Christmas 2015 Post 1 -- Getting Ready & Decorations

As is our usual tradition, we break out the Christmas decorations the weekend following Thanksgiving. It now takes us several days to set up and I want to enjoy them for as long as possible, so as soon as Friday rolls around, I start taking all of the Thanksgiving stuff down so that when Seth is off on that Saturday, we can start putting up the Christmas stuff. This year, the boys were super into helping us put stuff up and actually did a good job of helping. They hung their own stockings for the first time which felt like a momentous occasion of some sort and Austin helped put the start on the tree. He didn't quite get it on so it fell and broke, but after some super glue and a little bit of drying time, it went right back up on the tree. Austin also helped put the Jesse tree ornaments in the correct box. He was really good and patient with this activity which was nice to see.

Hanging stockings...

One of my favorite decorations.
This will be different next year as I couldn't find a third coordinating frame.

The boys also helped put the little plastic pegs into the ceramic tree. 

It is such a great fine motor activity and they loved seeing it get lit up when they were all done.

I get so many compliements on this.
Most everyone says "my grandma had one like that."
And that makes me so thankful I have one.

Austin found the tree skirt I had gotten out of the box and decided it was meant to be a really fancy cape. He started twirling and twirling. I got to thinking about how the twirling must be a ingrained thing and girls just have more opportunity since they wear skirts. Around and around he went!

Then we decided to let them string lights on this little tree we put on the porch. These fun Santa lights seemed like they would fit well, but we ended up buying a short string of normal lights because the Santas were too big. They had fun putting the strand on the tree, though. Tons of ways they felt useful and accomplished and I loved all the little lessons and stuff they got by helping us work at Putting Christmas Up. (I joked to Seth "just imagine the workforce we will have here in a couple years!" and he responded that we should train each in a trade... AC, Electrical, and Plumbing. I said, but shouldn't they each know a little of all and he was like "maybe, but this way they'll all want to stay living near each other when they're older." and I was moved to tears imagining these boys all grown up and having families of their own and yet helping their brother with whatever trade they needed help with.)

As far as the big tree is concerned, I didn't have it in me to have us spend the time decorating with ornaments, so we just strung a bunch of different, crazy light strands we got from Gran's decorations, added our usual candy canes and called it a day. I liked how much more light the tree gave off with all the extra strands on it so much I might do that next year with a few strands of color lights. Then we'll have white for Seth and color for me!

before the star came crashing down

Using the Cheat Sheet to know where to put them.

Just waiting for cards to arrive and make this area pretty.

New tradition: books wrapped to open 1 per day during the month

As we started to do activities each day, they pilled up on this ribbon.

All folded up in the boxes in the Christmas Countdown Calendar

Fewer lights this year because so many had died.
Hoping for color next year!

Thanksgiving 2015

Thanksgiving was "small" and quiet this year. As always, we invited people to invite people that might not have a place to go that day, but it ended up just being family. The immediate 12 of us plus Aunt Rory. It rained most of the day, too, so the flag football game I had wanted us to start doing didn't work out nor did sitting around the fire outside. After dinner, we got the dishwasher started and leftovers put away (I got Delaney in the action of helping clear now that she's 10--seemed like once I got her started in helping, she didn't want to stop which was awesome) and then did our annual picture. 

My goal at this point is to see how many years in a row we can do it, always in a new location. I borrowed a tripod from a friend so that I could set the camera up to do the automatic setting with Rory just standing behind the camera to try to get littles to look at her. This way, there would be no human error and I could test the lighting ahead of time. I think it's one of the best yet! I had the auto setting take three in a row and I only had to set it to go off twice, so 6 pictures total and everyone did a great job looking AND smiling! HURRAY! Next year I'd like to try to get the picture done before the meal. 

We watched the Packers, played a rules-light version of CatchPhrase which was hilarious, and then the grandkids opened their jammies from Nonnie and Gramps. They're always excited to open a gift and I love that she gives jammies since we can always use new ones. I think they used to be Christmas themed, but now they're just jammies of things they like which is fun too. I think she got some good pictures of them that night (they change into them basically right away), but I haven't gotten those from her yet.

