Aaaaaah.........it's over!

I really love everything about Christmas. This year was great and very stress free as I was done shopping & wrapping pretty early on and could just enjoy the season. What I really love about Christmas is when it is all done and you have your house (and your kids) back to normal. Yesterday we packed up the tree and all the decorations, moved the furniture back and cleaned. It is funny how bare your house looks after everything is put away, I think it will take a few days to settle in. I tossed out all the stale goodies that have been sitting around for a week, the candy is all gone and therefore the sugar highs! And basically life is back to normal. What will really be great is Monday, Jan. 5th when those same adorable children will return to school, that is truly the most wonderful time of the year! I hope you all had a great time with your families, and that the new year will bring you much peace and happiness.

Lyndi's first visit with Santa, I still can't believe she didn't cry!

Gonzo saves the day!

So here's a crazy story for you. I'm sure my niece could tell it better but here it is in my words. Last week Kari (my niece) went to Milano's music to trade in her rental clarinet for her own new one. The lady on the phone told her to come on in and for about $10 more she could purchase one with the credit she had for her rental. Of course when she got there in person the story changed and to purchase one it would cost her about $200. She didn't know what to do and I'm not sure how it all happened but Luis Gonzales, yes the former beloved Diamondback, was there and told her not to worry about it he would take care of it. She said he whipped out his wad of cash, peeled off a couple of hundreds and paid for everything. How great is that! We all loved Luis Gonzales before (especially after his world series winning hit!) but how neat to know that he understands the importance of music in kids' lives. I'm sure it wasn't a big deal to him but he truly made her day. As they say, the proof is in the pudding so here is a picture she was able to get on her phone.

Sugar Cookies

It is a family tradition to make sugar cookies every year. When the kids were younger we all gathered at Grandma & Grandpas house for the annual sugar high. The last few years we haven't managed to get together but we have still done it in our home with the kids. This year Randy's sister invited everyone to her house for the decorating party. (sorry for the mess!) The kids look forward to this every year. I discovered one benefit of having alot of kids is we whipped through our 6 dozen cookies like pros! I love these memories and hope this is something the kids will always remember.

Lyndi hasn't been feeling good and this is pretty much what she thought about the whole night!

A Night in Bethlehem

Our church Christmas party this year was a Bethlehem theme, we were asked to come in costume if possible. This seemed like a daunting task to get all my kids dressed but what the heck. I dropped a few bucks at Savers to get some sheets and pillowcases that I could tear up and went to town. It took a few hours on Saturday but since all my gifts are bought and wrapped I have lots of time. (yeah me!) Not only did I dress the kids but Randy and I too. Darrin wasn't thrilled with the idea but was a good sport and put up with it. It was actually alot of fun to see my family all dressed up although I really would've hated to have to wear that get up all the time. We never managed to get a family photo, but here are some cute pics of the kids.

Rudolph's burnt out!

I had a very serious conversation with Logan yesterday. Apparently Rudolph's nose burnt out. Tell me it isn't so! He said, "it don't matter." How can it not matter? I explained that if Rudolph's nose was burnt out then Santa would not be able to find our house. He looked at me like I should have known better and said, "Santa will just give him a new one." Oh of course, it is just a light bulb, a red one Logan said. How could I have not known that. I remember being little and never doubting the Rudolph story but why did it not cross my mind that Rudolph's nose was a light bulb. To me it was red and glowed because that's just what it did, no questions asked. My kids are just too practical, there has to be a logical explanation behind everything. That obviously comes from their father, not me. I am happy just knowing that things just are the way they are, I don't need to know why. I thought Logan was too cute though. I told him we will just have to wait and see if Santa can get a new light bulb for Rudolph on time. I have a feeling he will, he's Santa, he (or she in our house!) can do anything!

Happy Birthday Trev!

It's hard to believe our little boy is 3 years old! Saturday morning he woke up to the kitchen decorated with streamers and a Happy Birthday banner. When I told him it was his birthday he said, "I blow candles?" He really wanted a Diego cake and I had good intentions of making one but with Thanksgiving and everything his birthday sort of took a backseat. I did end up going to the party store and bought a Diego centerpiece that I put on top of his cake. Hey we can't all be Martha Stewart! We spent most of the day recovering from our early morning shopping spree on Friday but we had a good time hanging out at home and getting the house ready for Christmas. He loved blowing out his candles and opening his gifts. Trevor definitely keeps us on our toes. He is a sweet little boy with a mischievous side as well. His favorite pastime is pestering his little sister and playing in water. He still loves to cuddle up with Mom or Dad and is always ready for a hug. Trevor loves his new preschool and is really coming along with his speech, it is exciting to hear him put words together now. We love you Trev, Happy Birthday!

