Have you had enough of the snow pictures yet???
This is probably one of my most favorite candid pictures. I’d love to hear what your caption would be, so, post below your best caption and we’ll choose a favorite and give the winner five thousand points!
Well, with several little ones that couldn’t take being out in the cold and snow for long periods of time, I and the grandparents and Aunt B did a lot of indoor maintenance. So, we got lots of fun pictures of the kids…Oh, before I start…want to know how much luggage and stuff one has to take to be snowed in in the mountains with our six kids??? No, well, tough, I’m going to show you.
With a winter storm looming and temps getting way low, we had a morning inside with everyone. We split up into groups. I grabbed some extra sugar and flour I had brought and mixed it with peanut butter to make playdough. It was great fun, except that I forgot the twins were allergic to peanut butter and we were all stressing trying to make sure they didn’t grab any (Way to go Aunt Abbie)!
Another day, we had the little ones inside and to keep them busy, I filled up a sink full of bubbles and they wen to town. They did really good keeping it in the sink too!
Okay, I’m still sifting through the three hundred plus pictures from our ski trip…they should be up next week.
So, to keep from getting even farther behind…here’s Liam’s birthday.
I got in on one of the Daily Deal websites and was able to get a party package for six to the bowling alley for half price. We got two because with our family, well, you just need two to accommodate us and our friends!
This was the first time bowling for all of our kids (unless you count Wii practice before we went).
We’ve been out all last week (hence the sporadic posting). Well, we haven’t just been out. We’ve been in the mountains. Covered in snow.
We were able to take a family trip with Papa, Grandmere, Uncle B and Aunt B and their seven children. Yep, our motto of “Go, go, go” may have hit it’s all time high.
We traveled to Beech Mountain, NC. From all respects, we had perfect “skiing” weather. It was clear the day we came up, snowed the next day, clear the next, snowed a lot the next day, and then clear and cold after that. By the time we had to leave, the roads were all clear. We praised God throughout the week for the weather He sent. We fully expected to just see snow on the slopes and at the ski resort, however, we had it everywhere.
So, while we continue to unpack, and recover from a stomach bug (we traveled didn’t we???), I’ll share a few things I need to remember:
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Liam got a kick out of telling his aunt and uncle jokes. They encouraged it too. At one point, Liam announced, “It’s flowing out of my brain and down to my tummy.”
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Our nephew H (once described as Liam on speed but has since slightly, ever so slightly toned down to “just like Liam”), has now been renamed as “Me too.” Everytime we (especially Mark or I) would announce we were going to do something, he would pipe up, “Me too, Me too.”
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H is also quite the daredevil/stunt artist. Mark was able to observe him on skis as he went down the learners’ slope and straight into the mesh gate. He and Uncle B were exclaiming, “H stop, H stop!” And as he quickly neared the gate, “H fall! H FALL!” They continued to watch as he ran into the gate, bounced off, laughed, and turned and skied off.
I got to observe this daredevil spirit when we went ice skating. He got tired of waiting on his mom to take him around the rink so he just took off without anyone. Skated two steps, fell hard, laughed, and got back up and did it again….wash, rinse, repeat.
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Mark and I both got a kick out of the sweetness of the cousins. They all played together so well (which was a blessing in place crammed with nineteen people). We got to watch Josiah cuddling with a cousin to look at a book.
Mark told me about Zoe and Cousin O on the slopes. They would race Mark to the lift, get in on a lift in front of him and he would watch them giggle and talk and play the whole way up. It really warmed our hearts!
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We learned that all ski personnel are dudes. When we referred to any of them we would say, “There was this dude.” As we discussed this, I remarked my snowboard instructor (yes, I said snowboard…yes, I tried snowboarding), was old.
Aunt B replied, “He’s an old dude.”
By the end of the week, we even had Papa calling them dudes.
Is that all the funnies???
I think that’s enough. Stay tuned for pictures, between the three families, we have about four hundred of them…don’t worry, I won’t totally bore you with unbelievably cute pictures of my kids, nieces, nephews, and family…or maybe I will (insert evil laugh here).
We woke up, the day after Christmas to snow falling. It rained the whole night before, so we didn’t have any thing sticking. It tapered off to sleet in the afternoon then picked back up and after that, it started to stick! This was our second snow this year! And, if you know where we live, you know that is highly unusual! Yet again, I had a cold. But the kids enjoyed it.
