Christmas 2013

Well Christmas has come and gone.  The decorations are finally down.  Ummm..... like last week.  Don't want to lead you on thinking that I actually took it all down when most everyone else did.  I am going to do probably the quickest post ever for our Christmas since I have taken so long to get it posted.

Maynard had to work a half day on Christmas eve so we didn't plan on heading to my Mom and Dad's until Christmas eve evening.  While I was packing everything up I looked out the window and it was pouring the snow.  So exciting.  And then I find out that Etown had no snow.  How unfair of me to have to leave a white Christmas behind, but that's just how it was.

We got to Etown and then had Christmas eve supper at a Mexican restaurant with my parents and 2 of my sisters.  We left there headed back to Mom and Dad's to get ready for the big day.

With 7 of us kids plus about 17 grandkids there wasn't a whole lot of room to find to put our presents somewhere.  I grabbed us a spot under the coffee table.

The next morning we actually got to sleep in until 8 before the kids were up begging to open presents.

 They were all tickled to death with their presents and that makes me happy.

Favorite gifts!

Ready for breakfast at Dennys

After we opened gifts Dad was chomping at the bit to go eat breakfast.  Josiah went dressed as Santa and Titus went dressed as an elf.  Amelia wanted to dress up too so she wore her Dr. McStuffin costume.  Just in case someone needed medical attention while we ate, I suppose.  Ha ha  I'm sure they were a sight, but everyone laughed and smiled as they seen Santa and his elf come in for breakfast.  We heard many comments such as, "Are you wore out from a hard night's work, Santa?" Ha ha

After breakfast we headed back to the house and waited until 5 p.m. for all the chaos to begin.  Oh, I mean wait for all the rest of our family to get there.

We had a great time playing Dirty Santa, White Elephant and exchanging gifts.

All too soon it was time to go.  Maynard had to be up at 5 a.m. the next morning for work and we needed to head home.

We had a great Christmas and hope everyone else did too.

Baby it's cold outside

I'm 35 years old and still get giddy at Winter weather advisories. Even though we seem to be getting more rainy cold weather than actual snow. Each year I can't help but hope we will get that big snow and can actually take the kids sledding. I think about 4" is the most snow we have had in awhile. We still try to make the most of it.

How exciting is it to wake up in the morning and look out the window to see a fresh blanket of white snow covering everything. And then check the news to see if they have canceled school yet or not. And in my kid's cases, probably not. More than likely there will be school, but occasionally they may get a snow day. We will be thankful for that in the summer no doubt.

This last bit of weather included what they call a Polar vortex. It gave us below temps for the first time in years.

The bad weather started Sunday, January 5, 2014.  Which also happens to be Amelia's birthday.  I will do a separate blog for her for that though.

We had church Sunday night at 5 instead of 6 because it was supposed to get bad that evening.  It was hard to believe the weather was going to get bad though because Sunday was such a warm and pretty day.  After lunch we went to the grocery store because we were in desperate need of food anyway, but especially knowing the weather was gonna get bad.  I couldn't believe how bare the shelves were.  I mean they were ridiculously empty.

Sunday night I kept looking out the window.  In 15 minutes our yard and vehicles were completely covered in snow.  The wind was awful.  It was so scary yet exciting at the same time. 

Monday morning weather

Monday morning, I got a text from my friend Sarah letting me know that school had been canceled and that I could go back to bed.  And that's exactly what I did.  Except I did pray for awhile for everyone's safety that had to be out working and driving in this mess.  Especially Maynard that had to drive a fed ex truck.  I felt so sorry for him working out in that cold, bitter weather.  But I must not have worried or prayed too long because soon I was snoozing away.  We had a very lazy day and we enjoyed it to it's fullest.  We had gotten a day's extension on Christmas break and it was wonderful.

Tuesday morning we woke up to this.

Tuesday morning temperature

Keep in mind that -4 is the actual weather, but the wind chill was worse than that.  Even more amazing is that the kids had school Tuesday.  A 2 hour delay of course so Titus didn't have school, but Josiah did.  I'm sure the 2 hr delay helped some.  Not sure it made a whole lot of difference for us.  The roads were pretty bad including the school parking lot.  This Momma was thankful that Maynard had an unexpected day off from work and was able to drive Josiah to school.

