What Christmas is All About

This is what Christmas is about for me....

Everyone being together no matter is it is fishing, climbing rocks, or having stick races in the stream.

It is always nice to get pictures while we are together.





And good to see how grown up the kids are getting-- even the beautiful young lady who is not really a kid anymore.
This is what it is all about. Finding time to spend together.

love and hugs and making a new year's resolution to make these family gatherings happen at least once a year even when we move. HAPPY 2012!!! B

Santa Visits!

This post is all about what the kids love about Christmas: the night before Santa comes and seeing what Santa left for them. All three boys helped get milk and cookies and carrots for Santa's reindeer ready.

There were then packages from Pop and Nena to be opened.

The next morning this is what greeted their little eyes.

G loved his model car, LEGO set (lighthouse), and lots of art and puzzle books.

M dove into building his LEGO set, but also was thrilled with his toys that he can play with with his spaceship.

At first E was disappointed that he didn't get all the electronic things that he put on his list (Santa knows we don't believe in that and he only gets 30 minutes a day for screen time). He changed his tune and liked putting together his LEGO set and doing some art. His model car was a hit and when he tried building his erector set later in the week he liked it.
love and hugs, B

Christmas Cookies!

Christmas cookies are a tradition for us. Gingerbread is the favorite among my crew so we baked lots and took some to share at my parents when everyone came into town. Here are pics from baking day. M just gets to cut out cookies, G can cut out as well as help remove scraps before moving them to the baking sheets, and E is learning to roll out the dough this year.

We made just a few cookies.

WE spent one afternoon at our house decorating just a few to keep.....



Then we spent one afternoon at my parents house decorating cookies to keep there for the rest of the gang coming in.

love and hugs, B

Video Note

I made my second video to announce our upcoming move. When you view please remember I make these for fun so it is not perfect. The camera kept moving to the ceiling and try as I might I could not get it to stay at eye level the whole time. Also my character doesn't actually look like me but I can dream can't I? Hope everyone is enjoying the winter holidays!!!
love and hugs, B

Christmas Play

Last nights was M's Nativity play at preschool. It was the first time I flashed back to my teaching days during a program and nearly couldn't control myself from getting up to organize a few things and give some parents a shake. I expected a full house and cameras, but what happened was an all out paparazzi scene. Yes, the little ones are absolutely adorable in their sheep ears, angel wings, animal costumes, etc. Truly. Adorable. But as the show begins the surge of parents with cameras begins and as the different age levels step onstage to perform their parts the barrage continues. The aisles fill with parents and grandparents jockeying for that perfect shot. I have to say the kids performed beautifully with all the distractions. The whole time I kept thinking how to get it more organized and give parents an opportunity to get pics without disrupting the whole program. We did enjoy the performance (what we could see past the paparazzi) and M was the star of the show as a wise guy.

love and hugs, B

PS My picture was taken in the classroom before the show and no one was disturbed during the making of this picture.

A Beautiful December Day

Last Saturday was one of those days that the boys declare the best day ever. We headed out after a leisurely morning watching cartoons and hanging out in PJs. After a quick run past D's work (always a treat for the kiddos) we went to lunch and then headed to our old neighborhood to drop off bag of Halloween costumes. The quick drop off became a nice couple hours shooting the breeze with friends and the kids running around and playing on the trampoline. We left there and finally traveled toward our originally intended destination -- Colonial Williamsburg. Our happy group arrived in time to get a few pics of the decorations in the village; the decorations are fun to look at because they are supposed to be made of natural materials that could truly be found in colonial times. Even the boys love to look at them and do a amateur judging.




After a quick dinner we walked back tot he governor's palace to watch the illumination. Large torch baskets are lit at the front of the buildings on either side of the village green and in front of the governor's palace. The fife and drum corps plays and at intervals a cannon is fired and the procession halts for a brief description of the building and the family who originally lived there. At the end the fife and drum corps plays Christmas carols as the crowd disperses. This was the first thing this year that really got me in the Christmas spirit.
love and hugs, B

Prepping for Christmas

Thankful Thursday! I am thankful I got to post several times in the past week instead of the wimpy once a week. I like to write and this is a good outlet for that. I am also thankful that Christmas is around the corner and that we will be home for it this year. The big kids will be out of school the week before but M will still be in preschool so in the morning we can get some baking and treat making done. Wondering if they could be bribed into a deep cleaning on the house during that week.... never mind, there probably isn't enough of anything in the world to get them to *deeply* clean.