Our Thankfulness things strung out looked great!

I wanted to get a picture of my three turkeys on Thanksgiving, but they were not much into posing and these are the best I got! Adding a third kid sure makes having a minute to take a picture hard. That's probably the thing I've noticed the most in the last few months... There are so many times that I want to take a picture to capture the memory, but it's just not feasible given the number of hands I have. Oh well, maybe next year I'll have more chances to take more pictures.

As always, the table was quite full!

The kids all sat in the kitchen... All 6!

Thanksgiving 2015

Here is the list of things we had in our Thankfulness Things list. You can probably tell which are from the boys and which are from Seth and I. We mostly try to have the boys say things, but some days we're playing catch up and there's more than one to do, Seth and I take a turn. The boys seem to equally enjoy saying their things and hearing us say our things. I love that we're building a thankful heart in them!
1. letters--A, B, C, etc
2. having friends over
3. the Ironman toy
4. playing the piano
5. healthy baby Carson
6. family Pine Cove vacation
7. visiting friends' houses
8. beautiful weather in October and November
9. Daddy has a good job to support family.
10. fruit--apples, bananas, etc.
11. Austin is thankful he turned 5
12. Nico's has a playground
13. our house
14. boys who like to play
15. the Miata
16. new church home--Grace Bible Church
17. Powerhouse camps
18. playing football
19. Georgia Mae
20. Daddy's plants (garden)
21. big yard and near park
22. bees for making honey
23. Nonnie & Gramps
24. The United States of America
25. God and His Son, Jesus

Preston Trail Farms, fall 2015

I had it on our To Do list for fall to go to a new pumpkin patch. I wanted to try this one that had good reviews and was closer than some others we had tried but still had a hayride and maze like I wanted. Well, the sinus infection about did me in the middle of the month and it rained something fierce so we had cancelled our plans. And then we impromptu decided to go to Turner's last football game because the weather was so great that afternoon and then since we already in McKinney, we decided to keep driving and go all the way to Preston Trail Farms.

I'm so glad we did! The weather was great, albeit a tiny bit windy, and the boys had a blast! We posed with cut-outs, fed animals, went on a hayride (all by ourselves given the recent rains), did the hay maze and bought some pumpkins super cheap. My only regret is that I hadn't brought our camera, so the only pictures I was able to get were with my phone. They're not terrible, but i wish I'd had some better equipment to capture the afternoon with. Oh well!

 

The feed is included in your ticket price as is the hayride and a hotdog per person! It's a great deal.

This guy knew what was up.

Here are the pictures from the (MUDDY) hayride. We were spared from being splattered until the last 5 seconds when Graham got hit by some from the tire, but this driver seriously knew his stuff to pull this thing around in ruts and mud so deep I was sure he'd get stuck! My favorite memory from this day, the one that is a perfect example of why I have this blog, the one that I treasure deep in my heart and hope to never forget (and thus the blog), is that we sang Wheels on the Bus while on the hayride and we kept making up new things to sing about, both bigs having contributed several ideas. For example: the wheels on the tractor go round and round. The mud on the tires goes squish, squish, squish. The water in the puddle goes splat, splat, splat. Etc. I can't remember all of the rounds we came up with, but it was totally fitting for our family (music and singing), we each took turns deciding new things, etc. (Austin has since decided to make up new words to most every song which can be a tad annoying, but that moment on the hayride was pure heaven for me.)

I have some strange addiction to profile shots,
especially if hair is blowing!

Then it was time for the corn maze. It turned out to be too muddy inside for the stroller, so I stayed outside with Carson which was fine. I could have worn him, but we didn't know what to expect in terms of size of the place and had left the carrier in the car.

love my new pumpkin stack!

