What Can You Do In One and a Half Hours?

After our Keepers and Contenders Meeting today Tami and her children came back to my house. Getting here was an adventure because of all the snow and ice on the roads. When we left our meeting I accidentally spun out then I continued to spin on purpose. Everett was pressuring his mom to copy my 'coolest ever' driving. Unfortunately she did and she knocked out her alignment in the process. To get to my house from the meeting you have to drive on a road where one side is the harbor and the other side consists of big ditches. That is not ideal when the road is snow and ice and the alignment is knocked out but she made it safely. We had lunch and coffee and Taylor and Aaron headed over to Ben's to play in the snow and do some work. Tami offered to take Erik and Ian home with her until scouts tonight and I put Ruby and Libby down for a nap. That left me with........No Children for an hour and a half!!

I was tempted to sit and drink more coffee and read my latest Old Schoolhouse Magazine but I decided to clean instead. I am very happy! I finished washing and drying all my laundry and laid it out so I have no baskets in the living room. I cleaned the table, vacuumed, made my bed and cleaned the bathrooms. I also finished the dishes and ran the dishwasher and cleaned the counters.

My dinner was in the Crockpot (I even sent some home with Tami) because we had a Den Meeting for Cub Scouts tonight. Then I received a phone call that due to the treacherous conditions of the roads Scouts was cancelled! Notice the Joy I feel in that statement. We have an unplanned evening at home and the house is clean!
I hear a Family Game night in the works! I know the boys will be disappointed that they do not get to perform their skits, and songs and receive their awards but it means they will get more next time.

I am just left wondering, where does the toothpaste lid go when it disappears? and How did toothpaste get on the ceiling of the hall?

How Did Dockers Figure This Out?

http://www.us.dockers.com/season/landing.aspx
This is one of the best advertisements I have seen in a very long time! I think I will be buying my husband a pair of these.

If anyone knows how to actually put the ad in my blog please tell me how. I tried for a long time but could not figure it out.

Watch Out Mike Rowe

I try hard to come up with activities for my children to do that are :

1. Age appropriate
2. productive
3. useful/helpful
4. fun

I know that is a difficult bill to fill. Yesterday I noticed the grease on the cabinets above my stove and decided it was a great job for Ian and Ruby to complete together. Ian on the cabinet cleaning and Ruby rinsing and ringing out his rag. They worked very well together and Ian went above and beyond the call of duty. He cleaned the inside and outside of the microwave and the stove top as well.

Ian showed me the dirty rag and said, "We need to call Mike Rowe, because this is a Dirty Job!"

Now let me tell you that the cabinets are cleaner than if nothing had been done but not as clean as I would have done, that is if I did it. You get the point.

A few more happenings from my day:

?Why would a three year old remove her clothes and pee down the heater vent?

?Why would a seven year old choose to not eat his cauliflower for 31 hours?

Cousins

We were so excited that my momm, aka Geaba, brought Kimberly, Justin and Sarah up for a visit last week. We headed to the State Park for a walk along the beach. It was very cold and Sarah copied me by putting her 'baby' in her jacket and zipping her up inside. Libby loved being close to me but would not keep her hat on her bald little head.

Justin, Ian and Aaron had a great time conquering the drift wood. They skipped rocks and played many other imaginative games. Erik and Taylor and Kimberly rode scooters and walked along the road.

Aside from the cold we could not have asked for a better day. We even saw some seaweed (that has not been identified yet) that we have never seen before. It was pink and looked like starfish skin (I know not very scientific, but you get the word picture).

It took Geaba a very long time to walk back to the van with the little girls while I stayed and let the boys explore a bit more. We finished up our lattes' and headed home for dinner and games. I am so glad that the children get along so well with their cousins, now if I could just get my hands on their newest cousin......

Breaking News: Both Kimberly and Justin called me tonight (they made separate calls) to inform me that they won first place in their division for their gingerbread creations! Kimberly won for the Golden Gate Bridge that she created and Justin won for his candy castle! They sound amazing and I will post photos of the winning entries if I can. Congratulations to my niece and nephew~ I am so proud of you.

Charlotte's Web

Last week we went to a rather pathetic performance of Charlotte's Web. We were disappointed with the lack of creativity in the play but our disappointment was short lived. After the performance we went to Bakers Dozen house for a Charlotte's Web Party! Many of our friends were there. I think we counted 30 children in all!
I cannot remember a time in recent history where I could sit with my friends and drink coffee, eat delicious food, and catch-up while the 30 children played joyfully and without incident. It was a wonderful afternoon.

Before the play I stopped by Tami's house, plugged in my crock pot and added an onion that Tami purchased and diced for me. After the party I stopped by Tami's house picked up my crock pot and headed to Sean's work for dinner before him and Aaron headed to Webelos! We were tired when we got home but it was a good tired.

Our party had manure piles (no bake cookies), Charlotte herself (spider shaped bread), Runts candy (Wilber was a runt), Pigs in a blanket (hot dogs in crescent rolls), Rotten Eggs (deviled eggs), Zuckerman's slop (chex mix), Pigs in mud (chocolate pudding with pink marshmallows), and of course, coffee!

