Happy New Year!

 We had a fantastic time last night at the L's annual New Year's Eve party!  Lots of delicious food, good friends, and noisemakers for our 9:00 countdown!  It's great to be able to say goodbye to one year and welcome in the new one with special friends.

 We also had the most amazing thing happen!  Every year we have a new baby, I like to get an ornament for our tree from the place in the mall where you can get personalized ornaments--you know, a bunch of little teddy bears in a stocking or stockings on the mantelpiece or whatever, and the person working there writes the names on the ornaments for you.  I hadn't felt up to braving the mall before Christmas, but right after Christmas, Bob and I went there, solely to look at that little kiosk and get an ornament with 9 somethings on it, so we could have one with Drew's name.  Alas, they were out of all ornaments with 9 of anything.  There were a bunch with 8, a few with 10--but none with 9.  I was so bummed!  I eventually found one on Amazon, but I never got around to ordering it, and in fact I had a disturbing dream a few nights ago where we had ordered one from Amazon, but they left off Jonathan's name. 

At the party, our friends Rick and Linda said they had a present for Bob and me--and Rick pulled out a little red gift bag.  In the bag was--A PERSONALIZED ORNAMENT WITH 9 LITTLE SNOWMEN!!!

 I could not believe it!!  How did they ever know?!  I was (am!) so excited!  I couldn't wait to get home and hang it on the tree!  Of course we couldn't leave until the boys had finished up their card game, and by then it was after 10:00, so the younger ones were starting to melt down.  But everyone slept in today, and Drew wins a gold star--he nursed at 10:45, and then didn't wake up until 5:00, and then again at 9:00!  I actually felt pretty rested when I got up this morning, LOL!  What a great start to the new year!

This past year has been one where we have really seen God's provision and grace in our family, and we are so thankful for that.  Although there is much to be discouraged about as we look at the direction our country in headed this new year, our hope is always in the Lord--he is faithful!  I love the verse my friend Beverly posted today on Facebook--what a great prayer for the new year!

"With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by faith.  We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."  II Thess. 1: 11-12

Christmas Fun

We've been having such a grand Christmas break!  I don't ever want to start back to homeschooling, LOL.

Saturday and Sunday we made and decorated cut-out cookies.  Both days we did this while Micah was napping because, you know, I'm not completely crazy.  What a mess!  But it's fun.  Like I told the kids--just another thing they can think back on when they are old, to know that I loved them!  Otherwise, there is no way I would bother with it!

Sunday and Monday we did all our wrapping.  Monday it actually snowed big wet, sloppy flakes--the kind that don't stick around--but it looked festive, and at elast the trees out the window were white!We also ate a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings on Christmas Eve, before we went to the candlelight service at church!  Our good friend Ed smoked a turkey for us as a gift, and we certainly enjoyed it!

On Christmas we got up and the kids opened their stockings first.  Then we ate a yummy breakfast--a crockpot hashbrown/egg/sausage casserole that I started the night before, as well as cinnamon rolls that I made Christmas Eve as well so I just had to bake and frost them.  I was glad I wasn't checking my blood sugar numbers, LOL!

Then we spent the rest of the morning opening Christmas presents.  We don't get the kids many things, but still--with 13 of us here, including my parents, we had a lot of presents to get through!  We have all been enjoying greatly all the gifts we received.  I love how occupied the kids have been--playing Settlers of Catan witht he new expansion pack Nathan bought as a gift for everyone, doing a murder mystery jigsaw puzzle on the schoolroom table, playing with paper dolls and activity books, reading new books, etc.  So wonderful! 

Then everyone ate leftovers from our turkey dinner for lunch, and Micah took his regular nap.  We ate our big meal at our regular dinner time, which was nice because it gave my mom and me a chance to rest in the afternoon for a little while before we had to start preparing food.  We had a glazed ham, sweet potato casserole, and sweet potato biscuits, as well as some other sides.  Yum!  Then after we cleaned all that up, we had our birthday party for Jesus, with cake and ice cream.

Micah is at such a cute age for Christmas.  He was so excited by the day--candy in the stocking!  New toys!  Delicious food and plenty of it!  Birthday cake and ice cream!  What's not to love?!

I have to say that Drew gave me my favorite gift--he's started going longer periods at night!  I'll feed him around 10:00 or so, and then he'll go until 5:00 some nights, and then up again after 8:00!  Yay, Drew!  It's so nice to have a little bit more sleep.  It makes me think that maybe, possibly, I'll be able to start school up again in a little over a week, LOL.

Yesterday Bob stayed home, and it even snowed a little bit!  There only being a little bit of snow did not deter anyone from going out, however.  Now I am happy to say that everyone has found the appropriately-sized snowsuit, boots, gloves, and so on, so we are ready for a BIG snowstorm . . . please?!?  We never got any real snow last year, and the kids were so disappointed, as was I, I must admit!

I hope all of you are having lovely, relaxing Christmas breaks as well, and most importantly, remembering Jesus, the real reason for this special season!

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

We spent Christmas in Ohio with my parents, and my brother and his family, who drove up from Texas. They arrived Wednesday, but we got to Ohio late Friday, since we couldn't leave until noon because Bob had to go in to work for a few hours. Then Bob rode back to VA Tuesday with the son of a friend of my parents. He is a USAFA grad who is now out of the service. He lives in downtown DC, but he was kind enough to drop Bob right off at our house!