How Gum is the Same as Alcohol

Having worked in Higher Education for most of my career, I have a philosophy about the kids who show up at college unable to moderate their alcohol intake. It's one thing, in my opinion, for a college student to party and drink and make some bad choices (they are checking their boundaries in all areas), but it's entirely another for them to drink so much so often that they make future-altering decisions.

I've had to call the ambulance on people because we couldn't wake them up (once on a close friend while in college, actually).

I've had to talk to people standing on the stadium roof's edge, ready to jump.

I've had to decide on a consequence for a student caught doing yucky things at a football game.

I've had to deliver bad news to roommates.

So, though I don't have any research or statistics to back up what I'm about to say, I still believe it with all of my being. If something is touted as being super awesome and yet the participation in said thing is put off/held off/denied until a certain future time, once that thing finally attainable, it will be consumed as much or as frequently as is physically possible. This leads to students having a sort of "finally, no one is here to say I can't, so I'm gonna have, have, have, have." And, if they don't have experience with (or knowledge about) alcohol, they probably don't realize their tolerance is much less than they think it is. Those are the students who end up in serious situations.

The rule in our house has been that kids cannot have gum until they turn 5. We had heard lots of stories of kids getting gum on furniture or in their hair or on their clothes, and we didn't want to risk any of those situations, so we told the boys they couldn't have any gum until they turned 5. We've been saying this for years and we finally had to make good on the promise. It just proves that time actually does move, even though sometimes (especially with small kids in the house) it feels like it never does!

I bought Austin a bunch of gum for his birthday which he opened and was barely excited about it because I don't think he knew what it was or really realized the meaning behind it. Even though he had been talking about the fact that he would soon be able to chew gum, when he opened it, he was like "meh." I was excited! I assumed he'd chew some and it would be non-deal for him. AND THEN.

The next day, first thing, before breakfast (!), he was asking for some gum. I said he had to eat first and then immediately after finishing (which wasn't much because he was so excited to get some gum) he asked again. (This was just the beginning, but I didn't know it at the time and just chuckled at his insistence.) He asked before lunch. He asked the next hour. He asked if he could have some at dinner. He asked for some after dinner. He asked constantly. Seth made the mistake of saying Austin could have some when "Momma has some," (it was a way of putting him off--a poor one) and now any time I have gum, Austin thinks he's allowed to have some as well (Seth had meant it just for that one day). I rarely have gum, but in the weeks since he heard that, anytime I even look at gum, he thinks he's going to get some and loses control! There has been tears and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

He would chew a piece and spit it out to be replaced every 5 minutes all day long if I would let him. He would stuff his cheeks to the brim if we would let him. He would partake in gum way more than is healthy if we would let him. I think that this INTENSE desire for the gum is partially our own fault. I think it's because we had unintentionally built up how big of a deal gum was and yet held it out as awesome and special and something he couldn't have. If he had been having gum for years, I don't think we would have ever experienced such a strong onset of gum desire.

The same is true, I think, when kids aren't exposed to alcohol until college. Now, I'm not advocating for drinking underage. The WI alcohol rules are fairly notoriously lax, and so I have been consuming alcohol at special occasions since I was in my early teens. My parents would take me to a local supper club and I would get a grasshopper after dinner. I knew people who drank in high school. My parents and family and friends drank. I was surrounded by it my whole life. I saw people consume too much and knew how awful they felt/the pain it could cause, and so when I was able to drink legally, I did so with some caution. I hadn't been formally sat down to discuss alcohol, but my life experience had been my education. Sure, I have had my nights of poor decision-making, but those weren't call-911-serious.

Austin's begging for gum has faded over the last few weeks and I'm sure it will only continue to do so as the years go on, and because he's still here under our roof and his gum intake is being monitored (it's in a place he can't get, so he can't just consume whenever he wants but has to ask for it), I'm not worried about him going wheels-off with it. This is unlike when kids go off to college and can access as much alcohol as often as they want because they no longer have their parents/family around.

