Week in Review

Well, let's start this post off right--with food of course. We, I mean I, have been finding must-have recipes on pinterest and trying them. Just thought I'd introduce you to this week's choices:

 Autumn salad from espressoandcream.com (not my picture, actually none of the food pictures here are mine).  I liked it and followed it to a T, except I halved it for my family. We enjoyed it with that yummy potato soup I've already posted about.

 Matt made this lemon and garlic pasta from imonthings.com one night earlier this week while I was out shuffling kids places. He did a great job with it. I thought it was real lemon-y at first, but my second helping (shhhh!!) was a lot less lemon-y. And leftovers were good too.

 I started this crock-pot Sesame Chicken from kendallandkeith.blogspot.com before ballet on Monday, and Matt finished the sauce for it. We paired it with some steamed broccoli and rice. Matt left off the green onion and sesame seeds, though I would have put them on there for sure. He's not an onion fan, but I think that would've taken this dish from ok to yum!

One night I decided I was tired of leftovers, but I wasn't about to forget them either. So we ate leftovers and these tastey little boogers--chicken taquitos from mommyimhungry.blogspot.com. Yes, they were good--and we made the creamy avocado dip to boot (this is included with the recipe).

Okay, now that the important stuff is done, you can either choose to continue reading or decide you've had enough. The rest of this post is just cute pictures and what we did!

I posted to the blog this week, but as usual, I posted about the previous week. I left off with Scrunchie turing 9 months on Monday. So here's an abreviated version of the rest of our week!

TUESDAY:

We saw Santa (the real one, I swear!!!) at a special MOPS activity on Tuesday.

 The two-yr old wasn't so sure of the jolly man with a beard. Can you tell by the look on her face?

 She wouldn't go on his lap forever, but with a promise of getting to tell him what she wants (a Mickey guitar, or as she says it so cutely "a Mit-ee De-tah") for Christmas, she hesitantly approached his lap. And then sat of course, and quietly said what she wished for for Christmas this year. 

 Oh, this one? She was good!

*******************************************************

WEDNESDAY:

 When we got home from preschool and playgroup on Wednesday, we ate lunch and then we hit the trails. There's a little park near by that has a nice little sidewalk trail. I told the girls we'd go for a nature walk if they ate well and behaved! 

 Bug found a pine cone right off the bat. Proud indeed!

 And we can't be outdone by little sis! So here's Brownie's pine cone.

 Trees with berries. I didn't touch the things. We had these bushes in our yard when I was a kid, and every time one of our balls or some other toy wound up in there I'd have to fetch it. And I'd always come out in hive rashes all over my body where I'd touched the dang bush. Ick!

 She's just posing!

 This one is giving me her goofy smile. Man, this girl can rock a cheese smile! Boushka seemed to have fun exploring the woods by our house!

 What I call, itchy berries! Thankfully, none of my kids had any reaction to them. 

 Yep, more berries! You'll see that it became a thing--for lack of a better word-- for us to find these!

 This one just rode along and stuck out her tongue--quite frequently, I might add! What can I say? She's good at it!

Bouska was excited to find these... what are they called? I don't know, but she was happy.

 And these two were thrilled to find that nature put a heart on a tree... yes, I let them think that. It's okay, they won't go to college thinking hearts on trees are part of the norm! But it will drive their imagination wild at this age. So the white lie wins!

 See, more berries! I had to break the news that they were not edible! HA!

***********************************************

THURSDAY

 

 We ventured off to Festival of Trees. The girls loved this tree. Can  you guess why?

 This one didn't get the memo that dream catchers are not necessarily worn as jewelry. But who cares? I thought her fashion statement was awesome! By the way, YES, she asked for me to put this on her as you see it pictured here!  She won it by throwing a super tiny ring on to a peg that was on a spinning Christmas tree. WOWZA, this kid is lucky!

 Brownie also brought home a cute Advent Calendar from preschool. You pop the bubble (on the bubble wrap backing) each day. How cute is that?

 Thursday night was craft night for some MOPS mamas and myself. I went to PTO first and then grabbed a coffee bev and conversation with my friend, Heather. And then we crafted the night away--literally! It was after midnight when we shut down.

Thursday was also our first day with our home Advent Calendar. We had an easy activity since it was almost impossible for us all to be in the house together more than 6 minutes. So we shared our favorite Christmas memory.

**********************************************

FRIDAY:

I went to bed early Friday morning feeling rather icky. I had a horrible head and stomach ache and was convinced I was the first victim of our annual December stomach bug. I spent all morning in bed (thanks to Matt for staying home) and felt a little better around noon. Matt made me some chicken noodle soup for lunch and I was able to perk back up rather quickly. THANK GOD!

