Holiday Blessings to You and Yours!

I still have much to blog about, but am not gonna worry about it until after the holidays. We take off today for many days away from home. Many days to spend with family. Cherished Christmas memories. We've already had many memories here at home as we've already had our christmas with the kids. For now I leave you with this holiday blessing.

And a little holiday funny. The kids big present was a karoke machine. I'm not talking a little boom box one, but a big tower that has the screen right on it. It took them no time at all to break out the microphone and get the music going. Anyway, the real funny is Jim in the background. If you know Jim, you know that man never misses an opportunity to be a goof. We all got many a laugh over this video clip.

new hair do

I was looking for new ways to fix Carmen's hair. It's in that eh stage where I don't have too many options. It is getting quite long, but it's also very wispy. And she has a whole under layer that is much shorter than the rest. Anway....I tired this the other day and thought it looked so cute!

Happy Birthday Carmen

I know....I know....I'm totally slacking on the birthday post for Carmen. Sorry no slideshow of the 100 million pics I took of my baby within her first year. I did get some on her big day though. We had planned on having a party with a few family friends who also have children Carmen's age. It was set for the evening. However the weather forecast was giving a grim outlook and a good dumping of snow was heading our way. I called Jim about moving the party up to the lunch hour. The downside to that would mean that it cut Jim & the 4 big kids out of the festivities. Although Jim didn't care that I moved the party, he suggested that I just cancel all together. Why bother with it? I insisted. It's enough that she's A) the last child and B) born the week before Christmas. I don't want her to always get the short end of the stick when it comes to her special day. So I held it over lunch, everyone was able to still come. It was already snowing like crazy outside. We had a delightful time and definately some birthday fun.

Later that night we had another small hoorah with just the family. The big kids wanted to be part of the celebration as well.

YMCA holiday party

Every year the Y hosts a holiday party of some sorts. We've had everything from pizza & bowling to a family evening in our Y building. In many years past I've been in charge of organizing this event. I got the year off though as some others jumped in to take the lead. They held the event at Knox College and had the party a bit more dressed up & formalish. No kids this time, just adults. We enjoyed a very nice dinner, a slideshow and, of course, some gifts.

It was a nice change of pace. I got a lot of oooohs and aaaahs when I walked in all dressed up. (Of course most people are used to seeing me in my Y attire which would be a t-shirt and shorts, hair pulled back in a ponytail and quite often covered in sweat too). I wore an old bride's maid dress that is all black and flows all the way down to the floor. I knew when I bought it years ago that I would get a lot of use out of it. When I walked up to my table a co worker said to me "do not tell me you have that just sitting in your closet" I chuckled and said...."yep, it just sits there waiting to be worn." (which for the record I have now worn it 3 times). I didn't get any full length shots of me, but here is a nice one of Jim & I.

O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree

I usually get the Christmas tree up right after Thanksgiving, but that didn't happen this year. When I finally get around to the garage where I store the tree I came across a problem. I couldn't find the tree. I looked high and low, all over that garage, for at least 1/2 hour. I finally gave up on the tree at the time, but did get some Christmas light drapped around the front porch. I wanted some points for being productive.

I said something to the kids later, Angel pips up that she thought I threw the tree away last year. I blew off the thought, that would be impossible. Later I said something specifically to Jim and he confirmed what was already said....I threw the tree out last year. I was completely stunned and baffled. I mean....really, I did? First of all, why? And secondly, why for the life of me can I not even remember doing that? Seriously I have no clue.

Upon further pondering I came to vaguely remember my doing this act last year. The tree was "old" and quite worn. We bought it 10 years ago when Mandy was a baby. It's had it's use. And one way to guarantee that we get a new tree was to just pitch it. But we never replaced the tree and with the ever so tough economy this year we didn't have any extra money sitting around for another one right now.

So I dragged out an even older tree that I had hung onto for many years. It was the first Christmas tree that Jim & I ever had, a little bitty 3 footer. My mom had used it for many years in her sunday school class and gave it to us for our first Christmas cause back then we didn't have any money for a tree either. (Huh, somethings never change.)

