This Kid is Gonna Be Famous!

Odie linked this great kid today and I had to share too!

He's amazing!

Check him out here!

Cartoon Song by Chris Rice

The kids and I LOVE this song, hope you enjoy it too!

7 Quick Takes Friday (Volume 3)

I'm joining Jen again with these "7 Quick Takes Friday", now let's see if I can be "quick"...

-1-
We did make those Borax snowflakes, although ours didn't turn out as nice, they do look pretty in the window. (I didn't get a picture of that)

-2-
We needed to try something to motivate the kids to have better school days.
School days with no fighting
School days with kids concentrating
School days where no one stomps away mad or
has a temper tantrum because they need to correct something.
School days that don't last til 5pm.
So
I came up with this plan where if they had a good week, they could pick something to do with either daddy or myself on the weekend, something special and by themselves.

They, then, had a good week, sooooo
One chose to stay up late and watch a Star Wars movie with mom and dad and have popcorn.
Another chose to go to the movie "Gulliver's Travels" (which was great, by the way!)
The littles went to the movie "Yogi Bear" (which was not as great, but they loved it!)
Well then, we decided that we couldn't do the "movie marathon" every week, if they had good weeks.
So
I came up with another plan, where if they had a good week, they could earn a "ticket".
Once they get 4 tickets, they can redeem them
and choose something special to do with mom or dad again.
They had such a great week, last week, that I gave them each a pack of gum with their ticket.
Then
This week happened.
or
Should I say
Monday happened.
They lost their tickets on the first day!!
I got them settled in what they were supposed to be doing, and went upstairs to take a shower.
Through the whole shower, I could feel the house shaking and knew something was happening.
I was right.
Jedi and Ballerina Rosie were chasing each other with light sabers, and screaming and yelling.
Not working.
not playing either.
Fighting.
They did pull it together for the rest of the week,
So
I'm hoping they can get more tickets, I'm hoping my plan works.


-3-
We made Black and white snowmen!
This is a "Jamie Original" craft.


-4-
Edible Play dough!!
I love Colette's chubby hands here!
I was looking at a ton of craft/art blogs yesterday, looking for some inspiration and
found this great recipe!
(I'm sorry I can't find the blog back though to give credit)

3/4 cup Peanut Butter
1/2 cup softened Butter
3 cups Powdered Sugar
(Any toppings you want, cereal, choc chips, raisins, etc....)
Mix, Play, and eat.

It was messy, and crumbly, but very fun!
I didn't tell them it was edible until Mary Hannah asked at least 3 times, "It smells soooooo gooooood, can I taste a little?"

Boy, that sure made their day!

-5-
V-8 juice!
I love V-8 juice, it reminds me of when I was a kid.
My dad always loved it too.
It makes for some nasty farts though.
(just thought you'd like to know)
"I coulda hada V-8!"
-6-
When unloading my pictures, I found about 18 pictures similar to these...

What the heck?

OOOOOOOh!
Now I know who did it.
"How did you know I did it mom?" (Colette, former known as Babycakes)


-7-
We've been watching "The X-Files" (Netflix, no commercials)
It is a series that ran from like 1993-2002.
It's so hokey.
I'm just watching it because my husband is.
They carry around these huge cell phones and have no
high tech stuff.
Of course it's all fiction.
We're on Season 3
I can't wait til we get up to this movie,
I can tell it's much more high-tech.
It is interesting though, that back then, which is not really that long ago,
the show was so modest with the way they dressed.
If you watch any cop or mystery show in this day and age, the women dress so revealing.
Tonight or tomorrow night, my hubby and I are finally watching "Salt"!!
Can't wait.



Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Thankful Thursday!

Thankful today, that Sweetie Pie is eating and keeping it down.

We've had sick kiddos these past few days, fevers, coughs and Sweetie Pie

was throwing up from Tuesday evening til yesterday afternoon.

She's ok now.

She is still very crabby though and so

I'm also thankful that she will go to Mary Hannah sometimes to give me a break

from the constant needing to be held.

