Thursday, February 13, 2014

Thankful for Everyday Life Link-up!

 Thankful for Valentine Art!
This is just hearts cut out of sponges and dipped in red paint
and some homemade pink paint, 
and of course there is GLITTER!
(everywhere)

We have a St Valentine Party planned for Friday
We'll have 23 kiddos here, I can't wait
I have Minute to Win it games planned this year
(I'll try to post about it)
Thankful for TOM.
He is the best husband to me
and
the best father to these kiddos.
He is always playing cards with the kids
 The kids and have gotten used to him being around every day all day
and when he goes back to work, we are really really going to miss him!
 Thankful Speech went wonderful!
She Loved Little Red!
She said he's so fun to play with!
(Duh!!)
He is a great kid to play with and he's so smart!
She said he's way ahead in all other areas, 
and right now, he's not that far behind in speech.

Now, she is from the PUBLIC school district
and Yes, I know that the bar is not set high,
but I'll take it!

She is actually only assessing him this month, 
Next week we will meet his actual teacher and the following week
we will meet his speech teacher.

 Thankful oh, what's not to be thankful about this little guy?
 And of course his sidekick!
 Thankful for Science projects
Here they are smelling herbs and spices...
HE did not take it serious, and SHE did
Yes, there are several arguments during Science!

I just tell them, no one gets to pick their lab partner.
(hahaha)
 Thankful He LOVES puzzles
 Thankful for big brothers
Oh, gosh, they have a special relationship.
They just like the same things and it is so special and fun to see.
 Thankful for reading moments like this while I'm teaching others.
 Thankful I have a ton of these Little Critter books!
(handed down from my little brother)
 Fun, very fattening, new recipe found for Sunday brunch!

Cinnamon French Toast

  • 1/4 cup Butter, melted
  • 2 cans refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing
  • Eggs
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 cup Fisher Chopped Pecans (or not, I did half with nuts half w/o)
  • 1 cup maple syrup
Heat oven to 375°F.
 Pour melted butter into ungreased 13x9-inch glass baking dish.
 Separate both cans of dough into 16 rolls; set icing aside. 
Cut each roll into 8 pieces;
 place pieces over butter in dish.
  In medium bowl, beat eggs.
 Beat in cream, cinnamon and vanilla until well blended;
 gently pour over roll pieces.
 Sprinkle with pecans; drizzle with 1 cup syrup.
  Bake 20 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. 
Cool 15 minutes.
 Meanwhile,  microwave icing  10 to 15 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle.
  Drizzle icing over top; sprinkle with powdered sugar

 It's a really sweet breakfast, we had fresh strawberries with it and no extra syrup
but the recipe called for more syrup drizzled over each piece.

 Thankful this little girl did not swallow her tooth!
She lost another tooth!
(yes, she's only 4!!)
Last summer, she fell out of the van and hit the cement driveway
knocking out her 2 bottom teeth.
Having nothing blocking their way, her permanent teeth came in

Now, she has lost another, and we did not even know it was loose!
(the top space is a natural space between her teeth, ever hear of Lauren Hutton?)

My dad always loved her split, she is quite beautiful
(he also has a split)


Oh, my.
The 2 little girls came to me in the  morning
"The tooth Fairy forgot to come!!"
OH, Dang!
(as her sister explains that the tooth fairy always forgets)
"Quick go hide!"
"I'll get your sister out of the bedroom, if she's awake!"
(see the tricky time here folks?)
All is better.

She then brings me the  money and says,
"Can I buy a dolly now?"

She's too young to be losing her teeth.

 Thankful for little fingers playing Legos, Oh, it is adorable
Look at those little hands.
(you're welcome)

And you're welcome again.

 Thankful for a grandma that knows how to do everything SEWING.
Sorry Anne!  (my beautiful MIL)
I can only sew straight lines...on a machine.
 The girls love it though!  

Thankful for piles of books!
We got this set...like 20 of The Beaconstreet Girls
for 17 bucks!

 Thankful these two loved, I mean loved peanut butter English muffins!
(Toast the English muffin, butter it and then peanut butter it)
I used to have these when I was a kid!
NO ONE else liked them.
My kids are weird.
 Thankful we had some of our Catholic homeschool families over 
after the First Friday Mass last week for soup, sledding and the Divine Mercy chaplet!
(we had 47 people here, including us)
(click for the recipe)
and drinks.
Everyone brought something to share

(Patty's picture, not mine)
The soup was wonderful!! 



