We Love Snow!

I think my kids would live in the snow if they could. Maybe they wish their parents had been Eskimos. They will take two bites of breakfast and claim they are stuffed just to get out the door quicker. They will wear socks on their hands if they can't find a glove fast enough. Gloria even squeezed herself into Latte's old purple jacket because she has lost her blue one somewhere and was told she couldn't go out without a coat.

Wet Shoes

Signs that there is finally snow in Colorado. Jackets hung on chairs all over the house (because we turned the coat closet into a pantry), constantly searching for one lost glove, and wet shoes lined up by the door. And if the shoes are not left by the door, a sign of that would be Mom screeching as she steps into an undetected pile of slush which immediately soaks through her socks. Followed quickly by a hunt for the culprit who tracked snow into the house.

Christmas Concert

The concert went smoothly both nights. We had almost no technical errors, just a couple of microphone mishaps that didn't interrupt the performance. The worst thing that happened wasn't really that bad. It started snowing Friday night and was just deep enough by Saturday night that I had to help carry the kids from the van to the church so that they wouldn't get their dress shoes full of snow.

We have some wonderful soloists in our church. They sang beautifully, even the guys. I was impressed with how many people went out in heavy snowfall with messy wet roads to see the performance. Several people raised their hands each night during the invitation, which means there are going to be some new saints joining us in eternity! Nights like that always remind me of that story about the man walking down the beach that is covered in hundreds of starfish that have washed up on shore. He's tossing them back into the ocean one by one when another man asks, "What difference will that make? All the rest of them will still die." And the first man picks up another starfish, tosses it back, and says, "It matters to that one."

Curls

For the Christmas concert this weekend I curled the girls' hair both Friday and Saturday night. Danya was my first guinea pig since I've never used a curling iron on the girls before. It took so long to do that many curls that for Gloria I just did the sides and bangs. They both looked beautiful. It was time consuming, but fun!

Self Discovery

Kevin has been making a lot of new discoveries recently. When we play the "where are they" game we say "Where's Danya? Where's Gloria?" etc. and Kevin points to each person wherever they are at in the room. Lately when we say, "Where's Kevin?" he actually points at himself!

He's also figured out that he is tall enough to reach doorknobs and if he twists and fiddles with them long enough he may even get them open. Additionally, he can steal drinks off the table and anything near the edge of the counters. His favorite new word, of course, is "MINE!"

AWANA Oops!

Yesterday while the kids and I were having dinner, just before it was time to leave for AWANA, Daniel woke up and came out to join us. That was when he asked if I had forgotten that it was Crazy Hair Night at AWANA. Yup, I had completely forgotten.

So we rushed frantically to make Gloria and Danya's hair into crazy mohawk ponytails and spiky bangs. Then I did mine up in a top knot with Kevin's toothbrush stuck through it. The teams get bonus points if their leaders dress up crazy, too. Daniel just swirled his hair all around. Then we rushed off to church.

Just as we were unloading everyone from the van, frantic because we were already late, an acquaintance of ours (another foster mom) hollered hello from her vehicle. I made a joke about my hair and she let me know that Crazy Hair Night is actually NEXT week. Eeeek!! So we had to hurriedly undo everyone's hair and finger come it into some semblance of normalcy. I gave the girls regular piggy tails as fast as I could, but we were still very very late. I had to explain why we were late to the director and the other leaders in our group. One of them said she almost made the same mistake. I'm just soooo thankful that someone we don't know all that well took the time to warn us.

Deck the Halls! ...and the cabinets..

Just before discovering the cost of fixing our van the kids and I were at Target waiting for Kevin's antibiotic prescription to be filled. So while we were there we bought a cheap set of ornaments (since we still can't find our Christmas box) to go with the other little things we had gotten a couple of days before. Tuesday we decided to make merry and decorate the whole house to improve our Christmas spirit!

The girls wrapped Latte up in garland. She thought it was strange at first but loved it when we pretended she was a pretty Christmas tree. Then Gloria destroyed some of the garland downstairs and Latte threw it all over Glory's room. We also made a paper Christmas tree for homeschool. We decorated it with craft supplies. Each time one of the girls reads a book (or has a book read to her in Latte's case) they get to decorate a paper ornament and add it to the tree. Unfortunately a lot of my little plans for holiday crafts won't happen because we've run out of ink for the copier/printers and can't afford more right now.

A holiday tradition from my childhood is to wrap everything possible in the house with wrapping paper. When I was younger my mom even wrapped the telephone! We wrapped kitchen cabinets this week and pictures hanging on the walls. We also got the t.v. cabinet doors and are debating a few other things to wrap. The kids got to pick out the paper. My only requested was that it be a random pattern, nothing with lines or a straight pattern that I'd have to line up exactly.

Days Like This

Some times you have a day where you didn't get nearly enough sleep the night before and you're tired and cranky all day long, other times you have a day where you feel immensely upset about something beyond your control, and occasionally you have a day where you feel like the world's worst mom. Then there are days like this one where you have all three rolled into one.

