Celestial Show and the Invasion of the Barbie House

How's that for a title! It just seems to fit New Year's Eve. I'm excited about the celestial show tonight. It sounds better than the New York ball dropping at midnight. And it's a great chance for a "science lesson" with the kids. Jordan got a great astronomy book from the Creation Museum bookstore for Christmas. We might work that into our "lesson" too! Here is a link detailing the "celestial show", and you can watch it for free without leaving your home! That's the best part. http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20081230/sc_space/celestialshowsetfornewyearseve



Now for a slight subject transition. Get ready for "The Invasion of the Barbie House", starring Buttons, alias Baby, the cat. I heard Emma laughing in her room, and so, like any inquisitive mom, I had to check this out. Laughing can mean a lot of things. Emma was playing Barbie dolls, and Buttons decided to join the fun. She invaded Barbie's penthouse apartment. I hope Barbie likes larger-than-life sized cats. If not, I don't think the cat will be leaving for awhile. Buttons has got that ornery look too. Probably not a good time for Barbie to attempt a cat eviction.


Yesterday, Josh came running in the house, frantic, because there were "big black things" running around in the woods. As I was trying to find my shoes, I thought about coyotes. But I don't think they're black. And they really aren't THAT big. Could it be this elusive bigfoot the boys have been telling me about? Or maybe a herd of bigfoot? No...it was five wild turkeys, and they certainly WERE big. Turkeys fly too. They were about 100 feet away from us. I did briefly wonder what they taste like, and if an airsoft gun would take one down at that distance. LOL. Instead we admired them for a few minutes as they walked down the deer trail. They really are beautiful birds. I wonder what they were eating. It's nice to look out into the woods and still be able to see wildlife, even as there is more development in our area.


Happy New Year!!!

Christmas 2008

Wow...it's been a while since I've blogged. I've got some catching up to do :) First of all, I've got a short clip from Josh's 5th grade program, which was during the week before Christmas. He is in the back, looking really excited about singing (NOT). Unfortunately, this turned out a little dark because the auditorium wasn't well lighted. Or maybe it's my camera. Jordan also had a band concert, and did so well playing his trumpet. The boys are both so talented! Of course, I'm probably a little biased.

The next fun activity we did together was to go to the Creation Museum. There was a live nativity, which got moved inside for the evening, since it was only 2 degrees outside (not counting the wind chill). We did go outside for a quick look at the lights, but it was a really quick walk. The nativity was called "Road to Bethlehem" and had shepherds, Roman centurians, markets where you could buy food or souvineers, animals, and the manger scene. It was so well done, and the kids had a great time, although I think Jenna might be allergic to donklets.

This next pic is for Frost, Stacia, and Ruth. It's "Ethan the Centurian" alias brother-in-law/brother. He made all the Roman spears, which really looked authentic. Ethan scowled alot and pretended to attack us. LOL. We had to pay a denarius to pass. The kids loved eating veggie/rice soup and gyros in the cafeteria area. I think this will make a good tradition to do every year.

I guess the next thing I should write about is Christmas Eve. We went over to Aunt Stac's house and spent the evening with Rich's family. We had a wonderful dinner. Then almost everyone went for a ride to see Christmas lights (in a several car caravan)! When they all got back, we opened gifts together. It was pretty much non-stop eating, but I really tried to be good.

Christmas Day was spent at our house. Rich's family, Mom and Dad, and Holly came over. We had egg casseroles for breakfast, soup and sandwiches for lunch, and then assorted snacks. I saved some Troyer Trail bologna and swiss cheese from our Holmes County trip in August, which we all enjoyed. Then it was time for more gifts to open. We all missed Jeff and John, but got to talk via the phone in the afternoon. We also talked with Joe a little too. He actually had to work.

