Innocent or . . .

Look at that sweet innocent face. He certainly can't get into any trouble. He certainly would never think to sneak around and snatch things from unsuspecting folks. And if you believe that I have a bridge to sell you. . .

Today was pizza and movie night. Which means things are a bit more casual than normal. Picture various kids laying on the floor watching a movie, various kids running to the kitchen to grab more pizza. Picture Abby standing in the kitchen talking to Dad with a piece of pizza on the plate in her hands. Picture Gabe walk up behind her, reach around her from behind and steal the pizza right off her plate. In true poetic justice fashion, a few minutes later the dog had snatched said pizza from Gabe and scarfed it down in record time. Lesson learned tonight is that in this house all food should be guarded closely. And kept out of reach of the furry shedding one.

Homemade Tortillas

Homemade tortillas. Very labor and time intensive for me right now still. Very affordable. Very delicious. I made a decent sized batch this morning so we have enough for lunch and dinner. Beans and rice in tortillas for lunch. 7 very happy kids. Not much more you can ask for. And, yes, this means we do eat beans and rice on occasion. You simply can't beat this kind of meal for simplicity, cost or for filling up a bunch of hungry kids.

We Owe Several Rounds of Thank-you's

This week we have been on the receiving end of several very nice gifts. On Saturday I stopped at the produce stand with Kieran, Liam and Gabe intending to buy some fruit for the week. We came home with 3 boxes full of bell peppers, 2 heads of cauliflower in addition to the apples and grapes. And the vegetables were all free. Yes, they are the seconds, been around for a while stuff. But free is free and I'll be able to put 3 gallon sized bags stuffed full of pepper slices in the freezer for winter.

Today a friend brought over two huge bags of hand-me-downs that are just the right size for Kieran. It included a brand new with tags jacket that Kieran has been wearing all day, 2 winter coats, a pair of snow boots in just the right size for this year and a gladiator costume that would be perfect for someone to use as St. Michael the Archangel at our All Saints Day party. The bags were stuffed full of almost brand new name brand stuff. Apparently her son is very neat and careful with his clothes, something I don't see often around here. We were very happy to see that the bag was full of almost everything Kieran will need to wear this winter.

On Tuesday a friend made dinner for us so I could have a break from cooking and dealing with morning sickness. The moron who named it morning sickness has obviously never dealt with 24 hr all day sickness before. Dinner complete with apple crisp for dessert made everyone happy.

Pumpkins and Popcorn

We visited a pumpkin farm today. I don't have too many pictures because the stupid camera and I were having an argument. The darn thing eats batteries as if they were chocolate. And Snapfish always complains about the photo quality. The next camera will have rechargeable batteries at the very least. But this is not about the camera.The farm we visited was a small family run affair. The kids were able to pet goats, a cow, rabbits and see turkeys. They also had a corn maze and an area where you could make your own scarecrow. I am half tempted to go back with the kids later this week and make one. We brought home 3 large pumpkins and 6 pie pumpkins. We also brought home 7 ears of popcorn to dry out. It should be ready by Thanksgiving to pop. And yes, all of the seeds from the pumpkins will be snacks and the rest of the pumpkins will be cooked down and turned into puree to keep in the freezer for the rest of the year. I am very much against cutting up a pumpkin just for a decoration and then tossing it. That idea seriously bothers me considering how much you often pay for the darn things. The ones we got today were very cheap but it is still food and will be used as such.Here is Katie shucking an ear of popcorn.

And here is Gabe trying to escape the hay mountain.

Another Day, Another Field Trip

Today we took a trip to a 17th century Seneca village. We walked the Trail of Peace and learned about a historic battle between the French and the Seneca people in 1687. We also heard the legend of the Peacemaker who united several Indian Nations into a Confederacy. Ok, I missed most of that story chasing down the little dude. Then we visited a longhouse and were able to see how the Seneca people lived in this area.

Some trade items in the Longhouse.

Some furs on the bed in the Longhouse.

Bryan is not sure what he took this picture of to be honest.

The outside of the Longhouse.

A view of the Longhouse from the door.

Their garden.

One of the tour guides.

Just a beautiful view.