The kids and I stayed until yesterday. We got a late start on the drive because Anna woke up feeling sick. She heaved a few times before we left, but since she hadn't eaaten anything since dinner Friday, there was nothing in her tummy. She moaned and groaned pretty much the whole ride home, and we had to make a really long stop at lunch because of her tummy troubles, so the trip just took forever, it seemed. We drove straight to the L's house, since we were planning on going to their annual New Year's Eve party. We were only an hour late! Bob met us there and took Anna and Micah home, while the rest of us stayed and ate dinner. The boys played games, including their new Settlers of Catan game, which they brought in. Grace and Faith and I left before everyone counted down (at 9:00) because I was just so fried. Bob went back for awhile and brought the boys home eventually.

I am glad to be home, but dealing with all the stuff Bob unloaded from the van is almost too much to think about! I'm not feeling 100% myself, actually. Micah never really slept well at all at my parents' house, and I have 2 big canker sores in my mouth from the lack of sleep, as well as just some general snuffles. So I'm sitting here, foggy-brained, trying to muster up some motivation to do something useful. Maybe I'll upload pictures from our camera and write some more posts. That might be all the motivation I can muster, LOL.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I have so much to be thankful for. We only have 3 more Thanksgivings with everyone all still living at home, most likely, so I've been reflecting lately on how thankful I am for these busy years, and for how much fun we have at home with everyone here.

This picture was taken as Bob was still carving the turkey, so it looks like we had an uneventful meal of delicious food. In reality, we had a more exciting afternoon. It actually started last night when we went to a Thanksgiving dinner at our church. The meal was part of a weekly outreach that our church has to Hispanic students at a local high school, a taste of a traditional American Thanksgiving meal. Church members brought various dishes. We brought dressing, cranberry salad, and apple pie squares for 25. It was fun! Nathan reported that he could understand a lot of the Spanish.

There was a lot of food left over, and our pastor's family was going out of town, so we were all encouraged to take some of the left-overs. There was a little bit of my dressing left over, but not enough for us all to eat today, so I decided to take some of this other dressing. I didn't eat any of this dressing, but it looked pretty similar to mine, and I didn't think another thing about it, which turned out to be a colossal mistake.

I had a not-too-stressed morning cooking, since I had already made the cranberry salad (I saved enough for us out of what I made for the potluck), the mashed potatoes, and the dressing. We had brined the turkey Wednesday night, and we decided to try cooking it with the convection oven. It was WONDERFUL! We cooked it with the breast down, and it was so moist and juicy--delicious! And even though it was a 25 pound bird, it only took 3 hours to cook. I also made sweet potato casserole, rolls, and garlic green beans. It all came together, and we were ready to eat around 2:00.

As I was dishing out plates, and we were all getting ready to pray, Caleb started holding his throat and saying he didn't feel well, like he had eaten something he was allergic to. I asked him what he had eaten, and he said nothing, so I started thinking about what else could be irritating his throat. I gave him a Benedryl when it became obvious he was getting more uncomfortable, but I still couldn't figure out what had happened. After a few more minutes of complaining, I went upstairs to get his Albuterol and Flovent for his puffer. As I was getting it, I heard Nathan ask Caleb if he had eaten any dressing. It turned out he had nibbled on some. It also turned out to have chopped walnuts in it, which was what Nathan had discovered when he looked at it carefully. Argh!! Walnuts are Caleb's biggest allergen on his prick tests! His throat was feeling more swollen, so I got out the Epi-pen, but Caleb got all agitated and didn't want me to give it. I felt like his panicking was making everything worse, so I told him to just calm down, and I wouldn't inject him. Bob took him off to the ER, which is only a few miles away, where they gave him a shot of epinepherine, LOL.

So Thanksgiving dinner ended up being a bit of a let-down for us all. Jonathan and the girls really didn't eat much at all, I think because it's hard to see someone else have an allergic reaction like that. I finally did eat after Bob and Caleb left, but my plate was pretty cold, and it was hard to enjoy it, since I was feeling so incredibly guilty for not thoroughly checking the dressing. And poor Bob and Caleb--they didn't get to eat until they got back, hours later!

We did have the McCs come over for dessert, and they were still here when Bob and Caleb came back. The kids all watched "Cars 2" while the adults visited, so that was a nice quiet activity for Caleb, poor guy. I was very glad to have them over, because I think otherwise I really would have obsessed about being careless.

And obviously I have gotten complacent. Ironically, at the dinner and at most potlucks, Caleb only eats my stuff, or things he is sure are safe. But since I was the one bringing home the other dressing, and serving both dressings in the same bowl, he didn't think about being careful here in his own house! We actually have quite a few people with nut allergies in our church, so it really didn't occur to me that there would be chopped walnuts hiding in anything. I guess I figured that nuts would either be really obvious, like in the pecan pies, or that there would be a sign, like at other church potlucks where people have brought dishes with nuts. To be honest, I just really didn't think about allergens at all, which was a huge mistake. Since Caleb outgrew his milk allergy last year, I've gotten careless because nuts are in general so much easier to avoid, and have so much more publicity than milk allergies. But clearly I still need to be really conscious, so today I am really, really thankful for ER doctors.

Yankee Doodle Dandy

Here is Micah in his cute little 4th of July onesie from my mom! It's a good thing the 4th wasn't any later, because he would not have fit into it! Micah was 2 months old on June 9, but we were in Ohio, and I didn't get an appointment for after we got back either. So this afternoon he finally had his 2-month well-baby appointment, a few days before his 3 months old! He's a big boy--15 pounds, 15 ounces, and 25 1/2 inches long. I just don't know what is different in my milk this time that is producing this giant baby! He's obviously a happy, healthy baby, so the appointment went just fine. Jonathan was the designated helper who went with me today. It's nice to spend some more individual time with the boys as we go to these appointments! Micah did get his first shots today, which he was less than thrilled about. I hope he still sleeps well . . .

