Quick final post of the year...

I am making "Tuxedo Cake" this morning with an 8-year-old helper.  It's currently baking.  Also doing laundry.  The kids are watching "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" (Veggie Tales).  Zach got it for Christmas.  Tomorrow my Dad's side of the family has a get-together (hence the baking the cake).  I also should bake something for us...after all, I'll be starting to pack lunches again in 2 days!

Some people have lovely, reflective posts on the past year and/or anticipations for the coming year.  All I know is that this year has flown by and the only way I can remember what happened is by reading back on my blog or flipping through my calendar!

Right now in my spare time (the boys' "quiet" time), I've been working on a digital scrapbook of the year.  I'm ready to start the month of June.

I've been enjoying having my big kids home on vacation...but I'll enjoy the routine when they go back to school.

If we get through today with no major illness, we will have successfully completed the month of December with no serious illnesses....perhaps a record!  We do have sinus infections, but relatively minor ones.

I'm also starting to think about the upcoming Transport for Christ Banquet.

Maybe I'll take time to write a reflective post in the coming week or two....but for now, I'm back to the cake and the laundry....

Happy New Year!

Christmas Morning

We spent Christmas Eve with Karen's Family.

Then on Christmas morning, after breakfast, we opened our gifts as a family.

Here I am wearing the sweater from my mom and scarf from my sister-in-law (or someone in their family) and holding the lovely new saute pan the kids got me.

Micah opening a gift (tractor).

Zach with his tractor.  (Each of the 3 youngest got a new tractor.)

Mark

Autumn

Janae, wearing her adorable footy pjs from Grammy, opening a cooking set.

Josiah

Randy - I got him cast iron pans to use when we go camping.  But I've been enjoying trying them out here at home.  :-)

The rest of Christmas day was spent here.  We had chicken & waffles for lunch.  Randy & Josiah built Josiah's bed in the morning.  I was sleepy so not very motivated.  I did get some things put away that we had gotten at previous gatherings.  I also worked some on a digital scrapbook of our year (I'm still back in the spring).

Well, 2 little boys have joined me in the kitchen now so I need to go....

White Christmas!

Last night the snow started falling while we were on the way to Grandpa & Grammy's house.  By the time we left everything was blanketed with snow.  It's early here.  The coffee is brewing.  And it's beautiful outside (although kind of hard to see in the dark).  We've had a lovely weekend and stayed healthy for all our gatherings for which I'm extremely grateful!

Thursday evening the kids gathered with their cousins at Randy's parents' place to decorate the garage for Christmas.  Randy & I went out for supper and grocery shopping before picking them up.  Lovely!

Saturday we spent most of the day with Randy's family.  Also lovely!

Sunday morning was church and our church Christmas program.  We usually end with a congregational singing of the "Hallelujah Chorus" and this year was no exception.  Singing that is quite exhilarating!  In the afternoon the kids put together the legos they got the day before.  We went visiting in the evening and saw some friends from out-of-state.

Monday we did laundry and cleaning.  Then late afternoon we went to my parents' home to celebrate.  We had a great time.  Lots of laughter and fun!

Now it is Christmas Day.  In a bit the kids will get up and get their "stocking" gifts.  Then we will eat breakfast before opening the rest of the gifts.  I plan to make chicken & waffles for lunch.  We plan to roast hot dogs on the fire place for supper.  We'll see if all goes according to plan or not.  :-)

Anyway, it's a lovely day to celebrate our Savior's birth!  And now I'm going to drink a cup of coffee.

Merry Christmas!

Wednesday

The week seems to slowly be moving past.  I've been enjoying being home more this week.  Tuesday Mark had occupational and physical therapy.  Now we are taking a 3 week break from all therapies and will resume in January.  What will I do with all that extra time?!  :-)

This week we did a bedroom switch-up.  Josiah moved to a room in the basement.  He was very excited and took care of almost everything himself.  Randy's going to build him a bed yet.  Josiah built a desk at school.  Zach moved into Josiah's room.  Mark & Micah's room seems so spacious with only 2 boys in it instead of 3!  Everyone slept well last night and seems to be enjoying the change.  I'm hoping it will also be easier to clean/organize without everything being jammed in small spaces.

