I did the braiding and I have to say....I think I got it!!!
Zupfa - Round #2
I had tried to make Zupfa a few years back and my braiding needed some practice. So Dad and Thomas were in town this weekend and we tried again.....and the girls helped.
I did the braiding and I have to say....I think I got it!!!
I did the braiding and I have to say....I think I got it!!!
Lauren's 1st Christmas Program
Dustin had to miss this one as well. :-( He was not happy about it but we were both expecting her to collapse and cry through the whole thing so we honestly didn't think he'd be missing much other than a fit in front of one hundred strangers.
She had been talking about it each and every day for weeks and you know we heard each and every one of her songs about a thousand times. Hand gestures and all. I went out and got her a new dress this weekend in the hopes that a new dress would help give her the courage to stand up and sing loudly. She loved the dress...and looked adorable in it. And she was more than happy to tell everyone how cute she looked all night, too. I wish I had half this child's self-esteem. ;-)
We went and found a seat in the church and waited for the program to unfold. My first hurdle was to have her walk past me without collapsing in the middle of the aisle. As soon as my daycare provider said she saw her heading our way I got all nervous...and then she saw me....
smiled...and kept on going.
Phew!
She was placed in her spot and looked right at me. And smiled again. I was shocked.
Then they started singing and she played shy and hid behind the girl in front of her. Two songs in and she was performing like the little songbird I know and love!
Unfortunately, I was pretty far back and this is the best picture I have...
She made it all the way to the end and I was so proud of her that when it was all over she ran right up to me and I got tears in my eyes! What a big girl she is becoming!! Dustin was devastated. He, of course, was sooooo proud of her, but soooo sad he missed it.
After the program we had a little birthday party for Jesus and celebrated with cupcakes.
And then I told Ella it was over an hour past her bedtime....
and we had to leave.
She had been talking about it each and every day for weeks and you know we heard each and every one of her songs about a thousand times. Hand gestures and all. I went out and got her a new dress this weekend in the hopes that a new dress would help give her the courage to stand up and sing loudly. She loved the dress...and looked adorable in it. And she was more than happy to tell everyone how cute she looked all night, too. I wish I had half this child's self-esteem. ;-)
We went and found a seat in the church and waited for the program to unfold. My first hurdle was to have her walk past me without collapsing in the middle of the aisle. As soon as my daycare provider said she saw her heading our way I got all nervous...and then she saw me....
smiled...and kept on going.
Phew!
She was placed in her spot and looked right at me. And smiled again. I was shocked.
Then they started singing and she played shy and hid behind the girl in front of her. Two songs in and she was performing like the little songbird I know and love!
Unfortunately, I was pretty far back and this is the best picture I have...
She made it all the way to the end and I was so proud of her that when it was all over she ran right up to me and I got tears in my eyes! What a big girl she is becoming!! Dustin was devastated. He, of course, was sooooo proud of her, but soooo sad he missed it.
After the program we had a little birthday party for Jesus and celebrated with cupcakes.
And then I told Ella it was over an hour past her bedtime....
and we had to leave.
Outtakes
I was working on one of my Christmas presents and needed some pictures of the kids.
Josh did it in one take.
Lauren in three.
Ella...well, I lost count.
Josh did it in one take.
Lauren in three.
Ella...well, I lost count.
2010 Gingerbread House
We have made it an annual event and this year the kids didn't want any of our help. Fine by me!! "Here's the frosting and there's the candy. And please don't frost yourself to the thing because that frosting is like cement and you will just have to walk around with a gingerbread house coming out of your right hand for the rest of 2010."
We probably will not be eating it this year and you can all thank Lauren for that. I'm quite certain that whatever she couldn't get to stick to the gingerbread with frosting she tried to lick like a stamp and put it on with her own saliva. Yummy, huh?
We probably will not be eating it this year and you can all thank Lauren for that. I'm quite certain that whatever she couldn't get to stick to the gingerbread with frosting she tried to lick like a stamp and put it on with her own saliva. Yummy, huh?
Joshua's Christmas Program
This is the third year that Dustin has not been able to attend a Christmas program. I do my best to get pictures but when I have two other little ones to watch and when I'm stuck way in the back...well, I have good intentions, but sometimes I don't get the best documentation for Dustin.