With the economy being bad for the past several months, Rich and I tried to spend less money for Christmas. We spent mostly cash, which cuts down on the credit card bills. I think it's really hard to keep track on spending when we charge gifts. I also bought several smaller gifts for the kids, so they'd have plenty to open and play with. Josh told me that his favorite part of Christmas is family, not presents. I'm so glad, because this is what I've been trying to teach the kids. I was also happy to see that they bought small gifts for each other at school. This picture is of the girls and their baby dolls before bed on Christmas Eve. I bought jammies for them that were on sale and so amazingly cheap! They were so excited to match their dolls. Emma lost another front tooth and looks so cute when she smiles.

Holly was a little disappointed on Christmas Day, because the kids wanted to play wii so much, but then they got her involved. It was hilarious!! She "unleashed the force" on the kids. Today the girls are playing the Outdoor Adventure game. They've been playing for almost an hour, and it's wearing me out to just watch. I played last night, and actually did pretty well at the kayaking, jump roping, and the other games we tried. Maybe this counts as exercise. It should. LOL.

I'm so thankful for our family. I know I really loved making others happy at Christmas. It's funny how that makes me feel so good. Sharing kindness is a great gift to give!! I received alot of that this Christmas too!

Buttons and the Bigfoot in the Woods

Due to popular demand, I'm posting a short video of the new kitten. We've named her Buttons, but she REALLY likes being called "Baby Kitty" or just Baby for short. I was talking to Mom on the phone about this a few weeks ago, and she seemed surprised. In fact, Mom was amazed at the coincidence, because that's what SHE used to call the kitty before she gave her to us. LOL. Smart cat. The kids LOVE her, and I think she's already grown quite a bit. Buttons, alias Baby, has already gone through 4 pounds of cat food. Smokey is getting a good workout. I think he might actually lose some weight, because they chase each other through the house and play alot during the day.



The boys are down at the creek playing survivorman. This may SOUND like innocent fun, but last time they built a fire, boiled water, caught several small fish, cooked them, and then ate them. Luckily nobody got sick. Since then we've had several talks about food safety. We also talked about water purification. I'm not too worried about the fire, because they built it on rocks in the middle of the creek, and kept it small. I can thank Boy Scout classes for that!

Jordan just came up to get some food, so that's a good sign. It's easier to get it from the house, than to catch and cook it.

Once the boys decided to go down to the creek at night with some friends. It's not that far, and we can see them from the deck, so we decided to let them go for an hour. It is a little steep though. I'd bet it's a good 300 ft elevation change from our yard to the creek. Well, about 20 minutes later, four boys came CRASHING up through the woods into the yard. Two of them had to use their inhalers. Get this...they said that bigfoot was down in the woods...and they BELIEVED it. They heard what sounded like a tree falling, and decided that it would take a bigfoot to knock one down. Since then, Josh has decided that it's ok to hike in the morning, or even early afternoon, but NEVER at night. LOL. Works for me.

Thanksgiving

November has truly been a month for family! I like the time around Thanksgiving better than Christmas. I got to see my cousin Joe from Florida earlier in the month. We had a fun visit and worked on some family tree research. Joe has so much info on the Wright side of the family. Now I know where to go when I get stumped!

Last week we had full Thanksgiving celebration. It started with lunch at our house. It was actually supposed to be a light lunch, but something happened. I'm not sure how it evolved into an entire turkey meal, complete with casseroles (to the culinary delight of those from CA)! And of course, everyone brought extra food. We had a great time visiting with Jeff, John, Holly, Dad and Mom.

Later in the evening, we all met at Rich's parents' house for Thanksgiving dinner. I certainly couldn't eat much more! It was such a fun family day.

This is a pic of Josh, Jenna, Emma, and Jeff. Come on Jeff, Emma can't be THAT heavy!! I posted more pics on my facebook account and also on Shutterfly. There are WAY too many to include here. And that's how Thanksgiving should be. Absolutely full of family and fun. I'm so thankful for children and family. Maybe that's why this is my favorite time of the year. It's a time to reflect on blessings. The only let-down at Thanksgiving is when everyone has to go home.