Christmas Day

Christmas day actually started out slow for us. We had a lazy morning and then had to be at Aaron's Grandma's house at 11:00. We did lunch and then presents (for the kids only). I was the big idiot who completely for got my camera! It was nice to see everyone. Unfortunately, the kids opened their presents and then it was time to run. Our goal was to get to my parents' house (after stopping home for the camera, of course) before Julie fell asleep in the car . . . and we actually managed to do that!

-

Christmas with my parents is actually a rather drawn out affair. My grandparents (my mom's parents) drive down from Wisconsin, usually getting there b/w 6:00 and 7:oo in the evening, and then stay for 3 days. It's the only time that we see them during the year, so we basically spend those 3 days at my parents house. It's always a treat to see them, but by the end of those 3 days I'm ready to get back to normal life!

-

I made up for all of my slack picture taking over Christmas while at my mom's house. Of course, having Grandma and Grandpa in town means several rounds of posed pictures . . . Just the great-grandkids, then the Great Great grandparents with all the littles, then the 4 generation pictures . . . and the list goes on . . . At times like this, it's wonderful to have the super speed camera, where I can take 30 pictures in a minute or so. And when you take that many pictures, you have to figure that you'll get at least one that looks good! : ) Unfortunatley, I filled up my 1G memory card and had to borrow a card from my mom! Sad, I know.

-

I love this one of the girls with their cousins (My sister's boys)

(L-R, Emma (6), Julie (20 mos), Ali (7), Austin (9), Kevin (3) and Megan (3)

-

Christmas dinner was actually awesome this year. B/c my grandparents were getting in so late we did presents with my mom & dad early, then fed the kids dinner at about 5:00. So when Grandma and Grandpa got their (about 6:30) we did presents with them, and then I put the kids to bed. So we got to have dinner with no children . . . very nice! Kevin and Austin watched a movie and the adults enjoyed adult conversation!

-

This time I actually managed to get a picture of Aaron with the girls! Amazing! : ) (These are the previously mentioned cute jammies!

-

The girls got several gifts that they were excited about. Ali and Emma got tea dresses for their American Girl dolls. Emma loves her new Magic kit (I think she's feeling a bit disillusioned to learn that she's not actually doing magic - but she likes trying to fool her sisters . . . Meg makes a great audience). Meg got an Island Princess Barbie and a Donkey plush toy. Julie got her Bitty Baby (now named Baby Anna) and sleeps with her nightly. Another of Julie's favorites was one that wasn't even given to her - One of Emma's books. (Sidenote - Yes those are hives you see on Julie . . . I guess it was from a virus b/c they're gone now.)

-

Over the next three days we enjoyed lots of chat time, played loads of Cribbage (and other games), went out to Fortel's for pizza and saw lots of dog barf! (I know, sounds yummy! My grandparents have 2 little lap dogs and one of them got into Richard's chocolate - what a mess!)

-

Now we are back at home and trying to get back to some type of normal. The Christmas Tree came down on the morning of the 26th (I asked the girls if they would mind me taking it down on the evening og the 24th - they weren't especially crazy about the idea!) We're trying to clean up and find places for everything. I also have a quarter's worth of school that I'm trying to plan. Tonight we have our annual New Year's Eve festivities (pictures coming soon - assuming that I don't forget, of course). Aaron heads back to work on Wednesday, we start back to school on Monday.

My Favorite . . .

Of all of the Christmas celebrations that we are a part of, my favorite by far is our family Christmas at home. It's so wonderful to have a relaxing day at home!!

-

We actually do our family celebration on Christmas Eve . . . that is one of the best decisions we ever made! No opening presents and then running off to see other family. We have an entire day to ourselves, and I love it!

-

The night before we let the kids open one present (which is the same thing every year - Jammies! Ali and Emma have finally caught on to that pattern!) So the next morning they are all in their new cute jammies - it makes for great pictures! : )

-

Usually we do cupcakes for breakfast (healthy, I know) and we sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. This year I just didn't have the stamina or the time to bake cupcakes, but the girls were happy to settle for Barbie Pop Tarts : ) After breakfast we all move to the living room where Aaron reads the Christmas Story from the Bible. It's fun to listen to the kids discussing, asking questions and commenting. It's a great time to sit and focus, stepping away from all of the chaos. Then, we move on to presents.

-

My picture taking was (as previously mentioned) quite pathetic. I didn't even take a group picture of the girls . . . oh well! The "Big" gift this year was the Game Cube from Aaron and I. The girls haven't had much gaming experience, but they have played Mario Kart on the Alligood's Game Cube, and wanted it badly.

