Snow day!

I am so spoiled, I can't believe it. I am realizing just how great it is to have a teacher living with us today. I snowed a couple of inches yesterday, and last night. The kids were delayed 2 hours to school. The older ones are off to school now, and Eric just came up and asked if he could take the little ones out to play in the snow. For the last little while, he has been playing "snow dog" with them, and has been dragging them around the yard on a sled. His school district has been canceled today, and so he doesn't have to teach. I am inside, warm and comfy, catching up on my blog, and he is outside mushing my kids around the yard. Isn't this the life? Darn! I just heard Eric's exhausted voice call, "All DONE!". I guess that my blogging reprieve has come to an end. It was great while it lasted.

Family

We were able to spend Thanksgiving with Jeremy's cousin Karl & family. They had their entire immediate family in Deleware to celebrate. It was the first time in 10 years that they were all together at the same time. We were able to see J's Grandma as well. It was nice of them to include us. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, we were able to witness the blessing of Karl's newest addition, Trevor. It was a fun, relaxing trip. We celebrated Thanksgiving as it was meant to be celebrated with lots of family, relaxation, and fun.

Pictures

New Pictures

We finally got our pictures back from the photographer! I am a photo freak, so you can understand my excitement. We have our first decent family picture in years. Thank you Jennifer Anderson for sharing your fabulous talents with our family. I posted a few of my favorites.

Ok, so here's the situation. I am finally ready to publish my pictures, and the blogger is down. I guess that this blog will have to be a teaser, if I am able to publish it at all. Pictures are forthcoming. I just do not know when. Stay tuned.

American Girl Amber

FINISHED!!! I was sewing the last buttons on Amber's Colonial Days costume while she was getting showered up for school. Whew! Talk about cutting it close. Sigh, now I get to put the house back in order.

This costume was for Colonial Days today at Amber's school. They have all the teachers, volunteers, and 4th grade students dress up in period costumes. Not only do they ask that you dress them appropriately, but they also request that their lunches be as colonial as possible as well. They want them to have cornbread or homemade bread with homemade jam, cheese, apples, etc. Their lunches should also be packed in the method of the day, either a basket or in a cloth. No baggies or containers. Its just a little bit of work for the parents, as you can imagine. I was going to volunteer, but had a difficult enough time making Amber's costume and homemade lunch items in time. Maybe next time... I seem to get it a little more put together each time. Maybe by the time Cora is in 4th grade, I will skip into the school with my authentic colonial outfit, carrying my handmade, fully authentic colonial basket, full of tasty colonial food. Hmm... it could happen...I have a few years.

BTW: My apologies for the sideways photo. I am not yet up to speed on the blog program, and can't find how to turn the photos.