Sure, the college kids eventually fade in their desire or they learn the hard way or they realize alcohol has negatives to go along with all the perceived benefits. When something is withheld from you, you have this major sense of missing out and go a bit overboard when you're no longer missing out. I just hope that the college kids come to their sense and learn healthy boundaries with alcohol before they have a serious future-altering situation occur. I think that if we had conversations about alcohol like we have The Talk and like we do about driving and bike-riding and college applications and all big-life-things, kids wouldn't get to college with no parental guidance (such as Austin currently has with his gum usage) and get into situations that are bigger than they can handle.

I'm not saying that if your family doesn't drink alcohol, your kids are sure to be wheels-off and in danger when they get to college. But I am saying, that if your kids are not surrounded by situations where people drink socially and maintain good decision-making skills (or even if they are!), that you might want to sit down with them and explain alcohol to them. The reasons people partake (it's yummy, it's a social thing, it can be fun), but also the negatives (having too much literally poisons your body, it can become addicting, don't drive when drinking). Go over the pros and cons with them. Expose them to it, even if they aren't actually consuming it.

If you want more information about talking to your kids about alcohol, one of my favorite bloggers has posted several posts about the #TalkEarly campaign that Responsibility.org is doing. Responsibility.org has tons of good resources for parents/families/people to help you get the conversation going and has lots of good statistics which is more than I can say for my post. But, if having a conversation with your kid now prevents a serious, future-altering decision later, then do it! Especially since you can control their consumption and (partially) their choices now. Because you won't always be around to guide them and help with these types of decisions.

Cute Pic Post -- October 2015

As always, October was CRAZY. September flew by in a whirlwind of sick and appointments, trying to get caught up on everything since the summer was super long-plus-infant summer, and then there were the family pictures... So we get to October and it's time to go to the fair, have the JCP pictures taken, do all the birthday events (which was more than in previous years because Austin started having his birthday parties this year because he's 5), and then I snuck off to go on a retreat (and Seth took the bigs camping), so it's such an exhale come Halloween. I hate being so excited when October is over because I love fall, but I feel like I'm head down, walking into a blizzard and then the wind and snow stop and I find myself in November actually able to take a deep breath.

Here's our month in pictures!

Carson worked hard on several teeth this month!

I love me some Anne and I love me some fall.

I tried my hand at wreath-making after Cyndi bullied me into it. ;-) We agree to each make Halloween wreaths and this is my take on it. Her's was totally different and I love that we both made "Halloween wreaths" and yet came up with such different finished products!

I have tried very hard to keep this in mind in life and a reminder never hurt!

He sure is Awesome!

God (and most people) knows how much I love sunrises. I'm tearing up looking at these pictures it was so gorgeous! We live down the street from a park, so when the sun comes up, it rises up right over the park. Carson gets up about 7am, usually, and depending on where we are in the year, that's about when the sun starts coming up over the park and I see it as I'm opening his shutters. I glanced outside and saw the beginnings of this and immediately grabbed the camera and walked down the street to get some pictures. I left three sleeping boys in their beds and just went. It was like I was being pulled closer and closer. The colors were completely unreal... starting so deep and fading to pastel later. SO pretty! (And all three were still asleep in their beds when I got back a few minutes later.) That's the thing about sunrises... they come and go so quickly, you have to grab them right then. They don't wait for you! (These pictures also reignited my desire to take a photography class, so I can use my camera on a non-auto setting to get the best possible pictures. I'm hoping to do that starting in 2016. Great Christmas gift idea. ;-)

I wanted my last baby to have this giraffe (Sophie)
so bad and he loves it!

We had some long-overdue brick work done on the house, and I'm SO glad. There is still another few places that need work, but these places have helped the house look so much better and I'm sure it helps keep the impending winter out as well. I didn't get a good before for the back section, but I was shocked when they just started taking it all down! And then up front, we had an old, nonworking intercom taken out and made to look like it never existed. I kept the intercom because it's original to the house and I can't get rid of stuff like that. But having that sealed up feels more airtight in a house that could use all the help it can get on that front!

The mesh was to prevent critters getting in.

It dried normal and cannot tell it was ever there!

