A few more present pictures

a magnet from Laura
a magnet from me (it was a dollar, I couldn't resist)

Leanna, playing with her brother's stuff

Presents being used or made

Timothy's painting masterpiece.

Leanna showing off her new journal, which was actually a right-after-Christmas present from me.

Bracelets Leanna made.

Timothy using his Aquadoodle Wall Mat



Just a few pictures of Christmas presents being used or craft presents that were finished. I haven't posted a lot lately and I wanted to quickly put a few things up here.

For my MIL, or any other Elvis fans

A blogger's grandmother was friends with Elvis and presents a different picture of him than I've heard (polite and respectful) and it has links to a few old interviews her grandmother did with him.

Before I forget.....

It's late and I have to get up early, but I wanted to post these before I forget. I don't want to go back and look through the pictures a month from now and wonder what the heck was that green thing??!!

It's actually a present Timothy made me today. I asked him what it was and he just kept replying, a present! I regularly get presents from all three older kids, they really are so sweet! Also note the clothespin magnets, a Christmas present from Laura! Cooler still is that she got the idea to make them from a link I posted. (Well, I think that makes them even cooler. I like to be useful!)

The magnets forming Justin's name were his own doing, and he was very proud of it! I am purposely not doing a lot of "school" with him, which is very very hard. Sometimes I feel guilty that I'm not teaching him to read, etc. But I'm trying to go at HIS pace, not what I feel like he should be doing to be "normal." When you hear adds on the radio all the time for programs to teach your six month old to read, that can be a very difficult path to follow. But I know that boy learns all the time from his experiements and playing. I have to trust it will all be ok.

We'll call him Mr. Lizzard

Jacob Quinn!

Today he dumped a bottle of water into a strainer bowl (full of holes).

And put some cereal into the cd player on top of the cd, and closed the lid.

Yesterday he poured water into an outlet. Luckily it was a GF outlet!

He also shoved three toothbrushes down the sink drain. When asked who had done it, he replied, "Not me!" I asked if every member of the family had done it, and he replied no to each one.......except the lizzard!
He likes to dump pots and pans out of the lower cabinets, one day he stood on a chair and just started throwing all the cups out of the cabinet. He also likes to take the sink spray hose and spray all over the kitchen and anyone foolish enough to come in the kitchen. I think I have 6 months to a year til this kind of behavior ends........arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Nurture Shock

Someone just recommended this book and I checked it out and it looks very good. I like that they include the science, but also make it friendly and annecdotal to furthur illustrate their points. Just based on the reviews, particularly customer reviews, it looks really interesting. They say many of modern society's most popular strategies for raising children are in fact backfiring because key points in the science of child development and behavior have been overlooked. Two errant assumptions are responsible for current distorted child-rearing habits, dysfunctional school programs and wrongheaded social policies: first, things work in children the same way they work in adults and, second, positive traits necessarily oppose and ward off negative behavior. It covers things like excessive praise backfiring(I knew that!), sibling relationships, parent/teen relationships, sleep, why baby einstein etc doesn't work (I knew that!), IQ testing, talking about race relations, etc. etc.

I know my birthday is far far away, but I've added this book to my amazon wish list!

Recent Barbie randomness

having an older sister means learning to play barbies

Check out Leanna's new exotic intrigue Barbie! Fancy hair!

She even has little chopsticks in her hair! I wish I had pictures of the swimsuits Leanna and Betsy designed for her using Bendables!

Looks just like him!

Jacob kept picking up this Little People Noah and calling it Pop-Pop. Which Pop-Pop is anybody's guess, it's kind of a cross between both.

What Was So Divine About 2009?

Inspired by the always inspiring SouleMama, a list compliled by me and Leanna.