-

The girls do all of their Christmas shopping for each other at the Dollar Store . . . so they had many little cheapy gifts to open. Some of them didn't even make it through the day, but it was fun while it lasted. In fact, one of Julie's favorites was a toy cell phone. She walked around all day talking on that thing!

-

As mentioned previously, I did manage to take 2 naps on Christmas Eve . . . ahhh bliss!! After nap time we did actually get everyone dressed (we had thus far spent the entire day in our jammies!) and headed over to the Alligood's for an hour or so. Amber's parents came in town late the previous night and were only staying for two days, so we wanted to get over to visit a bit. It was great to see "Grammy and Papa" (as my kids call them). We came back home to dinner, ready in the crock pot. We played some games, and called it an early night!

Still Going . . .

Yes, more Christmas to celebrate!

-
On Sunday (12/23) the girls had their long awaited handbell performance. They have been practicing for this for months and this was the big day. They performed 2 songs (Angels We Have Heard on High and The First Noel). Ali was one of 7 or 8 kids who played the melody part (the rest played chords). She has actually had to practice at home daily (for those of you who know how musically bankrupt I am, you can just imagine how helpful I was in that endeavor!) It's a miracle that she ever learned her parts!! They both did a great job. Grandma Klarner even made it to church to see them. After bells, all of the children, third grade and under did their Christmas presentation. I always love watching this. Ali and Emma are old enough now that they aren't the little ones standing in the front row showing off their panties, but these kids really are hilarious.

-
After church on Sunday we headed to the Alligoods house for the annual Patton/Alligood Christmas party. That is always a treat for us. The kids had a great time, and the adults stayed up until the wee hours playing games (sidenote: you know you're getting old when you consider 11:00 to be "the wee hours").
-
What a great looking bunch of kids!

Kicking Off Our Crazy Christmas!

Christmas was crazy for us this year, as usual! Every year I swear that next year something has got to change. My husband is off of work for an entire week, and I come away feeling more exhausted than I was when he was working!!
-
Well, We kicked off the Christmas festivities with the Patton side of the family this year. On Saturday (12/22) we did Christmas with them. it was really nice to do it early and have a laid back kind of a day. I even fell asleep on their couch at one point!
-

The girls got all kinds of things that they are thrilled about. One thing that I loved was the nice collection of hairbows that we got (thanks Aunt Lydia and Grandma Patton!) Those things get expensive fast, so it was a great Christmas idea! Julie managed to model several of them (until they got to be too heavy and started falling out!)

-
At one point, Aaron ended up taking Baby Bailey so that Grandma could open a present (I know, poor Aaron). Well, the bummer is that Julie did a lot of unsupervised wandering! Yes, she wandered right into a marker, which obviously jumped right into her mouth and just spread from there! Yes, all because Aaron was busy holding the baby . . . so I blame Lydia! Thanks a lot Lyd! : ) And of course, I couldn't help but to grab the camera!

-
Here we have one of Meg and Julie's favorites. Grandma Patton made them a Veggie Tales pillow . . . it was just begging to be used (hence that little nap on the couch)! Julie kept coming to me and saying "Way down, go fweep" (Read: Lay down, go sleep)

-

This might be Ali's all time favorite gift for this Christmas. Grandma Patton got her an old-fashioned Wizard of Oz lunchbox and a set of four Wizard of Oz "Christmas Ornaments." Really they are little dolls with hangers on them so they can be hung up. Well, Ali quickly asked me if we could cut the hangers off and just let them be dolls. Fine by me . . . I wasn't about to torture her be packing them away with the Christmas ornaments for the next 11 months. So, way to go Grandma! The dolls were a hit!

-

One thing that I discovered while at the Pattons was that I am not used to sitting around all day long. I was SO exhausted and I kept wondering why, since I had gotten enough sleep the night before . . . then it dawned on me that I never stay in one place for that long!! I had the same experience with every Christmas celebration (Excepting our family Christmas - I took two naps that day!). . . I was very tired. Also, I did a pretty rotten job taking pictures (the one exception to that is yet to come). Mostly I just forgot . . . I know . . . Pathetic!

Christmas Party!

We did finally wrap up our semester with a "school" Christmas Party. Amber came over with the kids on Friday (12/21). They Decorated cut-out brownies for their Daddies, made Christmas Ornaments, watched Mickey's Christmas Carol, gave their Pilgrim Presentations (which they did a great job with) and sung Christmas Carols. In between times, they just played together, while Amber and I chilled out on the couch - both of us exhausted and ready to be done with school for a few weeks!

-

As a special treat, we hired sitters and went out for the evening (Jason, Amber, Aaron and myself). We enjoyed Longhorn for dinner and National Treasure 2 on opening night . . . What a treat!!

