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.