A Halloween Kiss

Its been a while, I know. Life has been crazy busy lately with the kids starting school, softball, baseball, piano, cello, girl scouts, activity days, and so much more. I have been living from week to week, project to project, and haven't come up for air for a while. I finished our Halloween costumes in time. I had already made the girls' Hogwarts costumes for the summer movie/book openings, and so I just had Trenton's Captain Jack Sparrow, Layton's Grim Reaper, and 4 adult KISS costumes to make before the Halloween festivities began. To top it off, Hannah, Amber, and Layton all were on different ball teams. Each team required 2 practices and 2 games per week when the season started, and then switched to only 1 practice per week as the season finished. Layton joined Hannah in taking piano, and Amber started playing cello. Both girls joined girl scouts. It was crazy, we had multiple activities on the same nights all week long. We had Sunday off, and an occasional Thursday evening free. Jeremy & I had to divide and conquer, and on the nights that Jeremy was out of town, our house guest, Eric would fill in with the carpool/ cheer squad.
Did I mention that we have our dear friends the Robinsons staying with us while they try to sell their house in Washington? The Robinson family has been here since the beginning of Aug. Rebekah is working with Jeremy in the basement office, and their family is staying in the guestroom down there. So far things are going pretty well. Cora and Andrew are enjoying their odd little "sibling-esk" relationship. Andrew is learning what it is like to be part of an extremely busy large family.
Oddly, the Robinson segway brings me back to Halloween. We had 2 Halloween party invites prior to Halloween, and wanted to come up with a unique and fun Halloween costume for 4(us and the Robinsons), and somehow decided that dressing up as Kiss would be both unique and fun. Rebekah and I pulled out the Bedazzler and hit the fabric store before creating our fabulous Kiss costumes. We were a "HIT" at the ward Halloween party. (Yes, we actually wore them to the Trunk-or -Treat at the church, and everyone loved it.) Our second party occurred the next night at our friends the Erickson's Halloween Gala. Kiss won the first prize gift certificate to the local wine shop. Ironic huh? Mormon rockers win alcohol. They also sell chocolate and gourmet foods as well so we should be able to find something. Trenton won 3rd prize in the children's contest for his Captain Jack Sparrow, and Hannah & Amber won the joint 1st prize for their Ginny Weasley, and Hermoine Granger costumes. We had a great time. We, the adults did not dress up for the actual Halloween night, however. We caused such a stir at the other two parties, that we decided to make Halloween the kids night. We had a great time trick-or-treating the neighborhood with its decorations and spook alleys. The younger kids were tired at about 8pm, and returned to the house to get ready for bed and help Daddy pass out the rest of the candy. ( We ran out by the way. 25 lbs. of candy... I guess that is what happens when you have such an amazing community that parents dive in from the tri-state area to participate. Crazy! The streets were lined with vans filled with kiddios, and when they ran out of space along the neighborhood roads, they parked at the school and baseball fields across the street!) After dropping off the little ones, I took the older three to the old burnt mill for the bonfire and ghost stories. Another fun Halloween.
Now that Halloween is checked off my list, I am on to finishing up a couple of Christmas projects, sewing colonial day outfits for Amber & myself, and then planning our hotel stays for our Thanksgiving trip to Delaware. After that...Christmas & Christmas trip to Wa., birthdays, & Layton's Baptism. Will it ever slow down? I'm not too optimistic. Oh well, such is life for a mother of five.

Yesterday we took the crew to Six Flags. It was a daunting task, but we managed through. The kids had a great time. It was fun to have their friends with them. We ended up staying until they booted us out of the park at 8 pm. I was proud of myself for making the drive into NE DC with five kids, and then returning at the end of the day with all five, and correctly navigating the belt loop and DC traffic with out Jeremy. The kids were great. We only had one "tween" incident. The older girls seemed to think that they were old enough to go around the park unsupervised. The other mom's didn't have a problem with it. I just wasn't ready to release my 10 year old into a park that is located in the middle of NE DC. I was the wet blanket when I told them that I did not care what their girls did, but Hannah was not going to be able to join them unless one of the moms went off with them. Not wanting to leave Hannah out, one of the moms agreed to stay with the older group, and the other two of us took the younger group around. About halfway through the day, the resentment of the tween group grew, and they met up with me to beg me to allow Hannah to go off with them. I told them that they could go on, and I would keep Hannah. A couple of hours later, the daughter of the supervising Mom had had enough, and mutinied. She yelled at her mom that she was not going to have a grown up follow them around anymore, and then ran off. The rest of the pack, including Hannah followed. We met up with the mom a few minutes later, and she tearily told us what had happened, and what direction that the girls had headed off to. I headed up my little possy and marched off to find them. I spotted them within minutes, and I could tell by the look on Hannah's face that she saw the storm a commin'. I laid into her, called Jeremy and let him lay into her, and then grounded her to my side for the rest of the day, and from friends for the rest of the week. It was a hard lesson to learn.

Midnight Madness

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES!

