My Four Girls

Chinese New Year

2012-01-24T08:21:00.002-05:00

Well we had an exciting Chinese New Year. I printed off some material from www.enchantedlearning.com so we could learn what Chinese New Year was all about and things just snowballed from there.
This is the year of the dragon thus the different dragon crafts. The ones Emmy and Margie are holding can be found here. Josie's mask (which looks really cool) is from DLTK and can be found here.

After our parade. Boy you should look up a video of a dragon dance or parade. They are pretty spectacular. Our parade was probably just as exciting but not as flambuoyant! Georgia's dragon which you can see a little better in this picture was from activity village. It took some planning but the result is really neat.

Epiphany silhouette craft

2012-01-06T20:07:00.002-05:00

Today we made a real nice wise men craft thanks to Crayola. This one is Josie's.
Georgia's. We were supposed to sprinkle salt over the watercolors and it was supposed to look like a star lit sky but ours didn't work out so well.

Emeline's

Margie's was a BIG mess so she didn't finish hers. :(

New Years Eve Party

2012-01-05T07:35:00.007-05:00

A little healthy competition will keep you awake!
But.. Emmy is getting tired.

Margie Sue played away with her babies for a good hour and a half without bothering anyone or getting distracted. I liked that!!!

When they started to think they may not make it I brought out the bubbly. That brightened their eyes!

"2012"

A farewell toast to 2011 and here's to the new year.

Margie really liked her bubbly.

Emmy could have drank it right from the bottle. I'm sure if I turned my back for long enough she would have given it a try too.

Emeline and Scamper. Scamper looks sleepy.

15 minutes...We're going to make it!! At this point I'm delirious and can't believe that all 4 kids are still awake!

They were getting super tired though and needed to have a pick-up basketball game to make it the last 15 minutes.

Margie going in for the jam.

A little more bubbly to hold em over.

"Cheers"

Almost there!

Whoooo Hoooo FINALLY!!!

Now I can go to bed!!!!

We wish you a blessed New Year!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-05T07:14:00.004-05:00

Just a few snapshots from out Advent and Christmas 2011 season.

We made a Jesse tree this year. The kids looked forward to the story and ornament each day. A lot of work but it was fun.

I'm not sure why Margie looked like a pickle puss but I made the little ones flannel gowns for Christmas Eve. Now they can really be Carrie and Grace from Little House on the Prairie!

Margie asked for "Scooby Dooby". No matter who asked her what she wanted she replied "Scooby Dooby" so Santa found her a Scooby Doo matching game.

Emmy opened her gift from St. Nick and she was looking at the back of the box all confused. After a few seconds I told her to flip the box over and well this is the reaction....

...warms my heart! Now her and Margie have a band.

The big girls with their gift from Santa. Big girl dolls. They have been asking for American Girl dolls. I refuse to buy them! I put it in Santa's hands and he got them some really nice Heart
for Heart dolls. They have barely put them down.

A visit with "The Greats". We HAVE to do that more often! xoxo

St. Lucy celebration

2011-12-14T09:47:00.002-05:00

Well I woke up and made cinnamon buns and prepared to make a St. Lucy crown yesterday in honor of St. Lucy's feast day. We didn't have a white dress handy so after I took the kids Christmas photos I snapped one of Emmy, our St. Lucy for the day. The cinnamon buns ended up being a nice incentive to get the kids to sit still. I'm still at a loss in explaining how I could have taken over 100 photos and still not have been 100% happy with even 1 of them!!!! xoxo

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-12T08:08:00.001-05:00

Immaculate Conception coloring page

2011-12-09T07:11:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Catholic Icing

the girls had a great coloring picture to help celebrate the Immaculate Conception.

Josie's 8th birthday

2011-12-08T07:25:00.004-05:00

Here she is when she woke up Dec. 2nd 2011!!
The night before as her gift she got her ears pierced!

She wanted a dolphin cake. Can you see her in her floaty swimming out to see them? :)

"happy birthday to you..."

"happy birthday to Josie...."

"happy birthday to you."

Saint Nicholas cross stitch

2011-12-06T18:19:00.003-05:00

Josie gave me this Saint Nicholas cross stitch last year for Christmas. I finished it just in time!

Saint Nicholas Day

2011-12-06T08:31:00.002-05:00

He came, he came, he really really came! Saint Nicholas paid a visit last night and brought the girls pads of paper and a pen! Just what they love!!!
Margie is a little nervous that hers is falling out of her boot. They didn't waste any time. Before breakfast they were drawing! Happy Saint Nicholas day!!

Decorating the Tree 2011

2011-12-05T07:05:00.003-05:00

Josie put in the first decoration this year. She looks proud!
Georgia can't quite reach the top yet. She is a little string bean though.

Margie having fun. Never a dull moment with Margie around.

Just right Margie!

Emmy made sure everything was hung just right! She was very careful.

Nice job Margie.

Daddy doing the honors of putting up the star. Come on Dad it really shouldn't take this lllooooonnnnnnggggggggg. :)

Beautiful job girls.