This cartoon cracked me up.

 Since the weather was so freezing cold we tried a few experiments.  Once was where you throw boiling water outside and watch it turn to vapor.  It was pretty neat.  I took a video of that  so I'm gonna try to post the link so you can watch it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_myDKrVDdo

We also made water balloons and added food coloring to make frozen marbles.  They turned out pretty neat.

Our Marbles.

The weather finally warmed up by Thursday and everything was beginning to thaw out.  I managed to get the kids to school and back the rest of the week with only a couple of scares.  Wednesday morning Titus forgot his back pack after he already went in.  Before I drove off I happened to look back and see it in the van.  I drove back up and set it inside the office, but almost fell as I was coming back out.  Then as I was going down the driveway my van started sliding.  I slammed on the brakes and nothing was helping and I was terrified.  I was fixing to slide into the main road.  As soon as my tires hit the main road though I finally stopped.  I was also thankful there were no cars coming at the time.  I can't help but think that maybe the reason Titus left his back pack was God allowed that to happen to give me a few more minutes to wait for clear traffic because I was gonna slide into the highway.  Maybe?  Maybe not?  All I know is I'm very thankful for God's protection.

The weather is in the 50's right now, but the forecast doesn't seem to be done with us yet.  Here's hoping for some more snow next week!!!!!!!!!!!

Our adventures with Christmas Elves 2013

This was our 2nd year having the Elf on the Shelf.  We decided to do this last year and my kids loved it so we thought we would try it again. 

The only problem this year was that Maynard surprised them about a week earlier than I had hoped that they would show up.  I know most elves arrive the day after Thanksgiving, but our elves are so bad I was hoping they would show up just a tad later.

So at 3 weeks until Christmas the kids woke up to see this happening in the living room.

There was toilet paper strewn all over my living room with a note announcing the elves had arrived.  The kids and I were all surprised.

So once the elves arrive than it is important to the kids that they do something every single night.  Because Maynard had started the escapade I had to see to it that it was carried out.  So every night for 3 weeks I had to make sure the elves didn't let the kids down.  It was many a late night waiting for the kids to go to sleep before they could move.  The downside to all of this mischief is that the kids were waking up at 5 a.m. and couldn't sleep because they were so excited to see what the elves had done.  I'm gonna share a few pictures with you and let them do the talking mainly.  These are in no certain order.

This picture is hard to see what they are doing so I will explain.  The elves are lifting weights which happen to be q-tips with marshmellows stuck on the end.  The note says enough treats now its time to get back to dieting and exercising.

The next picture is where the elves replaced the kid's pictures with a magazine ad saying what they each wanted for Christmas.  The boys had pictures of underwear and Amelia's included a picture of a Chocolate baby.  (Which she really did want and got.)

snowball fight

Christmas parade

white water rafting

barricaded doors with ribbon

The elves had fun face painting the kids while they were sleeping.

ice fishing

head elf threw into the lions den

Head elf protecting the kid's gingerbread houses.

Elves ate Titus' chocolate advent calendar (not really)

The elves bought a new toilet seat, but they had to try it out first.

There was a few more, but I must have done video clips instead of taking pictures of them.  One of the kid's most favorite was the underwear carrousel.  I can't believe I don't have a picture of that.  I tied each of their underwear to the ceiling fan blade and put their elf in it.  Then turned the fan on low so the kids could see their elf riding in their underwear.  We called it the underwear carrousel and the kids really loved this one.

The chocolate calendar was funny too, but I thought Titus would get mad, but instead he got his feelings hurt and that backfired.  The kids had advent calendars and each day they got to eat a piece of chocolate to help them with counting down the days of Christmas.  I bought an extra one and it just so happened to be like Titus's.  One morning I had emptied out Titus's (fake) calendar and Josiah and Amelia's didn't get touched.  I was going for anger, but got tears so I had to quickly give him back his actual calendar. Ha ha

The picture of the head elf protecting the gingerbread houses was for Amelia's sake.  Last year the elves finished off the kid's gingerbread houses and they didn't forget about that.  So this year Amelia kept eating and eating hers.  She refused to go to bed because she was afraid the elves would eat the rest of her gingerbread house.  And to be honest, that is exactly what the elves had planned.  But since Amelia was so pitiful, I had to have compassion on her and protect her gingerbread house.  Bummer, I know.

