The Twins Visit, Family Retreat, And My First Hat

The twins came for a visit back in January to stay for a few days. They were eating solids and starting to crawl, as well as getting some teeth. They are getting so big and I haven't even seen them in about 2 months. I am sure they are huge by now. D has noticeably grown since taking these pictures.

This is the one picture we took while on our family retreat. This year's topic was vocations. All the kids had a fabulous time and it was wonderful for mom and dad, as well, thanks to our friend, Donna. She was so wonderful and helped watch E, and sometimes D, during some of the sessions and talks that were for the adults.

Here is my first attempt at a hat that has a pattern to it. B is wearing it a little too low on her head, just because I was sharing these photos on another, less secure website and didn't want her face to show. The hat fits really well and is much more stretchy than I expected. I've been meaning to start one for the "boys" in a blue and brown scheme, but have been too busy to even get it started. Once the chaos of spring is over, I hope to have some more time.

Birthdays and Epiphany Party

C and B had a joint birthday party again this year and they both chose to do just the age they were turning. So, that is why the cake reads "86". It is supposed to show that C is turning 8 and B is turning 6. They each chose their colors and design that they wanted me to do. The funny thing about this cake is that if you turned it upside down it looked like they were turning "98" or 9 and 8.

The next day after the birthday party, we celebrated Epiphany with some friends of ours. Even a priest from our parish was able to attend. The day went really well and even included a little play about the wise men visiting baby Jesus and some fireworks after dark. D was the only little baby at the party, so he was asked to play baby Jesus in the play. I guess he has caught the acting bug even sooner than most of the other kids...and what a challenging role for his debut. lol.

More Christmas Celebrations

Some of our other Christmas celebrations with Grandpa, Nana, Aunt Olivia, and Ma and Pa.

More Christmas Photos

All the kids enjoyed the playdough presents...even the oldest kids, my parents!

Some More Updates

Here are a few more pictures of our adventures at the history museum. All the kids thoroughly enjoyed the dress-up clothes.
These are only a few of our photos from Christmas. We celebrated this year at my sister's new home. It was the twin's and D's first Christmas.

Long, Long Time, No Post!

This is definitely the longest I've gone without updating the blog. I've been trying to focus on staying home more and staying on top of the housework, as well as, school work. It has been easier said than done. I apologize for anyone I've disappointed with such a long delay in my posts. (JOE! that means you!) I will attempt to post some of our highlights over the past few months.

Grandpa come over to visit for R's birthday and posed for a photo with one of her gifts.

A picture of our home-made Advent wreath.

D with B, and R. He is almost 4 mo. old in this photo which was taken back on 11/30/11.

B was in her first play called The Best Little Christmas Pageant Ever. She joined the other three oldest kids in this production at our local theatre. They did 10 performances and were excellent in all of them. So very proud of how well they did!

Here is a cute photo of D in his Christmas outfit and Santa hat. This was a week or two before Christmas.

That is E grinning. Did you notice that the Wise Men from our Little People Nativity scene are riding on his John Deere tractor in the background? That is not quite historically accurate, but I don't think he cares.

The kids with some of their home school friends after a free play called "Madeleine's Christmas".

We then went to a history museum to see an exhibit on the Civil War, called My Brother, My Enemy. They also had some hands-on activities for home schoolers. This was the highlight of the day! The kids got to try-on some of the helmets and armor.

A Bit of This a Bit of That

Our friend Jeremy stopped by to visit and had dinner with us on his way back from a wedding. This was the first time he met Dominic. We had a lovely evening and a few wonderful conversations that sparked Dear Hubby and I to now become hooked on Battle Star Galactica the TV series. We are still watching the series and anxiously awaiting its conclusion.

R's Birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year, which made celebrating it even easier since we were getting together with family that day anyway. She felt like she had a huge party and feast in her honor, yet I had little to no work to "pull it off". She even chose a very simple cake for me to make. Her tastes are obviously more grown up now because she wanted me to make her a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and Heath Toffee between the layers and on top. Surprisingly she didn't want a cute character cake or even a colorful "Happy Birthday", just this cake with an orange 4 on it. That was easy!

For the first time, we went to see the town square be lit up in preparation for Christmas. We let the kids turn in their Pizza Hut Book-it certificates for free pizza and then went to eat our pizza at the festivities. Live music and a reading of the "Night Before Christmas" were performed before the arrival of Santa. We counted down from 10 to 1 and then Santa threw the switch for the lights. The kids were amazed to see the lights all in the trees and on the lamp posts. We even bought a figurine for our nativity scene at a local tourist gift shop devoted solely to Christmas items.

The three oldest kids were in the play "Annie" at the local high school. M was Tessie, the whiner and most annoying orphan, C was Molly, the youngest Hannigan orphan, and T was Whacky, a marionette puppet and tourist. It was a lot of work for all of us, but the kids enjoyed themselves tremendously.