Oh the joys of Motherhood

So the baby is screaming, the doorbell rings (it is my friends SIL dropping off her little girl) I grab Lyndi out of the exersaucer run to get the door and in my friendly way invite everyone in. I am sure to their horror they point out that I have baby poop all the way up my arm and Lyndi is covered from her waist all the way up her back! How do I not notice this? I was only holding her a few seconds but still, yuck! She offers to help but I politely shoo her out the door explaining that this is a daily occurrence here. And no I did not bother to take a picture of that. Just before then the other little girl runs in the house yelling that the dog is eating a bird and runs back out to save it! I go to inspect the situation and sure enough the dog is nuzzling (not eating!) a dead bird. Gross, gross, gross! What to do, I can't leave it there so I go to grab a grocery sack thinking I'll use the shovel and throw it away. Wait, that won't work because I cant hold open the sack and then I would have to carry it to the garbage, yuck! OK, grab the kitchen garbage can (that needs to go out anyway) get the shovel, eeeew, the bird is newly dead as in not stiff yet which makes it even harder to scoop up. Triple gross again! At the same time I am having to explain to the two little ones watching me that the birdie went to heaven, even though its eyes are still open. Can I just say good job to my dog. Finally she does something about the bird problem plaguing my house. Although I am not convinced she did it, maybe it fell out of our tree, who knows! It's only 10:30 so I'm not sure what to expect for the rest of the day, let's hope it's much more uneventful. By the way, Mom, I found a 22 lb. turkey, aren't you proud of me! I dug to the very bottom of the freezer and scored the biggest turkey they had. I don't know why but I always feel like I win the lottery when I get that bird!

The Newest Member of our Family

A few weeks ago, just out of the blue Logan said he wanted a pet. We decided that a fish would be the best pet for him but he was going to have to earn it. At school he has the opportunity to earn a sticker every day for good behavior, this has been hard for Logan! I told him if he could earn his sticker every day for a week I would take him to get a fish. It took 2 weeks but last week he was able to do it, he got lucky because Tuesday was a holiday! I knew he had been trying really hard and I wanted this so badly for him. Really I would have just gone and bought him a fish but I knew this was a learning opportunity for him and I wanted him to feel the joy of having worked hard for something. Friday night we loaded up all the kids and headed to the pet store where Logan picked a Beta fish and some "toys" for the fish. I was really proud of all the kids making Logan feel good about doing a good job at school. As we were leaving Logan was doing a little dance in the parking lot and singing "I'm the fish boy", it was so cute! So now along with our 2 dogs we have a fish, Finn. Good Job Logan!!

Krispy Kreme

Ooooooooh Doughnuts! It is a little tradition for us to take the kids to Krispy Kreme when they bring home their report cards. They get free doughnuts for every "A" that they earn so it is a cheap way to reward them for their hard work! Thankfully the kids are great students so they each get their own little box all to themselves. Yum!

The kids love to watch the doughnuts being made. No matter how many times they have seen it before, they are still thrilled to watch the doughnuts getting their glaze shower.

Most of the kids are good about only eating a couple while we are there and then saving the rest for breakfast. Darrin on the other hand could win a doughnut eating contest. He downed his 6 Krispy Kremes before we could even say doughnut!

I'm Blogging!

Okay, so I am finally joining the blogging world. I have been on the computer way too long this morning. I usually try to get the kids off to school and do some housework before anything else. That is the only way I can keep the house from defeating me! I have found that if I do just one load of laundry a day I can keep on top of it. That is one of the questions I always get asked when people find out we have a ton of kids. It is always about how much laundry I do. Funny. When I was younger I used to be a little embarrassed about how many kids we had, now when I tell people I have 7 kids I wear it like a badge of honor. I am so proud of my kids. Most days they drive me absolutely nuts but I am so full of such incredible joy at the sweet little people that they are. It is so scary to think that I have only a few short years left with my oldest. I am not ready to let go, although we could use the extra space!