Baby Bookworm

I've mentioned before how all of my girls love to read. Well, Julie has really amazed me here lately. For her age, it's really amazing to me how much she loves books. I had to share this story.

-

My kids have roomtime every day. They play by themselves in their room (or another room in the house where they can be isolated) and they love it. With four little girls in the house, it's great for them to have some time to play by themselves, imagine whatever they want, and not have to share anything. Roomtime lasts for one hour. On this particular day, I told Julie it was time for roomtime. She asked to have some books on her bed, so I gave her some. She climbed up and started "reading." I also got out a box of toys for her to play with. When I came back, an hour later, to get her out, this is what I found. The toys were untouched, and she was still looking at her books. She greeted me with this huge laughing smile, as if to say, "Has it been an hour already?" I love it!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!

Well, the man of the house officially turned 29 today! Happy Birthday to a wonderful Hubby, Daddy, and friend.

The celebration has been rather drawn out . . . beginning with a birthday date night on Monday, then an early family birthday dinner at Fortel's last night, and finally a yummy birthday dessert tonight. Unfortunately, tonight is youth group night, and as it's Jason and Amber's last night in youth ministry and the white elephant Christmas party, he didn't want to miss it.

DONE!

Well, our second quarter has come to a close. On Friday we're having a Christmas party, and the kids will be giving presentations on the Pilgrims (which I will need to give grades for) . . . but other than that, we're done!! Hours have been logged, grades have been tabulated, books have been put away. It's a wonderful feeling!

I managed to make it through an entire semester of homeschooling, and I only spontaneously canceled school once due to sheer exhaustion. I must say, I'm impressed. I'm now realizing that I need to do a school supply check so that we're thoroughly supplied to start back in January. Now I can kick back, put my feet up and enjoy Christmas! (Yeah, right!!) I guess I should say that I need to get my butt in gear, clean my house, finish wrapping presents, baking, sewing, etc . . . Oh well . . . at least school is done for the year!

Haircuts

Actually, all four girls got haircuts this week. Ali and Emma actually went to my friend Jessica (who runs a salon in Pacific) to get cleaned up a little. You really don't notice much of a difference in length, but it was pathetic to see the split ends on Emma!!

Meg and Julie got Mommy haircuts. Meg needed a real cut, and she looks adorable. For Julie it was just a trim of the bangs (I had been debating growing out her bangs, but I gave that up for now). But now, she has a horrible mullet (major pet peeve of mine) so she's going to Jessica tomorrow to take care of that!! More pictures to come!

Paper Chain

One of our Christmas traditions is that every year I make a paper chain for the kids. Each link has a special activity written on it that we do together (read a book, watch a movie, bake something, sing Christmas Carols, etc . . . ) Well, we've been rather slack with the paper chain this year (i.e. yesterday we pulled off 3 links, and now have some catching up to do!) I also haven't taken many pictures . . . but here's one. This is on Gingerbread House day (another tradition). It's been fun this year, b/c Meg is participating more. Poor little Jules just got to watch from afar!

Fun in the Snow!

This past weekend we had our first now of the year. In all, we got a good 8 inches, and our children are thrilled!! Saturday was the day it all fell, and we had the Alligood kids for the day. They got out at about 11:30 and pretty well cleared the front yard by making a snoman, pulling the sled, and many snowballs. Within a few hours enough snow has fallen so that you couldn't even tell they had been out there!

Our snow man didn't last long. He must have been unstable, b/c he fell over after about 15 minutes, and they all had a blast jumping on him and smashing him to pieces!

Jonah and Ali chillin' on the front porch.

Emma "pulling" Megan, Aubrey and Karis

-

-

And if I thought it was bad getting 4 kids in from the snow . . . That's nothing . . .try seven! : ) And here's the mess to prove it!

Merry Christmas!

Hi there everyone! In order to keep my Christmas Card budget down I'm doing a virtual card and letter. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas from the Patton family!
2007 has flown by, as usual, but it has been a great year!

Our little Julie is now 1 ½, and is such a riot. While she has always been a chatterbox, here lately she has really expanded her vocabulary, and we can now understand most of what she is saying. (A nice perk!) We call her ourlittle kangaroo, as she spends most of her waking hours jumping from place to place. Yes, she started jumping at theage of 15 months (much to my chagrin) and it is hilarious to watch her. Another favorite pastime of her is looking at books. The other day I decided to lie down to read and she sat on my bed next to me for a full hour looking at 10 books. “Wead to me!” is one of her favorite phrases. Her favorites include: Sister time, room time, jumping, laughing, reading and Veggie Tales.

