SNOW!

The kids have been asking for a dog lately...

This is the best we can do right now, though.

Advent?

Also known as... "Nutmeg is soooo far behind in her Advent preps it ain't funny"


I plan on calling The Catholic Bookstore and seeing if they can ship me an advent wreath and candles. (my definition of planning ahead...)

No, I've never actually bought an Advent wreath.

Every year I say "THIS is the year!"

And every year, I scrounge for some sort of candle holders and different sized candles, throw them on a tray and declare that it will "do" for this year...

But next year will be different!



For other awesome ideas go to Studeo. I especially like the "place some straw in Baby Jesus' manger each time you do a good deed" idea. (Anyone know where I can have one sent to me?)

;)

Yum!

You Are Lemon Meringue Pie

You're the perfect combo of sassy and sweet Those who like you have well refined tastes

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Talking Turkey

Well, Turkey Weekend had a few false-starts on Wednesday:


1. 4 hours before my family was due to come in, I decided that the "easy off" treatment I had given the oven the night before, wasn't going to cut it. So I turned on the "self-clean" feature. Half an hour later, I turned it off and opened all the windows, and blasted all the fans due to the sudden appearance of smoky haze in the livingroom, and the distinct smell of burning (left-over) "easy off."

2. On the phone with my mom, 2 hours before their arrival, she sensed the panic in my voice as I tried (in vain) to unlock the oven door. Turns out, it won't unlock until the temp goes down. Good thing she asked me what was wrong, or I would have wrenched the lock off by sheer force! All I could think was, "How am I going to cook Thanksgiving dinner if my oven is locked?!?"

3. 1 hour before arrival, I hear screams from the backyard and the sound of water gushing from somewhere. I run out to see my darling DS #1 trying to turn off the hose (which has the power sprayer attachment on full blast, BTW) the wrong way, spraying mud everywhere in the process. By the time I was able to get the dang thing turned off, he and I and one entire front corner of the house was covered in mud.


Luckily, these mis-haps were isolated to pre-guests and none reared their ugly heads while guests were actually present.

It was lovely to have family in town. Thanksgiving dinner was again co-ordinated most perfectly by my Mom. I am getting spoiled here, I realized this year. Not only do I get to have dinner at my own home, I have someone else to worry about it all! :) It's wonderful to have two people double-checking the finer details. I was constantly worrying that I forgot something.

We had our post-Thanksgiving soccer game on Friday morning. I love playing sports with my family. It's just the right mix of competitiveness and fun. All I know is that if my sister comes to UD for college, I want her on my soccer team. (as well as the collegiate team....she can do both, right? I mean, she's young!) It was great to be able to pass through traffic and have her right there, and vice-versus. Very fun.

A big thank you to my folks for making the trip. It's a tough one to make.

But don't remind me of that when we go to do it in a month. 12 hours....piece of cake, right?


;)

Happy Happy

Since our company is due here tomorrow afternoon, and I still have a million few things to do, I will be taking a break here.

But I am very confident that there will be many stories to tell and many memories to re-live. And I know there are many siblings who are gonna want the "scoop".

And I'm the only one here with a blog. So I have dibs.

:)

A blessed Thanksgiving to all of my bloggy friends...

The number '5' seems to be my lucky number

For, when I am fortunate enough to farm out my oldest two (the boys) their friends from the neighborhood still assume that our backyard is open season.

And so now I still have 5 children, with two dogs (not ours) and popcorn and plastic cups and empty gogurt wrappers decorating our pristine lawn.



At least I can get some baking done.

:)


Don't worry, DH, the backyard will be dutifully pristine again before you get home!

Bric A Brac

(I think that's a fancy name for odds 'n ends.... just humor me if I'm wrong)

Things in the nut-house are nutty as we clean like crazy get ready for a much-anticipated visit from the "grands"... and Auntie. We rented a steam cleaner Saturday, and did all of the carpets and the uglier-than-sin couches. (DH asked me if I liked the couches now, to which I responded, "No. Now they're clean and ugly, instead of just plain ol' ugly.")



Some observations from the past few days:

1. Went to confession Saturday afternoon, and, I'm hoping it was the language barrier thingy... But I have never ever, after pouring out my soul to a priest have him tell me that Jesus was telling me to "just... stop it."

Wow.

Ouch.

2. That evening I went to Tom Pouce, to obtain yummy B & J ice cream treats for DH and I. Again with the language barrier thing.... The checker told the man in front of me to "have a nice time tonight" which I thought was entirely appropriate since he was juggling two dozen roses in beautiful vases. I thought he had maybe told the woman he was going to a party or something. But after ringing up my two pints of ice cream, she smiled, told me to "have a nice time tonight", and... enjoy my ice cream! I smiled, thanked her, and wondered why she didn't mention the potatoes I bought, or what she would have said if I had bought a pregnancy test or womanly unmentionables???

