Annual JC Penney Portraits

Wow - what a day! Brandon took all this week off for vacation. He had planned to work some on the house and had also planned to just play around the house with the kids. It feels like he's gone so much - which he is. Between work work and building a new house, he seems to always be gone. So, it's be wonderful having him around. Over a week ago, however, when he said he'd take this week off, I called and made an appointment to have the kids pictures taken at Penney's. Joseph is 8 months old and we still don't have a picture of him on the wall yet!

So today was the day. Naturally, this would also end up being the same day that the septic guy could come and install our septic system. Hardly something I wanted to pitch a fit over! So we sent Brandon out to the land early this morning, and I got the kids ready to go to the mall - alone! OYE! Naturally, I caved and called my aunt, who always seems to be bailing me out of some crisis or another! She said she'd meet me at the mall for our sitting! I got all 8 kids dolled up, combed, washed, combed again and loaded in to the van! Whew! Turn the key - NOTHING happens! Oh the engine tried to start. It choked and sputtered for a good five minutes, but never got it's act together.

So I call my aunt, on the brink of tears, and asked her to stop by the house to get half of my kids. Luckily, we only live a couple of miles from the mall. I took the car seat kids and Maddie in the Jeep and left Jason with the other school aged kids for my aunt to pick up. We made it with time to spare - for all the good that did us. It was a good 40 minutes later than our appointment before than got us back. Luckily, all I wanted were quick bust shots to hang on the wall - so bam, bam, bam x8 and we were done!!! I got my 8 kids through faster than the couple with a newborn baby! LOL Anyhoo, here are pics of the xerox proof sheet they gave me. The real pics will be in Jan 12 - so I'm sure you'll see the color shots later!

Merry Christmas!

*yawn*

Brandon and I made it to bed just after 1am - the kids woke up just after 5am - sadly, that's not the worst we've done, so I really shouldn't complain this year! LOL

We spent last night, Christmas Eve, at my parents' house. For as long as I can remember, my entire extended family has attended a Christmas Eve pot luck and gift exchange at my parents' house. I've missed a few years since I've been married - but now that our kids are older and can enjoy the large crowd a little better, and carry themselves in and out of the car, it's become a fun tradition for us. Here are a few shots from last night. I don't have many of Christmas morning. We were all much too blurry to be photographed!

For several years now, my uncle Dave has dressed up as Santa and come to the party to hand out gifts - I apologize for any red-eye that there may be - I am simply to tired/lazy to do any editing today!

Mom & Joseph


Jason 12.5yr


Madilyn 11yr


Jacob 9.5yr


Megan 8yr


Jared 6.5yr


Malorie 4yr


Melanie 2.5yr


Joseph 8mo

Rockin' Around the Livingroom

My grandmother sent us a horrid musical Christmas card - and of course, Jaynie loves it! She's driving us nuts with it - but it sure is cute. Watch her dance (and don't you know, the best dancing is done when you have your pants on backward).

Christmas Breakfast

Every year our church holds a Christmas breakfast. It's always very nicely done - yet still "down homey"...we have funny skits and songs, and we also have very beautiful performances - all in the same mix.

I took a ton of pictures but the lighting was so poor (and never mind the fact that I still think my camera is almost in need of CPR) I just ended up with mostly "too dark to make out" pictures - or else I have such horrid red-eye on everyone that it's hopeless! So here are just a few of the fit-for-viewing pictures I got!

Malorie and Melanie's age group got to get together and decorate cookies...it went a little something like this...

Hmmm, Sprinkles, maybe I'll add some of those...



Melanie licks frosting, while Malorie continues to add sprinkles...



Mom leaves, takes a few pictures of the other kids and comes back to find...





GREEN! Nobody told me there was green!!! Must add green!




Naturally, as mom expected, there were so many sprinkles on this cookie that she couldn't/wouldn't eat it...LOL




Doesn't it all just give you a stomach ache thinking about it!?

Making a List...

You have to love kids who really don't expect much for Christmas. I've asked my kids over and over "What do you want?" and over and over they say, "Eh, whatever." Sure, the thought of saving hundreds of dollars is great - but the thought of Christmas morning with nothing to open but the box of oranges that our neighbor lady gives us kind of stinks!

So the other night I thought I'd kind of catch the kids off guard and see if they'd give me some ideas. We were all sitting in the living room and I said, "Jason, if you only got one thing for Christmas what would you hope it'd be?" I asked it fast, told him to answer fast, went through all the kids that way - NADA! Still I have no clue what to get more than half of my kids! LOL

So where is this story going? Well, this was the really funny part. I wasn't going to ask Malorie and Melanie what they want because they don't really grasp the whole Christmas idea just yet - but when I got down to Jared, I noticed that Malorie had big eyes and seemed to be expecting to be next. So with the same excitement that I asked all the other kids what they wanted, I said, "Malorie, what do you want for Christmas?" Without hesitation she said, "Grapes." I tried not to laugh out loud. And of course, Melanie, not to be left out of anything Malorie gets to do..."Jaynie, what do you want for Christmas?" Her answer..."I want to go to McDonalds."

So there you have it - a bunch of grapes and an hour in McPlayland...Christmas couldn't get any easier than that! LOL

How fun!