I have been sewing up a storm again. I organized my fabric stash a month or so ago and discovered lots of odds and ends and have been trying to make things out of them and work the stash down to a manageable (or at least not so embarrassing) amount. This morning was sewing curtains for M's preschool bathroom doorways; they have some but they are 1) U.G.L.Y. 2) falling down constantly 3) stained with paint and such. I discovered that what I truly want for Christmas is a turbo rocket booster for my sewing machine so when I am working on a boring, monotonous project I can hit turbo and sew those straight lines in no time. A girl can dream I guess.

My birdseed ornaments that I was working on a couple posts ago turned out terrific. Not usually a recipe blog but I will share this.
INGREDIENTS: 3/4 cup whole wheat flour 3 cups birdseed mix 1/2 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup raw peanuts 1/2 cup boiling water 1/4 ounce unflavored gelatin 3Tbsp. light corn syrup old bowl or bucket old or disposable muffin tins or other small containers to mold the ornaments old pencil or stick
DIRECTIONS:
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl or bucket (I used an old plastic halloween bowl that I could throw away at the end). Add gelatin powder to the boiling water and stir until it is dissolved. Stir corn syrup into the gelatin mix. Dump wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir till all the mixture is moist. Press mix into muffin tins or other molds (I used small old margarine tubs and small old pieces of tupperware). Use the pencil or stick to make a hole through the center of each ornament; remember you will have to insert a string through it later so make it clear enough. This recipe says it makes 6 ornaments but I got closer to 10 out of each batch. Let ornaments sit for 3-4 hours until "soft set". Tap the seed muffins out of the tins and molds and let sit overnight at which point they will be firmly set and ready to string. I put mine on raffia in holiday colors and into little gift bags for neighbors. If you wanted to make the gifts larger or part of a set you might add a birdhouse, a bird book, or some other type of feeder. If you are a member of my family and unwrap some of these as a gift please act surprised and grateful; the terrific thing about this gift is that if someone hates it, the birds will eat it and it goes away. If they like it, you can pass them the recipe.

WOW! This post is so exciting I can see why you keep following my blog. I have covered baking, cleaning, sewing, and making gifts. Just call me Martha---- on the other hand don't because I might smack you.

love and hugs and pics of children in the next post hopefully! B

Football Bowl Games for the Helicopter Parents

As D was reading the boys and I the list of college football bowl game match-ups it made me start to wonder where all these new bowl games came from. A long time ago in a galaxy far away there were about 7 bowl games that the best college football teams went to and played for the top spot in the nation. Your team had to have a terrific record to go to a bowl game. It was an honor to go to a bowl game.
Now there a plethora of football bowl games with just as many ridiculous names. The Potato Bowl. The Pinstripe Bowl. The "insert your company name here" Bowl. The teams that go to bowl games these days don't even have to be good; a lot are break even between wins and loses and one is even underwater with 6 wins and 7 loses (yes, UCLA, I am looking at you). We discussed where these games are coming from. Why is it necessary for every team to go to a bowl game? Could be the revenue cities think they will gain by hosting a "big game" (except if yours isn't a real game, it's just a fake game). I am really wondering if the generation of kids who grew up with helicopter parents has now reached college (and beyond) and the parents are so concerned about their players self esteem that they want everyone to get the opportunity to play in a bowl game. You can hear Helicopter Mom say it "Little Johnny, don't worry. Your team was 8 and 2 but you will play in the 'big game championship'". If I was on a team that was undefeated or nearly so I would be insulted by the fact that everybody and their brother gets to play in a bowl game. It dilutes the meaning and honor of playing for the big prize. I believe not everyone should play in the big game. The ones who earned it deserve it and the ones who didn't don't. I just wonder what the motivation for this is: Is this an commercial/economic thing or one more sign of where self-esteem based parenting is taking us? OK, I am stepping down from my soapbox.
love and hugs and I am not even a sports fan really. I just noticed this connection and had to throw it out into the universe. B
PS. Tune in on Jan. 2 to see the Wisconsin Badgers take on the Oregon Ducks. . Go Badgers!

Aren't the Children Supposed to be GOOD in December?

Really. I thought with the threat/promise of Santa and all the fun decorating/decorations and activities that children were supposed to be good in December. Maybe it is just my kids, but they are completely bonkers. I have already thought of removing our decorations and starting a Festivus tradition instead (Seinfeld reference-- yes, I am old). The tree isn't even up and our Elf on the Shelf hasn't arrived for his yearly visit yet. Perhaps when the elf shows up they will mind their manners. Or at least stop yelling and hitting each other for 5 minutes.

