Double Digits

As always, there is tons of activity and action around our house!  The week before Christmas, Peter looked like this!  He had a fever and a terrible cough that kept him(and me) up every night for a week.  Then he developed an ear infection.  Thankfully, by Christmas he was feeling better again!

We decided to do a family fun day on the Friday before Christmas and toured the James J. Hill House on historic Summit Avenue in St. Paul.  At one time, this was the largest home in MN and was really state-of- the-art for it's time...it's still really impressive to tour, especially during the holidays. If you ever get the opportunity to get to St. Paul, it is worth your time to take the 4.5 mile drive down one of the most impressive historic streets in all of America...Summit Avenue is a beautiful street with original mansions that have been perfectly maintained or restored to their original glory...my dream is to live in one of them some day....

Christmas was wonderful as we spent it at home with just my parents.  It was peaceful...as peaceful as can be with 5 very excited children!  It's nice when we don't have to do any running and can stay home enjoying the reason for the season!  We did get to visit with one of my brothers and his family as well as my sister and her family too.

Two of the SIX trees we decorated in our home with year!  The kids each had small trees in their bedrooms as they do each year.

Yesterday, my twins, Ricky and Greta, turned 10 years old!!  Double digits from now on...  Greta had a party with her friends at the Water Park of America.  They spent the day swimming and having a great time.  Ricky will have a party with his buddies later in the winter!

I got these adorable dolls for all three of my youngest kids from a fellow etsy seller.  They are so cute and so well-made!  My kids all love them and sleep with their new little friends every night!

I just love these matching snowman birthday cakes that I get for their winter birthdays every year!

Here is some of Greta's birthday loot!  Let me tell you, it's not easy shopping for TWINS 3 days after they just got every gift they already wanted for Christmas!

Wishing you a wonderful, blessed, safe Happy New Year, 2012!!

Sorry...

It's almost embarrassing to post on my blog after such a long hiatus! Sorry for my absence.  Life just has a way of slipping by when you are busy with 5 children plus doing foster care!  Let me see if I can do a quick re-cap of our life since the last post!

We took in a few Twins games this summer.  Their new stadium is very nice!

Rich was even featured on their giant screen as they honored foster parents across the metro area with a special pre-game event.  He was chosen to represent our county as there were all 7 metro counties at this tribute to foster care.

Each year we make our annual trek north to Rich's hometown for the small county fair.  My kids still love it and especially love getting together with cousins up there.  Peter rode his first horse/pony this summer and loved it.  He wants to be a farmer when he grows up and he LOVES animals!

My vegetable garden did well this year despite the frequent visitors right outside the fence.  This fall we expanded the size of our garden and will put new, higher fencing around it to keep out these hungry deer!

Peter has always LOVED Thomas and all things trains, so this was a dream come true for him to ride on Thomas when he came to the Duluth Train Depot this summer.  It was a fun day up north with his cousins!

Hannah turned 15 this summer and now has her driver's permit so she is enjoying practicing her driving skills!  Hard to believe we have TWO teen drivers now! This was taken on the last day with braces...after two years she finally got them off.  BEFORE...

and AFTER!

We spent a lot of time at our lake home in Wisconsin this summer....so relaxing...

Taylor turned 17 this summer.  After much thought and prayer, we decided to home school her this year.  She is now in 11th grade and is doing so well at home and at her homeschool co-op...here's her classroom!

Hannah is in 10th grade this year and is loving her second year in high school!

Hard to believe buy my twins are already in 4th grade!

The summer flew by and before we knew it, the leaves were changing colors and fall was here:

The little guy above is our friend, Andrew.  As of this past weekend, he's also my Godchild!

Spent Thanksgiving with my parents...

Now we are preparing for Christmas and the celebration of Jesus' birth!  We've been busy shopping, baking and decorating.  I am looking forward to shutting my etsy shop down for a while and just enjoying the holiday season once all the work is done and we can just relax and focus on the meaning of this season!

I've already added some Valentine's Day and St. Patricks Day items to my shop...

Whew!  That was a very quick review of the past half year from this bad blogger!  I still follow all of your blogs and enjoy keeping up with you although I have not kept up on mine!

Merry Christmas and blessings for a wonderful 2012 from my family to yours...

Update

School is done for another year and summer break is finally here...now all we need is SUMMER!!!  It seems we get a few nice days and then the temps drop drastically and it rains again!  Looking forward to just relaxing and not being ruled but schedules for a while...

Here are some before/after pictures from the first day of 3rd grade last fall...

And some from the last day of school this past week...

As well as Peter's graduation from the preschool he went to...

This week I brought Greta and her cousin, Jenny, to church camp for their first time away from home alone for the 4 days.  They were so excited to be going to the camp that they have heard so much about from their big sisters and so proud to be going off in to the world all by themselves!

I can't believe how quiet the house has been with Greta gone but I am kinda starting to miss the little stinker too!

We have decided, for a large number of reasons, to homeschool our oldest, Taylor, next year.  She will be a junior in high school and I am nervous about being able to adequately do this for her.  I think it's going to be a really great experience for both of us and I know in my heart that it will be the best thing for her right now, but it's still scary.  Does anyone have any advice or personal experiences/recommendations in homeschooling that you can offer us??

I have been adding new items to my Sox That Rock etsy shop on a regular basis...here is some of what I have been working on...

NEW DIY Do-it-yourself NO SEW kits for an inexpensive way to have a boutique-quality items at a fraction of the cost!

And some of the Mickey and Minnie Shirt sets that I make...remember this before your next Disney vacation!

Baby leg warmers...for boys and girls...great for new crawlers...

And just some other fun stuff!

Have a wonderful week!