It Is A Glorious Day

I really do feel it is a glorious day when all but the youngest of my children can successfully puke into a bucket. Enough said. Unrelated but really cute picture of Libby and Jamie

(I really like how they seem to have matching hair)

Today, I taught a group of wonderful ladies at church how to batch cook. Honestly I think they all knew what to do but it was super satisfying to spend time with friends and go home with several delicious meals for my family.
We made: Chalupa, Manicotti, Mozzarella Meatballs, and Taco Soup. The meals averaged
$4. 80 per meal! What a deal!

My Plans Were Thwarted!

My children puke, it is a fact and all my friends know it. In fact I just ran into a friend who has a brand new baby and she said, "I bet you have a child puking right now and that is why you have not come over to see the baby."
She is right of course, I cannot wait to get my hand on her cute little guy and smell the wonderful baby smell. For now, I must wait until Liberty is done puking.

Liberty and Erik

Today we were supposed to go to the Vancouver Aquarium and then to Downtown Vancouver to celebrate some Olympic History. Unfortunately, Libby was up all night (she went to sleep about 5 am). Poor sweet thing just couldn't keep anything down.
At one point last night I laid her in the crib hoping she would sleep a little and grabbed a pillow and blanket and lay down in the hall by her room so I would hear her if she threw up. Aaron was so excited to go to the Aquarium today that he got up to check the time and see if he should get ready to go. He saw a pile of blankets in the hall (Me!) and kicked it to see what it was. I am not sure if I scared him more or if he scared me more but needless to say it was futile to try and get some sleep.
Libby just went down, I am off to try to get some sleep.

Trappers and Traders

This week was Project Week for History! Have you ever seen a more eager group of children celebrate history? Syndi planned a wonderful Rendez-Vous Party! She even went to the pond and collected sticks for the tent! We were afraid the tent was going to fall down because my cats loved it! We 'jokingly' said that we could skin the cats, and use their furs to trade with. Erik took it quite literally and kept telling Jess that he likes the cats and would be really sad if we did that.
She assured him that PETA would be all over it and we would not be allowed to do it. He was relieved.

The day started with the children finding cards that had beavers on it and going to the scout (Syndi) to trade for items that they would need.

Savannah drives a hard bargain and got the most for her fur!

The best looking Scout in camp!

It was a tough choice to pick the most useful and cool items. The scout had bear claws, corn husk dolls, beaded necklaces and bracelets, beads, feathers, and real antler buttons!

On a side note, I put Ruby down for a rest before the party (at 10:30am) and she fell asleep! She must have really needed it, I woke her up at 2:00 so she would not miss the whole party. I guess I now know why the morning was so tough.

Jake demonstrates some Indian Sign used in story telling. All the children shared stories, we began in the tent but moved inside due to inclement weather.

The Trappers and Traders had to endure some of the harsh conditions in order to practice throwing tomahawks and knives in the camp.

The children even got to try to start fires without the use of matches! This was one of the most exciting parts of the day! Probably because they are not usually allowed to play with fire.

The children were all eager to answer questions related to what they have learned so far! It makes all the effort worth it when you see how much they know and have retained and how excited they all are about history.

Liberty discovered that Syndi was handing out M&M's for correct answers. It was pretty cute to watch the boys share their hard earned and coveted candy with the baby. Libby quickly learned that she could plow though and sign please and would be rewarded!

We finished off the party by heading to the pond and letting the children shoot their BB Guns and Slingshots!

Another side note: recently, Sean took Erik to the local sporting store so Erik could buy his own Slingshot. Erik said to Sean, "Thank you so much for taking me Papa! This slingshot is going to change my life!"

Jess and I were feeling quite guilty sitting in the nice warm truck with the little boys and Libby while Syndi and Jason took all the children out in the rain to practice their hunting skills. We were soon joined by Ruby, Taylor, Savannah and Ian.

My Morning So Far...

I had three children wet the bed last night....
Everyone took a bath or a shower...
I had one child decide that the containers in their room needed dumped out and reorganized, All 20 containers!
Same child decided I needed more coffee and added grounds to the water in my coffee pot and it overflowed.
Libby peed in the tub, I drained it, refilled it, she pooped in the tub, drained it refilled it and finished her bath...
Only 2 cups of milk spilled at the table this morning and had to change children that were already dressed for the party later.
Washed 4 loads of wet bedding so far... Then on to the rest of the normal laundry
I am off to do morning school work and get ready for a party at my house later today.
Praise God that my dinner is already in the Crock Pot!