Finding snow stashed in a corner and attacking with snowballs…again.
All told, we probably had about one inch, if that much, stick. It was fun while it lasted because it was gone mid morning the next day.
Since we’re going skiing soon, we opted not to take Bryant out in it. He got to see it from the window and was as impressed as a five month old can be with snow.
Yeah, I know, I’m almost two weeks behind. But, at least, I’m posting.
Starting with Ceili Rain, we have been passing around a cold bug. It includes a fever for twenty four hours and ends with a cold…stopped up nose, sneezing, and coughing as well. Christmas day we were all still dealing with the congestion, but no fever. Mid morning, Josiah came up to meet and told me he was tired. Checking his temp, I realized he was feverish. So, he spent the afternoon on the couch. Thankfully, it was a pj day!
The day before, we made a gingerbread house. Okay, we decorated one. I bought the kit at Wal-Mart and it included a pre-made house with the icing and sugary treats. Can you spot the chewed up gumdrop???
We set out their St. Nick gifts this year. They included Trios Castle and paraphenalia for the boys and a doll house for the girls.
That bruise on Ceili Rain’s cheek was a gift to her from Josiah as he tried to give her a hug which turned into a tackle which the doorframe stopped.
Ceili Rain got hairclips from her sister. This year, the kids drew names and chose gifts from our Sib Shop (things I’ve gathered at extreme discounts throughout the year and stored away for them to shop through).
Josiah tickled us this year. He drew Zoe’s name, but as I helped him wrap his gift, he kept looking at all the things and saying how one would be good for Ace or that one would be good for Liam, etc. He never once grabbed one and said he wanted it. When Zoe opened her gift he was right beside her and when she smiled and told him thank you, he got so excited and gave her a hug!
When I said we liked to travel, I didn’t realize we’d be traveling two weekends in a row. The second weekend in December was a trip to Alabama to a wedding. Now, about halfway there we realized that we had forgotten the extra batteries in our camera and the current batteries in it were dead. So, we got zero pictures while there. We also celebrated Zoe’s birthday with Papa and Grandmere. Let’s just say, the wedding was beautiful and my kids were too!
The next weekend was a trip to Granddaddy and Ge’s to celebrate Christmas and Zoe and Liam’s birthdays. We had a blast. I think my favorite parts were my nephew Ethan being stoked with his gift (two airsoft guns with lasers for his dad and him to use) and staying up after the younger kids went to bed to play games with the older ones.
While we were there, Mark got a call (that lasted at least an hour if not more). We had just handed out presents and were waiting on him. Ceili Rain took the time to stack and restack all the packages.
Mark couldn’t get off the phone and the kids couldn’t wait so we let them all take turns opening gifts…
Zoe and J-bug planned it out to open gifts that looked the same at the same time. This meant their gifts were the same if not similar. They thought it was funny.
Bryant was just a little sleepy. Turn your head, or not. I look better sideways!
New Year’s Eve seems to be the appropriate time to post pictures from our annual Tree Hunt. It was extremely cold this time! We didn’t go right after Thanksgiving because we knew our friends were coming in town and a large tree in the living room would be hard to navigate around when we’re also stepping over 10 children. So, we waited until the first weekend in December to head out. We quickly found our tree at a decent price and while Mark worked on getting it, I took the kids over for their annual hot chocolate and popcorn.
Then we loaded on the trailer for our annual hayride (the kids voted to do it even though we were all soooo cold), and headed home.
Ceili Rain has found a spot in the kitchen to stash her valuables (sibling’s water bottles, their blankets, her giraffe, and such). When she had snack time, this same spot was where she chose to eat it.
Ceili Rain enjoyed helping me with their Christmas dresses (one day I’ll get a picture of them in the dresses). In fact, whenever I’m sewing, she’s usually right there helping me. She’s sat in my lap as I’ve sewn since she was about four months old.
Sleeping arrangements while our friends were here, included Ceili Rain in our room squeezed between the night stand and our glider. Bryant slept in a playpen in our room. Kristina’s two little ones slept in Zoe’s room and the rest of the kids slept downstairs. It worked out really well and they all seemed to enjoy it.
