Catching Up (Again)

So besides our mini-vacation last week...

what else have we been up to?

For starters, I have been working on a project

that I am SOOOO excited to share with you,

BUT, its not quite complete

FULLY.

I am doing 8 sets,

so it is taking me a while.

My mom and mother in law each received a set

last week.

Once the others have been completed,

mailed and received...

I will share...

but I am SO excited!!

We had some friends come over to play 

a few weeks ago.

The kids that were over 

are literally almost

the exact same age as my older 3

and same sexes...

so it was PERFECT.

A had a sweet little girl to play with.

She asked if we had dolls,

um, a few...

then she wanted clothes for them.

Hmmm...I don't think we have any sweetie.

You see, my little sweet girl is growing up in a house full of boys

and with a mommy that doesn't really remember playing with dolls.

I am sure I did - 

but we have purchased dolls 

and such for her

and she just never shows much interest.

So I showed her what we did have in A's room

and left them up there.

Then a few minutes later, she came down

asking me to help her take her dress off...

boy you should have seen the look on my face,

DO WHAT??

Then I finally figured out they had found the little 

princess dresses on the back of A's door 

and they wanted to play dress up.

So I helped her get into the little dress,

and showed them where A's little dress-up earrings

and bracelets and bows were.

Oh and shoes - they needed shoes!

The little friend (L), left her headband at the house.

And A has been talking about her friend, L

and saying her name

(that is a first for my kids, they all have the memory of 

their momma and can't remember their friends' names!)

Off with the bow box to play dress-up.

So there were 7 kids in our house

and God decided to make it rain.

Thank you, sir.

No I do not really want 7 kids

yes I am happy with the 4 I have,

now please make the rain stop so they can

GO OUTSIDE!!!

Notice the girls still in their dresses.

Ok kids, time to switch.

I was not about to allow the littles on the trampoline

with those big boys.

That evening,

daddy did a little weight lifting.

He frequently does this with one kid at a time...

they were too wiggly to successfully do 2 at a time.

So mommy decided to challenge him to do

arm raises with our oldest.

(don't ask what we are watching - it appears to be a show

they are not supposed to be watching!)

Then a few months ago 

(Christmas I think)

one of my sisters sent a nifty packet of 

hand tattoos for the boys.

(here is what the box looked like)

Haha - look mommy - he's eating him.

Baby bird update:

These were taken before we left for our trip.

Unfortunately,

when we got back, we discovered that they had learned

how to fly in our absence!  

They are still coming back to the nest every night,

but they love to perch on the top of the trampoline netting

during the day.

Which means there is TONS of poop on the trampoline now.

YUCK!

More Holiday Happenings

I enjoy homeschooling.

I really do.

I love being with my kids all day.

They are growing up WAY too fast.

And I was really worried about them

getting restless.

But I am coming up with enough activities

that it works!

And I enjoy it...

BUT

Let me say that Christmas shopping 

at night

after the kids were all in the bed

was

Ah-Mazing!

I don't get to do much shopping without

4 sets of "helping hands".

My oldest, R, asked for a special 

Christmas morning breakfast.

Christmas tree pancakes with 

whipped cream and sprinkles.

We did them Christmas Eve morning though.

(Or was it the day after Christmas morning? -

I forget)

Anyways, they loved them!

Christmas morning we had our traditional

sausage pinwheels 

and

monkey bread.

Here is what our 

Christmas tree pancakes looked like.

(Our predecorated Christmas Tree forest)

I am pretty proud of them personally!!

Notice how I got everyone blinking in all their pictures!

UGH!!

We did quite a few puzzles...

Each one of the kids got to do a floor puzzle.

Thankfully we have a big enough kitchen that no

one got in each other's way!

Oddly - I think my oldest picked the easiest puzzle!!

Then the boys godparents sent the coolest puzzles I have ever seen!!
I just knew these would peak their interest

and keep them occupied for a bit.

However,

they whipped these

puzzles together 

way faster than I thought they would.

Pretty cool!!

(Yes that is a VERY forced smile! - he totally LOVED putting it

together - I promise!)

Daddy took the week off and stayed home with us.

This is the first time we have had a full week vacation with daddy

in I can't tell you how long.

It was nice.

We got to do a couple of fun things.

We went to the movies to see ChipWrecked.

All 6 of us - little T even sat in his own seat 

for a little bit, but got cranky toward the end.

Luckily movies are loud and tend to drown out 

crying babies!

The next day we ventured out to Six Flags - 

aka - Fiesta Texas.

That place is HUGE and way to much to do in one day.

We have been spoiled by the few times

we have been to SeaWorld down here since we got here.

And it has been EMPTY.

The kids were able to ride the same ride back to back 

a couple of times.

Well not this time! 

It was the last big hoo-rah before the season break.

So it was a little busy.

But we enjoyed it.

The following day we went

back to SeaWorld to 

ring enjoy 

their 

New Year's Eve

Celebration.

Princess A accompanied us on that trip!

(notice the princess attire and the monster truck toy in her hand!)

Not a bad way to continue our Christmas season

and

welcome in 

The New Year!!

(Daddy was playing 

with the settings on our new camera

and was able to capture this shot

of the fireworks 

over the lake at SeaWorld.)

We left the new camera in the stroller

so I had to rely on my SLOW

camera on my phone...

I got a LOT of after shots of the whales

jumping

but somehow caught this one PERFECT!

Happy New Year Friends and Family!

I hope that 2012 brings you happiness and peace beyond your dreams!