Christophers Christmas

Well, we had a great time at the Christopher's Christmas play this year. Grandpa came along and made it extra special with hot chocolate and treats at the Notre Dame bookstore after the show. The girls got all decked out in their finest, fake hair and all. Aren't they stunning?

Looooong post....

Ok, maybe this blogging thing is not for me. How do people keep on these things? I'll do my best to catch you up (whoever you are).

Let's see...I just returned from one of the most elegant baby showers I've ever attended. I thought they all involved chocolate-melted-in-diapers and taste-the-baby-food-and-guess-the-flavor games. Oh no...we had a sit down meal of lasagna and warm bread and wine...all served on lovely dishes. Real dishes. Breakable dishes. Don't get me wrong, I'm not above sticking my nose into a diaper to figure out what's in it, after all there's usually a prize, right? But this was such a nice evening. It was for "my dear friend Carrie". Yes, that is my official name for her. I love her. She's my trophy friend. She has two boys already but needed this shower because it's her first GIRL!!! YAY!!! Oh, the pink! It was fabulous. There was even a tiny little pink tutu. It was great! She has so many people that love her and this evening it was on full display!

Okay, what else. Well, my Mom and I did some Christmas shopping. That was fun. Shopping good. Hangin' with my mom...awesome! She is by far my favorite shopping buddy. I wish we could do it more often.

Ok, and now for a laugh. Last Sunday morning my husband went out to walk the dog before church, came home, grabbed the car keys and off we went. When we got to church Mark took off his coat and looked down and saw that he hadn't changed from his night shirt!!! That's right, Mark wore his jammies to church!! Hee hee hee...I love him so very much! His jammies!! Can you imagine?

Oh dear, and this...we pulled Grace out of preschool. Okay, this is a long story. To be honest I've never been into preschool. Never understood the point. But, we sent her. So, almost every morning that she was supposed to go she wouldn't want to. Well, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving I went into the class to work and it was very chaotic. Miss Kristi definitely has her hands full. Way too many kids, IMO. So, last Tuesday she again didn't want to go and I finally said "you know what Gracie, if you don't want to go, you don't have to go." Well, Mark and I talked about it that afternoon and decided we would just go ahead and pull her out. Why pay $125 per month if she doesn't even want to go? Later on that day her teacher called and asked if Gracie was feeling okay because she had missed school and I told her we were just going to stop sending her because blah blah blah. She was very...surprised...in the bad way. I felt terrible. Then later the director calls CRYING!!! AGGGHHHH!!! My heart was broken. I can't believe what a putz I am, to blindside them the way I did. My timing was horrendous. And I know Miss Kristi blames herself. But in all honesty, she is one of the kindest and sweetest people I have met. I loved her. This just was a bad decision from the beginning. Oy.

He's Makin' a List...

...and so are they. The girls spent the afternoon circling pictures in magazines and writing out lists. Emily's list contains approximately 5000 items and Gracie's has about 6. Last night Emily said "Mommy, do you think Santa will bring me everything on my list". Uh...no, honey, I don't.

On the schooling front, yesterday we read about the Exodus in our history book which Emily thought was awesome since she's so familiar with it from the Bible. Then the girls painted up a shoebox diorama of the Red Sea. Check out Grace's little Israelites...

And in more school news...Emily finished 1st grade spelling. I'm so glad I got a deal on both 1st and 2nd grade books this year at the Fort Wayne Curriculum Fair because we were able to just jump right into 2nd grade. Now if we can just survive ancient history.

Grace's New Smile

Here it is, as promised. Gracie's new smile. Isn't she beautiful?

Trick or Treat

Oh, the cuteness was too much for Mommy this year! Emily was radiant in her Belle costume that she bought with her own money! And could Grace be any cuter in her homemade pumpkin costume? We walked the neighborhood with Grandma and Grandpa K then headed over to Grandma and Grandpa M's for...you got it...more candy!! And oh dear, I'd say we now have about 8lbs. of candy sitting on our kitchen counter. Anyone for a play date?
(Don't forget to click on the picture to get a bigger view...)

Welcome Home...

I found this written on the bathroom mirror when I returned home from work one night. I left it up for days but finally it started to drip, so sadly it had to go. Life is so sweet...

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I LOVE THIS FAMILY! As (slightly) crazy as they are.
Hope you had a great birthday party Mom!!

Sarah Palin

So Saturday night my dear friend Anne, her friend Dawn and my fabulous mom went to see Sarah Palin speak in Fort Wayne. What a trip! First of all I could not have been in finer company. I adore Anne and Dawn. Those girls are fun. And then there's my mom. I will never know why God chose to give me the greatest, funnest, kindest, smartest, most optimistic, patient and wonderful mom on the planet. I have never known ANYONE like my Mom. And, next to my husband, she is my best friend. I truly love my mom.

