Weekend Report

This was one of those rare weekends where I actually feel rested and refreshed afterwards.  I can't usually say that, but I am thankful!  It may have had something to do with the short week last week and some home time due to the snow that had me a little more caught up than normal, but regardless, we will take it!

Friday night we got to meet up with the Mowry's at The Well.  The kids blew off some steam and the grownups had a chance to talk.  At one point we looked around and realized that we were the only people in the play area.  It was great!  I can definitely see some winter play dates there until the kids are able to get back outside to run around again.

Saturday was great because we didn't leave the house.  I love days like that!  The snow was falling when I woke up and it kept falling all day, giving us every excuse to stay home.  The kids didn't even seem interested in going outside to play in it, so we played inside all day, did some chores, and cooked a nice dinner.  No complaints out of me.

Sunday morning we got up and headed to church on some pretty icy roads.  Had I known the shape they were in prior to loading everyone into the van and getting going, I probably would have opted to stay home.  But we pressed on, thankfully arriving safely.  And, as usual, it was a blessing.  We are starting a new Sunday School curriculum that is about prioritization, and let's just say that after one 30 minute DVD session, I am already feeling quite convicted and just know that this is going to be good for me.  If there is an area of life that I struggle with (there are lots...but this is one of the root causes of the others that give me fits) it is figuring out the balancing act.  I used to pride myself on being able to handle a whole lot of things and doing an OK job with all of them, but since the kids have been born, I have found myself struggling more and more with the kinds of things that were already discussed as symptoms of misplaced priorities in your life.  So, let's just say I will look forward to Sunday School and the insights that this might provide. 

Sunday afternoon we got to go to Jason's parents for some visiting and dinner.  Joshua had requested the menu of spaghetti and meatballs (his request any time you ask him what he wants to eat) and ice cream sundaes.  Fine choices!  Dinner was delicious and the kids had a great time hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Mara didn't do any major damage, which was a plus for sure!  We're hoping to get to do that again soon.

On a completely separate subject, we are having some pretty big successes at home with Joshua and Lauren.  Last Thursday night, Lauren decided that she wanted to go to bed in big girl underpants instead of her pull-up.  I have been working through an overzealous purchase of pull-ups and have just been using them on her to make sure that I don't have to do a sheet change in the middle of the night seeing as how I am still up with the baby most of the night every night.  But Lauren has been dry every morning for months.  And so, when she woke up dry in her big girl pants, we had quite a celebration.  Joshua overheard and did a great job congratulating his sister, but then asked me quietly if he could please try to wear underpants to bed that next night.  I agreed, fully expecting that I would be changing sheets at 3 am.  The poor guy has had a terrible time getting control of his overnight training, and the doctors have been telling us that it is completely normal for boys especially to take until age 8-9 to get the night training down.  But I am happy to report that he has been dry every night and is waking in the night time when he has to go.  We are so super proud of him!

I caught these pictures yesterday afternoon while Mara was eating her lunch.  I just love to hear Lauren giggle, and I love having a picture of her doing it.  I can almost hear her laughing when I look at the picture.  And Mara just loves her big sister and brother.  Her latest thing is wanting to hug just about everyone...but especially Josh and Lauren.  It is so sweet to see.

This afternoon, amidst appointments and finance work that needed to be done, I took Joshua for his annual blood testing to measure the progress of his peanut allergy.  He was none too pleased about the blood work, but a sweet client of mine was the one who did his blood draw and she was wonderful with him.  (OK, and me too!)  My prayer always is that the test will come back and they will say he is no longer allergic to nuts.  Hey, a Mom can dream, right?  After Joshua's brave showing at the lab, I treated him to a milkshake and some time with me at the office.  He has written on my white board, stamped everything that won't move, and shredded half of a bin worth of paper.  But he seems to be enjoying himself.  I always love when he is here--- drawing me pictures and just being his sweet self with me and my staff.  

Tonight is New Year's Eve...and I will be lucky if I am not passed out asleep in the rocker with Mara before 9:30.  But I love this time of year--- fresh starts and new hopes and plans for the new year.  Fresh file folders and clean Excel spreadsheets ready for the new year of work are an added bonus.  Enjoy New Year's Eve, everyone!