(she's very particular as to who she will let hold her)

So thankful for healthy kids.

It's so hard when they get sick, something to make us more thankful.

What are you thankful for today?

Wordless Wednesday (Caught in the Act)

(click on the picture, see how they bagged all the canned goods)

Working Out

Thank you for all your kind comments the other day.

I had my weigh in yesterday and was down 4 of those 5 lbs already.

Which is good.

I'm not giving up.

This is one of my favorite DVD's.

Each mile is completely different,

one with hand weights,

one with the walk-belt (waistline)

one with the stretchie band,

one very fast mile and

one walk/run mile.

I need variety.

I'm visual, I need change to keep motivated.

I usually pick 3 of these different miles.

I've also been getting up between 6 and 6:30

It's actually closer to that 6:30 time

(I like to snooze, I'm working on that one)

I've had all these DVD's for years, I'd say after Colette was born. (remember she's Babycakes)

I did this one on the left this morning.

Here's a link for this series

It was fast, it had all her usual people (my favorite person is Carol--she lost 65 lbs)

But her challenge is to do the 4 mile for 10 days straight.

The 4 mile consists of walk/run intervals.

She calls them "Boosters"

It's a hard workout.

I'm going to do it.

The big question is

Can I do the same workout for 10 days straight?

and

time is a factor.

On the weight training days I'd be working out for over an hour.

Gotta work on that snoozing in the morning.

Why do they make that button?

60 days til Mexico....60 days til Mexico.....

I know I'm not going to be at my goal by Mexico, which is fine, but 10 or 20 lbs

would be nice....

Snowflake Crafts

For January and February I will have this pretty snowflake soap out.

Can you smell it? It smells like vanilla.

I'm a sucker for those flowers in the grocery store.

I love to buy them and put them in water, makes me think of summer.

Speaking of flowers....are you sick of the flowers on this blog?

Everyone picks such great designs and I've had these flowers for like 2 years now.

I haven't been posting our crafts, well, because we haven't been doing much in the craft department.

It's always hard when the older kiddos grow out of making crafts, or get very selective about what they will do.

That's when I get lazy and skip it.

But that's not fair to Colette. (remember that's Babycakes' new blog name)
The older kiddos did get into making snowflakes for the windows.

We cut out circles (you could use squares) and folded them in half 3 or 4 times and cut away.

The designs are beautiful and each one unique like each child.

If you click on my "craft" label on the sidebar, you'll see what we've done in the past. I'm thinking though, now, that I should have labeled them by month, because you'll have to go through quite a few crafts to find all the winter ones. (someday I'll fix that for you)

This craft is very easy.

We drew some snowflakes

Then, we traced them with Elmer's glue.

Let them dry overnight.

Then water painted them.

Since she's the only one crafting these days, I only have these 2 to show you.
We are planning on making these today.
Since I love to tie-dye, we will have to try these next week after I can get some supplies.

For a snack, we might have to get some groceries for these!

7 Quick Takes Friday (Volume 2)

Thanks Jen, I'm going to try this again. I'm probably disqualified, though, because I'm not so quick on the "quick" part.

-1-
I'm feeling down and on the verge of tears today.
(and I've lost my patience with my kiddos because of it)
I've been working out for 3 solid weeks now (Sat will be).
I'm talking 6 days a week, for 50 minutes, including strength training.
Now this is 100% more than I was doing before 3 weeks ago.
I am still following Weight Watchers and counting every point.
My weigh in day is Monday, but I sneaked a peek today and I was up
Yes, I said "UP"!
5 lbs
I immediately fell to my knees.
(well, I got off the scale and went to the chair first)
I thanked God for this cross and begged Him to help me with it.
(I need to go to Adoration, I need to run to Jesus)
I will keep doing it.
I feel better and getting up early has so many rewards, we are finishing school a little earlier
and the day just goes better.
I told my husband
His response was wonderful, he said, "I think you are awesome the way you are!"
But
I don't feel awesome and this is not me.
I'm inside here wanting the real me on the outside.

