It's not REALLY Christmas until someone cries...and a Family Picture is taken.

Sometimes, but not always, in that order. Ethan decided to do the crying before the photo shoots happened, and Sophie decided that during the photo shoot would be the better venue. I really wish I would have snapped a picture of Ethan curled up in a ball next to the dresser in my bedroom screaming and crying when he heard the news that pictures were to be taken. Because THAT would have been a Kodak moment. After about an hour of listening to his freak out session, we deduced that part of his problem was that he hadn't eaten breakfast that morning and didn't go to bed the night before until almost midnight. A near deadly combination with this particular child. Lack of sleep and insufficient food cause massive meltdowns of irrationality.

Once lunch was eaten, he was MUCH happier and (I think) he even enjoyed the picture taking. He might have been the only one. Hahahaha. Here are the fruits of our labor. Please note the slow but steady disintegration of Sophie's mood. Because, come on, let's face it. Who really WANTS to take a million family pictures when it's cold outside and there is no immediate incentive involved?


First up? My mom with all the grandkids. I don't think there's a decent one in the bunch. Grace kept doing these weird poses and wouldn't put down an ornament. Jane kept trying to wander off. Eleanor wouldn't sit still and kept jumping all over the place, and mom was trying to juggle Penelope and Pearce while the cold was slowly but surely turning Sophie into an angry little elf.










After the idea of an outdoor photo was scrapped (no one really wanted to walk through the snow) we opted to take all the pictures on the back porch. Let's just say that it brought back years and years of suppressed memories. Hahahaha. I think I can safely say that NONE of us liked taking our yearly Christmas picture as kids. As adults I'm not sure the sentiment has faded. Haha. It is certainly a lot harder to get a decent shot with this many people (and kids) in the shoot. Luckily we got a decent picture out of the bunch (because NO ONE was willing to get dressed again to retake anything).

Eleanor and Sophie were probably having the roughest time.

Notice Grace's weird pose and Sophie sulking on my shoulder.

And finally the money shot.

Mom with all 7 kids...

and a little lagniappe.

And finally, finally, I managed to convince the kids to get dressed up the next day for their photo shoot with Muffy (my sister Laura) who so graciously agreed to take their pictures so I can have new ones for my living room wall.















And that's all folks. More will come on Christmas 2010 later...

The Goose is Getting Fat

Alright. So, here's the deal. Christmas is almost here, and because my life is never calm and breezy, I haven't blogged in like forever. I think this month is a metaphor for my life in general and this year in particular -- I never get enough sleep (blast those children), I've always got a million things to do and not enough time to do it, and I can't stay on top of laundry (or housework) to save my life! So, in keeping with a recent epiphany that I just need to chill out, I've adopted a mantra to "stress less." If I don't have to do it, and if it's going to cause extra stress, then I'm not going to do it. (Which is probably why I've blogged only once since we moved here this summer!)

So, in keeping with that mindset, I have the following announcement to make -- Ladies and Gentleman, we will not be sending out a Christmas card this year. :( I'm actually a little sad about this but mostly just relieved. Forcing myself to scramble around last minute to get a BETTER picture taken, compose a letter, and then address, stamp, and mail off a bunch of Christmas cards would not really be fulfilling my newly found motto. Of course, I would never leave you hanging completely, so without further ado, here are the rejected Christmas pictures:



Ignore the fact that we have too much color grouping going on because the kids would not follow my directions -- THIS is the best shot of the bunch. Merry Christmas from our family to yours!



Alright, now for a brief synopsis of the last couple of months.

Grace celebrated a 6th birthday -- and managed to eek out about 3 separate celebrations.

Ready to open Ethan's present for her bright and early on the dawning of her day.

And the perfect facial response upon its opening.

Grace's Willow Tree statue for the year is entitled "Free Spirit" -- quite apropos, I thought, although she was upset that it wasn't sitting down like Ethan's.


The birthday cake -- if you're thinking it looks familiar it's because it does. She had this same cake last year, only pink to match Puppy.


This year she wanted one to match Doggie.


Decorating cookies with friends at her final "party."








For the record Grace cannot blow out candles to save her life. She literally can't. This year it took about 5 tries before I just blew them out for her. Hahahaha.


Modeling her present from me.


And matching with her doll Kit.

A few weeks after Grace's birthday we enjoyed a visit from Scott's parents before heading up to join them at Kristin's house in Indiana. It was fun to show them where we live and we enjoyed an outing to the zoo while they were here. Although enjoy is a relative term seeing as to how it was freezing, and Ethan was throwing a fit almost the whole entire time we were there. Fun times. I just love it when my children exhibit their worst possible behavior in front of company.

