Printing up activites for the little ones to do in the van

Mazes


Connect the Dots


Colour by Number


colouring pages etc


Hidden pictures


Word Puzzles


Hoping to keep the younger crew busy... for a few minutes anyway!
(These are for section of my crew that are 9 and under.)

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Update 6:10 pm

My bed is covered in clothes... on top of the knapsacks. Progress is s l o w l y being made. Oven preheated for ... cinnamon rolls... that are not yet mixed. But the hotel room is reserved. Oh yeah. That was already done by my last post... Well you all can check off clothes have been gathered. Soon we can all check off PACKED!

Wait, wait - I can at least brag that the first aid bag is packed complete with current prescriptions! (Whew - was wondering where the afternoon went!)

I'll be back again later - hopefully with more a completed check list!

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Update...

One hotel room booked. Here is where we are staying. Here is who we might get to meet while in Kentucky. We will be staying an hour away from the base where the dinner and graduation takes place but I am happy to be staying in one of our favorite hotels and we got the military discount! (Yes with all the business traveling we have done the previous 7 years - we have found a favorite hotel!)

Baked: one batch of pumpkin (Texas sized) muffins. Still to be baked - too much to list here!
Packed: nothing... but we have the knapsacks found and all on my bed.

Van: cleaned but not inspected....

Trip to library (completed by Anna and Emma) - several books on CD chosen. (Thank you Bekah for the suggestion!)Some of the titles are:
Five Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (for the under 7 crowd) though I am being regaled the song as I type by the 4 yr old so this might be old before we even play it in the van!
Ramona Quimby, age 8 read by Stockard Channing (will let you know on our return who well that one went down though we have read just about all of Cleary's books and love them! Have most of them on our shelves.)
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke read by Lynn Redgrave
(Focus on the family Radio Theater) Father Gilbert Mysteries (this is a first for us, really curious how they will be!)
Charles Dickens "Hard Times" read by Frederick Davidson
and a few others that I don't remember and are already packed by Anna.

Still to do: too much!
review clothing picked by kids to wear and most likely have to revise and then actually pack... assuming nothing needs to be washed.
Get new tires on the van and an oil change.
More baking....
Freeze water bottles
Clean up ceiling that fell on the floor in pantry this morning (seriously, this is not a test to see if you are paying attention)
Locate all the various medicines we need to bring which includes several prescriptions.
Locate Camera and pack it, making sure I have sufficient batteries and that my card is empty.
(was not that long ago one would have said 'make sure I have sufficient film'... now its 'making sure I have enough megabites free')
Restock diaper bag with diapers and wipes!
Get off the computer and start turning this to do list into a finished list!

I'll check in later and let you know how its going...

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Prayers for Perseverance and Safety

Praying for perseverance as we begin our preparations for our trip to Kentucky for Miguel's graduation and safety for our drive there and back. We are trying to be as economical as possible for this trip as the budget is very tight this month - thanks to a very large heating bill. (It was almost equivalent to our rent!) I have a little money saved but am hoping we won't need to break into that account!

Baking List:

Mrs Ryan's pumpkin Loaf (thinking of baking this as muffins)
Pineapple Bread (again - planning to make them as muffins)
Biscuits (possibly bacon biscuits)
Cookies - molasses and/or peanut butter ones.

Current plan is to drive through the night (please pray for Cecilia who is teething and really NOT coping well with it) Tuesday night and arrive Wednesday morning in time for the family activities that culminates with a large dinner on base. Graduation is Thursday morning and we plan on driving home through the day as Hugo needs to be back to work on Friday. (Again - may I request for prayers for Cecilia - did I mention she is teething and Is. Not. Dealing. Well. With. It! This could be a recipe for the longest, most tortuous road trip we have ever made. Did I mention that Cecilia does not like her car seat... Could I ask you all for prayers yet again!

Now I am off to rest my back before starting our baking marathon...
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Facebook...

Anyone using Facebook? Want to read a really interesting interview that 'tells all' about privacy, faster page loading and tracking users eye movements? Than just click here!

WARNING A FOUR LETTER WORD STARTING WITH "F" IS USED
TWO OR THREE TIMES IN THE INTERVIEW

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OKAY...

As I suspected it is proving easier to hold my breath than to not use my right arm for an extended period of time...

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Hmmm...

So this morning I woke up to a burning pain in the right side of my chest that went right through to my shoulder blade. Way back in November I fell and HARD! I landed on my right side and ever since then have been having trouble with my right shoulder with the pain sometimes extending into my chest. But it was a sharp, stabbing pain made worse with movement or breathing... Finally had x-rays in December. Nothing broken...

Pain started to get better - until yesterday.

Diagnosis: sprained shoulder
Prescription: steroid for the inflammation and was told to try not to use that arm for a few days...

Hmmm - might as well try not to breath, eh?


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A One Minute Day

I'm having a bad day, You know one of those ones when you really feel sorry for yourself. And unhappy with yourself. A day when everyone else seems a hundred times better than you. A better mum. A better homescooling parent. Better organized...

