Tree Day Cat-astrophe

We went out and got out Christmas tree on Saturday morning.  When I was young, we always cut down our own tree.  I have vivid memories of wandering through fields of trees with mom and dad.  Dad always brought his little hatchet to cut down the trees rather than a saw.  And something about having a sled with us?  Not quite sure about that one. 

The tree farm near us is more of just that -- a tree farm.  A big field, flat, with lots of trees jammed in rows.  Maybe that's what it was like when I was growing up, but I prefer my picturesque memories of trees nestled among hills and mountains. 

Anyway everyone was very excited to go out and pick a tree.  Of course, we needed to make a stop to feed the sheep (doesn't every tree farm have sheep?) before we could wander through the field.  Our primary requirement -- the tree must be taller than daddy.  This year, that somewhat limited our choices.  Also -- I'm not a big fan of white pines, and they had lots.  Anyway, we wandered through the fields, Jeffrey carrying his measuring tape 'carefully' measuring every tree he saw. 

We found a few that we really liked.  And though not taller than Tom, at least they were about as tall as he was.  And as you would expect each child chose a different tree to attach themselves too.  Erin found a lovely white pine that was so full there was no room for ornaments.  Jeffrey found a scotch pine (I think) that was only a little taller than mommy.  After several tears and mini-fits we finally agreed upon a tree that mommy chose -- after we let them feed the sheep again and go inside to get candy canes. 

Once the saw came out, the tears stopped.  Jeffrey was really intrigued by the process of cutting down the tree.  The kids even got to help some. 

Upon our return home the ornaments and lights and all the other decorations came out.  Christmas carols rang out through the house.  And children continued to cry.  This time because the tree was "prickly".  And it was.  So they wore mittens and gloves, and dropped ornaments.  Tom came up with ingenious hooks so they wouldn't have to touch the tree so much.  Eventually the tree was covered in our multitude of decorations including the ever important "High School Musical" and "Diego" Balls. 

Oh, and later that night we returned from an evening out to find the entire tree upended on the floor and one guilty looking cat. Water spilled everywhere.  Precious ornaments shattered.  High School Musical ornament -- just fine.  For now, the cat is still living inside.  We'll see what his future holds. 

Snow Day

Our first snow day of the year.  For the record, I'll accept one or two more, but if we lose the entire month of February again there's going to be some issues.

Since we live where snow is greatly feared by many, schools were closed before the first flakes fell this morning.  Nothing like being awakened by Sting's "I Saw Three Ships" at 5:15 AM.  At least this let the kids sleep in a little.  They were thrilled when they heard the three magic words -- "No School....Snow".  Then the obvious follow-up question "Can I play my DS?"

So we've had a quiet morning here watching the snow come down.  There's about 2-3 inches so far.  Enough to make it white and pretty, and to close just about everything except Walmart.  I made biscuits for breakfast and used cookie cutters (I'm a die-hard drop biscuit girl so this was a big step) to make trees and snowmen etc...   Then we bundled up, more for the cold than the snow, and took off for a morning walk. 

We wandered down by the stream, but not too close since last visit Jeffrey fell in.  Then walked down to the lake.  Snow was thrown around.  Snow angels were made.  Fingers and faces got cold.  Hot chocolate was requested, but I'm out.  So hot lemon tea in fancy tea cups. 

Now the Pet Shop village is out in the basement, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is on.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Family Time

All 6 Cousins on Thanksgiving Day

This year over Thanksgiving all the cousins were able to get together at one time.  This was extra special this year because in October the family added a new Cousin -- Will's baby sister Witney.  She's totally adorable.  It was a great time for all the cousins just to hang out and play together.  We kept it pretty low key.  There was time for the Wii.  Time for some crafts (thanks Aunt Robyn).  Time for Pet Shop and Star Wars.  And of course, time to hold the baby.  It can get a little crazy when there are 6 children under 8 living in one house for several days, but they all had a blast.
 

Jeffrey and Grandpa Making Gooey Aliens

Erin and Grandma Doing Word Puzzles

Feeding Witney

One Adoring Big Cousin

Jeff and Avery Witney-sitting

Who's Upside Down?

Cousins in PJs -- Love Jeff's Goofy Face

Leaves!!!

The leaves are all on the ground here.  It seems like they fell later than usual.  As always the kids LOVE playing in the leaves as we're raking them up.  I took the chance to snap a few pictures of them tossing leaves, covering each other, jumping, and even helping rake the leaf piles.  Ah, the joys of childhood. 

I just noticed she's not wearing any shoes.

Helping make more piles for jumping.