On July 20, the girls prepared for the 12:01 release of the 7th Harry Potter book. We went to Border's with a bunch of friends, and started our vigil. The girls had a great time. Border's had lots of games and prizes to keep them busy. Hannah (or should I say Ginny?) came in 2nd place in the costume contest, nearly winning the coveted first spot in line. It was quite a feat considering that just about everybody there including adults (some who freaked me out a little), had costumes on. A teenager with a really great Trelawny costume ended up winning, and we were booted to the back of the orange line. The orange wristbands were the 1st group of 300. It took us just under an hour to get through and get the book. My neighbor drove so I was able to call Isaac up who had three hours to wait, and read him the first chapter. We were exhausted, but had a great time.

I originally planned to write all about our vacation before I started posting, but life and Harry Potter got in the way. After we returned from NY, I had to two days to get the Girls' Harry Potter costumes finished before the Premier 11:59 showing. Phew... Lisa & I were working until last minute to finish them. Lisa did Brooke's, (pictured in the middle) and I did both my girls. Crazy I know, but they were so incredibly adorable at the premier. We met up with three more of their friends and their parents for the movie. Their friends were all dressed up as well. We arrived about 1 1/2 hours early to get our seats, and it was a good thing that we did because if we had waited much longer, we would not be able to sit together. The girls sat in one row, and the adults in another. The girls had such a great time, as did the adults. Nobody minded the 1 1/2 hour wait. It was perfect, we were able to hang out and socialize with friends and eat before the movie started, and the movie was awesome. The girls enjoyed being stars. Everyone was telling them how cute they were, and asking them where they got their costumes. As we walked around we could hear people saying things like, "Look at those girls! Aren't their costumes
awesome! Where did they get those? Why didn't we get costumes like those?" There was a batch of teenagers that wanted their picture taken with the girls, but by the the time that they got themselves together to ask, the girls, obtuse to the gawking, were already climbing the bleachers to their seats. It was an incredible night! I hope that the girls remember it, I know that I will. We are planning to go to the 12:00 book party next week, so I am sure that I will post afterward. I figure we might as well get as much use out of the costumes as possible. Besides, the girls are growing up so fast, and I don't think that it will be long before they won't let me do this kind of thing anymore. And with the last book coming out, there won't be any more opportunities. (For the book at least)

Vacation

Whew, we are home! We had a great vacation, but as great vacations go, it is always nice to return to the comforts of home. Last Saturday morning we loaded up the kids, games, and gear and headed east to Delaware to meet up with Jeremy's cousin Karl and his family. We spent a fun weekend at their beautiful new home. The boys ran around in a rowdy little pack, alternating between the tramp & tire swing, with occasional breaks for food, drink, and Nintendo DS. The girls were slightly more subdued. Age, gender, and Amanda's full arm cast contributed to their demeanor. They enjoyed the back yard as well, but were more often found behind closed doors, closeted in secret girl proceedings. The youngsters, Kurtis & Cora played together well on the most part. When Kurty was tired of Cora's constant bossing, he would tag along after the older boys. When this occurred, Cora would tag along after Kurty. Jeremy & Karl spent the majority of their time in the basement measuring and scheming, planning for Karl's upcoming basement remodel. Mostly, they enjoyed catching up after a 8 year absence. Its funny that no matter how much time goes by, some relationships can pick back up, just like no time has passed at all. Joleen was an incredibly gracious hostess. Here we invaded her brand new home with a horde of crazy kids, and she takes it all in stride. AND she is pregnant to boot.
Sunday was interesting. We were a little nervous about getting 8 children and ourselves ready for 9 am. church, but things went surprisingly smooth. We arrived on time, and were able to grab two pews. The most excitement occurred near the end of fast and testimony meeting when Cora fell asleep in my lap, and then had an accident. That was a first for me. I had to stand up with a half asleep 3 year old in my arms, with pee dripping down my legs and try and make a dignified exit out of the chapel. Uuug! Gross! We were able to give Cora a sponge bath with wipes out in the parking lot, and then dress her in her American flag swimsuit and a jean skirt and send her in to nursery with Jeremy. (Patriotic, right?) There was no saving my skirt, so I wrapped myself in a towel to save the Fails' van seats, and Joleen and I headed back to their house so I could shower and change. We made it back in time to pick up the group and take them home.