Friday, December 26, 2008

My daughter, the blogger!!

Yay! My daughter started a blog! She is so adorable and it will be fun to read about life from the teenage perspective! Fun! Be sure to stop by and post a welcome comment if you can. We all know how fun it is when someone posts a comment!!

http://www.adriennestafford.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas to All!

Today is Christmas Eve! We have been baking and playing trains and we even watched the Muppets Christmas Movie. Did you know there was a recent Muppet Christmas Movie? I thought I was checking out the old Scrooge story, but no, this was made in 2002. Its been a very relaxing day. Due to the weather the older kids are with us for Christmas Eve, and this has not happened in years. The deal has always been he can have them on Christmas Eve, but I have to have them Christmas day. Having younger siblings, its very important for them to be here with us! Its been fun to have them here today. Adrienne made a wonderful dessert for the big family gathering tomorrow and she has wrapped all the gift exchange gifts.

Its been a sad week in some ways. A friend from church lost her brother to cardiac arrest on Tuesday. He was such a happy guy, a friend to all and he will be missed so much. I ache for Donal, losing her brother, I ache for Brenda, who has lost her husband too early in their life. I ache for Ron and Janeal for losing their son. I ache for his two daughters who will surely miss him so much. And for all the rest of us who knew and loved him. I know there is a greater plan and I am grateful for the knowledge of eternal life that I have and that his family is comforted by this knowledge too. But I cannot help but reflect on how hard it must be to be left behind to finish this life without one so loved. It scares me, could I ever be so strong?

I am listening to Christmas music as I type this, I love the song by Bare Naked Ladies with Sara McLachlan-God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. An awesome song! We had a special Christmas Family Home Evening tonight. We read the story of Christ's birth in Luke and made sure all the kids could answer the question of why we celebrate Christmas. Even Joseph got it! We sang some Christmas songs, then Annalina loaded up a plate with cookies for Santa. We got the kids to bed around 7:30 and they were ready to get this night over with! They promised to come get us when they woke up, and honestly they always do. I don't think either would have the courage to come down snooping around, but you never know! It will be interesting to see how early they are up. I am imagining about 7am. We got room darkening shades in their room and that was a very smart investment! Keeps it nice and dark in there. We also have a air purifier that we run at night. It helps with allergies and is a great source of white noise. Sure, my kids will probably have sleeping issues later in life, perhaps even needing therapy to learn how to sleep through the light and with background noises. But hey, I am getting my beauty sleep now, and I desparately need it. I'll pay for their therapy later in life, really I will!

So it has warmed up a bit today and the trees are have been shaking off their snowy coats with the breeze. It snowed this morning, adding a couple more inches to the pile, then rain fell for a while, although we still have quite a bit of snow. This has made me a bit sad. I love the snow and am thrilled to be having a white Christmas, even if it is a slushy messy white! I am so grateful for the beauty snow brings our area, a beauty we rarely get to see. I have been happy being inside with my family(though they may or may not feel the same about being stuck home with me!). I have enjoyed our outings back in Camp Ireland and just playing in the snow out front with the little kids. I honestly could do with another week of this! Its just so beautiful! I will not complain about this storm, which our area has not seen anything like in 40 years. But I will also try not to complain about the meltdown, the constant drip, drip, drip as the snow slowly disappears. At least now everyone will be able to make it over tomorrow for our family Christmas party!

I hope you have all been good this year and that Santa will be making a stop at your place later this evening. We checked Norad before bedtime, Santa was in Canada, looks like he is in Michigan now, so I better head off to bed. I'd hate to cost my kids their gifts by being up and around when Santa gets here!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Four Hours, Three Stitches & $100 later

Church was canceled today. Richard took Rover out to help someone get to a homeless shelter in Hillsboro to help out during the cold. He got home and we all ventured out to tithing settlement. It was good to see the Bishop and very few others made it over, it was fun. On the way there we passed a station wagon stuck in the snow. The husband was out trying to push it back, the snow was just too deep for it to get through. Richard drove Rover over the snow again and again until it was good and packed down. Then Jake, Richard and I got out and pushed. Off they went. The little kids thought this was the greatest thing ever and Richard's vehicle is now affectionately called Rescue Rover!