Snow Morning

I have a love/hate relationship with snow.  On one hand, I find it absolutely beautiful to look at a fresh snowfall.  I love to sit inside the house, drinking a cup of coffee, watching the snow fall while I get to spend time with the kids.  What I don't like is the way that a snowfall disrupts plans, causes necessary changes in work schedules that are delicately balanced under the best of conditions, and increases the workload at the office at a time when I can't get there.  But...as with most things, I try to embrace the fact that there must be a reason I am supposed to be at home instead of at the office, and soak up the extra time to be with the kids while I can.  I came home early on Wednesday and then had a late start on Thursday because of the storm, so we tried to make the best of it by doing some cooking, playing a whole lot of Minnie Mouse Bow-tique Bingo and Dora Candyland, and playing outside in the snow. 

With last year's unusual winter without any significant snowfall, the kids hadn't had a chance to play in the snow at all for a long time, so I updated their boots with some larger sizes and we had big plans to play in the snow for a bit yesterday morning.  Before that, though, Joshua lost tooth #2 while eating his blueberry muffin that Lauren and I had made earlier that morning.  This one was without any dramatic tears, thank goodness.  I am still marvelling at the fact that he is big enough to be losing teeth.  It seems as though I was just pulling all-nighters rocking him in his room while he was getting those teeth yesterday.  (This makes me chuckle because I am so reminiscent about Joshua, but I realize after I typed this that the all-nighter rocking session memories are very fresh for good reason......just insert a different baby in my arms in a pink and purple nursery instead of a blue one.  HA!)

After we had appropriately celebrated his new hole in his mouth and giggled about how funny it felt to drink things through it, we decided we should get outside and enjoy the snow a bit.  I was still hoping that Grandma might be able to safely make the trip down so that I could go into the office in the afternoon.  It took us sweet forever to get everyone bundled up with boots and mittens and everything else that was required.  And now I know why my mother always used to try to talk us OUT of going out in the snow.  But here they were...

They seemed to have a great time tromping through the snow and they ended up in quite a snowball battle with each other.  I was impressed (though not a bit surprised) at how well Lauren held her own against her big brother.  She's a good shot, and she wasn't the least bit afraid to let him have it with as much of a snowball as she could make in her little mittened hands.  I was a bit handicapped because of having to hold Mara.  Her footing isn't anywhere near sure enough to put her in boots and turn her loose in the snow, so she was stuck in my arms and wasn't too happy about it.  But having her in my arms made it pretty hard for me to adjust mittens and I certainly couldn't be helping them to make snowballs or build the snowman they wanted to.  We'll have to enlist Daddy's help for some more intense snow playtime without the baby.

By about 10:30 their noses were officially frozen and they decided that a cup of hot chocolate would be more fun than more time outside in the cold.  Fine by me.  And Mara.

I did manage to get to the office in the afternoon.  It was a full day for sure--- but I appreciated the fun with the kids in the morning a whole lot.

I somehow get the feeling that this winter is going to be far different than last- with lots more snow, and lots more chances to enjoy it with the kids.  I'll just say that if I am inside the house, with Mara, while drinking that cup of coffee, it'll be OK with me. 

Our Holly Jolly Christmas

My camera is bursting at the seams with all of the Christmas pictures that I have been taking over the past few days.  I wish I could share them all, but really, there are only so many pictures of opening presents and showing off new toys that one can stand.  I know I will cherish them, though, as well as all of the memories from this Christmas.  We had a wonderful holiday, filled with all of the things that are important--- family, time to slow down and enjoy being together, thoughtful gifts and love shared with each other.  And the kids had a blast!  My title to this post is in honor of the fact that Lauren sang this song ALL CHRISTMAS LONG.  For whatever reason, it has become her favorite this year, even though she only knows half (at best) of the words.  I just love listening to her sing.

I found myself thinking back to last Christmas a lot these past few days.  This time last year, I was super pregnant (and super sick of it) and had the worst sinus infection of my life that couldn't be medicated due to the pregnancy.  To say I was miserable was an understatement.  Add to that Joshua's case of pink eye on Christmas Eve that had us homebound and we were a real joy to be with.  I recall laying on the couch while the kids opened their gifts, just trying to muster the strength to enjoy them.  Oh how much has changed in one short year.  Mara is here now- causing trouble everywhere she goes, but smiling all the way.  We were all healthy this Christmas....my Christmas miracle, and no one had any trouble enjoying each other and all of the festivities.

