Seddy's new wheels

"Whatcha doin', Seddy?"

"Tryin' to ride on that tiny My Little Pony scooter?"

"You're too big, buddy!"

He didn't believe me.  He still kept trying to ride in that little thing.  I had to get his real scooter to show him the difference.  Luckily, with his short attention span, he soon forgot about the Pony scooter and hopped on his Scuttlebug, and zoomed off....  :o)

The Sixth Commandment

James' interpretation of the sixth commandment:

James' entry in his "Ten Commandments" book

looks like the scorned wife has sour grapes

that louse Mike and his fat new girlfriend
(notice the bench is giving way)

Amy and Mike are on the "Hell List"

I can't say that I'm "proud" of his creation, but it sure did make me laugh!!!!

Birthdays keep coming--Papa's party

The first of the January birthday celebrations:

grammae made paella, so yummy! 

"Fr. Minco" playing with Seds

final touches

Fr. Juan sitting at the kids' table :o)

lots of help opening presents

Happy Birthday, papa!!

New Year's project

Dad will be proud!!  One of our projects when he was here in the fall was to re-do the boys' room closet in preparation for Sedric joining James in there (later this year, maybe even this spring).  I sketched out what I wanted and Marcus trekked to Home Depot to buy the supplies.  He did a fantastic job!

before: just a plain closet that held James' clothes

James was a big help as you can see (playing Legos)

Since the boys' room only holds James right now, it does double-duty as our music room, and also holds the kids' dress-up clothes.  This arrangement will probably change sometime this year...already we moved the piano downstairs and we've liked that improvement.  We'll need a "real" dresser for the boys, to replace the plastic one we've been using in the closet.  I do like how the room is partitioned in half, to make a defined space for the multiplying Legos, which don't even fit in the bin anymore.  To the left (next to the closet) there is a desk area that could be used better as well.  Baby steps....

the finished product!  This new system has
been up for about 1.5 months now, and it
has been fantastic!

my hunky handiman

Neat Freak

Well, that's one way to get your hands clean,
Sedric!

(Winter) blast from the past

Our last major snowstorm was before I started this blog, so I thought I would sort through my photos from December 2008 and post some here:

Bunny was 6, James was almost 4, and Mariposa
turned 2 during the snowstorm.

our old front lawn (now our driveway)

A layer of ice covered the snow for awhile, making
this a very dangerous storm.  Little Mariposa could
stand on this snow drift.

ice on the tree branches

our old house, in front of our new house (the new house
would be finished in April 2009--and no garage until the
following year)

Fun in the Snow

As you can imagine, the kids had SO MUCH FUN last weekend with all the snow!!!

(Amy would like this ruler, from the State Fair.)

venturing out to check road conditions and
get the empty garbage can,  Saturday morning

snowy view from our front walk

snow angel Bunny

The kids explored outside all morning, then in the afternoon
they did some serious sledding down the hill behind our house:

view from James' room...see the kids and Marcus in the background? 

They spent HOURS out there.  The snow was
pretty powdery and not great for sledding, but
what do we know?  We only get snow like this
once every 5 years!

Bunny making a snowman, Mariposa playing "lynx."   Marcus
moved the Pilot into the garage to chain it up for Mass, so the
van was moved out into the frozen tundra.

More "lynx."  Mariposa and Gemma crawled
around, snarled and hissed at each other, and
pretended to eat their kill (snow).  My kids
are so, um, "imaginative".... ;o)

Arctic Blast 2014

noon on Thursday--see some snowflakes?

Sophs came over for a playdate, and by early afternoon
the kids had enough to "play" in

really cold (not normal for us) (I know the CCs in Alpena
are laughing right now, this is totally normal for them)

more snow as the afternoon continued...wondering if Marcus
will make it home from Denver Thursday night

kids wanted to play a little before dinner, so
I just let them loose in their playarea on the deck

Marcus' flight Thursday night (10:45pm) was on time, but he still had to cross Portland and all the crazy drivers.  The trip should've taken him 45 minutes but it was almost 2 hours.  Some drivers were going slow, but braking a lot (bad idea) and others were zooming past and making it dangerous for everyone.  But Marcus made it OK, safe and sound.  Friday was a snow day for the schools but not us, and we got a lot done.  Had fun watching the Olympics in the PM and looking forward to sledding the next day.

cozy house this morning (Saturday)

lots of snow now,  probably around 8 inches and still
coming down fast

the Pilot is buried after just being home on Friday

The kids had a blast this morning when I dug out the ski gear and bundled up all 5 of them.  So grateful for all the snow pants, boots, and coats that I've collected over the years at garage sales and generous friends!  I was busy in the laundry room all morning (dressing and re-dressing kids) but I did snap some pics, I'll update soon.  Looking forward to a quiet afternoon since our dance recital was cancelled for tonight.  More Olympics and probably some hot cocoa!  :o)

Birthday Season is in full swing!

Well, birthday season is most definitely in full swing.  The (local) season starts slow, with Marcus' birthday in August.  Then three in September--Bunny, grammae, and Emmett--and  just me in October.  Shane and Aidan at the end of November, then Nicole and Mariposa in December.  And BAM five local birthdays in January (papa, Gemma, James, Auntie Meghan and Uncle Brian) and 2 more in early February (girl cousins).  Busy!!!  With each of these birthdays comes a birthday PARTY so our social calendar is very full.  Sometimes we do double-up parties though.  Then it slows down to once a month in March, May, and June, and none in April or July as of yet.

Anyway...here are pics from Mariposa's birthday parties....

grandma and grandpa had her open her presents before they
left for Ohio on 12/26

Actual birthday on 12/27, and a party with
just the 7 of us.

Our kids get three presents: something they need, something
they want, and something we think they'd like.  The dessert
is usually simple and store-bought, which is a treat for the
kids (they don't usually get such confections) and for mom
(no baking required!).

Birthday party with family was a brunch the next Sunday
after 8:30am Mass.  Marcus made omelets, yum!

The adults ate in peace and quiet...

...while the kids watched Hotel Transylvania
in the TV room!

chow time for cousins

Singing Happy Birthday (dessert was homemade cinnamon rolls)

lots of gifts, so spoiled

No party would be complete without an attack on Uncle Brian.