Shortly after getting home Joseph and Jake had a mishap while playing too rough and Jake's tooth ended up creating a large gash in Joseph's forehead. It bled profusely, as head wounds tend to, but it was so deep and oozy that we decided to take him into the ER and have it looked at. We got checked in and paid the $100 copay, YIKES it has gone up!!! We waited and waited and finally were taken back. They numbed it up with a topical ointment and Joseph was so brave. He did not cry at all when they cleaned it, or when he got a shot to make sure it was numb enough or when he got three stitches. He was patient and good and I was very proud of him. The hardest part was that it was close to four by this time and neither Richard or I had eaten yet and Joseph hadn't had lunch. Eventually he needed to use the bathroom, but his fear of public potties sent me to the nurses station where I explained we needed to go or there would be a cleanup in room 6. They finally gave us our discharge orders and we were on our way, just four hours after we got there!!! It had snowed a few inches during the four hour ordeal, so Richard had to clear off Rescue Rover once again. Joseph is on an antibiotic just to be safe, since it was a tooth that caused the damage. But he will be fine, and they let him keep the water syringe they irrigated the wound with. So he is happy and somewhat proud of his bandaged head.

Jake feels really bad about it, but it honestly was an accident. One that will hopefully be prevented by less roughhousing in the future...who am I kidding, they are boys!! But of all the kids Joseph, who is youngest, only three, probably handled it better than the others would have! I was thinking about it and I have had children for almost 17 years now(I am feeling old), and this is the first child requiring stitches! I mentioned this to Richard and we were both a bit shocked to realize that. Until now, no broken bones, stitches, surgery. We are blessed, that is for sure.

The kids are all sleeping under the tree tonight. A couple nights ago we put Joseph to bed and the older three slept under the tree. I heard Joseph get up in the morning and he went straight downstairs. I didn't want him to wake up the other kids who were up pretty late so I went down to get him. He was curled up under his blanket by the tree. I asked him if he wanted to come upstairs and he said no, he was sleeping under the tree with the big kids. Ahhhh, poor little guy got left out. So I told him he could sleep down there with them next time. Just one movie I told them, then they need to get to sleep. Who knows if that will really happen, cause I am going to bed! It was quite an adventurous day and I am glad it is over!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Day 7 "Deep Freeze Storm Seige 2008"

We are into day seven of the ever dramatic "Deep Freeze 08". Apparently the biggest part of this storm has not yet hit. It is snowing at the moment and we've gotten an inch or two more since this started, but the REAL snow should be starting in a couple of hours. Overnight the lovely fluffy stuff will become a hardened shell as freezing rain falls to the ground, making our winter wonderland a crunchy, hard to walk through mess. But it will still be beautiful, especially if you don't HAVE to walk through it! The warnings are possibly power outages due to ice accumulation, so Richard lit the pilot in the fireplace, so we can have a heat source and we gathered all the candles, lanterns and flashlights into one place for easy access. I think we are ready! The freeze should last into Monday where hopefully we will begin to thaw out some for Christmas.

Richard and Jake are venturing out this morning. They are delivering fliers for the Christmas Tree pick up next weekend. Every year the scouts go out the two weekends after Christmas to pick up Christmas Trees as a fund raiser for scout camp in the summer. Richard will be in Rover, so I am sure they will be fine, but I would really rather have them safe and warm indoors. Hopefully they will only be out a couple of hours.

Yesterday afternoon there was a big break in the weather so we headed out to do some shopping with the kids. We went to Fred Meyer, its a big store so splitting up is easier to do. Richard took the girls shopping and I took the boys. Joseph was buying for Adrienne and he got her a make up kit and something else, I will not mention at this time. The reason I am not worried about Adrienne learning about the make up is a pretty funny story. At the checkout I explained to Joseph that he needed to keep his gift to Adrienne a secret. He said ok but when we met up with Richard and the girls, he blabbed. Well Jake was very upset by this so we reminded Joseph not to tell Adrienne her gift or she would not be surprised on Christmas morning. In the car he started chanting, "Adrienne, you got makeup, Adrienne, you got makeup...." over and over again in a very sing song voice. Richard told Joseph to zip it and Joseph replied, "I can't zip it!" and the chant started again. Adrienne tells us that when Richard told him to zip it, he tried with all his might to zip up his coat, but could not. It was pretty funny timing!

We then did the grocery shopping, but apparently the break in weather had everyone thinking the same thing! The lines for every register(and they were ALL open, all 18 of them) had at least 6 people standing in them. And the ailes were jammed full of people, but we finally managed to finish the shopping and get out. Huge flakes were starting to fall so we turned on Christmas music for the ride home. A crazy yet fun way to spend a Saturday evening with the family!