Hansel & Gretel

A Gypsy, a cookIE and 2 trolls walk into a bar...

OUCH!!!

That's what you get when you put us all together from our last show -- Hansel & Gretel.  Such a cute and fun show.  Erin got to be a witch's cookie.  I was a colorful gypsy.  Tom and Jeffrey were stinky trolls.  We all has an absolute blast.  Singing and dancing and being silly.

Erin is really coming into her own on stage.  Several individuals remarked on her facial expressions (when she does remember to look at the audience).  She had some great reactions.  Jeffrey was a fantastic troll -- just like his daddy.  By his last show he was stamping around and walking hunched over just like Tom.  The big accomplishment with Jeff was that he let me spike his hair.  That's a major accomplishment these days as the boy simply HATES having his hair spiked.  But it really did look adorable. 

So here are some pictures (thanks Ashley) and a few videos just so I can really brag about my amazing kiddos.

Halloween Days

Pirate Wench and Indiana Jones

We had a Halloween filled weekend.  The kids have been waiting for Halloween for weeks.  And this past week we had a daily countdown.  On Saturday I tried to convince the kids that we had canceled Halloween this year and instituted "Kids Work Day".  I had to give in when they both erupted into blubbering screaming pools of goo.  I guess maybe we'll see if I can get Halloween re-instated. 

We've had pumpkins for a while.  The kids picked them when we went to the corn maze.  On Friday, Jeffrey and I stopped at a corner store to pick up 2 more pumpkins for carving, and some smaller pumpkins for the kids (and their friends) to paint.  Anything with paint always elicits cheers.  Friday evening they painted their smaller pumpkins.  After dinner we prepared to carve.  The kids found some patterns left over from last year.  I'd hoped they'd get creative and make their own designs, but they picked out a few "simple" designs from the book.  Tom did most of the work.  The kids were required to dig out their own guts.  Erin doesn't mind it so much.  Jeffrey absolutely despises touching pumpkin innards.  I did get him to use a spoon to dig out some of his pumpkin.  Then while Tom carved, Erin worked hard to separate the seeds so mommy could roast them. 

Please Don't Make Me Touch It

Sunday rolled around and presented a gorgeous fall afternoon.  The kids have had their costumes picked out for months.  I stumbled across both of them at a local consignment shop.  Erin wore the adorable pirate wench costume (that she wore to the Faire) with a black shirt and polka-dot leggings.  Jeffrey has had his heart set on being Indiana Jones since August.  I was pretty certain I was going to have to shell out $30 online to find an Indy costume.  Imagine how psyched I was to find one that would fit him for only $8. 

Before we headed out for the afternoon we took some photos on the steps with their pumpkins.  Then we went to a local "Trick or Trunk" event at the school.  People volunteer to bring their cars to the parking lot and decorate them.  Kids then trick-or-treat from trunk to trunk.  They also had face painting, games, free hot dogs and everyone favorite -- a bounce house.  The kids saw some friends there so it was a good time.

Then for trick-or-treating we headed to spend the evening with some family friends.  There were 5 kids in all and the moms took them around the neighborhood.  When everyone got too tired to walk we folded down the seats in the back of the van and drove them all around.  They had an absolute blast running from door to door with their buddies.  And they made out like absolute bandits.

Today after school I figured we could easily incorporate candy sorting/counting into some math homework.  The kids dumped out their laden bags in the middle of the living room and proceeded to sort and count the loot.  Jeffrey ended up with almost 200 pieces of candy (a large number of Tootsie Rolls) and Erin counted about 150 pieces.  Each ended up with at least 1 full size candy bar, and 3 goodie bags.  They counted and sorted and played with their candy for almost an hour.  I think they had almost as much fun counting and sorting as they did getting it. 

Here's a little video I made of the kids counting their candy and showing off their sorting skills.  Extra credit if you know the background music and why I chose it ;)

 So we had a fantastic Halloween and hope that you all did as well!!! 

Playing Catch

We got to spend an extra morning with Noni, Oma, Grandpa and Uncle Jon after our visit to the Festival.  Erin still LOVEs to play with her Oma.  Even though Oma is not moving quite as quickly as she has in the past, she still loves her Erin time too.  While some of us finished out a card game inside, Erin and Oma ventured outside to play.  Erin wanted to play catch.  So she and Oma did this.  For about 20 minutes.

Before we left I wanted to get some pictures of the kids with their Uncle Jon.  Uncle Jon generally does his best ghost impression whenever a camera comes out, but he was willing to play along with the kids.  We even got Noni to sit down for a few photos too!!!  I think they just came out super cute.