Megan is now 3, and is a very happy little thing. It seems that she is always laughing, or making others laugh. She has finally given up her thumb (with rare relapses) and Mommy is thrilled to be done with that! This year she has really enjoyed weekly trips to the library, where she gets to bring her backpack and fill it with 10 books. She spends two hours every day looking at those books (plus others) during naptime, which she really looks forward to. (Unfortunately, actually sleeping during naptime stopped with the thumb!) Her favorites include: Playing with her sisters, room time, playing Polly Pockets, reading and laughing.

Emma is now 6 and is in Kindergarten this year. She is being home schooled and is loving it. She is our little Math genius (those genes obviously came from her father!). Next week she will finish up Kindergarten math and starts first grade math in January. (And is loving every minute of it . . . I know . . . I think it’s weird too!) One of her big milestones this year was finishing up reading lessons. I know that I have mentioned the fact that she was working on them in my past two Christmas letters . . . and now they’re done! Her favorites include: playing with her sisters, playing soccer (or anything outside), coloring, and reading chapter books.

Ali turned 7 this year and is in second grade. She is also being home schooled this year and loves it as well. Anytime she sees the bus drive by she comments about how she could just be getting home now (at 4:15) and that she’s glad that isn’t the case. History is Ali’s favorite subject. We have just spent an entire quarter learning about the Pilgrims, and it’s really fascinating to her. Tooth pulling has become a bit of a habit for Ali . . . it’s feels like she’s lost dozens of teeth, and she’s no wimp about it. As soon one is loose she’s pulling and twisting, determined to have it out a.s.a.p. This was the year that she lost the two front teeth and she really looks so different. : ( Another addition for Ali this year has been piano lessons with Grandma Patton. She enjoys it for the most part (especially since it means time with Grandma) but isn’t crazy about practice time! : ) Probably the biggest highlight to Ali’s year was going out on a date with Mommy to pick out a kitten at the Humane Society. Ali’s favorites include: Playing with her sisters (and other friends), reading, drawing/coloring, reading, singing, reading, dancing, and oh, did I mention reading? If you ever wonder where Ali is, it’s safe to assume that she’s curled up on her bed with a good book.

Life for Aaron is carrying on as usual. He is still working for Boeing, and enjoying it (mostly). He changes positions within the company periodically, which is nice exposure and a nice change of pace. He is actually looking at the possibility of working from home in the near future. That would be nice (if it actually happens) as he already has a 45 minute commute (each direction) and highway 40 is closing down in less than a month – which will certainly add to congestion all over the St. Louis area! He is still working with the high school youth group at church, and is also co-leading a Growing Kids God’s Way class on Friday nights. His favorites include: Date nights, family game nights, Cardinals baseball, fiddling on the computer and reading.

I guess that leaves me . . . Life seems to have changed a lot over this past year. Most of that change is due to home schooling, which is going amazingly well. I feel like everyone is thriving and our day is very structured. The one thing that I’m still struggling with is keeping my house clean! Ali and Emma are very helpful in that area, but it’s still a work in progress : ). At the end of October, I joined a local gym and am actually finding that I can enjoy exercising. (I never thought that would happen!) I am also part of the Growing Kids class on Friday nights (we are co-leading it with Bruce and Geralyn Keller). This class has been a great challenge for us as we think through how we parent our children, what our goals are for them, and where we are in that process. The last time we did this class, Emma was a newborn, so life has changed quite a bit since then. Surprisingly, one of my highlights this year has been the addition of our kitten, Polly. I’m certainly not an animal person, but was willing to go for a cat. She has turned out to be the sweetest and most social cat in the whole world, and I’m so glad we got her! This year I also started up our family blog that I have really enjoyed keeping up. My favorites include: Date nights, girls nights out, taking pictures and reading.

We hope this letter finds you all well and rejoicing in the birth of our Lord, Savior and soon coming King!

Because He lives,

Aaron, Andrea,
Alison, Emma, Megan and Julie
Patton

In Memoriam

Last week we were shocked and saddened with the news we received. Alex Sutherland, a dear man from our church, passed away suddenly on December 3rd. He was 57 years old.

I didn't know him well. I knew him by reputation from his family and other dear friends. He was a jolly Scotsman through and through and a Godly man who loved the Lord supremely. He would sometimes lead worship, and would regulary read scripture as a call to worship. I loved hearing him read scripture. He did a great job helping me focus and prompting me to worship (and I must mention that he had an adorable Scottish accent, which was so sweet to listen to!! : ) ) His last call to worship, only hours before his death, was very moving to me. He was speaking on the topic of citizenship. To realize how instantaneous citizenship really is. Like he said (speaking of US citizenship ceremonies) . . . "You have a room full of aliens, and then a few words later they are full fledged citizens, with all of the rights, priveledges and responsibilties of a citizen." It is the same thing for those of us who are in Christ. At one point we were aliens, and then in an instant we became citizens of heaven. I remember when he was done talking, thinking, "It's just a shame that we carry on here for so long, as aliens in this world!" Little did I know that Alex would soon experience his heavenly citizenship to its fullest. I can just imagine that sweet accent praising our Lord, never to leave His presence again!

