Santa Came to Town on His Reindeer Sleigh Helicopter

We have some great friends that called yesterday and said that her dad has a friend that has a homemade helicopter and that Santa was going to be using the helicopter to make some house visits today. Her mom lives right outside our neighborhood and one of Santa's stops was going to be her backyard. They invited us over to see Santa.

We did not tell the kids what we were doing. They knew nothing about it. We simply told them to get in the car and left. They knew who lived at the house when we pulled in, but had no idea WHY we were there. After a little while (we had to get there a little before his expected noon arrival - didn't want to miss his entrance) we started hearing a helicopter. Some of the kids commented about the cool helicopter flying low, and about how the cool helicopter was circling and getting lower. Then someone noticed that OH. MY. GOSH! IS. THAT. REALLY. SANTA??

THEN - SANTA LANDED IN FRONT OF THEM!!

Look closely at his helicopter! It had reindeer antlers, a rudolph nose that really lights up and eyes on the windows!

Mads did not like the helicopter, therefore she did not like what came OUT of the helicopter! But, the other 8 kids out there were beyond excited! Santa gave them each a parachute snowman, gingerbread man or santa. I thought that was a cute little gift from a Santa that makes his entrance with a helicopter.

He did not stay long - I mean, Santa is a busy man on Christmas eve. Right now he is in Ukraine, so it was VERY sweet of him to fly back here, get his helicopter (the reindeer needed a rest) and come just to visit these nine kids! Santa is a pretty awesome man!!

Merry Christmas

2010 Christmas Card




We opted for individual pictures this year, although we did family pictures too. We did individuals the night before we went and did family, just to make sure we had something for the cards (which I did HORRIBLE at getting addresses and mailing them all out). Although we got some really cute family pics, I liked the individual pics for the card this year. It shows some of their personalities a little better.

Funny side note, I was bribing Mady with M&M's when we were taking pictures. She has one in her mouth in the picture ;) Whatever works!!

Many Presents All Wrapped In One

Sunday night we decided to let Andrew open a Christmas gift early. Everyone was wanting to watch a movie and every time watching a movie is mentioned Andrew runs around saying he wants to watch Toy Story 3. I made it a point the day the movie was released on DVD to go to the store and get it and I have had it hidden since.

We knew he would be excited when he opened it, but I was NOT expecting the reaction we got. He opened enough to see the title on the side of the movie (yes, he can read those two words....he has seen them PLENTY). He froze and his mouth dropped. He sat speechless for what seemed like forever. Then he ripped the rest of the paper off and just stared at it, jaw on the floor. When he "came to" again, he started hugging the movie. Then he ran to the DVD player (like he knew how to operate it). After pushing a few buttons and not getting the movie started (which was still wrapped in plastic and hugged tightly against his chest) he turns to us and says "I am taking my movie to bed with me" and disappeared to his room.

After a few minutes of us all in the living room laughing at him, I called him out. He came out, still hugging his movie. I asked if he wanted to watch the movie or if he just wanted to take it to bed. You would have thought he had unwrapped another present the way he was jumping around.

He continued jumping around until the movie started. Daddy decided to watch the previews (which we always skip), just to prolong the excitement. After the second preview he turns to us and says "What is all this?" I told him it was previews and he asked where his movie was. Dad started it and it was SILENT (except for a laughing) throughout the movie.

For the next 103 minutes we did not have to get on to anyone, chase anyone or get anyone out of anything. For 103 minutes our house was calm and fairly quiet! That was a pretty awesome gift for Dad and I too! Makes me want to have Toy Story on ALL. THE. TIME!

It was the reaction every parent wants from their child when they get to open a present. I must admit, I did NOT really expect the reaction by a MOVIE being opened though. When we got in bed after watching the movie, Daddy commented that we should have just gotten him the movie and been done. As excited as he was, he still would have been the happiest kid in town!

I did not have the camera out for his reaction, unfortunately. But, I cannot WAIT to see his reaction when he opens his giant Buzz robot! I will definitely have the video camera and camera out Christmas morning!

Just Some Pics

First Band Concert

Caleb had his first band concert yesterday. He has been very excited about it. Before I write about the concert, let me give you some background. Caleb got his trumpet for Christmas last year, but did not really start playing on it (learning the proper way of holding it, etc) until right before school started. Paul taught him the correct way to hold the trumpet, play the trumpet, basics like that, and had taught him a few notes. Basically, though, Caleb has been really playing since school started.