 Brownie and I went to a birthday party for a sweet friend on Friday night, while Peach went to a drop and shop at her school.  (SIDE NOTE)To give you an idea, here's how much Peach has grown in the last few years: In her first year at preschool, my girl was totally shy. She wouldn't even sing the songs at song time. Now, she's begging to go to her school's drop and shop and when I ask Well, do you know anybody who will be there? Her reply was I don't know, mom! But I know I'll make friends! Plllleeeeaaaasssseee can I go?! PLEASE!!!! Yeah, I couldn't say no to that little confidence booster (SMILE!!)

 But we all finally gathered 'round our Christmas tree and completed Day 2 on the AC: Enjoy your slumber around the lights of the Christmas Tree. I was on pinterest, but everybody else slumbered.

Well, Daddy and Mommy eventually went to bed in our real bed. No floor sleeping for me, thanks! But we watched them pass out while watching their holiday favorite The Grinch. Fun memories!

When I come back to give a review of this next week , I'm going to have a lot of stories about Nutcracker rehearsals. We've been rehearsing since October every weekend, but now we'll be doing so everyday! There are some late nights in our future (like, leaving the house when everybody is already in bed) this week, so cross your fingers there are no major tantrums from my tiny dancers. Thanks!

My 9 month old Baby Scrunch!

Scrunchie is now 9 months old! Seriously? Seriously!

I took her monthly pictures, and let me tell you what a difference a month makes!

You've gone from rocking on your hands and knees to NOT HOLDING STILL... EVER!!! These pictures don't look so hot because I was constantly sitting you up or posing you and then returning to my camera to get maybe one picture before I was back at the repositioning game with you!!!

So yeah, you're about as active as you are cute! Tremendous amounts of both!!

But what makes picture taking a bit easier is the fact that you're a total HAM!!! Look at this picture! I mean, seriously--you're a HAM!!!

Speaking of ham, well actually just food in general, if you can reach it, it's in your mouth. Anything really, but you've been really interested in food the big people in your life eat. Like, GRAB-THE-SPOON-AND-SHOVE-THE-FOOD-IN YOUR-MOUTH kind of interested!

At least your other tooth finally broke through. You have your two front teeth for Christmas (although it's not the famous top two teeth from the song, rather it's your bottom two). Mash away, mash away, mash away all!

I'm still putting your cute pudge into 6-9 month clothes. We were supposed to bring out the 12 m tub when we brought out Christmas decorations, but we forgot. But I have been putting you in things with extra room like the long legged one piece outfits and pants with plenty of elastic. 

You are one happy little girl most of the time. They only time you really fuss is when you are tired or

hungry. And if I dare lay you down for a nap when you think you're still hungry, you give me hell. Oh, you go ballistic. So I feed you--of course!

And the only time you are off-you- rocker crazy is on those (not so) rare (anymore) days where you think the five minute nap you took between the grocery store and our garage counts as your ONE nap for the day. I try to convince you all day that you need more rest, but you insist upon being crazy happy or crazy mad. And then you crash hard at bed time. And then you sleep a lot the next day. Poor girl, you'll get it figured out soon enough!

But as long as we're pillow talking, you get up at 3ish every night (well, actually I guess it's the morning but whatever) to eat. And in the last few weeks, Daddy has totally taken over that job. I still hear you on the monitor, but your dad has been so sweet to take those feedings and I usually go back to sleep. Now if you could just learn to send him a psychic message, one that isn't on the monitor, that'd be GREAT! Then I could just sleep through it all. OK?

We put the Christmas tree up last week and you have been interested in it quite a bit. You roll your pudge love over to it and pick at the ornaments on the lower branches. You'll bat at them or try to pull them off--I'm sure it's so you can put them in your mouth!

You still eat solids and bottles and nurse once/twice a day, but I recently introduced you to the magic that is Puffs. I really just bought them the first time to test out your pincer grasp. But you kinda liked 'em a lot! And now when you get some, you'll beg for more. And when I say beg, I mean you make the oddest little squeal-grunt noises. I've never had a baby of mine ask for food like this, but keep it up! I'm enjoying listening to you.

Oh, and you don't care for much to be on your head anymore. It seems to be too much to ask you to keep a darn bow or flower on your head these days. HA!! But you're cute, so you win!

By the way, you've already started baby yoga all on your own. Downward dog is your position of choice. I find you in it every few minutes while you're playing on the floor. I swear, you're going to just stand up one of these days. 

You really are a friendly baby. You'll go to just about anybody. You're very interested to see if Daddy or I am still in the room once we hand you over to somebody, but you're okay being in their arms. And then you usually just forget all about us in a matter of seconds. 

You are a very curious little girl. You are always peering around whatever is right in front of you in order to see what else is going on. You're a snoopy little thing; that's for sure!

I love you Scrunchie! Thanks for making our family time even more enjoyable with your crazy antics and your gorgeous smile!

Thanksgiving Part IV

Our last Thanksgiving meal was with Matt's side of the family. We went to Gram and Papa's for a noon meal to enjoy ham (turkey for our pork allergy girl), corn, fruit, mashed potatoes (made with broth) and some garlic green beans.