For more on Alex, you can visit www.alexsutherland.com

To read (and contribute to, if so desired) the memorials that have been writtien about Alex you can visit www.alexsutherland.blogspot.com

The "Throw-up Vacuum Cleaner"

Today has been "one of those days" . . . though not in a bad sense, just a busy one. The hardest part of homeschooling to me has been trying to figure out how I'm going to keep my house clean. This week we were able to get ahead a bit in school and today all I had to do was read with Emma and give Ali a math test. So, today has been cleaning day. I decided that I really needed to get into all three bedrooms and do a thorough purge of all unecessary items. I love to throw things away . . . almost to a fault. : )

So, right now it's 2:30 and I'm still wearing my pajamas (I tend to do this on cleaning days). I have finished Meg and Julie's room, and am almost done with Ali and Emma's. They did help me with most of it, but when it comes down to nitty gritty organizing and throwing things away, that's a job that I really need to do on my own. I even steam cleaned Meg and Julie's room . . . hence, my title.

I brought the steam cleaner up from the basement and Meg piped up with, "Oh, you're going to use the throw-up vacuum cleaner?" The reality of the matter is that the only time she sees me use it is when someone has barfed. Any large-area steam cleaning happens once she's in bed. So as I chuckled to myself, I responded with "Yes, I am" and left it at that. Then a few minutes later I called her upstairs . . . she came into the kitchen and very matter-of-factly asked, "Oh . . . did you throw up yet?" This time I laughed out loud and told her that no one was going to throw up (at least not if they know what's good for them). The she looked at me like a was an idiot and asked, "Then why are you using the throw-up vacuum cleaner?" Duh, mom!

Well, I'm off again. More fun stuff to throw away!

Our Budding Author

This week for language arts, Ali had to write a story using the different characters from a book she recently read. They were all animals (i.e. the badger was called Badger, etc . . . ) She did use them all, but she gave them different names. I couldn't help but to laugh and I thought I'd share. Everything is typed exactly as written, with a space separating pages. The illustrations aren't finished yet . . . I may add those later.
-
Forist Friends
-
By Alison Patton
-
Sam the Rabbit was new in the forest. He thought everything was strange. But Amber the badger was watching.
"Why are you so sad." She said
"I don't knoe anyone." He Said.
"Well I am quite lonely. Maybe you could keep me comony. My name is Amber.
"You should meet Andrew." "He is a beaver.
-
So Sam and Amber went to see Andrew. When he opened the door he said to Sam. "Who are you". "I am Sam". Said Sam. Princess Patricia doesn't like rabbits even if they're friendly. Uh-oh. Said Amber.
Andrew said. Maybe we could go to the Plum Palace and convence
-
her to like rabbits. Maybe said Amber.
But first we need to get everyone else.
-
But Prince Patric and Princess Patricia both don't like rabbits. So they got: Police Polly, Anglina the artist, George the Garbige-man and Tofoo the guy who dilivers newspapers.
But soon it was night time and they had acorn stew for dinner.
-
They made beds of leaves. When it was morning they made nutmeal for breakfast.
-
When they came to Paddle-Pond Amber noticed the acorn slippers.
-
She Put them on and wished them to Plum Palace. Soon they were there in front of Princess Patricia.
-
She gasped. She yelled "A RABBIT!"
"Patric! Patric!"
"Come now!"
-
A rabbit said Prince Patric
"Please alaw him to stay and be nice to him or I'll throw you in Jail Said Police Polly.
-
"All right I will." She said "But don't eat my carrots."

Black Friday

Well, we made it through Thanksgiving. It's been a crazy week, and now it's time for us to enjoy Black Friday.
-
No shopping for us . . . our family tradition for today is to do our own Thanksgiving dinner, at home with just our family. It's a nice change of pace, and so great to just chill out and enjoy some time together. We can hang out in our jammies all day long if we choose. We also get the house decorated for Christmas. Aaron puts the tree together while I work on dinner, and later we all decorate it together. This year I was way ahead of the game. I had almost all of my side dishes ready and refrigerated. It's really been kind of wierd, because I'm usually on my feet all day long working on dinner and Christmas Tree stuff.

This morning I had nothing to do. Aaron was working on the tree, the girls were all in roomtime . . . so I got to lie down and read for a while. Quite a treat!!

Dinner turned out great! I had plenty of time to clean up as the day went by. We didn't finish getting out all of the Christmas decorations, but it sure was a great day!!

