Rachel's Winter Concert

Wednesday night we had Rachel's winter concert. She is in the 1st grade this year, and loves her teacher and enjoys school. We were excited to go and watch her. Here is a picture of her in front of her classroom. The pictures on the wall behind her are self-portraits the kids drew of themselves. She was a little bit nervous because she was chosen to announce one of the songs her class would be singing, and said she was embarrassed to have to talk into the microphone in front of everyone. She did such a great job though, and we were so proud of her! I took some video, but wasn't patient enough to wait for it to upload...so I'm just posting pictures.

Matthew had a long day without a nap and it didn't take him long to zonk out, and poor Andy had a terrible headache to the point that he was feeling nauseous...but they were both troopers.

Here is a picture of Rachel with her teacher Ms. Shramo. Taylor also had Ms. Shramo for 1st grade, and we just love her. She is a sweetheart and we'll miss her when we move! The little boy in the picture is in Rachel's class and just wanted his picture taken. :) His name is Aaron (pronounced "Ay-Rawn") Weird, but his name makes me think of "Nimrod" from the scriptures. I know, weird and random...but it does.

Anyway, it was a fun to watch Rachey up on stage, she is a cute little performer!

More? More?

I think that Matthew is taking after Andy in more ways than just his great physique and good looks. (giggling).

Not only did he start out as more than twice the weight of little Brooklynn, weighing in at 8 pounds, 6 ounces...that in itself put him on track for taking after Daddy...but he really hasn't stopped eating since.

And I have always heard stories of Andy's childhood...siblings and parents have told me in the past about how Andy would "clean up" dinner. It must be genetic or something.

And guessing from the fact that Matthew at 21 months old is as tall and heavy as I was at nearly three years old...I don't think this genetic trait came from me! Here's to many years of keeping the fridge full of good food, and Matthew's tummy full!

Brooklynn's Winter Concert

Brooklynn is in preschool this year, and on Thursday night we had her "Winter Concert." So, the Cleveland Heights schools don't do "Christmas" anything. The word "Christmas" is taboo, and I find it pretty annoying. My kids learn all about Jewish Holidays, some African holiday called Kwanzaa...but they're not allowed to talk about or sing about Christmas. So...when you're a room mom out here, you have to plan a "Winter Party" and keep it generic so as not to offend the various interest groups, etc, etc. And...the kids don't have Christmas programs, they have Winter Concerts.


Okay, so I got off my topic in a hurry, didn't I! We had Brooklynn's Winter Concert on Thursday, and she was so cute. She was so excited to go on stage! No stage fright for her! That's all she could talk about for about a week before!

Here she is in our living room right before we left.

And here she is in the hallway outside of the auditorium. She had been giving Andy a tour of her school, and was so proud of it.


After the kids sang, they had the cafeteria set up with cookies to decorate. Our kids liked that a lot. It was a fun night...and even though no real winter songs were sung...it was just nice to watch little Brooklynn being up on stage and enjoying herself. I guess that's what its all about anyway!

They sang two songs, "I Am Special" and what Brooklynn calls "The Big Fat Snowman". I'm not sure what the real name of the song is. She was so cute, she was in the center of the stage on the second row, and I could hear her voice really clearly. She did all of the actions and looked like she was really enjoying herself.

Still Smiling!

Do you ever have one of those days where you feel like you've been a drill sergeant all day long? Okay, a drill sergeant who says "Please" but drill sergeant nonetheless?

Please stay off the table

Please do your homework.

Could you do your homework without hitting the wall?

Stop arguing please.

Does it really matter? Stop arguing.

Please shut the fridge.

Put the cheese back in the package before you put it back in the fridge.

Would you please help set the table?

Why? Well, would you like to eat tonight?

Please leave your little brother alone.

Don't play in the bathtub.

Who didn't flush the toilet!?!

Could you please turn the lights off when you're not in the room?

Please put your dirty clothes down the chute.

Who dumped the Cheerios all over the table?

Zippy doesn't have opposing thumbs...he couldn't have done that.

Do we have a chimpanzee in the house?

Don't talk back to me.

Because I said so.

I will not argue with you.

This is not a request.

Oh, that does not make Mommy happy.

I do not negotiate.

I. Don't. Bargain.

Do I look like I'm kidding?

Do you see a smile on my face right now?

