Leave me alone

So how we doin? I'm doing pretty darn good I must say. Earlier I was in a hormonal state of "leave me alone" and feeling overwhelmed. Laundry, dishes, toys all over, the task of taking down the Christmas tree was at hand, but all is better now. Amazing what some sitting down with my hubby and kids can do to relax me (it sure did tonight). Then nearly beating Erk at the Madden video game helped improve the 'tude, only to lose by 4 points. Well played my friend, well played...

And now? I'm trying to get into reading, not something that really comes natural to me, but I think I'd like it if I finished just one book from front to back in my lifetime. And I mean something other than the kids books :)

If I?

If I decided to write a book, would you buy it? :) I am kinda honestly thinking about it!

On the first day of Christmas...

Mousie sharing the love with Granny
can't wait to open presents at Granny and Grampa's!
all three kids "playing candy canes"
Here are some pix from the past few days :)

Molly's precious new hat from Granny (ohh and she had just applied her new "lipstick" hence the lip look)

Molly with her new afghan (Granny made them for all 3 kids!!!)

Christmas Eve Program

Last night was the program at church - Mike was a shephard and Molly a sheep

Mike yuckin' it up with a fellow shepard

Cute! Inside our santuary pictures are nearly impossible, it's so dark, so these are all ya get to see. But just so you know, Mikie was in rare form and did well with his 2 lines he had memorized. I had a few people tell me "too bad Mike doesn't have any personality!" HA!

Christmas Morning

Who's taking the picture!?
ok, so who goes first? it was Jack this year, oldest to youngest

umm Bean? that's Molly's rubber duckie, not yours

they call me greasy gal! tender moment with Picky :)

what Mom?

Mike and Daddy huggin

who knew princess undies and Hello Kitty were about all she wanted!

the first picture of Christmas morning!

I could show you more pix of the kids opening gifts, but I figured these were cuter :) We had a nice time at Nanny and Papa's this afternoon with the fam. Loved being with Meg and Tony!

The kids are literally jumping up and down with anticipation! I pray we have a good day and that you do too! Looking forward to seeing Mike and Molly in the church program tonight as a shephard and sheep. Merry Christmas!

12.21.10 - Personal Interviews

Tonight I asked the kids a series of questions… As always, their answers were precious and unique to each of their little outlooks on life. Jack the more one word answerer, Mikie drawn out with comical facial expressions and Molly just kept talking in her precious little voice. Jack’s answers are in blue, Mike’s in green and Molly’s in red.

How do you feel about the back scratcher?
Jack: “it’s weird.” Mike smiled and gave a thumbs up. Molly “how do I feel about the back scratcher? I watch Oswald and Olivia.”

What is your biggest issue?
“somersaults.” “umm, about somebody that I know… Molly.” (squinting) “going to Ella’s house.”

Who is your best friend?
“Mike.” (he spelled out) “J-A-C-K” “Ella and Granny and Grampa and Nanny and Chloe and Uppa and Gramma Silvertorn”

What is your favorite color?
“Green.” “Can I write two? Green and white, they are Michigan State colors.” “Pink and purple.”

What are you most afraid of?
“Nothing, I’d say nothing.” “I’m not afraid of anything.” “deer, uhh bears.”

How do you feel about euthanasia?
“what’s euthanasia, I don’t know what that is.” “What is that? Is that the country Asia?” “oh I want you to come with me!”

How many stuffed animals do you have?
(quick to answer) “10! Actually 11.” (thinking, scratching his head, picking his nose…) “3” “1-2-3-4-5-6”

Have you ever heard of a pyramid scheme?
(funny face) “no!” “No.” “Yeah and I don’t like it.”

How many brunettes does it take to change a light bulb?
“I don’t know.” “I know about the light bulb part but not the barnetts part!” “Uh, that light bulb does not work right there.”

Where are kiwi made?
“I don’t know.” “Kiwi? I have no idea where they are made!” “I don’t like those.”

How old do you think Santa is?
“a thousand.” (squinting) “60, 61…” “I don’t know, ok!”

How old do you need to be to retire?
“49.” “my guess is umm, ah any age.” “I don’t know, maybe I turning 6.”

What would Jesus do?
“give us freedom.” “put someone onto earth.” “He would… Jesus will take us to heaven.”

How many spots are on your shirt?
“zero!” (looking at his shirt) “I don’t have any spots on this shirt. (lifts his shirt to his bare chest) “oh you mean this shirt? I’d say 2!” (standing to count and looking down) “1-2-3-4-5-6-7-9.”

Is your room currently clean?
“sometimes” “yeah, I try my best to clean it all the time.” “uh no… no.”

What will heaven be like?
“nothing else then on earth.” “I think it’ll be brighter than anything in the world.” “Bean dog, Molly, Nanny, Chloe…” (Molly listed everyone she knows) :)

Pleased

the joke continues of "Big Boy being my boyfriend" - the boys think it's hilarious!
so funny, Mike was workin' Santa when he came to their classroom :)

Santa got sucha kick outta Mike (Mike commented how they were wearing the same hat)

Jack got to give his teacher the biggest gift of all of 'em! He was pleased :)

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Thanks Dad for your pictures of the kids with Santa :) They turned out better than mine did!