The possibilities are endless.


3. You just know you were meant to be together when your DH can't believe what he is hearing when DD #2 explains what Mama just pulled out of her bum. (I'll spare you the details...file it under what-every-new-mom-doesn't-want-to-know about the job description in her newly acquired job) DH just turned to me in amazement, and I made some snarky remark about it not being the highlight of my day. He said he couldn't imagine anything else being more memorable. To which I responded that we do have a sorry existence indeed... look at what highlights our day!

We both busted out laughing, and I couldn't get control of myself for a whole 5 minutes.


4. Cut everyone's hair, including my own. Which I also highlighted. Pictures soon.


;)

Channeling

I was in mass a few weeks ago, feeling my extreme littleness and inadequacies in dealing with my brood of peanuts. I was lamenting my many outbursts of Irish temper, my eyes that can dart such hurtful arrows into their little souls, my impatience, and my selfishness. I felt that, given the cracks in my own vessel, how in the world would these babies entrusted to my care make it to heaven if I could not show them the way....

My own example was so severely lacking.

Needless to say, it had not been a good week.

And then, I thought, well, I don't have to make it to heaven, just as long as they do.

And I pictured myself as a hollow tube, (not hard to do at this point) a channel, through which the graces flowing to me could instead be directed towards my children.

Anything and everything, I vowed.

None for me, all for them.

What relief flowed through me at that point as I realized that this is exactly my vocation. And, joy of joys, His grace is for me as well.

"My grace will be sufficient for you."

What makes me smile....

"Just because" flowers...

You know it's gonna be hard...

...to get back to reality when your husband threatens to make the bed with you in it, and you respond that you'd be more than happy to remain motionless for the entire day, just to preserve his bed-making masterpiece.

;)

Happy 9th!

Our oldest turns 9 today. It is unbelieveable to me. He has grown in so many ways, and has made us grow as well, in ways I never thought possible. He is our "guinea pig" as we blunder through our parenting philosophies, trying them out, and crying to heaven for the grace to be the best parents we can be. He is very tolerant of us, and our bunglings, and eager to teach... :)

Here is a life in pictures....







Here he is, at the tender age of 9 months, spending a summer vacation on our friends' farm in Wisconsin.











And then, at 20 months, being introduced to his younger brother and soon-to-be sidekick...











As you can see, at ages 2 and 3 respectively.









And at his 5th birthday party, his first "friends" party, complete with jump-house and many families.
















And relaxing on Savary Island, BC, after consuming approximately a pound of freshly-caught prawns.... at the age of 6.









Age 7, taking a rest from blueberry picking.



















Being the great big brother he (mostly) is. At the age of 8, reading to the youngest...




I am so grateful for the privilege of being his Mama here on earth.

Who would've thought...

That a band like Barenaked Ladies would sell a concert t-shirt designed especially for Mom's who may have objections to walking around their house with the word "barenaked" blazened on their front (or back, or anywhere).

And yes, even though my kids "know" sign language, that particular word does not appear at all.

So I can wear my t-shirt with relative ease, unless someone asks me what BNL stands for. I could always say it means "beautiful nature-lover" or something like that....

And the concert was so. much. fun.

We had front row seats. Did I mention we had seats in the front row?? Unbelieveable.

The Ladies' live shows are just great, and this one was no exception. They make such an effort to tailor each show for the location they play. And so there was much "ad-lib" rapping on smoked brisket, Kinky Friedman (an honest-to-goodness mayoral candidate this past election!), and the haunted hotel they stayed in. It was hilarious.

They seem like such "normal" guys, no self-inflated "panderings" to the crowd. They joke about their families, their moms, and life on the road. They admit missing their wives, all in between these amazing songs and funny dance moves, and all-around fun antics and jokes amongst themselves. They love seeing the crowd, as was evidenced by the number of times the spotlights panned the crowd, and the amount of eye-contact they made. DH nicely endured my gushes of "Steve smiled at me!" You'd think I had suddenly reverted to 15-year-old status.

It felt like 40-below-zero when we first got there (outdoor venue in 40 degree frigidness) but the music and dancing kept us all warm and made it bearable. Two hours went by in a flash, and suddenly we were making our way back to the car. But the experience has stuck with us, and we are still remembering little parts of the show and laughing at certain lyric changes and comments.

What a fun way to get away with my DH. It brought back many memories of our college years, spent driving up and down the California coast together. And while 5 kids, 2 cars, a house and many student loans have sobered us and made us more responsible, this trip proved to me that we are still the same together. The same things make us laugh, we pick up on the same oddities, and can still joke and tease like we used to. And to have a DH willing to endure my obsession with a certain band, and take me to a concert 3 hours away... well, you just know he loves me!