They do not do the typical "chair test" where you are first, second, third, etc chair. The top four trumpets sit in one row and the rest sit in the row behind them. Caleb has been in the top four since school started. After a little arguing at the beginning of the year about practicing, he now practices way more than the "required" 30 minutes a day!

Okay, enough bragging!!

So, the concert last night. We got there a little early and got a seat. (When you have as many kids as we do, you have to get there early to get everyone seated and settled!) We, by luck, chose a seat right in front of where Caleb was sitting. I was pretty happy about that since I had my camera and video camera! Then THE PEOPLE came and chose their seat right behind me! I heard her telling her mom that their one year old son was sick (so I hear, KEEP YOUR KIDS AWAY!!) and he was fussy. The fussing and crying and parents talking loudly did not bother me too much because we had quite a while before the concert began.

However, when the concert began and the child was still screaming.....Luckily, at first he only screamed between songs. I think I was able to videotape Caleb's part of the concert with minimal screaming (maybe). But, by the time the intermediate band started playing the kid was full out screaming, kicking me in the head and back, and mom and dad were telling him to be quiet and that it was too cold to go stand outside (in a voice louder than the child). Needless to say, it was VERY annoying and distracting.

Despite not being able to calm the child she never took him out. He screamed through the ENTIRE concert! The kids grandma took him out for the last song of the concert (why bother at that point). As a mom of five, I completely understand kids having bad days and parents wanting to stay to see their kid (which was in Caleb's band and the first to play). But, if you can't calm your child after the first song or two, think of those around you that want to HEAR the music!

The first thing Caleb said to me when he saw me was "Mom, that kid sitting behind you was REALLY loud! I could hear him over us playing!" I knew it was distracting for the audience, but I had no idea it was so distracting to the band!

Here are some pictures and I when I get a chance to upload the video I will post that too.


Check out the white socks with the black dress pants and shirt! Maybe he does still need Momma's help dressing! I DID catch the wrinkled up mess of a shirt he put on to begin with.....I failed to catch the white ANKLE socks though!

When Safety Precautions Become Safety Hazards

Yesterday I was in MY bathroom blow drying my hair while the kids slept. I was about 3/4ths of the way through when the blow dryer stopped working. The GFCI plug for ALL of the bathrooms in the house is in the boys bathroom, so I went in to reset it. I pushed the reset button, but it didn't reset. The outlet cover on the bottom was in the way, so I unplugged it. As I sat it on the counter I thought that it felt really warm and that that was strange. At this point I realize I am smelling something that does not smell too great, and is not the normal boy bathroom stinch. I pushed reset again, nothing. I pulled out the top outlet cover. Only part of it came out. The outlet cover, meant to protect my children from injury, was melted INSIDE the outlet!

Guess that explains the burning plastic smell I was smelling!

I called Paul to tell him about the situation. He said to leave it alone until he got home and could replace it. He was at lunch with a friend, who happens to be a fire captain. He said he told this guy about it and said something to the affect of "you know how women are, she probably had her curling iron, blow dryer, iron, etc all plugged in at once.

Let me set the record straight. I ONLY had my blow dryer plugged in! And I was not even using the outlet that was having an issue!

He came home and changed the outlet last night. The back of the outlet box is burned and melted. I am not sure WHAT happened or WHY, but I am SO thankful that the GFCI worked before the bathroom that is between the bedrooms where my two children were sleeping caught on fire! If my blowdryer had not gone off, I never would have gone in there and found out that plastic was melting inside the outlet!

Now, however, I am scared to stick outlet covers in the outlet!

A Stubbornness All Her Own

I am stubborn. I don't deny it. My husband is stubborn. He probably WOULD deny it! My boys...they are all stubborn. We met our match with them. They wear it like a badge of honor though.

Our girl.....

She is REALLY stubborn! I cannot even say we met our match with her. She blows us ALL out of the water. She gives new meaning to the word stubborn!

I know many might find it hard to believe that such a cute little angel could be so stubborn, but it is true!

Hear is an example we see daily..... often when we tell her to get out of something she stares at us with that toddler I-dare-you-to-try-to-do-something-about-it kind of way. When you take a step toward her, she doesn't stop or get out of what you are telling her too, she just releases her shrill cry that would be about three octaves higher of what one might imagine when they hear the word squeal - all the while keeping her hand on what you are telling her to leave alone and staring you dead in the eyes. Let me tell you...the girl can hold it out too! Sometimes I fear that she is so stubborn she would pass out before she stops "the sound" long enough to take a breath!