Have a merry merry Christmas season! xoxo

outdoor Christmas tree

2011-11-29T07:57:00.001-05:00

The girls are very proud of their outdoor lights. Every time we drive up the driveway they unbuckle and crowd around the windshied so they can giggle and scream!

Scamper

2011-11-08T08:13:00.002-05:00

We have another rescue kitty. Our Abuela called and said there was a new drop-off at the barn. I couldn't say no.
She is a cutie.

All Saints Day

2011-11-01T12:57:00.001-04:00

Almighty and Everlasting God,

who dost enkindle the flame of Thy love in the hearts of the saints,

grant unto us the same faith and power of love;

that, as we rejoice in their triumphswe may profit by their examples,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Happy All Saints Day

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T10:50:00.008-04:00

Halloween 2011 is officially over. WHEW! Mommy's have a LOT to do on Halloween! Grandma Gifford threw an awesome party once again this year!!!
Emmy my ladybug.

Josie the black cat!

Georgia the ?. She wanted to be a fall bouquet then we arranged this and it turned into a Fall Queen. People kept thinking she looks like the Godess of Fall. Whatever floats your boat!!

Who doesn't love a parade. Margie does.

dancing too!

The man in charge!

My little sleepy angel!

ring toss the witch hat!

You can guess what is going to happen I'm sure!!

No hands Em.

The kitty caught hers.

Margie had some trouble though. MOm had to help.

Toss the ping pong ball into the cups that the ghost is holding.

Josie won the toss so she got to "pie" Russell!!!!!! I should have played!!!!!

She really rubbed it in too.

Who thinks Russell minded being covered in cool whip? Who has the strongest blow hole :) Blow the ping pong ball across the line!

The little ones had a hard time aiming thier blowers!!! It was funny. They were blowing so hard and the balls weren't even moving!!

Jack-o-lanterns 2011!

My favorite pumpkin face to carve. This one has a loose tooth though!

The kitty with her tail. I attached a piece of string from her tail to her wrist so she could wag it.

We even spray dyed her hair black. It was jet black. This pic doesn't show it very well.

Before we headed out for trick-or-treating.

On the way home. Full of smiles. Hope you had a great one!!

Brendan's 4th birthday party!!!!!!!

2011-10-26T07:20:00.003-04:00

Well we went to Brendan's AWESOME 4th birthday party and it was so cute. It had a dinosaur theme and Stacy made some really cool stuff. Here are the kids opening up their dino eggs after an egg hunt!

Ring the Triceratops.

A volcano too!! Brendan, when asked what a volcano did to the dinosaurs and why their was one at his party replied, "because it extincted them".

Dino egg relay race. Ava was really cheering on Margie!

What did the boys do....watch football of course.

Pin the tail on the T-Rex. This was Grandma Giffords turn!

AWESOME cake!!

Blow out the volcano Brendan!

Sam loved his piece.

Instead of hot potato it was hot dino egg.

We love you Brendan. Thanks for the great party Stacy!! xoxo

Eggs have arrived!

2011-10-17T07:55:00.002-04:00

Well we have a few egg layers now. The hens have provided us with a few laughs as shown above. The one on the right is smaller than a ping pong ball and the one on the left was bigger that the large store-bought eggs I had in the fridge!

Minna Anthony Common Nature Center Autumn Festival

2011-10-13T08:26:00.005-04:00

What a nice time the kids had at the Autumn Festival on Wellesley Island this year. It was almost 80 degrees in the afternoon and we beat most of the crowd by getting there early. One of the attractions that the kids enjoy are the games.

Scarecrow making contest. They provide the posts, straw and clothes. We didn't make this pair but we will make one next year.

Apple cider press. Turn the wheel Georgia and mash those apples. Margie is putting an apple in and Georgia is mashing it.

"Bones" got pretty tired!

Angora rabbit.

I love the Alpacas.

Taking a hike.

Emeline had a stick when we started the hike. After a while she chucked it aside. I kind of wondered why and it all made sense when we came across one of these trail markers. She said "mom, this means no running with sticks". Too cute!

rascal

The animal show. The darn animals were moving WAY too fast so I didn't hardly get any pictures. A lemur. I didn't even get his beautiful tail :(

a lynx

2011-10-06T07:54:00.002-04:00

Margie LOVES to drum.

Rock on little Marge!

Mary Cassatt coloring page

2011-10-04T08:08:00.002-04:00

Well this was a hit for art class. We have been learning about Mary Cassatt, the painter of mothers and children, and I found a coloring page of one of her works.
The girls used oil pastels to color it in based on a picture I found online of the original.

These photos don't do them justice. They spent a lot of time on getting the shading and highlighting just right. I think this was their favorite "art class" ever!!

Little Bub

2011-09-30T07:38:00.002-04:00

We have been working the pony quite a bit lately. He is doing REALLY well.
Josie is my cowgirl!!

A Model Eardrum

2011-09-28T07:29:00.002-04:00

Josie has been learning about the senses so we made an eardrum.
First she put plastic wrap over a shallow dish really tightly.

