Merry Christmas 2009

All dolled up. Ellie could not WAIT to wear this dress for Christmas and she looked beautiful !
Ellie poses with Grandma Rose and Poppy before going to church on Christmas Eve.
Ever competitive, Felicia finds the hidden pickle ornament and wins a $5.00 Target gift card !
Even Hollister is feeling festive !
Family photo
sweet sisters
Up early and they all raced in the living room when we were ready with our cameras !
Santa brought Ellie this great Barbie Castle. She loves it so much !
a pink Razor scooter !
Felicia opening her ITouch. She uncannily chose that gift to open first. She also received a brand new bike ! She will be so happy not to ride Bethany's hand-me-down bike anymore!
Bethany sitting at her new desk holding her ITouch !
Sam with his new bass guitar. He now officially rocks !!!
The kids help Hollister open his stocking ! He got lots of yummy treats and new tennis balls to chase after.

Feeling cozy and warm in his new robe (and ready to play football !)

snow Day #2

Ellie woke up gleefully shouting "The snow's still here !"
Sam and Ellie were the first ones outside in the neighborhood today.
Ellie finally sleds on her own and loves it !!!

All together now ! After a while, they decided to all go down holding onto one another. Fun, fun fun !

Making Ice Cream

First step--get some snow !!!
The ingredients are placed in a ziploc inside a larger ziploc that is filled with snow. 5-8 minutes of shaking and massaging are done to make the ice cream.

Tasting the results -- pretty good !

December Snowstorm

Ellie's first steps out on the deck -- she was sinking down into the snow --between 8 to 12 inches so far !!
Our house and pristine snowy yard before about 15 kids ran and sledded in it !
Hollister looks at the kids outside enviously. He loved the snow !
car in the ditch across the street
Felicia with her friend Brooke
Bethany whizzing by me !

even I took a few turns down the hill ! (with Felicia on top !)

Dreaming of a White Christmas?

Be careful what you wish for !

12:30 pm and already about 8 inches of snow --yikes !

This storm is bigger than they even predicted. The kids will be in heaven. I'm fine if we don't lose power---please,please,please !!!! I'm trying to run everything now just in case--the dishwasher, washing machine and dryer, computer stuff etc....

School Holiday Parties

We've survived two more elementary school parties ! At our school, the classes typically rotate classrooms, with each classroom being a different activity -- games,presents,eating etc. Ellie's party was on thursday afternoon and Felicia's on Friday, so I was able to be at both. They had a great time, as you can see.I love the book exchange that they do. The photo above is of Ellie's class on the carpet before the party began. Ellie is on the left side, light pink shirt, little braids on the side of her hair.
Yummy treats to eat !
Ellie was chosen in her group to be the "snowman". The others wrapped her up in toilet paper and hats/gloves etc...
Ellie's snowman group - the girl in the red dress is one of Ellie's best friends, Abbie
Making a craft
Felicia with her good friend, Natalie. They both received the same book as their gift. Felicia loves this author.
Playing Christmas Bingo
Amazingly, Felicia also got picked in her group to be the one wrapped up like a snowman. Well, in Felicia's case, she fought for that and won, even over the football player boy who wanted to be it.

Felica's group, so proud of their handiwork !

Waiting for Snow !!!

According to the weather reports, we may experience a big snowstorm starting tonight into tomorrow ! We've lived in the Richmond, VA area for 19 years and though we've seen a little snow before christmas in the past, we've never had a significant snowfall like they are predicting for us ! Everyone is excited and I even don't really mind because the kids and I are all out of school and don't have to be anywhere in particular. I also don't mind as much because we've had way too much rain in the past few months and the snow would be a welcome change. Anyone that knows me realizes what a huge statement this is, given that I hate the cold and am not a big fan of the snow.
My biggest concern is that our power stays on ! Where we live, our power tends to go out very easily in storms, rain, snow or wind. Keeping our fingers crossed for a white weekend !