Friday, December 19, 2008

The Rise and Fall of the House of Gingerbread

A beautiful masterpiece is complete....
See the attention to detail, the pride of workmanship...
Less than 24 hours later....
Yes, those a tooth mark scrapings down the roof...
All that is left of the House of Gingerbread...
I think it is obvious that Annalina would have been fine playing the part of Gretel, she'd have just eaten her way to freedom!

Its been...one week

My Snow Angels!

A full week of snow days!!! Yesterday I took an outing with the kids to the Library and the store. The streets were messy, but it was all slush. They could have gone to school, but it was very icy in the morning, so I suppose erring on the side of safety is a good thing. It was looking like they could go to school today but the temperature dropped and it snowed some more and there is a slick layer of ice under that lovely white stuff. Very deceiving!

Yesterday Jake had his friend Adam over. They wanted to go back to Camp Ireland, and I was in the middle of something and said sure(the busy mother in me)! After they left I started thinking about it and got worried(again, the mother in me), there is a creek that runs through the camp and a big suspension bridge and my imagination ran away with all the things they could get into trouble with in the snow. So I put on my warm gear and went for a walk on my own. It is really beautiful back there right now, snow everywhere and mostly untouched. I had to cross the bridge and go pretty far before I found them, and even then I had to yell Jake's name to get a response. They were doing fine, so after warning them not to go near the water and to be very very careful, they walked me back across the bridge. I came home on my own while they went exploring a bit more. Adam was able to stay and have dinner with us which was fun. He and Jake are a lot alike and they get along really well.

We have less than a week until Christmas and our shopping is NOT done. I am usually done shopping for Christmas by the first of December, so this is freaking me out some!! The forecast shows a heatwave next week that will keep us in the 40's so hopefully Richard and I can get out and find a few more gifts.

We started a tradition many years ago where we buy the kids each three gifts, and they get one from Santa. I have always loved Christmas and when Adrienne and Jake were small I went WAY overboard and bought them each tons of gifts, whether I could afford it or not(and mostly I could NOT). The kids got so many gifts that some items would stay in their boxes for days, even weeks after Christmas. It seemed like the kids did not play with what I got them and it was frustrating! Then shortly after Richard and I were married I was visiting teaching with my sweet companion Maury Ennis and she told me how they only buy three gifts for each child and that it represents the gifts the wise men brought Christ when he was born. I remember thinking how hard that would be to buy only three gifts. But after telling Richard about it, we decided it was a good idea. We have done that since, and we truly have to ponder our gifts and get them practical things they need as well as fun things we know they really want. It is far more meaningful and it helps us focus more on what Christmas is really all about. To share the fun of giving, the kids each draw someone's name from the Santa hat and get a gift for one of their siblings. We still have to take them out to get each other gifts!! We are going to be busy next week!!

I blogged about Annalina never wanting to play in the snow again, but that has changed. It is amazing what the difference between 14 degrees and 30 degrees will do as far as playing outside goes. She saw other kids out there and decided to give it another try. We bundled her up and she and Joseph stayed out for quite a while. The snow on Wednesday was nice and powdery and packed together just right for the perfect snowballs!

Wednesday the older kids walked over the Glencoe High School to meet some friends for a snowball fight. It sounds like they had a lot of fun! I am glad they had some warm snow gear from all the youth trips up to Mt Hood.



Thursday, December 18, 2008

The Birthday Celebration Continues...

Gifts arrived today from Grandma and Grandpa and Grandma Great! She had a hard time waiting for Dad to get home so she could open them, but he finally made it! She received some wonderful bad weather gifts. We will spend today filling the house with pipe cleaner animals!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Your Story, Annalina!