We headed to Lewistown on Saturday morning for the big Richard Family bash at Stacie and Noah's house.  The kids had an absolute blast playing with their cousins in their garage that Stacie had outfitted with toys, a slide, and all sorts of things they could ride.  My choice of those cute little white leggings was a horrible one--- they were filthy by the time the evening was over.  But as I have always maintained, I have learned as a Mom that the dirtier the kids are, the better time they have had.  We had a great time catching up with cousins that we haven't seen in a long time.  Since last year, the Richard family has expanded by 3 new babies- Mara in January, Reed in February and Hayden in November.  To say that our family is blessed with beautiful, fun, healthy kids is the world's biggest understatement.  They are loved by so many aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents that it's hard to imagine.  I love nothing more than knowing that my kids are getting to experience Richard Christmas celebrations just like Libby and I did growing up.  We made a few special crafts to give to Grandma Shirley and Bill, and Pappy Fred and Freda with all the kids handprints in the shape of a Christmas tree.  It turned out so cute, and I think the kids all had quite a lot of fun painting their hands.  We used little baby Hayden's footprint as the star on our tree--- and it was perfect. 

On Sunday morning, we headed to Maitland Church of the Bretheren for the cantata that my Dad was conducting and that a whole bunch of wonderful family and friends were singing in.  It was wonderful!  I did a good bit of kid wrestling with Mara to keep her quiet and relatively calm in the pew, but ended up having to take her out to the nursery for the last 10 minutes or so of the cantata.  Jason had also made two trips out of church with Josh and Lauren to use the potty.  It was comical, although not to him.  We headed back to Nana and Pap's for our family Christmas celebration at their house, complete with lots of presents, time to spend with Pappy Ray and a yummy lasagna dinner.  We had a really great day together.  The kids had tons of fun playing with their new toys.

We returned home on Monday around lunch time and had a very quiet Christmas Eve at home.  We had made the difficult decision not to attend Christmas Eve service at the church because of the ages of the kids.  There was just no good way to manage the evening service with the kids' bedtimes and keep our Christmas spirit in tact.  I knew that even if we did go, I would end up in the nursery within the first 20 minutes of the service with Mara (and likely Lauren and Josh) leaving Jason sitting alone in the sanctuary.  And something about just being together as a family on Christmas Eve seemed the priority.  And so we stayed home.  We ate a nice supper, put out our cookies, milk and carrots for Santa and the reindeer, got tubs, watched the Polar Express together, and got ready for our Christmas morning excitement.

At 5:45, Joshua was standing beside the bed, asking if we could go downstairs to see if Santa came.  Seeing as I had just laid down in bed for the first time around 4:30, I opted to let him take a peek and continue to close my eyes a bit longer.  In retrospect, I should have just gotten up, because he continued to pester me for the next hour and fifteen minutes about going downstairs to get down to business.  We finally woke Daddy and Lauren at 7:00 and then headed downstairs together.  The kids were beside themselves!  Santa certainly was good to them this year.

Mara showed little interest in actually opening presents.  In fact, most of that red pile (which was hers) was still wrapped up at supper time on Christmas evening.  She was too busy bothering Josh and Lauren and getting into their wrapping paper scraps and boxes to open her own things.  So, we'll save a few for her birthday next week and bring out the other new things Santa brought her when she tires of playing with the toys that are out. 

 This was Lauren wearing the new tiara and necklace/bracelet that Joshua picked out for her on his shopping trip with Daddy.  I thought it was sweet because Joshua had accidentally stepped on Lauren's old tiara and broken it, and he told Jason he wanted to pick out a new one for her.  Lauren loves it and says it makes her feel like a real princess.  What a sweet boy Joshua is turning into.

 I loved this picture of Lauren playing with her princess castle in her Strawberry Shortcake ballgown and her new tiara.  She was in absolute heaven playing with her new things and declared that every gift she opened was just what she wanted.  What I loved most about Joshua and Lauren both is that they said 'Thank You' after opening each and every gift.  I am a sucker for good manners and really appreciated seeing that in them on Christmas.

Joshua continues to love to dress up as characters and pretend.  His imagination is one of my favorite things about him.  This was one of his favorites-- Peter Pan.  He also got a Hulk costume (complete with fists), an FBI costume and a cowboy costume.  All have gotten quite a bit of wear time since Christmas morning.