All Aboard The Polar Express!

Ellie had a special day at school where the kindergartners come to school dressed in their pajamas and they have Polar Express Day. She enjoyed hot cocoa, which she doesn't like when she's at home, but she told me "I like THAT cocoa" I said "Ellie, I donated the cocoa!" Things always taste better somewhere else to kids, don't they?
The kids each have their ticket punched and come home with a bell of their own.
I believe !

Dear Santa

Last week Felicia and Ellie wrote and sent their letters to Santa at The North Pole. 5 days later, they each received a letter back, from Santa !!
Our house is filled with excitement as we use a few different advent calendars in the house to count down to this special Holiday !

Felicia's 5th Grade Program

The other night we went to see Felicia perform in her 5th grade program at school.
The theme was Christmas Around the World

Christmas Tree

We got our tree on Sunday and were able to decorate it that evening. I didn't take too many photos because those ornaments were just flying out of the box, some needed hooks,some needed help finding a heavy branch etc. it was a flurry of activity. We used colored lights this year and we have our German pickle ornament, which will get hidden later in the season and the first person to find it, gets a special treat.

We are now at the point that the kids ornaments take up the whole tree and we have to leave a lot in the box. Maybe it is time to put up two trees ??
Oh, how I love to smell that pine tree smell in the house !

Hollister's Birthday

Last night we celebrated Hollister's birthday. Felicia and Bethany baked a cake (for us to eat) and after we sang to Hollister, he received a new bone and a Christmas stocking ! We don't actually know the exact date he was born, but we know he was born in December two years ago.

St Nicholas

Every year on the night of December 5th, the kids leave their shoes out for St. Nicholas to fill with candy and small treats. This is a German tradition I grew up with and I've passed on to my kids as well.

They were up at 6:30 this morning to see what was left in their shoes !

Another one of those days

Yesterday started off okay, except for the rain, which we've had way too much of this year. I went to work and that was fine. The day started going south as soon as I left work to go to the grocery store, where I forgot my list and couldn't seem to think in the store about what i needed, so spent more time than I wanted in there !Plus, I found this awesome deal on a certain brand of salad dressing --closeout price of .50 cents each, but of course,they rang up incorrectly and had to go back in the store after getting the groceries out to the car.(Cape Cod Parmesan and Peppercorn and Asian-Sesame flavors, in case you're curious!)
When I got home, it was already 3:00 and the older kids get off the bus at 3:20, so I had just enough time to eat lunch and let the dog out before they trooped in.
The evening continued with me not cooking the hamburgers enough (blood in the middle !), burning the fries in the oven, thus setting off the smoke alarm, Ellie writing her name on Felicia's posterboard book report (with a Sharpie right in the middle !!) and my 13 year old having a breakdown about cleaning the bathroom (which is her daily job for the month !) Here's hoping today will be a much better day !

Incidentally, the evening ended up much better -- Steve took the younger two out in the rain to their evening activities and the older two offered to clean up the kitchen for me, gave me a hug and a kiss and Bethany even made me a glass of iced tea. I think they wanted to keep me happy so I wouldn't totally lose it. Alls well that ends well and I try to remind myself that there are lots of people in this world that would love to have my "problems" instead of the hardships they have.

Christmas Countdown

Today is the first day of December and I saw this cute idea on a website. I made 24 cones out of scrapbook paper and today they will be filled with treats. Each day, one of my kids will have a turn to get the treat for the day (the kids agreed to take turns for each day, starting youngest to oldest). Since I have 4 kids and there are 24 cones, it will work out that they'll each get 6 turns.
I also have a small tree (less than 24 inches) on my kitchen island that is our advent tree. whenever someone in the house does a good deed, they write their name and the good deed on a plastic christmas ball with a sharpie and hang it on the tree. They can be things they did themselves or that they saw someone else do. Felicia wrote that Bethany helped her clean her room. Yesterday we already added 4 or 5 ! I hope the Christmas spirit lasts !!!