Then, the littles put on a little uncooked rice.

Georgia got a noisemake for us in the form of a cookiesheet.

Finally, she bashed it so we could watch the rice dance. What did Josie learn: sound waves travel through the air and vibrate on your eardrum. Very cool!!

Russell is 15!

2011-09-27T08:43:00.002-04:00

There he is. Russell is now 15!

Josie made him some paper dolls and Russell and Grandma are checking them out.

These two little ones kept to themselves and kept themselves busy!!!

Chaumont Barrens

2011-09-23T09:02:00.007-04:00

out of order...sorry

We made a trip to the Chaumont Barrens recently. "Chaumont Barrens Preserve is one of the last and finest examples of alvar grasslands in the world, and is a link in the chain of North American alvars forming and arc from Jefferson County through Ontario, and all the way to northern Michigan. Alvar barrens are highly unique, prairie-like landscapes that rest atop a foundation of limestone bedrock." Info found here!

Here we are eating a lunch before we hit the trail.

The trail head.

AAAHHHHHHHHhhh!

Right now we have all the gumption in the world!!

Margie and her walking stick. That walking stick was so she "could bop a bear on the head". Emmy kept very close while Margie had that stick!

Fossils

My girls on what was left from a glacier!!

Beautiful old forest.

Look, a fissure!

LOTS of rock holes!!! Yes some enough in which you could lose a child...not forever....just until you pulled them out again.

Don't know???

She finally did get tired of that big walking stick and we were thankful because after she handed it over our pace picked up quite a bit. Someone had to mention a fox! As soon as she heard that she searched for a stick. This is the one she found and with this she was going to "smack a fox with it". :)

Getting tired. Almost done.

Our Lady of Sorrows

2011-09-15T07:27:00.002-04:00

We had a nice celebration in honor of the Blessed Mother Mary's 7 sorrows. We used the coloring pages suggested by Catholic Icing. They came out nice.
Here is a broken heart cake. Before we cut it we prayed this devotion to the seven sorrows.

Red velvet. Yummmmy!

xoxo

Locks of Love

2011-08-17T07:05:00.002-04:00

We made the cut! I measured 10 inches, took a deep breath and sliced through my girls beautiful hair so that we could donate it to Locks of Love!
There is my Georgia!

My Josie, with enough hair for 3 people! No joke!!

Emeline started screaming when I cut Georgi'as so she chickened out. Margie however really wanted hers done. I trimmed her bangs and cut a 1/4 inch off the back but that didn't satisfy her. She wanted a pony tail so I tricked her. I turned her around, pretended to cut, and then handed her Josie's pony tail. She thought it was hers and was so proud!!! Too funny.

The Chicken Coop

2011-08-15T08:56:00.003-04:00

This is what apparently happens when you ask your 2 year old to help paint some trim pieces and you turn your back for 30 seconds!

We had a painting party recently to get our chicken coop done.

Brad built it...can you believe it?

I know I took some pictures of it finished but have no idea where they are. It really is quite nice!

Grandpa's 83rd

2011-08-04T08:16:00.007-04:00

Watching a show.

Margie playing with Amy's phone.

Chef Pat on the grill!

Bad boys.

new best buds

Boldt Castle Visit

2011-07-19T09:42:00.007-04:00

Trekking up the walkway to the castle. The girls got dressed up for this occasion! Amiya said "I think I'm going to die of excitement!"
There it is!!!!

The reception room. I couldn't believe the work that has been done there since I was there many years ago!!! Outstanding!!!

The billiards room.

The central solid marble and oak staircase! Wow!

Dining Hall.

Library

The Staircase. They were feeling special.

The huge stained glass dome. Mr. Boldt's room.

Mrs. Boldt's room

Bath

Daughter's room . The girls wanted to move right in.

The daughter's reception room!

One of the many outdoor spaces that the castle offers. I loved that aspect of the plans. "Imagine playing hide-and-go seek!" (the girls)

Where the doves and poultry were kept.

Porch. Talk about gorgeous.

Margie feeling very pretty.

The pool.

The power house.

fountain

Kids playhouse. He outdid himself. Unfortunately it is under construction but it is something to look forward to next time!!!

Formal entrance from the St. Lawrence River!

We LOVED this visit. The girls thought they were in paradise! I loved seeing their faces. If you don't know the tragic story of the Boldts check it out. It is quite amazing. The last time I was there to tour the castle NOTHING was done. It was full of graffiti and ruins. The whole first floor and part of the second are done. It was nice to see renovators there while we were exploring rooms. It made me think that in another 10 years when we visit again so much more will be done. Special thanks to our friends the Henry's for making this adventure possible. Thank you thank you thank you so much! xoxo

preparing for Amiya

2011-07-07T09:15:00.000-04:00

Draft Horse Pull and Show / Civil War Days

2011-06-25T09:34:00.005-04:00

Recently we went to a Draft Horse show and pull at our local Agricultural Museum. Here is a young Clydesdale. Isn't he gorgeous!
Belgian

Percheron

It was also Civil War Days so we walked around the museum a bit. Ooops guess we weren't supposed to be in here but the door was open. The man said "I just opened the door to get something out". Well you should have shut the door afterwards. Didn't your mother teach you anything? No he was nice and let us look around. Here is Margie in the kitchen.

