Who Prayed for Snow?!

We came home from my parents' Saturday night to much too much snow! The van made it into the driveway just far enough to be off the highway- and got stuck. We were anticipating a lot of snow but were hoping to make it a little further in! Jeremy left the kids and I in the van and got out his mower which has a snow thrower on the front. (One of the things I have learned being married to Jeremy is that there is a difference between snow throwers and snow blowers, I just can't remember what it is right now.) He made it down the driveway but when he tried to make a path through the yard to the front door (the real front door, the one that faces the highway) he broke something. We didn't even attempt to go in the normal way because the drift between the house and garage was as tall as us. You can see the tunnel Jeremy dug in it for the kids in one of the pictures below. After we got in the house Jeremy went back out to dig out the van and head for work where he picked up a tractor with a loader. He enjoyed digging out the driveway in a heated cab versus on his little mower except that it took three hours or so. The next day Jeremy headed back out to clear the regular way in and we let the boys go out to help. Julia even finally got to go out while I took these pictures but she was happy to go back in after about 15 minutes! (I was happy to go in too!) The boys had a blast climbing the drifts and piles but I think whoever is praying for snow could stop any time now...

The Great Escape

Jeremy, my dad and Logan watched a movie by this same name on TV while snowed in over Christmas. Jeremy had the boys reenact a bit for Dad and Logan's enjoyment. (This clip may be better than the real version...)

Christmas in Collages

Despite the snow we made it across town to Jeremy's Grandma's to celebrate with his family the afternoon of Christmas Eve. Then we made it to my parents' to celebrate with my Dad's side of the family the evening of Christmas Eve and then celebrated some more with my parents, sisters and brother-in-law Christmas Day. Then we stayed put, snowed in until Saturday night.

At Jeremy's Grandma's

Christmas with my Dad's side.

Christmas Morning!

Snowed in fun.

We still have Christmas with Jeremy's parents, sister and brother-in-law and our "just us" Christmas planned so stay tuned!

Merry Christmas!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Do We Really Need this in December?

So remember the day I found snow in the dryer? That same day my washer filled up and then wouldn't spin or drain. Jeremy looked on line and found out it was just a $20 part that was broken so no big deal. (Here's what a washer looks like without the cover on!)The next day a spring in the dishwasher door broke. Again, no big deal, it still worked without the spring, you just had to remember to be ready for the full weight of the door when you opened it. The replacement spring was cheap and easily fixed. I told Jeremy I'd schedule the oven to break the following day. The oven didn't follow the schedule but the check engine light did come on in the van. That turned out to be because the cooling fans were iced up and couldn't spin. Then the following Friday, while Jeremy was home because I was out Christmas shopping, he noticed a strange noise and smell coming from the fridge. The heating element that defrosts the freezer had overheated and was smoldering. It's not fixed yet but I'm afraid fixing it will give something else a green light to break!

The boys thought the outside of the washer looked like Oscar's trash can!

Christmas Preparations

We have our tree up and decorated (Samuel built a train track to go around it which has survived amazingly well), the stockings are hung and most of the decorations are out. The Jesse trees are almost full and the Advent calendar is only missing Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Although we try not to emphasize Santa and the presents too much, we did go visit Santa when he came to Jeremy's store. Mrs. Claus read a story and sang some songs and then everyone got to sit on Santa's lap. Julia was not the least bit wary, unlike her big brother Thomas. He wanted to ask Santa for a plane but he wanted me to "tell Santa I just want to stand next to him." Samuel had a hard time deciding exactly what to tell Santa which gave me time to get this unexpectedly cute picture. (We were dressed up because we were heading to a baptism.)
The Christmas cards are waiting to be put in the mailbox and we're going to try to dip pretzels in almond bark this afternoon. That could be an adventure! I got the Christmas shopping done Friday and Jeremy and I plan to wrap this evening. We read about Gabriel telling Zachariah and Mary about the sons they were to have and soon we'll read the Nativity story! We're almost ready! (I think...)

One Last Snow Day Project

Mitten Wreathes. I got the idea from a catalog where I could get the project for just $1.09 each- if I bought 100. I thought cutting out twenty some mittens might be more cost effective! Can you guess whose is whose?

Julia, Samuel, Thomas

I think we are all projected out for now.

And the Fun Continues!

Another snow day! Good thing we didn't use up all my fun yesterday!

Am I crazy for bringing the snow inside? I don't know, but it was only 12 degrees yesterday and this way Julia could play too.

