what just happened?!?

we had a family meeting at dinner... the children are just not completing their daily chores and we needed to re-set guidelines. they are responsible for their spaces ~ making up the beds, laundry to the laundry room (not outside the laundry room), putting their clean laundry away, and keeping their bathroom and playroom tidy. there are additional things they do beyond that when requested ~ emptying dishwasher, vacuuming, dusting. earlier today i had asked them to straighten the playroom ~ it did not happen. when they asked for dessert after eating dinner, that did not happen. then the family meeting started. afterwards, they were asked again to straighten the playroom "yes ma'am" was the reply. as they were cleaning, they started singing, as they were singing they got more and more things put away.  m2 was even helping. i snapped to attention when i heard the vacuum. the vacuum got louder... they were doing the hallway. "wow, that looks good" said m1. "hey, let's vacuum mommy and daddy's room too". i think they have earned their dessert.

balloons for pops

one year ago today my father-in-law passed away. knowing this would be a difficult day, nana decided to begin a new tradition. we wrote messages for pops on helium balloons and then released them into the air. m1 wanted to know how long it would take her balloon to reach heaven. melt.my.heart.

snow much fun

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snow family

here's the daddy complete with a carolina hat and the mommy with her apron and headband.

a little snowman enjoying the teeter totter.

two more snow children ~ one on the glider and one heading down the slide.

a close up of the sliding snowgirl... with a camo hat and pink scarf.

J**O**Y

created by jenn for me. unexpected, very appreciated. opened at the end of a very hard mommy day.

little man's birthday

we did something different this year... we usually limit the number of children to five and have small birthday parties. after talking with little man about some different ideas, we decided that this might be a good year for a larger party. instead of children bringing gifts for little man, he asked that the children bring an unwrapped gift that we could give away to a needy child for christmas. we are thankful for that unselfish (most of the time) heart. below are some of the children holding the gifts that they brought. 

we also had mad science come in for a special presentation! the children had a blast ~ literally!

john david made for a great assistant... ummm, didn't realize my light fixture was prominent in the picture.

(i cropped out the cobweb)  the birthday boy also enjoyed helping out with the experiments.

making goo!

the race car cake that little man requested.

in case you were wondering, yes, he did open gifts from family members! a backyard soccer goal, some legos, a construction crane, some bendaroo animals made by cousins, and eight dollars for eight years. his biggest gift (from mommy and daddy) was a new bike.

the children's tree

last saturday the children and i (john david was in richmond testing ~ more on that later) pulled out the trees. little man was a huge help going down the stairs. we started with re-stringing some burned-out strands on the children's tree and then put on the colorful chain we made several years ago.

i am happy to say that our angel decorations have improved drastically ~ amazing the difference several years makes with art projects! the stained glass look of the nativity and angels just melts my heart. i love old churches with stained glass windows. m1's simple nativity with popsicle sticks, foam shapes and a tissue paper baby jesus is sweet!

the following picture was taken by m1...

the final product.

two more trees to go... although i might decide that ONE more is enough!