Saturday, December 26, 2009

Our Christmas in Pictures

We started with Mass at 4:00 PM Christmas Eve.  The girls sang in the Children's Choir.  Mom finished the matching dresses only the day before...whew!



Gabriel wriggled...a lot...during Mass, but mostly behaved himself. 


I bought matching shirts for the boys...Joshua promised not to complain...otherwise I'd have made him wear a tie and blazer in addition to a shirt with a (gasp!) collar.   Aren't they the cutest kids ever? 


Back home, we had dinner and the kids got to open one present...a tradition from David's side of the family. Then late that night, we set everything out for Christmas morning...consoled ourselves with some Mike's Hard Pomegranate Punch (highly recommeded for busy parents) and went to bed. 

The kids were up around 7:00 AM.  Gabriel totally understood the concept of opening presents this year ;-)


As you can see by the carnage, the kids enjoying their Christmas morning.  My living room may never be the same again.


The kids stayed in their PJ's for hours, played Uno Attack, and ate numerous unhealthy snacks provided by Mom...who ate some herself :-).  But thoroughly enjoyed her new PURPLE laptop!

Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas Day!


Friday, December 25, 2009

Christmas to Me...



is going to Mass on Christmas Eve, staying up late to make sure everything is perfect...stockings and cookies ready for Santa, present under the tree, being so thankful my hubby has job, knowing so many are going with less or without this year, believing the miracle of Jesus's birth can and should be the answer to our deepest heart's desires...


And this song...which I couldn't find to download...but I found the lyrics...

Crying for Christmas ~ Scott Krippayne

These are the lives of the rearranged
Scattered souls who've been displaced
Nowhere else to turn
Like Bethlehem we have packed the place
Human need fills ever space
No room at the inn

Still God found a corner,
Made a bed down in the hay
Could he reappear, make his advent here
Will he still draw near today?

My world is crying,
Crying for a Christmas
Some way to know for sure –
That our God is with us
We could all use a sign
A little glimpse of divine
For a world that still cries for Christmas

Feeding trough on a dirty floor
Unimpressive welcome for
God's Almighty Son
Are we as blind to incarnation
Daily proof of our salvation
Love's already come

We are not abandoned,
All alone in our despair
He who once came down,
He can still be found
Every when and everywhere

My world is crying,
Crying for a Christmas
Some way to know for sure –
That our God is with us
Once a baby so small
Grew to die for us all
For a world that still cries for Christmas.

Jesus you are here, Jesus you are now
Jesus you are here, Jesus you are now

My world is crying,
Crying for a Christmas
Some way to know for sure –
That our God is with us
We can all be the sign
That his love is alive
For a world that still cries for Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone...from all of us to all of you. 


Monday, December 14, 2009

Friday, December 4, 2009

Pictures in the Snow

Today was magical...we had snow.  It happens so rarely here...the kids couldn't wait to get home...since the greatest chance for snow was this afternoon.  When I went to read to Rebecca's class around 2:30, she told me everyone had gone outside twice to "play" in the snow.  (Her classroom is right by an exit door, and the kids could see the flurries coming down.  Rebecca's teacher said they didn't get much work done today ;-).  But what a wonderful thing...letting all the kids out...and taste snowflakes on their tongues. 

We were hoping it would accumulate more, but we only got enough to throw a few snowballs in the backyard.  But the kids were happy enough, and once their feet and gloves were soaked through, the novelty wore off and they all decided to come back inside. 

I got a few pictures of the snow and the kids having fun (who know when I'll get to use the "snow" settting on my camera again!). 





Monday, November 30, 2009

It's All About the Turkey

As usual, we drove to Dallas for Thanksgiving last Wednesday.  The kids were thrilled to have plenty of cousins to play with, tasty tidbits and food galore, and gorgeous weather for the annual football game at the park.  My oldest nephew Adam was down for the count with asthma induced pneumonia, but he still "refereed" the game. 

Here's a rundown of the highlights :-)


Rebecca, our niece Abby (who has an amazing amount of patience for all her younger cousins), and Christina having dinner Wednesday night.  We went to see Planet 51 Friday afternoon...funny and cute. 

ALL the kids, grandparents and great-grandpa (except for our nephew Ben). 


Back row: Great-Grandpa Lanphear, Abby, Grandma Reisinger, Joshua, Daniel, Adam, John, Grandpa Reisinger

Front row: Andrew, Nick, Mary, Christina, Gabriel, Rebecca, George, Sofia, and Joey


Everyone except Adam (who a few years ago declared himself too big for the kiddie table) ate in the kitchen.  Poor Christina ate outside again...even though we dosed her with Zyrtec for 5 days before Thanksgiving, she still reacted to Aunt Donelle's cats, and was again shipped out to Aunt Stephanie's house.  She was a trooper...she cried a lot, but at least this year she didn't scream nonstop.  Whew!


Gabriel with Great-Grandpa Lanphear...he just sat back and watched the preceedings.  I am sure watching 14 great-grandchildren might wear him out a bit ;-). 

Friday night we had dinner at Grandma's house.  Grandpa was raking the leaves when we pulled up...Mary, Nick, Daniel, and John were completely buried in the huge pile and surprised us. 


Of course, our kids had to try it too.  We don't have piles of leaves to play in back home. 



After dinner, I was able to herd all of our kids together and get a pic with Great-Grandpa Lanphear. 