I thought I'd throw in a family shot as well, for good measure! (Did you note that Nathan is pretty much as tall as I am?!) We had a 4th of July potluck at the L's house last night with our Bible study. Ed smoked a ton of pork, so we had barbeque pork sandwiches for the main course--yum!! Then we all headed over to the local fireworks display that we have gone to the past 2 years. It's fun, and it's not too far away, so we don't get home at a terribly ungodly hour. Going downtown is great as well, but right now, it just doesn't seem worth it! This is so easy!

Merry Christmas!!

I hope you all have had a wonderful day celebrating the birth of Jesus! Our celebration started yesterday with something that I think will become a new tradition for us--we had our big meal on Christmas Eve! I made turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, sweet potato casserole, garlic green beans, and cran-apple-pear sauce, and we ate around 4:00. Then we cleaned up and went to the candlelight service at our church. When we got home, Nathan helped me put a sausage/hashbrown/egg breakfast casserole into the crockpot for this morning while I made cinnamon rolls using Elizabeth L.'s recipe. Since Caleb couldn't have them, I never thought it was worth the bother. How nice that he can enjoy them now!

This morning it was SO nice to have breakfast totally done! All we had to do was take the lid off the crockpot! It was good too--I'll post the recipe when I have more time. And the cinnamon rolls were delicious too! I let them rise the second time in the fridge overnight, then cooked and frosted them this morning. Very tasty!

We ate after the kids had opened their stockings. I try to get them something to do (Michael's dollar bins are a great place to find little crafty-type things), so the boys put together these little cars while the cinnamon rolls were cooking. Then we opened presents after I showered. The boys were very excited to receive bows and arrows from my parents, and Bob later took them out to an empty field not far from us to let them shoot into a box filled with wrapping paper trash! Other than that, they got a Lego Creationary game from us, as well as a book for each of them, some cool spy-type toys from Aunt Melinda and Uncle Dan (and Aunt Melinda's mom--thank you, Barbara, for finding and sending them!!) and some Legos and assorted things from each other. The girls were very excited to get a dollhouse from my parents, which Bob will hopefully be able to assemble this next week! We gave them a little shopping cart, which they are already enjoying playing with, and a Little Mermaid bath toy, and the boys got them some little things from the dollar store. It was fun stuff, and not overwhelming, so that is a good thing!

I took a nap after present-opening. I stayed up too late last night! What I was doing was finishing wrapping a few last presents, and I realized there was one last video that I had ordered, and I knew it had arrived--where was it?! I looked very thoroughly through my closet, and I couldn't figure out why the video wasn't with the other books that had come from Amazon, because I knew I had seen it with them! I must have looked for 30 minutes, growing ever more frustrated, when finally it occured to me that maybe I had been really organized and wrapped the video already. I went to bed at that point, but this morning, there was the video, under the tree! Good grief! I would have saved myself time by not wrapping the crazy thing early, and just doing it on Christmas Eve, if I am going to waste 30 minutes looking for it! I'm sure there's a lesson in there somewhere . . .

This afternoon I spent busily packing because the kids and I are driving to Ohio tomorrow, Lord willing, so see my parents, as well as my brother and his family, who have driven up from Texas. There is supposed to be a big snow storm here in D.C. tomorrow, so I am hoping we can get out early and not have problems from it. Please pray for our safety! Bob will be holding down the fort here, but we're only going to be gone a few days. So with that, I had better sign off and get to bed so that I am not too tired to drive tomorrow! Merry Christmas!!!

A Trip For the Books!

We got back yesterday from a visit to PA to see Bob's family. We got to his parents' house about 2:00 Saturday afternoon. Bob's brother Paul came over a little later with his son Brandon, and his daughter Sara came down from college to see us as well! Bob's sister Jane and her husband Terry also came over, and we had a great time visiting with them, playing card games, opening Christmas presents, etc. Bob, his dad, Jonathan, Grace, Faith, and I even took a little walk around the block to look at Christmas lights!

The only problem was that I was not very vigilant in monitering the kids' food intake. Usually they are pretty self-regulating, but not this time, LOL. We had stopped for lunch at Chick-Fil-A around 11:30, but when we got to Bob's parents' house, his mom was ready for us to eat again. So we fixed plates of ham, pierogies, vegetables, and other stuff, but no one really ate too terribly much because no one was hungry yet. By the time 5:00 rolled around, people were getting munchy again--and that is when Jane and Terry came in, bearing dozens of delicious cookies! Yum! Soooo . . . leftover chicken and ham--or chocolate turtle cookies and oatmeal M&M cookies?! Obviously the choice was easy, LOL.

We left around 8:00, and I recognized that ham at 2:30 and cookies at dinnertime would not do the trick for me, so we stopped at Wendys on our way to the hotel and got hamburgers for everyone. We ate those at 8:30, and then the kids were bouncing off the walls for a little while we we got the pack-n-play, sleeping bags, and fold-out sofabed set up. We all went to sleep at 10:30.

And then at about 11:40, Bob and I awoke to the very unwelcome sound of someone throwing up. It was Jonathan, who was kneeling over his pillow (well, the hotel's pillow--whew!) and really letting loose. Ah, lovely. It was actually a huge blessing that he threw up all over the bed, instead of the carpet. We bundled up the mess, and Bob took it down to the front desk. He brought up 2 blankets and some sheets, and Caleb and Jonathan slept on pallets on the floor between the beds. We all went back to sleep . . .