I don't think Jane was having much fun.


Grace DID have fun.


And Sophie is always having fun.

As you may have noticed, Ethan was SO not having fun that there are no pictures of him at all. The next week was Thanksgiving, however, and luckily ALL my kids ALWAYS have fun at Aunt Kristin's playing with their cousins. Not so fun? Taking 8 hours to drive up there when it should have only taken about 5. Bad weather, coupled with construction and a few missed turns, turned the road trip into the longest nightmare ever. I think Sophie was the only one we didn't hear a peep out of the entire time. Of course, that was probably due to the fact that she had her own little DVD player and headphones to herself, but it's not her fault that Jane wasn't interested in sharing with her. Fortunately the drive back was practically perfect and we managed to make it home in only 4 1/2 hours. Whew.

I know several people have been hounding me for more pictures of the house, but the problem is that the house is never clean enough for showcasing. To satisfy some curiosity, however, I managed to snap a few pictures one night after the kids had actually cleaned their rooms. Here are the kids' bedrooms (minus Jane).

The Girls' Room (check out the cute framed print over the nightstand that my sister, Emily sent for them):

And Ethan's room:

Some of his framed "artwork" from last school year. The one on the right is a self-portrait. Hahaha. How hilarious is that?

And then there's cute little OCD Ethan hard at work at bedtime. In addition to his usual routine of setting up school and working on the "smart board" he created while trying to fall asleep at night, he has fallen in love with the Harry Potter series and set out to determine how many pages and chapters are in each book. Never mind the fact that he's never read any of them (still just about half-way through the first) and he's only seen the first 3 movies, he is a man obsessed nonetheless.





Grace was recently made an Official Daisy Girl Scout and received her pin and made the Girl Scout Oath and Promise. It was actually quite adorable and Sophie was riveted in her spot while watching the ceremony. I could just see the wheels churning with the excitement that one day she TOO can become a daisy. It was hilarious. We got to hand her a little daisy flower after they shook her hand and gave her the pin and her facial expressions were priceless. Scott was even able to leave work a little early and make it to the school (almost) in time.

Grace with her best friend from school, Anna.

To get in the Christmas Spirit we've done a few projects around here. First up -- making ornaments. These were actually really easy and turned out really cute. Although we've already had a couple of casualties. I bought a pack of glass ball ornaments, took the tops off and squeezed whatever color paints the kids wanted inside. Then they swirled them around, dumped out the excess, and set them upside down overnight to drain as much paint as possible. Ethan's were the funniest to me because he decided to decorate his 4 to correspond with the four seasons. Little does he know that Jane has already smashed his spring bulb. :(

First, though, I have to include a picture of our little beatnik, Sophie. I thought this outfit was hilarious that she put together a couple of Saturdays ago.

How emo does she look here? hahaha.

If you look carefully you might be able to notice her missing front tooth. She actually kind of whistles when she talks which I find HIGHLY entertaining.


Working on his "Christmas/Winter" ornament.




And I have to include a shot of the tree because it is the most perfectly formed looking tree we have ever bought. And it was the very first one we looked at! Thank you Home Depot.

Finally, I let the kids decorate Gingerbread Houses on Thursday. School was cancelled that day because of icy conditions, and by the end of the day (which lasted forever due to the fact that I was stranded at home with all 4 kids all day long while Scott had to stay after work for a dinner and didn't get home until almost 10) I was just about ready to have a mental breakdown. Nevertheless, fun WAS had in the morning while we did a little decorating.

The M&M monster

Look at that concentration -- she had to be doubly careful because she's allergic to eggs and the royal icing is nothing but egg whites and sugar. Last year she broke out into hives when she got some on her face. This year, she meticulously kept a baby wipe next to her to wipe her fingers off every time she placed a new candy. Hahaha.

A sneak peek at Christmas -- here are the ornaments I made for the kids this year. I just used some scrap fabric from a quilt I made earlier and then stuffed these little stars and added a jingle bell. And that'll do.

So, that's that folks -- my brain is way too tired to make an attempt at wit in this post. Maybe next time. Hahahaha. We are all looking forward to Christmas this year, and the festivities have already begun with my brother Freddie arriving here this past Friday night. The whole rest of my family will be trickling in this week and much merriment will ensue, I'm sure. Until next time -- Merry Christmas to all, and to all a GOODNIGHT!!!