Then, you go to pick her up and REMOVE her from what you are telling her to get out of. Many kids at this point would go limp and noodley (Yeah, I know - not a word). She has her own, more stubborn, way of doing it. She goes all noodley, except her back. She arches her back as much as she can and some how manages to freeze her back that way, while all of the rest of her body is noodley. When you put your hands in her armpits to pick her up, your hands manage to just slide down her arms until she is an arched-back heap of noodley limbs laying in a pile on the floor, all the while still making "the sound".

One might think "This sounds dangerous. What if she were to hit her head?" I can tell you (from experience) that when this happens she will attempt to go a few octaves higher, which apparently is not possible (apparently she DOES have a limit to her shrill) so her screams become silent. When she calms herself down she will give you the best how-can-you-live-with-yourself-after-treating-me-that-way look there is. After all, if you had just allowed her to play with the scissors (or whatever she is into at that moment), she never would have had to go into a back-bending, noodley pile that caused you to drop her and hit her head on the floor.

After a stare down and making you feel VERY SMALL, she will go get her beebe (blanket), sit on the floor and pout until she decides to go find something else to get into that she KNOWS she is not supposed to be in!

Since we have learned her trick, (and in an effort to stop letting her hit her head) we now pick her up with an arm under her neck and an arm under her knees. She is working hard to figure out a new routine to get out of that one. So far, her attempt is kicking her feet as much as she can, while rolling her entire body in your arms and deafening you all at the same time. It hasn't worked yet!

I hope you can get a little bit of an idea of her stubbornness from this explanation. We find it kind of amusing (although we don't let HER know it) that she can be THAT stubborn!

The Family Tree

Family Pictures

My Baby Girl

My Boys

It is Called HOMEwork for a Reason!

At the kids schools they do not send home papers every day or week. In elementary school they send home "paper packets" every two weeks which is all of their graded papers in an envelope. I am not a fan of this AT ALL! By the time the papers and tests come home for me to see and have the kids correct, they have moved on to something else in class. To me, it kind of defeats the purpose of the kids doing assignments if they cannot learn from their mistakes on the assignments.

In Middle School, we don't get papers back. If we want to see the kids grades we have to get online and look them up. I got on to check Caleb's grades, because we are STILL having the "I don't have any homework" discussions every night. I was NOT happy to see that he had a B (an 85, here an 84 is a C, so almost a C) in READING! He reads ALL.THE.TIME!

When I asked why his grade was so low he said he must have not done too well on a comprehension test. I argued that he needed to read his book at home and he said they read it in class. I told him he obviously was NOT comprehending what he was reading and he needed to bring it home and reread.

After a couple of days (and getting progress reports in the mail with still a B) of not getting any good answer for the grade, I emailed the teacher. Turns out, she says the ONLY reason he does not have a A in the class is because he either did not complete or did not complete correctly a HOMEWORK assignment! That is right....he has a low grade because of his HOMEWORK (which he didn't do at home, so I don't know when he did it)

This did not do much for his argument! He has already been a little weary of the fact that the church we have been going to for the last month (and joined today) is where his teacher for this class goes. Even worse, she is in the Sunday School class we have been visiting! I am not sure that he likes me having such easy accessibility to her (not that we talk about his grades at church)!

He better hope he has that grade up in the next 3 weeks!!

Potty Training: The Finale

Madeleine started carrying her potty around and sitting on it (dressed) a couple of weeks ago. Sometimes she tries to take her diaper off, sometimes she just sits. Tuesday I decided that since she was showing interest we would REALLY introduce the potty and see how she does. She is not even quite 19 months yet, so we are not going to push TOO much! As long as she is willing to sit and try we will go for it. If she decides she doesn't wanna do it then we will put it away for a while. However, if she wants to do it and I can quit buying diapers, well LET'S DO IT!

So, after nap Tuesday we began our final venture into potty training. I have done it four times already, I should be a pro - right? Well, the one thing that I DID learn with the first four is they are ALL different! I am going into this adventure with my eyes wide open. EVERYTHING about her has been different than her brothers! Everyone I have talked to or read about says girls are MUCH easier to potty train. I am going to assume she is going to be very difficult to potty train, then I will not be heart broken or feel like a failure when she is stubborn and difficult about this like she is with everything else!

Tuesday after nap she got up and sat on the potty. She actually peed in the potty! We clapped and cheered and did the "potty dance". She got embarrassed and hid between my legs! A while later she peed again in the potty, We clapped and cheered and did the dance and she hid again. After her brothers and Daddy got home though, she was not too interested in sitting on the potty!