Ruby Got A Haircut

You can always count on something happening at our house on Thursdays! Today Jess had a Midwife Appointment so Jamie came over with the twins! We finished up our FIAR study of Katy No Pocket and headed outside to enjoy this unseasonably warm weather! Jamie is always prepared with clippers and scissors in her car! I have been thinking for some time now about giving Ruby a trim (not really me, I can't cut a straight line to save my life!) Jamie was willing and Ruby thought it was a splendid idea!

I cannot imagine it being easy to cut long fine hair blowing in the wind outside with 2 other adults 3 babies and 8 other children running around! Not only is it straight but it looks super cute as well!

Ruby even 'helped' by coming the front of her hair as it was being cut! Jamie continued with the trend and Honor, Ian, Aaron, and Erik all got haircuts as well!

I don't usually have time to spend with Jamie without a ton of other people around and we had ton of fun a learned probable more than we ever wanted to know about marsupials! I was tired after spending hours on the trampoline with the 3 babies! I so love weather that allows us to be outside.

I am not sure if you can tell but I think she got about 3 inches cut off, it looks adorable! This is really the first time she has had any kind of haircut, not even a trim before this.

A great big THANK YOU to Jamie for sprucing up my children!

Olympics

Last week, it was a beautiful February morning and we were at Peach Arch Park by 6:45am! Rarely am I out of the shower by 6:45 OK I am barely out of bed by that time! It was worth it to see the excitement and enthusiasm surrounding the Olympic Torch and the Unity between the US and Canada!
Aaron wins big brother of the year award for trying to keep Ian off the ground. His feet were so cold I was seriously worried about frost bite.

Ian is quite the artist, we have books, card, computers, notes, labels, you name it he has probably drawn it or written about it. Here he is with his drawing of the Olympic Torch. I was shocked by this fond memory of the torch, because when we went to see the actual torch he was Frozen solid. Poor child was wearing only his rubber boots with thin socks on a freezing February morning.

Ian's mom would not leave the Torch Ceremony because we woke up early and had a once in a lifetime opportunity to see it up close!

He also has here a picture of CTV which cracks me up because although we have a TV we have not cable and did not even realize that we had reception. CTV is the Canadian Station that is broad casting the Olympics and I feel very lucky! Not only do we have great reception (with the tin foil wrapped around the antennae on our TV) but we have better coverage than our friends watching on American TV. We get to watch the events live and hear all the commentary around the Olympics.

Happy Birthday Wesley!

On History Thursday we were so excited to have guests to come and join the crowd that stays with me for Five in a Row. Unfortunately I had to postpone the lesson due to the fact that I had to take Erik to the doctor for an injury that he sustained the day before while we were ice skating. His arm was sore and swollen enough that the doctor wanted us to go get an Xray. Fortunately Jess picked up Ruby and Ian when she dropped Jake and Savannah off for History and I took Liberty and Erik to get Xrays. We returned home in time to have lunch and a celebration with Wesley.

We actually got to sing to him twice because I forgot that I had Ruby laying down in her room, and heard her cry when she missed the Happy Birthday song.

Wesley loved blowing out the candles and all the other children loved singing to him! It is so much fun to celebrate with friends and we are looking forward to doing school together soon.

note: we got a call from the doctor and Erik's arm is perfectly fine.

Happy Valentine's Day

We celebrated Valentine's Day by making cookies for church. One of the requirements for scouts is to serve at a church service. Our boys made sugar cookies ( I vowed to never again make sugar cookies, I dread how long they take to make, chill, roll out, cut, bake, cool, decorate) They talked me into it and I was once again left at the end to finish up, it was either that or let the boys stay up too late the night before church. Everyone at church was compassionate about the fact that the cookies were undecorated. I digress, they also handed out bulletins and greeted people as they came in, and cleaned up after church sweeping, washing dishes, taking out the trash. I love how handsome they looked in their uniforms and how willingly they served.

I made heart shaped cinnamon rolls that were wonderful! I forgot to take a picture of them this morning after they were cooked and had ample cream cheese frosting on them. Trust me, they were delicious! We enjoyed them for breakfast with fried eggs and bacon!

My husband bought me these beautiful Tulips! He knows how much I love Tulips and the promise of spring!

