Yuletide blessings

Well it has been a busy month for sure. The first weekend was the fundraiser event that I chair every year, so much fun, but a lot of work. The kids of course were great, they helped to set up and break down afterward. They didn't mind the shopping either. This was immediately followed by Deli Dude's birthday, Cheeseburger Boy's Winter Concert at school, caroling with Girl Scouts, can we fit much more in here? Sure we can!

The kids have been busy elfing each other all month. We do this every year, the entire month of December you do something for someone else everyday, it could be a chore, leaving them a special treat anything so long as you do it anonymously. The kids really enjoy this and it teaches them just how good it feels to give.

Today is Yule...the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, but after tonight the sun will be regaining strength and it will be staying lighter a bit longer each day until the Summer Solstice in June. On Yule we always give the kids one present, almost always handmade. These are a few of the things I made for them this year.


Reversible superhero capes


Dress for Bookworm


Now with only two school days remaining before winter break, we will be finishing up our teacher gifts, herbal heating pillows, soaps, lip balms, I am still thinking about making bath fizzies and maybe a few cookies too.

Both sides of the family will be here for Christmas, so lots to do. My house is starting to have that holiday scent...you know sugar cookies and pumpkin roll, the smell of the almond paste and apricot preserves from making venetians. Love it! Holidays give me an excuse to play in the kitchen for days.

I wish you all Happy Holidays!

Tribe in the woods

We went camping last week, it was the first time we had gone for a week. The first night there we froze our tails off, the Hubs ended up taking the Babe home at just after midnight. After that it was pretty much smooth sailing. We went with two other families so we rented three sites on a cul-de-sac and dead end. The kids had a fantastic time. It was really nice to be outside and let them run and jump and scream as much as they wanted to. We were right at the lake which was great, the kids could fish or skip rocks and they did... a lot.


Deli Dude spent most of his time hurting himself, one accident after another. He ended up wearing his helmet most of the week just in case. Thanks to him, the kids all got a little bit of a lesson in first aid.

Bookworm learned how to ride her bike without the training wheels in about 10 minutes and she was ecstatic that she caught a few bass.

Cheeseburger Boy got devoured by mosquitoes and fished and did I mention being devoured by mosquitoes? Poor kid I was spraying him down constantly, the first three days I think all the mosquitoes in the woods were swarming around him chanting "bite him, bite him."

Super Why climbed every log, rock and hill while wearing his Indiana Jones hat and cracking his whip.

The Babe with the Power was content to crawl after the kids while they rode their bikes and splashing in the lake, they all enjoyed splashing in the lake... until the snake came tailing through the water at the swimming beach, they were done after that for the rest of the day.

The weather ended up being pretty great. We were forcasted 4 days of rain and ended up only with a quick shower one night, a small storm one night (both after we were already in bed, so it didn't effect us) and one day of rain. No one really cared about the rainy day, the adults hung out in the screen houses while the kids went puddle jumping and riding their bikes through the biggest puddles they could find. You'll see in one of the pictures, Bookworm has a mud racing stripe up her back from the spray off her back tire.

The week was awesome and exhausting all at once. Even though I didn't allow anyone to bring electronic devices except John and my cell phones for safety the kids didn't want to come home, they didn't even miss them. Cheeseburger Boy especially wanted to live at camp. I do think it gave them, all a new appreciation for being able to walk a few feet to use the bathroom instead of having to hike quite a ways to the bath house. Next time we go I have to remember my camera though, I had to use my cell phone as my camera all week. It was really kind of nice to be unplugged for a week. My kids don't watch much TV or play many video games now, but I think I may be instituting electronic free days at home. I along with the kids can't wait to go camping again, John on the other hand says we should skip it next year and we can go again the following year, we'll have to see about that.

Stealing away

In our house it can be very loud and very crazy with all the kids and animals running around. Sometimes it's nice to sneak away and get a few minutes to yourself. Sometimes it's even tough to get a bite to eat around here without someone stealing food from your plate or just having so much going on that it's tough to focus long enough to eat. Every now and then I will find one of the kids hiding out to eat in peace (especially if they scored a treat they don't want to share). Apparently The Babe with the Power is starting this pretty young.

I caught him hiding under the table eating an apple. Super Why set it down to get a toy and The Babe swiped it. That's what it's come to here, you can not leave your food unattended for even a minute or it will be gone when you return.

Here's Super Why doing the same thing about a year and a half a go with a flower cookie he swiped.

Super Why's OCD

Yesterday while my mom and I were having coffee and chatting we noticed Super Why was acting a bit strange. He would rub one eye followed by the next. At first I asked are your eyes itchy? Thinking maybe allergies, but as we continued to watch he would then touch his cheek followed immediately by touching his other cheek the same way. I washed his face, maybe something was on him making him uncomfortable. Nope. It went on for the entire day. Touch one cheek, touch the other, itch one eye, itch the other, sweep hair off of one ear, sweep it off the other and so it went. OCD anyone? My kid? Wonder where that comes from ;). Some of the time it was downright hilarious to watch. I of course took a little video to share, Mom and I were really cracking up by this point as it had been going on at least an hour and a half. He was doing it again this morning, but much less frequently.