Patiently waiting....
Is Joshie next?
That's my brother!!
This is the best photo I could get!
It was a big year because he is finally big enough to stand in the back row. I heard about that more than anything the week leading up to his big performance.
The funny story of the evening happened during the performance of Feliz Navidad. They had all these hand movements and the song was sort of dragging on....and then....he rolled his eyes very dramatically and for what seemed like five minutes. I grabbed Toni's arm and said, "My.son.just.rolled.his eyes."
This child is supposed to be my good one.
Patiently waiting....
Is Joshie next?
That's my brother!!
This is the best photo I could get!
It was a big year because he is finally big enough to stand in the back row. I heard about that more than anything the week leading up to his big performance.
The funny story of the evening happened during the performance of Feliz Navidad. They had all these hand movements and the song was sort of dragging on....and then....he rolled his eyes very dramatically and for what seemed like five minutes. I grabbed Toni's arm and said, "My.son.just.rolled.his eyes."
This child is supposed to be my good one.
Our First Snow
The kids had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first snow. I had the snow pants and boots hung up and waiting by the door for weeks just waiting for the white stuff to get here. Well, it finally did. Not much of it, but enough to stop the daily question of, "When is the snow going to come?"
All that excitement over the first snow and I am already done with all the hats, mittens, scarves, coats, snow pants and boots. First,you have losing the stuff. Josh has three hats in rotation right now and each day is a crap shoot for which ONE he can actually find. I'm convinced he just does it to drive me nuts and see how many times I can say, "JOSH, WHERE'S YOUR FREAKING HAT" because each morning when he can tell I'm ready to lose it he miraculously finds one. He is also on his second pair of snow pants because the first ones were de-stroyed. I didn't even ask what happened because really....does it even matter anymore?
Lauren has already been through two sets of mittens and I have one random one just waiting for its mate. Then there's her hats. She has three of those and two don't really fit thanks to the Bruni/Krueger skull size. So when the one hat that fits is missing...it's a morning/afternoon/evening filled with whining about an ill fitting hat. Oy vey.
Ella. Well, she is the easiest but we seem to lose one mitten at least once a week but for some reason it keeps reappearing. I'm convinced she's hiding it and just about when I'm about to break down and buy a new set...she pulls it out. I'm sure she finds that extremely amusing.
Then, there is all the fun that is involved with getting all this gear on three children each and every time we leave the house. It adds about fifteen minutes to our morning and subtracts about three hours from my lifespan. It's exhausting and causes more whining/crying/yelling before 7:00 am than most people hear all day.
Finally, you have the added joy all this padded clothing brings to the car ride. Here's just a few things I hear each and every day....
1) I'm too hot.
2) I dropped my mitten.
3) My seat belt is too tight with my coat on.
4) Joshie took my hat.
5) Joshie is sitting on my hat.
6) Ella took her mitten off to suck her thumb!
7) Why do I have to wear my mittens when Ella has hers off?
8) I can't see because my hat is in my eyes.
9) This scarf is too tight.
10) How much longer till Christmas?
I know that last one doesn't really have anything to do with the snow gear...but I still hear it about twenty times each day.
Is it almost spring yet?
All that excitement over the first snow and I am already done with all the hats, mittens, scarves, coats, snow pants and boots. First,you have losing the stuff. Josh has three hats in rotation right now and each day is a crap shoot for which ONE he can actually find. I'm convinced he just does it to drive me nuts and see how many times I can say, "JOSH, WHERE'S YOUR FREAKING HAT" because each morning when he can tell I'm ready to lose it he miraculously finds one. He is also on his second pair of snow pants because the first ones were de-stroyed. I didn't even ask what happened because really....does it even matter anymore?
Lauren has already been through two sets of mittens and I have one random one just waiting for its mate. Then there's her hats. She has three of those and two don't really fit thanks to the Bruni/Krueger skull size. So when the one hat that fits is missing...it's a morning/afternoon/evening filled with whining about an ill fitting hat. Oy vey.
Ella. Well, she is the easiest but we seem to lose one mitten at least once a week but for some reason it keeps reappearing. I'm convinced she's hiding it and just about when I'm about to break down and buy a new set...she pulls it out. I'm sure she finds that extremely amusing.
