This Week

 

So.  A stomach virus.  But let's not talk about that.  

 My view upon waking the past several days...

But, alas, the past 2 days have been warmer and rainy, and all but the most stubbornly hard-packed piles of snow have melted.  I won't give up hope for a white Christmas just yet. 

 Of course, with a snowfall, the outdoor scenes are lovely, and the indoor ones predictable...

 Remnants of outdoor adventures...

and remnants of hot chocolate production. 

 We finished our saint dolls for our annual exchange!  Here we have Blessed Mother Theresa and St. Michael the Archangel, in the process. 

 And Daddy had a big birthday.  The big 4-0.  See how happy he is about this?  Since I precede him in turning these big corners, he's not allowed to complain.  (If he's old, I'm older...  see how that works?)

 What a handsome dude.

 Love this funny picture.

 See the holy card of Blessed Miguel Augustine Pro behind all the saint dolls?  I ordered a bunch of these for my high school Sunday School class.  It took forever for them to arrive, and I was certain I had been either scammed or forgotten.  When they finally arrived, clearly from a mom and pop-type operation, I found that the shop owners had sent me a 2nd class relic!!  It's a tiny piece of his coffin.  How cool is that? 

 This is our toddler-proof Christmas tree.  Note the lack of ornaments around the bottom fourth of the branches. 

And finally, my favorite Advent activity...  book reading!!  We have accumulated quite a collection of  Advent and Christmas books, and our main school plan for the past month has been reading, reading, and more reading.  A new favorite is Kersti and St. Nicholas.  Hilda Van Stockum, where have you been all  my life? 

Enjoy your last few days of Advent, my friends!  And if you can spare a few seconds, we would appreciate a prayer for a return to health.  Thank you and have a great Saturday! 

Advent

What we're doing...

Our collection of Advent books is in place in the book basket near the couch.  We're choosing a favorite or two each day to read...  Last year, Jotham's Journey was a big hit.  This year, we tried Bartholomew's Passage...  Probably a great book but much too violent for us.  Maybe we'll try it again in a few years.

Next week our 4H club meets for gingerbread house-making and a saint doll exhange.  Our renditions of Blessed Mother Theresa and St. Michael the Archangel are in the works...

Still in the thick of Nutcracker, we're trying to maintain a focus on the season amidst late night and early morning performances...  It's lots of fun but also taxing... On everybody..

What we're not doing...

A lot of academics.  After a 2 week hiatus, we're back to math review.  We'll keep up with that for about another 10 days before we take a break.  The kids, on their own, are reading, drawing, writing...
And watching Chrismas movies...  And hoping for more snow...

We're grateful for...

So many family and friends who made long treks in questionable weather to watch he girls perform last weekend.  We are blessed.

Also, for the help of my parents, without whom we would not be able to manage all that's going on right now.  Ballet, basketball tournaments, taekwondo, doctor/dental appts., etc.

The awesome news that my brother and family are moving back stateside in March!  Yippee!

Have a great Tuesday!

5 More Days

The girls' opening night is Saturday (the opposite cast opens Friday)...

Look carefully for the little lavender leotard in the middle!



the Sugar Plum Fairy Puppet being carried from the stage

the real Sugar Plum Fairy

A couple shots of Clara in the finale...

Weeks of hard work are culminating in 9 days of performances.  At the same time, we'll be squeezing in a basketball tournament, taekwondo and a homeschool group visit to a nursing home. 

after a long rehearsal...

Thank God for grandparents!!

Extreme Makeover: Baby Edition

Before

During

After!!

And a post-haircut bath...

October

 

We celebrate 2 birthdays in October.  Joy is now 12, and Yoyo is 6!

Shortly thereafter, we scramble to assemble Halloween and All Saints' Costumes.  I didn't get any pictures of the latter (too busy rushing out the door for the party)...  For All Hallow's Eve, we had...

...one Lucy Van Pelt...

...two birds (a peacock and an owl)...

...and a reprisal of Troy Palomalu (can't go wrong with that one!)!

Baby is not so sure about his giraffe costume. 

Things are looking up here...

Happy Tuesday!

A Glimpse of Winter

It was just the middle child and I, alone in the car, driving home in the dark at the moment the rain changed to snow.

I could see it in the headlights, but didn't trust my perception.  Could it really be snow?

It is! It is! were the backseat cries of delight.  It must be almost a blizzard!

Then the stream of his consciousness...  Do you know that boreal means 'of the north?' I'm so glad I live this far north!  Can you let me out in the driveway so I can feel the snow?

And he leaped from the van and danced into the house to gather siblings who would be just as thrilled as he.

Before I was fully parked, out they raced into the darkness, as if the fear of it they had never considered...

Out they hopped across the cold driveway...barefoot.   And so happy.

Seven Quick Takes (and a bunch of pictures)

1)Yesterday it snowed. Although it's still October, the weather is a sure sign that lovely fall days will soon be behind us. How is it that the seasons pass so quickly by?

Flag football on a glorious Saturday morning

The schedule in our household has been incredibly busy, more so than usual, due to some extra doctor appointments and medical testing, as well as the general frenzy that ensues from raising 5 active kids.

I thank God for calling me to a homeschooling life. Even though we are on the road for activities every night of the week (except Sunday), we can generally carve out some peaceful time at home during our days.

2)We had some good news this week. For the past couple months, we've been mentally preparing ourselves for a big surgery we were certain Spike would be needing this year. After meeting with his urologist on Tuesday, it appears he is actually doing pretty well, and the surgery won't be necessary!! What a huge relief!

3)Both girls have celebrated birthdays in the past 10 days. Joy is now 12, and Yoyo is 6!! On her birthday. Yoyo lost her second front upper tooth and now officially looks like a jack o' lantern.

4)Baby is up to 3 consecutive steps.  I'm putting off his 18-month well baby appointment until I can definitively answer "yes' to the question 'is he walking?'  He's a happy little dude.  This week he discovered queso and salsa.

Sisterly love

5)Nutcracker rehearsals are ramping up to full tilt.  Joy had her costume fitting, and Yoyo's will be coming up soon... 

6)For her birthday, Joy requested another kitty.  We are suckers, so we agreed.  Her name is 'Clara.'  What a cute little spitfire of a feline.

Daddy's working nights, so....  movie night!

new favorite toy

clearly up to no good

This is what happens every time his bath is over.

7)I'm late to the party, but my brother and husband have gotten me completely addicted to Breaking Bad.  I'm normally more of a Downton Abbey and HGTV fan, but yeesh, this show is intriguing. 

Have a great weekend!!  Linking up with Jen today!!