We had a lot of fun, but I am so happy that it is over with and they are gone for another year.

Disclaimer:
Ok, here is the disclaimer I think I do every year.  We do not teach our kids about Santa Claus.  They know the real reason for the season.  I just don't think it hurts to have a little fun with them.  There is so much our kids aren't allowed to do that I think it's a good idea to make things fun for them in it's place.  So did they know that the elves wasn't really going to Santa every night and telling on them whether they were bad or good or not?  Of course!  But we sure did have a lot of fun doing it.

I will hopefully be on here next week to do my Christmas post.  I've run out of time.

You can say there's no such thing as REINDEERS..................

 

 

BUT AS FOR ME, I NOW BELIEVE!!!!!!

Real live reindeers

I had no idea that reindeers really existed.  I really didn't.  All my life I just thought they were made up to go along with the Santa Clause story.  But last Friday night, I found out that they really do exist.  The question I still have is, Do they fly????  That part I still have to wonder because I technically never seen them fly Friday night.  But they were selling magic reindeer food that I didn't purchase.  Maybe if I had just spent the few extra dollars I could have seen them fly!!!!  Maybe next year.........

In case you are wondering where I seen this big beast of a reindeer (there were actually 3 or 4), it was at Southern Lights at our KY Horse Park in Lexington, KY.  We took our little youth group from church on an outing.  We stopped at Pizza for supper and then we divided up the girls all in one vehicle and the boys in the other.  Maynard had all plans on me driving, but this worked out perfectly!!!

The girl's ride down was quite interesting.  Of course, I'm sure the boy's was too, but I couldn't say for sure and really don't want to know. lol  I insisted everyone use the bathroom before we left because once you get in that line to drive through the lights you are stuck until it is over.  We made it maybe an hour down 75 and them girls began to holler they had to use the bathroom.  Really?  An hour????

So we stopped at a gas station and they all piled out.  Then they all piled back in because the restrooms were out of order.  So we had to drive off to another gas station and let them all pile out again.  By this time Maynard is calling saying there isn't an exit 120 I told him to take.  So he had to reroute and figure out how to get there.  We had to reroute as well.  My pastor's wife is quite smitten with her Iphone.  I mean me and my friend Michelle (the driver) had androids, but she wanted to ask Siri (is that right? Remember, I have an android phone)  Her conversation went a little like this:

Lora: Siri, Navigate to Southern Lights in Lexington.
Siri: Navigating..........
Lora:  Hee Hee.  See, ya'll.  I'll have ya there in no time.

Not that I don't trust Siri, but I had to do my own little navigating on my android.  As we were getting off the exit, my phone said turn right.  Siri said to turn left.

It was battle of Android vs. IPhone.

Sis. Lora insisted that her IPhone would get us anywhere we needed to go and we needed to just hush and listen to Siri.

So we shut up and Michelle drove exactly where Siri told her to go.

We didn't mean to complain or contradict Siri, but soon we were dab smack downtown Lexington late on a Friday night.  We were getting a tad nervous and finally just had to lay down the law for Sis. Lora to tell Siri goodbye.  She finally gave in and Michelle gave me permission to take over the navigation.  We got back to where we left off and I proudly claimed, "Now this is where we should have turned RIGHT!!!  Sis. Lora began to apologize to Siri and told her that her friends thought she was stupid and Siri replied that that wasn't very nice and blah blah.  However, I am tickled to death that I got us there.  Correction, my android got us there.  About an hour later than the boys!  Yep, Maynard had full control over 6 boys including Titus.  We finally got in line to see all the lights.  What we came to see, right?  And this is what I hear??

Girls:  Is it almost over?
Girls:  We want to get out.
Girls:  How much longer?

