A Mini-Mouse

When Alan upgraded my computer the other day, he realized the wires on my mouse were very frayed and to the point of not being easily fixed.  Rather than buy a new one, it has been replaced with a kind of tiny mini-mouse.  I believe this is one of those things that my FIL got for free in a bag from a conference and we accepted thinking that we were not sure how we would use it.  But now I am very glad we had it because it saved us from having to spend money on a new one.  And because it is so tiny, I had to take picture.  Every time I use this mouse, it will remind me that we are making small steady progress by not running out to buy a new one.

Happy Birthday Alan

Just a short simple happy birthday and we love you.  I hope you have a wonderful day.

Christmas 2011

 I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  The kids around here are very happy. Most of the assorted paper and plastic and assorted twisty things keeping toys tied down have been picked up.  We only made half the cookies we planned on, only read a few of the books, only got through half the Advent calendar, didn't touch the Jesse Tree this year, yelled a bit too much, and yet I think the kids are still happy.  Katie fell in love with The Nativity Story movie this year and although it does not exactly keep to the Catholic version of the story, it was a great story to share.  The younger ones have loved Polar Express (I just don't get that movie) and the new Veggie Tales Little Drummer Boy movie.  Right now the kids and their Dad are all gathered around the tv watching Muppet Treasure Island.  I do believe that is Alan's favorite Muppet movie and his parents were nice enough to buy a DVD version this year to replace our very old and worn out VHS copy.  So now that dinner has been cleaned up and the kids are in pj's, it's time to share pictures.

decorating the tree

I know it looks like Ellie is decorating the tree but she is actually taking things off the tree.

Ellie and her doll

The before shot

Before Mass on Christmas morning.

Our traditional Christmas breakfast. Everyone gets to pick what they like, a rare thing around here.

Katie and her doll.

Liam's new RC truck.

The Nerf gun conference.

Chuggington trains.

His own fire truck.

Abby now has an Ergo carrier just like Mom's.

Decorating Cookies

Ok, this is where I admit that I have not yet started to make Christmas cookies.  I did make a batch of peanut clusters for a cookie exchange because it was something I could making using the crockpot.  I am starting to think I may have a slightly sick love affair going on with my crockpots.  Anyway, the kids have not been lacking for cookies even if I'm not making them.  I brought 11 dozen home from said cookie exchange (which the kids devoured in 3 days) and we brought some home from a friend yesterday (the kids devoured those in about an hour or two).  But I fear now the time has finally come for me to make cookies myself.

To make up for my total lack of domesticity (is that a word? not sure but it sounds good so I'm running with it), I picked up a pre-made kit of gingerbread cookie things at Target the other day.  Yes, I love those pre-made kits when you find them in the clearance section.  Cookies, frosting, sprinkles, everything you need to just hand to the kids and say have fun.  You get points for being a cool mom and your planning time was about zero.  So last night after finishing dinner the kids all got to decorate a gingerbread cookie.  Ok, Ellie did not decorate one. She just ate one but next year I'm sure she'll be in on the fun.

Ice Skating

Today we were able to take all of the kids ice skating.  Ok, Ellie and Robert hung out with Dad and just watched but everyone else got out on the ice.  Even me.  Shocking, I know.  My only regret is that I did not get a picture of Gabe but he only lasted for the first hour before he was ready to take a break.  The poor kid spent most of his time laying on the ice rather than skating but he had a big huge smile on his face the entire time.

Katie and Abby can't quite decide if they enjoyed the chance to socialize with girls or the skating more.  Either way, by the end of the afternoon they were both doing a great job on their own. Everyone caught on rather quickly (of the kids, only Bryan and Sean had ever been skating before) and all injuries were minor.  The kids are already planning a return trip so I guess that means they had a great time.

Happy Birthday Kieran

Kieran is now officially ten. Double digit territory. I'm hoping he enjoyed his day and will ignore/forget about me griping at him to leave me the heck alone so I could get some rest while the baby was finally sleeping but who knows. Red Robin for dinner, pistachio cake for dessert and a nerf gun for a present. I'm not sure who was more thrilled when he opened it: Kieran or the brothers who were with me and told me what he wanted. Oh my goodness, I haven't seen quite that much excitement over a present since we bought a toy vacuum for Bryan when he was one and he stood there for close to 10 minutes and just said "Oh Wow" over and over again.