. . . until about an hour or so later, when Jonathan appeared at my side again and said he needed to go to the bathroom, because he still wasn't feeling well. Okay. At least he didn't need me. But around 2:00, Grace started whining around. I took her potty and then sat on the floor with her for awhile. Eventually she went back to sleep without anything happening . . . until 3:00, when she tossed her cookies (HA! I crack myself up!). She has had plenty of practice vomiting, so she easily made the trashcan. I tied that up and set it by the door, moved the other trashcan over by her sleeping bag, and went back to sleep . . .

. . . until about 5:00, when Nathan leaped out of bed to go to the bathroom. In a fit of prescience, he grabbed the trashcan by Grace's sleeping bag on his way to the bathroom, and he ended up needing both. Great! Now both trashcans have vomit in them, and I started searching our suitcases for any extra walmart-type bags we had around. Fortunately I did find a few.

Nathan threw up again around 6:00, and Grace threw up again at 6:30 and again at 7:30. I felt like the night would never end, and Faith did her part to make it even longer and less enjoyable by randomly crying out throughout the whole night. I think things were just too restless for her to get in a good deep sleep, but of course, every time she cried out, Bob and I went into full wakefullness mode as we tried to figure out if anyone was throwing up. It was definitely "the night that would not end".

At 7:30 I told Grace (and Anna, who had gotten up to go potty) to just go back to sleep, and thankfully everyone slept until 8:45. We had planned on going swimming and then heading back over to Bob's parents' house for awhile before heading home, but we were so ready to just be home (and definitely out of the hotel room, LOL). So we ate breakfast and packed up, although we couldn't actually leave the hotel until close to 11:00, due to people still having digestive issues. I was quite worried about the drive home, and it was snowing outside, making weather a concern as well!

We stopped back by Bob's parents' house to pick up the presents we had left there the night before. We didn't want the kids to come inside, in case it was some kind of virus (although even then we were thinking it was simple "eating too much sugar"). So we loaded up the van--and then the van wouldn't start up again. Yes, the battery was drained! I could not believe it!! Thankfully, Bob's dad had jumper cables, and he and Bob were able to jump it. Still--crazy van.

So we were able to leave around 11:30, and pretty much no one (who had not been feeling well) ate anything on the way back except for some bananas Bob's mom had sent with us. The rest of us ate trail mix, but we didn't stop for any fast food--that was not an appetizing thought, and I don't think I'll be eating at Wendy's again for quite awhile! Praise the Lord, no one had any issues on the way home. I was worried because we took the turnpike, which has service plazas only every so often, so there was the potential for great disaster! And the weather, although snowing and blustery, also did not cause any problems. Whew!

So we made it home yesterday afternoon, and the kids all played with their new toys. And then we all went to bed early. No one woke up at all in the middle of the night, and everyone is feeling much more refreshed this morning! Nathan, Jonathan, and Grace definitely have what I would consider the weakest stomachs of all of us. You can bet I will be much more careful about watching what everyone eats next time! Balanced meals at regular times for all! It was certainly a trip we will never forget! Seriously though--I have dealt with more vomit in these last 3 months than in the entire rest of my life! What in the world?! I am ready for this phase to be done!

Cranberry Concoction

I always make this cran-apple-pear sauce for holidays because the kids love it. The first step is boiling a ton of cranberries in water until they pop, and then draining the water. Usually we just drain the water down the sink, but Nathan wanted to drain it into a bowl this year so he could drink some. We did capture it in a bowl, and he and Bob both drank a little bit--tart!!

Then we started tinkering. The recipe also calls for a couple cans of sliced pears, so we drained that juice into our bowl. We added some sugar. And more sugar. Next was a wee bit of cranberry ginger ale that someone had brought to our last church small group meeting. We're just not that big into carbonated beverages, so there it sat in the fridge, taking up room. Then we poured in the last bit of some cran-grape juice that was also just lingering around in the fridge. And some apple juice. By this point, the cranberry concoction was quite tasty! We bottled it into the ginger ale 2-liter and the cran-grape juice bottle, and we took one bottle over to the L's for Thanksgiving. We should have brought both, as it was rapidly consumed!

Although this concoction is probably not repeatable, I think we have a new tradition. Waste not, want not and all that! It's fun to have kids around who think up new things to do!

Lots to Be Thankful For!

I'm 20 weeks along now, and I had another appointment this morning. One thing I am so thankful for is that I can leave Nathan and Luke home with everyone, while I go on my merry way to Bethesda. I had to wait awhile to be seen this morning, but I was just relaxing in the quiet, reading a Reader's Digest I had brought. Ahhh. Very unlike the last several pregnancies, with everyone squirming around in my lap as we read book after book in the waiting area, and as we crowd into the too-small exam rooms!

Another thing I am very thankful for is that I did pass my 3 hour glucose test! Yay! I have to retest at the normal 28 week time, but I was expecting that. I'm just glad to knock 10 or 12 weeks off the finger-pricking!

The baby's heartrate was once again in the low 140's, which makes me think boy. The girls' heartrates were all in the 160s. But I know there are plenty of exceptions to that little old wives' tale! I have my ultrasound on Dec. 3, so hopefully s/he won't be bashful and modest! None of the rest of my kids ever have been, LOL.

I went ahead and got a flu shot today. I don't ever go out of my way to get the flu shot, but sometimes, if it works out, then I get one. The kids got one last year, although I never did take Faith back for her second dose. Oh well. I doubt they'll get one this year, since I'm not really planning on taking them all in. Anyhow, my arm is really hurting tonight--I should definitely have had the tech give the shot to me in my right arm! What was I thinking?!