I missed thankful Thursday yesterday. I will borrow one of E's thankfuls to use as my own: I am thankful we will spend Christmas in our own house this year. For the past few years we have traveled at Christmas and last year reached the climax of not being home on Christmas by packing up all our belongings in Washington State and moving in with my parents in Virginia until the our furniture arrived. As E described it "We will get to wake up on Christmas morning in our house and find presents under our tree and be together with just us."

Kid Update:
E --- math grade seems to be coming back up after the usual rough patch. He happily plays kickball with friends when he can get a group together after school, though early darkness has put a big damper on this activity. Has enjoyed his babysitting/mother's helper job and loves getting paid for it; still doesn't want his friends to know he is doing this. Favorite things are building with LEGOS, drawing houses and cities, and begin for baseball cards.
G --- doing well in school. He is back to nail biting again. Is learning not to put up with E's manipulation of every game. Favorite thing is doing puzzle book type things or "I Spy"/find the difference picture games. G makes up math problems for fun--- definitely a boy after daddy's own heart.
M ---loves preschool even though when he wakes up each weekday he says he doesn't want to go. M will be a Wise Man in the preschool Christmas program; to me he seems more like a Wise Guy than a Wise Man. He has been very moody lately. M's favorite things right now are riding his bike, building small LEGO items and his interest has been renewed in the Little People toys (since I was trying to pack them up for charity).

love and hugs, B

A Boy Who Needs to Learn to Read

Poor M came downstairs when we called lights out tonight. On the verge of tears holding a book. A book about a boy who finds a penguin and returns it to the Arctic believing it is lost. Sweet M walked down the hall pushing the book toward me and saying he didn't want that book in his room anymore. As the tears started streaming down his little face he explained that it was so sad because the boy leaves the penguin alone. I looked through the book with M reading the end of the story because what he couldn't tell from the pictures is that the boy turns around to find the penguin again and the last picture simply shows them reunited. M sat and looked at the last picture and still just couldn't get over his sadness. I will put the book downstairs until he learns to read and someday he will read the happy ending for himself. Until then it is kind of nice to see him this sentimental and touched by a simple story of a boy and a penguin who are lonely and need each other. Just like I need all my boys and I would be lonely without them.
love and extra big hugs, B

Thanksgiving Weekend

We drove to Nashville to celebrate Thanksgiving with D's parents and family. It has been 8 or 9 years since we made it back around the winter holidays so it was good to do it again. D's family can be a little twitchy around the camera so there aren't many pics.

The kids had not played with their cousin N since our last summer visit in 2010; they had a blast running around together and roasting marshmallows over the fire.


The drive over was smooth(even with the 3 beasties shoulder to shoulder in the back seat of the car for 10 hours),the visit was good, the drive home seemed never ending due to one long break followed by a traffic snarl around an accident.
Sunday we relaxed, did some laundry (giant mountain of laundry), and began prepping for Christmas. We got the outdoor decorations out and a few up, but this year we are taking our time with it. By Christmas it will all be done-- I hope. Gifts are mostly complete. Orders are in for pics of the boys to place in Christmas cards. Christmas cards are under way. December calendar is filling with kids programs and activities. I am trying to keep things spread out and calm so that I still have hair for the holidays. December will be stressful enough without flipping out over the holiday chaos. Today I am trying a recipe to make bird seed ornaments you can hang outside from a tree. If this works then they will be neighborhood gifts(and I will pass on the recipe), if not the birds and squirrels will love me for dumping my mistake outside for them. So far the ornaments have not stiffened the way they are supposed to. It may be back to the drawing board on neighbor gifts.
love and hugs, B

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are in Nashville celebrating Thanksgiving with D's family. It is thankful Thursday so .... I am thankful for family, friends, safe travels, and all the bountiful blessings that make up our life.
There will be an updated post when I return home perhaps covering the 10 hour (each way journey) with 3 beasties in the back seat shoulder-to-shoulder or maybe talking about why my hair is coming out by the bunches or maybe it will reveal how much weight I gain every time we go out of town for a vacation. It will definitely contain pictures; some may have D's family members glaring at me like they want to smash my camera.
Hoping everyone had a beautiful day recognizing all we have to be thankful for.
love and hugs and I posted for thankful Thursday (that makes 2 weeks in a row!) B