After our family fun in the morning, Jason's parents came down to exchange gifts in the afternoon.  We had a great time with them and the kids certainly had fun opening the things they brought for them.  Mara did a little better job, and with some coaxing, opened her things from Grandma and Grandpa, but was more interested in the boxes and paper than anything else.  It will be interesting to see how she handles her birthday next weekend!

Among all of the wonderful gifts I was given, I was thrilled most of all, to have these three...the joy of my heart...to spend Christmas with.  I am loving how our own little family traditions are shaping up, and I find myself wondering what our kids will remember about Christmas at home when they are older.  I know that Christmas memories with my family are some of my most treasured ones, and I count it a great blessing to have the opportunity to be writing our own memories with our own little family. 



The gift of God's son is one that I try every single year to wrap my mind around.  But "God with us" means that Christmas can be every single day of the year--- He came to be with us always, not just on Christmas morning.  My prayer this year is that my life would speak to honoring that gift in word, thought and deed, throughout the coming year.

Merry Christmas, everyone! 

Making supper.

We are quickly approaching the one year mark of my time as a mother of three.  Some things have gotten a little easier...or maybe I have just gotten used to the juggling act.  There are other things, however, that haven't gotten a stitch easier.  Like making dinner.  As evidenced by the following.

Last night, Jason was working late, so I planned accordingly.  The rules on those nights are to make something fast and easy that the kids will eat without a fight.  Generally that involves Subway, the occasional Happy Meal or a quick fix at home.  We all decided that grilled cheese and tomato soup would taste good, so that's what I got to work on.  Now, I should add that I can't even start dinner until I get in the door from the office, unload pumped milk and wash bottles, and then feed the baby who has decided that she doesn't much care for the milk I'm pumping and prefers to drink right from the cow I mean, source.  I continue to pump to maintain supply and also make sure I am prepared for those days when she decides that she DOES in fact want to drink a bottle mid-afternoon.  There's no question who is in control here, right.  It certainly isn't me.

Anyway, grilled cheese was in process when I turned around to see this.

 Mara was proceeding to empty pretty much everything out of the cupboards.  I had already replaced a bunch on two occasions before she started unloading again.  That glass mug she is holding is now resting beside its counterpart in the matching set high on the counter since she seemed to be intent on drinking a cup of coffee (or perhaps tea) out of a heavy, oversized Longaberger Christmas mug.  Mercy.

After I got that cleaned up....again....I went into the living room to tell the kids that supper was almost ready and found this.

Evidently Lauren had broken her head and her arm and Joshua had her admitted to the hospital.  Don't miss the details of the care he is providing.  She has an ice pack (dish rag) on her head, a cast on her arm, and an IV attached (handcuffs).  Thank goodness he nursed her back into good health to eat her supper.  I particularly like that the latex gloves in Joshua's hospital are Spider Man print.  I believe they may even shoot webs.  If that wouldn't make you feel better if you were sick, I don't know what would.

And this, my friends, is why I can't get anything done at the house.

A grateful Mama's heart.

I was listening to one of many news reports that I have seen, like so many others, since last Friday's terrible tragedy in Newtown, CT.  It was talking about all of the different ways people process difficult events.  It's pretty easy for me to say that I am far better at writing than talking, and am quite likely to cry.  As evidenced by the fact that I have come to work with mascara stained cheeks every day since Friday after listening to the heart wrenching stories that Moms and Dads are telling about their children, who they innocently dropped off at school in the morning, never expecting that it would be the last time they saw their precious child.  I had a good, ugly cry when I first read the names and birthdates of the children who were taken from their families.  They're all Joshua's age.  And I have a hard time separating those six year olds from the sweet, innocent faces that I see every day at Joshua's school.  And our church.  And in my office.  And at the grocery store.  I like to think that I don't live with my head buried in the sand, and that I have a full realization of the evil that exists in this world.  But there's a whole different element of angst and anxiety when we see how quickly lives can end in a place that we all work so hard to keep as a safe haven for our children, and that the evil and hatred in the world could play out in such a way that Newtown could have been any town in the country.  I believe in my heart that Jesus himself welcomed all of those little ones into his arms on Friday morning.  And I hope that will be a comfort to the families left behind who are missing their sons and daughters...and those children who are missing their mothers.  I also know, though, that there will be a lot of families aching to have those children in their arms on Christmas morning, opening presents and giggling with delight at the treasures Santa left for them.  I just cannot begin to imagine the ache in those parents' hearts, and it literally brings me to tears to try.  Lord, please be near to them.