Josie manning the cash register.

Emmy with baby beds and carriages.

A bear skin at the mountain man camp.

Native American drum.

A mountain man with a coyote cap on.

Here is where one of them actually slept the night before!

Brad playing a homemade deer skin ladder ball game.

An angora rabbit named Harriet.

Spinning Harriet's fleece.

Learning about the cannon.

Back to the horse show.

They were moving pretty fast and boy you could feel the earth shake when they trotted past. It brought tears to my eyes!

These guys stole the show.

We didn't make it to the pull. It is something I have always wanted to see. It was hot and the little kids were whiny and wanted home. :( Another year!

walk in dad's shoes craft

2011-06-20T10:40:00.002-04:00

Breakfast for the best daddy!
We made an "In Your Footsteps" craft for dad. The orange papers are titled "My Dad is Fantastic Because:" He got a kick out of it.

I hope all of the "fathers" in my life had a wonderful day yesterday. I was thinking of you all!! xoxo

Flag Day handprints

2011-06-15T07:46:00.000-04:00

Happy Flag Day!

chicks

2011-06-10T05:58:00.002-04:00

I just found these pictures from a couple of weeks ago. The chicks have quadrupled in size since this. I'm surprised they are not minced chicken by now the way Margie can manhandle them! We bought 10 and 10 remain so far!

Life Cycle of a chicken for preschool

2011-06-09T07:39:00.001-04:00

Here is Emeline's Life Cycle of Chicken poster.
Thank you big sister Georgia for helping!

parading

2011-06-07T07:22:00.003-04:00

We have been parading!! Here we are headed to the Good Will parade.

Waiting to fall into line.

Collecting gum!

Falling into line!!

Waiting to begin!

Waiting again...

Grandma and Grandpa looking proud! They kept popping up along the parade route!!

Moving.... we LIKE to move. The kids found out that parading consists of a LOT of standing around waiting but they loved it when we moved!!! Way to go Jr's!!

Look what we have!!

2011-05-31T07:26:00.002-04:00

East Ridge Rapids

2011-05-25T07:07:00.002-04:00

Well I couldn't get another video up here so instead, here are all the pictures.
Margie liked it a lot.

Georgia was worried of course!!

Emeline went after Georgia and she kept saying "Georgia is a baby" as Georgia was smiling but saying things like "Stay with me Dad" etc.

When Emmy got in and got going all she did was WHINE!!!

Mommy even took a turn.

Can you see how wet my seat and legs got? I seemed to have a little more weight than the girls and the water lapped over the edge of the tube as I bounced along resulting in me sitting in a few inches of water the whole time! Can't wait for the next rainfall now!!!

Russell's baseball

2011-05-18T07:46:00.002-04:00

It's that time of year again! At least the calendar says so. Mother Nature has not been too cooperative though. Here is Russell ready for a fly ball.
On deck.

He made it to third and then my camera died. Oh well. I think the inning was over before he made it home on this one. He did have a beautiful catch in right field! Way to go Russell!

Emmy's birthday(s)

2011-05-16T08:06:00.006-04:00

There is my Emmy with her "4 fingers"!
She's listening to us sing.

Still listening!

Still listening. I just love her sweetness.

This was Margie while we were singing.

She just couldn't wait any longer!

She asked and asked for a flashlight!

Friday we had the family over for a party. This was the first time we have EVER been able to be outside for a birthday party! We need a summer baby!

THEN, on Sunday Grandma Gifford came over because she missed her party Friday because Russell had a baseball game.

Russell picked this gift out.

You roll die, match a hamburger color with the color on the die, feed the pig and make it chew by pressing down it's head. There is a number on the bottom of each hamburger which tells you how many times to press the pig's head down. Each time you press it's head down, the belly expands like a balloon. At some point the belt bursts, it's arms go up and that means you are "out". Emmy played it all afternoon!

Love you Emeline!

Emeline is 4!!

2011-05-12T08:11:00.000-04:00

Josie's First Communion!

2011-05-09T07:37:00.000-04:00

All dressed and ready to go!

Can't forget it's Mother's Day!

Josie got to crown The Blessed Mary also.

Bringing up the gifts.

The kids got called up to the altar! What a treat that was!!

The moment!

Josie and Father LaBaff.

isn't that sweet?

The girls. Actually this was it. No boys this year.

Mary please pray for my girl.

She looks proud.

The Grotto is so gorgeous I took a 100 pictures out there. Bare with me! ;)

Then, off to Grandma's to meet up with Ava!

We were told by a lady at church that we must get an "old fashioned picture with the veil over the head". So here it is.

Beautiful Ava.

May God bless them both immensely!

foam chicks

2011-05-05T07:11:00.003-04:00

The girls recently made some chicks. We used craft foam for the body, handprints on construction paper for the wings, pipe cleaners for the legs. I had some leftover feathers so we gave them all a hair do too.
Here are Georgia and Josie's.