Even though I would have loved for Jim to go out and just buy me a new one, I really didn't care if we had a big fancy tree. Christmas is not all about a tree and how pretty it is. I also thought it would serve as a good "remember when" story for the future and a lesson to the kids. A perfect lesson in contentment, doing with what we had. We could have no tree, but we at least had this. When I explained things to the kids, they didn't really care either how big the tree was or wasn't. They just wanted something up to put presents under. So we made a family night of it, playing the Christmas music loud and clear, working together to get the job done. All of our ornaments didn't fit on there so we picked what we could to fit on. The star would reach all the way to the top either. So we just patched it together. I call it our Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I like it.

oops

I started that last post by adding some pics. I meant to take the post in one direction, but headed in another and never got around to the pics. They were just silly ones of John taken recently. The simple things that entertain boys.

snow day

YES! They FINALLY cancelled school due to the weather. (Can you hear the choirs of Hallelujah singing in the background?) It's become a well known fact that our current superintendent is very hard on school cancellations. Which in some ways I can appreciate, especially when June rolls around. But some days, it's like "COME ON! SERIOUSLY?" Even if they would use the occasional late start or early dismissal it would make a huge difference. But in my 9 years as a parent in this school district that has never been used. Anyway...

That's not what I meant to start this post about. It's a snow day, it's friday, which was suppose to be their last day of school before a 2 week break. So instead of school sing alongs, holiday movies and class parties we're home. I'm staying put to be safe. My van is so big and heavy, we really need new tires and I've spent a good portion of the recent weeks spinning my way out of intersections. And getting up into my drive way is always entertaining. So we're gonna stay put for today, most of it anyway, we'll see how things look later on.

I'm ready for a day of baking, watching movies and getting last minute things ready for Christmas. I also have a lot and I mean A LOT of blogging to do. For the moment though, Carmen is in her highchair & wanting down. So until later, have a safe & warm day.

Living Windows / Christmas Walk

Angel & Mandy performed in a window for the public to view. It's an annual event held in Monmouth where their dance studio is. I took video of each of them, but Mandy is in the window with other girls. I try to not put other people's children on the blog unless it's family or close friends or I have specific permission to do so. So I decided to go with the picture of Mandy in action.

Angel danced in the window by herself. She made the paper again this year. It wasn't a head on shot and she was unidentified in the pic. Here is her video.

Grandpa & Grandma

My parents came over for a day last weekend to spend with the kids. Not everyone knows my family situation, but in a nutshell, my parents have custody of 3 of the grandkids. That makes it hard for them to be available as "just" grandpa & grandma. The opportunity arouse for them to come over and spend time with just our kids. Grandma spent a good portion of the day baking with the kids (remember all that zuchinni I shredded....it's all gone out of my freezer). The kids loved the one on one time. Jim & I slipped out of the house for a bit on a "date". We came home & found them all playing games. My dad is so not a game person, but there he sat entertaining the kids with marbles. It meant so much to me to see them spend the day & their time with my kids.

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a great & wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We had more than one get together/celebration spread out over the week.

It started the week before when we went home to Muscatine to celebrate with the rest of the Luna clan. Not everyone was there, but a good portion of us was. My brother in law deep fried the turkey....mmmmmmmm! After we stuffed ourselves with good food we got a good game of Phase 10 rolling. We had fun sitting around and being Luna's. It was a very nice visit home.

The evening before Thanksgiving we had our friends the Baileys and Lujans over to play games. The kids played around the house while the adults sat around the dining room table. In addition to some good game playing we had plenty of yummy food to snack on. We had so many good laughs and a great time enjoying each other's company. We are so blessed with friends!

On Thanksgiving day we went over to another friend's house, the Potter's. We joined them with some of their family and another set of friends the Aplands. We did not have the traditional food fare of turkey. That doesn't mean there was any lacking of good food though. We stuffed ourselves plenty and enjoyed a more relaxed day. Again, the kids were off and about playing while the adults sat around the living room by the fire. It was a great day.

Thanksgiving Turkey

John was in a little class play at school. He had the leading role & did a wonderful job. Part of his role included dressing up as the thanksgiving turkey. His costume was cute, but I found this even better. He had to carry it to show during the play (while dresssed in the turkey costume). We got to keep the poster too!

Mom, look....I'm a pirate

I've got the cutest picture of Andrew. I've gone back & forth between posting it or not. So I'll just describe it to you.

To set up the scene I hear Andrew playing in my room. He's jumping on my bed and yelling "aaaaargh, I'm a pirate". So I go to look and there he is buck naked standing on my headboard. I ask him....what are you doing? That when he says "mom, look....I'm a pirate" and he jumps down in all his naked glory. Normally I don't condone jumping on my bed, especially from the headboard. But I told him to do it again while I ran to get my camera to snap a shot. So maybe I'm not gonna post it on the internet for all to see (this is a public blog afterall) but I'm sure it might surface when it comes time for his highschool graduation or his future wife to see. : )

Kuk Sool Won karate tournament

Brianna & John participated in an intraschool karate tournament. They both did very well and placed in each of their events of Korean wrestling and sparing. My kids can really kick some butt!