-2-
One more picture of my dolly and my baby
All this doll talk really has me thinking (my last few posts)
I'm understanding why people buy those American Girl dolls.
I'm not going to buy any, but I understand.
It reminded me of when we bought Jedi the DS for Christmas last year,
how he never even suspected something so big and expensive.
It was never even a thought to ask for such an expensive gift.
The look on his face was priceless when he opened it,
He was shocked and the first thing he said was,
"But this is too expensive, you can't give me this."
He's such a sweet and sensitive boy and I'm so thankful for him.
I think the American Dolls are probably like that for parents and their daughters.

-3-
Snow Mountains!!
Wednesday there was not much windchill and the temp was a hardy 3 degrees,
so during and after Band,
I parked the van in the parking lot and
We
played on the mountains!!!

(you gotta click on the pictures for a better view!)

It was sooooooo fun!!!
Little Sweetie Pie didn't make it very long, it was way too cold for her,
so, my friend Susie and I traded kiddos and I took a couple of hers out with us and she kept
Sweetie Pie inside!

We are SOOOOOO doing this next week when the high is supposed to be 20!!

-4-

No Snow Mountains today!

This morning it was 19 below zero, 19 BELOW!!

All our windows had this heavy frost on them!

As I type this the temp has risen to 8 below zero.

-5-

I got a new cookbook at Sam's Club last week (only $9.99)

This one was a keeper, everyone loved it.

(except me, I don't care for meatballs)
Meatball Calzones

-6-

Sock Balls.

We have lots of sock balls,

and sleeve balls,

and pants leg balls.

I'm willing to bet you have these kind of balls too.

As seen above in #5 we also have

Meatballs.

This picture is for Barbara!


-7-

No picture for this number?

I know, shocking.

Dance TV

That's what we've been doing a lot during this terrible cold weather.

Channel 859

Direct TV
Music only TV, no picture.

We dance and dance, it's great!!!

If you are still with me after this looooong "quick" takes,

Have a wonderful weekend, stay warm and snuggle up with those you love!

Thankful Thursday!

So very thankful for my baby.

Been thinking about how much she's growing and changing every day.

Wanting her to stay a baby forever.

Wanting another baby, yet, treasuring this baby because we don't know, she might be our last precious gift from God. (I am 41!)

My curly baby

My piano baby...she loves to sit with her brother and play piano!

My baby baby, she loves babies and is always carrying one around.

My kissy baby

My book baby.

Pat, pat, pat, (she pats my leg) holding a book, then she plops in my lap.

Big girl car seat baby!

Just this past week, She's finally big enough to go forward facing. (barely)

Laundry room, paper plate sitting baby.

She sits on the paper plates (from Sam's Club) in the laundry room all the time!

My sleepy nukie baby

Oh, sweet sleeping baby, melt my heart.

My pickle baby.

She loves pickles and screams every time I open the fridge and points to the pickles in the door!

Daddy baby (she only wants me for my milk!)

Popcorn baby, she loves popcorn, especially with daddy (he has it almost every night)

Water bottle stealing baby!

She always wants my water bottle.

She loves my water!

And finally, Winter baby!

She hates playing out in the snow, she can't move, she has no thumbs in those baby mittens and falls every 2 steps, but she wants to move so badly, like the big kiddos!

Thanking God constantly for this blessing and my many other blessings.

Dolls

This will be the last post about dolls. Promise!

Unless you get me started on Barbies.

These dolls above were mine when I was a little girl. (so they are about 30 some years old)

From left to Right--

Meet Melissa, Elizabeth and Michelle.

Those were the fanciest names I could think of when I was little.

I thought they were princess names.

The kitty was also mine when I was very little, my mom stitched eyes on him after the eyes fell off.

He's pretty fragile, and I'm sure will fall apart if played with.

This whole doll thing has me thinking about a lot of things.

One big thing is Wow! People really get touchy when we talk about dolls, don't they?

I sense people getting defensive, or maybe it's just me, I don't know.

