Smiling Visitors

Chili, anyone?

Our moms' group took the chance to cook together & entered in our parish's Great Chili Cook-Off. It was a fundraiser for the kids going to World Youth Day & the first time anything like that had been tried at our parish. We made red wine chili... thanks to my friend Renee for passing on the recipe... & set out for a focus on the wine with a French theme. I had a fabulous time cooking, serving, & eating with such great gals. We didn't win (one-upped by one of our hubbies!) but it was fun. Thanks to everyone who contributed or helped in any way! I'm up for a rematch...

First Snow

Darren & I were surprised to hear that we probably had an inch of snow on the ground as we watched the 10 o'clock news that night. I peeked out the window &, sure enough, there it was! I resisted the urge to wake up the kids & go out to play in it... with Darren's help. ;) There's just something special about that first snow of the season.
When 6:30 wake-us-up call rolled around, I was excited to say, "Go look what God made for you out the window." They were dressed & ready to go by 6:35!After about 5 minutes of random frolicking, Andrew set to work of his own accord. He shoveled the driveway, the sidewalks, & just to be thorough... some of the yard. If you need a scooper, he's your man.
Fun times had by all!

Uh-oh

Darren to me in the other room:

"Robyn, Teresa's employing some creative eating methods."

Uh-oh. That can't be good.

Abstract thinking

One of the things I love about being a mom & teacher is trying to decode what kids say. Try this one: On the way home I asked Rebecca what she would like for lunch.

"I want a circle with those pickles in it."

That's the most descriptive she could get. Can you guess what it was?

Thankful

Thank you God for...
1. running hot water
2. flushing toilets
3. washing machines
4. library kids' videos
5. a little lady who is chipper even when she's sick

Calvary of Motherhood

Teresa 2 days old

"It is well known that women are capable of far more sustained sacrifice than men; a man may be a hero in a crisis, and then slip back into mediocrity. He lacks the moral endurance which enables a woman to be heroic through the years, months, days and even seconds of her life, when the very repetitive monotony of her tasks wears down the spirit. Not only a woman's days, but her nights – not only her mind, but her body must share in the Calvary of motherhood. That is why women have a surer understanding of the doctrine of redemption then men have: they have come to associate the risk of death with life in childbirth, and to understand the sacrifice of self to another through the many months preceding it."

-Archbishop Fulton Sheen

courtesy of Staci

Free Cards!

SNOW!!!

We awoke to a beautiful covering of snow this morning. Andrew was in his snowsuit by 6:35 a.m.! (But that's for another post.) It got me thinking about Christmas & this deal that I've been meaning to check out.

Shutterfly is offering a promo deal for anyone who writes a post about their services with a few links to their products, so (you know that I'm a sucker for good deals) here it is! I'm hoping that there are 50 FREE Christmas photo cards coming my way just for telling you about this great website. I've used their services before for our Christmas cards & they turned out very nice. I usually like to just print our own at home, but this is a quicker way to do it especially if I'm running behind. There are lots of patterns to choose from. I'd post a link to my card from last year, but I forgot to save it before I ordered it... don't forget to save! I've also had them print larger images of my artwork for myself or clients & they are always promptly well done. Check it out!

Christmas cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards
Christmas photo cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery
Wall calendars http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

If you'd like to get this deal, too, click this link: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

God Bless Them

Happy Veteran's Day!

I thank God for the brave men & women who have served our country in both war & peace; two of them being my father & father-in-law. Thank you for fighting for our freedom, ensuring our safety, & proudly defending our flag. Thank you to your families who have made so many sacrifices as well. May the Lord bless all of our true American heroes!

Here's Andrew & a few of the other classes singing at the Veteran's Day program today. (You can only see his hair peeking out from behind... oh well.) That many kids singing their little hearts out for such an important reason makes me want to both smile & cry. It's beautiful.
***

One easy way to support our troops is to support their families. My friend Lisa's husband is deployed & is great about alerting others to ways we can help. She introduced me to Operation Appreciation where you can write letters to spouses, children, siblings, & parents of our armed forces thanking them for their sacrifice. They do all the leg-work, you just need to write the letters. I'm hoping to do it with our GodTeens. Check it out here: http://www.bluestarfam.org/Programs/Operation_Appreciation

God bless & protect our troops!

God bless America!

Hungry?

I went to get the mail & came back to this.

She had somehow pulled the bag off of the counter, removed the twist-tie, opened it, & proceded to devour the last hunk of our loaf of bread. She was more than a little upset when I removed it from her clutches!

