Christmas 2010 and the Year in Review

Hello, Dear Friends and Family!

Either you are stumbling across our blog today by mere chance, or you have received our Christmas Museletter and would like to find out what ACTUALLY happened in our lives this year. Either way, welcome! Many, many blessings be yours in 2011, and please know that each of you is a gift to us.

Hark! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinner reconciled.

Amen!

In the News...

Wow, two months again since an update. I think Facebook has commandeered my creative outlet, which is sad. Guess I need to stay on top of this more. With 5 kids, you know it's not a lack of activity around here that keeps me away!
I have to even look back at iphoto to even see what we've done in the last month.

The first week of April Joe's parents came for a visit. As always, it was so much fun. It was Spring Break so we did a bit of sleeping in, game playing, sight seeing, and the kids did a lot of ice cream-eating!

We also decorated Easter eggs...

And made Easter cookies...

Joe's parents were here for, among many reasons, the Living History Museum for our homeschool co-op. The girls worked hard this year. Lindsay read a full biography on Amelia Earhardt, and did a research paper. Her costume really came together, and she did an amazing job presenting her board at the museum. She was very animated, and stayed in character the whole time. We were so proud of her!!

Ain't she adorable?

Kaylee chose Cleopatra (following in Lindsay's footsteps from LHM of 2008 in AZ) and she read 3 books and helped prepare her poster. She wrote her notecards herself, and then didn't need to use them, as she knew her answers so well! She also did a great job. So proud of our girls!

Ooh-la-la!

Kaylee's favorite part of the whole thing was putting on the makeup and wearing all the jewelry. I think she'd take the job of Egyptian Queen simply for the fashion. :)

Here Andrea (I homeschool her also, she is Kaylee's good friend) is posing as Sacajawea. She also did an amazing job. They were so cute!

Gramma came out to support the girls. She also provided many pieces of each girl's costumes, including some of Kaylee's jewelry and Lindsay's scarf.

Daddy gets a chance to interview Cleopatra.

Josiah O as Isaac Newton, Daniel O as Neil Armstrong, and our girls.

In other news, Moo Lim Do continues to be a favorite activity around here. Look at that form! Brad is ready to test for his next belt. Testing fell over Joe's and my anniversary weekend, though, so he'll have to wait till the next time around.


Also in the news (literally, it made the paper!) Nathan was "Prince Edward" in our school's musical review and had a duet performance with the young lady who played Giselle. They were great, and though Nate didn't particularly enjoy his costume (being the consummate athlete-type, velvet just wasn't his thing), he looked wonderful.


Also also in the news, the girls each passed their next levels of ice skating. :)


And our friend Chris ran a marathon and raised nearly $2,000 for HopeKids!!

Lindsay and I helped at the HopeKids Dinner and Auction. She decorated 2 tables in honor of her best friend Abby, who passed away in 2005. I can't believe we forgot to take pictures of the tables. Lindsay did the work herself and she did an amazing job. The tables were filled with all things Abby loved- Ariel, pandas, Barbies, Polly Pockets, Jamba Juice...and she also filled Ariel gift bags with gummy bears and we gave each guest seashell candle holders as party favors. She loved doing it and hopes she gets to do it again next year.

My aunt Bobbie retired after 30 years of teaching preschool. Wow!! All of the people at the party could attest to how wonderful she was at her job.


Brad "graduated" from Awana this year, finishing his 9th year. So proud of all he has done, and all the Bible memory verses he has stored up in his heart! Gramma came to support the kids (she does a lot of that, doesn't she?) :)


Nathan (with his friends Tyson and Noah) finished up his 3rd year in Truth and Training. One year to go, then he will move on to Trek. Nathan gives 100% to everything he does, we are all motivated by him!


Kaylee was awarded "Sparky of the Year" because she was the only Sparky to complete all 3 books. We're so proud of her! She graduates into Truth and Training, and is excited to get the green t-shirt. (Kids are so funny!) Great job, Kaylee!!!


Hannah with her friends KaiLi, Darcie and Rachel. She finished her first year as a Sparky and finished her whole book and reviewed it. Yeah!

