Visiting Santa and the Real Faith of a Child

Though 3 of the boys officially "know" about Santa, I couldn't believe how persistent they were in their requests to see Santa. After a fairly unproductive school day yesterday, I decided to take today off to visit Santa and finish up some other Christmas errands. Santa was very cheerful this year and didn't smell bad - always a plus.

KiKi jumped right up on Santa's lap this year and proceeded to tell him quite confidently that he wanted Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles - all of them, and Diego things. Santa was so good natured that he even chuckled.
Hard to believe, but Neil-Te is still a bit nervous about Santa. He needed A to go up with him, but willingly sat on Santa's lap and made his request. The boys were happy with their visit and the rest of my shopping went extremely well.

At one store, I handed the sales associate my list, he filled my cart and loaded my purchases into the car. To top it all off, a different man in the store handed me a coupon to use. Sometimes it's actually an advantage to shop with the kids. I think people are more pleasant, cheerful, and patient when they see us coming. (Of course, with all the boys in tow, I need them to be!)

Oh, yeah, I finally got a chair for my living room! The boys were being so good that I made a quick run to the furniture outlet. The boys grumbled, and I assured them that it would probably be quick since I have been unsuccessfully looking for a chair since August. They knew I really wanted one, so Neil-Te and CoCo prayed that I would find one. When I walked in the door, I was accosted by a sales lady. I almost gave her the brush-off, but then decided to tell her what I was looking for. Her face lit right up, and she told me she had just what I was looking for. (Imagine me thinking, "How cliche. I'll believe it when I see it!") Well, 15 minutes later, we were driving out with our new chair and a van full of awestruck boys who believe in the power of a God who listens to a child's prayer.

Family Picture

We celebrated Christmas with my mom and dad last night, and my dad took some pictures of the family. As you can see, we didn't get a perfect one. SS made faces in nearly all of them. I decided to post this one anyway because I figure it reflects her picture personality. It is a rare occasion when I get a picture of her where she is not making a funny face. Think it makes a good Christmas card?

CoCo's Accomplishment

Some of you may remember that last time CoCo had a recital, he found that he was unable to perform. He had always practiced on a piano; and for whatever reason, the promised piano was replaced with a keyboard. CoCo had never played a keyboard and didn't want recital night to be his first time.
So... when the music studio began discussing recitals this season, I was unsure what his reaction would be. At first he was hesitant, stating his piano/keyboard concerns. Then his teacher assured him that they could practice on the keyboard every lesson to prepare, and CoCo was thrilled. He chose two pieces - a waltz and a lullaby. He practiced faithfully and was, again, fully prepared. We arrived close to starting time so that he wouldn't have time to get nervous. (Luckily, grandpa saved seats.) CoCo waited patiently for his turn, about 2/3 of the way through the program. Just as the student before him finished and CoCo was preparing to stand up, the director took the microphone and said that there was going to be a slight change in the programming. CoCo's turn was going to be moved until after the intermission. UGH! As I walked down the hallway with him, I asked him if he was alright with waiting a bit longer to play because grandma had run out to get SS from work and would be coming back to hear CoCo. I said, "Are you okay with waiting until grandma and SS get back, or will it make you nervous."
He looked at me, puzzled. "Should I be nervous?" (Guess I was the only nervous one!)
Anyway, when grandma and SS got there, CoCo played with complete confidence and pleasure. YEAH!

Sweet Inspiration

We decided that it was time for some sweet inspiration today. We headed over to a local mansion museum to look at the gingerbread houses on display. The kids played the scavenger hunt game, and Neil-Te was so interested in it and just refused to give up. His enthusiasm soon passed on to the older brothers who initially grumbled. KiKi resisted the temptation to swipe his finger through some frosting or steal a piece of candy; but of course, now we will be making a gingerbread creation of our own. I may even have to find a real recipe. We've done kits in the past; but frankly, they taste terrible. They seem to absorb the taste of the cardboard that they are packaged in. I'll post pictures of our creation when we make it!

