Joyeux Noel

Photo Memories from Christmas 2009!

Christ is born!

Our family at Steven's parents house after
Christmas Eve Mass at Steven's high school.


Steven Joseph enjoying the excitement, and reading with BopBop


Girls watching Grampatti make banana bread


Christmas morning at home!
New scooters for all the kids!


A new wooden dollhouse that Mrs. Claus found on Craigslist,
but was a huge headache requiring lots of repairs!


Joe Joe loves his fishing rod and toy tool set


Ellie has been asking for an iron and ironing board for a long time.
She was so excited!


Mary Clare's special "fashion" outfit for her upcoming birthday.
She finally got the glittered zebra flats :)


Also loves her doll with rocking horse from NeNe

Matching aprons I made for my mom and aunt,
out of one denim jumper and fabric scraps!


Other crafted gifts...
I made our family out of peg people last week!


SJ pointing to the leaves on the throw pillow I made for Steven's mom,
representing their 30 children, spouses, and grandchildren.
(Idea from Rachel, tutorial at Cluck Cluck Sew)

and some more crafty gifts that have yet to be given!


riding their new scooters at NeNe and PaPa's


Then over to Grampatti and BopBop's!


Cousins playing "Cocktail Party" kid version!


And playing with toys as the night winds down...

It was a great Christmas and a relaxing weekend. Now we're just dealing with the aftermath of exhausted, coughing kids and messy house. But relishing in this wonderful Christmas season.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Photo courtesy of Steven's cousin Angie who took our family photos in Oklahoma!

Steven Joseph's 2nd Birthday!

"Me two."

Mommy's attempt at a golf ball cake,
and the signs and presents for Joe Joe and NeNe,
who share a birthday!

Happy Birthday to Steven Joseph and NeNe!

Spiderman placemat from Aunt Kathy!
T-Ball
(He is telling everyone this week, "Me two. T-Ball.")


and his own real golf clubs!
Daddy the juggler :-)

Hope everyone is having a fun week, and not stressing too much about Christmas plans! We're pretty much done with our shopping and now I'm having fun crafting new projects with thread and paint! I'll add some photos after Christmas.

May we all open our hearts to the Newborn King this Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Steven Joseph Jr!

just bornone year

two years old!

I pray we share many more years of love and laughter with you, sweet boy! May you grow to know and love the One who made you, the One who holds your heart in the palm of his hand!

Kitchen Mishaps

After last week's turkey fiasco, where I prepped the turkey only to find that the pan didn't fit in the oven...we've continued along the kitchen mishap journey...

Tonight we were ready to bake two apple cakes for Steven to take to work tomorrow. As always, something went wrong. We had no vanilla, and not quite enough pecans. So with the kids still running round the house at 9:30 pm after a fun-filled day at my parents'...I raced off to the grocery store alone.

Came back to find kids still running around the house (actually the girls were playing with their new wooden blocks and peg saints, playing "Extreme Home Makeover"--I should've listened longer to hear what kind of house the saints were getting!). Hubby had the batter finished, overflowing the KitchenAid mixer.

He poured it into the bundt pan as I warned..."was it supposed to be greased?" Of course it was, but you know...men. So in it went, I cleaned up the kitchen, and set the kids in front of a movie. After finishing most of my cleaning After I finally got tired of the toddler at my feet yelling "Mommy, You!" I went to sit with the kids and relax for a minute. But shortly thereafter I started to smell something...I looked into the kitchen....SMOKE!!!

After cleaning off the filthy mixer, I'd moved it over to the cooktop (ours is a flat range). Apparently I'd knocked one of the burners on, and then set the wooden cutting board on it. The board obviously got a nice big burn mark and our entire house got a nice big smoky haze. After airing it out for awhile the smell is starting to go away, although I'm sure it'll continue to linger.

After finally settling the kids in a less-smoky area, I came back to check on cake #1. Of course it wouldn't come out of the pan, so that one is all in pieces in a plastic container. Here's to hoping that cake #2 turns out good enough for him to take to work....because if it doesn't and I spend nearly 4 hours caring for these cakes and their fiascos...I'm not going to be a happy camper!

Wish me better luck with candy-covered pretzels tomorrow!

All for the little ones, Christmas joys

These past few weeks have felt a bit gloomy for me. Maybe it's the cold, dark, and muggy weather and feeling like the walls are closing in. Maybe it's grieving the lost loved ones this Christmas. Maybe it's losing my homeschooling steam as we've been plagued with so much death and illness. Maybe it's the household things that all seem to be needing repair. I know my spiritual life needs some repair, that's for sure!

But Christmas is such a happy time for children, I can't help but smile as we belt Christmas carols in the car, as they sing each other quietly to sleep, and as they make the sweetest homemade gifts for each other! So many joys to be found in the expectation that keeps children's hearts alive this time of year!

We've been blessed with many fun activities the past few weeks, and are especially grateful for family visiting this week. My brother Brice is home from his deployment, so he is here to visit and then take his family back home to California. We're going to miss Allison and Addison so much! My aunt is visiting and another uncle and aunt visited over the weekend. We're enjoying this special week with family...

A few of our goings-on...

Art and Nature Club last week. Steven Joseph always joins in!

Mary Clare and Ellie copied the works of Van Gogh

They are starting a Jr Master Gardener program with Nature Club!
Doing a fun activity...where hamburgers come from!

The girls did a make-up ballet class this week, and NeNe and Aunt Marilyn got to watch Mary Clare's little mini-exhibition

Playing at NeNe's this week...

Singing away with the rattle-microphone

Introducing herself for the fashion show

The little fashionista!

Last night I put a few lights outside and we plan to do a little baking later this week as we prepare for some cookie exchanges. We've been taking care of dental appointments and starting to do some Christmas shopping (we're last minute shoppers!). We have abandoned the Alphabet Path until January, when we'll start with letter M and read all about one of our favorite storybook characters, Madeline! Today I spent an hour cleaning out my car, which is looking spiffy with the new wheels! I got out my guitar earlier this week, and listened to poor SJ sob when I put it away. Maybe Santa needs to bring him a baby guitar!

Oh, and I might actually get some Christmas cards ordered this week! Steven's cousin sent the proofs from our Thanksgiving pictures, and I was able to get a digital image of our favorite family photo for some cards. Can't wait to see how they turn out!

And now, off to bed, in hopes that some sugarplum visions will dance in my head (and not cemeteries like last night)...

Video from Christmas Showcase

It's a long video, but includes all the girls' performances...
Mary Clare in Little Flowers/Pickwick singing Silent Night and O Come All Ye Faithful
Ellie and preschoolers singing The Friendly Beasts
Both girls and ballerina friends doing Nutcracker dance
and everyone singing Angels We Have Heard on High



It was a fantastic evening, we are so thankful for all our precious Bread of Life families. We are so blessed! Merry Christmas!

Door Gallery

Starting a photo gallery of doors...
Please send me the images or links if you'd like to add yours!