The big one

That's right, this is the big one, my 200th post! It's kind of hard to believe I've had that much to share in the last year!

And I'm glad it fell when it did, because yesterday afternoon was one of my favorites. I had hoped to get the tress up earlier in the weekend, but life got in the way. Finally yesterday afternoon the trees went up. We put two up each year, mostly because our ornament count requires it. I put the first one together myself. As I was putting the lights on, I sang "All I want for Christmas is a pre-lit tree" to the tune of "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth". Not exactly my favorite way to spend time. The kids put together the second tree while I put the lights on the first, then I put the lights on the second tree. All together this took nearly three hours. Finally, after dinner, it was time to put the ornaments on the tree. It is something that all five of us do together. There are many, many ornaments that my husband and I brought to the marriage from when we were children. And now that we have children, they each have many of their own ornaments as well. They especially love the ornaments that have their names on them! In addition, my husband and I always buy ornaments on vacation each year. Whenever we purchase an ornament or are given one as a gift, I always try to keep the original packaging and write on it with a marker so that we know when, where, or whom it came from. There are so many memories in the ornament box that it almost brings me to tears. It's a wonderful way to start the holiday season!

Leftovers

Lots of leftovers from our meals this week...still trying to get through them all. I hate, hate to throw food away! I've told everyone that tomorrow I am not cooking at all and the leftovers better be gone.

By not cooking, it will also (hopefully) give me some time to get our Christmas decorations going. I had planned on having everything done yesterday, and yet I haven't even started. I took the kids up to my dad's cottage yesterday to spend the day. My wonderful husband stayed home so he could get some grading finished. Repayment will be tomorrow when he keeps the kids out of my way so I can decorate, decorate, decorate!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! It's my favorite holiday of the year! It's the beginning of the festive holiday season, it involves a huge family meal, and there is no stress of gift giving yet. We will be spending the day at my aunt & uncle's house with my in-laws, various aunts, uncles, cousins, my grandmother and various family in-laws...about 30 of us in all. My in-laws arrived in town on Tuesday. Yesterday we took the kids to a movie, and mostly we've just enjoyed spending time together. Not entirely sure what the rest of the weekend is going to bring, but I'm looking forward to it. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Thanksgiving week

My favorite week of the year has arrived! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I just love this week...the beginning of the holiday season! My in-laws arrive this evening and on Thursday we are headed to my aunt & uncle's house. Between our extended family, various groups of in-laws, and even a few close friends, there should be almost 30 of us sharing the day together. I'm so grateful that my aunt is so wonderful and loves hosting big holiday meals! It will also be the first time that all seven great-grandchildren are in the same place...photo op! Not sure how much time I'll have on the computer this week, but I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

The weekend has arrived

It's official...the weekend is here. Kids are about to walk in the door from school and my wonderful husband is on his way home. We've made it to the weekend! This is honestly one of my favorite weekends of the year. It will be a short week next week, and there is the OSU/Michigan game this weekend (GO BUCKS!). Tomorrow while I'm watching the game I'll begin to work on my Christmas cards, and the decorations will go up next weekend. I'm even finished with about 70% of my shopping! Have a great weekend!

Least favorite week

It seems as though this, the last week before Thanksgiving, has become my least favorite week of the year. On the upside, Thanksgiving week is way up there among my favorites! But first we have to get through this week. I remember feeling very similar at this time last year. I think part of it is the anticipation of getting to the holidays, but I think a bigger part of it is the school schedule. We've been going solid, no breaks or days off, since early September at Labor Day. Even though the kids have school two days next week, I know there won't be any Spelling tests or heavy duty homework. I think the kids also feel the strain as it's been a battle and a struggle to get them to work on their work this week. I'm so looking forward to a few days off next week, and of course to the beginning of the holiday season!

Toothy issues

JR is doing really well with his braces. He's been very good about taking care of his teeth and not eating things he's not supposed to be eating. On Sunday he finally was able to work out his last baby tooth. He's really excited that he could get it out and the dentist didn't have to pull it. HT hates having loose teeth, and he usually works his out as soon as there is any sign of wiggling. That means there we were, standing in line at McDonald's when suddenly there was blood everywhere! As always, he was very pleased to have lost another tooth! Of course, I managed to lose the tooth before bedtime so we had to write the Tooth Fairy a note. And finally today, JC had a dental appointment. She is in a phase right now where she doesn't like to brush her tooth and often refuses to do so, or to use toothpaste. It's making me insane! We also learned today that it seems as though we are about six months away from beginning orthodontics on her. She's not nearly as excited as her brother was!