So, back to Sarah. First of all, the party kicked off with Hank Williams Jr. And had I known any of his music it would have been awesome! But hey, good times.

Then out came Sarah and her family. We were about 30 feet from the stage and right at the catwalk she came down. It was such a great time! I am praying we win this election. That any person would support a candidate who numerous times as a state senator opposed something like the Born Alive Act is beyond my understanding. Babies born alive during or after an abortion...God forgive us. Please vote in favor of LIFE on November 4th!!

How have we gotten to a point in our culture where that is even an issue...

Rainy Day Crafts

There is something about rainy days that just makes crafts with the kids even funner...

We decided today to do some sponge painted leaves and glue them onto paper bag trees. Well, Emily did just that and was satisfied and went to play with the dog. Grace however wanted to create an entire "village" and spent the next 4 hours working on it!!! She is one crafty little girl. And guess what? My baby lost her first tooth today. Pictures to come later this week. Hope you all had a beautiful rainy day too.

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Potato Creek

Another beautiful fall day yesterday. The girls and I picked up Grandpa and headed to the park to collect some pretty fall "stuff". Poor little Gracie ended up with about 7 mosquito bites on her face and arms and a thorn stuck in her eyelid!
And in case you notice the brown smudges around their mouths, those are leftovers from the Oreos Grandpa broke out in the middle of our walk.

Pumpkin Patch

What a beautiful day yesterday was. We spent it at Matthys Farm, petting some animals...including one vicious looking rooster. Well, technically we didn't pet him...we just gawked, in horror. Then we enjoyed a hay ride, which we were informed was actually a "straw" ride. Apparently hay has more green. Who'd have known.

We walked through a short little corn maze and then picked out some pumpkins and voila...I've got more pictures. I love pictures. Love them. Here are some from yesterday...

Homeschool Rollerskating

What a blast we had today! Every 3rd Friday of

each month USA hosts a skate only for home schoolers!

So we went today for the first time and the girls loved it. Emily needed help around the rink one time and then was off on her own round and round, over and over. Grace took a bit longer but eventually, after Mommy and Daddy were completely worn out, she gave it a go and did it all alone. That is until two little 4th grade girls thought she was too cute to skate alone and hung by her side the rest of the time. And this, sadly, is the only picture I got. My batteries died as soon as we got there...

On a low note, we rented Prince of Egypt from the library for "enrichment" of our Bible story for today and Emily ended up heart broken and crying after the plague killed the first born of the Egyptians. How do you explain that to a 7 year old?

2 more days...

We are slowly getting ourselves ready to go on our big family trip. Two more days till Disney World! Actually, 2 more days until we hit the road. That's right...we're driving. See, I don't fly. Can't. Won't do it. Ever. Ever. I've been plagued with a fear of flying since I was a kid and a few years back I gave it a try. Never again!!! So, I've spent the last 18 months convincing the kids how great it will be to be able to see the beautiful scenes in Kentucky, Tennessee and so forth.


We had planned to take our dog to the kennel on Saturday morning but plans changed and we had to take him today. We won't see him again until the 19th!! I can't believe that I actually miss him.

He's such a pest but...so dag gone cute!!! And I just hate the thought of him sleeping on a cold kennel floor, and not knowing why. Maybe he'll think it's because of the latest Barbie hand he gnawed off. Maybe he'll return home so remorseful that the chewing will...finally...end...

Face Painting

Oh dear...our Daddy is a saint. The girls did an entire garden on Daddy's nice smooth head.

Goofballs!!

OK...I've been waiting for something ridiculous to happen to me so I could make you laugh and guess what? As I'm driving home from a D.T. (design team) meeting at the store with my dear friend Jen, she says to me: ""so and so" thinks I'm an airhead". I kid you not, as the words are leaving her mouth she is driving down the wrong side of the road!! I don't think I laugh in a whole week as much as I do after an hour with Jen and Alexis...

Birthday Girl

Well, my baby is 5. How did this happen? We made the cutest little packages for her to hand out to her friends at preschool:

Chocolate covered pretzels tucked inside cute little white bags, tied with pink satin ribbon and glittery pencils.

5...I am so enjoying these little people.

So, I thought I would try a blog. Why not...everyone is doing it. Facebook was fun but I feel like I have more to...share. And besides...I hate their new layout. And, I want to share the funny stories, yeah probably some depressing ones too, of our daily lives as a homeschooling family. And some photos too, all fabulous.