Earlier that day, I'd been swinging with Gabriel in Donelle's back yard when the rope broke.  Gabriel was fine, because he landed on my lap.  But somehow, I hurt my left pinkie finger.  At first, I hoped it was just a bad sprain, but then it started to swell.  My MIL Terry took a look, and said I needed to get it x-rayed.  When your MIL is a registered nurse, you really can't argue with her.  So we called an appointment in at a urgent care clinic, and turns out I have a spiral fracture...and I admit...it hurt more that I thought a dumb little pinkie finger would. 


So, now I have a cute little splint for the next 6 weeks.  Oh well.  I'm not going to let it stop me from making 6 different kinds of cookies for Christmas!

After that nice visit to the clinic, David and I met up with our pals Jim, Rachel, and her boyfriend Anatoli at a bowling center.  We had fun...I just watched (did I mention some ibuprofen and a motijo does wonders for a broken finger?), and then went to Rachel's house just a few minutes away.  She's been a homeowner for 2 weeks now, and her new place was great...fabulous location, nice backyard, and the house was in great shape, considering it had been a rental for 30+ years.  

Jim went right to work reassembling a ceiling fan that had been taken apart and painted earlier.  It's always good to have a close friend who's also an architect and quite handy :-). 


Rachel still wishing she could bust out the wall between the dining room and living room...but she can't because it's a load-bearing wall. 


Group shot:  David, Anatoli, Rachel (standing).  Me and Jim (kneeling). 


Jim's birthday was Sunday, and we always tease him about being older than David and I.  Years ago, we were hanging out at Rachel's parents house, and we threw Jim into the pool.  It wasn't heated...and it was FREEZING cold that night.  Boy...was Jim mad.  Now we can laugh about it...'cause it sure was funny back then too!

We headed home Saturday afternoon after stopping at Peter and Stephanie's house for lunch.  Their house is on the market, and they've scooped out a couple of possiblities for a new one.  I told them we'd be staying with them for sure if they bought a bigger house (so we could all stay in a cat-free zone).  Stephanie teased me and said maybe they should get a smaller house.  But they're looking for more space for their family of six, and a pool, so I'd better earn my keep when we visit next time. 

There was new Christmas to listen to on the drive home...and movies too of course.  


Rebecca actually fell asleep for a little bit...I don't think she's fallen asleep in the van since she was two.  (I'll bet it's from staying up late every night whispering with Abby.)

Now that we're home...it's laundry time, decoratingfor Advent, and making a run to the store for the essentials.  Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!



Monday, November 16, 2009

Campin' and Fishin' (with LOTS of Mosquitoes!)


We went out to Lake Livingston this weekend with Joshua's Cub Scout Troop.  There was the usual setting up of tents, sleeping bags, nature hike, campfire activities, etc. along with LOTS of mosquitoes. 

Let me say that again.  There were LOTS of mosquitoes! 

Seriously people.  These suckers were as big as your head.  They bit through our pants and shirts.  They mangaged to find that one place, no bigger than a couple square inches, that didn't get bug spray.  And they didnt' wait until dusk.  When they found out we were coming, they honed in on our campsite and started feasting from 2:00 PM on.  Sunday was no day of rest for them either...they were out and about when we started breaking down gear right after breakfast. 

Well sure...they went after everyone else too.  Bug spray with Deet was liquid gold this weekend.  That Avon stuff didn't do a thing for those who tried it.  'Course, if you live in Texas like we do, you knew that already. 

Thankfully the kids didn't complain too much.  Especially after getting bug spray 3 or 4 times over a 24 hour period.. 

Here's some of the highlights!

Nature hike with a park ranger:






Playing around with my camera along the way:







Our campsite.  I always laugh because we have to bring a tent big enough for six...everyone else brings much smaller tents. 


That night, we had silver turtles for dinner, s'mores, skits, and retired two old flags by holding a brief ceremony and buring them in the campfire. 

I actually slept pretty good this time.  Last time we went camping, Rebecca had a bike accident, and we ended up at the local ER until midnight.  By then, my adrenaline had been in overdrive for hours, and I just couldn't fall asleep until about 2:00 AM. 

Rebecca and Christina were up first next morning, the boys all slept until about 7:15.  We had doughnuts for breakfast.  I know...y'all were expecting me to fire up the campstove and cook, but it just involves too much work, and the kids are too hungry to wait very long.  Camping makes 'em hungry, you know? 

The definite highlight of the weekend was fishing at the lake.  We went right after breakfast.  Either the fish are really hungry, or very well-trained.  Joshua, Rebecca, and Christina each caught 3 fish!  They were just little perch and had to be thrown back in, but still, the kids were thrilled. 

Like any proud parent, I had to take pics after each catch...here's a few: 







Gabriel was very curious, and wanted to fish too...but sharp little fishing hooks and 2-year-olds don't mix. 


 He was content to walk up and down the dock with me...


and say hi to all the ducks. 




We had already packed everything up before heading to the lake, so after fishing, we headed home.  It rained on the way...which worried me because we'd taken the truck.  Luckily, nothing was soaked through, and most everything was in large garbage bags...I knew I'd have enough laundry to do without the mess of drying and airing out 6 sleeping bags and 6 pillows. 

Speaking of laundry, I've got to go put it all away now.  I started last night, and finished up early this morning.  Sigh...maybe I'll take a nap.  Camping makes Momma tired!