Easter pictures

2011-04-27T07:53:00.003-04:00

I made some dresses for the girls this year. Margie and Emmy got some leftover fabric that I had stored away but they came out very cute nonetheless.

Georgia opted for a skirt. Partly because I couldn't find a decent dress pattern for her age.

coloring the egggs

2011-04-26T07:51:00.004-04:00

Is she thinking about food again?!!

trying to do the v-seat

2011-04-15T07:51:00.001-04:00

Daddy was doing more gymnastics in class and I thought these pictures of Georgia and Josie trying to do the V-seat were cute. Not quite a "V" Georgia! :)

A study in Cubism

2011-04-11T08:43:00.002-04:00

We learned a little about cubism this past month and I found this cubism inpired rabbit project which Georgia, Josie and Emeline did. The one above is Georgia's. Josie's

Emeline's. The girls loved to use oil pastels.

The project can be found here!

coyote

2011-04-05T08:25:00.001-04:00

We had fun watching this coyote out back a couple of days ago. It was out there for hours pouncing on mice.

More Margie

2011-03-30T07:41:00.004-04:00

These are from Margie's party we had amongst ourselves. I just had to add them.

A foam baseball bat so she won't get out the big girls softball bat to swing around anymore!!

Fruit snacks from Emmy! Margie squealed when she opened that one!

Georgia and Josie made her that head band.

She loves her jewelry!

Margie's party

2011-03-28T08:26:00.002-04:00

I tried and tried to get a nice "2 year old" shot but she was such a wiggle worm all excited about her party she just wouldn't sit still.

She was so embarassed to have everyone looking at her. I have more pictures to come just because she is so cute!

Margie is 2!!

2011-03-25T13:05:00.000-04:00

St. Patrick's Day clover "crafts"

2011-03-23T07:31:00.002-04:00

Our Irish Soda Bread. A touch too salty but still yummy.
Making pretzel clovers.

Emmy also made a clover Trinity.

I'm a little late getting these up - I know!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-03-22T08:33:00.002-04:00

Mom very happy with some slippers. She told me she would like slippers because she hadn't had a pair in over 40 years!

project adventure

2011-03-16T09:26:00.002-04:00

This weeks PE class was project adventure. I didn't get many pictures because I was having too much fun playing myself. Here they are trying to get through the maze. You can probably figure it out but Georgia was blind-folded and Josie led her through the maze.
Emeline and Margi had fun just running through it.

Then they played escape to the island (or something like that). Brad said God graciously left a rope for escape and they had to get all of the passengers of one boat to the island. The island was very small. You can picture whole classes doing this and then a bunch of kids holding each other on a little mat so as not to fall in the "crocodile laden water".

Weeeeeeee

salt dough crown of thorns

2011-03-15T09:08:00.002-04:00

We finally made our own salt dough crown of thorns. I made a batch of salt dough, split it evenly into three (and a handful for Margie to play with), and had the girls get rolling.
They needed some help to get it braided so I did that. I didn't have a single toothpick in the house but did have some small nails so we used those. Georgia said "So it's like each time we make a sacrifice and pull a nail we are causing Jesus less pain."

There it is. Now lets see some sacrifices being made around here!!

Emeline is a basketball player too!

2011-03-14T10:23:00.003-04:00

Emmy is playing basketball too! She has been very anxious to go lately but still doesn't like anyone to look at her.
She sunk one. Don't you love the 3 foot rim!

Heave it up there Em!

Dribbling. She is a pretty good little dribbler. Look at her concentration.

Look at her shot!! Yay Emeline!

Now we are practicing the bounce pass. It is so much fun to watch her run and smile. She has a lovely little soul!

Margie's made-up

2011-03-11T07:14:00.002-05:00

Margie got into some make-up. Now she can be made-up on her way to the daily parades that she attends!

For those of you who don't get it. Each and every day Margie wakes up, she grabs her stroller, baby, covers her wrists in bracelets and hair ties, finds every necklace in the house to put on, sunglasses, hats, you name it, she wears it. She tells me in a very grown up kind of voice that she is going to a parade. ? I really don't think she even knows what a parade is!

Georgia's Basketball season

2011-03-10T10:59:00.002-05:00

Georgia's basketball season is over and we couldn't be more proud of her. She scored some points here and there and played some pretty tight defense but most of all she was a team player. It was very heartwarming to hear her say "good job" and give her teammates a high-5. I think she has a bright future!!

Jacob's a child of God!!

2011-03-09T07:28:00.007-05:00

Jacob getting ready for the event. Dad must be cleaning off some drool!
Father told all of the kids to "come right up here"!

This was fun trying to get these little kids still. I was trying to get my littles up there but more littles kept coming!!!

I'm having a problem.