The little dude I was chasing.

I hope you know what this one is a picture of.

Seeing a longhouse in person really gives you a new appreciation for how much space we have in our own homes. Just another one of those reminders that in general Americans have become incredibly spoiled and demand way more of everything than they really need. I know I can think of at least one home we "outgrew" simply because we bought too much stuff for the kids. Could you imagine sharing a home like that with your entire extended family?

Tried Something New Today

I was in the mood to make a cake this afternoon.It started out looking like this.
Then like this.
The end result was something like this. The kids all loved it.

Some Recent Pictures

Liam is putting together his favorite puzzles.
Katie and her birthday presents.
Take one small child, add one slice of bread covered with Nutella. End result is a chocolate covered mess.
It's an oatmeal kind of morning.
Liam has been building lots of forts lately. This is one of his smaller creations.
This chicken decided to join Alan up on the roof of the barn. She seems quite proud of herself.
Look at how big he is getting. If only I could convince him to always sit in the chairs instead of standing up and dancing around on them.

Buddies

These two boys seem to be best buddies. I can always count on Bryan to take care of Gabe when I need help and Gabe absolutely loves his big brother. Gabe will actually try to jump out of your arms to go to Bryan, something he does not do with anyone else. One of the joys of raising a large family is watching these sort of relationships develop. You are sometimes surprised by which kids become best buddies.

Happy Birthday Katie!

Katie celebrated her birthday late last night with spaghetti, garlic bread, a butterfly cake and pink ice cream. She seems to have had a wonderful day.

Feast of the Guardian Angels

Today we celebrated the Feast of the Guardian Angels. I can't think of a better reason to make angel food cake for dessert than that. The kids also watched a movie about your guardian angel and colored pictures of guardian angels. Kieran made an angel for his religion lesson today and we worked on memorizing the Guardian Angel Prayer.

This morning Father Mickey enrolled all 5 older kids in the Scapular. Yes, it took us this long to coordinate everything. And Alan and I renewed our wedding vows at Mass. When he tries, Alan can actually think of romantic things to do. He just can't seem to figure out how to keep me from figuring out what his plans are ahead of time. Father did a great job at keeping it a secret and although Alan tried to do the same, it just didn't work out. Add to all this the normal laundry, dishes, dryer that likes to pop open on it's own and stop working, dishwasher that decided to stop working in the middle of a load, school work, the discovery of a nest full of 16 eggs, rain, spilled drinks, meals, cleaned bedrooms (at least they pretended to clean them) and I think we've had a rather busy and somewhat productive day.

Science Project

Bryan has been begging to this science project for days but there are certain things I prefer not to do while the little folks are running around and trying to help. Last night he finally was able to get out everything and make soap. He was supposed to use herbs that grew in his light box but apparently when the cord for the light bulb in the light box keeps being moved to work on the barn, the herbs you plant tend not to grow. So instead we just used some essential oils and he added some colorant. We just did melt and pour glycerin based soap so super easy and he honestly could do it himself with very minimal supervision (assuming small folks are out of range). Personally, I would love to learn to make more complicated soaps one of these days but for now we will stick to the easy stuff.

I Can't Believe It Happened

It happened. I was so hoping we would avoid this awful mess. But this morning one of the children took it upon themselves to hack off a huge chunk of Katie's hair. Ok, it's just hair. It will grow back. But she just does not look like Katie anymore. I actually think I may have to take her in to get it straightened out a bit because I am not so great at getting short haircuts straight. Especially when the head in question keeps moving. It's easier with boys. If you mess up, you just give them a buzz cut. Sigh, I'm hoping her hair grows back quickly.

The Little Flower

October 1 is the feast day of St. Therese the Little Flower. I didn't quite have my act together this year so we did not have everything we needed to make sacrifice beads. But we did manage to pull a few things together. We read a story about her life, found a picture to color, listened to a song about her and had pink rice crispy treats. Why pink? Well, St. Therese is often associated with flowers or roses. People say they receive flowers as a sign that she has heard their prayers. In most pictures, you see red roses. So I was trying to make red rice crispy treats and the food coloring turned pink instead. But they were still delicious.