Freezy Fun

We've gotten a bit of snow over the past couple of days, and the boys have been begging to run outside before school even starts. Yesterday was the soak-you-to-the skin kind of snow that left you wet after only 5 minutes of playing, but today we had some fluffy, dry snow to play in. The boys braved the terrible wind chill to take advantage of the one inch layer of snow for sledding. CoCo has started sledding down the front, side hill this year. Apparently, the new dirt from the driveway has improved the slope; and there are "only a few trees to hit." Ugh!
KiKi only lasted about 25 minutes before he needed some hot chocolate, but he loves sledding (on the mini hill)! It's so funny to watch him try to move with all those clothes on. Sometimes he can't even stand up.

Luckily, A didn't actually throw this threatened snow ball right at my camera!

Neil-Te stayed in. He said it was "too freezy" for him!

Christmas Preparations

I've been a bit negligent about blogging lately, not for lack of happenings. Seems that at the end of the day, I've just been out of energy. A hot bath and a cup of tea have just been higher on my priority list! The boys put up our Christmas tree and lights the day that my brother and family headed out. They certainly needed something to distract them from the loss of their playmates. We didn't get a chance to put up the ornaments until a couple of days later, and it was fun to watch the boys reminisce about ornaments they remember receiving.

KiKi was so excited that his jaw dropped open, and he would squeal in delight when he came across an ornament that he thought was especially fun.

Neil-Te was happy to be able to reach up a little higher on the tree this year.

A handled the top of the tree, and CoCo is our resident paper chain, snowflake maker. Our house is so festive, and I just love all of the enthusiasm that the kids bring to Christmas. I do cringe a little every time KiKi and Than play with my ceramic creches, but at least it helps them remember the real meaning of Christmas.

A few pictures of our Thanksgiving Guests

All dressed up for church. Zilla saw A's suit and decided he needed to go too!

Zilla and Grandpa preparing for the long-awaited work-out on the treadmill.

A typical scene with the Unc.

And another common sight!

We headed over to Letchworth State Park yesterday. It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny day. The first picture shows off the view we had during our lunch.

This next one is of KiKi with his aunt. The rainbows were his favorite part of the trip.

CoCo and Zilla enjoying the falls and the rainbow.

The crew. They weren't thrilled that I was taking yet ANOTHER picture, but isn't it a great one?

It was a great day, and we learned a few things - Letchworth allows hunters (so much for hiking in the woods) and the fear for the lives of your children while walking along the gorge will take 10 years off your own life.

Thanksgiving and Birthday

My brother and his family came in to town yesterday. The kids have been counting down the days until their arrival and were dancing and singing when bro's car pulled in the driveway. The kids are having a great time with their cousins, and the grown-ups are having a great time visiting while the kids are busy.

Today, we headed over to mom and dad's for an early Thanksgiving dinner and a birthday celebration for grandpa. I forgot my camera, but lucky for me, my sister-in-law had one. Not sure if the kids are looking so serious because our singing was out of tune or if they were planning which candles would be theirs to blow out.

Eating Like a Dog

Now that I am finally emerging from the haze of sickness that has been in our household for two weeks, I'm ready to start catching up a bit on my blog. Took this picture of CoCo and KiKi earlier this week. (Cute one, huh!) The boys have managed to turn their illness into a competition. I have been informed that CoCo and KiKi have tied for most days of fever (6). Neil-Te has won for shortest duration of fever (2). A is desperate to come up with something. I think he managed to have the lowest fevers (not counting SS). I just chuckle in amazement at their resilience and sigh in relief that I can sleep through the night again!


This morning, KiKi was carrying the cereal bag upside down (AGAIN!!!) Just when I was getting ready to feel frustrated and discouraged about the clean-up, KiKi noticed Anni take a bite of the spilled cereal. He raced over to the spill and proclaimed, "I want to eat with Anni!" Then he proceeded to lick the food off of the floor just like his pet. Trying to push aside the grossness factor, I grabbed the camera so that I could record the moment to share with whatever wonderful woman will be kissing that mouth. Unfortunately, by the time I was ready, he had switched to eating with his fingers because licking the cereal wasn't working very well. Bummer.

