Sis is 5!!

I know it's cliche to say it but WHOA, where has the time gone?! My sweet, busy girl is five....already!

Her birthday fell during Cam's vacation time so we took the opportunity to celebrate all day long. It turned out to be a beautiful day....without rain. Sis wanted to go to the beach. A girl after my own heart.  We took the kids' scooters and a couple pogo sticks so they could get some exercise too. Santa had brought Sis a new scooter and she was eager to try it out.

Of course the kids ditched their coats....it wasn't really that warm....to me at least. Maybe if I ran at full speed that way Sis does I wouldn't need a coat either. :) The kids played on the playground after scootering around and then played on the beach. 

Sis is REALLY hard capture in a photo....she's just moving too fast. She ran all over the beach, climbed on logs, and then threw rocks in the water.

After the beach we went home for lunch and then on to the Children's Museum. I didn't even attempt picture taking....to much going on. The rooftop playground is the favorite so we got to enjoy even more outdoor time. After the museum we went to dinner. Sis picked our favorite burger place. Yum!

Then...back home for cake. I made her a Strawberry Barbie cake. So much fun! It turned out really cute and she loved it! 

Happy birthday to my spirited, energetic, musical, busy, bright, beautiful, spunky girl! You bring zip and sparkle to our lives! I love you my precious baby girl!

Christmas

Whew! Christmas is here and gone. I love Christmas but, WOW, it's a whirlwind. I try to remain calm, focus on the birth of Christ...and remain calm. Lots going on during the holidays. We had three separate Christmas celebrations, plus Sis's birthday, New Year's Eve and house guest for five days. I. Am. Wiped. Out.

So I've neglected blogging and now have loads of photos and memories to share. But, it will be SO much easier because my beloved bought me a new laptop for Christmas. TOTAL surprise!!! In 19 years he has never surprised me like this. He usual gives himself away. Not this time. Stunned!! I'm updating my blog now with ease. The Internet connection hasn't dropped and I'm hoping the photo upload will be quick!

When things got crazy and I was feeling overwhelmed by Christmas (shopping, cooking, entertaining, parties/concerts to attend, decorating, and so much cleaning) I would gaze upon one of the many nativity scenes in our house. This was my favorite this year. Sis made this at school. Look how precious baby Jesus looks!

Other than gazing at my nativity sets I also like to sit in the living room in front of a nice fire. The lights on our tree were so beautiful. I love to read the kids Christmas books at night before bed. After the kids go to bed Cam and I like to sit in the quiet. It's rarely quiet in our house. An hour or so of quiet before bed restores me....especially during a crazy busy time.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. I hope you all have ways to calm the craziness of Christmas. What do you do to stay centered and calm in the midst of chaos of holidays? Do tell.

Bad Germs

After a wonderful birthday we came home and plopped into bed.

About an hour after George had gone to sleep I heard the dreaded sound....of vomit. UGH!! I ran downstairs to see him sitting up in bed and getting sick into the carpet. UGH!! Cam came down, we cleaned him up, tried to clean the carpet up and went to bed.

Just after midnight when it was no longer my birthday I woke to the sounds of Cam in the bathroom....gagging. UGH! As I sat up to check on him I was hit by a giant wave of nausea.

Seriously? How, how, how, could we possibly get this at THE same time? How??? We spent the night ill, ill, ill. In the morning we kept all the kids home from school and Cam called in sick to work...again. By daylight we were just left with very achy bodies, headaches and no energy.

We told Mr. P he was in charge and to give everyone cereal for breakfast...and then lunch...and then a snack. We took showers and climbed back into bed joined by George for a long nap.

Just before dinnertime I discovered my friend had left a big crockpot of soup on the porch for us. I was so happy I cried! Seriously. We all ate delicious soup for dinner and turned in early.

The next day was Friday and I sent Busy Guy to school. He was dying to go back. The others I kept home....waiting for the next bomb to drop. And...Cam went to work.

All day Mr. P felt queasy and just before bed he got it. But, it seemed to lessen in strength. He was sick once and went to bed. He woke up hungry and happy. Praise God!

I held my breath waiting for the last two kids....but nothing! Yeah!! We have decided that Sis is an alien....or a cylon. She NEVER gets sick. And Tuba...well by the grace of God he was spared.

I bet you are tired of hearing about this. Me too. I've finally gotten all the sheets, blankets, pillows, towels, sleeping bags, clothes, bowls, carpet and toys clean. Be gone germ...and don't come again...ya hear!

Birthday Day

After a whole day at home recovering my boys were well. Eating and drinking a playing. And...nobody else seemed sick. It had been more than 24 hours since any barfing too. So, the day of my actual birthday I gave thanks to God! What a great birthday gift.

I took kids to school and then treated myself to a mani/pedi. Ohhhh....90 minutes in a warm massage chair reading fun magazines and drinking a latte. Pure bliss! I left with beautiful red nails and feeling very relaxed.

After picking up the preschool bunch I headed to the kids' grade school. They have a Holiday Store each year and I was volunteering as a gift wrapper. This event is SO much fun. The kids get to shop for gifts for each member of the family. The gym is laid out in gently used items collected by the amazing Holiday Store PTA team.

It's magical to see the kids' faces light up as you wrap the items they chose for loved ones. Some of the gifts are awesome, some are hilarious but they are all fun.

After school we got ready for a fun dinner. Yummy clam chowder and a chocolate cake. Cam got home a bit early too. We ate and headed off to the preschool concert.

It was so cute to watch Sis and George sing the holiday songs. After the concert there are cookies and punch. We were enjoying some fellowship and goodies when George started complaining of a tummy ache. I didn't think much of it. Bedtime had passed and he was tired.

