Birthday List Transformed

Yes- last weekend was the weekend - the weekend for the guys - the weekend of the annual pilgrimage to the Motorcycle Show. And this year Elisha was able to be one of the guys too. A day complete with up-before-dawn, big breakfast man-food, snacks all day, 2 ice-cream cones (Mom- PapPap said I could) and macho wings later on... so that's why they wouldn't eat dinner that night :)

Elisha didn't come home empty-handed- Mom's last minute idea of "hey PapPap, you know that I'd feel much better if Elisha had the proper head-gear for the quads at Gma's house" worked :) And now everywhere he goes, there's a little boy with this huge helmet- didn't know our house was quite so dangerous. Elisha thinks he needs to wear it riding his bicycle this spring.

Somehow the man-trip transformed his birthday list-- which is 6 months away. We've gone from wanting a little LEGO kit to "MOM- we HAVE to get this dune buggy- MOM it was ONLY 14 hundred dollars- that's not much- MOM you SHOULD have SEEN it! And Mom- Zak (one of the guys) said he only rolled his over a few times- it's pretty safe!" (DON'T get any ideas Tony!!!)

Hey Mom- this motorcycle was REALLY cool too! We should get it when I'm older.

I think Elisha will come with me shopping for groceries next week-end. ;)

Warm Sunny Thoughts

I know I did this last year.... but just to refresh any memories that may have forgotten what a winter-wimp I truely am :) .... this is what's in my mind:

And this is reality:

Sending warm wishes your way!

Snowflakes on the Inside

While it was really sunny outside, it was still bitter cold, leaving the little ones a bit stir-crazy. (OK- maybe Mom a bit stir-crazy). Our plan for the afternoon was to make some simple old-fashioned paper snowflakes. Elisha had fun, but quickly got bored asking "OK Mom- I'm done, what now?" Guess the snowflakes just don't compare to a hammer and some screws- I'll post his project made with those in a day.... ...or so :)

Our latest activities

Just sat down to catch up on some 'desk-work' and realized I hadn't blogged for a while-- not sure where the time's been going-- guess that could most easily be answered with two words: four children :)

We had a dear neighbor over for dinner last weekend and she had the idea that we needed a picture with all of us- it was a great idea and all 4 little ones actually looked at the camera at the same time- now if those roots in my hair were just a bit less noticeable- LOL! (at least I'll admit to some color enhancement- can't have it all ya know-ha ha)

The basement is progressing- slowly but steadily-

The children have been big helpers. Lydia and Elisha made a 'bench' one evening. Glad it was one for children- not sure if I could make it back up, if I could get down there in the first place-

What's all work without some play-- the children's favorite 'cheap toy'-- glow sticks. They have a blast with them!

Had to throw in a picture of my awesome buy last week-- found these candles that were $19- on clearance-- with all of the discounts they ended up being $2. Now that's a deal for me! I know, I know--- was the candle really worth $19 to begin with.... they just marked it up to make you think you were getting a deal.... it's only a deal if you need it.... (Where oh where could I have heard that before???) The marketing worked on me and I'm smile every time I see it burning :) Off to prepare for tomorrow...

Crafty Moms

Hey all you Moms who like crafts--- my western-connection family showed me a really neat website. http://www.etsy.com/ Just like Ebay, but all crafts and homemade stuff~ I could spend hours on it~ Thanks for the tip Lauri!

Winter Greetings

Bright moon, clear night, and an arctic front makes for some chilly evenings--- but it is beautiful!

It's perfect soup-making weather-- too bad I've never made my own-- going to have to give it a shot in a few days :) The family just LOVES it when I try something new!

Snuggle up and have a cozy weekend!

Am I smarter than my 3rd grader??

We've been practicing some standardized test questions with the children to give them some test-taking practice. Elisha's been working on the third grade level and does a little each day. A few days ago I had to look up the answers to some of his questions-- I did not have a CLUE as to the right answer. He marked the correct answer...... and thus 'Are you smarter than your 3rd grader?' Uhhh, NO! How's that for confidence in homeschooling your child? :)

A highlight of our day was a visit with Carrie- who homeschools as well-- and it is SO refreshing to find that Elisha might just be 'normal' when he can sit for HOURS and not get ONE thing accomplished regarding school.

These pictures belong on Carrie's blog- but I stole them- LOL! Isn't her daughter the most beautiful little thing? Elizabeth and Lydia scarfed her right up to play with their girly stuff. Jacob kept trying to give her all of his little cars and tractors. Thanks for the visit!

Time to get some studying done so I can be SMARTER than my child!

Update

We're all finally getting back into the post-Holiday, post-Texas groove. Back to the books, lessons, running here and there--- and all the fun stuff that goes along with 4 little ones~

It was great to enjoy some beautiful sun over the weekend because now the winter has set in. This is not my favorite time of year- one of my neighbors summed it up very accurately- I'm a winter-wimp! When the time is right- I'll be one of those snow-birds headed somewhere in the sun-belt ;) I'll try my best not to complain too much during the next few weeks/months...