Status Update

Well, KiKi is finally getting better. No fever today, but his cough is terrible. A is still struggling with fever - on his 3rd day now. CoCo, SS, and I all had sore throats for one day, then nothing. Relief! Neil-Te just chatters along with no sign of any illness jarring his days of play. Hubby has thus far been spared also; we're hoping it stays that way! The healthy boys and I are progressing with school, and A is trying to do some of his work in the mornings before his fever makes him dizzy. Though sickness makes our week pretty crazy, it reminds me to be thankful for the flexibility of homeschooling, the usual health of the family, the helpfulness that the kids have exhibited, my usual solid night's sleep, the helpfulness and support of friends...the list could go on and on!

Project of Desperation

I finally got fed up with the condition of our side yard - where we had the tree stump removed in early summer. We had hoped to extend our driveway, but the quotes we got were soooo high that I think both hubby and I were just avoiding thinking about it. However, over the past few weeks, I have been getting more and more frustrated with the ugly, muddy strip next to the driveway. So with nice weather in the forecast this week, the boys and I began digging it out ourselves. Hubby thinks we're nuts; I'm sure he's right. Three or four inches of gravel have got to be better than mud, though - at least, I hope!

Break Time! A and C earned their break. They worked long and hard to show Daddy that it could be done. Neil-Te had more fun catching worms and bugs. KiKi has a fever, so he just sat and looked into the worm bucket. He did have occasional bursts of energy. (I couldn't keep him awake past 5:45 tonight. I'm thinking tonight will be rough. Poor little guy is already crying out and coughing in his sleep.)

The Days of the Week

Here is a list of the "real" names for the days of the week, according to our boys.

Sunday - "Church Day"
Monday - "Art Day"
Tuesday - Tuesday
Wednesday - "Bells and Choir Day" or "Eat dat Church Day"
Thursday - "Gym Day"
Friday - "Alli Day"
Saturday - "Daddy Stay Home Day"

Invisible

We have a little rule in our house. All food stays in the kitchen. I am not the most perfect housekeeper and the idea of vacuuming food out of my couch cushions just sounds like another chore in an already-long list. So...this morning when I walked into the living room, I saw a piece of Life cereal on the floor.

Me: (irritated) Who ate in the living room?
A: It wasn't me.
Co: Not me.
Neil-Te: No way. Not me.
KiKi: I didn't.
Me: Well, how did this cereal get in here?
A: I don't know.
Co: shrugs
Neil-Te: I ate in the kitchen.
KiKi: (innocently) My invisible friend was hungry.

Trick or Treat

The boys got to trick or treat with their cousins this year. They were quite the big crew showing up at people's houses, yelling, "TRICK or TREAT." It was fun to watch them, but the most hilarious part was the things that they would say after receiving the candy - hopefully, after the door had closed!
At one house, a teenager with lots of piercings was handing out candy. As we walked away from the house, KiKi said in confusion, "He looks like a pig." I imagine the teen wouldn't have thought his nose ring was so cool if he had heard that comment!

After pizza and trick-or-treating at Oma and Opa's, we picked up the girls and headed to my parents' for some more trick-or-treating. I'm in the picture because KiKi was afraid of the girls' makeup and refused to be in the picture without me!
We had lots of fun and the weather held out - only a tiny drizzle for maybe five minutes. The time change came on the perfect night - no pangs of guilt about a late bedtime this year. I guess I'm just saving some guilt for all of the candy I intend to persuade the boys to share!
Happy Halloween!

Punk Rock Star?

Or is he really just defying his future baldness? ;-)

Tree Climbers

Neil-Te has watched with envy for years as CoCo scrambles effortlessly up trees. After a few minutes of vigorous attempts, he stomped away in frustration on Saturday, crying, "I'll never be able to do it!"
Co-Co replied, "You really won't be able to if you don't keep trying. You CAN do it if you don't give up."
Much to my amazement, those words did the trick. Neil-Te tried for over an hour with no success, then went back out later and tried again. He realized that maybe if he could make his muscles stronger, he would be able to do it. Yesterday, he worked again.
Today, he did it! He is officially a tree climber and, hopefully, has learned a good lesson about perserverance!
By the way, that interesting pink color is the fun color of everything under our red maples. It even casts red into our living room. Gotta love fall!