Where does it go?

I really don't know where the time goes...it seems like I just posted but it's actually been almost an entire week! Our weekend was really busy. I took the younger two on Saturday to a family birthday party, then we spent the late afternoon and evening shopping. JR and his dad went to the UD season opener (great game!) and then to JR's first ever indoor soccer game. He loved it! He played goalie, and although he gave up a goal, it was only 1 of the 4 scored by the other team. I spent Sunday at the outlets with some friends, and the rest of the time has been spent doing our normal everyday lives. But I'm very grateful for our normal everyday lives!

Addiction

I'm addicted, and I'm a little embarrassed to admit it...I can't stop eating the kids' Halloween candy! There is just way too much yummy chocolate in this house, and I'm in this house so many hours a day, and well, it just seems to happen. Fortunately, the kids don't seem to mind sharing! In fact the oldest seems to prefer the sugary hard candy anyway.

I've also become addicted to Longaberger baskets. I started buying them about two years ago and have absolutely fallen in love with them. A friend and I take turns "hosting" basket parties, and keep ordering off of each other. I find they can have very practical uses, and since I'm a practical person it just feeds the addiction! And since they are made in Ohio, I even tell myself that I'm helping my economy! Yikes, justification at its best!

Weekend over

It was a fun weekend, but it went way too quickly. We enjoyed our extra guests on Saturday, and the kids had lots of fun at their many activities yesterday. Selfishly, I'm looking forward to getting through the next two weeks. We have two full weeks of school, and this weekend has some commitments I'm not terribly excited about. But after we get through the next 12 days, it's the OSU/Michigan game! It's my favorite football game of the entire year and kind of like a holiday in my house. That's leads us right into Thanksgiving week, and the beginning of the holiday season. Looking forward to it!

TGIF!

After spending the majority of last week in bed, this week feels like it's taken forever! We really didn't even have anything major going on, it was just that I had to function all week. The good news is that everyone stayed healthy this week (knock on wood) and everyone has behaved very well this week (knock on wood again). Even our daughter's teacher commented to me yesterday when I ran into her that she seems back to her old self again. I'm not sure what "flipped the switch" but I'll take the good days while they last!

Our weekend is pretty packed full with soccer practice, a birthday party, a soccer award party, and a night out tomorrow evening with friends for Mom & Dad. We are also supposed to help a friend tomorrow and have her little ones (ages 5 & 4) here for most of the day. Looking forward to lots of fun!

Quiet and peaceful

We had a very quiet and peaceful evening around here last night. My youngest went to bed at 6 due to his behavior, and since it didn't take him long to fall asleep I'm sure that was much needed! JC earned her DS back after several good days of behavior...much appreciated after the last couple of weeks. Since she hadn't had it in about a month she was thrilled, and quietly played! JR had quite a bit of homework, and then was content to read a book for a little bit before bed. I almost didn't know what to do with all of the quiet! It's hard to believe how quickly they are growing up.

Really back in the swing

Okay, now I really feel like I'm back in the swing of things. For the past two days, my husband's car has been in the shop. One of the advantages of where we live is that the kids walk to and from school, so being without a vehicle is not a problem, just inconvenient. However, since I was pretty much sick all of last week, I really felt trapped being without my van for the last two days. It felt so good to actually be able to go to the grocery this morning, and this afternoon I'll be hitting other stores. I'm an early Christmas shopper and like to have as much knocked out in November as I possibly can. Happy bargain hunting to everyone!

Starting anew

I kind of feel like today is a fresh start. It's a really gorgeous day outside, and I actually feel mostly healthy! It's also the start of another month, and things just feel good. Some days, that is half the battle!

JR's soccer team lost their tournament game on Saturday. It wasn't terribly surprising since they were playing a team that was undefeated. His indoor season begins this Saturday. This will be a new experience for him this year, and he's really looking forward to it. The boys were able to sign up as a team, and one of the boys' uncle will be doing the coaching. It's mostly his SAY team, with a few other boys from the other SAY team in town. I think it should be a lot of fun for them.

JC's behavior took another tumble last week, and the principal of her school is understandably losing his patience. Today we had a long talk, and I'm hoping and praying that maybe somewhere in that conversation was a break through. She initiated the conversation and was hurt by something that happened at school. As much as it broke my heart to see her hurt, if it could serve a purpose to help her, I'm grateful.

Lots and lots of candy arrived in this house from trick-or-treating. The kids all had a great time!