7QTs - Snow, Christmas and Advent

Linking up with Kelly and co... Going from newest to oldest...

---1---

My snowy bear

The snow is gone... We had our fun but it was up to 70 today and is headed back into the 30s tomorrow : ( 

---2---

M reminds me so much of E in so many ways and putting together puzzles is one of them...

50 piece puzzle for the 4 yr old in the books... except E just would have done it and moved on. M wants me to see it and know if she gets extra dessert because she did something good. riiiiiiight!

---3---

C is FINALLY on team bottle... 

Which is insanely helpful because I have a quick work trip that she is not privileged to. More on that later 

---4---

All the Christmas presents have been absorbed for the most part...

I haven't tried out my new goggles yet but I did manage a trip to the elliptical this week which was great

Working on Christmas Thank You notes... I still need to get a few out!

The tree is still up. I think A is really going to miss it. He keeps on saying lite treeeeee. lite treeeeeee. I cannot find his baby ornament which is of some concern so maybe it will turn up in clean up?

---5---

These 2 were ready to go back to school.

They were totally at each other's necks the last week of break and nit picking (now that I know that actually has to do with lice) each other and just generally being really an

---6---

A-isms of recent... 

He will grab the stool from the bathroom and attempt to get involved with whatever is going on

He rarely gets dessert these days because he doesn't eat much dinner unless it is steak or ham but when he does he loves it

He looks really cute in this hat

His hair can get really wild with static

He LOVES going with Papa in the truck. He saw E and Papa go to swim practice and fitfully watched them leave because he didn't get the nod to go too

---7---

Just to round out the Advent season a few weeks late...

We did make it to the graveyards to pray on 12/23... nothing like the late minute

And we continued the neighborhood tradition of passing out Christmas goodies and added a note with a plea for people in our neighborhood to SLOW THE HECK DOWN ... I'll keep you posted on that progress

Snow-cation 2018

2018 started off with an Elsa-like icy blast... 

We got 4-6 inches of snow the evening of the 3rd 

It was a puffy, powdery snow that fell really quickly and stuck almost immediately because it had been so cold. 

It did not make for the best sledding times because we really need more icy snow to stand up to the hard South sun that our sledding hills gets everyday

This guy was in his element. Outside with an unlimited food source at his finger tips - and warm finger tips. On Monday I ordered him snow mittens because the snow wouldn't be here until Thursday. Well Amazon let us down and the gloves did not get here on Wednesday as I expected so when I realized that I placed an emergency call and waterproof mittens from Target arrived via his Fairy Snowmother. It was either that or shlep all the kids into Target with arctic blast apparel, search for mitten and herd everyone out. You know how much fun it is getting kids in and out of carseats and putting coats on and praying the toddler has kept his shoes and socks on and zipping up coats and lugging the infant bucket and all that jazz. Just send Lee right? Wrong. See below. 

I learned a lesson about those built in mitten things on the coats they got. You have to put the gloves on AFTER the coat. Not before. This is opposite how I did it growing up and I almost lost all my cool the first day before I figured this out. 

Friends enjoying the snow! This is them last year. 

With good sledding kind of out of the picture the kids took to slopes in the yard and rode those. E braved the snow twice on the first day and went to the frozen swamp with the neighbors and had the biggest time. 

Frozen chariot 

Frozen house

I don't know which is more work getting the kids dressed or getting their stuff dried for the next trip out. 

C was put in bed as the big kids were getting ready to go out the first time because I was about to lose it trying to stuff hands in gloves and feet in snow boots. 

But A and I suited C up and took her out for a ride on the sled. 

Then we replaced C in the warmth of the house and we set out on our second jaunt in the snow for the day. A was desperate to be out in the snnnnoooo. He would put the softest s on snow it was cute. He's going to miss it the most. 

Snow babies

Then it was time for..... Cookies and Snow cream

Trying Snow cream for the first time

Eating a raisin-free oatmeal cookie Papa made just for her

Yum 

We didn't have a lot of ingredients (as in running low on oatmeal and zero baking soda) so my brilliant neighbor suggested I search baking soda free oatmeal raisin cookies and imagine that, there were a zillion recipes that popped up. 

This guy held down the inside fort during the snow. The chef, the baker, the hot chocolate maker. The C watcher. Thursday was supposed to be his day off because Tuesday he poured 20 yards of concrete and 28 on Wednesday - he was a tad bit sore. Honestly I was just glad to have him back home because Wednesday afternoon I wasn't sure he was going to make it back before the roads got bad with snow. He called just after 8 and said he was on his way home. At 9:25 he rolled into the yard and brought the snow with him. 

Obligatory all kids in the snow picture

Winter Wonderland - and man was it cold. It was in the single digits most mornings and warmed up to the upper 20s 

Me and C deep in thought over the snow

A's rosy cheeks from his snow consuming adventures. I'll post a pic of that later because I took that on Lee's phone. 

Friday I had to go to work in the afternoon. The county roads were not great but once I made it to the city they were fine. I picked up dinner and then headed home for in-house Theophany vespers. Saturday everyone was going snow crazy so I convinced Lee we could all use a little time out of the house so he went to the gym while I took the kids swimming and it true fashion they stayed in the pool about double the time it took to get changed into bathing suits. Whatever. We came home to a yummy pot of chili and settled in for some football and a King Cake thanks to some friends who braved the snowy roads. Sunday we made it to the later church service since there is still a good amount of snowy ice on out neighborhood hill (not the sledding one). After church they (not me) went out for one last play in the snow. Lee and I had a peaceful hour or so that involved cleaning up more Christmas presents (yes they are now finally put away), folding laundry and watching football. I told them whoever stayed out the longest would get the most snow cream so they were huddled in the garage waiting each other out but finally they all came in at the same time when hot chocolate was served. 

