December 3, 2014

Singing at Bible Study!

(click here for today's pictures)

• I was up early again this morning but not nearly early enough for the treadmill.  I did have all of the potties cleaned before the kids started stirring.  This was Bible study morning and their Christmas performance so not only did everyone have to get ready-they also had to look cute (well, cuter than normal!)  My boys were not too pleased about wearing sweaters but oh they were adorable.  
• We didn't have time to eat our waffles and pancakes so we opted for our quick meal of poptarts and will have those waffles tomorrow.  I had already gotten the toaster out so Reagan was pretty bummed that we didn't have time for those.  
• We hauled in a huge cookie cake for Anderson and Reagan's class, 3 Bibles, 3 Bible study books and 3 tins of brownies for prisoners.  Notice something that I left out of the list-diaper bags.  Not too big of a deal since I did have a cup for Whitman in the car and grabbed a few emergency diapers from the car as well.  And Keaton doesn't really need her bag but is there just in case of a potty accident.  
• Now lets discuss my brownies for my prisoners.  We were told to bring them in tins and I only had plastic tins.  I traded with Nonna for some metal tins and she sent me one tin that I am sure the prisoners will really enjoy!  It had little naked angels on it-I am sure they were Christmassy cherubs but to a prisoner I am not so sure.  If I get in trouble for sending porn to prisoners, you will know that it was my momma's fault.  
• Now let's discuss Anderson's cookie cake.  Earlier this year, it was Reagan's snack day and she missed it because she had strep.  So Anderson was there and brought her snack for her-but this meant that he could pass it out.  When Reagan was disappointed about missing her turn and since she was still so sick, Anderson sweetly said that she could pass out the snack when it was his turn.  But when his turn rolled around, he wasn't really singing the same tune. He did convince Reagan to let him hold the pan as she passed out the snack.
• So today in Bible study, we went to our little groups first and then to lecture.  Of course today, most of the mommas were sitting way up front so we would already have our spots for the kids program.  Reagan and Anderson were the first to sing and of course they were perfect and new all of the words.  Next up was Keaton's first time to sing in front of a crowd and she was absolutely adorable.  Reagan and Anderson were waving and waving at Keaton until she saw them and then she was so happy to see Campbell and then Graham up on the stage with her. They all did great and afterwards we tried to take a quick Christmas picture of the kids in their cute clothes-don't be surprised but that didn't work out too well!  No one is always looking at the camera at the same time!
• We had lunch at Rock Creek with our buddies and then dropped off everyone at Grannymom's house but Graham and Whitman headed with me to the doctor's office.  Whitman and Graham were pretty funny at the doctor's office.  Reagan and Campbell have taught Whitman to pray-which involves him laying face down on the floor and jabbering.  So he did that the entire time we waited for Dr. Martin to walk in. 
• And while Graham was sitting in the hospital gown, he asked "is this like one that you wore when you had a baby?"  I said that it was similar.  Then he looked at me and said "do they wash them?" and then added "Do you think a lady had a baby in this?"  
• I picked up the kids from Grannymom's house and we were home for about 2 hours before turning around to go to church.  We did have some time to do our science and the kids watched a few movies before we had supper and read a few books.  
• Church was fairly uneventful and once we were home, we did our Christmas countdown and then it was bedtime for the kids.  I hope that Keaton went to sleep easily because she was so tired that she fell asleep on the way home from church tonight.

Cassani’s Fogless Mirror Consumer Review

Shaving is a daily exercise but not one of my favorites.  So anything that might make this mundane task easier is worth checking out.  This Fogless Shower Mirror does what it says and works nicely.  The box includes two stainless steel adhesive wall mounts. You can attach the mirror and a razor on the wall mounts. If you are not completely satisfied, there is a “Hassle-Free 100% Money Back Guarantee if you are not fully satisfied.” 

Be sure to read the instructions closely on removing the protective strips on the front and the back of the mirror.  The front strip removed very easily but I did have a bit of trouble on removing the backing but with a little effort it was soon removed.  The adhesive strips were easy to remove and after waiting a few hours, my new mirror was hanging in place.

The mirror allows you to shave and does not fog up at any time.  There are no extra steps to keep the mirror from fogging. So you can easy complete the task of shaving while seeing your face and neckline all at the same time. 