Then, there is all the fun that is involved with getting all this gear on three children each and every time we leave the house. It adds about fifteen minutes to our morning and subtracts about three hours from my lifespan. It's exhausting and causes more whining/crying/yelling before 7:00 am than most people hear all day.
Finally, you have the added joy all this padded clothing brings to the car ride. Here's just a few things I hear each and every day....
1) I'm too hot.
2) I dropped my mitten.
3) My seat belt is too tight with my coat on.
4) Joshie took my hat.
5) Joshie is sitting on my hat.
6) Ella took her mitten off to suck her thumb!
7) Why do I have to wear my mittens when Ella has hers off?
8) I can't see because my hat is in my eyes.
9) This scarf is too tight.
10) How much longer till Christmas?
I know that last one doesn't really have anything to do with the snow gear...but I still hear it about twenty times each day.
Is it almost spring yet?
Christmas Concerts
Here is my informational announcement about the kid's Christmas programs!
Josh:
Caring Corner - December 9th at 6:30.
Wilkins - I called the school to double check and apparently they are not having an evening performance. They are having a school sing-a-long on December 7th at 9:00; however, I'm not sure it is open to the public.
Lauren:
Little Lambs - They have recently changed the orginially scheduled time due to smaller class sizes. So instead of it being on Tuesday, it is now on Monday, December 13th at 7:15. Since that's Ella's regular bedtime....this should be fun.
Come one, come all!!
Josh:
Caring Corner - December 9th at 6:30.
Wilkins - I called the school to double check and apparently they are not having an evening performance. They are having a school sing-a-long on December 7th at 9:00; however, I'm not sure it is open to the public.
Lauren:
Little Lambs - They have recently changed the orginially scheduled time due to smaller class sizes. So instead of it being on Tuesday, it is now on Monday, December 13th at 7:15. Since that's Ella's regular bedtime....this should be fun.
Come one, come all!!
Name that tune
Lauren is singing her favorite Christmas song and this is how it goes.....
"Him knows when you are awake. Him knows when you are asleep. Don't pout. Don't cry. Him's coming to town."
Can you guess what it is?
We also hear "Jingle bell, jingle bell. Ha! Ha! Ha!" quite a bit! ;-)
"Him knows when you are awake. Him knows when you are asleep. Don't pout. Don't cry. Him's coming to town."
Can you guess what it is?
We also hear "Jingle bell, jingle bell. Ha! Ha! Ha!" quite a bit! ;-)
Out of the mouths of babes
Conversation #1 -
Lauren is all about birthday parties. And Jesus' birthday party is no different. Last night on the way home we were admiring all the new Christmas lights and talking about how it's only a few more weeks until Christmas.
Lauren: Mom! Jesus' birf-day is on Chwis-mas!!
Me: I know!
Lauren: This year he's gonna be one year old!!!
Me: Uh...I don't think so sweety. He's a bit older than that.
Lauren: How old?
Me: Like over 2,000 years old.
Lauren: Whoa. Is he even older than you?
Me: Uh...yeah.
Josh: **snickering**
Conversation #2 -
Every night it is a struggle for who gets to tell me about their day first. It usually ends up in a fight. So the other night Lauren was telling me about her day first and all of a sudden Josh pipes up and cuts in.
Lauren: MOM! Joshie in-ta-wup-ed me!
I died. She knows the word interrupt. Only in a multi-child home would a three year-old know what that word means. And how to appropriately use it.
Conversation #3 -
It's not really a conversation, so much, as it is a word. Ella has been steadily adding words to her vocabulary but the one word she uses most often is "Daddy". It's completely adorable and I can see Dustin's heart melt each time she calls for him. I am still patiently waiting to hear "Mommy". ;-)
Anyway, Dustin was up on the ladder hanging lights on Sunday and Ella was watching his every move from the front storm door. He started to climb up the tree and he got to the point where she could only see his legs. She SCREAMED "DADDY" as loud and as worried as a little toddler could. I came running and he was just getting off the ladder to come comfort her.
She was all smiles when she realized that he was fine....and that all she has to do is yell for him and he comes. She's a good trainer. ;-)
Lauren is all about birthday parties. And Jesus' birthday party is no different. Last night on the way home we were admiring all the new Christmas lights and talking about how it's only a few more weeks until Christmas.