In case you noticed we were missing a kid, Lindsay doesn't participate in Awana. She was in it through her second year of Truth and Training, and decided she was done. So now she is my assistant (I am the Sparks secretary). She does a great job helping me out each week, and even helps the leaders when needed by listening to verses and helping with general tasks.

Well, there is certainly more to tell, but I'm done for the night. I will do "In the News, Part 2" hopefully sooner than later. Coming up- Nathan graduates from elementary school, Brad graduates from middle school, and good friends come for a visit. Plus some pet stuff...you don't want to miss this. hahaha

New Read

My new book is quite intense. I'm about 100 pages into it, and I really have to tear myself away from it.

It is really good. It starts in Shanghai in 1937, when the Japanese begin their invasion of China. Her writing is exciting- detailed but not painfully so, and clean. (ie, I don't have to visually weed out gobs of offensive language) I have a hard time putting it down, which is why I shoved it under the bed today while I got ready for my in-laws' arrival tomorrow. Too much to do to get ready- if I'd have picked it up, there would have been no turning back!

The Birthday Downpour

So this past 6 weeks has been a whirlwind of birthday chaos. Beginning with Brad's 14th, then Hannah's 6th, then my 38th, then Kaylee's 8th, and wrapping up with Joe's 40th and my mom's (well, she won't appreciate me writing that, now will she?) it was a virtual storm of wrapping paper, gifts, thank you notes and cake. I don't even like cake, but somehow I end up consuming what must be 3 lbs of it during this 6 week time period each year.

It's been a good ride, though, you know? Being a parent in a sizable family is undoubtedly exhausting, but I really wouldn't trade it for anything. Today I assisted my youngest daughter as she read her first "real" book, I taught my 8 year old her first multiplication lesson in math, laughed hysterically with my 11 and 12 year-olds over the content of our favorite website (cakewrecks.com) and watched as my 14-year-old gave me his most recent progress report, grinning from ear to ear, as it contained all A's and one B. Every day brings a new adventure- some good, some hairy, but all worth the ride.

Happy birthday, Brad! We thank God for every minute of the 14 years you've been with us!

This sweet little face has been in our home for 6 years now- our little Hannah-Banana!

This lovely crew brought me breakfast in bed on my birthday. (it was 7 am, which makes the gift all the more wonderful!) I love these kids!!!!!!

Last day as 7-year-old and 6-year-old! (can you believe there really are just 2 years between them? Talk about the tall and short of it! :)

Happy birthday, Bug! Kaylee was given the choice of 1) a full outfit from Justice, accessories included, or 2) an ipod shuffle. She chose the clothes. We are in for it, I think. :) She is such a joy, we are continually amazed by her multi-faceted personality.

So there is a glimpse of the last 6 weeks. To go along with all the celebrating, we also had one minor car accident, which left our car in better shape than it was prior to the accident, thanks to a great body shop and a great repair shop. Fortunately, the accident was not Joe's fault, and the girl who hit him wasn't cited because she slid into him when she was unable to stop in the snow.

Now that the Olympics are over, I am ready to resume my normal tv-watching routine. Sadly, I have one. I love the Olympics, so I was almost mourning its ending, but I look forward to The Biggest Loser (yeah, Jillian scares me, too), American Idol, Lost, Psych, and Glee. It's really ridiculous, I know. Last night we watched the Marriage Ref after the Olympics and we laughed hysterically. I have no time for any more shows, dang it! Oh, and Parenthood looks good, too. Sigh. Maybe I just need to pitch the thing out the window. Thank goodness for my DVR or I'd have to watch those shows when they actually come on, and then I'd really be in trouble. :)

Meet our new Yellow Belts!

Recently Joe, Brad, Lindsay and Nathan passed their first Moo Lim Do testing, and are officially yellow belts! Woo hoo!!

The Resurrection of the TV

So after finding out that the tv would cost $400 to fix, Joe resorted to banging it with his mag light flashlight. After four or five good smacks, he put the motherboard back in and turned it on.

It worked.

If that had been me, it would have burst into flames. I am thankful for a handy, if not slightly magical, husband.

Happy New Year!