I need photographic proof both fell asleep on me!

Um, this guy is not actually my dad. :-| Creepy.

salted caramel frap. YUM.

I was a little obsessed with apple cake this fall, trying to find the perfect one.

I love having talented friends.
Julee used her machine to make these towels with scripture on them for me.

The boys require a lot of physical play, and GA loves Daddy too.
This scene is so common, it's almost obnoxious!

October Chapters book

Go Rangers!

The middle of October. TOO HOT.

A rite of passage, right--assembling a bike for a kid? Seth did great and it wasn't in as many pieces I had expected. Loved this night. It felt so special and so Adult.

Between birthdays, I snuck away for a retreat with church at Camp Copass. I'd never been there before, but it was very, very nice. (And they've booked for the next two years there which is awesome.) It's on this little finger peninsula into the lake, so water is pretty much everywhere you look. And I love me some water. Next time, I'm bringing a chair (or maybe buy a few and donate to them) because there's this one spot where you can sit on a grassy bank, right close to the water and watch the waves. I got to room with Laura and baby Jonah and the speaker was hilarious!

We went for lunch on Saturday.

A giant chicken in the dining hall? Of course!

I spent my fair share trying out these couches and chairs
and I can attest to the fact that they are as amazing as they look!

Hallelujah!!! 

This was in the beginning, but I overtook the family room one day, sorting and purging clothes. 
I ended up sending two big boxes to Anne Marie, 
filling Carson's closet tubs, 
and washing a load that was ready for him to wear now.

That Smile. Those Rolls. That (Trump) Hair.
LOVE THIS SWEET BOY!

The height measurer got more marks this month!

Carson absolutely loves this jumper thing! Jump! Jump! Jump!

I repainted the canvas to coordinate with the new bedding.

I have three sweet, amazing sons. My heart feels like it might explode when I see these pictures of them all together. The above one is all of them at the October JCP pictures and the one below is all three at 6 months which are all 11x14 and hung in the hallway. I have this as my phone lock screen and never tire of seeing their sweet baby faces.

Helping Daddy put together the picnic table
(which I started while he was at work but couldn't finish).
Sometimes there are not enough adults in this house!

Well, we'd meant to cut that down anyways. Anyone got a chainsaw?

RIP Maureen. Immediately upon hearing the news, I popped this in.

We coordinated with the families from our small group to make "Blessing Bags" which are ziplocks with goodies in which are meant to be given to homeless people or people asking for things when we see them. The Staples hosted it at their house and Stacey did all the coordinating for it. We ate lunch after church and then assembled bags. The goal was 10 per family, but each ended up with a few more than that. The kids all did a pretty darn good job, but we were ready to be done when time came. One good thing is that Lyndsey's parents were in town and came to help. With as many kids as we have, having a couple extra adults is always handy! Our boys did a great job going through the line, picking up one of everything to put in their bag and then putting the bag in the pile.

Each family took a box and a bag of Blessing Bags!

"Pocus, Pocus, Wallykazam!"

Working on getting more floor time since
Dr. McColm "hinted" we weren't doing it enough.
The blankie he's sitting on was Seth's.

Graham got four bee stings one afternoon! :-(

These jammies will be too small come Christmas,
but he's so stinkin cute in them it makes my stomach hurt! 

sweet sleeping baby pictures

He is always flipped to his belly nowadays.

The cutest cowboy ever!

I couldn't attend the Halloween party,
but a friend took this picture for me.

Cut 5 inches off and went dark!

I was trying to get a picture of him holding the balloon.
See the funny?

I happened across an article that sent me through the roof with excitement! We have watched several episodes and I like it. The don't look the same, but they're still cute.

My friend Melody came over for a playdate and read to the kids while I made us lunch.
She looks like she's teaching a class there are so many kids!

seriously.

At the end of the month, we still had all these balloons left over from Austin's party and I declared enough was enough, so we got some pushpins and set the boys to popping! Surprisingly, no injuries were reported. ;-)