One thing that has been bothering me this pregnancy that I have never had trouble with before is that my arms are always falling asleep. Really. If I sit at the table and support my head on one arm/hand, then that hand will almost immediately start getting tingly. When I wake up at night to pee, whatever arm is on top (I always sleep on my side) is sound asleep. And it is PAINFUL to wake it back up again! I asked the doctor about it, but other than saying that pregnant women often had more trouble with carpel tunnel-type symptoms, which I knew, she didn't really have anything to add. I have cogitated upon this problem quite a bit, and I finally decided maybe it is a pillow issue. I sleep on 2 very cheap pillows that are squashed down, so that the 2 of them together fit into one pillowcase. I have noticed lately that they are even less puffy than ever! So I think a weird neck angle at night might be contributing. Tonight Bob and I went to Walmart, and I bought a new pillow--NOT the cheap $3 one we would normally buy, but a memory foam one! Ooooh . . . I hope it works anyway. I would really be thankful for that!

I'm also thankful to have good friends who are like family to spend Thanksgiving with! And the absolutely lovely thing about a potluck Thanksgiving meal is that any one person doesn't have to do too much cooking! So today I made a chocolate pecan pie, cran-apple-pear sauce, and the dough for ginger snaps, which I will bake up tomorrow. I also have to make the sweet potato casserole tomorrow. And that's it! Since my arm is so sore, I was also very thankful tonight for my wonderful Electrolux mixer. I love that big thing!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving day tomorrow! Here in America, we truly do have so much for which to be thankful!

Happy Birthday, America!!

We have often gone downtown to see the national fireworks from the Iwo Jima Memorial. Last year both we and the L's had little babies, so we all just watched them on TV. This year we decided to go to a local display. Several families in our Bible study met over at the L's house, where we all brought sandwiches and stuff to eat--a picnic inside. No bugs and clean potties!

Around 8:30 we gathered everyone up and headed over to the park, about 5 minutes away. There was plenty of parking, and we hardly had to walk at all! We spread out our blankets and relaxed! Well, technically we spread out the L's blankets. We drove our minivan and had Nathan ride with the L's, since we didn't know how parking would be with the big van (would have been fine, as it turned out). But the big van is where the stroller, neat sheet, etc. now live, and I was not on my best game, so it never even occurred to me to switch things to the minivan. Good thing we have organized friends who bring extra, and that we didn't have far to walk so we didn't even need the stroller!

We all really enjoyed the fireworks, even Faith. She was a little unsure at the beginning, but she was having a good time by the end. Then we were back in our cars and onto the main road around 10:00! It was so . . . hassle-free! Very nice. This might become a new tradition!

Happy Easter!

We had such a lovely day celebrating the resurrection of Jesus! Bob tuaght the 4-year-old children's church, which Anna got to be in for the first time, since she just had her birthday. I was scheduled to be in the infant nursery, but we didn't have any infants, so I was able to be in the main service, which was wonderful! We actually have a lot of babies in our church, but all the moms have chosen to keep their infants with them, rather than use the infant nursery. And all the babies that are Faith's age have just learned to walk, so they are in the toddler nursery now!

After church, we hurried home to finish getting our share of food ready to take over to the McC's house, where we were eating Easter dinner. We brought a ham and a potato bake that Caleb can have. I had to finish glazing the ham and melting cheese over most of the potatoes. Christine had rolls, glazed carrots, and stir-fried green beans. We had a delicious meal. Another girl in our small group, Rachel, came as well. She is a full-time, live-in nanny for 2 children, so it was very interesting to hear her take on child-raising and the nanny phenomenon, which is very common in this area. Both Christine and I agreed we would NEVER want a nanny, even the very best one! We would not want someone other than ourselves influencing our children so much, whether for good or for bad. Now a housekeeper, on the other hand--both of us would be VERY interested in one of those, LOL.

The weahter was absolutely beautiful, so the kids spent most of the day outside. Our boys brought their ripsticks and hockey equipment, so there were lots of games going on outside. The adults sat outside a lot too--it was just so nice! Then Bob got inspired to help Craig move their big wooden swingset/play fort. They had already taken it somewhat apart because the people who lived there before them had sort of plunked it in the middle of their yard. They have a neighbor who seriously does not like boys playing outside in the front, so they want to be able to have more backyard space. They wanted to move the swingset over into the corner. Bob and the older boys were a huge help with that. They all agreed that Craig and his boys probably couldn't have moved it by themselves, so we were glad we could help. Besides, it's a lot more fun doing something like that as a big group! More like a party!

We did learn one new tradition this year. Craig's mom is Hispanic, and she sent a bunch of traditional Easter eggs--cascarones. These are hollowed out eggs (well, ours were not real, LOL) filled with confetti. The traditional thing to do is crack them over someone's head, showering them with confetti. Having one broken over your head is supposed to bring you luck. Well, our boys should be plenty lucky! The McC's deck was filled with boys chasing each other around, cracked eggshells, and tons of multi-colored confetti pieces! A very festive look! The boys definitely had a great time with this tradition!

We didn't leave until around 7:30, by which time the girls were absolutely fried. We came home, put them straight to bed, while the (sweaty, stinky) boys showered. We were so thankful for the resurrection of Christ, and our belief in Him and His sacrifice, that makes us brothers and sisters in Christ! We really are family!

Christmas Week Wrap-Up

The kids have thoroughly been enjoying all the new toys, games, and books they received for Christmas. My parents gave us a big red wagon (can you believe we have made it to 7 kids without ever getting a wagon?!), and the girls have been thrilled to be pulled around by their big brothers. They would ride all day, if you can imagine!