I baked! (Well, kind of...I turned the oven on, so I think this should count!)

These are so easy and so yummy! Think candy dipped pretzels!!
Preheat oven to 170

Lay out pretzels (recipe calls for the pretzel squares, but all my store had was mini regulars and they worked just fine) on cookie sheet covered w/ parchment paper.

Place a Hershey's Kiss (I used the red & white Candycane flavor, but recipe calls for the black/white Hugs) on each pretzel.

Place in the oven for 4 - 5 minutes.

When they come out gently press an M&M down on the top of the kiss. It will be soft. I went back after I had an M&M on each one and pressed the kiss a little harder down into the pretzel so it was squished inside and didn't threaten to fall off when it hardened.

8 is Great!

Megan turned 8 back in November and today she was baptized. My parents and sister came - Brandon mom, sister Kara, brothers Justin, James & Courtney were there w/ their families too. Of course we missed Grandpa Lee terribly, again. Maybe it's just me - no, I'm sure it's not. He is just as missed today as he was the day he died. Naturally there is always the feeling of his presence at family occasions like this, but it just doesn't quite fill that void of seeing his face and hearing his voice. (Man, way to turn this entry into a tear jerker!) There were some other friends there from church as well. Our friend Marilyn had made her wicked, evil pie crust cookies for refreshments and everyone had a wonderful visit afterward!

Busy, busy, busy -

Between things at the schools and things at the house and things here and things there - I can hardly ever remember if I'm coming or going any more!! UGH! Here are a few of the things that have kept us busy lately...

Wednesday, Megan was chosen to be the Student of the Month - or the I Care Kid - I'm not sure what they really call it.



Thursday night, Madilyn had a 5th grade band concert. She plays the flute and is sitting in the front row w/ a denim skirt and pink shirt. She is doing so well w/ her flute, we are very proud of her. I apologize for the jerky video - my poor little camera seems to be on it's last leg...





We worked on the house Wednesday night - these are just misc pictures I took that day w/ the little girlies.



These are the stairs that Megan fell down Tuesday night! This has been my nightmare ever since Brandon started building - apparently she was on the landing (up those few steps) sweeping saw dust, and she just stepped off the landing and fell to the ground - so I guess to say she "fell down the stairs" isn't entirely correct - she fell off the landing and landed on the basement floor. We're so lucky she wasn't seriously injured. She cut her lip up a bit, and has a couple of "really cool" bruises, but that's it, thank goodness. (Needless to say, dad put railings up last night).

This is the back side of the house (and the plumber's trailer, lol) - I think it looks probably the same as the last picture I shared of it, only this time w/ all the windows and some snow. (A slider will go in the top bay window space, but not any time real soon). We're a little worried about our septic system. The guy hired to do it said he can't get to us for about 2 more weeks - (nevermind he was supposed to have us done by Thanksgiving) - and he said some winters, the county will require that he not haul his backhoe or gravel or septic supplies until April b/c the ground is so soft and it will ruin the roads to haul such heavy loads - OYE! Just keep praying for a "not wet" winter here for a couple more weeks anyway!!

Misc

We had a silly night last night - the kids and Brandon got home late from the land so we didn't even finish eating dinner until 8pm. We decided to let the kids stay up until 9pm (hour past normal) and let them wind down a little.

I got the camera out and Melanie was instantly in front of it saying "Take a picture" - so I did (that would be leftover taco soup around her mouth, which was to die for good, I might add).



Then Joseph started to get himself up onto his hands and knees!! WOW! So we took a ton of pictures of him doing that...he'd get up, rock back and forth, and then dive forward -




Malorie couldn't be left out - so she put on dad's safety goggles and made a funny face (I know you're relieved to know she doesn't really look like that, lol).



Jason wanted in on the action too, so he grabbed the baby and said "cheese"...

A few of my favorite things...

Ok, so I have a few videos that I want to share w/ you guys. You may have seen them all already - maybe not - whichever the case may be, I'm sure you'll get at least a chuckle out of seeing them here.

This is my all time favorite AFV winner!!! I have it saved on TiVo and it drives the kids nuts when it's "mom's turn to choose what to watch" - I always make them sit through this clip before I choose a show to watch! lol

Dancing Machine

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These guys are two Gonzaga students - as I understand it, they have been making videos like these and publishing them on YouTube - someone from NBC found them and singned them to a year writing contract...cool, huh?



This is "Biff" from Back to the Future...I lol every time I watch this one.



Brian Regan is my FAVORITE comedian ever!





I'm sorry, I can't resist - one more Brian Regan...

Christmas Creche

For the last four years our church has organized a Christmas Creche (Nativity) exhibit for the public. Last night, Brandon and I were able to be Host/Hostess for the evening. It was a lot of fun. Since it was the first of four days, there were a lot of little kinks being worked out - but it was still fun. A local HS Choir came and performed in the chapel and there were hundreds (seriously) of nativities on display in the cultural hall (gym). I took a few quick pictures to share. The first one is of my favorite nativity...well, not the exact favorite. For the last three years someone has donated the cutest Ahmish nativity and I've coveted it every time I've laid eyes on it. This year her set wasn't there, but this one was...the other set has more figures. Isn't it adorable? The rest of the pics are just for friends and family to see who have been here before but can't make it this year - you know who you are!