Really, I don't care what kind of doll anyone else buys. It's up to you what you buy.

I don't think less or more of you depending on the kind of dolls you have.

The other thing that I've been thinking about is Heaven.

Heaven and what we get to take with us.

Nothing.

We don't get to take anyTHING with us.

It's funny how I view the dolls and yet will spend pretty close to that price on a DS for my son (we don't have the DSi)

Anyway, I think it has to do with Heaven.

With a video thingy, it's not a prized possession. It just costs a lot.

With the video game, it's monitored a lot, it's only played with on non-school days, for a 1/2 hour.

With the dolls, I don't want my girls to spend all their money on one thing.

High quality or not.

(I don't care if you do, that's up to you, I'm not judging you)

These are our dolls. Or rather, my girls' dolls.

Meet, Annalise, Julie, Melissa, Lily and Katelyn.

They've had their hairs cut, make up put on them and the girls have made things for them, they've been to tea parties, they've been bike riding, pretty much done everything with my girls.

Yes, their hair is not as nice as those more expensive dolls, but my girls don't seem to mind.

Grandma made all these outfits you see here (except the pants on the far right)

(she's a knitter)

3 dolls were gifts, 2 were bought with their own birthday money.

$24,95-Wal-Mart

Will they play with them all the time? Yes.

Will they get lots of use? Yes.

Will they last forever? No.

Do I want them to?

Probably not.

I mean, what do I do with my dolls?

They sit in a box in my closet. They were perfect when I put them in the box, now, they are

not so perfect, they got old without me even doing anything to them.

My girls are playing with them now, but tonight I'll put them back in the box, up in my closet.

Until another time.

They are just things.

They are not as important as people.

They are not more important than Heaven.

They are just toys.

Oh, how I wish we lived in a simpler time where children had one or two toys and they were happy.

Now, children have more things than ever and are more bored than ever.

I try to clean out every month.

We donate a lot.

We still have a lot.

But with 5 kiddos, there's just a lot.

Simplify.

I'm always trying to simplify.

I DO hope no one was offended in these past 3 posts about American Dolls.

It was not my intention.

Really.

Is There a Difference?

What's the difference between this and this?



We got Jedi a DS last year for Christmas, we did get it on sale for around $100, we do buy used games and trade games in, but still, they are more than an outfit for me or the girls.



I was thinking about this when I was in the shower (that's when I do my thinking) and thought about how, actually the dolls would be much more creative play.

We are having our crazy music day, Band and Piano and lunch with friends that have a similar schedule...hoping to post more later!

A Worthy Cause

Please visit Keri and see how you can help orphans! She is planning a trip next month and is filling her suitcases with donations, instead of her clothes!


Now, I secretly boycott those expensive American Dolls because I get a sick feeling in my stomach every time I see someone with them. Sorry bloggers out there, I'm sure you will stop reading my blog now for sure. I just can't justify that amount of money for a doll that the girl, no matter who she is, will grow out of. I don't care how good the doll is made. I can't justify that an outfit for these dolls costs more than an outfit for myself, or my baby, or any of my children, or my extra tall husband.

Now, Keri is taking American Doll donations to bring these dolls in her suitcase for the 12 girls between the ages of 7 and 10. This, I think is a great idea! A high quality doll for an orphan who probably has never had a doll.

Have I lost you? Is this hypocritical of me?

Sarah (Hawaii Sarah) said something that I must add and totally agree, although there are things I disagree with or do not spend money on that other people do, there are equal things that I do spend money on that they don't. I really don't criticize anyone who does buy these dolls, I just choose to not because of that sick feeling I get.

Homeschool Comeback

This past Christmas someone asked me, you know, one of those usual stupid questions everyone who does not homeschool asks, "How do you do Math?" "Oh, I could never do Math!" Or, "I don't know how you do it."

I used to say, "I am not starting with Algebra, I'm starting with Kindergarten and working my way up along with them, it's a gradual thing."

Now, I say:
"I have the answer book."

