Gavin 4 month photos

Gavin is 4 months. I am guessing he is somewhere around 18 pounds. He is as cute as can be and very demanding. I am amazed how a little guy of only four months can change everything. He likes to be held, cries when I put him down. He refuses to sleep unless he is snuggled up to me and I am a sucker. I give in and let him sleep with me at night. He laughs a lot, is very happy as long as someone is paying attention to him. And he talks. He talks more than any of my babies have ever talked at this age. He is a cutie and I am trying to enjoy every moment because he is growing up way too fast.

Kindle

I got the coolest present

from my mom: A Kindle. The problem is this. I love to read. Put a book before me and I have to read it. I try not to have too many books around because once I open them up, I can't put them down. They literally suck me in and I can't stop. My mom put a book on my Kindle "A Voice in the Wind" and I thought I would read it just a little. Two days later I finished the 540 page book. Two days after that I finished the 2nd book in the series. I took a little break. I haven't read in the last three days. My house is a mess. My children are all neglected. The laundry is piling up. We have been having cereal for all meals . . . Not really that bad. I still have been doing laundry against my will and I have been cooking all the meals and cleaning up afterwards. But I haven't been picking up the messes all day long like I usually do, just a few times a day. And with 6 kids it gets messy pretty quick. I have been enjoying the escape that reading gives me. It gives my mind a little happiness and excitement, a change from the day to day. I like it all, and reading gives me a little bonus. And I started the 3rd book in the series today while I stayed home from church with a sick child. Hopefully I can hold off and not finish it tomorrow, but it is so gooood! I guess part of the reason my blogging has been put on hold. Thanks for the Kindle, Mom. I really really like it, just not sure my family does!

I had a birthday!

This year I was surprised by a knock on my door at 11am. I could see balloons through the window and thought, today is the day before my birthday. I was so surprised and so excited. I opened the door and was even more surprised. There stood my mom and two sisters! My mom lives about 5 hours away, my sister lives 4 hours away, and my other sister is about 45 minutes away. They had been planning this birthday surprise for about two months. It was the BEST birthday EVER! And they called one of my friends and asked her to watch my kiddos so we could all go out to lunch.

We went to Salt Grass Steak House. And oh, was it good! My appetite is raging with a 17 pound nursing baby. I ate it all and enjouyed every bite. And the chocolate cake to wash it all down was even better! They brought it out with a single candle and I was a happy girl. The company was great, the Dr. Pepper tickled my tongue (I hadn't had one since December), and I was in heaven. It was probably the best birthday ever and so fun to be surprised by my sisters and mom. Thanks for such a great birthday!

New Years Day

I just realized I never blogged about this. I started to and never finished. So, here's the pictures. I'll try to come back and write about all we did that day. And as a memory jog, I need to tell about the zip line and how Danielle got caught out in the middle with the pond underneath her. Just hanging there in the freezing cold weather with her coat on. A teenage boy finally put another hanger thingy on the zip line and pushed her to the shore. I am amazed she didn't fall off. She must have hung there for a good 5 minutes. That girl is strong. Maybe that is why we call her our monkey.

And the same thing happened with Taneal, except she couldn't hold on and ended up falling in the lake, coat, shoes and all on. Thankfully she could swim well. It was soooo cold that day.

Before and After

Not to put a damper on Christmas, but OH MY GOSH it is a lot of work. I'm not talking about all the gifts to wrap. Or the Christmas cards to address and mail out. Not the goodies plates, or the gingerbread houses that take 3 days to create. It is all so worth every minute and then some. I would do it again in a heart beat. What I am referring to in this post in Christmas morning. Remember this picture:

Here is what it looked like about an hour after the kids got up and went through all those gifts:

It took me a full 2 hours just to clean up just the wrapping paper, boxes, and bows.

And then another 2 hours just to help the kids find places to put their new treasures. Evan slumbered through the 4 hour clean-up. And my kids were having so much fun with their new things that I didn't want to ask them to help. I almost got a picture of Evan sleeping. But then I have plenty sleeping pictures of him. I wish I was able to snooze like that sometimes. But I can't, I am cursed with the opposite problem. And if I am awake and there is a mess I have to clean it up. I can't let it sit there and wait until I want to clean it up.