So far this year, my promise to myself not to get stressed over Christmas and not to overschedule us with activities and things that just make us all nuts has worked better than I might have guessed.  We have not had the normal holiday run-yourself-ragged effect that I remember all too well from years past.  We have still done some special things, but I don't feel as though our sense of peace and joy has been overshadowed by the stress that can so easily creep in.  We have a quite busy weekend leading up to the holiday, but I think we have managed the best we could so far.  At this point, presents are wrapped and ready to be smuggled into the basement for safe hiding until Monday night.  We have several types of cookies baked and in the freezer to be pulled out.  Joshua has a request for some gingerbread men for his school party on Friday morning that I hope we have time to get to this week.  I have a mincemeat pie to bake for Christmas morning breakfast (Grandma Mary would be so pleased to know that I have carried this one on!) and some cooking to do for the family party at Stacie's house on Saturday.  But really, if I did nothing else, Christmas would go on.  And I guess that's a pretty good place to be at this point in the game.

This past weekend, we had a Christmas turkey dinner with Jason's parents.  This was officially the first turkey dinner that Jason and I have cooked together in our home, and for a first attempt, I was pretty pleased with the results.  It was certianly a team effort, even involving Jeff and Judy as we rounded the final turn on Sunday afternoon to getting things on the table and ready to go at the last minute.  I think we all appreciated the opportunity to sit down to a nice meal together, and I know the kids loved having some time with Grandma and Grandpa.  I had to laugh at how the kids ate.  Turkey dinners with all of the fixings must be high on Joshua's list of favorite foods because he devoured his plate of food.  Lauren did well also and Mara finished two full trays of food, too.  When it was all said and done, I was quite pleased that Joshua gave Jason and I this award...

I can only hope that he will always think my cooking is wonderful.  The older I get, the more I find that I love to cook, and we certainly enjoyed doing a big meal this past weekend.  Our leftover turkey and gravy is now safely tucked into the freezer to be turned into turkey and waffles on Christmas Day when it will just be our family together at home.  Don't worry--- I put some filling balls back as well.

We are so looking forward to Joshua's Christmas party this week on Friday morning, and then our trip to Lewistown on Saturday morning for the big Richard Family Party at Stacie and Noah's house on Saturday afternoon & evening.  I absolutely cannot wait to see all the kids playing together this year-- especially with the new 2012 additions to the crew in Mara, Reed and baby Hayden.  It should be a really special day.  Sunday we will celebrate with my immediate family at Mom and Dad's house, and that has become a really special day for all of us as well.  I am really looking forward to a quiet (relatively speaking) day at their house and a great meal together with all of them.  Then Monday it is back home for us for a quiet night at home and a special Christmas Day together as a family and then with Jason's parents.  We are so blessed.

Lots to come...

 And look who is on her feet ALL THE TIME now...getting into quite literally EVERYTHING!  She's cute, but she's exhausting!



The good, the bad and the ugly.

Let me first apologize for the lack of photos in this post.  I know they are more interesting than my words.  But suffice it to say, the bad and the ugly in this post should lead you to believe the pictures may not have been worth seeing anyway.

We'll start with the 'good' of the past few days.  It was definitely good that I was able to be home with the kids on Friday.  I also found it good that the bit of freezing rain we had here early that morning was enough to delay school and therefore cancel morning kindergarten for Joshua.  That meant no bundling of the girls to go out to pick Joshua up at 11:00.  We spent the morning baking cookies, watching Christmas shows on TV and giggling together at home.  After a 2+ hour nap for Mara in her crib (go ahead and pause as you listen to the angels singing about that).....................I treated the kids to some play time at The Well, a new indoor playland that is attached to a coffee shop at Joshua's school.  They ran and played while Mara and I hung out in the toddler area.  They were sufficiently hungry and tired by the time I got them home for supper, which made for a pretty painless meal/bedtime routine.  I was feeling like I had this Mom thing licked.

Even on Saturday morning, we were firing on all cylinders crossing things off of the to do list.  The girls and I made a Target run to pick up a few last minute things that we needed, while Jason and Josh hit the mall for a little shopping of their own.  Saturday evening, Jason and I even managed a night out, albeit for an event with his business team and clients, but we were out of the house on a Saturday night without the kids.  It didn't hurt that it was for the Martina McBride Christmas Concert at the Community Arts Center.  Since Jason and Donna sponsored the show, we even got a chance to meet Martina and have our picture taken with her.  Amazing.  Everything was going great.  Until...