One of those kinds of days when you know if that darn dog whines one more time - you. will. kill. him. Just absolutely murdilize him because your nerves are thread bare - at best. Any argument between the kids causes the same reaction as nails on a chalkboard and you physically wince and pray, pray, pray for God's graces not to lose it. That kind of day... and its raining outside. So even the weather seems to be feeling like me - dreary.

What do you do on that kind of day? How do you get yourself out of that kind of funk? I have to get through the day ONE MINUTE at a time. I can't let myself think too far ahead. I have to pick a job to focus on and pray, pray, pray. "Jesus have mercy!" Jesus give me the grace to keep it together for another minute. Just one minute Jesus!" Sometimes I sit down and write... and write myself out of my depression. But some days even that is not enough and as soon as I stand up from my desk the walls close in again and I feel the stress rapidly rising. Sometimes my husband can talk me out of this mood, sometimes one of my good friends is the saviour of the moment.

And some days its just me and Jesus - all day. One minute at a time I am begging Him to help me. I think that is what today is going to be; a one minute at time with Jesus day. And those days really bring home to me the meaning of the quote that it is in 'being weak that we are strong' because it is in my weakness that Christ gives me the strength to go on. Read more!

Defining Decade

As in Decades old stove! Way back in November while we were stumbling through the month as well as back and forth between the Doctor's office and the pharmacy I remember almost crying when Margaret referred to her broken oven as a decades old stove in THIS post!

Why, you ask, would I do that?










Because this is how I define a DECADES old stove...

and this

was what I was trying to cook on for a minimum of twelve. In addition to being avocado green and almost certainly the original double oven, only ONE burner was working and at it's best took over thirty minutes to bring a pot of water to boil. Since we had moved I had yet to produce a cake that was not at least singed around the corners. Don't even start me on the batches of ruined cookies. So, yes, even Margaret's BROKEN stove turned me avocado with envy!

But fast forward to Christmas and Miguel's Christmas gift to me. Rosetta Stone for Spanish. But unbeknown to him I already had one. He suggested I return it for hte next level. My husband suggested that, as much as I complain about my computer, perhaps I could exchange it for a PC. I said no to both ideas and used the refund along with some savings and a Lowes gift card (Thank you Hugo!) to buy this:





Is she not gorgeous? Almost as gorgeous as Margaret's new darling. Mine is not gas ( I held my breath when we checked behind our stove in case I would get lucky and find a hidden gas line!) And no - it does not have a convection oven - I love convection ovens. I have had them in the past, they are in deed awesome! But I am in LOVE with my stove and wash it lovingly (almost) every day! My kids are loving the baked goods issuing forth from it and my husband, I am sure, will love the lower electric bills! And when we move - it will move with us and the green monster, as we affectionately refer to the old stove, will remain here.

Thank Miguel and Hugo for making this dream come true!

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A very bad no good week....

...is how I started the early part of the New Year. And this is what one very good friend shared with me to help cheer me up. Thank you Peg! Read more!

A little ray of light

in a very dark tragedy.
(Link working at time of posting but link may break over time)

(Photo credit Mailonline ~ World News)
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Last Night Home

On Miguel's last night home he took the family and a few good friends out for dinner. We all met up at Olive Garden. With Ashley's family joining us there were 18 of us at the looooooong table they set up for us. And we didn't even have all of our family there! It was a lot of fun though. Then we split up for a while. I took the kids to a New Years youth group party while Hugo stayed home and worked on lesson plans. Miguel, Ashely and Anna went bowling with Anthony and Don - old friends of the family. Then we all got back together again and after Miguel changed out of his civies into his uniform we took a number of photos. Here is one of my favorites.


I think Miguel looks great in his uniform. He's holding Emma and Elsa - one in each arm. Anna is holding Cecilia who is looking away so you can't see her. Unfortunately in the other photo of them all together - Miguel's eyes are closed! Those ten days at Christmas just flew by but in a few more days we head to Kentucky, God willing, to attend his graduation. (Remember if you click on the photo it will open up in a larger screen and you can see more details.) BTW Miguel is at least 6 ' 4" and look at that tree we were blessed with for Christmas. I think it was one of my favorite trees of all the ones we have had over the years. I was actually sad when it was time to take it down and wished I had had more quiet time to just sit and enjoy it in the dark. My goal for next year is to have 'Christmas' ready BEFORE Advent even starts so that we can actually focus on Advent no matter what happens. (Keep your fingers crossed for me, eh!) Read more!

Alexander's Baptism in December

From Alexanders baptism

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Our family

Here is the whole family sans Aimee, John, and Alicia! Perhaps this October we will manage to think of getting a photo of everyone. I have heard a rumour that Aimee's boyfriend might come over with her so we will REALLY have all of the family in the picture then!

Thanks Peggy for snapping this one for us! Read more!

Twins

Need I say more?

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Abortion and the pill...

Are they connected to breast cancer? Is the National Cancer Institute (NCI) doing a disservice to women and their families by not making the results of this study more known? I learned about this study here. Why are articles like this one not being shouted from the roof tops? (That's a rhetorical question.)