Lauren: Mom! Jesus' birf-day is on Chwis-mas!!
Me: I know!
Lauren: This year he's gonna be one year old!!!
Me: Uh...I don't think so sweety. He's a bit older than that.
Lauren: How old?
Me: Like over 2,000 years old.
Lauren: Whoa. Is he even older than you?
Me: Uh...yeah.
Josh: **snickering**
Conversation #2 -
Every night it is a struggle for who gets to tell me about their day first. It usually ends up in a fight. So the other night Lauren was telling me about her day first and all of a sudden Josh pipes up and cuts in.
Lauren: MOM! Joshie in-ta-wup-ed me!
I died. She knows the word interrupt. Only in a multi-child home would a three year-old know what that word means. And how to appropriately use it.
Conversation #3 -
It's not really a conversation, so much, as it is a word. Ella has been steadily adding words to her vocabulary but the one word she uses most often is "Daddy". It's completely adorable and I can see Dustin's heart melt each time she calls for him. I am still patiently waiting to hear "Mommy". ;-)
Anyway, Dustin was up on the ladder hanging lights on Sunday and Ella was watching his every move from the front storm door. He started to climb up the tree and he got to the point where she could only see his legs. She SCREAMED "DADDY" as loud and as worried as a little toddler could. I came running and he was just getting off the ladder to come comfort her.
She was all smiles when she realized that he was fine....and that all she has to do is yell for him and he comes. She's a good trainer. ;-)
A Bricker-style Christmas
Josh officially has been blessed/cursed with my obsession with Christmas decorations. The poor kid was going through a serious meltdown last weekend because I didn't want to get all of the decorations out. We settled on setting up the tree and mantle in the family room.
Then this weekend I came down with a nasty cold. But the thought of having him go through another meltdown was enough to motivate me to get out of bed and re-string the 10' tree with 37 strands of lights. It truly is a Griswold Christmas!!
We ran out to buy all new lights for the big tree this year and I have to admit that when the girl asked how many trees we had I was slightly embarassed to say, "One." At first she giggled until she realized I was serious. I mean, really...who buys lights by the tray? Apparently, we do.
Josh was my little helper. The kid took the lights out of the box, tested them, removed the bag of extra lights and twisty ties and straightened out nearly all of the 37 strands, putting them in links of five for me. I literally put lights on for five hours. Fearing that he was going to want to decorate the tree that night I asked if he was tired of doing this yet and was thrilled to hear, "Yes".
So we waited for a good night's sleep and got up bright and early and finished the rest of the decorating - inside and out.
Then this weekend I came down with a nasty cold. But the thought of having him go through another meltdown was enough to motivate me to get out of bed and re-string the 10' tree with 37 strands of lights. It truly is a Griswold Christmas!!
We ran out to buy all new lights for the big tree this year and I have to admit that when the girl asked how many trees we had I was slightly embarassed to say, "One." At first she giggled until she realized I was serious. I mean, really...who buys lights by the tray? Apparently, we do.
Josh was my little helper. The kid took the lights out of the box, tested them, removed the bag of extra lights and twisty ties and straightened out nearly all of the 37 strands, putting them in links of five for me. I literally put lights on for five hours. Fearing that he was going to want to decorate the tree that night I asked if he was tired of doing this yet and was thrilled to hear, "Yes".
So we waited for a good night's sleep and got up bright and early and finished the rest of the decorating - inside and out.
First Pumpkin Pie
Dustin loves pumpkin pie. I personally can't stand the stuff but every year, as an ode to my husband, I make him one. He's never come between me and a Banana Cream so I think it's only fair. ;-)
So Wednesday I was home from work and Josh and I made one pumpkin pie and one apple pie. Josh likes pumpkin pie. Lauren hated it last year. But apparently pumpkin pie can grow on a girl because this year she loved it. Ella....well, she's like her mother and only likes the whipped cream.
So Wednesday I was home from work and Josh and I made one pumpkin pie and one apple pie. Josh likes pumpkin pie. Lauren hated it last year. But apparently pumpkin pie can grow on a girl because this year she loved it. Ella....well, she's like her mother and only likes the whipped cream.
