A Fancy Nancy Party

She wanted to start her special day with her favorite breakfast... crepes!

Her brothers were very excited about her choice -

it seems to be a family favorite!

A party is not complete without a fancy pinata!

(I know I am a pretty fabulous mom... She loved it)

I painted 100 little fingers today ~ more actually...

some girls needed sparkles so it was more like 200 little fingers!

Fancy cupcakes being made...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR FANCY SIX YEAR OLD!

Again, check out the fanciness of the cake...

Christmas 2008

"I like everything."

(He is much too busy playing MarioKart with his dad to talk to me about Christmas!)

"My favorite thing about Christmas is to see my friends on the Christmas cards and to make cards for our family on the presents under the tree. I like to see all the colorful lights outside on the houses. I love the presents people gave to me and I like the Tinkerbell things Santa gave to me. I like the candy and cookies. I want to leave the Christmas tree up forever."

This little guy was patient this year and would wait his turn to open a gift. Once the flashlight was opened, he wasn't interested in much else!

Christmas Things...

The Holiday Choir Concert

This year the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades combined for a seasonal celebration. They sang songs about Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanza. We've known for a long time that he enjoys singing... We found out during the concert that he is a pretty great performer. I wonder where he gets that from?

Christmas Caroling

The Daisy Girl Scouts sang their way through the hallways of the local nursing home and hospital. Her favorite part was "seeing the sad people in wheelchairs become happy!" She came home and told us a lot of the people looked just like Grandma Houston (her spunky 93 year old Great Grandma). She had so much fun and sings the songs all... day... long...

Away in a Manger

We bought the Fisher Price Little People Christmas Nativity toy for the kids and they have loved it ~ After playing around with it for a while, this is the way our little rascal set up the manger/stable scene. Take notice of the pig where the Angel should be... we've made some progress - at first the Angel was a butterfly, then became a fairy and is now properly called the Angel.

Frosty... our Snowman!

The kids were home from school today because of bad weather... Freezing rain is something I've become quite familiar with living on the Eastcoast. We did have fun playing in the snow and building this snowman together!

The snowman is taller than me. It is quite a workout trying to get balls of snow on top of each other ~ building a snowman isn't as easy as it looks!

Birthday ~

The little guy has been talking about a Handy Manny cake for awhile -

although when it came time to eat it, he said he didn't like it.

I did what any good mom would do and ate it for him!

Listen closely to the video below, as we sing "Happy Birthday dear..."

He says, no - Handy Manny! He likes it when we call him Handy Manny!

The kids were happy that Grandma came down to visit!

Cute card, huh?

We celebrated my 33rd and the little one's 3rd birthday!

If you didn't know, he was born on my 30th birthday ~

He recieved three of this exact same card in the mail.

(perhaps there was a sale at Costco?)

He thought it was the funniest thing ever - well, almost...

For him, the funniest thing was listening to his Aunt sing over the phone!

Thanks and Giving ~

At Thanksgiving time, we often share with others all that we are thankful for. My family has so much to be thankful for... we are VERY thankful for all that we've been blessed with - family, friends, health and happiness.

The list goes on (click to see last years list). One of my sisters suggested

we focus on the giving part of the holiday, so we are trying to focus

on how we can GIVE more of ourselves this holiday season.

How can you give of yourself this time of year?

Don't just count your blessings, make your blessings count!

My little students

"She is off to a wonderful start in Kindergarten! It is a great pleasure to have such a special little girl in my classroom. I enjoy her quiet, observant nature and her calm, friendly personality! I am so pleased to notice how much she enjoys her school environment, school activities, and even school work. She always does her best and is a lovely listener and participant! She is well liked and well behaved. I am enjoying her drive to learn, she is an emergent reader now. I look forward to a great year of fun and learning with her!"

"He is off to a great start in Third grade. He has

fantastic comprehension skills. He is a very interesting

and creative writer. His understanding of math skills and

concepts far exceeds that of a typical third grader.

I would like him to work on letting me know when he is ready

to move on to something more challenging during our lessons.

He works hard towards a positive atmosphere in our

classroom. Keep up the great work!"

Happy Halloween

Anakin Skywalker

He and all of his friends decided they were old enough to Trick or Treat by themselves this year. They all met together and cruised the neighborhood for treats (hopefully, not pulling any tricks!). After the big candy trade they hung out at a bon fire next door. The kid is really growing up.

Cute Cowgirl

Seroiusly... Have you ever seen such a cute cowgirl?

She also decided Trick or Treating would be much more fun with a friend.

Handy Manny

With his older siblings out with friends, this little guy was left all by himself.

Thank goodness he's got a fun dad who took him around the neighborhood!

Our Pumpkins ~

The kids thought it was cool to have the pumpkins lit with all the lights out and dad shining a flashlight on them to display their masterpiece!

Halloween Cookies...

Every year we make Halloween Sugar cookies.

This year we made them with some friends

while the kids were home from school!

Thanks for the pictures, Zeeny!

He concentrates very hard while doing his cookies.

They look great when he is done.

I am even willing to send the ones he has frosted to the neighbors.

She usually makes the cutest faces ~ complete with eyes, nose, mouth

... don't forget the cheeks, and chins (those are extra candy to eat).

I don't know what to say - His never go to the neighbors...

I don't even eat the ones he's decorated,

unless I've stripped them of the half dozen candy corn!

So long, Soccer!

We had fun watching our oldest two kids play soccer this year. There were evenings when I had to park my chair right in the middle so I could watch both games at the same time. Go Green! Go Black!

He has gotten really good at soccer this year. He was a great goalie - never letting a ball through the entire season! Goalie was his favorite position.

This little monkey had plenty to do during the games... riding on his horse (AKA my leg) seemed to be one of his favorite activities! I think my right leg muscle is stronger than my left now ~ perhaps I should have switched legs...

A Serenade ~

I found this little rascal upstairs in his room today...

playing his sisters piano and singing a song for someone special.

A Fall photo shoot...

'Tis the Season!

There are so many reasons why our family loves the Fall ~

Apple picking is just one of them...

We were so happy Grandma (pictured on the left) came with us!

I think we picked about 25 pounds of apples...

that is a lot of apple pies, apple crisps and applesauce!

I'm not sure if we were supposed to be climbing the trees... But, we did!