I really did enjoy Christmas. Just thought I would share what my living room looked like after.

Christmas

The kids didn't wake up too early on Christmas. Taneal was the first to wake up around 5:30 and broke the rules and woke up all her siblings. That girl is one sly girl. We didn't hear her wake anyone up. They all kept it quiet that anyone woke anyone up because they knew that was against the rules. Now how to enforce that one next year?

Santa was good to the kiddos. The three girls got their coveted mp3 players. Danielle got a speaker to go with hers. Taneal got roller blades, which I'm not sure was a good ideas since she broke her arm a few months ago on a pair. Camie got Lego's and was so excited. Spencer got his Leapster that he has been wanted for probably a good year or more. Nathan got a parking garage for his Lightening McQueen. They all got clothes and books. Santa was kind and gave them all sugar cereal, which I refuse to buy for them. It is quite a treat. And in their stockings they got they coolest stuff: candy bars, fruit roll-ups, cool gum, chap stick, lotion, etc. They were all delighted. Evan and I got Taneal 4 months enrollment at a swim club (and we wrapped the certificate inside box after box after box) , we got Camie a fashion designer kit, Danielle a camera, Spencer a Woody (from Toy Story), and Nathan a backpack that he LOVES. It was a very fun Christmas, not too overboard, done just right.

That afternoon we met up with Bonnie and Jarom and went over to Troy and Becky's house for Christmas dinner. It was a nice, pleasant afternoon. Of course Bonnie neat me at table tennis. We brought over our new Wii game and they boys played a game where you hunt and shoot animals. Jarom really got into it.

We were all healthy this year and really enjoyed Christmas. It was fun to watch the children give each other gifts and get excited about what they had given each other. I got some kitchen stuff, but my favorite gift had to be Camie's: a booklet of coupons to hold Gavin while I did things that I wanted. I have already cashed in on a few and it is wonderful.

Christmas Eve Late Night

After Troy and Becky went home, it was pajama time. All the kids got to open one package with pajamas in it. Even Evan got one this time. He refuses to wear pajamas because he doesn't like long pants. So, I bought him long pajama pants and cut them off and them hemmed them. And you know what? He is actually wearing them.

Silly, silly kids. And so fun. The made this Christmas amazing!

And here is the beautiful kid decorated Christmas tree after Santa made his appearance but before the kids woke up. I loved the knots I had in my stomach as I took this pictures, the peaceful quite in my home knowing what was going to happen in a few short hours: The squeals of excitement, the smiles, the hugs of happiness, the jumping up and down that only kids do so well. All creating magic. I can still feel those emotions when I look at this picture.

Christmas Goodies

I like to do treat plates for friends and neighbors at Christmas time. It is quite an undertaking and I never make enough. There are so many friends that I want to share Christmas happiness with. This year was no exception. My girls have gotten old enough that they have become huge helpers.

One evening over the school break, I was fighting the kids to go to bed. They just weren't tired. So I decided to let them stay up late and we baked half of the goodies for the plates. We finished the next morning and spent the rest of the day delivering. We decided we had enough of the cooking and ate out at Cici's Pizza. I love the looks I get when I walk into places like that with my whole family. They look at us like we picked up all the neighbor kids and brought them with us. It is also funny to watch them start counting and realize that none of them are quite the same age and maybe they are all really mine. Okay, that was a total tangent. Back to the story of Christmas treats. We finished all our deliveries (only about 20) and I realized I had just not made enough. I still had more friends I wanted to share with.

I sounds like my goodie plates are so good that I need to share. They are good, but probably just to me. I pick my favorite recipes, like peanut butter cookies with a Snickers Bar in the middle, toffee, fudge, Ritz cracker with peanut butter dipped in white chocolate, etc and make them. My mouth is watering as I am writing this post. Anyways, you make the same treats year after year and they begin to become part of Christmas. Maybe nobody else likes them, but I liked sharing and it was fun to bake with my girls.