Daddy adding the star before ornaments go up!

We pose this one every year!
(This is the first time I've had all 4 girls in it though!)

I love this one of Jules!! She had a hard time hanging ornaments . . . here it's like she's saying, "Maybe if I just set it here it will stay put!" No such luck . . . sorry baby!

Time for dinner!

World Bird Sanctuary

This past Monday we had quite an adventure. Aaron had stayed home for the day b/c he had a project for his Master's class that he needed to finish up. He was nearly finished so we decided to call the Alligoods and see if they'd like to have an impromptu field trip to the World Bird Sanctuary, since both Dads were home and we were just finishing up a bird unit in science. That all sounded great until Amber mentioned some weird abdominal pain that she was having that had kept her up the night before. Fearing that I was hearing appendicitis symptoms, I suggested that she call her doctor (which she did). He had the same concerns and sent her to the ER. The good news is that the kids are all doing the same stuff for school right now, so we just had a larger than normal homeschool class. After we were done with most of our school stuff, Aaron and I decided to be adventurous and take all seven of them to the Bird Sanctuary anyway.
-

(All 7 kids crowded around the chicken who later tried to peck Aubrey in the face - completely freaking her out!!)

-

It was a wonderful day for an outdoor field trip. Highs in the 70s, gentle breeze. We looked at a few birds inside, then spent the rest of the time looking at outdoor exhibits. Some of the birds they had were massive . . . it really was shocking to see them in person. It was cute to hear the kids shouting "Look at those sharp talons and his curved beak . . . that's a bird of prey!" They were able to observe some of the bird facts that they've accumulated of the past few weeks and also get out some extra energy.
-

(Then, of course, I can't resist the big group shots. Having a super speed camera is wonderful . . . when you can take 20 shots in 5 seconds, you're bound to get one where everyone is looking at the camera!!)
-
We ended our trip with lunch for 9 at McDonalds - boy were we a sight! The little ones took good naps, the big kids enjoyed a movie together and I went to the gym! Jason and Amber were home just before dinner (No appendix problems - a hemorrhaging cyst on her ovary. Painful, but not urgent.) and the kids were sad that they didn't get to stay the night!

Recital

Last Sunday we had an early Thanksgiving with the Patton side of the family. Aaron has an aunt and uncle who had to leave to to head back to Brazil the next day (where they are missionaries) so, this was our opportunity to include them in the Thanksgiving festivities. Well, Aaron's mom (who gives Ali piano lessons) decided that Thanksgiving was going to be the day for a recital. She only does lessons for 3 of her grandkids, and therefore has never done recitals of any kind . . . but this was a performance opportunity with a captive audience of 40 people! : ) Ali was the first to play (followed by Blake, then Bekah). She played three songs and did a great job. She has been learning on a cheapy keyboard ever since she started, so actually playing on a real piano was a first for her. Thankfully, she had a bit of practice time before everyone got there. Grandma also talked to her about some "recital etiquette" (i.e. if you mess up, keep going, nobody knows you messed up unless you tell them) She did a great job, and we are very proud of her!

A Pleasant Surprise!

Last Thursday I received a phonecall from an old friend of mine. Anne Long (then Biebel) is an old youth group friend, who now lives in Washington State. The last time we saw each other was 5 years ago. So I was pleasantly surprised when she called yesterday, saying that she was at Clarkson and Manchester (A nearby intersection for those of you who aren't local). She was in town for 72 hours and had about a half an hour to kill, so she was able to swing by.
-

It was such a treat to be able to see her and her girls . . . She has 3 - Alli - 9, Emma - 6, and Lily - 3 . . . She also has great taste in names. Alli wasn't able to make it, but the other girls had a blast together. We were able to sit and chat - it was like being in highschool again (except for the 6 girls in the other room : ) )

-

Fun on the swingset

-

Quite a crew!!

(L-R Meg, Ali P., Emma P., Emma L., Lily and Julie)

Merry Christmas to Me!

My sweet husband recently surprised me with the early knowledge of my Christmas present. Fearing that he couldn't keep such a big purchase a secret, he let me in on it. It just arrived via UPS this afternoon and I am now the proud owner of a Canon Digital Rebel XTi! Needless to say, I'm shocked and thrilled. Aaron has never dropped such a big surprise, and I'm touched : )

The Rebel has been a kind of pipe dream for me for a little while now - I actually used one that a friend of mine had . . . until then I didn't know what I was missing out on! Unfortunately, my current camera was still quite new, so I never would have dreamed of actually asking for it. Now I'm excited to be able to bestow my "old" camera on some missionary friends who are headed to Africa. Certainly it will be put to good use.