Seven years ago today Annalina joined our family. Due to her size we went in on the 15th of December to be induced, though she was not due until the 28th. I have big babies, and while they are always big and healthy too, I did not want to give birth to a 4 month old sized infant. It was a long pregnancy, I was on bed rest for the last 20, YES 20 weeks due to some health issues. I read a LOT during that time, and watched a lot of movies thanks to my sister who manages a Hollywood Video Store. Anyway, we went in that morning expecting a baby with a birthday of December 15th. It took the nurses quite a while to get things ready, and labor did not really take off well as it had when I had Jacob. Finally by late evening I was starting to really feel it. Yikes! You forget how bad it really is and there were some very panicky moments of doubt, could I really do this again? I had Adrienne with no pain relief whatsoever, there, I did it, not doing it again!! Jake I really tried to get some relief, but the epidural failed and he came quickly after that. I was assured that the best anesthesiologist was on call that night, so about 1 in the morning, he came in and he was fantastic! I remember looking at the monitor in awe, it was registering a HUGE contraction, but I was NOT feeling a thing! That was way too cool, so I decided to get some rest, they assured me she wasn't coming anytime soon. It felt so good to be able to sleep while my body was still working so hard. I wish other things in life could be like that, you know, like working out...

I woke up at about 5 am and my vision was weird, I could not see around the edges and I felt like I was floating away. The blood pressure alarm went off and I remember wondering if I was dying. Richard was laying nearby on the sofa bed and he woke up when the nurse rushed in. Apparently I was flat on my back and Annalina's sweet little baby body was flattening some key blood vessels. My BP was something like 55/30. My nurse Heather, who was so great, propped one side up with a pillow and I began to feel much better. A very surreal experience though.

I was checked at about 6am and I was only at a 5, which I had been stuck at all night long. Annalina was an obstinate little thing. She had her head tipped in such a way as to stop her progress. By 6:30 I asked Heather to check me again, everything had changed. She said it was too soon, but I told her she really needed to check and sure enough I was at 10cm and ready to have that baby! We figure Annalina turned her head back into a normal birthing position and that pressure caused me to finish dilating. Dr Brown was paged and got there shortly after that. I only pushed a couple of times and out she came. It was a very relaxed birth. On the video we are chatting and joking with the doctor in between pushes. It was so different than the chaos that accompanied my two previous births. Annalina was born at 7:10am. Adrienne was there with my mother and my dad got stuck in the room during the birth as well. Poor guy, but I loved having him there, he took over the video camera while Annalina was wisked over to the incubator to be cleaned up. Richard was a wonderful labor coach and made sure I had everything I needed. After Annalina was born, Richard stayed with her almost constantly. If they had to take her out for a test, he tagged along. Her guardian!
Annalina was 8 pounds 14 ounces, just like her older brother Jake had been. And she was almost two weeks early. My Dr tells me I could easily birth a ten pound baby, but YIKES, the 9 pounds ones really hurt, why would I want to delivery a 10+ pound baby!! She was 21 inches long and had lovely soft brown hair. This was VERY unexpected as my first two had been so blond as to look bald at birth. I remember asking the doctor during delivery, "Can you see her hair?, Can you see her hair?" and the Dr said, yes, lots of dark hair and I couldn't believe it.

I was not thrilled to learn Annalina was due right at Christmastime. I have heard all the stories and have since experienced people forgetting all about her birthday due to the holidays. Kids with December birthdays really do get a bit gypped. My job is to make it all the more special. But back to my story...having Annalina in December was really special for me. It was an emotional time and thinking of the birth of Christ, I think I related to Mary in a way I had never done before. I was so grateful to have a safe place to have her with the comforts of home so nearby! And everyone is always so happy at Christmastime! The festive spirit in the hospital was impossible to ignore. Beautifully decorated trees and tinsel hanging everywhere!

We had Annalina on a Sunday morning. Thursday Richard's parents and his sister were able to come to Oregon for a visit. They were with us over Christmas and it was special to be able to spend that time with them. I have lots of fun pictures of them with little Annalina. She was so tiny!!

Annalina was such a happy baby. She slept in our room for the first year of her life. As she got older and wasn't so frantic for food when she woke, she would wake up happy and cooing in her bed. We often brought her into bed between us to play with her in the morning. She has grown into such a loving sweet girl. She has a wonderful amount of compassion for someone so young. She genuinely cares for everyone. I am so grateful that the lord entrusted me to raise this sweet little spirit. I am looking forward to seeing what she will do with this life she has been given and am so glad that I get to be part of her life! Happy Birthday Annalina! I love you so much!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Snow Day

