Nighttime Daybook on the road

For today...Sunday December 27.

Outside My Window...is a dark hotel parking lot with a few piles of dirty snow.


I am hearing...National Treasure on the hotel room TV.


We are listening to...A Christmas Carol in the car.


To Be Fit and Healthy...just trying to be healthy right now...fighting a cold. Lots of Elderberry and Silver. We did walk a lot this afternoon in Williamsburg, but I'm not sure hoe much more walking we'll be able to do on this whirlwind winter trip.


I am thankful for...the ability to spend so much time together as a family...no matter how crazy it is!



I am reading...The Shack...and I'm not really that into it. I am also ready The Mystery of Harry Potter A Ctholic Family Guide...and I'm loving it...this is just the kind of book I'd write if I could write!



From the Kitchen...no kitchen for three weeks! We will be able to score a few homecooked meals from other people's kitchens though including Prime Rib from Mike's father's on New Years Day.


I am thinking...I hope I sleep good.



From the learning rooms...math for everyone in the hotel first thing in the morning. Jake will do Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening and Snowflake Bentley for FIAR on this trip. We're a captive audience in the car and hotel rooms, so we aren't on Christmas break right now.


I am Praying...For a friend who is dying and her family (including 2 young kids).




A Few Plans for the Rest of the Week...heading to NJ tomorrow then to NYC the 30th and 31st...the jury is still out on if we'll actually end up in Times Square at midnight...as Jonathan says at least we'll get to see the ball.


What else is new?
--our guinea pig Minnie died yesterday morning.
--Jake got a new big bike for Christmas.
--we finally got new cell phones so I don't have to keep mine on 'speaker' anymore!
--we found a nice church in Rocky Mount, NC this morning and the Homily was very similar to what I am reading about in this Harry Potter guide...how the family is under attack and we need to stand up for families. Incidently the book points out how great of a moral tale Harry Potter is.
--Jonathan is wearing a new shirt...I think it is my favorite gift I gave this year..."Por favor mantengase alejado de las peurtas!"
--Oh and I know it is Feliz Navidad...not Felix!!

Merry Christmas from my new iPod touch!! Here is my first of many posts from here...I'm still learning! We'll have three weeks on the road to figure it all out! What a nice relaxing Christmas we are having. Jonathan and Meme and I are watching It's a Wonderful Life. Jake, Mike, and Grampa Carlie are playing Parcheesi (a present from Jake to Mike). Madi is on the computer I think. I think I'm getting a cold. I'm loading up on Silver Shield and Elderberry...I definitely don't want any of us to be sick on our trip!! This five line post is taking me a long time so I'll sign off for now, but with this iPod there's no stopping me now!! Felix Navidad!

FOUR days left...

For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!"




Are you ready?








This really is the most wonderful time of the year. Now if only time could slow down a little so we could truly enjoy it. (Since that probably isn't going to happen I better go wrap!)

Another Daybook-y catch up post...

Here are some the Christmas events from the past week...

The lights at Hollywood Studios...




The annual Happy Birthday Jesus party always involves, the reading of The Christmas Story, collecting toys or money for a family in need, and running over the cake. This year we collected money for a beautiful family who is adopting two boys from Ethiopia. To learn more about them and to donate online go here. To see a video of the running over of the cake go here.








Some really good bread...I'm really getting the hang of this!


Puppysitting Mickey...



A wet, cold night at EPCOT's Christmas candlelight processional...this was taken with my phone because I forgot my camera.

Santa's Christmas tree forest...









For this evening Sunday December 20...5 more days til Christmas!!!!

Outside my window...all the lights that are going out there are there. We even have the projector thing that makes it look like snowflakes falling on the house.

In the oven...Mike made lasagna.

In the refrigerator...cookie dough is chilling and will go in the oven next. More of those chocolate crinkle ones...this time I have some peppermint kisses to put on them. (PS I don't add the nuts!).

Today... we also made some of Tiffany's famous pretzels with kisses and m&ms...they didn't come out looking too good because they were Halloween kisses (ie a little old) and they didn't melt so good (they taste just fine though!)