I was also blessed with about 37 valentine cards from each of my children, some were beautiful and others were made with love but not as much attention to detail, meaning I think the children were having a contest to see who could give me the most Valentines.

Other exciting News is that today is my Niece's 17th Birthday and I have 2 friends who are currently in labor! Please keep these families in your prayers.

Valentine Party

I love Valentine's Day! I love the time to celebrate friendships. We invited our friends to come and celebrate with us.

Ellianna had a great time with the markers, unfortunately she got more on her hands than on the paper!

I loved that Aaron found a Bible and looked up verses to copy on several of his valentines. He wrote Jesus Loves You on others, and Smile, God Loves You! That boy warms my heart!

Syndi, brought her chocolate fountain and we kept telling the children not to camp out in front of it, but to get their food and move on so others could eat as well. As you can tell, the same rules do not apply to the adults, especially the husbands and fathers!

Justice and Liberty always together! I know we are going to have to curb this sooner rather than later. They are adorable together.

We played a 'Steal the Heart' game, where the children had to balance Sweethearts on a cheese knife and carry as many as they could to a bowl on the other side of the room. They could not use their hands to pick up the hearts and had a time limit to fill the bowl. In the spirit of competition we did boys against girls. The girls had Ellianna eating out of their starting bowl and the boys had Samuel (brother of Ellie) eating out of their bowl! When all was said and done it was a legitimate tie! Candy bars for all!

We also played a game coming up with terms of endearment. My favorites were:

What does the beekeeper call his wife? Honey.
What does the baker call his wife? Sweetie

The other main event was making valentines for each other and for the residents of a local nursing home. All the children used the pipe cleaners to make their own bluetooth! Things have changes since I was a child.

We always have great helpers when it comes to clean up. Honor loves the broom and he can actually sweep with his 'Attach Giraffe' and broom in one hand and the dust pan in the other! Taylor said, "Can I please Vacuum?" and the other children graciously pitched in and made clean up a breeze.

We then took our Valentines to the Nursing Home and delivered them to the residents! The residents all loved the children and their creations. Erik was excited that he gave one of his valentines to a lady that was blind and she was able to 'see' it by feeling the jewels he had glued on.

Don't forget to share your loves with those who don't get shown it often enough.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thirteen Years!

Today is our 13th Wedding Anniversary!
We were able to celebrate on Thursday and Friday of last week. We ate out at some delicious restaurants, took a great walk on the beach in Oak Harbor, took the Ferry to Port Townsend, went on a "little hike" (aka two and a half miles straight up) and enjoyed dinner in Canada with our Japanese Pastor and his Dutch wife at a Korean BBQ! I think we both gained 13 pounds just from the food.
It was wonderful to get away spend time together and evaluate where we have been and where we are going!
Thank you so much momm for watching the children and loving them while we were away.

It's Been A Banner Day

When I got up yesterday morning I found Erik already dressed, with his bed made. He had gone outside while I was in the shower to make sure that Papa had remembered to take the garbage out, watched the garbage being collected and brought our can and our neighbor's can back to the house. Erik then came in and made oatmeal all by himself for our breakfast! It was only a little bit dense. He said, "Mama, can we do my reading now?" and what usually takes 45 minutes took about 17minutes! I was speechless. Then he cleared the table in record time and went straight to work on math and phonics.

I was the den helper at scouts today and we made birdhouses. Sounds simple enough. We had 8 boys, 8 hammers, 2 adults and 4 Webelos to help out! Erik loved it and was extremely patient he was the second to the last one done and stayed with it. Usually he would have done it good enough so he could join the rest of the group.

I am very proud of him and the great work he is doing. The responsibility I am seeing is a tremendous improvement. Could it be that we have entered a new and improved phase? I sure do like it!

Sean grew this moustache as part of a fundraiser for prostate cancer research. I think it is an excuse but whatever. Last time he grew one and shaved it off all at once Ruby would have nothing to do with him, and he wanted to make sure that does not happen again. I have been waiting since November 1 when he stared to grow it for it to go, and it is finally starting to come off!

Sean is doing a photo documentary of the moustache removal. I am thrilled! The children do not want him to shave and of course other men think it is really cool.

I guess that it does not take much to excite me but I had a fantastic day with obedient children and a husband that is removing his facial hair!

By the way, Sean and I get to have 2 days to celebrate our anniversary and are looking for fun date ideas that are not too far away (I still have to come home in the evening to nurse the baby). Please share any creative ideas for fun activities! Thanks so much.