14 years

Today is our anniversary. We didn't know it at the time, but we picked the worst time of the year for this special occasion. We just had Andrew's birthday, then thanksgiving, Carmen's birthday is right on our heels with christmas a week later, then another 3 weeks is Brianna's birthday, then John's as well. Not to mention that with Jim's job there is no mercy to this time of the year. So amongst all of that our anniversary always takes a back seat. It's ok though I'm used to it. I'd woo and wow you with one of my infamous slideshows, but honestly I'm not up to all of that work and I don't have an hour to spend doing it. So I'll leave you with this wonderful present that Mandy gave us. It came with a german chocolate cake. She devised this plan all by herself, then recruited one of my friends who also has a daughter that is Mandy's friend, to help out. And now without further ado......

Annaversary Song (there is no editing on my part)

Chours:
They're my special folks
They gave me life----
Now these 2 special people
are celebrating they're marriage

Verse 1:
You thought you were the only
people around when you met
didn't see didn't hear anything
around It was just you two

Repeat Chours

Verse 2:
ou're getting married you
say those special words "I do"
Your on honeymoon----You're loving
it.

Repeat Chours

Verse 3:
It's been 14 years You have 6
kids you're extraordiary people

Repeat Chours 2

Oops, I did it again!

I've gone M.I.A! I've been beyond busy. Seriously I have another 10 posts or so to enter. I didn't even stop to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. I am very grateful for each and every one of you! God put you into my/our life for one reason or another and I'm glad He did!

It's probably be another few days before I can really sit here and get it all out. Right now I've an hour before the kids get out of school and I need to finish up some cleaning & organizing.....oh and have I mentioned that I've been up since 4:30 a.m.!!!! I can't sit here now, I need to go. I'll be back soon!

*hugs*

Backdoor guests

We found this critter right outside our backdoor last week. We see a lot of praying mantis around our yard and the kids love them. I'm not overly fond of any large bug. I'm not really scared, but they'll give me a scream if I see them and not expecting it, they just give me the eebie geebies. Anyway, this guy hung around the backdoor for a day then moved up.....

onto my actual backdoor. That gave me a scare when I opened the door.

I left him there though until the kids came home from school and got to ooooh and aaaaah over it. It gave me a chance to snap a good close up. He looks really cool that close up, I zoomed in with my camera though. I surely wasn't gonna get that close to it!

Happy Birthday Andrew

I'm a few days late, but Andrew's 3rd birthday was last saturday. L'il stinker wasn't born until a full 42 weeks. He was well worth the wait though. As with any of my children I never have regrets or doubts about having them. Since he's only 3 I have very few "professional" pics of him. I can't believe he's already 3, time is going too fast.

We had a little party for Andrew. His friends came over for some cake and ice cream. Kinda low key, but still an enjoyable birthday celebration.

Andrew singing

You can always catch Andrew belting out a song or two. Some of you may not find that surprising, music is very much a part of this house. I captured a few songs for you.

The second video is him singing Mama Mia. I'm very guilty of playing this music often after seeing the movie this summer on the big screen. Not sure I realized how much until I caught Andrew (and the other kids too) singing a lot of the songs and knowing many of them by heart.....just like me. I got distracted at the end of the second video and you see the snake the Mandy & the neighbor kid caught.

walking video

I keep trying to get the perfect video of Carmen walking. She's still not an independent walker. I don't go into the store & let her walk next to me or anything like that. But she is walking more and more. The other night I was sitting on the floor & someone walked up to me. I thought it was Andrew because what other little person would be walking across the room and up to my side. To my surprise it was Carmen. Other times I'll be working in my bedroom and look up to see Carmen all by herself walking through the dining room. It still seems weird. I captured this little bit at the karate studio the other night.

Carmen

Carmen is such a joy these days. Not that she never has been before. But now that she is getting older she interacts with us much more. Here are just a few pics of her.

Carmen is by far not my best sleeper. Although I don't like to complain cause I do get plenty of sleep, but she's still getting up at random sporadic times. Some days it's 3 a.m., others it's 6 a.m. Just to trick me she'll throw in an all nighter here & there. Some mornings she'll get up early then go back to bed, others (like the day that I took this pic) she was up for the day. None of the other kids slept like this.

On this particular morning she was up for good at 6 a.m. I put her in her highchair to eat some breakfast. I noticed after awhile she was very quite. I looked to find her half dozing in her seat. When I grabbed the camera and moved to get a good shot she semi woke up which is why she is grinning in the pic.
Carmen likes to hang out on the counter while I work in the kitchen. Last night while I worked away she stacked these cups all by herself. I showed Jim the picture, but he doesn't believe me. He thinks I staged the pic. Seriously though, she did it all by herself. A total fluke though cause I couldn't get her to do it again. But I was amazed that she stacked them so perfectly. You can see her hand still on there.