 Our drink station, which later was full of desserts too!
 Every room in the house looked like this...do you see anyone you know?
Sarah and I go way back, to pre children!!
We've gone to a Blogger's Tea together a few years ago, 
And sometimes I see her mama around town,
but I had not met her children!
Oh, my!  Talk about wonderful kids!
And her two little girls, my heart tugs for another so badly when seeing them.
 Look at these two littles looking at each other!
They are about a month apart in age.

So Thankful for old friends and new friends.
It was awesome seeing Sarah again, but next time,
 I hope we get more time to talk!

 Oh, my goodness black eyes on babies!
Oh, yes, she got a black eye here.
(she ran into our table!--poor baby!)
Sarah didn't really want to get her 2 year pictures done this month anyway.
OK, that's a little gruesome, although, true.
I had a hard time finding "St Valentine's" images, 
almost all leaving out the "Saint" part.
To find out the truth, go HERE

I prefer my little toddler love book about St Valentine
It explains that couples in love were not allowed to be married
Valentine was a holy priest and married them in secret.
He was imprisoned and a guard brought his blind daughter
to visit Valentine and he taught her and healed her of her blindness.

He sent her and/or others notes signing them,
"From your Valentine"
(his name)
That is how Valentine's day started.

 See?  No "Saint" 
But, isn't it pretty?
Then, I decided, that February is the month of LOVE
Jesus is LOVE
Jesus is Divine Mercy=LOVE

Happy St Valentine's Day
I hope your day is filled with red and pink and lots of sweet things!


21 comments:

  1. I can't believe she's already losing teeth! I didn't lose my first one until I was 7.5! I was really late. I used to have a space between my front two teeth. I didn't like it because I was made fun of for it, but her space is so cute!!

    Love all the pictures and how you can have those big gatherings at your house. Looks like so much fun!

    Is your husband feeling better?

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    1. I've done the big gatherings a few times, and I love it. I've gotten it down to an Art, now spazzing out anymore getting everything done. I just know I'll be up til 3am getting ready. No problem.

      Tom's numbers (low testosterone) are going up, which is helping a ton...he did the diet for 2 weeks, is taking HCG drops to help his body absorb the hormone better...so it's looking upward now! Thanks for asking!

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  2. Phil has a space between his teeth, so far none of our kids do...they inherited my huge front teeth! He never had issues with spacing or tartar, so she's lucky! Maggie has her first wiggly tooth, and she's 6!

    I am so wishing I could have been in that kitchen eating your soup and chatting it up with you and Sarah - heavenly!

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    1. Tom has a space too! Jedi had it, but the dentist like 10 years ago, cut that muscle between the teeth, so his adult teeth grew together. My 3rd daughter also has it and the dentist said, that insurance companies now consider that "cosmetic" and no longer cover it. (it's a simple procedure, that takes like less than 2 minutes)

      We've never had a child lose their teeth this young. It can't be normal.

      I wish you were here too. (even if you don't homeschool--haha)

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  3. I linked up!

    Braving glitter and paint. I bet the kids loved it. :)

    I'm glad to hear Tom is doing better (saw the comment above).

    I laughed out loud about the lab partner comment. That brought back memories. I love the lego truck. That is one cool truck -- and a cutie holding it. So happy his speech assessment went well!

    And those books! I would have been in heaven at her age! She looks like she is.

    Losing teeth. She's so little. My four year old knocked her's awhile back and the one seemed loose but I think it tightened up a bit. I hope so. She wants to lose them. Only because her brothers are. I kid you not, my oldest has a loose tooth that has been loose for months and months. It's hanging there by a thread and he will not take it out! He gets this pained look on his face at the thought or even when I secretly watch him move it with his tongue. Ugh. My other son has three loose teeth so he'll miss out on corn on the cob for his second summer in a row. It's all fun though. I suppose it's time I double check for dollar bills and dum-dum suckers (our gift from the tooth fairy - who has also failed to come on occasion. I told them it was because their room was a mess.)

    The get-together looks fantastic! I agree with Colleen, I wish to have been there too. :)

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    1. I wish you could be here too Nicole!

      Gosh, that's a long time for loose teeth! Kids are funny, aren't they?

      That Lego truck is his sisters she saved a long time to get it!

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  4. The love your kids have for each other is so evident- I love seeing it in their faces in these pictures! Cutie little hands- love those!