Okay...you get the point. Monday nights we get one and a half hours with Andy...for dinner and FHE before he goes off to study or finish up some project he's working on...Tuesday nights he works from right after school to midnight so we don't see him at all...Wednesday night is the same thing. Thursday nights he has Cub Scouts at our house so I really don't see him until 8:30 after I've put the kids to bed and then Friday...whew. Sometimes we get a Friday to ourselves...Saturday he's off to work for Dr. C or to study...and Sunday is just not the day of rest that it's supposed to be most of the time.

So...this is my excuse. I have to be strict because I'm being the mom AND the dad right now...I try to be fun, and relaxed and creative...but trying to hold a household together, to live off of pretty much nothing, and raise 4 children pretty much on my own is not that easy! There are a lot of days where I feel like my poor kids deserve better!

But then, one of my sweet kiddos decides to draw a picture of Mommy and hang it on the fridge...and there's one tiny detail in this picture that gives me hope that maybe I'm doing something right.

See it?

I'm still smiling.

Thank you to my sweet little Rachey for unknowingly making me feel like I'm doing an okay job.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like...

Gingerbread Houses!

So a couple of years ago we started this little tradition of making a gingerbread house during the Thanksgiving Holiday. I love how the house smells so yummy after baking gingerbread! Two years ago, we had family in town and so I just made enough cut outs for two...one for each family. Last year we were out of town and didn't get to make one...and the kids let me know this year that they didn't want to miss out on it again, so I promised them that we'd do it.

Well, Andy and I got this grand idea that we'd let each of the kids make their own...but the thought of making enough gingerbread house cutouts for four kids just made me want to crawl under my covers...so I used my "Merry Moolah" coupons and bought the premade, ready to put together kits from JoAnns. Brilliant. That's all there is too it. Except...the house didn't fill up with the aroma of fresh gingerbread.

So, Thursday night we got started. I mixed up the frosting (yes, this comes included in the box) and we helped them glue their houses together.

We were so amazed that their walls were straight, and the roofs were actually on the top of the houses.

We let them sit overnight to make sure that they were solid.

Then the next morning, we started decorating them.

The kids loved that they each had their very own bowl of candy (yes, included in kit) and I mixed up all of the frosting, made different colors, and then they just kept passing the frosting tubes around.

Taylor was very meticulous about where he put each piece of candy.

It was so fun to watch them create their very own designs. Brooklynn only wanted candy on one side of her roof because she wanted room for Santa to land on the other side. You know, you have to think about those things.

I kept having to remind Rachey to put the candy ON her house...she just wanted to eat it. And I think she used the whole bottle of green sprinkles...she wanted to have grass on her snow.

And Andy and I started cracking up when Brooklynn decided to use yellow sprinkles on her snow, just in one spot. It was in the back of her house...so we thought maybe that's where the reindeer took a short break before flying onward. Watch out for yellow snow!

Matthew even got in on the action. He was like Rachel, and couldn't figure out why Mommy wanted him to put the candy on the house...he just wanted to eat it.

Here's Brooklynn with her finished product!

Matthew sort of lost interest after a while...so I finished his for him. I hope he doesn't mind the pink. I could have kept going for hours...but just stopped when the kids were done. Weird, but it's really relaxing to goop a bunch of frosting onto a piece of hard cookie dough and then stick candy in it. Sort of therapeutic. Here's Rachey with her finished house. Hers was the most colorful, and I really liked it. Notice her pile of unused candy to the side. Yes, I finally gave up...I mean, she's just going to nibble it off the house anyway, right?

And here's Taylor. He even made some icycles on the roof. He really got into this project, and so far hasn't eaten any candy off of his. Christmas morning, his will most likely be the only one still in tact without any candy missing. In fact, I'll probably have to start asking him if he would like to munch off of his house. Funny how the kids are so different.

This is definitely a tradition that we are going to keep. It's so messy and time consuming, but it's also worth every minute of it. I think that next year I might just have to make them again instead of buying the kits though...because I really missed that smell of gingerbread. And to all you candle people out there, NO, it's not the same as a good scented candle!

Happy 1st of December!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving this year!

The weeks leading up to ours were really fun. Brooklynn and I decorated a box to look like a Turkey, and then cut out a whole bunch of leaves out of different colors of paper and throughout the month each member of our family could write down on a leaf something they felt thankful for and drop it into the box. For Family Home Evening the week before Thanksgiving, we played "Thankful Charades" and acted out what each person had written on their leaves. It was pretty funny.

Some of the things that were written were:

• Scissors


• Living near Kirtland


• the Stapler


• Intelligence


• Zippy (our cat)


• Family


• Visiting Teachers


• the Refrigerator

Imagine acting out a pair of scissors...or the stapler. Yes...you get the idea of how this could be entertaining!