2011-03-08T07:31:00.002-05:00

There seems to be a problem uploading pics. I'll keep working at it!! xoxo

bedroom basketball league

2011-03-04T07:28:00.002-05:00

Well ever since Georgia got a nerf over the door basketball set for her birthday we have had some pretty heated games in the girls' bedroom. They are making up plays, shots etc. We not only have heated games but we also have some crazy characters that come to play like the 2 above. They have "basketball outfits" that they don and they seem to add a bit more crazy each time they play. :)

some videos from our skit activity

2011-03-02T07:29:00.003-05:00

I wish I could have gotten them to do it continuously so I could video the whole thing from start to finish. It was a little chaotic and I never did get it all at once.

National Pig Day

2011-03-02T07:22:00.003-05:00

We found out it was National Pig Day yesterday so I created a little fun for the kids. I found a coloring picture of the three Little Pigs and had them color them, cut them out, and glue them to a craft stick. While they were doing that I created the houses. Emmy lived in the straw house.
Josie lived in the brick house,

and Elsie lived in the stick house.

Here they are at the end all trying to get away from the big bad wolf. Georgia played that part.

Georgia's basketball season

2011-03-01T09:18:00.002-05:00

Georgia played basketball this winter on our town team. Here she is with her rockin' sports glasses on! All the kids thought those glasses were so very cool. I thank God for that!
Here she has the ball trying to get a shot off. Both "real" games the team played she scored 1 out of the 5 baskets so she was VERY proud of that.

Not sure if this is offense or defense. At this level it all kind of looked the same :)

There is a shot. No comments about that really ugly form. It is hard for little hands to shoot correctly. I think to make it easier they should lower the basket about a couple feet. Then they would be able to shoot correctly. This shot went in by the way!

Talking to coach after the game. I've already put my name in to coach next year! Hope hope hope I get it!

Georgia's birthday

2011-02-28T09:32:00.004-05:00

There she is using all 10!
We had a very busy 24th of February so I didn't get a chance to make a cake. Instead she had her candles in ice cream.

Josie made her a very nice card.
Her favorite gift was her mini American Girl doll. This is about as much of an American Girl doll that we can afford!

My Georgia is 10

2011-02-25T09:47:00.001-05:00

sound travels better through a solid or gas?

2011-02-17T07:58:00.002-05:00

We have been learning about sound and sound waves so we did a few experiments. The question here was: Does sound travel easier through a solid or a gas? The girls guessed gas of course. How can sound travel through a solid? Makes no sense! Here is Josie with a hanger contraption. We ties two equal lengths of yarn from a hanger and let it bang against the oven door. We could hear it all right. The answer must be that sound travels through a gas easier.
Then we put the yarn and our finger tips into our ears. Wait a minute....you could hear soooo much more. It was more twangy and ringy they said. This is proof but they needed more.

Georgia's turn to see if the solid yarn allows sound to travel through it with ease.

How about through wood. It can't possibly go through the table. They knocked...

Then put their ear down and knocked. I think it was louder!

Then we wrote with a pencil.

They found out sound definitely travels through a solid easier. I don't know if they firmly believe it yet though. There is still a little disbelief! The experiments were found here.

A visit from cousins

2011-02-16T07:07:00.004-05:00

We had some cousins over the other day. It seems whenever we have kids over we end up with a parade and dancing. We had a pony pulling girl in the parade.
We also had a boy that kept stirring something in a pot!

... of course what is a parade without a girl smacking a stepping stool?

still stirring!

still smacking!

We snuck in a game of Bingo after lunch.

Elsie pretended she had a broken arm with Josie's cast. She REALLY was unsure whether to put it on or not. We finally told her all would be well and she gave it a tentative go.

Look what happened mom.

Rice Krispie Treats Lourdes Grotto

2011-02-15T07:54:00.003-05:00

We finally made the Lourdes Grotto out of Rice Krispie treats. The girls astonished when I plopped the batch onto the pan and told them to get shaping it. They kept asking, "With our hands?", "Are you serious?"
Ut oh looks like there is a little disagreement here! There were a few!

It came out cute.

Margie helped too of course.

Poor Saint Bernadette looks like she is in quick sand.

After making this we watched the 1990 version of the "Saint Bernadette Soubirous Movie". It was very sweet and the girls were glued to the screen. It can be found in parts on youtube. This should send you to the first part.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T07:58:00.002-05:00

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERY ONE!! Emeline can't believe all the cards we made. I always think half way through a project what the heck were you thinking. Things always work out though.
The girls woke up to strawberry flavored, heart shaped pancakes this morning. They were tickled pink!
xoox to you all

here is emmy dancing

2011-02-07T11:48:00.002-05:00

a skating recital

2011-02-04T09:21:00.006-05:00

Well we had a skating recital at our house a few days ago. The girls have been preparing a show in which they "skate" on the living room floor, for Brad and I for a while now. We were finally able to see it. Here they are introducing themselves. Of course they are not Georgia, Josie, Emmy and Margie. They were Lizbeth, Mia, Ella, and Mala ???!

Can you see their glitter?

Georgia went first.

Beautiful. They danced to Mozart.

Then came Emmy.

Love the outfit.

Next Josie. Cast and all! (Yes, it is off now.)

So graceful!