And here's where the bad and ugly start.

Oh how quickly things change in the land of motherhood.  We walked in the door on Saturday night to find Joshua crying on the couch saying that his mouth hurt and he couldn't get to sleep.  The girls were asleep, although Mara was hot.  Like fevered hot.  It was as if we were being punished for having fun.  Jason got Joshua settled while I worked with Mara- because she was wide awake and fussing at the sound of our voices.  Bless her heart, Lauren was fast asleep and remained that way.  She was my favorite that evening.  (Just kidding.  Sort of.) 

The bad is that Mara's fever remained an issue all night and all day Sunday.  She was obviously not feeling well, as evidenced by the fact that I literally could not put her down.  I didn't even manage a shower because she was screaming if I wasn't holding her.  We obviously didn't make it to church.  Joshua was a continued mess on Sunday, as he developed ulcer like sores all through his mouth.  We had been down that road once before, and I wasn't looking forward to where this was headed.  Mara seemed to be the one in the worst shape, though, so we just kept cuddling her and trying to help her feel better.  Lots of nursing, lots of snuggling and a very long night in the rocking chair were the prescription for the littlest of us.  The brightest spot on Sunday was a yummy shepherd's pie supper that Jason cooked for us.  It was so good!

And here comes the ugly.

Joshua's sores really turned into a mess on Sunday night/Monday.  All day Monday all he did was cry, and nothing I was giving him was coming anywhere near touching the pain he was having.  He hadn't eaten since Sunday at lunch time, and even that wasn't an impressive meal.  Getting him to drink was just about impossible, and getting medicine into him was even worse.  We went to the doctor to have him looked at and they don't know exaclty what is causing the problem, but said that some kids develop sores in their mouth when their bodies are stressed, like with a virus, etc.  He said Joshua's were really nasty and said he would give us some medication to try to help.  So we spent the rest of the night trying to make him as comfortable as possible and trying to keep him from crying.  We failed miserably and he sobbed, even in his sleep, until about midnight.  Finally, at that point, I moved him to his own bed and he managed to get a good night's rest.

See, I told you that you wouldn't want pictures of all of that.

Today he appears to be on the mend at least a little bit.  He had a pancake for breakfast with some encouragement.  Actually, I kept chanting to him, "You are brave, you are strong, you are tough!" while doing a silly dance to get him to focus on how silly I looked instead of how much it hurt him to eat.  Hey, whatever it takes, right?  Reports from the homefront this morning are that he is crying off and on, and staying pretty quiet since it hurts for him to talk.  Poor buddy.  I really hope he is feeling better soon.  It breaks my heart to see him hurting like this.  And I may have discovered the culprit for Mara's fever.  While playing last night before bed, I discovered two new top teeth, and one more almost through on the bottom.  She only had one the last I had checked, so the little lady has been pretty busy!  No wonder she felt crummy.

Today I am back in the office, trying to catch up from the Friday and Monday I spent at home as well as to sneak in a few Christmas tasks on the list as I am able.  This is going to be a jam packed two week stretch between now and Christmas, but I am determined to focus on JOY and PEACE instead of stress this holiday season.  I love Christmas so much and will just not let the to do list overshadow the happiness and celebration that the holiday deserves.  Somehow, everything will get done.  It always does.

Just call me and read that all back to me in the middle of next week when I'm having my annual meltdown, OK?

It's never too late to be thankful.

It's a Thanksgiving post in pictures.  Never mind that it's nearly two weeks late.

 We celebrated K5 style on Wednesday morning.  We made indian hats, did the chicken dance, made vests out of grocery bags and had some yummy snacks.  This was my first time making something called a "Brookie" (which I was drawn to because of our sweet Brookie) and the kids LOVED them- mix a brownie and a chocolate chip cookie in a mini muffin tin and voila.  Easy and the hit of the K5 snack table.  As if I get my self worth from the opinions of 5-6 year olds.  But it never feels bad to be told you make the yummiest treats.

 Wednesday afternoon we headed to Lewistown for our longest stay in a while.  I believe that by supper time, the chaos had reached a level that had Nana and Pap wishing we had waited until Thursday morning to show up.