Today I'm working on cleaning up the house and laundry (as I do every day when I'm home).  The boys are playing nicely most of the time.

I'm very sleepy today...think I may have a sinus infection starting...so I'm drinking lots of tea.  :-)

Monday morning

Th e kids will soon be stirring...actually, Mark came out already and I tucked him back in bed for a bit longer.  Yesterday afternoon/evening we went Christmas caroling with our church...lots of fun.  Saturday night we stayed home and watched "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever"...love that movie!  :-)

Well, Mark's out here again...anyway.  This week is a fairly low key week.  Mark has OT and PT one day and we hope to go to MOPS one morning.  Otherwise we can stay home.  Oh yes, I did tell Zach we'll go shopping for Daddy sometime as well...

Anyway, so not much going on here....

Recent Cooking/Baking

Micah's Cake

The massive turkey we roasted/baked.  We needed to divide it into two roasters to cook it.  The legs and wings went in the oven in one roast pan and the rest went in an electric roaster.  Love all the meat and broth I now have in my freezer!

Micah's Birthday in Photos

Gift #1 of the traditional 3 gifts....totally did not think about all the other things these logs could be used for....Love the truck/idea...but those logs have been used for all sorts of other things!

Gift #2 - This has been stashed for a church activity

We love Richard Scarry!

Blowing out the candles.

Quick Post

It's a beautiful sunny Thursday here at our house.  Zach is with Randy on the truck.  One girl is playing computer games.  Several kids are outside.  Chicken Pies (bought from a fundraiser...delicious, incidentally) are in the oven.

Tuesday began our "last time of therapy per therapist" until next year.  We saw Zach's therapist Tuesday, and Mark's speech therapist Wednesday.  We'll see Mark's Physical Therapist and Occupational Therapist on Tuesday and then we start a 3 week period of no therapists (Christmas and New Year's Day fall on our regular therapy days and IU13 has a 3 week break).  Can't remember when I've gone that long without an appointment!  Hopefully it all goes well.

Several months ago we invested in a carpet cleaner (Bissell) since our carpets are horrible.  This afternoon I cleaned the living room and hallway carpets again...so much improved!  I should probably do those at least monthly!  This morning I did a bunch of errands.

Tomorrow's agenda:  Clean, Laundry, Bookwork (personal & business)

Tonight's agenda:  Have the house straightened up by bedtime so that tomorrow I can clean without having to spend all my time cleaning up.  The kids will probably be less than thrilled at the thought....oh well....necessary....things are simply more peaceful with a more orderly house.  Unfortunately, it's never quite as orderly as I aim for....but that's okay too....

Life

Haven't blogged since Wednesday (although did 2 prescheduled posts)...so I thought I'd catch up here.  This morning 2 neighbor boys were here for awhile while their mom was at a meeting so there were 5 boys ages 2-5...lots of fun!  I have bread in the oven and sticky buns rising.  Tackling the mounds of laundry and cleaning up the kitchen.

Friday we celebrated Micah's birthday.  We also roasted/baked a 35 lb. turkey overnight so Saturday morning we spent significant time with that.  I now have lots of cooked turkey and turkey broth in the freezer for future use in soups and casseroles!  In the evening we had a banquet with Randy's work.  That was a nice evening out.  My mom kept the kids.  Sunday we went to church and enjoyed the rest of the day at home.  Activities included Dizios, Othello, and watching a couple of "Little House" Christmas specials on DVD.  Saturday night Autumn went to a birthday party.

Pictures of Micah's birthday to come soon...the bread needs to come out of the oven in a minute or 2....

3 years ago today...

...we brought a sweet little baby home from the hospital...and began the foster care to adoption journey yet again....

Micah - 18 Days old

1 year old

Happy Birthday, Micah!