:)

Oh! And they played my blog song! This was amazing, because it's not a greatest hit, or anything. Just a great song... (click on the link and scroll down the page and click "Life in a Nutshell" to hear a sample.)

Odds-n-Ends

I'll be taking a short break for the next few days, as DH and I make a mad dash for points south to see our favorite band. Up close. Can't wait!


In the meantime, I hope to revisit the post I drafted but turned out to be Blogger's mid-afternoon snack. It was brilliant (of course!) and about family traditions. I reminisced about my childhood, and discussed the traditions we are trying (or accidentally) instilling in our own family. So, think about that. 'Tis the season!


Oh yes. And Advent wreaths and calendars and such. Has anyone gotten theirs together? Definitely something I need to address when we return. That and Christmas presents. Making the lists, ordering, etc. I think I'm about 1.5% done. Yes, not too thrilling.


We plan to drive up to my parents for Christmas this year. 12 hours in a car with 5 children ages 9 and under makes me petrified. We plan to use books on cd, but no dvd's. Any other ideas out there? I'd be most appreciative! Heck, I may even do a "contest" thingy where we try some of the ideas, and give a prize to the idea that worked best.... but I wouldn't know the winner until after New Year's. Would you remember? Me neither.

:)

Anyone else...

...have to have periodic "undergarment checks"?

As in,

"Are you wearing underwear?" (followed by a surprised look on the offenders' face as they realize that they *slapping head* utterly forgot that particular article of clothing when dressing themselves this morning)

Yes.

Us too.

<sigh>

Love Wednesday

There's nothing that says love like helping your older sister in her futile endeavor to keep the patio clear of leaves. And allowing your younger sister to wear the remnants of your own Hallowe'en costume? True understanding and compassion.

Misplaced

No. Not my brain or my car keys.

Well, not yet today, anyway.

Just me. And my entire family.

How in the world did we end up down here in Texas for the past ten years????

Yes, I do actually know how we got here, DH's schooling and all. But we are not doing such a great job acclimating.

Shall I explain?

1. We loooooove hockey.
2. We do NOT like football.
3. The Hockey team we all follow is a Canadian one for heaven's sake, the Vancouver Canucks.
4. NOT the Dallas Stars, which makes us even weirder.
5. DS #1's life dream is to run the Iditarod race.
6. He loves dogs.
7. He even made his own sled.
8. Unfortunately, the part of Texas we reside in rarely, if ever, gets the main ingredient needed for such a dream.
9. SNOW.
10. DS #1 had to fill in his religion workbook what his favorite 'smell' was (talking about how we use our 5 senses for God's glory...)
11. Answer? "The smell of smoke on a cold night."
12. ??????


On the other hand, we seem to be acclimating to the weather. DD #1 declared it was "freezing" today, when it is actually supposed to be 77. And while we may be wimps when it comes to cold, we can handle the heat quite well.

Maybe God does know what He's doing.

:)

Overscheduling, or Not enough to do?

I've been wondering about this lately.

Since we homeschool, the tendency is to try to ensure that our children will not grow up as socially inept. And, however distorted the vision is of recess at school, I think there are some important lessons to be learned there.

For example, how to deal with difficult people. How to play fair. How to be kind, and a good sport. Even, how to stand up for yourself.

Now, I do think that these things can be handled at home just as well.

Well, almost.

Have you ever noticed how kids react differently when there are "others" around? (no, not the weird ones, all of you fellow Lost fans!) I mean, when their friends are over and they get hurt, they tend to suck it up and keep on playing. And instead of whining about being fair, they figure it out. That's been my experience, anyway. Not much of this happens when it's just the fam. I get to play referee all day long!

Not something I enjoy about my job description.

Anway, about overscheduling.

So far, I have avoided this beast. The boys are in baseball, and their season wraps up with one last game tonight. The girls are not in anything, and I feel badly about that. I just wanted to concentrate on the schooling this first half of the year, and then see if we could add stuff in the new year. We really needed something for the boys, b/c all of the wrestling and running around the house was threatening my nerves and the light fixtures.

We try to get out for family exercise once a week as a family. Riding bikes, going to the duck pond, playing hockey with the neighborhood kids, etc. It's good for our bodies, and good for our familial bonding. (and neighborhood relations!)

I wonder, though, about more outside activites. Ones where the kids are with kids their own age. Obviously, these activites would be viciously screened by me. (good ol' Mama bear that I am!) I'm thinking ballet classes for the girls (really low-key, awesome teacher here in the area) more sports for the boys, and maybe an atrium class once a week for the girls.