Oh my goodness.  Next time I'm riding in the burping vehicle. Ha ha

Michelle found us an awesome parking spot close to the front.  No cell phone was needed.  She just knows how to save herself as many steps as possible. Ha Ha

The boys were riding camels during this time and we missed it.  By the time we got there they were in line to ride the train.  We decided to join them.  I thought we were at the back of the line, but actually I marched our group right up to the front and thought we were good to go.  Then the riot started and I was asked to please go on back to the end of the line.  Ha Ha  Ok, not really a riot, but a few dirty looks.  A little kid had to kindly tell me I was at the beginning of the line instead of the back.

It says Line Begins Here!  So that is where I stood.  Never did I think about why all the people were facing forward to the end of the line.

The three of us were crammed in a small train.  It was a tight fit.  And when the man came to let us out Sis. Lora told him she was stuck!!!!  He was a grouchy man, but she even made him laugh!!!!  I am thankful for these 2 ladies at my church.  They are truly great friends of mine.  Sis. Lora is my pastor's wife so it's hard to be best friends because there is that confidentiality barrier that you can't cross.  Believe me, I try and it just doesn't work out to good so I know when I'm not getting her to budge. Ha ha!!!  But Michelle!  She is great.  She is just like me.  I can be myself around her and not have to pretend I like all the things she likes and I don't  have to act all proper around her.  She loves me for me and I love her for her.  I'm so glad God put these 2 ladies in my life because He knew I needed friends.  Not saying I don't have other friends, but you know how it is when you have a small church family.  It's just easier to bond with them.  I mean, I see them more than I do my family so they are like family to me.  I can get on to their kids or scold them and they can scold mine if need be and we don't even think about it.  We all know that we love each others kids and we are just trying to help watch out for them.  Lord knows, I need all the help I can get with mine!!

After the train ride Amelia wanted to ride a camel.  None of the other girls wanted to and I was afraid for her to ride by herself.  Then we walked by the ponies and she hollered she wanted to ride a pony. She has a love for animals that did not come from me or Maynard.  She petted on that pony and loved riding it.  It was sweet.

 

Maynard sent me this picture of the boy's camel ride.  Josiah doesn't look too comfortable.  He is so like me it isn't funny!!

 

Maynard was tired of chasing Titus at this point and met back with me to let me know it was my turn to keep up with him.  So we took the kids inside the petting zoo.

The petting zoo was pretty neat.  I bought them each an ice cream cone that had feed in them for the animals.  Not only did the animals eat the feed, but they nibbled on the cones too.  There was some cute animals in there.  They had kangaroos and even a zebra which was pretty neat to see.  Of course there were goats and sheep.  They were pretty aggressive and Amelia finally just threw her cone at the goats.  Then she got mad and realized what she had done and wanted her cone back.  Luckily for her she found one laying on the ground a few steps in front of her.

We left the petting zoo area and washed up and then headed for the Kettle Korn booth.  Who can resist that smell of popcorn anyway????

We ended back at the reindeer booth and gathered in for a group picture.

No caption needed!

And just because I have a tad bit of mischief in me I had to finish the night with a prank.  We all stood right in front of the reindeer fence.  And the reindeers have huge antlers.  (Not horns, because that would just be silly if I called them horns, right??)  Sis Lora may have mentioned she hoped the reindeers didn't get us with their antlers.  So as we gathered in together I couldn't help but jab her in the behind and watch her scream and dance, "It's got me, oh it's got me!"  And then a minute later I managed to get Michelle too.  She screamed, but Lora's dance was a tad more enjoyable.  I cracked up so much over that that I couldn't get to sleep that night.  I was still laughing.

Maynard was wore out and he had to work the next morning, so we switched back into our own vehicle and I drove us home.  I drove and ate popcorn while they snoozed away.

We had a great time and hopefully we can go again next year!!!!

A White Thanksgiving 2013

You know when you first get married and you have to figure out where you are going to spend your holidays????  Before Bro. Suits would marry us he asked us that question during our counseling.  He said it was a bigger deal than what most couples think so it was better to be discussed before marriage.  This is what we came up with....

Christmas would be spent with my family. 
Thanksgiving would be spent with Maynard's family.

It works out great because we go to my Parent's house the Saturday before Thanksgiving and we have Thanksgiving dinner then.  Everyone shows up and then that frees my family up to get to spend the actual holiday with all their in-laws. 