I am actually more in the Christmas spirit now, than I was before Christmas, and so yesterday the kids and I made peanut butter cups. I wanted to make caramels too, but I didn't have enough chocolate. I finally got around to ordering pictures to send out, so now all I have to do is write a Christmas letter to go with them! This WILL happen, if only because every year I put our Christmas letter and picture in my Christmas scrapbook, along with a few pictures of what we did Christmas Day, and I am just anal enough to want to ensure that there will not be a blank page for this year's letter! I love reading back over all the past years. It's such a good summary of our family each year.

We've all been enjoying the leftovers from our Christmas turkey. I made turkey pot pie on Monday, something I haven't made in years because of Caleb's milk allergy. When we were back in Ohio, Amy made a roast using Campbells golden mushroom soup. She said she had discovered this soup, which is dairy-free, acts like a cream soup in her recipes, and it goes well with beef or chicken. Mom made a roast for us using it and french onion soup mix for the gravy, and it was delicious. I decided to try out my old turkey pot pie recipe, which uses puff pastry sheets on top for the crust and could not be any easier, and use the mushroom soup in place of the cream of chicken/cream of potato soups. It was DELICIOUS! I was so excited! I love adding foods back into my repetoire! I also made a good turkey soup for dinner tonight. I roasted the carcass for about 45 minutes at 400 before boiling in water with herbs. I think it did add a good flavor to the broth. The recipe I used, which I found on the internet, also called for leftover dressing and gravy. Rice was called for instead of noodles, which I don't love in soups. So it was a lovely, thick soup, with a nice flavor. This was a good year for leftovers!

We started school back up again this week. We have been off since the week of Thanksgiving, so it was definiltey time. I really needed this break, though. It's been so refreshing. The kids have settled back into everything, and I was gratified, as always, to see that all their previously learned knowledge did not just fall out of their heads, LOL. In fact, Jonathan has really made big strides in his reading over these past few weeks, and now he can do all of his math worksheets without me reading the directions or the problems for him! Nice! Luke was quite concerned that he might have forgotten all his math, so we just did the past 3 tests, instead of moving ahead on new lessons. He hasn't forgotten, so that fear was put to rest, LOL. After the new year, Nathan is going to start doing a traditional logic program with Isaac McC. I bought DVDs, so neither Christine nor I will actually have to teach it. I am looking forward to seeing how that goes. Our country is in dire need of kids who can think logically!

With the laundry room finished up, Bob has turned his attention to the main floor bathroom. He just finished grouting in there tonight, so we will seal it tomorrow night. In an exciting and romantic date, Bob and I went to both Home Depot AND Lowes one evening and compared toilets. We were able to pick one that wasn't too expensive, even after all the very persuasive advertising ("Exceptional Bulk Flushing Power!") We did not consider anything under 5 stars (Lowes) or a rating of 10 ( Home Depot), so hopefully you will be assured that if you visit us, our main floor toilet will be able to take care of whatever you should need to flush.

Not having a toilet on the main floor (or a hooked-up washer) has given me the excuse to not work any more on Grace's potty training. She has not shown any signs of wanting to do it herself, and I showed no signs of wanting to run up and down stairs to empty a little potty (or wash out underwear, as would have most likely been the case). So now we will start back up with our 2 co-op a week schedule, and it will probably be spring break before we have any news on the front. Oh well. When you have been changing diapers for 12 1/2 years straight, what is a few more months of changing 2 people's diapers?!

As we look towards 2010, it is looking more and more likely that we will just be staying here in D.C. AFPC has given Bob a new assignment down at USJFCOM in Suffolk, VA, by Norfolk, and orders are in the works. Funnily enough, when this whole thing started back in July, that is really where we wanted to go--it wouldn't be that inconvenient of a move! But now, after thinking we were going to Guam and getting all excited about that, moving 3 hours away just doesn't seem that worth it. The housing program has been extended, so we would still qualify, but I guess I just don't feel any real call to move down there. I really felt like God was telling us he wanted us in Guam, and then He slammed that door shut suddenly, so who knows exactly what to think now, you know? It's hard to know what the right decision is. But Bob can retire, so he's thinking that sounds attractive now. I'm still not excited about staying here in all the traffic and expense, but I am trying to have a good attitude. I do really love our friends and church here, so it's not all bad.

Tomorrow night we will be celebrating at the traditional party over at the L's house. This is quite the highlight for the boys, and it's a good thing they are so generous about hosting it each year! We always have a great time, and we are looking forward to it! Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful celebration of Christ's birth today! We did, starting with a beautiful candelight service at church last night. We are now meeting for morning services at a neaby middle school, and we just haven't been with it enough to go to the evening service lately, so it had been a while since we were in our lovely old little church. It is the perfect place for a candlelight service!

Actually, yesterday was a good day all in all, in that I finally really made noticeable progress in getting the house back together again. All the books are back in our 3 double bookcases in the the study, and the dining room, while still filled with laundry room stuff, is a little mroe organized. I got a box for shoes and a big box for coats, since we have no place to put them, and that has helped keep the entry way passable. I find I am better able to get in the Christmas spirit when the house is not a total wreck! I made some stuff for today's dinner yesterday, and I also baked some cookies. Of course, Bob and I stayed up way too late wrapping presents. I greatly dislike wrapping presents, and I had not wrapped a single one, even though I had finished my shopping for the kids back in Ohio. Next year I am resolved to wrap presents as they come in! And maybe I'll lose those 10 pounds too . . .

