Two more school pics

We just got Henry and Caroline's school picture retakes back, and they turned out much better. Henry still doesn't like to show his teeth for his picture, but he's done that ever since he was in preschool.

Caroline's is a keeper too. :)
Now, to get Evan's three year old picture done...wish me luck on that one!

Leftovers and Christmas Artwork by Caroline

There's nothing that beats a turkey sandwich after Thanksgiving, although this recipe for Turkey Tetrazinni comes in a close second in my book. My whole family loves it. Even Evan, our pickiest eater, declared it yummy. You might want to give it a try!

Turkey Tetrazinni

3 cups cooked turkey meat cut into bite-sized pieces
1 pound of Linguini
1 very large can :) of Chicken Broth
1 onion
2 celery stalks (diced)
10 fresh mushrooms (sliced
3 sticks of butter
1/2 cup of flour
2 cups of milk
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 roll of Ritz crackers
3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

1. Break linguini in half and add to broth. Bring to a boil and then simmer.
2. Add turkey, onion, celery, and mushrooms.
3. Cook until the pasta is aldente. There should be very little broth left in the pot. Put lid on pot and turn off stove.
4. In a seperate saucepan, melt two sticks of butter.
   
5. Slowly add the flour and keep stirring.
6. Add milk, mushroom soup and one cup of cheese. Keep stirring until the cheese is melted.
7. Add this mixture to the linguini pot and stir.
8. Spray 9 X 13" pan with PAM and add the linguini mixture.
9. Sprinkle 2 cups of cheddar cheese on the top.
10. In a separate saucepan, melt 1 stick of butter. Take a roll of Ritz crackers and empty them into a large storage bag. Squeeze crackers in your hands until they are in small pieces. Add to melted butter and mix well.
11. Sprinkle crackers on top of the casserole.
12. Bake uncovered at 350 for about 45-6o minutes.
13. Enjoy!

Caroline has really been enjoying our easel, and has supplied us with many beautiful Christmas pictures in the past few days!
This one says, "Stop here, Santa!" You might notice that there are 26 hearts on this picture...that means that there are 26 days until Christmas. :)

Super Dave

On Thanksgiving Day, Dave played in our neighborhood's Turkey Bowl (football game). His team won, he played well, and there was a picture of them in the newspaper! Dave was pretty happy...Click here to see the picture.

And because it pains me to have a post without a picture within it, here's the boys tonight with their good friends, Alex and Matthew. They wanted to squeeze in a sleepover before Thanksgiving break was over. I can't believe how this week has flown by!

I'll wash the dishes. You two polish the floor.

My kids are so helpful...dontcha think?!

An Old-Fashioned Christmas Parade

We joined my parents for a Christmas Parade through my hometown tonight. It was great...quiet firetrucks, fun characters (ie, Mickey Mouse, Buzz Lightyear and Woody, even Darth Vader joined in on the Christmas fun!), and bagpipers. As my Mom said, "It was like we were living the Christmas Story!" (I loved that scene with the Christmas parade!) Such fun family memories made...

This picture was taken right after they lit the town's Christmas tree.

Waiting and waiting for Santa to come...
And here he is! I apologize for the quality of the video, but it does have a couple of cute moments to it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Evan!

Our baby is THREE! Now, wait, I take that back. Evan would be so offended if he knew that I just called him my baby. Our big boy is THREE!!!!

I decorated a little last night while watching Dancing with the Stars (I love who won!). Evan was soooo cute when he came down this morning to see it. He said, "OH, it's my BIRTHDAY!! Mommy, it's beautiful!"

Here he is opening up a present that he (obviously) really wanted: an Imaginext Dragon Castle (a gift from Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jim)!

He also got the Imaginext Batcave, and he and his siblings had a great time playing together.


He wanted Cinnamon Rolls and Bacon for breakfast...yum!

I took the kids out to Chuck E. Cheese. Maybe next year we'll have a party with some little friends, but having his brothers and sisters doting on him today made him quite happy.


Evan got quite a kick out of the mechanical Chuck E. Cheese. He pulled up a chair and watched him for quite a while. He kept telling me, "Mommy, he's looking at me!"
Happy birthday, sweet Evan! We love you so much!

How does our oldest keep his focus here?

It must be a really good book.

Why don't we have very much furniture in the livingroom?

If we did, where would we have our duck races?
Or where would we wrestle? Or do gymnastics? Or dance? Or fight with oven mitts?

Obviously furniture would just get in the way of what needs to be done. :)

7 kids under one roof

Three friends plus our four kids under one roof. I wondered how it would go with that many kids, if the three different sets of kids would get along. I shouldn't have worried. They kept themselves busy enough that it just might have been easier having the three extra kids.

