2010 Advent Activities

This will be the 3rd year of doing this with the kids, and I think it's a fun little tradition. I thought I'd try to blog it this year and hopefully take more photos of the activities we do. I have friends who write each activity on a paper chain link, but I wanted to be able to switch things around easier than that, so I made a calendar with 25 pockets and a slip of paper gets put in each one.

Here is our list for 2010:

1 Wed- Write letters to Santa
2 Thurs- Debbie & Marty's (gift exchange)
3 Fri- Address and mail cards
4 Sat- Christmas Tea for girls, R w/ grandpa
5 Sun- Decorate tree
6 Mon- Make gingerbread house
7 Tues- scavenger hunt (coloring books) this was such a big hit last year that I'm doing it twice this year, I just put the first clue on the paper slip and they go from there
8 Wed- Make decorations
9 Thurs- Elf Yourself
10 Fri- Play night, family here
11 Sat- M's Night Before Christmas dance
12 Sun- Charlie Brown play
13 Mon- Eureka Inn Tree
14 Tues- Have hot cocoa with candy cane stirrers
15 Wed- Read a Christmas book
16 Thurs- make ornaments
17 Fri- scavenger hunt (Grinch DVD)
18 Sat- Make Christmas cookies
19 Sun- Crab feed with Nana & Zack
20 Mon- Read Luke 2
21 Tues- make Crunchy the Snowman
22 Wed-
23 Thurs-
24 Fri- Track Santa
25 Sat- Christmas!

I would love to add Family Game Night to the activities, but that is a hard one to plan without knowing how late Matthew will have to work. It might get added in that last week though. Also leaving a few blank for room to move and add as needed. :)

Manic Monday

A little early, but tomorrow is going to be crazy, and I'm not sure I'll have time to post. :)

To-do's:
Monday- grocery store, grab M from school and bring her with me to the eye doctor (my appointment, but picking up her new glasses), bring M back to school... Kids get out early, buy tickets for dance at 3, rehearsal at 6 (Target while they're there).
Tuesday- work in M's class, dinner at my sister's
Wednesday- LONG rehearsal (Costco while the kids are busy)
Thursday- group (gift exchange for kids)
Friday- dance @ 3:30
Saturday- Christmas tea at church 11-1
Sunday- church, Matthew's boss coming for dinner

Oh, and I need to call the peds tomorrow morning too and make M an appointment for sometime this week. Seriously, crazy busy week coming up!!

Menu for the week:
Monday- burritos
Tuesday- @ sister's
Wednesday- Chinese chicken salad
Thursday- pizza @ group (something else for N)
Friday- soup and bread
Saturday- ??
Sunday- Thanksgiving dinner again


I feel like things are getting really busy now!! We have been going like crazy all weekend! Thanksgiving day Matthew put an air cleaner in for us in the morning, then we went to my mom's for dinner, and then to his dad's for the night. Friday we hung out up there with his sisters and all the kids, and then came home that evening. Saturday the kids had rehearsal in the morning and Matthew and I did some shopping, and then he put lights on the house in the afternoon. Today we had church, then we went for a walk and "lunner" with my family for my mom's birthday, and then went and got our tree. The tree is set up and I have all the toy bins and bigger things surrounding it so N can't touch it. lol It has lights on (had to toss 3 strands this year, good thing we got a short tree, I'll have to buy more sometime when they go on sale!), but we plan to decorate it later, maybe next weekend. lol

Anyway, that's what we've been up to lately. Here's a funny picture I took the other night...


What's really funny is that I have this picture from when R was that age. :)

New Wreath

I made a new Christmas wreath this year. I had seen this one in blog land MONTHS ago and I bookmarked it so I would remember to copy it when the holiday season came around again.
Here is my version...


I wasn't able to find a square wreath form or picture frame for a good price, so I ended up buying a piece of foam board at the Dollar Store and cutting it to the size I wanted. Then I just wrapped in it tinsel (it took all of two things of it) and glued on my stuff. I really like how it turned out!

Monday Post

I need a new clever Monday title, any suggestions? lol


Menu for the week:
Monday- burritos
Tuesday- roast with potatoes and carrots (forgot to pull it out last week)
Wednesday- ??
Thursday- Turkey, stuffing, ect... Yum!!
Friday- leftovers
Saturday- ??
Sunday- pancakes

To-Do's:
Monday- grocery shopping (with 3 kids the week of Thanksgiving), rehearsal for M
Tuesday- nothing :)
Wednesday- make cranberry sauce
Thursday- make stuffing, up to Mom's, then to Matthew's dad's
Friday- hanging out with the in-laws
Saturday- rehearsal
Sunday- church


Also need to do some cleaning, order my Christmas cards, start working on Christmas presents, and I'd like to make a new wreath kind of like this one. We'll see how productive I am with the kids home from school. I can't decide if it will be helpful (in keeping N occupied), or counterproductive. lol

N at 14 months

Just a couple cute things I wanted to remember that N is doing these days.

The kids taught him how to growl, so now he growls whenever he sees any animal other than a dog. The penguins on his socks- growl, the stuffed fish at the doctor's office- growl, the birds at the kids' school- growl. It's pretty funny!