Watch people have their little "Aha" moment, it's pretty funny.

7 Quick Takes! (Volume 1)

OK, I'm going to try to do this "7 Quick Takes Friday" and see how it goes.

Jennifer, at Conversation Diary is the original author of this fun Friday thing, but I'm actually inspired today by Margaret. (well, I'm inspired other days by her too, it's just that today...well you get the picture)

It was hard to keep it to just 7 things for me, especially since I haven't blogged since last Thursday

1. John Paul II is being beatified May 1st this year!!!

He is one of my favorites and I never doubted he would become a proclaimed Saint!

This also makes me sad, because it reminds me of my parents and them not being in union with the Holy Father by following the SSPX. They threw everything out that they had on John Paul II a few years ago. I wish they would have given all the books and pictures to me.

2. Christine came to our house this week and Christine is Sweetie Pie's godmother (am I supposed to capitalize that word?) and


Babycakes (who we will now refer to as "Colette", as she is outgrowing the baby name...even though I still think of her as Babycakes, she will always be my Babycakes, just look at those cheekies!) waited by the window for her to arrive!

The babes sat together, because we forced them to, no other reason. But aren't they cute?
They are actually God sisters. (click on the picture for some up close cuteness)
Because.....
Christine is Sweetie Pie's godmother and I'm Ava's godmother.
See? God-sisters!
Here's Christine still in shock that I gave up Diet Coke.
Yep.
You read right.
I gave it up Monday.
No reason, except, I guess, to see if I could do it.
Guess what?
I did it.
I have not had Diet Coke since Sunday.
No headaches.
Only one or two cravings.
Christine brought me a case though of Diet Coke....so it's sitting there, waiting for me to drink it up.


Christine came for lunch, we had cheese pizza, in which she only had one piece, (barely)
I didn't put nuts on it.
But both her and her sweet baby had chocolate stains on their clothes.
(they had just come from shopping)
Very suspicious as to why they didn't eat much.

Ava did let me kiss her, but in this picture, she's like "Hey, get away from me, quit kissing me!"
She says the cuuutest "Baby" word you'd ever hear.
3. This is why I haven't been blogging.
I've been exercising.
6 days a week.
Tomorrow will end my 2nd week.
I've tried in the past to exercise every day, but it's so hard to even get 3 days in.
I homeschool.
There's no time.
The kids would pull me in, and I'd never get it done.
Not this time!!!
I decided to do it, no matter what.
So, some things have to give, like blogging.
Because I know some of you will ask, so I will tell you:
I am doing these 2 DVD's.
3 days I do the hips and thighs walk and the 20 minute toning with it.
and the other 3 days I do different workouts, equalling 3 miles using hand weights.
I have (another) a pair of jeans that are wearing out, between the legs. Right in the upper inner thigh area.
Yes, my legs rub together.
Part of it is they way I am built, but part is because there is extra fat there.
I'm sick of that.
I had hit a plateau on Weight Watchers and needed to bump it up.
SO
This is a test
to see if I can actually lose the weight, by exercising 6 days a week, no matter what,
and I'm....


4. Still following Weight Watchers online.
I just read that Margaret is also doing Weight Watchers!!
Yay!
Good for you Mags!
This no Diet Coke, exercising every day, Weight Watchers plan I'm doing is just making me feel SO good, even if the weight doesn't come off, it feels good.


5. Swimming lessons start tomorrow (Saturday) for all 4 bigger kiddos.
They are very excited!
I am excited that a local college offered lessons on Saturdays.....so no crazy 2 weeks straight of every day lessons with 5 kiddos.
Daddy will be there to help!!



6. What's for Supper? Cheese Tortellini Soup! Yum! I can smell it's aroma filling the whole house!



7. For those of you still with me, here, I'm sure you are thinking "finally!"
I told you it was hard keeping it at just 7 things!
Here's a short video of Jedi, "playing death" which he did for literally 15 minutes while I corrected his past 3 days of Math.
Boys, gotta love them, the things they think of are hilarious!