So, now I'm enjoying fiddling with my new toy and taking pictures of everything in sight! It's amazing how fun a picture of your entertainment center can be when you have a new camera!! : ) Many more pictures to come . . .

Owl Barf

Yes, I know it sounds appetizing, but this was the story of my afternoon.

Right now we are doing a chapter in science on bird diets. As a hands on activity they had us dissecting owl pellets . . . which, yes . . . is owl vomit. All of that yummy stuff that their bodies can't digest . . . they cough it back up. The really sad part is that we pay for it and let our kids pick it apart. : ) The Alligoods joined us for this activity (they are using the same science curriculum) - Amber said that I had to be in charge b/c she refused to touch it.

-

I expected Ali and Karis to be the squeamish ones - I was wrong. Here we have Ali and Jonah proudly displaying the rodent skulls they dug up! . . . We'll have to display this one at their wedding!

-

Amber ended up participating - but only with gloves on : ) Karis was actually willing to dive right in!

-

Emma was the last of the 4 to actually touch the stuff with her fingers. She tried her hardest to pick it apart with a plastic fork and knife - but she eventually gave in. She was actually the last one to stop, and that was after I told her that her time was up.

-

And here we have a sample of our findings. The pellets did come with a bone sorting chart, and in the end, we were pretty sure that Karis had a mole and the rest of them had rodents of some sort. They were all very proud of their findings and I still have rodent bones sitting on my counter!

Life . . .

We are now settling in to "life" - trying to get back to normal. We are all so routine dependent, and when that is disturbed, we pay for it! : ) I really have a love/hate relationship with holidays . . . I love all of the fun that comes along with them and the family traditions, etc . . . but I hate trying to recover. Thankfully, we are done with Halloween. But as I look at the calendar, Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away (So early this year!!), and after that, we are thrust into Christmas. I remember the days when Christmas took forever to get here . . . and now here I am in the beginning of November, bracing myself to deal with it. Sigh . . .

Really, "recovery" is going well. We jumped back into our normal routine with school this week (last week was one of "those weeks" - the kind that I was afraid of back before I started homeschooling.) but now we're back.

-

Ali's new thing in her day is handbell practice. She and Emma are both going to be a part of a Christmas handbell choir at church. Emma is just doing chords (which requires no practice), but Ali is part of the melody. She was chosen for this b/c she is one of the older kids in the group and she can "read music." When I say "read music," I mean that she recognizes a quarter note, half note, etc . . . The poor child has very little sense of rhythm. Counting appropriately and clapping her part was a major undertaking for her . . . but I have to admit, she's getting there. Rather than clapping (which, strangely, tends to slow her down) I just have her play her note on the piano. She is very proud of herself, and ought to be. So many things in her life come easy to her (math and music would be the 2 exceptions!) and aside from learning her part, she is learning the life lesson of diligently working at something that is difficult.

Emma is quickly becoming a little bookworm. When she finished her reading lessons, it was like light came on and it all in the sudden dawned on her that she could read . . . funny, b/c she's been reading (at varying levels) for a long time now. For school she is reading a Pathway Reader. It's a hardback reader with chapters . . . she just beams as she talks about "the chapter book" she's reading. She knows that Ali reads chapter books and her goal in life is to be just like Ali. I have also been purposeful in noticing Emma's strengths here lately. She tends to be my . . . how should I say it . . . "Intense" child. That can be quite frustrating on a regular basis. So I decided to pay more attention to her strengths . . . they all have strengths and weaknesses, right? Well, I have been greatly encouraged as I have watched her. I have noticed amazing compassion and care for others and a willingness to stand up for what is right. We're still working on some problem areas (as we are with all of the girls) but it's been great to see this in Emma.

Megan is in the middle of "Spankfest 2007." Do I really need to say more? We're getting there . . . : ) Really, Meg tends to be a rather emotional child . . . which means that it doesn't take much for her to burst into flames. So, we're working on some major self-control issues with her. But, the upside is that she is mostly an abundantly sweet and happy child . . . she really is hilarious. She loves to laugh, whether she gets the joke or not, and is the source of constant conversation.