Elisha and Mark were in a karate tournament over the weekend. They did well, although there wasn't much competition in Mark's age-group. Elisha placed 2nd in Kata out of 6, and 3rd in sparring out of 6. He was proud- so is Mom because I can remember how far he's come from his first class. I threw in some picts from a cozy winter evening at home. Elizabeth and Jacob were coloring on the floor- Jacob was quite excited because he was using markers- and Mom didn't know Daddy said 'NO markers' because he gets them everywhere. That explains his over-excitement ;) How do you resist a face like that--- what's a little marker here and there??? Off to karate practice...

little kids alone on the plane

We were talking about our recent trip to Texas. On one of the flights, our seats were split up leaving Elisha and Elizabeth to sit together. I asked Elisha how he liked it. He said "It was great- there was no one to tell me I couldn't have Coke to drink. And the flight attendants brought us chocolate when we asked for some."

I asked him what he and Elizabeth did-- his reply -"mostly argue."

Ahh to be little :)

For Madison

Hi Madison-- the girls are loving your hand-me-downs! Thank you!! Miss you!!

Texan Adventure

Sorry for the delay in blog-posting-- we've had quite a busy weekend on our Texan adventure. It was a last minute trip- decided to go 2 days prior to departure. Any of you in the airline industry know that you can't always plan little getaways according to your schedule- ya gotta play by their rules and their schedules- and that doesn't always work out to be convenient. This time it did, for the most part. ;)

Look out plane, here we come! Little Jacob rounding up the pack.

It was smooth flying and we made all flights (to Texas) without any problem- yay! Upon arrival Elizabeth quickly found Madison's toys and became her new buddy for the weekend.

It was Steeler Playoff weekend (...and now we have to look ahead to next year...) so Jacob had to be surrounded with team spirit. It was quite fun watching the game in Cowboy territory- and hey- the Steelers didn't do that bad. Guess we'll have to root for the Cowboys now Austin-- maybe.... ;) Mark and the children were loving Austin and Madison's Christmas Wii present. No Elisha you can't have one... Phew! What a day- thanks Jim for a place to snuggle and rest. The women had to do some shopping you know - what trip is complete without some shopping? This was one of the purchases from a 'starving artist' sale. PapPap says he was sure glad Lauri bought something so the artist could eat dinner that night-- ha ha.

Jim says the painting gets lost in the bricks- any comments? Depending on the comments, Lauri may just have to return to the sale next week to find another painting ;) (And notice the Steeler cap on the mantel??- must be Austin's-- snicker snicker) Chow time- that awesome guy Jim in the previous picture is truly the best chef in the world! Mexican food, salmon, and morning cappuccino to die for! We've tried to hire him for our personal chef- hasn't worked yet :( Play time Caught ya! Must be exhausted from all of the shopping they did- and for the record, the men's purchases were much greater than the female's! Elizabeth was Madison's shadow all week-end she practically smothered her. And Jacob's buddy was Tess- that's quite a dog to let a 3-year old drag her around all week-end! Jacob even tried to pull him in a little tent he had set up in the living room. It didn't work. Back home- and the famous "MOM... will you STOP taking pictures!!!" look from Elizabeth.

Wish I could fold up like that. It would take me a LONG time to get tired of this view- unless it was from an airport window all day- which sort of happened, allowing us an extra night- darn! ;) And finally homeward bound (barely made the full flight the next day) connecting through Phoenix-- lovin that view too- even though it was a 5-hour view because of weather delays- no problem~ The kids set up shop on the floor and had lots of fun. I might be biased, but they were the best little travelers ever- even after coming off of VERY turbulent flight- we had to fly around those crazy midwest storms and tornadoes- never seen lighting like that from a plane and don't care to again. I had to crawl on my knees to take Elizabeth potty- then wait out the bumps with the flight attendants in the back of the plane. The attendants weren't too happy with us, but what do you do with a girl who has to go potty?

With a total of 15 hours in/on airports and planes that day, Jacob still wanted to go right back onto another plane. Soon enough little guy... (I hope) And now back to routines and daily life... why is it so hard to get back into the swing of things?

We're missing you Texas family!!! Thanks for the wonderful weekend- we love you!!

GIrly Stuff

One of the girls' most prized Christmas gifts was a dollhouse given to them by Gma. Daddy set to work on assembly on New Year's Day. The boys weren't thrilled- they had to keep out- thus the happy faces shown below ;)

Yay! Finally we can get our hands on this stuff... well, almost. Havin fun Dad?? Complete with lights- Final touches- the kit came with paint, but the girls decided that would take too long to dry, so they opted for the included stickers. Ta Da! It was a hit Grandma-- now to keep the boys from playing 'home renovation'... to be continued.... Hope you're all having a great start to the new year! We're glad to be getting back to our school routine- Ok, Mom's glad- not so sure Elisha would agree ;)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! It's been one of those organizing days- out with Christmas, in with fresh, new, clean rooms- with a few less toys ;) The kids did really well going through their old toys to make a bag for the Good Will and they are really proud of their clean desks.

Thought I'd leave you with a few more picts of our final Holiday festivities. It's always so much fun to prepare for December, but I sure am glad when it's done and we can resume normal routines.

Here, the girls are opening their Extreme Makeover Home Edition Playhouse to be built. They've been pestering Daddy all day to start on it.

And here is Elisha playing with Jacob's new dinosaurs. Somehow Elisha always manages to end up with Jacob's toys-- it's NEVER the other way around- unless there was some of his famous bartering going on. I thought the view of Jacob's little feet was too cute! Sleep at last! Jacob's recovered dinosaur.

The children are all finally napping- they were up until about 1am- I think I'll join them ;)

Wishing you lots of good things for 2008!