Growing up we always dipped chocolates. Maybe we didn't always do it, but we did it more then once. Bonnie (my sister) wanted to dip chocolates together and I thought it was a great idea. And I needed to make more treat plates and so did she. So, she came over and we dipped chocolates with my girls. I made caramel before hand to dip (remember the post about Taneal's tooth? I threw out that batch and remade it with a different thermometer and it turned out heavenly) and Bonnie brought cookie dough to dip. The chocolates turned out so good! I should not keep that tradition, I am sure I put on a few pounds from the chocolates alone.

Baking was a very fun part of Christmas and I am so blessed to have girls who are old enough to enjoy that baking and candy making with me. It was also so fun to have Bonnie join in on the fun.

Christmas Eve

Christmas this year was so much fun. We did so many different activities and the season was alive with giving and spending time together.

Christmas Eve was especially wonderful. I think I enjoyed this year more then I have ever enjoyed it before. We spent the evening at my home, which really helps because I am in my own element. I don't have to keep as close a watch on my kids, I know where everything is, and I will be the one cleaning up the messes I make.

We started out the evening with dinner. I made homemade potato soup and homemade chicken noodle soup. I bought the rolls. Yeah, I cheated. But the dinner was super yummy and I think everyone liked it.

Then we had a little talent show. Anyone that wanted could perform. Taneal, Camie, Bonnie, and I sang, "Away in a Manger", and then Bonnie and Jarom did the most hilarious dance. They turned out all the lights, turned on a Lady Gaga song, and put those glow-in-the-dark bracelets and necklaces all over them. It was so cool. Then Danielle, Camie, Audrey, Taneal, Austin, and Becky all played Christmas music on the piano. I usually don't like talent shows, but this one was really nice.

Then we acted out the Nativity. The kids dressed up while Evan read from Luke 2.

After that we ended with my favorite Christmas game, a Chinese Exchange. Everyone who wants to participate brings a fun, wrapped gift under $10. They put it in the pile and then we all draw numbers. #1 goes first. #2 can then either take #1's gift or unwrap a new item. It goes on until all the gifts are open. Then #1 goes last, they can either take a gift from someone or keep their own. An item can only be taken three times and then nobody else can take it. I ended up with Silly Bands. Silly 'cause I don't wear them. Evan got a book. Camie got a robot that you build using a coke can. Nathan got a hoppity hop. Bonnie got Swedish fish. Gavin didn't participate. It was so much fun and I think everyone had a great time.

Notice Nathan's busted lip? He wouldn't stop opening gifts for me to clean up the blood and get it to stop bleeding! What a tough kid.

If we were . . .

I caught my older girls speculating the other day. You must remember they are completely innocent and were simply thinking. I overheard what they were saying and they would probably be mortified if they saw I posted this. But I couldn't help but share.

Camie said, "If we were Adam and Eve's children, which brother would you want to marry?"

Taneal thought about it for a minute and then said, "Definitely Gavin."

Who ever thinks about marrying their brother? I guess they really do love their little baby. Too cute.

Homemade Caramels

Today I made homemade caramel for the first time. It is so yummy, but I think it got too hot so it is pretty hard to chew. Still very good. Taneal was chewing and . . .

I hope she didn't need that tooth anymore. It was a molar that she didn't even know was loose.

Oops. Maybe we shouldn't be eating the caramel.

Gingerbread houses

It worked this year! My gingerbread houses didn't collapse like last year.

We invited the local family over to decorate with us. It was so much fun. I made bags and bags of icing so almost everyone had their own bag to glue the decorations on with. I even added a little peppermint to the icing to give it a nice flavor.

I thought the houses turned out so good. My family actually decorated two, we let the girls have their own. They thought this was pretty cool.

Evan and Nathan wouldn't pose for a picture with their house. Spencer was happy to do it. That cute boy is after my heart. And Nathan pretty much worships Evan. It is fun to have two boys so close in age, raised by the same parents, yet so completely different! They had a good time decorating and I had fun watching everyone while holding Gavin.