Some Kami moments:)

A few years ago, Kami's Grandma Gee started teaching her how to teach piano by having her teach Isabelle lessons while she instructed.  Last year, Kami started teaching her own students, and this year she has set aside Wednesday and Thursday afternoons for teaching piano.  She loves it!

Today I was walking by as she and Robin played a duet and it was so cute that I had to stop and take a picture:

Also, I found this texting exchange that she had with her friend Annie.  Why do things like this make me laugh so much?!!!?:)

(Three hair bands in the toilet)

Bwahahahah!  For some reason, I get a real kick out of people getting grossed out, or something.  Sweet girl, though.  I never even heard a thing about it!

The good, the bad, the daring and the darling

The Good:

It's been so much fun having Shawn home so much more! He is still gone Tuesday-Thursday evenings with his calling, but when he is home it is so much fun.  The boys get to wrestle, which is the first thing they ask him to do when he gets home every day, and we get to read books as a family once again.  Right now, we are reading "Bud, Not Buddy".

He's home to take care of things like kids that run out of gas on the way to school, and our dog that escaped and was found dead on the side of the road on a super foggy morning last week.  ( I know that should be another story.)

The Bad:

We have always had some wild turkeys around here and have enjoyed them, but this year our neighbor raised some tame ones and they are driving me nuts!  They spend all day on the side walk and the front porch.  There are about 30 of them (most of them in this picture are up on the porch) and the sidewalk has to be shoveled once a day and not because it has been snowing.  Yuck.  I step out the front door and for a minute I wonder if I've stepped into a chicken coop.

The daring:

My little boys haven't been taking visits from the Tidy Fairy very seriously lately.  After I found this note, I told the Tidy Fairy to take anything that wasn't in the right place, and she did!  Luckily, she told me that she would give things back the next week if she came and everything looked satisfactory.  I am so glad that she did this! The boys cleaned like they never had before - frankly I didn't think they were capable of how well they cleaned - and they did get their things back.  And now I know they can do more than I had thought...

Pace cutting his teeth on an old dagger that he found of Shawn's.  He can get into or climb up to anything. This is a very busy boy! He's into everything and so cute by one moment and the next moment he is throwing impressive tantrums that can last up to one hour in length when he doesn't get his way.  Last night he kept disappearing into the mud room and closing the door.  Usually he just leaves the door open. When we would check on him he invariably had something he wasn't supposed to have (how does he know what he isn't supposed to have?!) Things like open markers, phones, DAGGERS...I'm glad that he hasn't caught on that closing the door is a sure give- away that he is up to something sneaky!

The darling:

Isabelle holds "school" for Abram almost every day and teaches him some great things!  She makes up lesson plans before she starts and everything.  Below is the white board that she has in her bedroom.  She requested that I buy some fruit snacks that she can use as a bribe when Abram's attention span is getting short- she can make one pack last for weeks, just divvying out one at a time. She keeps a pack of those on the board, along with a small container filled with pretzels.  Also she has popsicle sticks with names on them so that everyone gets called on (she allows Nolan and her dolls to also participate). She makes it so fun that the boys always come back for more!

Cross Country

I told Shawn, last Thursday, that I wanted to do something fun with the kids this weekend.  He said, "Let's take them cross country skiing!" He always has the best ideas! We got a babysitter for Abram and Pace, and Caden was at a debate tournament for the weekend, but we took everyone else to Harriman State park where they have a million groomed trails going all over the place.

I set out with great confidence because Shawn bought me these yellow snow pants for Christmas, and I knew that I wouldn't get lost in the snow;)

We had such a great time, and the scenery was beautiful!

Nolan skied super fast the whole time and promptly fell asleep the second that we got into the car to come home.

We're definitely going to go back as many times as possible this winter; everyone LOVED it!

Catching up

Here we are 13 days into the New Year, and nary a blog have I posted! First of all I was too worn out to post. Then I got sick. Then I had to play catch-up from being sick, which is a HUGE job with eight people to make a mess while I am lying around! I think I am finally on top of things... at least as on top of things as I ever am, for what that is worth.

New Years Eve I was in a party mood.  I had told my girls that they could have a party with their cousins, and then the boys wanted a party too.  I didn't want to have that many kids to focus on at once, so I had a "Noon Years Eve Party" for the little boys (plus Hannah:)

We made personal pizzas, played in the snow, had a hot chocolate bar, and played fun games.

They were really into "photo bombing":

Above: Nolan, Sam, Sander and Isaac.

Below: Hannah, Sam and Abram.

At six the adults and all the kids and the girls arrived:

We had dinner and lots of party foods and visited and played a fun game that Terry had on his phone.

Chloe, Kory, Caden, Kami, Terry, Gracie:

Caden and Jim in the foreground; who knows which kids in the background:)

Ellie, Kristi, Hannah and Shawn:

Shawn, Evan and Creed:

Terry and Kami with Marilyn and Ellie in the background:

All of the adults left around nine or ten.  Six of my nieces stayed to finish their party, which was basically the same party I did for the little boys, only they wanted theirs to culminate with a sleepover.

Kami, Caden and Ellie went to a dance but were home before midnight. Shawn and I had no intention of seeing the new year in, but got sucked into the movie that the girls were watching, and made it!

Then we REALLY saw it in, because I didn't get to sleep until 5:30 a.m. what with kids up all night long and throwing up, or being scared, and a sick Pace!  I loved all the parties but I HATE sleepovers (which we have only with cousins).  I told the girls that the new rule is no more that one cousin at a time in the future!

Here's to more sleep in the New Year!