So the Friday night of the boy's school program my Mom and sister in law, and her 3 kiddos, drove down to see the program.  I didn't tell the boys they were coming and you can imagine their delight when they got to our house.

After the program, we followed Mom back home and stayed all night with them.  We had plans on riding back with Mom, but at the last minute, Maynard's boss walked up to him and gave him the day off on Saturday.  I was so happy because he has to work on Saturdays now and he was gonna have to miss Thanksgiving with the Harpers.  How horrible would that have been???  No seriously, it would have been. Ha Ha!!!  Anyway, he was going to have to drive up to get us either Sunday morning or late Saturday night, but it worked out that he got to come with us.  We decided to go on home with Mom and that way I could help her with the cooking before the dinner.  My kids were super excited because we hadn't been there to visit in over 4 months.

My parents live on a little farm now with a few critters.  Last time we were there it was hot and the kids played outside and even swam in the pool.  This time however, it was fuhreezing!!!!  Amelia kept asking to go swim and I kept catching Titus sneaking outside barefoot and in short sleeves.  They just didn't understand the weather change and was not happy about being stuck in the house knowing there was a barn to explore, eggs to gather, and a horse to feed.
My brother Brian had all 3 of his boys there that day and he set up the Wii out in the garage where everyone was going to eat and that worked out perfectly.  Actually, kind of saved the day really.
I stayed busy in the kitchen helping Mom.  Well, if you call it that.  Somehow my family knows when she doesn't fix something and they want to know what is wrong with it.  I helped fix the huge potato salad and about started a riot.  I made it too tangy and everyone was so upset.  I'm telling you!!!  These Harper people and In-laws are very brutal over the food that is brought in.  You will flat be told if they don't like what you brought.  It is kind of tradition really to all agree on what was gross that year.  I'm afraid the potato salad would have won this year. Ha Ha!!!  Even my Mom made a face when she tasted it.  I thought it was good though.  I like my potato salad tangy.  Live and learn people.  Next year, she will have to make it all by her lonesome so everyone will be happy.  The best thing was Mom's dressing.  Yummy!  That's probably my favorite thing about Thanksgiving dinner.  We eat turkey and ham year round so that's really no big treat, but I only have homemade dressing once a year.

All my family got to be there and we had kids going every which way.  So thankful for Mom and Dad's new house and that we actually had room to compensate for all these kiddos.

I took pictures, but they include some of my nieces and nephews that I don't have permission  to post on my blog so here's one of Maynard carving the turkey.

2 turkeys and 1 ham got devoured by this big group.

We stayed all night again at Mom's and went to church with them the next morning.  My kids love getting to go to Sunday School where I am not their teacher.  Not exactly sure why, but they do. Ha

After church Dad bought us lunch at Texas Roadhouse.  I love Texas Roadhouse!!!!!  Then we got back in the car and rushed back to make it home in time for church.

The kids had school Monday and Tuesday and then were off on Wednesday.  It started snowing pretty good on Wednesday morning, but the kids were begging to go to the library to get some books so that is where we bundled up and went.

It was really coming down and the kids couldn't resist a snowball fight before they went in.

It was pretty special that their 1st snow was the day before Thanksgiving and they had the day off from school.
After the library we went to Frisches  because I had coupons for free kid's meal.  As we ate we watched the pouring snow and it just shot out when the waitress asked if we wanted dessert.  I always say, "No, thank-you", but somehow I said, "We will have a hot fudge cake."  The kids were in a state of shock, I believe.  It was a nice treat.

We got home and the kids decided to play in the snow for awhile.

Amelia's Play in the Snow Outfit.

She refused to wear her pink coat because she didn't want to get snow on it.  I finally made her put it on, but by then she was done mad at her brothers for throwing snow at her.  Ugh!  I hate getting onto my kids for throwing snowballs because technically, having snowball fights is just part of playing in the snow in my opinion.  She is such a girl sometimes!!!!! ha

Thanksgiving morning it was so nice to have Maynard home.  The kids made sure he was plenty occupied while I finished up cooking in the kitchen.  We headed over to his Mom's house around 1:00 and had dinner with them.  After eating we just sat around and visited.  It was pretty calm being that my kids were the only kids there.  We stayed a few hours and then headed for home.  It was a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with family.