We finished up the press cookies, yummo!
Today we've made a blanket/card table fort (I didn't take pictures) , made snowman bread
and played with the snow outside. Poor Julia she still doesn't get to go out. Mommy doesn't have any snow clothes that fit and she doesn't have boots. She'd only last 10 minutes anyway and it'd take that long to get the two of us ready!

Who is king of this mountain?

I thought he was stuck but he was just resting.
The snow is not very sticky and packed into hard drifts so mostly they just walked around and shoveled what they could.
I still have a mitten wreath craft we can do and then we need to clean the house after all this fun!

I Think it Counts as a Blizzard when...

The drift between the house and garage is as tall as your oldest son,
you can barely see your windbreak (okay, so ours is new and the trees are small but still!),
and you find snow inside your dryer! (It was down in the lint trap area too, that was fun to dig out!)

Snow Days!

Okay, yesterday was actually a planned day off because of the Holy Day but today is a SNOW DAY! Since I ran out of ideas yesterday, last night I got all sorts of things ready so that when the kids got tired of just playing I'd have fun suggestions.

Yesterday we actually went to town, (the big O). I know, it was slightly crazy, but I'd scheduled the kids' Christmas picture at Portrait Innovations and if you cancel, they're booked solid through Christmas so you can't reschedule. Also we literally had only three diapers and a huge Target list. So we left at 7:30 am (everyone was up by 6:30 anyway) which was before much snow had actually fallen. Anyway, we got to Omaha just fine, got Target taken care of, got a really cute picture taken and, ha, ha, PI's printer was broken so I couldn't actually get the pictures. Ug, oh well, Beth is picking them up for me and I'll have them soon enough. We were safely home by 11:45-before the heavy snow hit.

After we got home we made peanut clusters (2 bags Chocolate chips, melted + 1 jar peanuts = 4 doz clusters).

We also made these ornaments which I'll use as our gift tags on presents. The kids got to use glitter glue so they were happy!

The boys played outside but I wasn't dumb enough to go out in the cold to take their picture! Julia really wanted to go out. She put all this on (she only needed help with the coat) and asked "Side?" Poor thing, she didn't get to go out, but she did get to watch a little extra "vee-vee" (her new favorite word, TV) while the boys were out.

So far today, we've made these cute Christmas trees

Played with our babies (we only have one bottle, Julia is using a popsicle stick to feed hers, but it's better than a screwdriver!)

and started on Press Cookies. They still need to be pressed but the dough was way too soft to do it right away.

The kids are resting now but next the boys plan to play with some snow (inside! It's 12 degrees out!) and I still have a couple other fun ideas up my sleeve if making train layouts and building with Legos gets boring.

We're having lots of fun but here's to school tomorrow!

26 Years of Fun and Counting

(This picture will get bigger if you click on it.) My grandpa C made my sisters and I this kitchen set when I was about five. We played with it for years and my cousin Greta had it at her house for quite awhile too. Greta is kind of big for it now so it's been passed on to Julia. (Beth almost fell over when I mentioned we were getting it, then I saw the realization pass over her face that we'll be done with it before any kids she has would need it and she recovered!) There is also a fridge and a stove but we will have to do some rearranging for them to fit so they are on our enclosed porch for now. She only has the tea set out at the moment but there is lots of hand-me-down play food that she will be getting for Christmas! I'm not sure that a train has ever been prepared in the kitchen in the last 26 years, but there's a first time for everything!

Advent Preparations

Our stunning Jesse Trees. The boys are enjoying guessing what the story of the day might be about based on what the symbol for the day is.

The great Advent calendar Lynn and Logan gave us last Christmas. The pieces are magnets and the background is obviously metal so you can stick the pieces where ever you want. Whoever thought of that is brilliant! So far we have put up three stars and a shepard, I won't let the boys peek in the doors so they are waiting breathlessly to see what each day's piece will be. How fun!

Dishes Anyone?

My Grandma decided since she doesn't really use her china anymore that she was ready to pass it on to someone. That lucky someone is me! It's Noritake's Sweet Leilani pattern and I like it a lot. The set has everything I need so unless we break something we're set, plus they still make the pattern so no big worries.