This morning, Bob's sister Ann, her husband Wally, and their adult son Matthew drove up from Richmond to spend the day. We had a great time! Our family opened stockings first thing and then ate breakfast. The kids played while I showered, and Ann and Wally got here around 10:30. Then we all opened gifts. We really don't get the kids much--2 gifts each, one of them being a book--but it sure looked like a Walmart had exploded in our living room! They got a lot of very nice gifts from relatives, and they all spent the rest of the day happily building Lego sets, reading books, wearing Star Wars Clone trooper helmets (Caleb and Jonathan), wearing princess jewelry (Anna and Grace), and getting into things (Faith). Ann teaches cake decorating at Michael's, and she had brought some of her cake decorating stuff, plus a bunch of cupcakes. She taught the kids some decorating techniques and let them practice on cupcakes, which they really enjoyed. Actually, their absolute favorite part was eating the icing, if you can imagine that.

We ate our big meal at 3:00, and we had our birthday party for Jesus later in the afternoon. Then we played a game of Apples to Apples, which was a lot of fun. You need a game that is not too mentally strenuous after all that food! By then it was raining/sleeting, so Ann and Wally needed to get back on the road before things got too messy. We were so glad they came up though!

This year, I tried a new turkey recipe. Several weeks ago, I roasted a chicken using a recipe from my Dining on A Dime cookbook. It was sooo good--like Boston Market! The recipe said you could use it for a turkey, so that is what I tried. Let me tell you, it really turned out well. Probably the best turkey I've had! It was very moist and flavorful. So as a Christmas present to you, I'm going to give you the recipe:

Roast Sticky Chicken or Turkey

4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. white pepper [I don't have this, so I don't use it!]
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 large (10#) whole chicken, chicken parts, or 20 # turkey (double spices if using on a big turkey)
1 cup chopped onion

Combine all the spices. Remove innards from chicken (or turkey). Rinse chicken. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin. Place in a 9x13 pan (or a turkey roasting pan), seal with foil and refrigerate overnight. If using chicken parts, just rub over both sides of parts. When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onions. If using chicken parts, place on top of onions. Roast, uncovered, at 250 degrees for 5 hours. Roast chicken parts 3-5 hours. Roast a turkey 8-10 hours. After the first hour, baste chicken with pan juices every half hour to 45 minutes. If you don't have enough juices to baste, you can add 1 cup water to the pan. The chicken will be golden to dark brown with carmelized juices on the bottom. Let the chicken rest about 10 minutes before carving.

Notes from me: My oven doesn't go down as low as 250, so I roasted at 275. The chicken I roasted was done in about 3 hours. I roasted a 19 pound turkey, and it took 7 hours. I tented the top with foil after the first 3-4 hours, because it was getting dark brown. I worried that the turkey would be dry after being in the oven for so long, but it was so very moist! Delicious! Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We have had a lovely Thanksgiving this year, and it all began on Wednesday! Bob got off work early, so we met him at Olive Garden for a late lunch. We were seated at a long table, and there were some booths across from us. About halfway through our meal, a family with 3 teenage boys got up to leave. The dad approached our table, and I figured he would say something about the kids, because that actually does happen fairly frequently. The kids really are usually pretty well-behaved in restaurants, and people come over and comment on that. He did compliment us on having a lovely family, and he also thanked Bob for his service (Bob was still in his uniform). Then as he was turning to walk away, he put a pile of bills on the table, telling us it was to pay for our meal! We were so astounded--it was $60! Amazingly, that was almost the exact total of our meal. Since we are now a "large party" all by ourselves, most places automatically include the tip, and the grand total was $59.17. Isn't that cool?!

Yesterday we had our big meal over the L's house with 3 other families. I think this is the absolute best way to do it--all the great food, but no one person has to do that much! ed smoked 3 turkeys, Elizabeth made the mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy, and the rest of us filled in with side dishes and dessert. I brought cran-apple-pear sauce, sweet potato casserole, sweet potato biscuits, a chocolate Snickers cheesecake, and banana cookies. We all ate a ton and had a great time visiting!

Faith got to eat her first Thanksgiving meal up in Theodore's high chair. She was a big fan! She is at the point now where I can just put a bunch of food on her tray, and she will feed herself everything. I gave her sweet potatoes, a little bit of turkey, a sweet potato biscuit, some green beans, and the cranberry sauce, which she loved. She chowed down while I helped everyone else get their food, and then she got down and played while I ate! She did one funny thing while we were all sitting around talking. She was playing with this set of juggling stick-things that Ed has, waving them around. They are long, sort of like batons. Somehow she got her arm over one end, and the other end was on her neck. The harder she pulled down her arm, the harder the other end was on her neck! She pinned herself down with a stick! It takes some skill to be outwrestled by yourself, LOL.

After we got home last night, we all wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. But we knew the cleaning lady was coming today, so we had to finish getting ready for her! We have been furiously decluttering all week long, and the rest of the house was really looking fairly good, but the kitchen was still a problem. After washing all the dished, I finally just got a box and put everything on the counters in it. Problem solved! If looks great! If only we didn't have to actually live here! So the lady and another lady are here right now, cleaning away. I feel odd, like I should be doing something helpful instead of sitting in the computer . . . Bob took the other kids out to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and playing, to get them out of the ladies' hair. Having a clean house is going to be so wonderful! I am so thankful for these ladies!!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful time with our friends. I ate too much, but it was all so good! The nice thing was that the girls are old enough to not have to take afternoon naps right after lunch, so we ate a little after 1:00, and stayed until almost 5:00, but they did jsut fine! Next year we'll be back to toting a pack-n-play over.