Random Thoughts November 2011

I haven't written a random thoughts post in quite a while. If I was going to accomplish any writing this week than it is going to have to be randomly done.
**Thankful Thursday! Isn't it ironic that during the month dedicated to giving thanks I cannot get my act together to write my thankful thursday posts? I am very grateful that the weather has changed and that we all enjoyed the fall color while it was around. I am also thankful that our yard is small and though it is surrounded by trees it doesn't seem to gather many leaves that have to be raked.
**I marked the kids heights on the ribbon we put on the pantry door frame; G( in 2nd grade) is the same size right now that E was at the beginning of 4th grade. We have told E for years to beware: being the oldest kid doesn't always mean he will be the largest kid.
**M's class at preschool collects labels and and things with words they see every day that they recognize. M loves to take in words he knows and it is a terrific activity. My problem is I giggle every time I hear him say "I want to take this in for environmental print". He loves big words and environmental is his favorite new word.
**E is trying out being a mother's helper for one of our neighbors. He goes over when asked to play with her 3 year old while she gets things done around the house. I have heard her good reviews of his "work" and he is really enjoying it. It is great to see him blossom in this way and to see his nurturing side coming out. He is still very boyish about this though and doesn't want his guy friends to know he is "babysitting" since it is a girl job. I think once he gets a bit more experience and can accept pay for his services he will find that making money doing anything when you are ten is cool with your friends.
**I recently 'liked' a business on Facebook and now need to unlike them. I like this company but do not want my FB clogged with 15 different posts about their products all day long.
**I have been sewing a lot lately and really enjoying it. I took on a project for a neighbor making a curtain for a doorway. It has been eye opening to create something with someone else and didn't realize how many little decisions go into a project: hemmed edges or rough edges, single band of solid fabric at the top/bottom/a strip on top and bottom, rod pocket at the top or down a bit so there is a gather at the top, thick sash or thin, bow on sash or tassel or plain. I am enjoying making a curtain once as it is a change of pace from quilts, kids aprons and totes, and mending, but I am not sure I am meant to make curtains professionally.
love and hugs, B

M Turns 5!! Yippeeee!

It is true--- M is 5. This one hasn't hit me the way some do and it makes me feel a bit bad because he is my "baby". I think I am just so into celebrating his growing bigger and more independent that I look at people blankly when they ask if I miss all the baby stuff (diapers. You think I would miss diapers? No thank you--- never again.) We took the whole weekend to work our way through the celebration. Saturday was opening gifts and cards. Gifts were presented with the lazy parent's present hunt method (no wrapping---we are so environmentally friendly- or at least we use that as the cover for our sloth-like ways).

Sunday was a cookout and cake. Pirate map cake. ARRGGHHH!

This week the big kids had a couple days off so while M was at school in the morning we went for walks in different parks. My favorite path in Midlothian Mines park; the goal is to take a pic of the path from the same place in each season and then do something interesting with the resulting photos. Perhaps a four panel note card or E suggested four canvas prints of them for over the fireplace. Hmmmm.. fun to think about the possibilities.

The old mine entrance where the Mines park gets its name. I love old buildings and this one in stacked stone and brick is fantastic.

Different park with a beautiful autumn photo.

love and hugs and enjoy autumn! B

Halloween Report

Last week the kids had a half day Wednesday so we went to Maymont; it has a petting farm and animal exhibit part, a nature center, different gardens and a mansion/museum. We did the free parts(animals and gardens) as an adventure. I think the kids liked the garden part best as that is where we spent the most time.

Quote of the day goes to E. As we left I got lost; this is my history with this part of town that I always get lost going to Maymont or leaving to head home. As I got on the interstate going the wrong way I made a face and grumbled.

E: We are lost now aren't we.

me: I know where we are.

E: I know where we are too and this is the wrong way.

Always good to have a backseat driver along

Saturday was pumpkin carving day! This year D took the honors while I just took pics of the festivities. All working hard to hollow out their pumpkins and design faces.

The final results on display Halloween night. M is the smallest. E is the big one here.

G's with teeth that look just like his.

Three boys ready to trick-or-treat. Two baseball players and a monkey.

The monkey made it home first. Encountered too many dogs along the way and the eyes started swelling and weeping and itching.

G just wanted to talk about how many of his friends he saw along the route.

E was very excited with his loot, but by morning was creating a give away stack and saying it was just too much. When even the children are overwhelmed by the amount of candy then you know they got bunches. Hope D's friends at work are enjoying some today.

love and hugs and Happy Halloween! B