Yesterday was Sunday and before church I just didn't feel right about sending the kids out to play in the snow. Often I miss the mark, but I do try to keep the Sabbath Day holy. We decided when we got home we'd let them go out for a bit, but it was so cold and it got dark so quick that it just didn't happen. So the kids woke up and immediately wanted to go out. So after breakfast we bundled them up good, several layers of pants, tops, and socks, topped of with their warmest jackets, in Joseph's case, TWO and a pair of those stretchy gloves. I too bundled up to take them outside, the blogger in me just HAD to have photos of our winter wonderland. I decided I would stay out perhaps 5 minutes to click away and then come in where it is warm. We went out front and found that most of the snow was crunchy and not very moldable as far as snowballs go. We found some powdery areas, but it did not pack into snowballs very easily and usually disintegrated into a pea size ball by the time it hit its target. So we headed to the untouched(except by the dogs) snow in the backyard. The kids had fun for about 5 minutes. Annalina layed down to make a snow angel and when she got up she declared she was freezing and wanted to go in. I steered her for the door and asked Joseph if he wanted to stay out, he said no too. The back slider was frozen shut, and I thought it was locked, so we knocked and knocked until Richard came. He finally got it open, but by this time the kids were actually wimpering. So we lasted about 10 minutes. I would say it was probably those stretchy gloves that did them in. Those really are not meant for snow packing, snowball throwing, or snow angel making.

I find this very amuzing, and I am sure any of you living in areas of snow will laugh at us too. You can see from the photos we don't have much snow. In fact many of you probably get this much snow in May! But here in Oregon we don't see a lot of the white fluffy stuff and at some point it was decided that tons of snow plows would not be cost effective to the taxpayers. I must agree with that, but it does leave our area helpless in times of snow. I love that the newschannels decided they must name the "storm" each year. "Deep Freeze 08", or "Winter Storm Watch 07". Anyway, when I was between the ages of 7 and 13, we lived in Holladay Utah. And it snowed a lot there. Walking home from school in 2 feet of fresh powder was normal for us. We spent HOURS outside, coming in only for quick bathroom breaks or perhaps to watch Little House. But just as the city of Salt Lake was prepared and sent out the brigade of snow plows early every morning, we were prepared with our big insulated snow suits, warm hats, nice gloves, etc. So I cannot say my kids are really wimps when it comes to the weather. We just aren't prepared. At this time I cannot justify buying them all expensive snow gear for three COLD days a year, when they will outgrow them come next winter!

The forecast says it will not get up above freezing this week at all. And come Wednesday the next round of snow will be falling. The streets are all glazed over and the wind is howling. It makes me wonder if we will be getting an entire SNOW WEEK off from school, an extension of Christmas break. The ice won't go anywhere without a little warmth to melt it. I am feeling a bit bummed out though, since Tuesday night is Annalina's Christmas singing program at school, and Wednesday night is Joseph's. Will they get to make them up later? A Christmas program in January? I don't know. For now I am going to bake something, try to stay warm and help Annalina make the Gingerbread house kit she got from Leila and Nate at her birthday party. She has been begging to do it all weekend. In my yelling phase yesterday I think I finally got to the point where I told her if she asked again, she wasn't going to get to do it at all, and that when I was ready, I would let HER know. I know, mean mom!! So instead she would stand at the counter top looking at it longingly! I so remember doing stuff like that as a child! This morning she said to me "There is something we need to do that we didn't do yesterday, but I can't say what it is Mom". Hint taken, I will help her make it so we can all peacefully move on with our lives! It is a really cute kit, thanks Conser kids for giving it to Annalina for her Birthday, as you can tell she is SUPER excited about it!
Yes, that is bare sidewalk you see there! Funny how such a small amount of something can cripple an entire community. Good thing it is so pretty huh?
The wind is brutal, see how it knocked her hood off and is flinging her hair all around?! Brrrr, makes me cold!
The dreaded snow angel that sent her wimpering to the back door!
It might also have been eating the snow that made her so cold. They say not to eat the first snowfall, but when you only get one or two a year and they are weeks if not months apart...what the heck!! Look at that powder sticking to his gloves. No wonder they got cold so fast! Well it was fun while it lasted. It will be interesting to see if they want to go out on Wednesday after the next expected snowfall!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Odds and Ends

In follow up to my earlier post....

Church was not canceled, but Richard had to stay home to work today, another big project they decided to do on Sunday. Being the chivalrous husband and wanting to assure we made it there in one piece, he drove us over and dropped us off. The church was very warm and inviting today. During the second hour temperatures outside dropped and the previously slushy roads became slick streets of ice, great if your car has blades to skate on. Not so good for the army of minivans that can be found in the church parking lot on any given Sunday. So it was decided to end church early and send us all home. Richard came and picked us up and we changed into warm and comfy clothes and watched movies most of the afternoon, Unaccompanied Minors, Deck the Halls, and finally Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. A nice evening home with the family, oh and I have stopped yelling and settled into a happy state, and no pharmaceuticals were involved. And it has already been announced that since the temperatures will not be rising above freezing for tomorrow at least, tomorrow is a SNOW DAY! YIPPEE!


