Candy Houses and More

One way of using up the Halloween candy is by making a candy house. Here are some old pictures of the kids making their houses shortly after Halloween. Yes, I realize it is almost Christmas and I am just now posting them. Sorry for the delay. I am trying to play catch-up with all the pictures and our activities over the past six weeks. Grammy and Paw-paw were here over Halloween and stayed to help with the kids. E had a wonderful time "helping" Paw-paw cut the grass.

Here is the cute hat a friend of ours made for D. She did a fantastic job! He looks even cuter in person.

Christmas at My Brother's

The nine grandchildren

Grammy and Paw-paw

M "vegging-out" in the chair

E with his new hat and mitten set

Uncle Eric in his Christmas red

Colts shirts Grammy painted for the boys.

Aunt Susan and Uncle Ajesh with their first twin giraffes. My sister just loves giraffes and had a stuffed giraffe growing up that she took EVERYWHERE! I just had to be the first to buy her twins a giraffe.

E and cousin Mikey hugging. Oh, so cute!

Aunt Meg and cousin Mikey

The traditional reading of the Christmas story before opening presents, then we sing "Silent Night".


Nine little kids pent up in a house at Christmas time is bound to bring on the drama. When you add sugar, presents, and sickness to the mix you get a very memorable experience that you won't soon forget. In fact, the sickness lingered with us until the following Wednesday. However, despite the obvious discomforts as a result of the get-together, the kids were overjoyed to be spending time with their cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. They are really enjoying all the presents they received, too. The kids love the books, clothes, key board, movies, and roller skates, just to mention a few of their favorite things. My kids are truly blessed!

However, what I think was one of the best gifts the kids gave this year was a song that they learned from a wonderful woman at church named Melanie. We stayed after daily Mass a few mornings each week learning and practicing the song she called, "Let us Adore". I am not a musician and all I know is that it is beautiful! It is sung by one child leading and the others sort of echoing or following in response. We've been able to give this special gift first to their dad and then to all of our relative on my side of the family. I hope to continue giving it to others over the Christmas Holiday, including my husband's side on Christmas Eve. I definitely am grateful to Melanie, the mother of six, teaching my six such a beautiful song. What a gift she was to us! Thank you Melanie!

Camping Trip and School Field Trip

This past weekend we went camping with Grammy and Paw-paw. During our trip we took a wonderful hike and nature walk to teach the kids about some tree and plant species. The kids were amazed at the cliffs and waterfalls that we were able to see throughout the park. We visited the nature center, as well, and read some neat books about bugs, trees, and wildlife. Fortunately for us we saw three deer, many squirrels, some chipmunks, a snail, a poisonous snake, a turtle, and fish during our camping trip. Don't worry! The venomous snake was at the Nature Center in a secure aquarium.

One of the most interesting sights, to me, was the mini-forest of moss species (See the picture below). I was fascinated by how many different kinds of moss I found in one 4 x 4 inch area. You can get a general scale of this tiny and intricate miracle in the picture with M's finger by the moss.

This last picture is of our family in front of a lovely fountain in the nearby town where we attended Mass on Sunday morning.

"The Grandkids"

My parents currently have nine grandkids. Here is the most recent picture of all of them together at Grammy and Paw-paw's house over the 4th of July weekend.

Northern Visit with Grammy and Paw Paw

Some of our activities included swimming, riding horses, going to the park, playing with the kittens, visiting the Science Central with Uncle Eric, and of course last and certainly not least napping.