Another cute thing he does now is when he sees something he wants a drink of he points to it and blows. Like he knows that's the sound drinking makes, but he can't figure out how to make that sound any other way.

He's walking all the time now, and getting really fast! And he says so many words I can't keep track anymore. He just put two words together for the first time yesterday, he said "cracker Mama". He's a little pill, but also a lot of fun these days!

Here are a few pictures from when he was swinging the other day...

Monday post (on Tuesday)

Didn't get a chance to post this yesterday...

Menu for the week:
Monday- family dinner, burritos
Tuesday- pasta with meat sauce (SO over this meal!!)
Wednesday- beans and corn bread (made with almond milk... we'll see how that goes)
Thursday- Chinese chicken salad from Costco
Friday- roast with potatoes and carrots
Saturday- ??
Sunday- hot dogs with garlic fries or sweet potato fries


To-Do's:
Monday- grocery shopping, eye doctor for M, family here for dinner
Tuesday- maybe helping in M's class (not likely as N is fighting his nap right now), dentist for all 3 kids
Wednesday- Target, doctor for me, Costco, rehearsal for kids (small group during rehearsal?)
Thursday- Nothing at the moment (I'm sure that will change)
Friday- early day for the kids, dance for M
Saturday- birthday party for a friend
Sunday- church

Monday Stuff...

Well, today is the first Monday since August that we don't have to be anywhere after school. I'm not quite sure what to do with myself. Working on a menu, but having a hard time... Let's see if I can figure something out and come back to edit this...

Menu:
Monday- grilled cheese and soup (for Matthew and the kids), something else for N and I
Tuesday- tacos
Wednesday-
Thursday-
Friday-
Saturday- pancakes, eggs, bacon or sausage
Sunday- pasta with meat sauce


To-Do's:
Monday- doctors appointment and then shopping with Mom
Tuesday- grocery shopping, working in M's class in the afternoon
Wednesday- kids have rehearsal 6-8
Thursday- No school, kids up to Mom's, clean out toys, try to get some stuff done around here...
Friday- more of the same... M has dance in the afternoon
Saturday-
Sunday- church

Other things I want to try to do this week:
Proof photo shoot (done!)
Stain treat growing pile of R's shirts (done-ish)
Replant basil and parsley
List stuff on ebay/other board (other board, done)
Clean out toys (done!)
Go through and pack up fall bin (done!)

Snapshots of Life

This week's snapshot time was Thursday at 8am, but I forgot to check the blog until after 8am on Thursday, so my photo is from Friday November 5th at 8am (but this is exactly what we were doing Thursday as well). We were on our way out the door. School starts at 8:20 for the kids, and they like to get there a little early, so even though it only takes about 5 minutes to get there we usually are getting shoes on and heading out the door at 8 every morning. Please excuse the huge mess that is my entryway, it was in desperate need of some straightening up when I took this!

Monday Menu and To-Dos

Menu for the week:
Monday- R's soccer pizza party
Tuesday- chicken and garlic fries (unless I find sweet potato fries at Costco)
Wednesday- M's soccer pizza party
Thursday- group (more pizza, lol)
Friday- BBQ beef sandwiches
Saturday-
Sunday- Pasta and spaghetti squash with meat sauce

To-Do's:
Monday- grocery store, R's soccer party
Tuesday- working in M's class, Costco
Wednesday- M's soccer party
Thursday-
Friday- dance for M
Saturday- maybe take Christmas card pictures of the kids (if it's nice out)
Sunday- church

Halloween weekend

What a crazy weekend!!
Friday I was going like crazy all day long. I took the kids to school, got N down for a nap and cleaned the house a bit. After nap we ate a quick lunch and headed back to the kids school for parades and parties. We got home from that with just enough time for M to change before heading to dance, and then straight to her last soccer practice after that (where I was informed the parents were to scrimmage the kids). After practice we came home and changed and then left the kids with a sitter for the night and went out to dinner and a movie (where I finally got to sit down for a bit).
Saturday I got to sleep in for the first time in a long time and then Matthew did some honey-do's around the house before the kids' last soccer games. After soccer he got the shelves almost all the way done (pictures coming soon), we caved pumpkins, made cakes for the carnival, and watched the Giants game.
Sunday was church, decorating cakes, more honey-do's, and the Halloween carnival.
Crazy busy I tell you!!

Here are some pictures...

Brian Wilson, a puppy, and a fairy princess

Snapshots of Life

My friend Darby posted this on her blog the other day, and I thought it might be fun to try. I actually took the picture, but then Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were crazy busy here (more on that later), so I'm just now getting around to uploading it.

Anyway, here is my photo of what we were doing at 5pm on Thursday, October 28th. Watching Matt Cain pitch in game 2 of the world series (of course!). I was also defrosting ground beef in the kitchen, but I thought this would make a better picture. :) And, as typical lately, R is not in the picture because he would not listen and had just landed himself in time out. I almost let him come out for the photo, but decided this is a better snapshot of our life right now. If you look closely you can tell that N is super fussy too, also normal for this time of day. :)


I'm going to try to do this every week (even though it may take me longer to get my photo uploaded), I think it will be fun to look back on.