This past week was already rough and emotionally draining because Daniel's grandma passed away. It happened just as we were heading home from visiting family for Thanksgiving in Oklahoma, so we were financially strapped. We've both been stressed and not sure if he should have used the very last bit of our emergency fund to get a last minute ticket to the funeral. Instead we had a tiny family memorial here at home with our older two girls. We pulled out all our family photos, older and more recent, of Great Grandma Arlene and talked about her life and Daniel's childhood memories of her. The girls loved learning about her and what it was like to go to her house when Daddy was little.

On top of that, this whole week Kevin has been fussy all day and won't sleep at night, so I've been going on about 3 hours of sleep each night. This morning we took him to see the doctor, and sure enough he still has an ear infection. I took him to get round two of antibiotics and they had a problem at the pharmacy so it took over an hour to get his prescription filled.

I also noticed this morning that the breaks were grinding and not working properly so I took the van to be checked at Just Brakes. It had several problems that totalled over $1,000 worth of repairs. To come up with the money we had to not only drain our emergency fund dry but also use our tithe money and our Christmas money and our food money. All we've got left is enough gas money for Daniel to get to work and back (hopefully) for the next two weeks.

I feel horrible (not just because I yelled at the kids due to stress and lack of sleep) because Christmas is going to really stink this year. I was hoping to make it really special since this may be the first real family Christmas Latte has ever had. So I'm going to try to think of ideas for crafts and fun stuff we can do with what we've got. And I'll have to find a way to be more creative with cooking at home because there will be zero eating out the rest of this month.

And just to top off my day, I had to wait in the lobby of Just Brakes for four hours with 4 cranky kids, one of whom was screaming due to his ear infection, and then I was late to Christmas Concert practice because I had to drive Daniel to work. Then I had to leave practice early at 8:30pm to get the kids home and in bed because we have to get up early and pick Daniel up from work tomorrow morning. I'm going to bed now just to make this day END.

Old Game, New Fun

We finally finished our first Story of the World book. We learned about the last Roman emperor who was only 6 years old. We went through the work book choosing our last few activities and maps to work on. We've got one final "test/review" map to do which is completely blank. They'll label all the continents we've discussed and the various countries around the mediterranean sea.

As a last fun activity about the Romans, I took the girls outside and showed them how to play an ancient Roman game. It was one of the activities in the workbook. I had Gloria lay on the ground with her arms and legs splayed as far as she could reach. Then we drew a circle around her and a second circle around that one. You can see I didn't get it perfect, but it worked for the purpose of the game. They had to bounce the ball into the center circle and try not to let the other person catch it. There are some other rules, but that's the basic idea. They both loved it and each of them won one game. Finally we can move on to Volume 2: The Middle Ages!

Cubby Award Night

Wednesday night Latte received her Cubby Bear Book for completing the introductory booklet. She learned a few short verses and the Cubby Motto. Now she can work on catching up to the rest of her class who have been learning one verse a week together for the past 10 weeks.

She was so thrilled to have her name called and go up to the front to get her book. She kept jumping up and heading toward the front after each kid was called. She was just too excited to wait. She's doing really well in her class. We are very proud of her!

Gloria's New Friend

Gloria informed us tonight that Hannah is her favorite friend in her AWANA Sparks group. She's a 1st grader who is a year older than Gloria. They both have the same silly goofy personality. Hannah has trouble seeing, so Gloria stays close to her during game time to help her out. Then Hannah waits for Gloria before going back upstairs after the bathroom and drink break.

The only time they have a little trouble is during Green Meadow time at the end of the night because they tend to whisper and talk when they should be quiet and listen to the lesson. I met Hannah's mom tonight and we agreed to arrange a play date soon for the girls. Hannah was ecstatic and so was Gloria later tonight when I told her about it. So far we haven't managed to find a friend who is available very often for Gloria to visit outside of church, so I hope this works out for her.

Snow, Glorious Snow!

It snowed unexpectedly last night and the kids had a great time playing in it this morning. It was light and powdery, so they couldn't make much of anything out of it. Kevin made handprints on the driveway.

We searched the house and managed to come up with only one pair of gloves and two single unmatched gloves. Danya ended up wearing socks on her hands for warmth. It was too cold out to stay outside long, though. The kids came in with frozen fingers, grinning ear to ear with blue lips. Latte said her hands were "cold and sweaty" so Daniel shouldn't blow on them to warm them up.

These Boots were Made for Walkin'!

Latte found my boots yesterday and had a great time walking around in them. She was so cute stomping through my bedroom and posing for pictures.

After she took them off Gloria had to try them on, too. That seems to be a recurring theme in this house. If one kid is doing something fun with Daniel or me all the others have to do it, too. For instance if I am tickling one of them each of the others will present themselves to be tickled. Or if I bounce one on my lap or toss them in the air all the other kids run over for a turn. Since the older 3 weigh between 43 and 48 lbs each my back and shoulders have been aching lately.