With a two hour delay today I imagine our snow days are over for this round. We'll see if we end up with more. We're supposed to hit the mid 60s toward the end of the week so we'll see if that holds true. 

Merry Christmas 2017

Hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas season...

Here's our card... It's never too late to send us a card. We take them down mid-January and pray for people on the cards during morning prayers. 

This is how our Christmas is shaking out...

We got the tree up and lit on the 23rd... Lee wanted it decorated before we left for church on the 24th but that didn't exactly happen. 

Matching sure makes packing up a whole lot easier... Christmas church clothes, Christmas day clothes and Christmas pajamas - and I didn't even have to hunt down the Christmas pajamas because.... I remembered where I packed them!

Christmas was interesting this year since it was on a Sunday. We had liturgy that morning at 9 and then we shot over to my parents for lunch and then went to Lee's brother's for a few hours before vesperal divine liturgy. It worked out well. It was just a lot of church for a 2 yr old and a 6 month old. 

Then it was back to Grammy and Grandpa Joe's...

This year will go down as their biggest tree. It has gotten raving reviews

The early bird gets the Bumbo seat

And laughs with Grandpa Joe

The kids did not sleep in as much as we would have hoped but oh well. We didn't bother wrapping A's scooter so he had a big time riding it around the house. I think Uncle Kev might have even taken it for a spin. 

Obligatory kids pic... We actually held them off until after breakfast - which I should take a picture of. Two egg bakes and crumb cake - I'd be good with a day full of breakfast and mimosas and the occasional present. Fun times. Good food. Great family (Hi Nicole!).

I took a nod from Rosie and put something other than candy in the kids stockings (candy too) but there is SO MUCH candy so A was super content with yogurt raisins and I think those might make a comeback in Easter baskets. They are perfect for school snacks and lunches too.

All the presents were unwrapped and Grammy arranged some matchy-matchy. Then Uncle Kev and A and C and me went to visit my grandparents who recently relocated to the area. That was a short but nice visit. My grandfather strolled out to the front desk of the community and let everyone know that these were his great-grandchildren. Definitely made the visit worth it. 

Then after rests we regrouped for dinner and quick desserts (I wish we could stay longer to visit) we loaded up the Transitasaurs and headed home. 

The next day we headed over for Second Day of Christmas festivities with Lee's side of the fam-mee. 

Another day filled with fun, family and food. The cousins all went down to the park which was really neat. College aged down to mother's morning out aged - we've got some really great big kid cousins. There was lots of excitement and lots of paper and presents too. 

Another family pic!

As we continue to celebrate the Reason for the Season, it has been struggle for me personally with all the stuff. I feel like our house is bursting at the seams from the generosity of our family and friends. I need to take a step back from it all and remember what we are celebrating and why. It is my hope that our kids will also not forget the true meaning of Christmas amidst all the wrapping paper and stockings. One of them asked 'when are we going to do Christmas at our house?' and I could have screamed. What she meant was when are we going to open presents - LIKE YOU NEED MORE PRESENTS. I tried to calmly explain that Christmas is not something you do, it is something you celebrate. And opening a ton of presents has very little to do with the babe in the manger. Anyone else struggle making that connection with kids? Enlighten me... 

On the Last Day of Advent

Advent has flown by but with as much action-packed 40 days we've had, I have had some moments of reflection in the midst of the crazy...

As I sit in the dark with the light of the freshly lit (but not decorated-yet) tree I want to remember this Advent for a few reasons. We were pretty diligent about our daily Jesse tree readings this year which makes me happy. Our Advent Activities of service and sacrifice were completed - but not nearly as spaced out or emphasized as I would have liked; maybe that's just because they are now knitted into the normal of our Advent that I don't need to make a big deal about them. We did just barely squeeze our praying at the graveyards yesterday but we did it. Thank goodness God loves those just the same who come at the 1st hour and the 11th : ) 

As for me, this Advent I really have been drawn to 2 things. 

The first is that God is showing me that I am a hypocrite. I tell my kids to tie their shoes and won't let them leave the house until they are tied and then I turn around and wear my shoes untied ALL DAY LONG. Now when I look down at my shoes I have a much different perspective - am I modeling the words that are coming out of my mouth for my kids, or am I saying 'do as I say, not as I do'. Same thing with yelling and correcting the kids. I can sit here and raise my voice and use harsh words but when they turn around and do the same, I get upset. Oh the hypocrisy of it all. I have to believe God is showing me this to change my heart so I can change my ways so to be a better mama to all these kids He has given us. I'm working on it. 

The second thing that has really struck me this Advent came twice in the form of songs the kids were singing at their programs. In one "He is the Christ, God's baby boy, let the people rejoice and sing for joy." In M's program "Moo moo says the cow, bah bah says the sheep, how in the world did God's baby sleep?" Having a baby at Christmas time really hits home and I've sat with C thinking about Mary looking down at Jesus and thinking, God's baby boy. The liturgical years flies through Jesus' childhood because not much is known about it. But when you take the time to sit down and think about God's baby boy and how awesome that is, it is pretty incredible.