The Big Picture Archives | Page 38 of 46 |

Snow Sledding Fun!

December 23, 2008 By Laura 2 Comments

Christmas Eve is tomorrow, and our house is brimming over the edge with excitement!! I am sure it is in your homes and families by now too! The spirit of joy and celebration is definitely in the air here, as we prepare for the reflection of Jesus’ birth. It is solely the focus in our home and family, if you know what I mean. ; ) To see our children relish in the true joy of what Christmas is all about, with such overwhelming child-like excitement and happiness (which is so contagious), as we embark on all of our Christmas traditions, is such a fulfilling feeling as parents.

But on Saturday, there was finally enough snow to really play in! We went sledding!! Well, Kid-Daddy and our kids did—I took photos, which is still playing to me! What made it even more fun, is the snow kept on falling while they played in the winter wonderland. It really made it all the more exciting, if not a bit of a challenge for the photographer. lol. Still got some fun shots though. My frozen shutter hand was worth it. It thawed, with a little pain. So just sharing some of their snow-fun-filled day before Christmas Eve and Day is upon all of us.

This one below cracks me up the way J is amused by the rope having a ride too!

Only A would wear her glasses sledding. And wear a hunter’s hat too, no less. She loves that hat.

The race is on!

Stunt Girl!!

Maybe not……lol

There were lots of giggles echoing in the snow hills valley!

And lots of climbing back up for another run…..

Now am I the only mother that LOVES these faces with a squished brow from winter hats?? Sometimes, I tie it just a little tighter than necessary, just to gush at how cute they are!

Who needs sleds? Not my fools.

But I love my fools! They just make for more laughter!

Catching snowflakes, of course. I love these shots…

What a day!! Good thing we had a big thermos of hot cocoa waiting in the van!!

Hope you enjoyed seeing the fun with us, without getting cold!

We Interrupt This Advent Season, for Daddy-Boy’s Birthday!….

December 20, 2008 By Laura Leave a Comment

……Just as we do EVERY Advent Season. What a time to have a birthday, right before Christmas! Huh?? Birthdays are so important to us, and Michael/Daddy joined me in the 40 Club yesterday! So it was extra special. But every year, I always feel like we’re ‘squeezing’ his celebration in, amidst the preparations for Christmas. Switching gears and temporarily redirecting our attention, pretending we’re not frazzled by it. I feel guilty! There is usually lots of nonchalant planning for the rest of our birthdays in our family here…which are all in the summer and fall. But 6 days before Christmas we’re all just pre-occupied with last-minute-things-to-get-done. (And we have SIMPLE Christmas’s next to most anyone we know.) But when I realize his birthday is in a few days, I’m afraid I’ll forget! (Good thing I have the kids…they would never forget such a thing.) I’m just saying….I wish his conception was at least a month or so before it actually was. Just so we’d be able to give him the absolute undivided attention he SO deserves. But you know….what’s ‘done is done’. And we know who did it. ; )

So he did want a low-key day anyway, as a snow storm was due to come in, and he didn’t want plans to go anywhere in a blizzard. {A} actually got up early to make his birthday breakfast of our traditional birthday pancakes. And I actually jumped out of bed early to help her. I was the one that made the coffee and burnt the sausages. : ) But breakfast together was very nice! I don’t think the kids took their eyes off the windows the whole time though, waiting for that snow to start falling. They also gave him their cards they made for him. Note: {A} has called her Daddy, ‘Daddy-Boy’ since she was 3 or so. And she still does at 11. The story of that is a post for another time. Just thought I’d mention it in case you’re puzzled by that.

We THOUGHT we’d at least have some snow fun on the way that day. So we got packages ready to send out that morning, and got those to the shipping place. But it didn’t even start snowing until almost 3:00, right before it started getting dark out, and Michael had decided by then he really wanted to go visit his 96 year old friend, and make sure he didn’t need anything before the storm really came. So he went and had a nice long visit with him. This sweet old man is dear to all of us. You may remember our post about him, Mr.Bill, on Veteran’s Day. But Michael has become especially close to him, and goes to his home to visit with him 1 or 2 times a week if he can. Michael completely enjoys Mr. Bill’s company in a very sincere way. He’s there for hours sometimes, and comes home smiling with lots of stories. And the same happened on his birthday. Which is nice. Even though I was worried while he was gone because he was still out in blizzardey conditions. But he came home safe and sound, cheerfully telling us how, in light of his birthday, Mr. Bill shared tips with him about how you live to be his age. While was gone, {A} baked his cake. (She insisted. She insists on making her own on her own birthday. I know I’m starting to look really bad here, and I’m afraid it gets worse.)