Right now, I think that Julie must be learning French (or some other language that I don't speak : ) ) She is at a point right now where her speach is changing a lot, which is really very adorable. Some words are sounding more like they are supposed to (i.e. Miss Sherry (neighbor across the street) use to be "sassy" now she's "she-wee" or Grandma used to be "ma ma" and is now "me ma") but much of what she's saying I am not understanding. Even simple things like "drink" or "more please" . . . I find her repeating herself a lot with a tone in her voice that is saying "What's wrong with you lady, don't you understand English?" Strangely, Megan has been quite helpful in translating this new language. No doubt I will catch up on her new language just in time for it to change again! Julie is also quite a "laugher" if that's even a word. . . she almost makes a sport of it. She does what we affectionately call her "serial killer laugh." It's a hilarious, but also pretty creepy laugh that is really throaty. You can often find Julie hopping around the house like a kangaroo and laughing like a crazy person. :)

-

So here I am looking at my wacky kids . . . they really are a riot. I have been very challenged with regard to my parenting here lately. I have been reading what Tim Daniels has been posting on his blog about Elizabeth as she walks through this horrible experience with cancer. I have been humbled. I look at my sweet girls and think about the everyday fun as well as the challenges . . . then I'm reminded not to lose sight of our long term goals. I wonder . . . "if my 13 year old were having to walk through something like that, could she do it righteously?" (or, for that matter, could I do it righteously?) Would she have the self-control to deal with all of the things she doesn't want to deal with? Have we laid a foundation such that she would trust her mom and dad as we make decisions regarding her care, or would she butt against that, thinking that she knows everything? It's been a good reminder to not become burdened by my daily tasks, but to see them as part of the whole . . . to remember why I'm doing what I'm doing.

Halloween Fun

Well, last night we did the "real thing," turtlenecks and all. Poor Emma came down with a cold yesterday and just as we were getting ready to trick-or-treat, I noticed that she had a fever. Oh well, the show must go on. Thankfully, she was feeling fine (by her own confession) even if she did look horrible. They all had a fun night. Everyone recognized Dorothy and Belle. Elizabeth, not so much, though many called her a colonial girl (not knowing her name). Little Julie (who was a sheep) was consistently referred to as a bunny . . . an idea that was probably helped along by the fact that she hops everywhere she goes. Jonah, Karis and Aubrey (dressed as a knight and two faeries) joined us, as usual. We also enjoyed a bit of a Halloween party across the street in Miss Sherry's garage, complete with hotdogs, donuts, chips and juice pouches . . . and they wonder why I woudn't let them have any candy!?

Here they all are trick-or-treating at Mrs. Bedo's house - What a crew! (And who's that handsome fella with all those kids?)

-

Here we have Ali and her future husband! (wishful thinking on the mommies' parts, I know!) : ) Hopefully once they're older she won't stand almost a full head taller than him!

-

And here we have all seven with "Maw Maw." This is Miss Sherry's mom, who lives with her. Last year for Christmas we gave her a framed copy of last year's Halloween picture . . . so now for the past 3 months she's been talking about wanting to take another one this year. : )

-

Then finally we have the whole group, newly costumed. Really, are they darling, or what?

Join Me In Prayer

Please check out the new Blog I have just started. It's the Daniels Family Update, and for those of you who are interested, you can catch up on how things are going with Elizabeth and her family as they walk through their battle with cancer.

Happy Halloween!

Yes, it's a bit early, I know. But last year we started a tradition of doing 2 Halloweens! All of our family lives locally, and everyone wants to see the kids (and for that matter, we like to show them off!) Starting with Ali's first Halloween we have always made the rounds to Aaron's Grandma, then his parents, then my parents. As the kids got older (and there were more of them!) we realized this had to stop. We were spending all evening in the van. So we decided that we would do an early Halloween each year. We dress the kids up and make the rounds the weekend before Halloween and then just spend the 31st trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. It seems to be a really great arrangement . . . the kids get to dress up twice and I get pictures early. They also get to dress up without turtle necks, coats, etc . . . when they go to grandma's house b/c they aren't outside much.

Well, here they are . . .

Yes, Ali was Dorothy this year. She was especially excited to wear short sleeves and socks to Grandma's house . . . on Halloween she'll be wearing tights and a turtleneck . . . she knows it's necessary (she's ALWAYS cold!) but still feels that it isn't really authentic.

Emma was Elizabeth. (Elizabeth is her American Girl doll for those of you that are out of the loop there. Revolutionary war period, daughter of a Loyalist, friend to Felicity) Yes, this is the dress I made her for her birthday . . . so nice to be able to use it for Halloween!

-

Meg was Belle (from Beauty and the Beast - ironically a movie that she has never seen!) This was just an old one from the dress up box, but she thinks it's wonderful b/c she got to be a princess.

And this costume wins the award for being used the most, having been worn by Emma, Meg and Julie. I made this little sheep when Emma was one. Ali was Little Bo Peep and Emma was the sheep. I sold the Bo Peep dress at Once Upon a Child several years ago, figuring I would never be able to use it again. They wouldn't take the sheep b/c it had a tiny hole in it. This year I really mourned the loss of that dress . . . Meg and Julie would have been adorable as a set. None the less, Julie made an sweet little sheep . . . and what's really great is that it's a warm and cozy costume!

=

-

And finally, we have all four girls together! They are quite a bunch!