And today... we nursed poor Minnie back to health (I hope). Just before Mass this morning Mike noticed that she was kind of weak (he was giving her a carrot and she didn't pull it out of his hand). Well, we then noticed that there wasn't much poop in the cage. Well, after a little research we realized we are supposed to be giving her hay and shouldn't use cedar or pine bedding. (all of these things probably contributed to the death of our first guinea pig Marti two years ago) I think Minnie is going to be fine though and she now has plenty of hay, some oranges (she might not be getting the vitamin C she needs...again who knew?), and safe bedding. On that note does anyone want to "guinea pig sit" for three weeks while we are gone? Let me know!

AND today...Jonathan and Madi and I went to a nursing home with their Youth Group. Jonathan and Madi ended up playing a few rounds of UNO with a nice guy (who I think was there for some kind of rehab because he wasn't terribly old). I sat for quite awhile with a man who reminded me of Papa who was playing WAR with one of the kids. I lost a Christmas book there and am kind of bummed by that. Hopefully it is brightening someone's day...that would make it OK.

Speaking of old...can you believe I am older that Supernanny Jo Frost?! No, I can't believe it either!!

Rambling....

I titled this "rambling", but since I haven't even started yet I have no idea where this train of thought will go. Jonathan woke up with an upset stomache this morning. He's seeming fine now and has had gatorade, sprite, and pretzels. We are now in the middle phase where we don't know if it is a sickness that the rest of us will get or what. No one wants to be around us today, and I'm good with that because if I hear someone in someone's family threw up I generally don't want to be around anyone in said family for about a week. If no one else gets it, my kids will be at AWANA tomorrow night. Madi and Jake have AWANA bucks to spend at AWANA store to buy Christmas presents. Since they don't have much in the way of real bucks
...and no other store takes AWANA bucks...we are all hoping they will be able to go. Madi gave me a present Sunday night for being her CCD teacher. Sadly this was after I made a shallow comment about always giving all of the kids' teachers gifts, and being a teacher this year and not getting any. It's not really that I was looking for gifts as much as sometimes it is nice to get a small token of appreciation. So anyway, Sunday night when Mike and I got home from a date (a local theatre Christmas Caberet)...in the middle of my bed was a beaded bracelet and a card from Madi...not only had she made the card and bracelet, she'd made the bed too:)! And just to clear up any further confusion about if I am materialistic and looking for gifts, the reason I hope the kids can get to AWANA store is because they enjoy picking out and giving gifts...not because I want them to get me something.

Well, it looks like I'm doing a good job rambling. I think all of the presents that we needed to mail have been mailed. Most of our Christmas cards have been mailed as well. Unfortunately I don't keep a good list of who I've sent cards to, so most years I think there are some people who just don't get one from us (and probably other people who get more than one). Speaking of Christmas cards...I LOVE Christmas cards!! Here are some rules I think everyone should follow...everyone should send a Christmas letter (if it costs too much send it electronically!), and if you have kids you MUST include a picture (again, electronically if necessary). Too many people don't follow these simple rules.

Speaking of not making good lists...I tend to make all of my lists in my head (it is greener that way). Keeping your brain active is supposed to ward off demensia (also sometimes brushing your teeth with your wrong hand and taking a shower in the dark--I do these things too). The problem is I think if you try to keep too much in your head, it starts to backfire. I'm pretty sure I'm at that point. I also think I might have blogged this already, but that's my brain for ya! Jonathan and Madi are supposed to be writing down all of their schoolwork, activities, etc... in these handy little journals that I got at the homeschool convention in May. About a week ago I realized Jonathan hadn't written in his since Oct 11. Then he tried to make up for it by just writing "schoolwork" in all of the days. I'm not a very good example for him as far as writing things down. What can I say we're works in progress.

Jonathan was the stage manager for a three night adult theatre show. Everytime I say adult theatre it sounds like something X-rated, but I just mean it was for a real adult show, not a kids' performance. It was a really good show too and the night I went everyone seemed to have the props they were supposed to, so I think he did a pretty good job. He even had to miss the cast party for Seussical for this, so it was very grown up and responsible of him. He also has a few paying jobs going on right now. He is taking pictures for a friend's painting business website. He often takes care of the dogs nextdoor. Plus there's the puppy sitting the kids are doing (they are getting very attached to this puppy!)

The puppy's name is Mickey and Mike and I keep singing, "Oh Mickey your so fine your so fine you blow my mind hey Mickey......"...the kids look at us like we're crazy and have no idea what we're talking about. And they're pretty familiar with a lot of "retro" songs. Interestingly enough they keep singing this song to the tune of American Pie that they found online..."my my this new Annikan guy maybe Vader someday later but he's just a small fry, he left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye, saying soon I'm gonna be a Jedi..." I bet you'll think of me later today when you can't get these songs out of your head! (Next to lists songs are the #2 thing that clogs my brain!)