Although my pictures are out of order, one of the highlights of the trip was for the kids to meet their newest cousin, Hayden, who was just one week old.  I was having a really hard time missing her too, since I had seen her only for a quick minute on her birthday.  So believe me when I say we were all anxious for some Hayden time during our visit.  Joshua and Lauren both seemed to enjoy holding her, and neither one of them could believe or remember when Mara had been that small.  Frankly, looking at Mara next to itty bitty Hayden did a number on my mind too, as our "baby" all of a sudden looked huge!  Mara seemed to enjoy her as long as it was someone other than me who was holding her.  No shock there.

Mara spent her time at Nana and Pap's getting into mischief.  She seemed to be in exploration mode, and was ripping things apart right and left.  I think she was enjoying being in a different place and seeing what all she could get into.  She literally rummaged through my diaper bag at least 10 times.  I stopped putting things back in any semblance of an order and just piled it all in, knowing she was going to come back around within moments of my cleaning it all up.

Our Thanksgiving meal was delicious, as always.  Joshua even got to help Pap make the filling balls!  I was amazed at the kids' appetites this year.  Joshua ate an entire plate of Thanksgiving, and especially loved the turkey, filling balls, Gram's jello salad and pumpkin pie.  Lauren picked, but ate more than I have ever seen her eat before.  And I couldn't keep enough food on the tray for Mara.  She had turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes from my plate with gravy, about half of a filling ball, corn, bites of pumpkin pie and pumpkin roll.  It was unreal.  I guess it's safe to say that she's doing alright on table food at the moment.



Black Friday evening, we had what I term the best meal of the year with the Thanksgiving leftovers and Mom's homemade waffles.  The kids agreed with my opinion.  Lauren ate 5....yes, 5...waffles at dinner.  In terms of Lauren, that could be equal to the amount of food she consumes in an entire week, let alone in one meal.  The extra special surprise was that the kids got to see Danaca, who stopped by for a visit while she was in town.  Joshua and Lauren absolutely love her and have asked no less than a dozen times since when Danaca is going to come and visit again.  So Danaca, I guess we better get a date on the calendar!

Lauren really seemed to latch on to my mom this trip, and was seeming to soak up every bit of individual attention she could get.  She and Nana played lots of games, read lots of books and did lots of puzzles together.  Heaven forbid if my mom needed to go and do something else-- she was getting scolded by a three year old for walking away from her!  It was sweet to see.



And here was my out of order picture when Lauren first met Hayden.  She was very gentle with her, just like she had always been with Mara.  I really hope that all of these sweet cousins continue to love each other like we do all of our cousins.  What a special gift Aunt Libby and Uncle Zig gave to them in this precious baby girl.

Above it all, Thanksgiving this year was a great opportunity to reflect on our blessings.  And among all those I had to count (and there were so so many), I count these three among the most precious.  Jason and I are so blessed.  Getting to spend time with my parents and Libby and Zig and the girls was such a treat, and I am so grateful for that time together.

Catching up....again.

I am beginning to think that all of my blog posts should come with a disclaimer that this information is likely not new, and may have been scrounged up from my camera.  Trust me when I tell you that all of the events of our life are captured on the camera memory card, but there appears to be a direct relationship between the amount of cool things we get to do and the length of time it takes me to get it blogged.

I can recall many moons ago, when I was young and childless, that going to Candy Lane in Hershey was a big part of my Christmas tradition.  I even recall a Christmas when we were celebrating in Harrisburg at my Aunt Pattie's house that all of the Richard cousins made the trip to Hersheypark.  I believe that was allowed mostly to get all of us out of the house so that the grownups could have a few drinks and not have to deal with our whining.  And if my memory serves me correctly, I think this was the trip that Danaca yacked after riding the ride at Chocolate World.  In the years since Joshua was born, I must have told Jason at least 5 times (for his five previous Christmases) that I'd really like to take the kids to Hershey to enjoy the lights and rides one of these years.  We knew that we would only be punishing ourselves if we attempted the down and back in one day, so we decided to make a little weekend trip out of it and booked a room at the Hershey Lodge, where, strangely enough, Jason and I have spent more weekends than any of us care to count attending Key Club conventions.  It was a little odd being there without 1000 of our closest Key Club friends.

To make it even more fun, the Mowrys were able to be there too, so the kids were all geared up for some Christmas fun at the park.

