

As promised...

Tada! Isn't she cute?!

Our school day

Some days we are productive, some days; not so much! Today was a good day. Some of what happened was:
All about pears- I had some pears that were going bad. I know you are going to be surprised, but I couldn't find all that much about pears:) I did find this site - Usa Pears which, apparently they don't know what to say about pears either as the teacher's section just tells us to "come back soon!" They did, however have some fun sheets to color and fill out. We checked several different types of pears and where they grow at Facts about Pear Trees Needless to say, we won't be growing any here in the south!
And no study about food (at least in our house)would be complete without something yummy to eat. Spiced Pear Bread
In the end, our facination with the pear brought us to this conclusion....
1. Pears are yummy
2. We can't grow them here
3. The Asian pear is also known as and apple pear (which is a good thing because Aidan refused to believe it was a pear--"no, APPLE!")

But wait, that's not all!

We made our fire picture with marbles for our Little House on the Prairie lapbook**note to self** do NOT leave the marbles in a cup to be washed. They will be poured down the sink and you will have to dig them out of the disposal:(Shelby's rag rolling for our Little House experience. Update tomorrow!