I guess that's enough rambling for now.

Opinions

I just saw this and it reminded me of Jake...

OPINIONS
On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother.. The note read, 'The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents'

Life still isn't calm daybook at night...

for today...December 14...11 days til Christmas!

outside my window...our lights are twinkling

this isn't a real daybook

I don't even think I'm going to use capitalization and punctuation!

except for exclamation points!!

I spent way too much time on the computer ordering things online today!

I didn't spend enough time schooling my kids, or reading blogs, or checking facebook, or returning emails, or relaxing!

or finishing the laundry

or cleaning the house

The kids are babysitting the cutest puppy...pictures will come eventually. Jake wears his batting gloves when he is around the puppy-- I think he has two reasons for this...he doesn't want to have his fingers nibbled on and he doesn't want to accidentally touch poop.

I think we might be ALMOST ready for a dog

I've still not put any vidoes on here from Seussical or the funny one of Jake singing the last story in Reading Made Easy...the one that wouldn't load on Friday when I was trying to post it.

I really don't like hearing people say that they can't wait for the Holidays to be over. Someone just said it tonight. Saying that seems like a sin to me. It is CRAZY busy, but I love it!

We made tons of cookies yesterday...red and green (AKA Jello cookies...AKA Pastel fruit cookies), Peanut butter cookies with Hershey's kisses (we made the cookies that are just 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, and one egg), and my new favorite cookies.


Jake did his math at 9pm tonight...he did do two days worth...he played most of the day.

Madi wants to help me wrap Mike's stocking stuff, so I better go while the getting's good.......

Lots of catching up to do...

Time is flying and I'm having a hard time keeping up. I want so bad for this season of advent to be a peaceful one, but so far...not so much! I really thought this week was going to be a calm one, but on Wednesday alone we had 4 dentist appointments, where we found out Jake probably needs to have some teeth pulled, has some potential decay (my first kid with this), and will need to see the orthodontist soon (my third kid for this!). Also while we were there our buddy "X" was dropped off so we could babysit him. Then we rushed home just in time for our writing club (ie a bunch of kids getting dropped off here), then as soon as the last of the kids got picked up from writing club we headed to the library for a program about Hanukkah. Here my kids got addicted to playing dreidel and haven't stopped since. Along the way we collected a couple of extra kids, so now it was time to rush back home and feed 5 kids dinner before AWANA. While the kids were at AWANA, Mike and I did some Christmas shopping, then it was... pick up kids, drop off friends, sort through some presents, evaluate what we still need to get...etc...etc... I love life like this and wouldn't trade it for anything, but peaceful it is not. We did, however light the two advent candles during the very chaotic few minutes of eating and dreidel playing. Tonight we are heading to EPCOT (and again we have a few extra kids) to see the candlelight Christmas processional. It is chilly out tonight and has been raining on and off. Just two days ago it was "shorts weather"...crazy! I am hoping the video at the bottom of this screen will hurry up and finish processing so I will be done before Mike gets here to pick us up. Jake isn't going to play baseball this year, he's playing basketball instead. It's annoying how much the seasons overlap, but I'm not complaining. He is planning on being in GREASE though (and Jonathan and Madi will be too) rehersal for that starts right after we get back from our northern trip (his basketball games start then too). Ok, I'm rambling killing time waiting for this video to post. Mike is here and 5 kids are eager to get heading to EPCOT. I wonder if I'm making it go slower by typing...hmmm... Jake read the last story in Reading Made Easy this morning. Both Jonathan and Madi learned to read from this book, but Jake did some other things (and more or less taught himself), he and I have been doing the last few lessons recently though because it has a really sweet story about an "oldtimey" boy who is so excited to learn to read. Well, actually he didn't just "read" the last story he sang it. I have a video of it uploading right now, but it is going to end up at the bottom of this post. Writing club friends (or "aren't you worried about socialization?")... This isn't that old...we never actually carved a pumpkin for Halloween, so Jake carved this one this week...he did it all by himself and he did a really good job! Jake finished his math book this week! (and started the next one) Parade... Seussical... Jonathan doing his tech work... The bird girls... Performance troupe at Chick-fil-a...

Nevermind...the video was taking forever and everyone wants to get to Disney....