Appreciating the Good Things

Today, the boys and I had an interesting discussion about favoritism. In the past, one of the boys used to verbalize that he had a "favorite brother," much to the hurt feelings of the other boys. So there has been this unspoken rivalry to be the "favorite" for quite some time. Though I was aware that it was going on, all of my intervention methods seemed to have failed until today. As one of the boys was sitting at the lunch table in tears over being the one to be left out again, I finally had the opportunity to discuss it at length with all of the boys. After we had discussed the issue for a few minutes, we decided that each of us would share something that we liked about each of the boys at the table. It was such a blessing to see them talk about the shared activities and qualities that they enjoy about each other. It was also so touching to see how inspired and encouraged they were to know that their brothers actually notice the nice things that they try to do. Here's a little sampling.
"He's so cute and adorable."
"He builds cool forts with me."
"He teaches me how to do things."
"He likes to play with me."

Simple things, but it was a moment that I will treasure.

Super Powers of Attraction

Sometimes, Neil-te likes to play the helpful, older-brother role. A couple of days ago, he had just finished washing his face when he decide that he wanted to wash KiKi's too. Though I wish that I had been in the room to see their faces, this is what I heard.

Neil-Te: Come here [KiKi], I want to wash your face.
KiKi: You can't wash my face. I'm a super hero.
Neil-Te: Well, super heroes wash their faces too.
KiKi: (emphatically) No. They Don't!
Neil-te: (without hesitation) Yes, them have to look good so the girls will like them.

Facing the Challenge

Yesterday, Neil-Te sat down at the table to do his schoolwork and said, "Mommy, some kids don't like math or say, 'It's too hard. Waaaaaaaa.' I say, 'Bring it on, baby!"

Ahhh... happy homeschooling mom moment! (Oh yeah, and great amusement at the use of the Scooby Doo line.)

The Rest of the Family Pictures

Though this is not the "official" SS pose, it is our favorite.

A posted this on his blog, so some of you may have seen it.

I've been super busy lately, so I haven't had much time to blog, but I wanted to share the rest of our family pictures while I had a couple of minutes.

Our Jokester

Over the past several months, CoCo has realized that he enjoys making people laugh. This started with the traditional silly jokes and progressed to obnoxious bodily noises and then on to silly voices. Today, we reached a new level of humor.

CoCo and A have been taking a weekly class at the library where they learn how to find things in the library according to the Dewey Decimal System. On the way out to the car tonight, I asked, "So...what can you find in the 600's?" CoCo responded, "Oh, recipes, health information, and ... books. Yep, lots of ...books." His calm wit was hilarious (It is clearly lost in writing.); and as I was mentally admiring his quickness and laughing out loud, I was rewarded with his more typical, silly-voiced reenactment of his statement.

Love the boy he is, and loving the boy he will become.

Fostering

I rarely blog about fostering because we think of SS as just another member of our family. However, there are times, like today that the uglier side of fostering makes going through the day difficult. Technically, our family is certified to bring in another child, so we occasionally get calls to take in other children for short or long-term placements. As Christians, our immediate desire is to help; but each placement must be carefully weighed against the responsibility that we have to take care of our family. Due to the size of our existing family, most of the time we have to say no. Last night, we received a call about a young child who has been suffering tremendous horrors that one hates to think that anyone must endure. The story weighs heavily in our hearts, and is somehow made even heavier by the realization that though we could help this child, it would bring serious upheaval and some potentially negative impacts into our household. So after many prayers, we have determined that we are not the best family to help this little one. While we are confident in our decision, we are saddened to have turned away one of God's children. Our hearts are broken today, and it is a day when we wish we were not so aware of the ugly side of the lives of so many children. We are praying that God will provide the right home and right support for this precious child; and we also continually pray that even more Christian families will consider opening their homes to these children in need.

Chuck-E-Cheese

Neil-Te had a birthday party today with his two best friends and his brothers. (Yes, he counts his cousin as best friend too!) They all had a great time racing around Chuck-E-Cheese. We got there as soon as they opened and shared the space with one other little boy for the first 45 minutes. It was great - no waiting, easy to keep track of everyone... (By the way, mothers of little ones, they test the machines in the mornings, so there are tickets sticking out of every game for your kids to collect to exchange for goodies!)

Neil-Te and his buddy from church.

Neil-Te with his cousin.