Friends, Food, Family Photos

After church on Sunday we all went out to Perkin's Restaurant where we had reserved the party room. We told them that we had a group of 30 people and would need the whole room. When we got there they had only set up seating for about 20 people and had another couple seated in there for no apparent reason considering that the restaurant was almost deserted.

The waitress was good though, and the couple left after a few minutes (I'm sure the 17 children surrounding them had something to do with it). So we had a good time, delicious food, and got a chance to catch up with everyone. When we were finished eating we took turns posing for family photos which Uncle Matt took on his amazing camera. Hopefully he'll email them out to everyone to possibly use for Christmas cards.

Our Own Children's Church

When we all arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's church on Sunday morning we filled up the left side of the church. It was like we'd brought our own mobile children's church. Glenda said when she saw us over there she decided to keep her kids on the opposite side of the room to avoid adding to the chaos already in progress.

There were 12 kids in our group, so adding Glenda's 5 would have increased the number by almost half! Thankfully, the kids were only expected to participate during praise and worship. During the actual sermon the kids went off to Sunday school classes. While we were singing there was one song where everyone sings, "La la la la" for the chorus over and over. When we finished that song Kevin started making the "again" sign and saying, "La la la la" Then he went up and down the aisle dancing, bobbing his head, and stomping on the floor vents.

Sitting next to Christina, Daniel and I felt like we were back in youth group again. The assistant pastor who was giving the sermon was our former youth group leader and he made a comment about seeing us all back again, too. It was too bad that Ben and Steven couldn't have been there. Steven is in Washington getting ready to be deployed. Ben and his family left for home Saturday morning so that he could get back in time to help out at his church in Del Rio, TX. But Glenda and Robin, who were also in the youth group were both there, so there were quite a few of us.

Extended - Extended Family

Saturday night we went over to the Haley's house up on "Haley Hill" to visit more with Christina and her kids, and also to see her in-laws, the Haley's. Daniel practically grew up with their family. Whenever he wasn't at his own home he was here with his best friend Steven's family.

We played with Steven's little sister's kids and got to meet her newest little one, four month old Abby. Her older daughter, Kyla, even let me play "This Little Piggy" with her. We brought pizza with us and all the kids ate and then ran around together playing with the endless supply of toys they have there. When we left Danya asked if Don, Uncle Steven's dad, is her grandpa, too. We hadn't told her that he was, but now we explained that he is kind of her grandpa because Don and Bobbie are like "second parents" to her Daddy. She said, "We sure do have a LOT of grandparents!" I told her that she is very blessed.

Thankful

Since Pilgrims came here for religious freedom and started the Thanksgiving tradition by thanking God I think I'll list a few things I'm thankful for, too.

I'm thankful:
1. For the freedom to not only worship and believe as I choose, but also the freedom to express my beliefs and opinions to others without fear
2. That my children are growing daily in the nurture and admonition of the Lord
3. For the freedom and ability to provide for our family financially
4. For the freedom to teach our children at home in the way we believe is right
5. That Jesus is the Lord of our lives and is directing our paths

Pilgrims and Indians

Aunt Christina's mom made these adorable little costumes for our kids, Glenda's kids, and Christina's kids. We had quite a time trying to get photos of them and never did manage to get one of all of them together. The kids thought they were fun and ran around being silly in them. We took photos in the lobby of the big hotel that Christina and her kids were staying in.

While we were down there two grandmotherly looking ladies stopped and asked if they could take pictures of our kids. We laughed and told them sure, but that there was no way we'd be able to get them to stay still. I eventually sat my crew on the blue couches near the big front windows and took photos of them. These may be the all time cutest Thanksgiving photos we ever get of our kids! Thanks Christina!

Sad, but True

Sadly, Gloria disregarded the repeated warnings of her mother and grandmothers and disaster finally struck. Yes, she made an ugly face one too many times when her mom was taking her picture and her face did indeed get "stuck that way". We'll love her just the same, but let this be a warning to other kids out there when their poor moms just want to take a nice photo of them.

Family Trivia Game

This year for Christmas, since we were very low on funds and using everything we had for this trip to Oklahoma, we needed a good group gift idea for very little cost.

So we used a blank board game board that we ordered online at Bare Books to create a family trivia game. I searched through all my old picture files on my computer to find individual photos of all of our family members (on Daniel's side of the family), and then we printed them at Sam's in wallet sizes. At Sam's you get two wallets for 17 cents.

Then I called Daniel's family to ask them a bunch of questions. I typed them up in question and answer form and printed them on the cards that came with the game board kit. Then we decorated the board with a different family's photos down each side. The game was a hit! The objective was to go around the board answering trivia questions until you collected one face card (another wallet size photo) of someone from each family. After we played, the Maxwells spent the evening thinking up new questions to make more cards. This is a great game because it will grow as our family grows.