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Has it really been 10 days...

Since my last post?

Today my husband called me from work to ask me who had brought in the manila envelope for our priest with all the hand made thank you cards our children had made for generous gift we had received anonymously. Our priest had dropped by his classroom to ask him if it was ready.

"But I gave it to you!" I exclaimed. "Don't you remember?"

"No - I thought you took it in. Something about going in for RCIA or something? "

RCIA??? Why would I have been going by the office to drop off something for RCIA classes... Truth be known I had NO clue as to who had really taken it in! But that it had been delivered - I was quite certain. I felt in a fog trying to even remember the month of December, never mind this envelope? There had been Christmas... I vaguely recalled that. Our son had visited from from Fort Knox and that was about all I could recall... It was like December had never been. So much has happened. Our DIL so very ill and still ill. So many appointments. All the children sick. Hugo and I sick... and now more children ill with sinus infections and one child with a mysterious rash and fever of 104... also being treated for sinusitis...

I could not remember what had happened to a brown manila envelope .... that one of us had dropped off sometime in December.

So it is no surprise that it has been ten days since I last posted and it feels like it was yesterday.

And yes.. we did finally learn what happened to the envelope. I had indeed0 dropped by the office to bring Miguel to meet with the priest and left the envelope with the Secretary.

She gave it to the priest.

Who

Threw

It

Out...

By accident while cleaning his office. Its been a long fall and winter for him too!
So sometime this week we will remake all of those thank you notes... that we thought had already been delivered and enjoyed. One of them included an embroidered ornament hand crafted by Gabriela. Ah well... C'est la Vie!

I have many, many wonderful pictures I am impatient to share... but I know you will understand when I say I have not a clue when I will get them up. But if you all pray for me - perhaps I will somehow find the time and energy to do so! (And yes - that's a bribe!!!)


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Happy New Years

Here, to help usher in the New Year, are some pictures taken last week on Cecilia's first birthday. We postponed her first birthday cake until today and it is smelling delicious right now as it bakes in the oven. (Thank you Bethany!) However, we could not forgo the official first taste of chocolate on the actual day...

"Hello - don't you wish I had shared that dark chocolate pretzel stick with you? Please join me below in seeing how I rescued my sister from some very strange things that were on her face!"

"What are those silly things on your face?"

"Here let me relieve you of these silly things! "

"Here - take these someone..."

"Look forward to pictures of the actual face down of my first cake!
It should be...
SWEET!"

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Silent on the homefront...

I imagine by now you have all noticed how silent I have been. No doubt you have assumed that it is because I have, as Cratchit stammers to Scrooge "... been making quite merry" the past few days.

Oh, how I wish I could say that was the case.

However, not long after the last chocolate had been consumed from the little ones' stockings and the last gift had been opened and all scraps of wrapping paper and ribbon had been cleaned a number of the little people began to complain of tummy aches.

We tried in vain to explain it away by the number of chocolates and candy canes already consumed. When the first of them finally ah... upchucked... shall we say - we tried to explain it away as possible food poisoning from the traditional Christmas Eve oysters...

As those who had not consumed oysters in any quantity joined those with buckets on the couch we began to debate about the possibility of it having been the olives. Surely anyone who had consumed that many olives would be sick... Meanwhile, those not yet with stomach aches confined themselves in the dining room away from the inmates of the sick room living room. Anyone who dared to moan with a tummy pain was immediately banished to the, ah, living room.

Jenny and Anna optimistically cooked a large Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. However, by the time it was served the numbers joining in the feast had been drastically reduced even though we still used two table to accommodate everyone who did eat.

It was a fast moving epidemic flu but it still took a full three days to hit all in the house but the two babies. Praise God, He spared those two little ones as this flu was so virulent that I was worried it would possibly cause them to be hospitalized. The younger the victim - the longer the duration and severity of the symptoms.

We are finally recuperated and, at long last, I am getting some Christmas baking done during these 12 days of Christmas which is also the time period when little Cecilia Therese made her appearance last year. She is celebrating the anniversary of her birth by walking all over the place and pushing her (new) dolly's stroller with great joy and gusto. We will have the traditional first birthday cake complete with dark chocolate icing on the First of January as Gabriela is away this week visiting her sister in the Charlotte area. Gabriela is like Cecilia's second mum and we want her to see Cecilia enjoy her first piece of cake with icing...
(Typically I could say FIRST piece of cake EVER, but having been born during the Christmas season, that is filled with so many goodies, I am afraid Cecilia has already made her acquaintance both with cake and chocolate - even though the family thinks I am not aware of this! Even my best friend sighed a breath of relief that she no longer needs to share on the sly can openly share chocolate with Cecilia. )

And now I must join Bob Cratchit, and my family, by making merry these last days of the Christmas Season. If I can - I will post some pictures during our holidays. Until then:

God Bless and a peaceful, joy filled New Years to you and yours!

mum2twelve ~ now a bakers dozen

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Merry Christmas

Today the reading for the Jesse Tree is John 1:1-18 and the symbol is that of the P with an X over it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

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