Happy Birthday to our youngest child!  Micah is 3!  And he has started to teach himself to use the potty so I have hopes to be down to 1 in diapers shortly....

Wednesday

Hoping to go to bed early tonight since going to bed late last night got me off track for getting up earlier than my kids which helps me have a more peaceful morning.  Make sense?  :-)  Last night I did enjoy spending some time reading.  But a couple of little boys didn't sleep so well so between staying up later and getting up several times, I ended up sleeping in.  See if I can get back on track tomorrow....

"Let's Eat Healthier"

Yes, it's that time of year again.  The time when I think that we really, really need to start eating healthier again.  That we're eating to much junk.  I'm not talking about doing any of the popular healthy things...that is, cutting out gluten or sugar or artificial sweetners/colors or eating sprouts or only dairy or no dairy or anything like that. Although those things may all be good.  Just doing a bit better than we have been...mostly in the snack department.  Specifically because in December we do eat more unhealthy foods, and so I want to counteract them....much better than actually giving those cookies up altogether!  :-)  We also tend to be sick more from November-April so perhaps extra fruits/veggies will help that as well.

In general, we have snacks 3 times a day and meals 3 times a day.  Our rough schedule is:
6:45-7:00 (or later) - Breakfast
9:00-9:30 - Snack
11:00-11:30 - Lunch
3:10 - Snack (any time the kids are home this is at 2:00 or 2:30 instead)
5:00 - Dinner/Supper
7:30 - Snack

Our snacks have been heavy on granola bars and cereal bars that I bought cheap at the discount store.  I've stocked up on fruits (apples, pears, bananas, clementines), Veggies (carrots, celery, red sweet peppers), raisins, and string cheese to give us some healthier options.  I also bought pretzels and tortilla chips (I canned salsa in the summer) for some salty options.

I also went out on a limb and bought a spaghetti squash (which half of us hate).  I'm hoping that in a different recipe we will find it tolerable...or maybe not....

I do want to cut back on the processed and artificial stuff too...but that's a bit harder since I love sweet stuff...and I'd probably starve if I went one of those popular "raw" diets!

Breakfast - we frequently have eggs (scrambled, fried, dippy, omelets) either alone or as egg sandwiches.  Sometimes (maybe once or twice a week) we have a side of bacon, scrapple, or pork roll.  I'm a big fan of starting the day with protein!  Sometimes we have cereal or oatmeal, but several of the kids are not big cereal fans.  Some days we have pancakes.  Very occasionally we have french toast.  I'm thinking it would be a good idea to substitute fresh fruit in place of fruit juice several days a week.  We usually have fruit juice and/or coffee/tea/hot chocolate

Lunch - I just need to make sure we are getting a balanced lunch and not lopsided on the carbs & dairy...include fruits and veggies!  We usually drink milk.  I'm contemplating going back to raw milk.  I've also gotten slack in the bread department, going back to eating cheaper white bread instead of better (and more filling) whole wheat or honey wheat bread.  Probably homemade would be better...but that's going to stay in the "rare treat" category...at least for now!

Supper - Same thing...work on keeping it balanced....We usually drink water at supper as well as in between meals.  We usually have canned fruit and 1 (homemade) cookie (or sometimes 2 if they are small) for dessert.

For our bedtime snack....somewhere along the line we've started eating ice cream more often...I want to cut that back again to once or twice a week and instead have things like pretzels & cheese or sliced apples or something.

We rarely have soda or flavored drinks...generally keeping them for special treats (after the debacle of Josiah's teeth being horrible when we went for his first dental appointment when he was 3).  Candy...well, right now candy and gum are treats for successful potty use....we'll wait to cut back on that until we have this under control.  :-)  I'm thinking I should cut out my (artificial) creamers for my coffee and switch to real cream or milk and sugar...or drink it black like I do tea.  Maybe next year.

Right now I'm just focusing on healthier snacks and remembering the vitamins...one step at a time...

Therapy, therapy, therapy....