The plan was to head to Red Robin for some (peanut allergy safe) supper where we can order off of a special peanut safe menu for Joshua.  However, everyone else in the free world also had the same idea at the same time because the wait was an hour long.  And given the fact that we were all on borrowed time to get into the park, we opted to figure out our dinner on the fly.  So off to the Park we went.

I have to say, the park was just as festive and beautiful as I remember it.  And honestly, I really love Christmas lights, so the fact that there were a million of them there was right up my alley.  I will say that I probably had more time to enjoy them before the kids, but I wouldn't trade our evening there with the kids for even those slow paced ones of yesteryear.  (Did I really just type the word 'yesteryear'?)  We set off into the park to attempt to do as much as possible- and we must have looked comical between the two families.  Six kids, two strollers, one way too big diaper bag (that was me), enough layers and winter coats to clothe a small third world country.  But we were there...enjoying it all together.

The kids loved riding rides.  I got the biggest kick out of their reaction to the Kissing Tower.  You can tell that Joshua has been programmed for bigger rides because he kept saying he was scared.  And the whole way up, he kept telling Jason he was afraid that it was going to fall down really fast.  Lauren oohed and aahed at the lights that you could see from the way top of the ride.  And once Mara got the idea of the "kissing" tower, she was smacking her lips at anyone who would even look her way.  That went on for the better part of the next half hour.

I should make a note here about our picnic supper.  And yes, you read that right.  I had done some peanut allergy research about the park before we got there, and found out that the place really isn't all that peanut allergy friendly.  It wasn't that big of a deal when we were thinking about it because, frankly, we were planning to fill our bellies at Red Robin before going to the park.  I had safe snacks packed in my (really heavy) diaper bag that would hold us over, and we brought a Thermos for Joshua and some safe hot chocolate mix so that we could get some hot water somewhere in the park to mix it for him.  So, when the dinner plan fell through, things got interesting.  We knew there was a Subway somewhere in the park. In my mind, that was an inside restaurant.  As in, with heat.  As it turned out, this was the only open-air Subway I have ever been to, with metal picnic tables.  Just imagine sitting your fanny down on that baby when it is 20-some degrees outside.  The kids made the best of it, as did the adults, but something tells me we may be talking about our December picnic supper for years to come.

After everyone was sufficiently cold and tired, we made our way back to the parking lot.  I always forget how much I dread the walk out of the park there.  It seems like they move the cars about a mile further away than they were when you walked in.  After a quick ride back to the Lodge, we got kids into pajamas and tucked into bed.  All except for Mara, who had a nice power nap in the park and on the ride back to the hotel.  She was raring to go, and stayed awake for several more hours before she decided for snooze for a bit.

Sunday morning, we had a treat for the kids, as we had registered for a Breakfast with Santa that morning.  Joshua and Lauren were really excited to see Santa.  Joshua had quite a list prepared for him, and discussed the details of everything on it with the Man in Red just like we knew he would.  Lauren was a bit of a surprise.  Our very backward little girl has turned into a chatterbox.  We actually had to tell her to wrap it up since the mob of children in line behind us was getting a bit impatient for their turn.  We put Mara down on the floor just to make sure we had her in a picture, but didn't dare consider putting her on Santa's lap. 

After breakfast, we decided to go over to Chocolate World since the kids didn't get a chance to go through that on Saturday evening.  They really seemed to enjoy the ride (especially those silly singing cows).  We didn't do much else there--- it's a peanut nightmare--- but they did get one more chance to see Santa again.  Amazingly, there were no questions about how Santa got from the hotel to Chocolate World so quickly or about why they looked so different.  I don't think there will be many more years that we'll get away with that, but we managed to skate through this time.  Mara was missing from that picture as she had a death grip on my shoulder and wasn't about to go anywhere near that sleigh.

All in all, I'd say we had a very nice time at the park.  Like everyone, I absolutely love this time of the year, especially with the kids.  You can't help but be happy when you see their little minds processing the all of the special magical things that they are thinking about.  We spent the afternoon unpacking and working on jobs around the house.  One little lady had an important milestone to conquer---- I was doing some dishes after cooking dinner and looked up from the sink to see Mara walking across the living room.  I quickly grabbed my phone to capture a video and caught her second voyage.  She looked so proud of herself, and we certainly were of her as well.  Now, I am only hoping that having reached this goal will allow her precious little mind to get some sleep......that's Mama's only Christmas wish!