Saturday Afternoon

Saturday, Todd took the boys to see Despicable Me. We had all gone together a week or two ago (it's fantastic!), but he really wanted to see it in 3-D and I since I can't do 3-D with my funky vision I was going to be home alone while he whisked the kiddies off to see it. At the last minute, pretty much when he was telling them he wasn't buying any movie candy (gasp!), Megan decided she would like to stay home with me ;) Kristen was at work and I was planning on getting some co-op work done or maybe working a bit on our curriculum choices for school, but I was glad to change my plans for a little time with just Megan :) We had a fun few hours!

While I made lunch, she made Mii's. I think that's her favorite part about the Wii!

We had salad for lunch:

We played Guess Who:

I thought it was very funny that three of our kids have their names on a Guess Who character!

And no we didn't name our kids after a board game :p

We snuggled on the couch and watched Backyardigans ;)

It was very nice to have her all to myself for a bit :) Everyone came home around this time and we spent most of the rest of the scorching hot day inside hanging out together. I praying for some more enjoyable temperatures!

Strawberry-picking!

We lucked out this week with a nice day for strawberry picking! Last year, we missed the prime window for this activity and by the time we made it out there, they were mostly gone; we couldn't even find enough to fill their smallest container, so we were very happy that we found some this year. As soon as a nice (and not totally scheduled!) day presented itself, we picked up Meemaw Diana and headed to the strawberry farm!

Such hams!

Sweet strawberry-pickers.

 Nicholas was a picking machine! He was constantly running over to the basket with a handful!

Such a silly group! We had a really good time and have had some very yummy strawberries this week as well as added some to our freezer :)

Snowy Fun!

First thing this morning, I told the kids that if they could get their work done quickly we could go sledding after lunch. They did! They couldn't wait to get out there and it was the PERFECT day for it! The temps are mild and I don't think the sun has been so bright since last fall ;)

When I promise sledding, I do not disappoint :) Check out this hill:
Do not make fun of my snowpants! At least I came home with dry clothes ;)
The hill was very steep and the snow was packed so Todd and I took Nicholas and Megan on our sleds the first few times. That didn't sit well with Nicholas! Such a daredevil :) So we let him go it alone:


He headed straight for the shelter (of course ;))
Todd was ready to push him away if needed ;)
He went down the rest of the afternoon on his own. It was only nerve-wracking because of the tree and shelter but he did well!

Megan decided to play for a while in a little cave carved out before us:
She had her own "sledding hill"
She had a great time going down with her big brother though :)
We called my mom so she could come watch these adorable little sledders and, of course, she did!
We all had a great time. It was so nice to be out and enjoy the sun for a while. Seems like it's been forever!

One More Picture from Christmas Eve!

I forgot this one! I used my timer to get us all and I love how it turned out! See the black and white picture in the background? They're my grandparents. My mom painted that and it's the perfect, although completely accidental, addition to this picture :)

Christmas Eve

We decided to change things up a bit this year and I love the way things went!

We always spend Christmas Eve at my mom's for dinner and presents. This year, we bumped dinner up just a bit so between dinner and presents, we could go to church for our candlelight service! We had never been for various reasons, the biggest being that we had very young kids and dragging out the evening wasn't appealing ;) But now, they are all old enough and it was perfect! The service was a wonderful addition to our Christmas Eve and made the evening a bit more meaningful. At the end of singing many carols and hearing all the verses of Jesus' birth, we each had candles that we lit and sang Silent Night with all the lights out in the sanctuary, only the lights of the candles. It was very still and very special.

After the service, we went back to my mom's for gifts :) We took it a bit more slowly this year with Mom handing each of the younger ones their gifts one at a time (Kristen doesn't get toys anymore, she gets a gift card to spend anyway she chooses ;)) It was really nice for her to get to share in their joy a bit more!
I love when they open something and say, "LOOK at what I got!". Priceless :)
Kristen got a couple of small gifts that she loves along with some cash which she is looking forward to spending ;)
The boys got a frog aquarium (terrarium?)! I forsee a unit study on frogs and metamorphosis this spring ;)
Megan's new doll that she named "Megan". I thought that was appropriate ;)
The boys got so many things this Christmas to build or transform...does that surprise you??
It was a fantastic Christmas Eve! Dinner was wonderful and we added a new tradition which we all loved. :)

Finishing up Thanksgiving

It was a very busy weekend for us! We feel so blessed to have so much family to share the holidays with!

Friday evening we headed over to my mom's and had another traditional Thanksgiving feast. Everything was delicious! Afterward, we played some cards with the kids :) This was the only picture I took the whole day! Slacker!
Thanks for dinner Mom! We had a great time!

Saturday, we headed to Russ and Judy's (Todd's parents) for another dinner! Let me just say that although we had several Thanksgiving dinners, we did NOT tire of all that yummy food and really enjoyed all the great company!

There were other family members there as well; Todd's brother Scott and his wife Barb and our nephew Chris along with Uncle Wayne and Aunt Carol. We stuffed ourselves silly then settled in the dining room for some catching up and cards with the kids. I was so busy talking that I forgot to take any pictures at all. UGH! Thank goodness we'll all be together in a few weeks for Christmas!

Judy, dinner was delicious! We enjoyed ourselves very much! See you soon!

Strawberry Pickin'

So several of my friends have been telling me about how GREAT the strawberries at the pick-your-own places are this year. This is actually something I've been wanting to do for a while now, but our June is usually so busy that I always forget. Not this year! My mom and I had planned on going out a couple of weeks ago with the kids to get our share of those wonderful strawberries, but the constant threat of thunderstorms and the chilly weather had me postponing.

I wish I hadn't.

We decided to go after VBS last Monday. We drove out to the farm and guess what? It was THE LAST DAY for picking. You know what that means. Yep. There weren't very many left. And the ones that were left had something wrong with them ;) Yep, I waited too long. Now that I know when to go, I'll be more on the ball next year though! I want my yummy, red berries!

Since we were there, we went on out to see what we could find.

Not even half a bag.

Oh well, the little store had some really yummy tomatoes that made the trip worthwhile ;) And of course I took some cute pictures of my babies digging around in all those plants looking for little red treasures ;)

After I had to leave the field to hunt down a port-a-potty (Megan) , listen to whining (Nicholas), and deal with the blazing sun after a morning of VBS, I called it quits. We happily took our little berries, and some other goodies from the little store, home!

Lessons learned:
1. Go late May/early June
2. Go in the morning
3. Take drinks and snacks ;)

Now that I know what I'm doing, I'm really looking forward to berry picking next year! lol