Feel Blessed

Whew! What a week it's been! I can't believe here we are at less than a week til Christmas. Gee whiz - I just hope and pray that come Friday and Saturday that time will slow WAY down so we can enjoy every minute of Christmas Eve with Granny and Grampa and Christmas with Meg, Tony, Nanny, Papa, and everyone. That the kids will truly feel blessed this holiday and know the true meaning of Christmas. What a special time of year :)

I'm lovin all of the Christmas cards we've been getting - so fun to see how everyone's kids are growing and reading the letters. Good stuff!

Cheers

Yeah, I've got some things I should probably do today. But right now, I'm enjoying sitting here at home, just me and Bean, with my winter coat still on, cross legged with my laptop on my, well, lap. I had the pleasure of helping in Jack's class this morning at school. What a treat! I am getting to know the kids more and more and they are so cute. There is a little girl, plain jane who always amuses me with her reading. (That's what I helped with, sitting in the hallway with each kid, the "Just Right" books). She has such a sense of humor about what is going on in the books she is reading, she makes me laugh every time. Then there is the boy who reminds me of Mike - he's been in Jack's class for the past 3 years. So funny without even realizing it.

I am so proud of Jack and his reading. He wasn't reading before the school year started. I admit I've felt bad that I don't know how to teach our kids to read, but what a blessing to have a teacher who is a "reading specialist" and now Jack is in the upper tier of reading in his class. As I've been told, "once they get it, they get it." And he does. Wow, he's really doing well. Erk and I still look at each other wide-eyed when Jack is reading a book out loud. We are pleased as punch... He's growing up so quick!

Before the fun times at school, I dropped Molly and Mike off at Nanny and Papa's for their "Wednesday." This morning prior to that brought on some yelling. Mike was in la-la-land :)... Even in the truck on our way to N&P I was yellin'. But as we turned towards their house we were all laughing, and that right there made my day. I knew then that I could move past the kids "not listening to me" - which I reemphasized about 734 times - and just laugh with 'em. So today? Cheers for the laughter!

One-On-One Time

they fight - bicker - pick on each other... but then you catch them watching football. (jack thinks it's mid-summer going shirtless!)

guess who wanted to be a lap dog last night? I gotta tell ya, I didn't mind one bit!

and today... truly starting to show her age (her birthday is tomorrow), your last day being 9 Bean, and you can't quite jump up on the bed, can ya?

Between me and Bean, we have enough hair falling out to make a series of puppets! Sheesh! Good thing the Lord knows how many hairs on are my head ;)

It's a snow day - Jack wasn't exactly thrilled at first. He knew if the weather was bad enough for a snow day, then he probably wouldn't get to do his one-on-one time today. (All 3 kids have been working towards a personal goal, it's different for each of them, but the reward is a sticker on their chart and once they hit a certain amount, they get to do special one-on-one time).

BUT, he will. He chose Papa to spend some time with and Papa will pick him up around 3:15 for a movie and dinner. Very nice :) Mike also earned his last sticker this weekend so he has also earned one-on-one time, which he wants to spend bowling and going to dinner (he's also mentioned dessert about 16 times) with me :) So that leaves Miss Molly who gets to spend some quality time with Daddy tonight! All in all, a great evening ahead!

I hope all is well with you! With the cold/snowy day - it isn't all bad to stay put... but I ordered our groceries online so we'll go pick those up. Have a great one!

Meet Avery!

You can't stage these happy faces :) I love how the kids take to babies! They got to meet Avery today - sucha precious baby girl! So tiny, curled right up and fell asleep on my shoulder. It's been a while since these dudes and chickita were that size...

I TOW I TOW...

Happy happy BIRTHDAY, to yoooooooooooooooou (Mom) :)


Just dinking around at home right now, not really the option to leave since our truck is in the shop! Yesterday brought some crazy moments - here are some highlights:



Jack forgetting his snowpants causing a last minute before school run to Nanny and Papa's to retrieve them.



Which couldn't happen due to the truck not starting.



Papa coming over to take the boys to school (and bring the snowpants).



Janet coming up and hanging out with the kiddos.



The neighbor coming over to see how he could help with the truck - involving a run to the auto parts store, then him kindly feeling bad he couldn't help.



Calling a tow truck (estimated to be here within the hour and cost of $90).




Tow shows up and after 3 tries is able to START the truck up (charged us $45 for that).



Driving the truck over to the shop to have it looked at.



The shop owner scratching his head wondering what the trouble is because he was able to start the truck right up... 15 times in a row.



Finding out it simply needs a new battery (which we replaced just over a year ago, but apparently the one we have bites).



So that is why we're currently truckless. But before long we'll go get it, with Papa's help. And then hopefully later today we can go see lil' miss Avery and have the kids get meet her for the first time :)

F-U-D-G-E

It's that time... well it was on Wednesday at least :) Fudge! Ohh yeah, I could taste it before we even finished - ahh the sweet smell, the "softball" test. I love the fudge memories from years past and present. Many hands make light work, or at least light stirring :)

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Have a Great Day, Jack!

Watching one of her 2 fav little men get on the bus this morning :)

Worth the Wait

I am SO EXCITED that our Christmas cards are printed and they look great! Can't wait to send them out tomorrow :) I bet you'll like 'em too ;)

Lighting

So... my camera BITES THE BIG ONE but you can at least see - Dad aka "Papa" and the boys had part in Sunday's lighting of the Advent candles. Very cool :)

I was reminded this morning at my mom's group at church - there are so many different things people are dealing with. Knock on any door... Be they known or unknown to anyone else, it's so important to lift each other up in prayer. This life ain't easy!

Speaking of not easy - I have a dog and she's going to be 10 in a week, yes TEN and she is wacko!