The meal was gobbled up fast--and Scrunchie tore through some mashed potatoes. We enjoyed some Gram Bread (allergy free zucchini bread) and lemon bars for dessert.

And then we got our hands on some of Daddy's old toys. But the girls also wanted to play pool and Foosball.

Daddy, Uncle Todd and I helped the girls enjoy these games--and we tried to remain as uncompetitive as possible! I think this one may have picked up the competitive gene. Oops!

Thankfully this little Bug is still young enough to just appreciate the experience without trying to WIN!

The girls played all afternoon and wore us all out. See below...

Yes, tired she was. She's in the middle of a stage I call Whatever Mom, I Don't Nap Anymore....  Um, it's not my fav!

At one point, Papa told a made up story to Bug and she was drifting off to sleep---and I was too! What can I say? After 5 fun-filled days of food, little naps, and lots of family activity, I was ready to pass out.

And now we all need to detox our systems of carbs and sugars and catch up on some sleep! It's slow, but we're getting there!

Thanksgiving Part III--Christmas Tree Hunt

Black Friday

We started off Friday unlike many other people in the US--in our beds! No Black Friday sales for us... 

Instead, we headed to the Christmas Tree farm. A new one this year because our old one (we think) went out of business--at least for this year. 

We got there and it was pretty cold due to a wind from the south--it's bad when the south wind is cold, right? Anyway, we immediately took the girls inside the Barn to check it out.

Not only were there fun crafts and coloring books, there was also free cookies (they were good) and hot apple cider, and popcorn! Hmmm... spoiled much? I think so!

But next, of course, was the torture we put them through by going out into the cold to wait for our hay-ride! Sorry girls.

 As soon as we got off the tractor, we skipped looking at the trees and instead headed into the warming hut. It's totally heated by an old stove, so we were plenty toasty within minutes.

 And then we ventured outside to look for our tree--but not before I got out the camera and pleaded for their beautiful faces to turn my way!

 Can you see the misery they're in? I know they look on the verge of tears, but trust me, they were perky again seconds after this photo.

 There was nary a soul to take a family photo, so we settled for the old mom with kids and dad with kids photos. What's really odd is the fact that this place was hoppin', but we didn't still didn't see any potential photo takers.

 Ummm... someone needs to tell Scrunchie that humans don't typically eat grass.

 Yes, I threw this one it just because! You're welcome!

After the tree hunt was complete, we headed back into the warming hut to await our chariot. 

 And then it was back onto the tractor and back to the barn. I loved that barn. It's not only for the kiddos and their crafts, but it's also full of homemade crafty stuff. Fun to look at, for sure!

 I told Matt that we should just sell our house and move into a barn. I swear it'd have plenty of room for my whole family. I only saw a portion of the barn, but I bet the square footage of that place is more than enough to accommodate my family of 7! And it's just so darn charming.

Buggy finally joined in the craft-time in round two of the barn. She loves to color and they had Christmas Tree books made just for that. 

 We came home and got the tree up. The girls and Matt decorated the whole thing. It was the first year that I was able to just sit and enjoy watching the girls hang the ornaments without my help. It'll be even more fun when all five are up there participating. 

 I decorated the rest of the house. Well, the main floor-- I don't decorate the upstairs or the basement. We do most of our living on the main floor, so I suppose that works! 

 That framed Christmas tree on the top-right shelf is one of my favorite holiday decor pieces. Matt's Grandma, Zada, made it from what appear to be jewelry pieces. It's old. It's beautiful. And it's made by a crafty Grandma! Cool in my book!

 We put the tree in a new spot this year. I like it. It gives me plenty of room to put some of my bigger pieces--like several trees and Santas!

This tree is wobbly and I always have to lean it up against a wall. But I love these little felt ornaments, also made by Matt's Grandma Zada. I love a little vintage look at Christmas time. 

Once the decor was up, the family settled in to watch Home Alone 2. This was the first movie that we all made it through--still awake at the end! Not only that, but the girls (especially Peach) were laughing the whole way through. Certainly some blessed holiday memories!

Saturday the girls visited my mom's house and baked treats and played. I didn't get any pictures of that because I was busy re-doing some rooms and getting their new furniture situated. So I'll be back tomorrow with our second feast that we had with Matt's family on Sunday.

Merry Christmas (card)

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Here is our Christmas card this year. I'll tell you, it gets
harder each year to get just the right pictures of
everybody looking at the camera and smiling. But
I'm glad Shutterfly offerssuch a variety of styles
of cards. This year, the card above seemed to
fit us perfectly. I had one good "kid" picture, a
good family picture and a picture of the older
two and one of the younger three. Thankfully, Shutterfly
had a card just right for my large(er than average) family.
I liked the wider/bigger photo slots in the middle to display
our large brood. And of course, the smaller two fit about
half of my kids each. Perfect! 

And if you are a friend in real life (or family, of course) you
can see this in the mail just as soon as I get them to me.
Which should be plenty of time before you hear jingle
bells on your roof!