Wish it wasn't blurry. I just love that look.

Ta da

Finally little Margie's turn.

Yay! You all should have gotten your tickets!!

Candlemas

2011-02-03T08:43:00.002-05:00

Well we didn't make it to Mass because of the weather but we did celebrate with our own ceremony here at home. We made some crepes for lunch. (Not actual crepes. Real crepes were my plan but then after reading the recipe I realized you had to leave the batter for a couple hours....so I just made some runny pancakes!)
We then made a candle to be our candlemas candle, blessed it and did a little ceremony. We read the presentation story, and reenacted Mary and Joseph's visit to the temple.

Daddy played Simeon BUT he wouldn't let me take his picture.

Mary and Joseph presenting the Baby Jesus.

Hope you all survived the storm. It wasn't as bad as they predicted for here but it did snow and blow all day. I have drifts in the yard that are above my waist. I found that out this morning when it was my turn to take care of the horses!

The game is....

2011-02-01T07:30:00.002-05:00

...how many layers does Margie have on.
She asked for it. When she wakes up she just has to put stuff on. It can be a hundred necklaces, a 1,000 hairties around her wrist, 3 or 4 bags and this particular day I guess she thought she would look wonderful in 6 shirts.

It quickly went from being very pretty to very uncomfortable.

She's down and she can't get up!!

Sam's Birthday

2011-01-31T07:05:00.003-05:00

Sam's birthday was a blast!! He is such a cutie pie!

I love all of these faces.

2 already. Can't be. That means Margie is right around the corner!!

Snow Day

2011-01-26T07:36:00.004-05:00

Fun things happen when Daddy is home on account of a snow day. I guess it really can't be called a snow day because it wasn't just snowing. It was just really cold.
Margie got a ride on her indoor pony.

That is NOT how your feet sit in the stirrups Margie. Brad said she told her but she insisted this was how it is done.

Look at the little baby that paid a visit. Spooky was just adorable!

Daddy putting his bonnet on. Look at the girls looking on!

Aww the cutest little baby that looks like he could claw your eyes out, in the world! Actually he was enjoying himself.

Margie and her baby. She brushed his hair! Wish Daddy could stay home EVERY day!! xoxo

The things I do for Uncle Bobby

2011-01-24T07:22:00.003-05:00

Can you guess??

Well apparently Uncle Bobby wanted to see what boiled water looks like when you throw it up in the air at -30. Mom was talking to him last night on the phone and told him this is what Russell spent the day doing yesterday. I can see why he spent the day doing it. It is quite addicting. So here is the video: Please just disregard the loony bird in the hat and bathrobe.

I learned very quickly NOT to try to throw a boiling pot of water with your left hand (or right hand....tried it) while trying to take a picture with your right hand(or left hand....tried it). Doing so causes the water to take a backwards trajectory, and may cause second degree burning in a scatter pattern all over your body! The best way to do it is to have someone else take the pictures, have an adult throw the pot of water and immediately back away. Believe me I'm speaking from experience. I'm going to look like I have chicken pox for a while I'm afraid!

So here's to you Uncle Bobby and family. After the 100th time boiling, asking Brad if he was "ready", and running out to throw it, this is what we ended up with.

A taste of life in upstate NY!! Don'tca miss it?

All Dressed Up

2011-01-21T08:37:00.001-05:00

Margie is all dressed up with no where to go. Wait a minute... she says she is going to the parade. How fun!! This is her new morning ritual. She needs her "neckace" and her stroller and baby so she can go go go!

The Mitten by Jan Brett

2011-01-19T07:25:00.002-05:00

We love "The Mitten" by Jan Brett. So we got it out of the library again! This time I made a mitten (well printed it and cut it out) and animals for Emmy to play out the story with. Here she is with her snow white mitten.
There are all of the animals the sqeezed into that mitten. What fun she is having.

MLK Jr. bulletin board

2011-01-18T07:24:00.002-05:00

Our happy tolerant crayons.
The whole bulletin board. I found a sheet where the girls could fill in the blanks to make their own "I Have a Dream" speech.
They turned out really cute. We also did a Martin Luther King Jr. webquest and took the questions and made them into trivia cards. What a message he sent and what a change he brought!

Peace Around the World

2011-01-15T07:45:00.002-05:00

We are getting ready for Martin Luther King Jr. day and in doing so the girls made a "Peace Around the World" drawing. This is Josies. Not bad for her arm being in a cast huh?
Georgia's.

And of course Emmy's.

water on earth

2011-01-14T07:48:00.002-05:00

We are doing a little unit on the water cycle and the girls did an experiment to represent the earth's water. If the water in the blender represents all the water on earth, the water in the larger measuring spoon represents the water frozen in the polar ice caps and the smaller measuring spoon represents fresh water in ponds, streams, lakes etc. Wow that puts it in perspective!!

Josie's splint and cast

2011-01-12T07:36:00.002-05:00

Here she is after getting home from the ER. A little nervous. She wouldn't speak or smile or anything. I was beginning to think she took a blow to the head as well! I finally got her say that she just felt icky because she had a broken bone in her body.
Now she has a really cool purple cast. I forgot to get a nice silver sharpie for all of the signatures though. She is doing just fine and is slowly believing that she can move her arm and fingers!!