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  5. OOHHHH....I so love your Thankfuls any day, but ya gotta know I was just waiting to see where I would pop up :) I'm such a prideful blogger. lol. I will be posting post-Jamie's get together black eye pics. You know, just for evidence. hehe...

    It's so much fun reading your posts and seeing your photos and knowing exactly where each one is in relation to your house. I know, creep alert.

    Little Red just melted my heart even more in this post after meeting him and actually seeing him in person. The.cutest.boy.ever. Did he get a haircut since last week? I thought it looked different.

    And, lastly, how have I not gotten connected to Kim's blog? I will be now! Thank you.

    I bet your Valentines party is going to be so much fun. You are a great event planner!

    Happy Valentines Day to one of the sweetest I know.

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    Replies
    1. Made me laugh with the creep alert! It is weird though, houses are different than you think when you only see a portion of it on a blog, right? It's all visual.

      (it's much messier in person)

      You HAD to know you'd be in my Thankfuls, right?

      No new haircut, that's funny. His hair is so thin and fuzzy...
      Kim is amazing. She does those knitting link ups..she's so fun to talk to. When I first met her, like 6 or 7 years ago, I thought she was one of the young new moms homeschooling...I was giving her tips...then, I found out how many kids she had, I was like, "you're old like me!!" (and much more experienced)

      Hey, if you want an invite for next year's party, let me know! I do this party every year. (I try to keep it down to inviting 4 families)

      Happy Love day to another sweet heart!

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    2. I see my Johnny is a photo bomber! I agree with Sarah, it's fun to read your posts and know your family (and your house!...that sounds weird). What a fun, fun day. Wish we would have had more time to chat. Are you two coming to the homeschool Mass with the Bishop?

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    3. Yes!! We are planning on going to that special Mass! I loved that Johnny did that when I took the picture, you can see Andrew H. ducking the camera and your sweet boy loving it!

      It was great to have you!

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    4. I love the creep alert that Sarah mentioned! So fun seeing you both together. I love Sarah's kids...they are awesome!

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  6. Happy St. Valentine's day to you and your beautiful family. Jedi is looking GROWN UP all of a sudden!!! Seriously ....all teen looking. And what a STRONG resemblance between your MIL and husband. Little Red...we have that same yellow/blue striped shirt...actually have a couple of them in different colors. He is so stink in' cute ...they ALL are. I'm so glad that big get together went so well. So glad you served the soup (Thanks for the link love) and had time to reconnect with Sarah! Wishing you all a wonderful day, fun weekend, and blessed Sunday!!

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    1. Gosh, I know. I just know him going off to college is just around the corner (he'll be 9th grade next year) His voice is not even starting to change yet though...

      Oh, and my Mil, yes, a lot of the kiddos look like her side of the family, very strong genes.

      I love boys in stripes, so adorable!
      We liked the soup so much, it's on the menu for next Friday too!
      (one batch this time though)

      I'll gladly give you linky love, you are one of my faves!

      Happy Love day and happy weekend!

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  7. I used to have a space in my teeth and the dentist predicted it would eventually grow together as my mouth grew, and he was right! I was always self-conscious of the space in my teeth as a kid and teenager; I had a friend who would always talk about my gap! It made me so embarrassed! Too bad I didn't have you as a friend to talk me up about it!

    I wish I had known that little story about St.Valentine yesterday. A non-Catholic friend of mine asked on FB if anyone knew the story of Valentine's day and I told her the little bit that I knew. But it would have been great to also explain how he signed his letters! Well, at least I know now, and I will pass that onto my kids. :-)

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    1. My kiddos have that muscle thing between their front teeth (not all of them) so there will always be a split, unless they get it cut out...insurance paid for it with my first, but now with the 4th child (my oldest, 4th and 5th child have it) insurance no longer covers it....it is considered a cosmetic issue. (nice, huh?)

      You bet I would have talked you up!! You are beautiful no matter what!

      That's funny about Valentine...

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  8. Thank you for continuing to do the Thankful posts. I linked up with you and need to do this more often.

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  9. What fun projects (glitter & pink) delicious looking food and great company. Fun! I love it when my oldest reads to the younger ones too, it's so sweet.

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  10. Elizabeth just started speech therapy through the school district a couple weeks ago as well. She is 5 days younger than Lil' Red. She loves it! I am glad they offer such a great service here in MN and that they come to the home. And it is free. Loved all the pictures in the posts! The cinnamon sniffing picture was great!

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