We have been trying to talk Joseph into a haricut for weeks now and he always runs away crying. His reaction is almost comical, since he gets to sit on my lap while Richard runs the clippers over his head, what could be better? So tell me, do YOU think he needs a haircut??
And last but not least, I forgot to take the camera to Build A Bear, but here is Annalina with her latest stuffed critter, Jake who I have been informed is already married to one of her other dogs.
The wind is REALLY blowing tonite and its 23 degrees out, though the windchill is bringing it down to a chilly 8 degrees. I am going to snuggle even deeper under the blankets and rejoice in the fact that I do not have to get up EARLY tomorrow and make lunches!

The Grinch That Stole Sunday....

We all slept in, well it was a big day yesterday. My bladder does not allow sleeping in like the rest of my body craves, so I crawled out of bed at 5 minutes to 8 and stopped at the window on the way. A quick peek and I felt somewhat deflated by the browns and greens greeting my eyes. Bummer, no snow! Why do they always do this to us? All the hype of snow and winter storm warnings and then nada! I crawled back into bed as the two little ones came prancing in, ready for the day! We finally got them both in bed between us to warm their frozen little toes(why can't I get them to wear socks in the house?). After a half hour of tickling, giggling(the kids, not us) and groaning(us, not the kids) Richard opened the blinds and what do you know....SNOW!!

And it was already sticking. Really cool and oh so pretty! The streets are covered, the rooftops are white as snow, the snow is falling down, up and sideways, at times it almost seems to hang in the air motionless, all Matrix-like! Now the big question looming in all our minds, will they cancel church today, I mean we don't go until 1:30 this afternoon and it could snow a whole lot more before then. I love church, I truly do, but a snow day is fun no matter the day and I find it to be a bonding experience to have everyone stuck in the house together with nowhere to go. So what is my problem then??

I can't seem to stop yelling. The kids are just bickering, its nothing major, yet I cannot control my urge to yell at them. "Joseph, that is Annalina's doggie house, not yours, give it back to her now, or you are going to take a nap!" "I asked you both to pick up balloons, so stop fighting over who has more" "Joseph, stop running into the Christmas Tree, you are going to knock it over!" Richard is sitting in his office shaking his head, and I think its more about MY behavior than the kids. I mean, they are kids. I am the MOM, I am supposed to show some self control and kindly correct my children in a loving and positive manner. Richard even turned on some lovely Christmas music, probably hoping to tame the wild beast(s). Remember my thoughts above about being stuck in the house together and the whole bonding thing? That will only happen if I can pull it together and stop ranting. I feel much better now, thanks for listening!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let it SNOW!!

Our forecast is looking pretty good right now. If all things line up as the weathermen are saying they will, we will have a white Sunday, and perhaps Monday! It is cold right now, very cold. I say we should turn up the heat, but Richard in his infinite wisdom pointed out, why would that make a difference? Its colder outside but if the heat setting stays the same, the inside will be as warm(or cold) as it always is. Hmmmm....my thinking is simply that if its THAT cold outside, we should have it be a bit warmer inside to compensate. Yeah, not so logical, but I do believe I feel colder just sitting watching the snow fall, it may be psychological, but hey, if I am cold, I am cold, right? So perhaps we will just bundle up really warm, or maybe I can talk Richard into a degree or two warmer, just while it snows! Either way, tomorrow will be hot cocoa weather! Yippee! There is nothing like the first snowfall, especially when it is the ONLY snowfall of the year, and especially when it is around Christmastime. Everything is so beautiful and we get to stay home together. It has a very nice feel to it.

Our day started with a frenzy to get ready for Annalina's Birthday party. I had some last minute things to get from the store and then the party started at 10am. We had about 15 kids here total. They got to decorate their loot bags, then we played some fun games. I am so grateful for the internet, I found lots of great games for this age group, and I never could have been creative enough to have figured these out on my own! First we played hit the target with the balloon. Each child got a deflated balloon. We placed a giant pillow in the middle of the living room floor and the kids went up to the landing on the stairs, blew up their balloons one at a time and let them go! They flew everywhere, but a few managed to hit the target. One try was not enough, they'd run downstairs, get their balloon and run back up to try again. It was fun to watch the
balloons flying all over!
After a while, Annalina found it fun to sit in the living room and be a target for balloon launchers!