Oh...no. Did I just ignore a warning...again?

Birthday Madness

I celebrated my birthday....42...this month. I love my birthday! I look forward to it all year long. It's hard having a birthday in December. A very busy month! We have something planned on the calendar about every single day of the month. This year the pre-school concert fell on the night of my birthday.

We decided to go out and celebrate my big day on the previous weekend. A great way to stretch the festivities. Sunday we attended church. We chose to attend our sister parish because we had heard some rumors about our own parish. Bad rumors! A stomach flu was afflicting a few who attend our parish. To us that is the worst kind of news!!

A few years back our family was swept with the Noro virus...and we hadn't even been on a cruise ship. Horrible does not even begin to explain it. Read up. Very Bad! That bout has scared us. Any time one of us feels nauseated we all fear the worst...a flu sweeping us one by one.

So, we avoid vomit germs like the plague they are. We had a nice visit at our sister parish and felt safe from getting sick.

We went home and had a lovely afternoon sitting by a toatsy fire. We went to our favorite place for dinner. We had such a great time. It's been a very long time since we have been out for dinner. We had a coupon so we could afford a special treat out.

There was lots of celebrating, present opening and of course lots and lots of snuggling and kissing.

After dinner and dessert....the dessert was bought by the restaurant. Nice! After we left we decided to drive around and look at Christmas lights. About two minutes into looking at lights Baby George started complaining about his tummy hurting. Now...after being a mom for 16 years with 5 kids you would think I would take heed to a child saying they had a tummy ache. You'd think. But, I was giddy with birthday joy and blinded by the lights...and Christmas joy.

You can probably see where this is going. Yep. Vomiting. LOTS of vomiting....in the car....on his brothers....lots!

We drove home....quickly. Cam took George inside and began to shower him and get him in bed while I cleaned up the car.....while snarkily thinking happy birthday to me!

We got done with clean-up...with bowl in bed with child. And...we went to bed. We knew we were in for a long night. Exactly two minutes after being in bed Mr. P came running and yelling....with the announcement that Busy Guy was now throwing up. Uh-huh!

So out of bed and into the shower with child number two. He of course sleeps on the top bunk and had vomited in his sleep...and then climbed down the ladder while dripping vomit. Yummers! More cleaning for us.

We again went back to bed. This time we put one baby boy on our window seat and one in a sleeping bag....with bowls. Those poor boys have never been so sick. They threw up every 15-30 minutes ALL night long. Dry heaving and retching and diarrhea.

After two hours tending to the kids we decided to take shifts. Cam went downstairs to sleep while I took the first shift. Halfway through the night we traded. Man! That was a long tiring night. Poor sick boys. They spent the next day laying in bed....very ill...and not moving. No more vomiting but still very sick.

Cam called in sick...due to serious lack of sleep. We spent the day tending sick babes, washing unimaginable loads of barfy laundry and praying this germ did not spread!

 

This tale does not end here....oh, no. That would be too simple. More to come...

Dolls and Desserts

 

 

Dolls and Desserts. Two very fun things together in one day! I hosted a party to collect dolls for girls in Ethiopia. Sis was my amazing helper! She helped clean and organize the house. Seriously, she went room to room telling me what needed to be done. Great helper!

We invited lots and lots of people and ended up with a house full of women and daughters bearing dolls. Yummy desserts and friends.

We sent 52 dolls off to Indiana. Two lovely women are taking the dolls as well as soccer balls, back packs and many other gifts to hand deliver to kids in Ethiopia. I can't wait to see the pictures of the smiling kids on Christmas.

And...we can't wait to do the Dolls and Desserts party next year!

Kitchen Helpers

I love to cook. And...I love to teach. But, somehow when you put the two together....I lose the love part. For me cooking is really fun and it's a great stress reducer. I get in  my Zen space. If I have the kids helping me all of that changes. That doesn't sound very nice does it? I know I need to include them more and I do want them to learn how to cook. After all, the reason I can cook is because my mom showed me how from a very early age. By third grade I could cook a whole dinner by myself.

I have lots of willing kitchen helpers so on Thanksgiving I thought it was the perfect time to get some help.

For starters Baby George shopped for our turkey with me. I let him pick it out. He did a great job! Then as we were wheeling through the grocery store to get the rest of our yummy dinner things he began asking me questions about the turkey.

 

"Who killed it. Where's it 's head?". This was followed by, "I want its head! I want to eat its head and his eyes. Why don't they give you the head?". I laughed...and gagged and thought about becoming a vegetarian.

When it came time to cook our turkey friend BG was VERY interested in helping me. He wanted to see its legs, and butt...and where the head used to be. He was completely thrilled that there was a hole and that you could see the ribs! All the kids came running to look up Mr. Turkey's hiney. Best of all was the discovery of the heart, liver and neck. Mr. P declared the heart was his. Ummmm....I've never cooked the heart before but I cooked it up for my boy.

BG had a great time rubbing the turkey with olive oil. He was a great helper!

 

Of course Busy Guy wanted to help too. I really like having one helper at a time. Less frazzled Mama means more times I'll invite you back. ;) Busy Guy chopped veggies for the turkey pan. He is a great helper too!

 

Sis didn't want to help with the food but she was a great help with the napkins.

Tuba loves to stir. And...at school he cooks eggs every morning. I need to let him help me with this at home. Mr. P? He likes to help eat the food. In the photo check out the turkey heart. Yep, he ate it and loved it.

 

When I'm in the kitchen and start feeling cramped by the five bodies running through/under/around me I'm going to start asking them to help me. I've got a few who fight over who gets to set the table and others who like to chop and prep. I'm committed to inviting the kids in and teaching them to cook.