One of our friends, Tim, is an excellent photographer, so I asked him to take a family Christmas picture of us before we ate. He took one on our camera and several on his, but I ened up not loving any of them. It's not his skill as a photographer. I finally figured it out--I look like a big, pregnant woman with a basketball prominently displayed under my shirt, which in this case was purple, so it looked like a giant blueberry. When I mentioned this to Nathan, as we were looking at the pictures on the computer, he pointed out that in fact, I AM a big, pregnant woman. But that is not how I want to be remembered by all my friends over the next year, so this year's Christmas card picture will not include a pregnant me. I got the kids all dressed up for church this morning in Christmas-y colors, and I took some pictures of them by the fireplace. Much cuter! No blueberry basketballs insight.

It was good that I asked Tim to take the pictures before we ate because afterward Grace blew out her diaper for the first time in many months, and I actually had to go home and get new clothes for her! Then she built on her success by peeing out her diaper at home while she took a late nap! I'm not sure what came over her, but obviously all the good food did something to her, LOL.

As soon as we got home on Thursday, the boys started asking about putting up the Christmas decorations. I don't know about you, but it was hard to even contemplate bring more stuff into the family room when the whole main floor looked like a tornado has swept through it, and there was already tons of toys, books, paper, etc. all around. The thought did not put me in a very festive mood. So I washed a bunch of dishes, and Caleb, bless his little heart, took over the cleaning up and moving of all the Little People, play food and kitchen, and other kid stuff out of the family room and into the play room. That night I stayed up late trying to organize and make some headway against all the clutter we have accumulated, so that we would have room for the Christmas stuff.

I really got inspired Friday and Saturday, as far as decluttering goes. I tackled the study and the kitchen. I threw away many garbage bags of stuff, and I packed up a few boxes of things I am not quite ready to give away or throw away, but that we don't need out right now. It all looks so nice now! Throwing stuff away is such a good feeling. And it DID help me feel more like decorating for Christmas, which we did Friday evening. We didn't do a ton of stuff, other than the tree and the fireplace area, since we are planning to go back to Ohio for Christmas. This year I got to just sit on the couch and hand out ornaments to the right people. Nathan and Luke helped Anna hang up her ornaments, and Grace just orbited. It was nice not to have to be up and around, helping everywhere!

Bob had a busy weekend as well. He was up in the middle of the night Thursday night, and he bought us an mp3 player from Circuit City online at 2:00 AM! We've decided that might be a staying fad, so perhaps we should jump on, LOL. He went out Friday to pick it up--a much more civilized way to shop than waiting in the cold darkness at ungodly hours of the morning! Now we just need to figure it out. We're planning on bringing it to Ohio, where we will ask questions of my computer-savy brother.

Then on Saturday Bob and the boys spent a good deal of time painting the deck. This time they were focusing on the rails. It looks so nice! After that, he took them all, plus Anna, swimming at our local rec center. They bought a one-month family membership, so they're planning on going a few more times before we leave for Christmas. The pool there is really nice, with lots of kid features, including a water slide, so they had a total ball.

So the house is as decorated as it is going to get, I've made a solid beach head against clutter, and the deck is looking great. The thing that really worked in my favor was having 2 days in a row that we didn't have school or anything else to do. I really need to get upstairs and work in closets, especially in Grace's room, but I'm not sure when that will happen. And we need another nice weekend of weather so Bob can put on another coat of stain. All in all, it was a very productive weekend!

Thanksgiving Eve

Well, it is now after 5:00, and I never heard anything from the doctor. I am tentatively hopeful that means I passed the 3 hour test. Or maybe everyone in the OB department at NNMC just left early for Thanksgiving, and I'll be called Monday, LOL. Anyhow, I have moved on to worrying about other things . . .

Such as where my 10x15 jelly roll pan could possibly be?! I spent a good deal of time searching for it last night, with no success. I do not think it is in the house, so that would mean that I must have left it at the church where we have our homeschool co-op, since I know I brought it there several weeks ago for the medieval feast with apple pie squares in it. But I was so sure it made it home! The platter and spatula I also brought there made it home, and I thought those items were in the (washed) pan. Alas. I shall have to search the church on Tuesday when we have co-op again, and I had to use a different pan for the apple pie squares for tomorrow. I certainly expended a lot of mental energy on where it could be though! When I am already stressed (like about the gtt), then other minor things that cause problems, especially because of my incompetance, really get to me . . .

Which leaves me really crabby. Is it just my sensitivity, or have the kids all turned on their loudest, most rowdy selves just for today?! The girls are whiny (at least Grace has an excuse--she's teething. Anna is just pitching in to help her not feel alone, LOL), and the boys are all. over. each. other. I sent them outside to run earlier today, but they didn't stay out as long as I would have liked (several hours, LOL). I have banished them to the basement several times as well. I'm just feeling very edgy and non-noise-tolerant (is that a word?).

But somehow things are still getting accomplished. Last night Bob and I wrestled the 25 pound turkey and managed to get it brining in our cooler (in several layers of garbage bags). I made a flourless chocolate cake last night too, and I did 4 loads of laundry. We did school this morning. And this afternoon I have made the apple pie squares, cran-apple-pear sauce, and started the turkey roasting. So good that Bob has been around to help with that crazy bird! After dinner (stir-fry), I'll make a second flourless chocolate cake. That just leaves the sweet potato casserole and sweet potato biscuits for tomorrow.

In case it seems like our menu is a bit unbalanced (meat, 2 sweet potato dishes, cranberry sauce, and dessert!), let me reassure you that we are eating Thanksgiving dinner over at the L's house with 2 other familes! We will also be having a ham, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, rolls, green bean casserole, another green vegetable, a fruit salad, a corn casserole, waldorf salad, a cranberry apple casserole, and pumpkin pie and pecan pie to round it all out. We will be getting quite a feast! I know I have so much to be thankful for--I just need to relax a bit and focus on all those things, instead of what is not going right!