Wednesday morning when she got up (at 5:30am) we went straight to the potty. She again peed in the potty. We toned down the cheering and did more dancing (did NOT want to wake all the boys up). She did not hide this time! Guess she doesn't want all the hoopla her brothers enjoyed. She wore a pullup to the library for storytime and for nap, but when she was home she was in underwear. She had one pee accident (and decided it was a good day to poop four times, all while in underwear). She used the potty four times yesterday!

This morning, she got up and went to the potty. Before, I would put her on her potty and go do what I need to do. Her potty makes noise when she pees or poops in it, so when I hear the noise I run to her and praise her. I was fixing breakfast and she came in screaming at me. I turned around and asked what was wrong and she was pointing to the potty. I went and checked and she had peed! She was very proud (and upset that the potty did not reward her with her princess sounds). I was happy that she knew she had done what she was supposed to, even without the potty telling her! That is a good sign!

A while later she came in saying something. I asked what was wrong and she pointed to the potty and started pulling her panties down. I helped her to the potty and she sat down and peed!

I am going to assume that it is still fun and exciting and new. I had another child that was ready to go and making progress and then decided it wasn't for him (he was still potty trained before 2 1/2 though). I am not getting my hopes up to high, but I am going to encourage and nudge as much as possible!

Andrew is NOT enjoying the potty reward system. He thinks if she gets a reward he should too. When that didn't work, he tried to tell me that when he goes potty I have to give him a prize! There might be a "tad" bit of jealousy ;)

A while back I found some Fancy Nancy panties. She has three favorite books and the Fancy Nancy series is one of them. I went ahead and bought them and put them away in her drawer. We pulled them out and she has been SO excited to wear Fancy Nancy around!

Halloween 2010

I thought this was going to be a pretty easy Halloween in the costume department. We had decided Mady's costume a while back, after the first time we took her hair out of a rubberband and it stood in a mohawk the rest of the day. When we started talking about costumes Bryce wanted to be the trashcan (for the THIRD year in a row....it is being retired now) and Isaac wanted to wear Caleb's costume from last year. Andrew had seen a picture of a robot and said that he wanted to be a robot.

Caleb was so difficult! He wanted a homemade costume too. But EVERY. IDEA. we gave him he did not like! I had given up on him and told him he could go as a stubborn teenager. He asked what the costume would look like and I told him to look in the mirror! He FINALLY decided to go as a fisherman (I think he sensed my impatience with his lack of costume decision).

I was thinking a simple robot for Andrew. A box, painted silver with a silver face, etc. But, I gave the task to his Dad! THIS is what we ended up with:






On Wednesday we went to Fall Fest at the church we have been visiting. Because there were lots of games, jump houses, races, etc. I did not want to put Andrew and Bryce in their costumes that they would not be able to sit and move around in. So, AJ wore his monkey costume from last year and Bryce wore his Fireman costume. When we tried on Andrew's costume Mady got so excited we put her in an older monkey costume. She thought it was hilarious


Here are the pumpkins Dad carved with the kids:

Here is everyone before Trick or Treating. Mads would only have a picture if I was sitting in it! They did individual pictures at Fall Fest with a professional photographer and I had to sit in that picture with Mads too! I will post those when we get them in the mail (everyone got a free photo).


We had so many people asking if they could take pictures of the trashcan, robot and punk rocker. But, I think at EVERY house we visited we were told that the robot won the costume of the year. Then they would put HANDFULS of candy in his bag! This is some of what we ended up with. I found more after I took the picture and this does not include what they had eaten over the few days before I took the picture!




I sent a grocery bag FULL of candy to Paul's office yesterday. There was no way FIVE kids were going to be allowed to eat near all of that!

Mady had so much fun going to each door. I had to hold her hand, of course, because she isn't fond of strangers! After every house she would want to stop and eat candy though. She could have been given a couple of pieces all night and would have been happy (she wasn't though, she returned with a full bag as well). She loved wearing all of the jewelry and makeup too.

Andrew's hand had to be held the ENTIRE night too. We knew if he fell it would be the end of the robot! Daddy saved a couple of falls throughout the night, but for the most part Andrew did a great job of staying on his feet. When we got back home is when he fell going up the porch. He fell right on the mums Paul had gotten for me :( Robot-1, Mum-0 :( He managed to not mess up the robot at all. Now to figure out where to put this masterpiece!!

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!