Henry had said that I don't do enough crafts with him, so I pulled out my reserves and let them have at it...Bendaroos, Paperoni, Suncatchers...you name it, they did it.

One more day of playdates, and then it'll be time to focus on Evan's birthday and Thanksgiving. :)

What a weekend!

We've decluttered and cleaned, grocery shopped (Thanksgiving and filling the pantry) and birthday shopped (Evan), Christmas shopped, planned, laundered, and vaccinated. We've also camped, played with friends, read, did a boy scout service project, played video games, painted nails, board games and football, created some masterpieces,

and built tall skyscrapers. (Note: Will and Seth built this one all the way up to the ceiling!)It was a weekend that was exceedingly full of both work and fun. I am feeling very tired, but also very blessed and content right now. :)

What are the chances...

that these kids get any kind of quality sleep tonight?

It seems a little "iffy" to me. We invited Henry and Seth's friends, Dylan and Will, over for a sleepover/campout tonight. They've been having a fabulous time of playing Ghost in the Graveyard and video games, as well as watching the movie UP. Right now, as I blog, they are in our backyard (with Dave), all bundled up in their tents. I can hear them through the window, laughing and telling ghost stories.

Well, at least they don't have school tomorrow! :)Huge kudos to Dave for camping out with the kids tonight. I've said it before, and I'll say it again...He's a good dad.

Pow Wow Day and H1N1 shots

The kindergarteners at our school celebrate the last day of school before Thanksgiving with a Native American Pow Wow. Caroline made her own vest, head dress, necklace and drum at school today, and happily came home to model it for me.

Seriously, it was just yesterday when Henry was in Kindergarten and did the same thing! (I couldn't find my picture of Seth.)After the kids got home from school, we celebrated the first day of Thanksgiving break with a playdate, pizza and ice cream sandwiches. We then headed over to get our H1N1 shots, because, really, what says celebration more than getting shots, huh?!

The kids were all anxious about getting them, especially Henry. It was surprising that he was the most anxious, considering the fact that he has gotten 3 allergy shots a week for the past year. You'd think that he would have been the most relaxed about it. It seems that one of his friends told him that the shots were about an inch long, and REALLY HURT. You can imagine Henry's relief when the nurse told the kids that they could get the nasal mist instead of the shot. Seth, Caroline and Evan received theirs, and then it was Henry's turn. You can imagine his renewed anxiety and anguish when the nurse told him that because he gets allergy shots, he could not get the nasal mist. It was back to the shot. Poor, poor kid.

When it was all said and done, Henry said that it wasn't that bad, except for the fact that tomorrow is Saturday. He can't tell all his friends about his HUGE shot (which really was only a measly 1/2 long). :)

Caroline's Door

Last night, when we were putting the kids to bed, I noticed a couple things on Caroline's door...
The snowflake: She had just learned how to make snowflakes all by herself, and the speed that she was making them was seriously comparable to Will Farrell snowflake-making speed in Elf. :)

The sign: (Click on the picture if you'd like to see it bigger.) It reads "DOO NOT ETR!" (I love the way she spells things!) I believe she was trying to keep her brothers out of her room. Being so outnumbered with her male siblings, I don't blame her for wanting to have her room be a private retreat.

That's it for tonight...I'm off to catch up on my sleep

An Act of War

Apparently, according to Evan, putting on oven mitts is an act of war. Dave did just that when he took our baked spaghetti out of the oven tonight.

Evan had no choice. He readied himself for battle by suiting up with a pair of oven mitts himself.

The battle began with Dave outnumbered two to one. Caroline fought alongside her brother.

Weapons raised...

Ooooohhhh...a hit and a miss...
Dave was taking a beating......held his own at times...

...but, in the end, had to raise the "white flag." The key to the kids' victory? Evan fought two oven mitts, while Dave only fought with one.

"Enjoying" a Root Beer Float

Evan really liked his root beer float, although you wouldn't know it from these pictures! They made me giggle. :)

Pull-Ups and Bendaroos

I was in the laundry room trying to keep my cool. I had just found a pull-up diaper in the washing machine. (As you might imagine, they do not wash well.) They must have been stuck in Evan's pajamas from the night before. Not, not, NOT good. As I stood there figuring out how in the world I was going to clean it up, Caroline ran up to me seriously SHAKING with excitement. I worried there was something wrong.

"MOM, YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS...OUR BENDAROOS STICK TO THE WALLS!!! WE'RE MAKING PICTURES, AND THIS IS THE BEST TOY EVER!" (There is no doubt that this girl has enthusiasm.)

For those of you unfamiliar with the best toy ever, Bendaroos are "super strong string covered with colorful, bendable wax." And seeing that the kids all played with them for a good long time while I contended with the washing machine mess, I highly recommend them. :)