The fogless shower mirror can be bought online at Amazon.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Christmas Ornament Countdown: 22 Days until Christmas

In 2008, we went with the Dennies on a trip around New England.  One of our days was spent in Montreal and my blog said that it was wet and cold.  This is one of the reasons that we so enjoy blogging, because often I can not remember things about out trips but once I review the blog, it helps (some). Robby on the other hand can probably describe each of the hotels that we have ever stayed in while I seemed to have forgotten the entire city of Montreal (sorry, if I have any Canadians that read the blog!)  Here is the link from the trip and look how little my 3 kiddos were.

December 2, 2014

(click here for today's pictures)

Making a GIANT Cookie

• Another school day for Campbell but today, I had to pull her out of bed to get her to wake up.  I promised her that if she went right downstairs she could lay in bed with Robby for a minute before having to get ready.  Once she was ready for school, we quickly cooked our gourmet breakfast of toast and yogurt.  I urged her to eat her yogurt first since she couldn't take it in the car and then off they went.  She was pretty excited about school today because she was the snack helper-goldfish, raisins and apple juice.
• Back at home, the rest of us finished our breakfasts and then we started on school.  Graham was still a bit antsy and Anderson was so distracted. Graham is usually the most obnoxious during school when he is working on his math-falling out of his chair, counting loudly and roaming around.  And Anderson will do anything and everything to avoid his math (though he misses about 1 out of 100 problems he works)   I tried to sit near him while he was doing his math but that gets him frustrated even if I am not paying any attention to him.  So I hung up a sign over their desks today that said "Do your math first or lose your kindle."  It is my current rule for them to do their math first but I never enforce it but I guess I need to start now.
• Everyone eventually finished this math and even finished all of the day's school.  It did take Anderson until after lunch to finish his work and strangely enough he even managed to miss out on chores while he was doing his work after lunch.  I need to figure out how that can't happen again either.  But he was ready to help me make his snack for Bible study tomorrow.  He helped some and then Reagan jumped in and thought of adding a Christmas tree made from M&Ms onto his cookie cake.  Probably a cookie cake with red and green icing was not the best thought out plan since they are going to sing in big church after eating that cookie.  
• The afternoon was pretty low key-Whitman too another nap and Keaton went to sleep.  So that left me time to do a few things-mainly finish Anderson's cookie and gather clothes and all for our day tomorrow.  The kids watched their daily movies and soon Campbell and Robby were home with supper.
• We ate our supper and then read our verse.  Reagan picked out an ornament for us to talk about-Mozart from Austria.  Since we had gone into the closet with a candle last night for an object lesson about our Bible verses, the kids were pretty bummed that we didn't do that again tonight.  Then we also pulled our Santa piece down before a bit of free time.
• Even though the evening started off well, it didn't end too well.  Robby told the kids to put on their pjs and then come back and sit down for just 5 minutes while we put Whitman in bed (made the part about sitting down very clear) before we watched one more tv show and had a piece of candy.  Two boys wrestling and 2 girls running around is what we found so that made the evening much quieter downstairs.  Reagan was the only one left up and she read and played her kindle while Keaton, Campbell and Graham cried from their beds.  Anderson was in his bed but he wasn't as noisy as the rest.  Sometimes you have to learn a lesson the hard way. 

Christmas Ornament Countdown: 23 Days until Christmas

My favorite ornaments are ones that represent a specific stop or event in our trip or one that will be a real attention grabber on the tree.  But sometimes your trips have so many stops that you just can't pick one ornament and that is what this one is from Pennsylvania.  It has quite of few of our stops listed.  I am pretty sure that we bought this ornament on our second trip to Pennsylvania. Here is a link to that post.  Now the biggest highlight for me in Pennsylvania was sleeping in a caboose at the Red Caboose and when Campbell saw that ornament, she took it to Robby to ask if we could go there since she wasn't around on this trip.  Robby's favorite spot from this trip was eating cheese steaks at Dalessandro's.

December 1, 2014

(click here for today's pictures)

Let the countdown begin...