Tami is so creative and we had pin the tail on Wilber and put Charlotte on her Web for our games! Shawn had felt barnyard pieces for each family that was there! What amazing and creative friends I have.

Wonderful children too.

I had planned to reread the book Charlotte's Web and watch the movie but that never came to fruition. We did however, complete a mini unit study on spiders (yuck). Another way to make learning more fun and relevant.

Ladies Christmas Party

Friday I was able to Celebrate my friend Betty's Birthday with her and another friend Melanie. We went to a wonderful little cafe called The Daisy Cafe and our waitress was a friend from College that I had not seen in 13 years! It was a joy to celebrate and reconnect. Betty has been part of my life for 19 years! Wow this is really making me feel old.

Then I went home and spent some time with my family and got ready to go to one of my favorite parties of the year! Naomi knows how to throw a fabulous party. Delicious desserts, my favorite was Hilary's Chocolate Brownie Ganash with Peppermint Topping!

All the women bring gift cards and food and we fellowship for hours! I made myself leave at 1:00am because I knew that Sean would not be having fun if Libby woke up and I wasn't home yet.

We do a drawing to choose gift cards and all are fair game to steal (up to 3 times). There is a lot of playful stealing and competition. This year I was number 1 so at the very end I got to choose any card that had not been frozen yet and swap with the owner. I was very pleased with my musical Target gift card.

Naomi also brings us back to the reason for our Celebration and that is Jesus and what he has done in our lives. We all share the joys and sorrows of this past year. I really enjoy the hearts of these women and how much they trust and draw closer to God with each passing year.

I shared that I was especially thankful for the friends that God has chosen to provide me with. For the support and encouragement I receive from all of them, for my family and our health and for the fact that my children and I enjoy being together.

I also shared a story about last week. I was in the middle of cooking dinner, the children were all doing their 'before Papa comes home' chores, we had company over, in other words it was chaotic. Jess called me and said, "What is Ruby doing right now?" I replied, "she's playing babies, and with her kitchen." Jess said,"You know how your daughters like to play babies, they like helping and playing kitchen? You are living their dream. All they want is what you have. They want their own babies, their own kitchen and their own husband. You have that and you get to do what they want."

I think that is the most eye opening statement It gives me proper perspective and

Taylor's Victorian Tea Party

Taylor loves to dress up. Often she has the family dress for dinner, or she makes the boys change their clothes and put on a tie to play a game. She has been talking about having a Ball for several years now. I was adamantly opposed to a ball, so when I found a book at Goodwill about how to host a Victorian Christmas Tea Party, I knew I had found my salvation! Taylor was very excited about the idea. I realized soon after we started planning that our home would not accommodate all the guests. We had decided on a Mother - Daughter Tea. I started checking out our options and there were none, unless I was going to rent a reception hall.

Syndi came up with the wonderful idea of hosting the party at her mother in law's house. Peggy eagerly agreed and opened her home to us with such love and generosity! We are awed by her graciousness and the beauty of her home. My mom, upon entering her house, exclaimed, "It is a feast for my eyes!"

Peggy's home was the perfect location and atmosphere for Taylor's Tea.

I know they say imitation is the finest form of flattery. Both Taylor and Kimberly wanted me to do their hair the same as I had done mine. How come theirs looked so much better than mine?

I must apologize that I was very busy at the party and failed to take photos of all the guests. You can get a sampling of how beautiful all the girls looked by the photos I did take.

One of the most interesting facts about the party was how quiet and polite all the girls were. There was an atmosphere of awe and beauty that permeated all the way to the girls' behavior. At one point I wondered if they were all having fun. I was assured that the party was wonderful!

I appreciate Taylor's friendship with each and every girl who attended. She carefully chose each mother and daughter who were to attend. I love that she included Hannah who is 5 all the way to Keziah who is 17! I think that twelve must be an age where life changes drastically! Taylor was as happy and excited about the Playmobile as she was about the clothes, gel pens, and camera. She was thrilled to get a new journal and immediately began working on her journaling pin for Keepers. I appreciate the innocence as well, Taylor does not like to misspell words so she dictates to me every night what she wants written in her journal.

I could not have pulled off the party without everyone who helped so much! First, Peggy who offered not only her home, but her china, and lovely decorations and time. Syndi, who pays attention to all the details and gently instructs me in the way I should go. Syndi also helped with all the decorating and clean up not to mention all the beautiful tea cups, saucers and tree that she brought! My mom who saved me. When I was looking at the 4 layer cake that I had not yet decorated my mom rescued me by getting Taylor a beautiful cake from the bakery (Thank you so very much for lightening my load). Jess who always takes care of the things that need to be taken care of and washing the dishes after the party! Last but definitely not least for Mikaela who carried everything out to the van after the party. I would have been overwhelmed, instead I am overwhelmed by the love and generosity I was shown.

Kalina and Jubilee at tea.

Taylor was very careful to avoid getting chocolate on her gloves.

My oldest daughter, Mikaela and my momm.

Two beautiful and important women in my life.

Taylor, Kimberly and Ruby decorated Peggy's tree. Apparently you can not have too many pearls on your tree. Ruby spent the entire party rearranging the ornaments.