I took Mark for his Physical Therapy (PT) evaluation this morning.  Yes, he definitely needs some help!  Right now we are tagging it with his Occupational Therapy every other week.  But the therapist said he should really have it more often.  I'm hoping IU13 will also approve PT for every other week so that between the 2 we can have weekly PT.  She said we can meet less often if we have a good at home program.  So we will be starting to work with him at home as well.  First on the list is to strengthen his core (should be good for me as well!).  I need to figure out what part of our day this will work best and schedule it in...I really don't want to run to the therapist more often if I don't need to do so!

Our current therapy schedule:

Zach

• Therapy - every other week

Mark:

• Speech Therapy - Weekly (on the IU13 schedule which operates year round, but the same amount of days as a school year so there are periodic breaks).
• Occupational Therapy (through insurance) - every other week
• Physical Therapy (through insurance) - every other week immediately after OT (if he can handle this)
• Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy at home through IU13 - to be determined at the IEP meeting in January.

All that being said, we will have about 2 weeks the end of December with absolutely no therapies due to Christmas and New Years....will be lovely to have the break!

Tuesday

I've been trying to get back into my "getting up before everyone else" routine...and now I'm remembering why I haven't blogged nearly as much this year.  Love having this extra 45 minutes alone before everyone starts emerging!

Yesterday I had a great morning with my sister-in-law as we shopped and talked and ate.  Lovely break!  And my shopping is done...I think.

Today Mark goes for his (private--as opposed to IU13) physical therapy evaluation.  Hopefully he cooperates.  He tends to be rather clingy.  Yesterday he bit through the edge of his tongue.  Hopefully it is better today as it seemed to really bother him last night.  I think tongues heal quickly?!

I'm trying a new coffee creamer (I know it's healthier with NO creamer)....anyway...Salted Caramel Mocha.  Different, but I like it.

I also need to do lots of laundry today since I didn't get much done yesterday.

One of my favorite Christmas books is When Christmas Came, by Barbara Rainey.  Barbara Rainey talks about Christmas by taking the words of John 3:16 and discussing them line by line.  She illustrates the book with beautiful water colors.  Lovely!

Today is Monday...

My tentative plans for today (tentative - as I never believe something will actually occur until everyone is up and at their destination without being sick) is to spend some time shopping with my sister-in-law while my friend/cousin keeps my little ones.  Very exciting!  This afternoon Josiah has an orthodontist appointment.  Or should it be orthodontic appointment.  yes.  Maybe.

Potty Training News coming up...so stop reading if you really don't want to know!

In other news, Micah is fast on his way to becoming potty trained...all by himself.  He figured it out and usually tells me...at least as far as the "wet" part goes.  Still needs to figure out the "dirty" part...but he'll get there.  Mark is still clueless...but I doubt that it's his fault...I think his body just doesn't understand what's going on.  Here's hoping that going to OT will help that aspect as well.  I'm very much hoping for NO MORE DIAPERS by summer.  Hoping...not counting on it!  :-)  Actually, I think I'm going to stop buying diapers and totally switch to pull-ups.  Easier for Micah and Mark's getting to big for diapers anyway.  Micah will switch to undies when he learns the bowel part...I really hate cleaning up messy underwear!  (unless of course I discover that I need to take that step to get him to use the potty.)  So many variables!

Last night we watched "Buck Denver asks...Why Do We Call It Christmas?"  Loved it!  Covered why it's called Christmas, Santa Claus, Christmas Trees, Stockings, Why December 25.  My favorite part was in the intro...mistletoe being toes that shoot missiles   Josiah and I got all silly over that...which made some others mad because they couldn't hear.  :-)

Okay, the young ones are stirring...gotta run...

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!

Setting it in place...It's so tall that it touches the ceiling and bends over!

Stringing up the lights...

Some ornaments.  We don't have any pictures of the madness of us all decorating....because we were all decorating!

The completed tree (except for the candy canes which I still need to buy).

"Micah, Don't Touch!"  :-)

We finished the evening by watching another favorite Christmas DVD..."The Grinch That Stole Christmas".