Any ideas...thoughts?

We Came, We Played, We lost.

But we are still first in our division!

The soccer season ended today, with a stunning upset. The #4 team in our division beat us, the #1 team. Fortunately, we are so far ahead of every other team, points-wise, that this loss didn't knock us off the top place.

Yippee.

Well, I guess I could be that excited. I mean, I was just trying to hold my own out there, trying to fulfill my own personal goals (ha ha) like:

1. Try not to lose the ball to the other team every time it got passed to me. Maybe every other time.

2. Remember to turn away from pink-cleated girl whenever she came near the ball, since she could boot it from one end of the field to the other, and my face does not need to be on said ball when she does.

3. When heading the ball, using my head is essential, not my jaw, b/c that would render my attempts to chew my dinner utterly futile.

4. Ignore other well-meaning-yet-obnoxious forward on my team who does not practice what she yells (at me) about beating the other girls to the ball and passing properly.

5. Have fun!

Next season starts in February. Maybe if I start working out now.....

Nah.

;)

6 Hours...

...and 4 cans of paint later, and I am done.


Done with helping to paint a friend's living/dining/hallway green. (Kind of like my mother nature)

Done with painting her kitchen yellow. (Butternut, maybe?)

Four of us descended on my friend's house and we had a lot of fun painting and visiting and listening to good music. (I brought the music, so of course it was good...to me, anyway!)

We took a break for lunch and then were back at it for another two hours.

My arms will be sore in the morning, but it felt good to help a friend in need.

Staples

As the weather turns cooler ~um. under 60 degrees?~ two must-haves in the nut-house, two staples that send Papa nut to the store on his way home from work are:

-bottle of rich dark red pinot noir

-can of hot cocoa mix


'Tis the season!

Blogging friends

After my "We-wanna-meet" Saturday night dinner, I came away with a whole new theory about blogging.

I met some amazing women that night. As I perused their blogs for the entire month before-hand, I was able to catch some snippets of their lives, and the amazing paths they have trod. I tried to keep it all straight in my head on the drive out to Antique Mommy's home for dinner. But nothing prepared me for the honest-to-goodnes normalcy of these women.

There were no airs being put on. There were no looking-down-their-noses type attitudes. There was a lot of laughter, a lot of jokes, and much teasing and ribbing.

Remember, these women were meeting for the first time.

And I was one of, if not, the only newbie in the group. And instead of ignoring me, they actually wanted to know more about me! They took precious time out of joking with the friends they had already made, to make me feel at home. They were all so wonderful.

I pondered this meeting for the next few days, and came up with an amazing conclusion about blogging. (Well, I was amazed by it...doesn't take much, eh?)

Instead of making relationships more superficial (since the medium is so removed from actual personal contact) blogging actually helps people to know the "true you," no frills, and some baggage. Most people are brutally honest on their blogs, because it is easy to be. You can wander around the house finding the exact way to phrase your thoughts, and then pound it out on the keyboard. No-one is right there in your face to challenge you, and if they leave you nasty comments you can delete them, or take your time disagreeing. Mostly what happens is that you find a bunch of other bloggers who share similar views, have similar experiences, and you end up forming these great friendships.

The greatest part about these friendships is that people know where you are coming from. They know a bit about your past, your life experiences, your preferences, your idiosyncrasies, and maybe even your insecurities. And they like you anyway, and when they meet you, they already know all these things about you. And since you know each other so well, it's like meeting old friends.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised how smoothly it all went at that dinner party. I thought for sure it would be awkward and I wouldn't be able to say a word to anyone. This happens a lot to me in big groups, and then I get written off as a snob. It's a flaw I have, and I am working to overcome it, and be more engaging and engaged, but it takes a lot of courage on my part.

To see a glimpse of these wonderful women I met, go here:

• Antique Mommy (Tina)
• Created For His Glory (Lauren)
• Days To Come (Jeana)
• Don't Try This At Home (Chilihead)
• Faithful Mommy (Faith)
• Holding the Mirror to My Soul (Kep)
• Holy Mama (Kelsey)
• Home Sanctuary (Rachel Anne)
• In the Midst Of It (Sarah)
• Kisses of Sunshine (GiBee)
• Life In a Nutshell (Megan)
• Minnie Moments (Minnie)
• My Mind...Lost...Strayed...or Stolen (Jan)
• Overhead Under Grace (Kelly)
• Raising Five (Katherine)
• Reflecting Him (AggieJenn)
• Rocks In My Dryer (Shannon)
• Shalee's Diner (Shalee)
• She Lives (Carol)
• Sing a Lullaby (CMommy)