Anyway before I was married my Aunt Pat was changing dishes and gave me this very complete set of Yorktowne Pfaltzgraff stoneware dishes that I've been using as my "company" plates. (They still make this pattern too.) I would love to give them to someone other than CSS if anyone wants them. (* update 12/3 a taker is in the works! Yay!) There are 12 plates, salad/dessert plates, soup bowls, tea cups and saucers, 8 fruit bowls and coffee mugs plus everything you could possibly need for serving and even a couple of things I'm fuzzy on the use for. (Three mugs that look kind of like beer mugs but I'm fairly certain that's not what they are...) So if you or anyone you know would like them the price is one trip to my house to pick up the three rather heavy boxes! :)

Pope Benedict's Words

Perhaps you noticed my new quote under the title picture. A friend of mine had it at the bottom of her email and it struck me (probably more than it normally would have since I'm pregnant). It made me remember that bringing a life into the world isn't something that just happens because of us and our plans. This baby is necessary to God's plan and it's an honor for Jeremy and I to be chosen as his parents. It's a lot to think and pray about...

Hmmmm...

The other day Thomas announced that he would be asking Santa for an airplane for Christmas . No problem, sounds easy. I decided I should ask Samuel what he is asking Santa for.

M: Samuel, what are you going to ask Santa for this year?

S: I can't tell you.

M: Why not?

S: It will be a surprise for you on Christmas morning.

Now there is childhood innocence and trust. But maybe I'll have him write a letter to Santa...

Make a Smilebox greeting

Oops!

Samuel finally lost the tooth he's been wiggling for a month! Unfortunately this morning in his half-awake state, he thought he had a rock in his mouth so he threw it in the toilet and it got flushed. So when you notice the hole in his smile just admire it, don't ask about what happened to the tooth! (Also don't mention you read about it here!) He wasn't too upset but he doesn't really want to talk about it. Poor guy.

He's Thankful for...

I believe when Samuel did this project in preschool last year he was thankful for his sister. Thomas is thankful for tractors, maps (so his tractors have somewhere to drive) and Noah's ark (because he likes the animals). Can we say they have different ways of thinking?!

Thomas has been Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde lately. Sweet and helpful for a little while and then angry and destructive half an hour later! Please tell me this phase is almost over!

Great Idea!

I'm not sure what website I was on when I found this idea but I was looking up Thanksgiving place cards and I thought it was a great idea! My family kind of has a tradition of making fun place cards for holidays and I volunteered the boys to make them this time. The boys thought of what to be thankful for about each person and Samuel decorated them. We're planning on making turkeys that will hold them, but we'll see if that happens!

Small Successes

1. The cat house is done. We have friends who have been asking us to take some of their kittens off their hands. I'm not overly excited but the mouse population in the house has been too high and the kids are excited. I'm not sure when we're actually getting the cats but since they will be outside only cats and we don't have any outbuildings they needed some place warm to sleep first.

2. I have reinstated my "one big chore a day" plan. I rotate chores so that everything gets done once every two weeks. I was doing pretty well until morning sickness hit & yes, that's been over for months now, but I never got back on track. I've now done my chore (almost) every day for a week & the house looks much better. This is Eggbert. I found him when I cleaned the fridge out. Thomas made him way back during E week (It's now J week) and had a fit when I said we had to throw his "friend" away (his word, not mine) . So we took this picture. May he rest in peace...

3. I got my hair cut. This is more my hairdresser's success but it took me a month to remember to call and set up an appointment so I'm counting it. My hair was way too long. I like it much better again.

4. My desensitization project with Julia is working. She hates for me to mess with her hair and would immediately pull out any bow or rubber band I put in. I, however, hate rats' nest hair and refuse to let her hair look like that. It was getting to the point where it need to be pulled back or cut so every morning for a couple weeks I've fixed her hair. At first it lasted 15 minutes. We're up to about half a day now and she has even asked me to pull it back a couple times. (By pointing to a stray hair tie on the floor and saying "please" as she pats her head.) Doesn't she look cute? :)

I don't know why you can't click on this to make it bigger...
5. We are all well. Please pray that we stay this way for awhile! :)

I've Outdone Myself

So I'm not much of a crafter. If it involves more than construction paper, scissors and glue, forget it. However, since Jeremy had to work most of today and I'm feeling a little short of patience I decided to try this craft (yes, doing a craft when you don't have much patience seems strange but having the kids at the table doing something organized was much better than them running wild around the house!) It only added magazine paper and wooden skewers, which I happened to have, and it turned out really cute! If you want to know how to make it email me. It's not hard but I don't feel like typing the instructions. I got the idea from Family Fun's website. Their instructions were the basket but we have a bunch of unused pumpkins around and it was easier to put the feathers where I wanted them in the pumpkin. I'm very proud of us.

The feathers did look a bit like corndogs!

Yum!

Even Julia enjoyed helping decorate the feathers (and playing with them).

We decorated the backs of the feathers and wrote things we are thankful for on them.

I'm not sure the basket likes being a turkey though,

it may never be the same!

I may be a little too proud of this craft!

Gobble, gobble!