On Thanksgiving Day, I scattered the leaves onto each person's plate and then we took turns reading what each person was thankful for. It was really fun for the kids. I think we'll do it again next year, I liked it a lot better than what we've done in the past, which is to just have each person go around the table and name something they're thankful for. This provided us with ample time to really think about all of the blessings we've been given and to really put some serious thought into it.

So everyone's in search of that perfect way to roast a turkey...and this way has worked pretty well for me that past few times I've done it. So once again this year, I found myself gritting my teeth and prepping the freezing cold bird...did I mention that stripes are in this year?

I mix butter with herbs and salt...and then loosen the skin of the turkey and coat the top of it with a thick layer of this butter and herb mixture.

It is not my favorite thing to do in the world...but it makes for very nice moist white meat that is seasoned and everything right off of the bones. Yum-m-m-y.

And I use the oven bags because they keep all of the moisture inside and still let it brown to a beautiful golden brown! Hooray!

So while Andy and I were working in the kitchen, the older three kids were popping in and out to sample food, and Matthew was watching the Macey's parade on the computer.

Here's Matthew all ready to eat...in his chair, bib on...where's the food?

And Brooklynn and Taylor are ready too...

Rachey...

And Mom and Dad of course!

What a fun day we had together!

After a nice relaxing afternoon, we went downstairs and played some Wii. Andy and I have the Wii sports package...and we did the thing that tells you your age based upon your performance on the sporting events. Well, according to the Wii...Andy is 34 (right on) and me? Ahem...apparently I have no speed, very little stamina but have pretty good balance...putting my Wii age at 50. Yes, 50 years old. Oh well...being in my 3rd trimester of pregnancy can't be helping that score. I did feel better though when we put in the Outdoor Challenge, and I beat Andy by several thousand points. I gave him a bad time that he got beat by a pregnant "50 year old"...not too shabby.

Later that night we started putting our gingerbread houses together...but I'll post about that in a few days!

New Blog

So...I started a new blog just so that I could catalog the different craft and sewing projects I've made and am working on without clogging up the family blog. Pretty much, it's sort of an online project journal...feel free to visit it...but I warn you, I'm not all that great and many of you will most likely be very disappointed in what you see there! So many of my friends are so much more creative and talented than I am! But, I enjoy it so I guess that's the most important thing!

You can click on my new blog from my sidebar. Just look under "Other Fun Blogs to Visit" and you'll see "Sherrie's Project Blog"...click on that and it will take you to it. :)

The Pinboards

Taylor, Rachel, and Brooklynn each have a pinboard where they can pin up their special art projects, school papers, etc. Every couple of weeks, I go through the pinboards and put some things into scrapbooks, and toss others. This is what is currently being displayed by each...

Taylor's

• map of the world completely labeled with oceans and continents
• medal for getting 100% on 100 addition facts in 6 minutes
• job chart for cub scouts
• rainbow picture given to him by Rachel
• a snowflake he made a few months ago
• underneath the map is a geneology chart he filled out up to great-grandparents

Rachel's

• report on what she does when she first gets to school
• artwork: vase and flowers
• butterfly drawing she drew and colored
• coloring math page
• coloring book page
• "you won the Love At Home fairy award" letter from Mommy

Brooklynn's

• on top is her clay pizza she made in preschool
• ghost artwork
• littly fuzzy squirrel complete with nut and squiggly eye
• huge autumn rainbow painting
• behind is a painting of a red fire engine
  

One Way to Get a Handle on Things

So, I get up and do my girls' hair for them each morning. I carefully comb through the tangles (they refuse to wear their hair in braids during the night...which would completely alleviate this problem!) but no matter how careful I am, I always hear these exclamations.

"Ouch!"

"Owwie!"

"Mommy!"

"That's too tight!"

"That pulls!"

I have always felt kind of bad about it all...thinking that I need to find a way to be a little more gentle or something. Until I saw this picture that Andy had snapped of our Rachey while she was busy doing her doll's hair.

Now for some reason, I don't feel all that bad about my own techniques.

Andy and I feel bad already for our future grand-daughters.

The Difference Between Boys and Girls

Need proof that there is an innate difference in boys and girls? Just try chocolate. Had Matthew been a girl instead of a boy, he would be eating these M&Ms rather than loading them into his truck and making "Vrooom Vroom" sounds. He is such a sweet boy.