What Was So Divine About 2009:

1. All the toys at Christmas (L)
2. Christmas Day (L)
3. A free Christmas Tree
4. A less chaotic holiday Cookie-making session
5. Getting my globe (L)
6. a new to us computer monitor!
7. A free art class for Leanna
8. Beginning our volunteering at Phoebe
9. Lots of crafts
10. a new camera
11. beginning homeschooling
12. getting new webkinz on Christmas (L)
13. ever so slightly less mess in the house (it now dissapears for small periods)
14. Chrissy's wedding
15. Getting my new sewing machine (L)
16. Getting my new pack of princess beads to make (L)
17. Finding time to do a tiny bit of sewing
18. doing some soul searching
19. getting the kitchen repainted
20. seeing a real love of reading instilled in Leanna
21. Lots of fun girl scout trips and activities
22. Some good ideas for birthday cakes
23. Lots of baking experimentation
24. having new girls at Girl Souts (L)
25. having most of the girls in Girl Scouts in the same troop as me from last year (L)
26. Sleepovers at Marlena's house (Me and L)
27. getting lizzards (L)
28. lots of thoughtful gifts from Justin
29. Leanna helping out more (willingly)
30. Late night mother/daughter reading sessions
31. going to the park with Grammy (L)
32. Justin starting to help out (somewhat willingly)
33. lots of holiday fun
34. brand new clothes presents from Aunt Karen
35. Lots of fun with worms, catepillars, and dirt
36. a visit with Nanny Jarrell
37. Finally normal lead levels!!!!!
38. Strawberry picking
39. lots of learning and growing as a family

A poem for Justin

A Dinosaur for Christmas

A dinosaur for Christmas
is the only thing I need.
It doesn't matter if it's slow
or one that's built for speed.
A massive one, a tiny one
or one that's in between.
A dinosaur that's muddy brown
or bright and shiny green.
I don't care if it's big and tall
or really old and ugly.
I don't care if it's rough and tough
or soft and cute and snuggly.
A spiny one will do the trick.
A scaly one is fine.
As long as it's a living, breathing dinosaur,
and mine.
I promise if you bring me one
I'll never ask for more,
That's all I want for Christmas:
just one single dinosaur.
--Kenn Nesbitt

Nanny Sue on Christmas Day

hand and footprints
This one includes room in case Maree' or Jonathan and Josselyn want to add an extra catepillar

Nanny Sue came to visit Christmas day too! I made Kitty Kat pillowcases for her, and of course there were more handprint shirts this year too. Leanna helped more with decorating the shirts this year, and she's showing some of her handiwork to Nanny Sue in the above pictures.

More Christmas Day

Presenting.....my snack!
Justin's new puppet

And a really cool Robot in my Room!

Barbie riding a dinosaur
Leanna playing with her new Barbie head

Claire!

Tom, in a rare moment of frivolity

More Christmas

new barrettes

Justin actually took a nap
Tom's shirt from Laura




The boys wore the suits Aunt Karen bought them for Chrissy's wedding

Leanna had a very pretty sparkly dress from Sears (the wedding dress wouldn't have worked well for Christmas).

Some Christmas gifts

Santa brought Tom an electric blanket

Timothy got a Hot Wheels Collosal Stunt World!

Jacob, being sweet

Leanna's "Big" present. If you know her personality, than you understand what a perfect gift this is!!

I don't have a whole lot of pictures because of course I'm handing gifts to people and opening presents myself.

Stuff left behind......

That Santa! He left behind a few things.....his glasses, a piece of his suit (torn on in

the door!) and a glove.

AC Moore sells some neat kits!

Speaking of traditions.........

Night before Christmas stories....

Christmas PJs

I try to get the kids new pjs to wear for Christmas morning, and also on years where we go looking at lights in the car (in other words, years when we have a working car) the pjs for that event also. Last year I found mention of the new pj traddition on parentdish as well, so apparently others have had the same idea!

These pictures are from Christmas Eve before bed.

Homemade Potato chips

Tom got me a food slicer for Christmas and he's been playing with it. He's made homemade potato chips twice now. But he made a whole bunch last night, actually he started them and I ended up finishing them. By the time they were done I was so tired and still had to get Jacob sleeping so I quickly put them in sandwich bags. Today they were soggy. I think my mistake was 1. not adding new paper towels to soak up more of the grease and 2. storing them in an airtight container. But last night, they tasted just as good as any store-bought chip! (and safer for us, only some brands are ok for Jacob!)

Here's a website I found talking about the history of potato chips and includes instructions for making your own.