My latest wreath~

2011-01-10T07:05:00.001-05:00

I really enjoy making wreaths and this one was especially fun because I bought all of the flowers on the 70% off rack!! LOVE that the most!

Z is for Zebra

2011-01-07T07:21:00.002-05:00

Emmy is on letter Z so of course we started with a zebra craft.
This idea found at Deep Space Sparkle was very fun for the girls. Emmy needed help with her zebra because it was very hard upon viewing her first drawing to decipher just what it was that she drew. It looked more like a caterpillar!

Jacob

2011-01-06T06:54:00.002-05:00

I CAN'T BELEIVE I HAVEN'T POSTED THESE YET. I'm using a different computer so I guess I can claim that I'm getting organized. Here is my new nephew Jacob at only a couple of days old.
What a little muffin!!

There he is!

I just love profile pictures. I look forward to watching him grow up! Congrats Jessie and Matt (and Elsie and Sam!!) xoxo

Christmas Morning

2011-01-05T07:48:00.001-05:00

I just had to share these pictures of the kids waking up Christmas morning. I was sitting on the couch to capture their faces. Aren't they priceless? :) There is nothing more rewarding than being a mom!!

Christmas visit with the Greats 2011

2011-01-04T07:34:00.005-05:00

The whole gang.
Georgia, Josie, Emeline and Margie with the Greats

Theresa

Uncle John bugging Margie

My boy and my Emmy

The Margies

My long lost brother John and my little Margie

Johnny, being a smarty pants I'm sure.

Grandma

Grandpa

Grandpa reading a story out of the treasure box

We gave Grandma and Grandpa a treasure box of memories this year.

Thanks for the wonderful visit. We hope you enjoyed reading the stories and I specifically hope you could make out Georgia and Josies! xoxo We love you VERY much.

Happy New Year 2011 !!!

2011-01-03T09:49:00.003-05:00

Almost there!!!

EVERY single one of us made it until midnight new years eve. I really wasn't expecting it but it worked out in the end.

Margie Sue enjoying her bubbly.

Ready for a toast.

We wish you a very blessed New Year!!

Cute Christmas cookies

2010-12-20T07:49:00.002-05:00

The girls and I took a day and made some Christmas cookies. This is what we came up with this year. You can find these buttery trees here.
These were VERY fun to make. I piped melted white chocolate instead of royal icing and the girls put on the m&ms. They can be found here. Happy baking!

how many monkeys in the bed?

2010-12-17T07:06:00.002-05:00

Somehow all of the girls ended up in the same bed the other night. Looks like Jo is the blanket hog, Georgia is left out in the cold and Emmy rules the roost!

My Emeline

2010-12-16T08:08:00.001-05:00

My cutie pie.

Paper Bag Ginderbread Men/Women

2010-12-15T07:44:00.003-05:00

We made some gingerbread boys and girls out of paper bags. Didn't they turn out cute?
Here are Emmy's

Some of Georgia's.

Some of Josie's....and

... we have to get them all up here so some of Margie's too! I got the idea on kaboose.

They turned out cute. I hope our cookies look half as good!

My Josie

2010-12-14T16:11:00.002-05:00

My Josie. Don't look too close at that tooth barely hanging on. Yuck!

She thought she was Samantha, the American Girl. They are always imagining. xo

town's Christmas party

2010-12-14T10:52:00.002-05:00

Recently our town had its annual Christmas Party for kids. Margie of course wanted nothing to do with Santa.
I was a face painter and I don't think, no let me rephrase that, I didn't get up for over 2 hours. There were some pretty strange looking kids walking around after they had been back 2, 3, 4 times!

The girls also made some notebooks. Notebooks are their absolute favorite thing!

My Georgia

2010-12-13T07:15:00.001-05:00

She's a big girl!

First Reconciliation

2010-12-10T19:15:00.002-05:00

My dearest Josie makes her First Reconciliation tomorrow morning. Please pray for her!

Josie drumming with a side show

2010-12-10T07:43:00.003-05:00

As promised some drumming videos. I like the second one when Margie gets mad! I had to get off the camera fast to save Emmy.

surprise under the pillow

2010-12-09T08:29:00.002-05:00

While getting ready to wash the girls bedding I discovered this stash under Georgia's pillow. Let's see: Ginger Pye, My Friend Flicka and Johnny Tremain. No wonder the girl wears glasses. I catch her every once in a while reading by night light. It probaby (no not probably) happens a lot more than I think too.

tree decorating

2010-12-08T07:12:00.002-05:00

The tree is up. It looks the same as it has for the past 10 years. I've been feeling like maybe I should change it but...we'll see. Here is Margie being a super helper (can you imagine). Every time one would go on she would take it off and move it.
Georgia deciding.

Josie instructing Emmy. Emmy not liking it.

Very proud of that spot though. I hope you are all enjoying the Advent season. xoxo