I made it up to her with a picnic under the table... it was her first. ;) This girl loves to eat! I think she eats at least as much as Rebecca if not more. Of course, it's more obvious now that she's not nursing, but she drinks like crazy, too!
Teresa is quite the gal. I'm convinced that she has a future as a business entrepreneur. She is so creative & innovative with a drive that won't stop until she gets what she wants! Besides the obvious chairs, boxes, & actual step stool, to reach things that she would like she has stood upon a colander, pack of diapers, Tupperware, shoes, dolls, & books just to name a few. Now that's creativity! At 13 months old she has figured out how to do our child safety locks! Ah!!! She runs the other direction with a giggle as soon as she knows anyone wants what she is holding. Of course she also does lots of cute things that I CAN laugh at, too. She likes to lift up her shirt, scratch her belly, & say "Tick, tick" so that we will tickle her. Teresa has been folding her hands to pray without any prompting from us for months. She loves to wave at Daddy & anyone else out the front window. If a camera is out & she's in the mood, she'll smile & say, "Eese". She kisses everyone & everything especially before going to bed. She also loves to sing & dance which is adorable to watch. She may be a stinker but she's a cute one!

Mom's Night Out

What a great turnout & good time!

Thanks, ladies!

Falling

"Is this a big pile?"

Perpetual Motion

Always in motion... we're looking into rock climbing lessons for her... not taking them, teaching them.

Happy Halloween!

6:04 a.m.

Andrew enters our room, tiptoes to my bedside, & says,

"Happy Halloween! Is there something special on the table?"

Well, no, there wasn't. :P I love that we already have a tradition to look forward to... now I just have to remember to do it! So, he helped me create this morning ambiance complete with candles, pumpkins, a ghost above, & our spooky spider bread to enjoy for breakfast.
Nikki's family invited us over for a pre-trick or treating party at their house with apple cider, homemade pumpkin pie, & cookies. So fun! We had quite the group of kiddos lumbering around in their costumes from door to door. We practically cleaned out a few places in our one visit!
Teresa was seriously less interested in this adventure than Trunk or Treat (been there, done that), Rebecca was rather timid though ambitious for candy, & Andrew was leading the pack. We enjoyed the walk around our neighborhoods with several other couples & our gaggle of goblins.

Someone's in the kitchen

Friends Preschool took yet another field trip (we sure are adventurous lately!) to a local bread company. This time all the big kids were off of school, so we had quite the crowd. It was so awesome!

Our guide spoke to us about what they make their bread out of, how they make it, & then they each got to make their own "loaf". Here they are making their creations.
A lot of them opted for the "witch's finger" shape that they had been making specifically for Halloween. Rebecca's was a heart of course. :)
Ellie & Teresa were mostly restrained but still managed to have a marvelous time with each other. She showed them the wheat stalks.
She showed them how they grind the wheat berries into flour.

We watched the bakers make a batch of delicious looking spinach, red pepper, & Swiss loaves. Mmm.

Unfortunately, they weren't baked before we had to leave. Looks like we'll be going back soon!

She demonstrated how their humongous oven works with multiple timers. I think I need one of those super duper timers!

Afterwards we enjoyed lunch & fun at the park with Meg's family.

At home we devoured our "spooky spider" cinnamon chip bread & a FREE loaf of Honey Wheat. Delicious!

Each kid received a pencil & some wheat berries to bring home. We planted ours & stuck them in the windowsill. Here's what we saw just 6 days later!

Trunk or Treat

Our menagerie: bald eagle, lady bug, & giraffe Our school has recently started a Trunk or Treat event a few days before Halloween. Parishioners (& pastors) decorate the trunks of their car or van so that the kids can go trick or treating around the parking lot. It's a nice way to get to see everyone's costumes, get a lot of treats in a quick circle (some that I later handed out for Halloween!), & raise some money for the school. I forgot to take pictures of the trunks but a couple of my favorites were a huge shark van with a familly of fishermen & a Dora the Explorer adventure with Dora herself handing out the treats.
Our bald eagle with his buddy the Incredible Matt
Afterwards we had hot dogs, chips, slushies, & caramel apples in the gym. Can't beat that! The kids ran off all their sugar & we headed home by bedtime. Hope you can join us next year!

New Wheels

On his rollerskates that is
The Kindergarten - 2nd graders at Andrew's school enjoyed a Halloween skate party! I was able to go (without the girls, thanks to Nikki!) & "help" them attempt to skate. Hilarious & fun time. He held on to the wall for a few laps, on to me for another few, & then proclaimed,
"Mom! Don't hold my hand anymore, please! I can do it!"
But what if I needed to hold his hand? ;)
They also enjoyed a snack & made a craft.

Little tired there, buddy? That rollerskating is hard work... especially when you haven't done it for about 20 years!

KB

Dress to impress

Andrew: "Mom, Mrs. G said that we CAN wear hats & gloves to school. It's in the zip code. "

La artista

Rebecca has always loved to color. (Now most of it ends up on paper instead of herself, the table, or the floor!) She is very good at lines, circles, & dots. A fuzzy chicken laying an egg

One of my favorite things she draws is a collection of squiggles that she calls "the colors of the wind". (No, she hasn't seen Pocahontas.) Recently, her art has begun to take on more distinct shapes. Everything has a smiley face on it now including people, animals, foods, plants, & crosses... but the crosses are

"just medium happy 'cause Jesus died". Here is her earliest work of distinguishable art drawn on Joseph's driveway about a month ago. It's a tiger, of course. ;) She went all abstract on us toward the end. Who says you can't mix styles?