Chuck-E-Cheese came out with Neil-Te's birthday cake. Neil-Te and the other kids were so excited to hug him. It was a great bonus to an already fun morning. Because we didn't have an official, reserved party, I wasn't sure how much special treatment, if any, he would get; but the staff was fabulous. He got the birthday sticker, singing, Chuck-E-Cheese visit, bonus tokens... a great party experience.

Six and Still Sick

Neil-Te turned 6 today. He got to start his day with gifts from the family, and was especially excited to be old enough to receive his own clip light and cd clock radio. Usually we take the day off of school on a birthday and head out for doughnuts and a museum trip, but since Neil-te and I are still so sick, we had a birthday at home. We did take the day off - one of the many perks of a homeschooling schedule- and spent time playing with toys, crafting, listening to stories and music, and playing board games.

Birthday gifts from his bros.

Auntie J. braved our germ-infested home to bring Neil-te a gift and a hand-me-down costume for KiKi. (She did stay in the entryway to avoid too much contamination!)

Working on his new bird feeder from Auntie J. Doesn't he look old?!

Since we were too sick to go to our church dinner tonight, half of the crew went to children's choir practice and the fellowship dinner, while the rest of us stayed home for pizza and sherbet as a dessert. Since I still haven't re-stashed any candles, we had to make do with matches in his sherbet. Yep, not a great mom move. Thankfully, he was thrilled and thought it was silly and fun. I assured him that for his official birthday dinner, we will have real candles to go on his cake.

Oh, and yes, he did wear his new Mimi pjs all day on his birthday! Maybe a birthday at home isn't so bad.

Disappearing Voice

Neil-Te has the flu now. His fever started yesterday, and he has a weak, raspy voice no matter how loudly he tries to talk. As most of you know, Neil-te is a talker, as in non-stop, talks -louder-if-you-don't-listen talker. He is officially a chatterbox, so this particular part of his sickness is driving him crazy. He jabbered away to me this morning in his rasping voice, "Mommy, I can't be quiet; but I know it will make my voice disappear. I just can't stop talking. It's very hard. I think when I drink my voice is stronger. Doesn't it sound better? (sniff, sniff, drink, clear throat) Yes, I think that I can talk again. I just can't be quiet, but I know it will make my voice disappear. Am I getting worse?"
And on and on it went! It was all I could do to not laugh out loud at my sniffly, hoarse, feverish little boy whose biggest problem is that he should really rest his voice but can't.

Peatot

I've been struggling with the flu this week, but at our house there is always something to chuckle about.

KiKi (bounding into my room full of life, energy, and gigantic smiles) "Mommy, would you like a peatot?"

Me (lying in bed with a fever, body aches...basically, barely coherent) "Huuuhhh?"

KiKi (bouncing up and down, grinning) "Do you want a peatot?"

Me (still not comprehending and not sure if it is feverbrain) "What?!?"

Kiki (still bouncing at a dizzying speed) "You know, a peatot!"

Me (groggily enunciating) "A pea-tot?"

Kiki (with elation, singing, and arm motions) "YES! I'm a little peatot, short and spout!"

Rocket Launcher

Silly Poses and School

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Shovel Face

SS' first day of school was last week. She is back to getting up early and having to get back to studying. She has some pretty heavy coursework this year, and even with the help of tutors, we are working until late in the evening. I am happy to see how much her confidence has increased when she answers questions and how she is not questioning every word that she tries to write. Her language skills have improved so much. (Just a little funny note - We were reading Poe tonight; and of course, the story was quite terrifying. SS locked her bedroom window right afterward and told me that she plans to put something in front of the crack under her door so that maybe she can sleep tonight. Let's hope that she doesn't have to read too many more of his stories!)

And Now In Color!

My new shoe closet, completely finished!

These pictures actually are not accurate in color, but you get the idea. The color is really more green and less turquoise. The color in the picture is the color that the boys wanted us to paint the living room, though. Now to find a rug, some lamps, a chair, and some curtains... All should be fun, except the rug. I'm never a huge fan of paying for an area rug for my dog to roll on and people to walk all over. Wish that there was some kind of retractable rug that I could pull out in the evening when it's just me and hubby or when we have company over. Yes, I know, a little crazy! :-D