• Busy day today so I was up before the rest of the folk around here.  It was still dark, it was cold and thought I had turned off my alarm but my alarm that sounds like a model T honking its horn continued to go off and wake Robby up after I had left the bedroom.
• This year, we have added more work for us to do.  Instead of a traveling elf, we have traveling wise men. They will be around the house this December searching for Jesus.  Even though we know the wise men didn't make it to the stable, these wise men will arrive our nativity scene in Christmas morning.  Today they were searching on the kitchen light for the Christ Child.
• Robby took Campbell to school today and this was a big day for her because it was birthday bash.  She was instructed to bring 4 cupcakes to school and thanks to Anderson's party two weeks ago we were able to save 4 cupcakes.  (Those cupcakes have been surrounded by marshmallows in the freezer awaiting their big day in Campbell's class.)  I even found 4 Hello Kitty rings from cupcakes we had another time and stuck those babies on the cupcakes-she was so proud of her cupcakes.  
• The rest of us started on our schooling and I could tell that we had taken almost a week off because my Graham was unable to sit still or be quiet.  He finally pulled it together and finished his math.  After that, he worked well and was the first one done-like he almost had to settle down a bit before he could think.  
• Just about as soon as we were finished with school, we loaded up and picked up Campbell from school.  She was pleased about her cupcakes and everyone else were pleased to be heading to Nonna's house.  Robby met us there and had lunch for everyone because of a mystery shop.
• Then, Robby and I left to go and eat (mystery shop) and then I thought I would quickly go and renew my driver's license.  Ha!  Nothing fast about that place.  The lady was working hard but with 8 people in front of me and then 13 behind me, it just takes a while.  It had already taken a bit longer than planned for me to get there because I went to the old location and had to find the new spot.  
• At Nonna's house the kids played outside in the freezing cold and came into hot chocolate and apple cider.  Then they watched a bit of tv and played and played.  My Whitman is the best player that we have.  He enjoys just sitting and playing with toys-Pops said that whenever he would check on him, Whitman would turn and look at him and just start jabbering.
• This afternoon, Graham asked Nonna if she had ever lived in the country.  He then added "you cook with flour, sugar and beans like people that live in the country."  I guess we have been listening to too many Little House on the Prairie books.  
• After I picked up the kids, we all headed home.  I cooked the last of our pumpkins, the kids played their kindles until we called them for supper.  We just made red beans and rice from the box and Robby arrived with sausage to add to it.  Unfortunately, we are now a 2 box family and finished off super with not a bit left over!
• Robby did a bit of work tonight while I made some brownies for Bible study.  I did have a minute to hang a few ornaments on the tree and asked Robby if he could see a spot that I needed another ornament and he replied that he couldn't even see the tree.  I love our "weird" tree.
• Before bed, we read a few Bible verses (John 1:1-5).  It mentioned that Jesus was the light so we all went to our closet to see what darkness was really like (Whitman wasn't too pleased) then Robby lit a candle and talked about how Jesus was the light of the world.  
• Then Graham picked an ornament on the tree for us to talk about.  He recalled more about the ornament and that stop (Mill City Museum in Minneapolis) than Robby and I did.  That child-let's just discuss him for a minute.  His mind is like a steel trap.  In Sunday school, they call Graham "Bible Trivia King."  His memory is a bit frightening to me. 
• Then Keaton pulled our Santa piece getting Santa closer to falling through the fireplace on Christmas day.  She was pretty pleased with herself.  After all of this, it was bedtime for the crew.

Christmas Ornament Countdown: 24 Days until Christmas

It is that time again to showcase some of our Christmas ornaments.  By my current lists, we have 204 ornaments that we have purchased during our travels.  That sounds like a ton and truth be told, it is so many that I can't even put them all of my tree.  This saddens me greatly and I am thinking now about a bigger tree in the living room and moving my current tree to the kitchen.

Each year that I put up the ornaments, I regret not hanging all of the picture frames together, all of the balls together, all of the Santas together-I could have lots of categories-animals, food, instruments, transportation or even Disney. Maybe I need lots of themed trees!  (Though putting up two trees this year was quite a challenge!) Though Reagan did say that our tree looked "weird, a good weird but weird."

The first ornament that I will highlight this year is one of the Statue of Liberty.  This ornament was one of the few that we didn't buy on a trip-I bought it many moons ago when I thought I wouldn't have enough travel ornaments to fill our tree.  I actually think this is one of the non-prettiest ornament that we have but it does remind me of our trips to New York.  We have been to New York City 4 different times and I would love to go back.

Our first trip was in 2006 and you can click here for those pictures.  The next trip was in 2007 and here are those pictures. (I am not sure that link is working properly right now though.)  The next time was came back was in 2009 with 3 kids and click here for those pictures. Our last trip was just a year later in 2010 and here are those pictures.

Hope you enjoy my trip through memory lane as we look at some of our ornaments.