Next each kid got a ball of yarn and tied the end around their waist. Then one at a time thy would throw it to someone else in the circle, over and over and over until they were a giant spider web of yarn. Very fun, though this would probably be a better game for kids a bit older, who are better at catching and throwing, but it was still really fun to watch!
Next Annalina opened gifts and then the kids decorated their cupcakes and ate them. Back to the games, I had blown up about 60 balloons the night before, small balloons and stuffed them in garbage sacks. So we had the kids lay down in the living room and Richard proceeded to dump the bags of balloons down on the from the landing. They had to use their feet to keep the balloons up in the air. When that was over we divided into 3 teams and one person put on a large sweatshirt of Richards. When we said go, the rest of the teammates had to stuff as many balloons as possible into that sweatshirt, the kids looked like little hunchback balloon creatures! I love the photos Adrienne was able to get. The best score was 12 balloons. This game was so fun, we played it again until it was time to go, this time one team got 17 balloons in there. The kids left in droves and we were left with ballooons everywhere!

We alternate birthday parties one year and a nice family dinner the next, this keeps us from partying every other month! But Annalina really wanted a birthday party again this year. Part of the deal for haing a birthday party this year was that Annalina's only other gift from us would be a trip to the Build a Bear store. So after the party Richard and I took her to Washington Square(big mistake on a Saturday at Christmastime-parking was insane!)and she picked out a big husky dog whom she named Jake. We stopped at the asian food market on the way home and for dinner Richard prepared a wonderful Sushi meal for us. Jake went to a movie with a friend and Adrienne was off babysitting, so it was just the four of us. Richard and I are very blessed with adventurous eaters. Annalina and Joseph both LOVE sushi and can really put it away. Taking them out can be VERY expensive since they will not just eat the cheap California rolls and edamame anymore. They have exotic tastes and love to try new things. So to save money we got our own stuff and had a wonderful meal of home made sushi! Yum!! It looks like there will be enough to fix more tomorrow! Awesome! Can you think of anything better than sitting watching the snow fall with a plate full of sushi? Perhaps a mug of hot cocoa, but there will be time for that too!!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Thanksgiving Festivities

Well we had a lovely Thanksgiving this year. Everyone came to our house! We had a HUGE turkey, thanks to dad teaching Richard how its done. Everyone pitched in and brought things. I did mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and an orange jello salad. Megan made awesome homemade rolls and a delectable chocolate pecan pie, Beth made her quick disappearing deviled eggs and Grandma Frederick's yummy layered desert, Marella brought veggies and ham rollups, they went fast too. Mom brought stuffing, yams, jello salad and made the gravy(hers is so yummy). It was a ton of food! We had lots of leftovers and usually the tradition is everyone comes back the next day for seconds. But alas, no one came back, so we ate some Friday and Saturday and froze the rest of the turkey. I will make a soup this weekend probably.

After dinner Jeremy brought in his XBOX 360 and we played Rock Band. Everyone took turns on the instruments and with the singing, I am pretty sure everyone got a chance to sing, including Mom and Dad. It was very fun! The younger kids spent most of their time playing upstairs, or in the front room. But Joseph was desperate for the chance to play the drums. He kept failing, so we finally unplugged the drums from the game and let him do a song that way, and the other kids gave that a try too. Then he was satisfied and enjoyed watching everyone else, for the most part. Jake is a natural at the Rock Band guitar and Adrienne is a great drummer! Megan's belly did not keep her from playing those guitars! Richard even got really good at the drums, they are really hard and no one but he, Adrienne and Jeremy would play them! Anyway, we played for hours and it was wild and crazy fun!

I am thankful for my family and grateful we got to spend Thanksgiving with everyone!! As well as being a holiday, this was a special day for my parent's. They celebrated their 40th anniversary! Way to go Mom and Dad! Glad we could spend your special day with you!!

Dad gives singing a shot. Wait, is Dan plugging his ears in the backgroung? :-)

Adrienne and Dan getting ready to rock out!

My adorable pregnant sister Megan holding nephew Zachary

Joseph had some fun hanging out with Grandpa Frederick!