As soon as we got home, this is what took place.

They hit the sales papers and went to writing their Christmas Lists.

And NO!  I did not go Black Friday shopping.  I almost went with my friend, Michelle, but I didn't tell her whether or not I was going until she had already left.  But she walked in Walmart and then walked right back out so we wouldn't have got much shopping done anyway.  I don't even like grocery shopping when it's crowded on the first of the month.  I'm afraid my sanctification would be put to the test and I'm afraid I would fail miserably.  Yeah, ya'll got some good deals, but I will just have to take your word for it!!!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and spent with the ones you love!!!!!

Acorns to Oats. LCA 2013

The highlight of our kid's year at school (other than the last day of school) is probably their Thanksgiving program they have every year.  It begins with a yummy turkey dinner with the works and then everyone gathers in the sanctuary for a musical play.

The highschoolers were up first and they did a song and did all the sign language to it.  It was great and I loved it.

Next the Kindergarten class was up.  Four pilgrims and the cutest Indian!  There is a story behind the indian part.  Josiah was the indian in his kindergarten class.  Titus claimed last  year as we watched the program that, "Next year, I'm going to be that Indian."  His heart was set on it, but there were 2 other boys in his classroom and they might want to be the Indian as well.  I tried to explain to him that it was his teacher's decision and we would just be happy whether he was a pilgrim or Indian.  A few days before the program he came home and shouted, "I'm the Indian!"""  I was really happy for him.  And if I was the organized mother I should be then I would include a picture of Josiah as an Indian along beside Titus, but.... well you know.

Proud Indian

A picture before the program

They pulled their program off like pros.

They quoted The Lord's Prayer, Psalms 23, they sang a cute song, and then each of them individually said verses according to each letter of the alphabet.  I was one proud Mommy.

Josiah the farmer.

Acorns to Oats.

Josiah at first had an acting part.  He gets his acting from me and his Daddy.  I was happy for him and then later found out that he opted out of acting and would rather have a solo singing part.  Josiah loves to sing and he done a great job,  As he sung he kept his head down and his straw hat completely hid his face.

The whole program was cute and I am glad my kids were able to participate.

Amy Teaches School!!!

A few weeks ago I received a phone call from our school's principal asking me if I cared to come substitute for the Kindergarten teacher the next day because she had to attend a funeral.

Did I have to think about it?  NO!

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to do it.

My boys were so excited they couldn't hardly stand it.  I would be Titus' teacher and not Josiah's, so Josiah was a tad jealous, but still excited, nonetheless.  Isn't it neat that my kids want me at school and aren't embarrassed of me yet?  I need to savor these moments because I know it's just a matter of time.

As soon as I walked into the classroom the kids hollered, "Are we having a party?"  Which is hilarious because I was there in Sept and Oct for the boy's birthdays and so they assumed I was the party planner around there.

Their teacher left and then it was just me and 5 of the cutest little students ever.  It was break time and their most favorite part of the day.  We had an extended break where they played in the gym and fought over the classroom ball.  Then we headed to the cafeteria for their snack.  They even offered to share with me their snacks!!!

Snack Time

They were taking forever to eat and I was dying to get back to the classroom to do what I had came there to do, TEACH.

We got back to the classroom and it was bible time.  I got to teach about Joseph.  I was really into my story when Celeste covered her ears and said, "You are really loud."  There normal teacher is soft spoken and well, I'm not. Ha

After bible story we practiced with flash cards, numbers, blends, and three letter words.  I used the classroom ball to make it a game.  If they got their numbers or words right I let them bounce on the big ball or I would throw it to them.  They absolutely loved this.
Then they had one seatwork page to do.  After they finished their work, we worked on saying their memory verses and then it was time to head to the sanctuary for their Thanksgiving program practice.

They can say their verses speedy fast!

All too soon it was 12 o'clock and time to meet their parents outside.

I thoroughly enjoyed substituting that day and maybe can do it again another time.
It was like getting to teach Sunday School for 3 hours and actually having time to do lot's of stuff rather than the normal 45 minutes you get on Sunday morning.

Have I missed my calling??? Hmmmm.