Then it was time to start preparing his birthday dinner of choice. Well….the thing is, what he really wanted was his own specialty dish….his family’s pizza. (There is a pizza recipe/tradition in his family) So yes….<gulp>…..he pretty much made his own birthday dinner. I really tried to get him to choose something else that I could make but he said no, that he didn’t mind at all. (He never minds making his family pizza. I think it’s a bit of work, since he even makes the dough. But…. it’s a family tradition.) He’s really not about that ‘special treatment’ on his birthday. He doesn’t ask for foot rubs like I do, or anything. He’s ‘all set’. The pizza was good though, as ALWAYS. Doesn’t it LOOK good??

Afterwards, we had cake. Which happened to be the Thunder Cake we posted about, from our studies of Patricia Polacco, because that’s what he wanted. Just so you don’t think that I really did NOTHING, I did frost the cake, and sliced the strawberries (and let’s not forget about the coffee making and sausage burning in the morning). Doesn’t it look lovely??

It tasted good too!

The rest of the night we spent generally parenting. You know,…helping the kids with their showers getting to them to bed, and taking care of some Christmas stuff. It surely wasn’t the day of fun int he snow we thought we were going to have, but he enjoyed his day none-the-less. Had a nice long visit with his friend, got all of his favorite foods, etc….what more could a birthday boy want?

I am sure you’re thinking…”Are there any pictures of the birthday boy in this post? And to that I have to say….Of course there is!!!

He’s a looker, huh?? Even handsomer than the days we were ‘courting’, as he calls it. He’s getting that distinguished look, that comes with age. He is just so handsome. Ask my sister.

Anyway….today, the day AFTER his birthday as I post this, we DID get the fun in the snow we were looking for!! The kids….the big one and the 4 younger ones, went sledding, and I took photos. I’ll be sharing photos of that in the next post. Just need to go through them and be reasonable about how many to keep and/or post. Sure was fun taking photos of them having a (snow)ball!!! (I know…OH BROTHER!!) I’m a witty one, huh??

Happy Birthday, Daddy-Boy and Love of My Life!!

A Thanksgiving Prayer to Share

November 25, 2008 By Laura Leave a Comment

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, from our family, to yours!!

An Early Christmas Gift, from CatholicTV

November 21, 2008 By Laura 1 Comment

So {A} expressed her wishes in her last post, that she hoped we would blog about our wonderful, unexpected, fill-our-hearts with joy, early Christmas gift. And since I took photos, why not!?

After Mass on Sunday, Fr. Bob Reed, who is Director of CatholicTV, and who also helps out with Masses at our parish, asked us to stay after Mass as he had something for us. Once we all went outside, he proceeded to transport a huge wrapped gift from his trunk, to our van! We were so confused. He said it was an early Christmas gift for us from himself and everyone at CatholicTV. Now, as many of you may know, we willingly let them film our family for a new series on Catholic families, for their TV station. We were the first family to do this, so maybe that is why they have expressed their gratitude many times, which was enough for us!! But here, we had this gift from them.

I asked if we should wait until Christmas to open it, but he said “Oh no!! Open it TODAY!!”. Now our plans were to go shopping from there but……you can bet those plans got a little rearranged. We went home first to open the gift.

Now, we are thankful for anything. Or nothing. From anyone. But as I looked at this box, I had an inkling. Or maybe it was wishful thinking. It my heart, I was a little bit hoping and praying, that it was just what it turned out to be. Hold on.

So here are the kids waiting to open it. Daddy was in the other room doing something, or something. I forget. But we were waiting. And wondering. Hmmmm.

Then we let them tear it open, which took all of 1/2 second.

Next, Daddy had to open the stapled box, and carefully cut the tape of the styrofoam box as well. Clearly it was something breakable. (That was a good sign to me!! lol)

He lifted off the cover, and though each piece was wrapped in plastic, it was clear enough that my little prayer had come true. The kids cheered! Can you tell what it is??

Here is a better look. The beauty of each piece is just……….