Bridging

This was bookworm's first year as a Girl Scout, actually she was a Brownie. Last night along with her troop and all the troops in town, Bookworm participated in a Bridging Ceremony. She is now officially a Junior Girl Scout. She got to walk across the stage and receive the first patches that will go on her new uniform and then she got to cross the bridge and be welcomed by a Junior Girl Scout to her new ranks.

Cheeseburger Boy, Super Why, & The Babe with the Power were there with Dad and I. Also Grampa Da Cow, Kiki and Papa were able to come and watch. The auditorium was packed, all seats were taken almost an hour before the ceremony began.

The troops brought in goodies to host a small reception afterward where the girls who bridged could ask the older girls questions about what to expect in the coming year.

Stroke awareness

May is stroke awareness month. A stroke can really change life in an instant. Here are a few tips to help you recognize a stroke. FAST is one way to remember,

F is for facial weakness - is the person able to smile or is their face drooping,
A is for arms - ask them to hold their arms in the air- are they having trouble with one arm?
S is for speech - are they slurring or unable to get words out?
T is for time - if any of these symptoms are present, call 911 immediately. There is a treatment Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA) available that can prevent further damage and even reverse damage done by a stroke, however you need to be diagnosed and treated within 3 hours or it isn't an option.

Other symptoms to be aware of are sudden or severe headaches and vision loss, double vision or blurry vision, especially if accompanied by dizziness or lack of balance and coordination.

Strokes aren't prejudice, they can strike anyone at any age, please make yourself aware of these symptoms, they could help you save a life.

Into the past

With the kids on school vacation this past week, we had the opportunity to go back in time. We visited Old Sturbridge Village, the largest outdoor museum in the Northeast. The setting is 1790 -1840, a much simpler time. I don't know if I should really say simpler, folks worked their tails off. As soon as you walk into the museum you can see a shift even in yourself, you tend to just slow down. Even a mom like me who is constantly on her toes, tends to loosen the reigns a bit here. This is an awesome place for families, the kids can walk around and pet the sheep or see what it was like for kids in school. The costumed interpreters make the museum interactive which keeps the kids interested, they can ask all the questions they want and get answers that I might not have known. At various places throughout the village they have games that children of the time would have participated in.
We were lucky enough to be able to see the Grist mill and the Carding mill in operation, we also saw the potter making cups and candle holders (he made it look very easy). From the shoemaker we learned that shoes were not made for left and right feet, but could go on either foot. We saw the blacksmith making a fork and spatula, and chatted for a bit with the tinsmith. Bookworm enjoyed trying on clothes from the time and trying out the beds in one of the houses.
The museum allows you to bring in outside food which makes it an affordable outing for families like mine who would probably have to spend as much for food as we did for admission. We packed water and snacks and a picnic lunch that we enjoyed in the grass on the common.
While we were there we were interviewed for an upcoming radio commercial, so keep your ears out for us.

Another blog

As most of you know, I have recently become an Independent Consultant for The Pampered Chef. I have since decided it would be a good idea to start up a new blog dedicated to posting updates on new products, monthly host and guest specials, etc. Please feel free to drop by and check it out at www.VeronicasPCNews.blogspot.com I am really hoping I can get this business up and running so if you know of anyone who is interested in finding out more about The Pampered Chef or is interested in hosting a party, please send them to my blog and/or pass on my information.

Boys birthday

Today was Cheeseburger Boy and Super Why's birthday party. It was suppose to be two weeks ago, but everyone here was sick. I actually am very happy that we ended up switching the date because we ended up with a beautiful day and got to spend most of it outside.

The boys are very into Mario, Boo is Cheeseburger Boys favorite character and Super Why won't commit to one character. I decided to keep things simple this year since the birthdays kind of snuck up on me. I didn't decorate this year as I generally do, but I did make character cakes. Of course I had to make a Boo cake and Super Why wanted me to make a Mario cake, as the party grew closer I realized that I just didn't have the energy to do a Mario cake, so I was able to talk him down to a Mario star cake. They came out pretty good, the kids kept running by and stealing pieces of fondant off the cakes. The cartoony picture is what I went by to make the cake.

Super Why spent probably the first hour hiding in his room, overwhelmed with all the people and the noise level. Cheeseburger Boy was eating up all the attention. The older kids spent most of their time playing Rock Band, only stepping away to eat. It was a great day, things went all in all pretty smoothly. People started showing up about 12:15 pm and the last of the guests left about 10:30 pm, a long day.

As of now 4 of the kids are sleeping and 1 is getting ready for bed so it's time for me to unwind with a cup of tea and to fall asleep watching some mind numbing tv.