While up on the counter Carmen kept grabbing and trying new foods that I had sitting out. It's fun to watch her try new things.

Belt promotion

Brianna, John & Jim were promoted to a new belt color in karate. They have to test in front of the instructors to show they posses the knowledge of the current belt.

John went from the yellow belt to the blue belt.
Brianna went from the blue to the red belt.

Jim went from the red belt to the brown belt.

They work very hard to their karate and take it very seriously. If you ever have to be alone in a dark alley....I hope you have one of them with you!

What is this?

We're not sure what this is. We found it right outside our back door. It intrigued us and the kids insisted I take a pic. So sure, why not share it with you all.

Election Day

We take our American duty of voting seriously. Don't confuse that with meaning we are very political. We are not at all, more so me. If you every strike up a political conversation with me you'll be met with a blank stare. Jim is much more versed in the subject.

Anyway, we find it very important to teach our children about these important moments of history. We took all 6 of them with us to the polls. We also had 2 neighbor kids with us at the time so they are included in the first picture. Yes, we were greeted with stares, jaws hitting the floor and the like as we walked into the voting place. We're used to it. The election judges themselves were thrilled that we brought our children along.

We took our time in voting. I showed each kid the ballot and how to fill it out. I talked to them about some of the candidates and why we did/did not vote for them. Our children today is the America of tomorrow. Who knows how that seed will grow that we have planted in each one of them.

Family Fun Night

We held a family fun party for our friends to help promote good family fun. We started with a digital dash. That is a scavenger hunt of sorts. Each team/family were given a list of clues and set out to find a take a picture of themselves with each clue. Some where versatile clues and resulted in various different pictures, others lead us all to the same place. Each family raced against the others to see who could complete the list first. Here is a sample picture of one of our clues that said: salute a veteran.

After that we all met back at our house and had a wiener roast. Everyone brought a dish to share so we had a wide variety of yummies to go along with our hot dogs. Of course we had to get a bonfire or two going. Although the weather was very nice, it still felt good to sit around the fire once it got dark. We made s'mores and had a wonderful time. All together we had 7 families that came. That of course means a lot of kids running around. We hope to make this an annual event that we host.

Teach me Father....

I love to capture these moments of Jim teaching John the things of life. In this pic they were rotating the tires. Jim is such a wonderful father!

Halloween

We had beautiful weather for halloween this year. I got inspired by my friend Sherri and we made some of the outfits. Together we sewed 6 poodle skirts, one for each of us and then 2 for each of our girls. Unfortunatley we never got a big group pic. I also made Brianna's cheerleading outfit. Which I completely improvised the pattern to just make it work and I was suppose to add orange ribbon to make it more Bears like. By the end of it all I was just satisfied to have it done. I'm not really a sewer. I should be though, I just never put the time & dedication into it.

Anyway, of course I have pics of my trick or treaters. We took all the kids to a local church for trunk or treat. By time we got home Carmen was getting fussy so Jim stayed home with her while I took the others up & down our block. By time we were done with that Andrew was fazing out so he joined dad & Carmen at home while I took the big kids to some other neighborhoods. We covered a lot of ground and got a TON of candy.

Rollin in the loot

Ladies Retreat

I was able to attend a ladies retreat put on by a local church. It was held out at Camp Summit, which is about 30 min. from town. It's out in the middle of nowhere. We had a guest speaker who did a wonderful job of saying just the right things that we all need to hear. We had plenty of food to eat, all homemade by a couple of ladies. Several of my friends attended as well so there was a lot of good times & tons of laughter. Some of us stayed up until 3 a.m. chatting and playing games. We can find about anything to giggle about when it's the wee hours of the morning.

It was a milestone weekend for me as it was the first time I went away without baby Carmen. She gotten sick during the week (her first ever sickness of broncitus) and had been refusing to nurse. I had been planning to take her with me, but since she didn't "need" me, Jim insisted she stay home. I was very uncertain about the idea, but Jim persisted so I went without her. I'll admit I was worried and even thought about calling home to check in. All went well without me. Jim did a wonderful job and taking care of all the kids and I came home to a CLEAN HOUSE!

Here is my "twin seperated at birth" Sherri. Whenever we are together it never fails that we are asked if we are sisters.

This is a group picture of all the people that sat at the same table. A wide variety of moms in different stages & walks of life.

Just some nature pictures I took. We went out on many nature walks. The weather was perfect!