I can’t tell you how HAPPY this gift made us. So how did I have an inkling of what it was?? Many weeks ago, when that man from Bethlehem was selling religious wood goods at our parish, I told Fr. Reed how we need to get a nativity set, and soon. I told him we’ve never really had one, except for the Fisher Price Little People set our little ones had. He then mentioned a place he knew that made beautiful sets, but then told me to be sure we didn’t get one. Now WHY would a priest tell you not to get a nativity set? I was just about to ask him where he recommended, since he said he knew of a great place.

We even used that Little People Nativity Set last year, even though our youngest ones were 5 years old and a little old for it! We figured, hey, it was better than nothing. The thing is, our home was always too small before, and lacked a good display area for a nativity set. We couldn’t really afford one, anyway. Later, we added on and had more space, but then with 3 toddlers thrashing about the house, I didn’t want anything get get broken, IF we had one. But it was definitely time, to have a REAL one. Michael and I have wanted one ever since we’ve owned a home, and it was always sadly put off, for one reason or another. A nativity set IS what Christmas is, and we wanted it to be part of our home, for every Christmas season from now on.

But to receive such a BEAUTIFUL set, as a GIFT, from Fr. Reed (whom we adore), and CatholicTV, just adds sentiment to this set, that we will always treasure. The children will always remember how, when, where, we got it, and it just makes it that more special. It’ll be a family treasure, for many, many generations to come.

Michael will be building a stable that is just right, to accommodate our new Nativity set. We are all very excited to set it up in a place of honor. I’ll be sure to take and share photos.

To Fr. Reed (if you’re reading) and Catholic TV — THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts, from our whole family here “at #19”. Your beautiful, thoughtful, amazing gift will never go unappreciated, and will always mean more to us than you will ever know.

And here is the STAR of the show! The very reason we celebrate every Christmas…..

Save

Hand-Taming Chipmunks – by {A}

November 16, 2008 By A 3 Comments

Hi there! If you’ve been visiting our blog from the beginning, you may have seen posts on my chipmunks troop before. If you’ve missed them and want more background, you may want to go back to here, and also here. I have hand-tamed / trained 3 of them, and am working on my fourth, named ‘Sergeant’. The one in these photos that Mama took, is ‘Chipmouse‘, which was the easiest one to train.

My family and friends call me ‘The Chipmunk Whisperer‘. Sometimes they try to whisper back!! This REALLY tickles! Look at her little paw on my ear! My Dad said she was thinking, “I wonder if I can put some seeds in here?”.

I’ve spent extra time with them in the last month or so, knowing I’ll see them a lot less over the winter. I don’t believe that they truly hibernate, but they are like the squirrels. They stay in their burrows and sleep a LOT, only waking to eat a little bit from the food the keep right next to them. Or under them. They have been known to come out some in winter on milder days to collect nuts or berries or whatever they can find.

In this photo below, she is searching for some of her favorite treats that I might have dropped. Some of the things I’ve fed her that she loves to eat are dried corn, sunflower seeds, slivered almonds, and she has taken grapes cut into quarters when we didn’t have any of the other things in stock.

Just look at how she looks up at me! I think she loves me. Sometimes she gives me little wet kisses.

I don’t have a photo of it, but I actually taught Chipmouse how to shake paws. : ) I put my finger out by her paw, and she puts her paw on top of my finger. Then I push up, and she pushes down, and I push up, and she pushes down. It’s really fun!I think in the photo below she wanted to do a double paw shake.

I also love to twirl her tail.

I really love my chipmunks. I’m glad that God allowed them to trust me.

I’ve spent a lot of time with them, so I think they will probably remember me in the springtime. Especially ‘Chipmouse’, because we’ve spent countless hours together.

I know where her burrow is, which is on our property, so when I really miss her, I can at least whisper down to her and tell her. Notice how chipmunk holes are so nice and round? That’s how you know it’s not a snake burrow!

Well I hope you enjoyed my post. I should have another coming up. I won’t tell you what it’s about so it’s a surprise. : ) Also, today we got a very early, and very, very special Christmas present! We are all over the moon and were bouncing off the walls with happiness when we opened it! (We weren’t being impatient. We were told to open it right away.) I hope Mama blogs about it, but she wants photos. Of course!!

See you later!

Amazon Affiliates