Anyway, happy birthday Kieran. Hope you had a great day.

2011 Christmas Card

This year's Christmas card. Check out Shutterfly for your own photo cards, photo calendars and prints. Once again, their promotions and discounts allowed us to get our cards for free.

Picture This Christmas Card

Create from the Heart: photo Christmas cards from Shutterfly .

View the entire collection of cards.

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Little Miss Ellie turned one on Friday.  She is still such a tiny thing that it is rather hard to imagine she is already one.  She's walking, going up the stairs, perfecting the temper tantrum and in general holds her own rather well among her older siblings.  For their part, the older kids all love her and spoil her quite a bit.  She's a very lucky little lady and we feel beyond blessed to have her in our family.  Happy Birthday Ellie.

Happy Thanksgiving

Spent the morning at church with a few of the kids and someone snapped this picture for me.  Just a few of the wonderful people I am thankful to have in my life. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Old Fort Niagara

On Friday we took a trip to Old Fort Niagara.  It was a wee bit cold and windy but the kids were troopers and enjoyed the day. We learned about the history of the fort and the kids were given a bit of instruction in the life of the soldiers who would have occupied this fort.  They learned about the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the musket, why rifles were not used in combat, why battles were fought how they were at the time and now to properly hold and fire a musket.  I do believe the portion of the day that was spent with the muskets and learning from the French soldier will be the most remembered portion of the trip.

We also learned of the connection between Fort Niagara and The Star-Spangled Banner, although I'm pretty sure the kids have already forgotten.  Like I said, the muskets were the big rage.

We would have stayed a bit longer to explore after our tour but it was getting rather cold and a few kids were complaining about not being able to feel their fingers or something.  So we headed off to drop in on my grandparents for a bit instead.  Nothing like brownies, candy and soda to warm the kids back up.

I'd love to head back to the Fort in slightly warmer weather or perhaps when they are holding one of their reenactments and take Alan with us.  I have a feeling he'd enjoy it.

A Few More Vacation Pictures

Just a few more vacation pictures. Did I mention that Alan and the older kids spent the afternoon at the beach and saw a group of dolphins hunting fish?  Amazing sight I've been told.

 This is how we pack for the trip apparently.

We discovered that we only have 2 suitcases.  Obviously one day we'll have to fix that.  We do have a few large green duffle bags and I've learned to pack in plastic totes because they are easy to stack in the van and carry so we're good as long as we don't ever have to fly somewhere.

 The view from the front row.  Yes, we turned Robert around for the trip thinking he'd want to watch movies but apparently he gets car sick facing forward, wasn't interested in the movies on the way down and the DVD player wouldn't work on the way back home.  He'll be turned back around for the rest of the winter to get us through the icy road season and keep him safer.  And, um, I think we've almost outgrown the van. Hard to imagine.

Kids with personality.  Everyone had fun spending time with their cousins.  It would be nice to be able to get the kids together a bit more often especially since they seem to have so much in common.

The Real Reason for the Vacation

Ok, the real reason for the trip to Florida was to wish Grandpa Herb a Happy 90th Birthday.  We really miss being close enough to see Grandpa every week and being able to have the kids get to know one of their grandparents so well.  He's been the only grandparent they have who was just able to drop in at soccer games and such.  I know the kids loved being so close to him and Alan really enjoyed having a chance to get to know him as an adult.  I know we enjoyed spending the time with him so I sincerely hope he enjoyed having the chance to catch up and see everyone.

LEGOLand Pictures

Just a few pictures from LEGOLand.  As I said, we all enjoyed the visit.  I wish we'd had a bit more time to spend there but the traffic was awful that day.  There is enough to keep both little and big kids occupied but if you have both age groups with you, you'll have to split up to hit everything.  We're used to doing that so not a big deal for us.  I learned that Abby is a bit of a dare devil and Liam is not quite as adventurous as his younger sisters.  But there is no way in heck he will admit that in front of his little sisters.  I think in the future the girls will be going to bigger rides with Bryan while Liam and Sean hand out at the slightly more tame ones.  I guess several of the folks who joined us for the group trip are hoping to put together another field trip soon.  With the rates being so low right now, it makes perfect sense.

Ellie's first ride. She was not impressed.