Drawing Fun

Emily has become a fan of drawing.  She likes step by step directions from the internet.  Here are some of her amazing creations!

 Perry the Platypus

 And my favorite!...

Zach made this ornament last night at cubs...

Eleanor made these ornaments during Activity Days...

I love having new ornaments for the Christmas tree!

12-12-12

We celebrated this special date with sugar cookies!

Here are 12 pictures of Zoe's game against Southwest Harbor

And 12 things about our day ~ I put a toy under the Christmas tree at McDonald's for a 2 year old in need. ~ Noah & I helped Zach & his classmates make snowman ornaments ~ Noah is making an ornament, too! ~ After seeing some of Zach's classmates in slippers, Noah wants to wear his slippers to school, too! ~ Zoe & Emily had late basketball practices ~ Matt took Eleanor & Zach to their church activities ~ I read Agenda 21 for half an hour after I dropped Emily off at practice and waited for Zoe to be done her practice. ~ Matt took Eleanor & Zach to Taco Bell for dinner. ~ Eleanor has discovered that she loves Taco Bell! ~ Emily spent time drawing with step by step instructions from an internet site. ~ Kate brought home a Christmas gift that she made at school! ~ One of Eleanor's friends from school saw Kate & commented on how much Kate looks like Eleanor!

2 - 1

"Zoe's team" beat Southwest Harbor this afternoon in Bucksport!  The score was 50 - 16.  I need to keep track of the points Zoe scores because at the end of the game, we're never positive about how many baskets she has made.  She made at least one foul shot and several baskets today.  All of the girls were making most of their shots, which was exciting!

Owl Sightings

One night last week, my Mom saw an owl sitting in the middle of the road. As she drove closer to the owl, it flew off into the woods. My Mom was amazed at the wing span of the owl. I bet it was an amazing sight!
This morning while getting ready for school, Zach looked out the window and spotted an owl!

I loved watching it turn its head from side to side.  It was such a smooth movement.

I thought it would fly away when I went outside to start the Yukon, but it didn't. I watched it as I wiped snow off the car.
I turned for a second and the owl was gone when I looked back. No sound of leaving. No trace of it anywhere. Thanks for visiting us Mr(s). Owl!

Scissor Sighting

 Noah doesn't like long sleeves, so he took it upon himself to get rid of them on this shirt!  I helped him after he got started.

And a random shot of our house progress.

It's nice to have some of the snow on the roof and not in the house!

Matt & I have been married 16 wonderful years!  I am blessed with such a great husband and I am grateful!  I love you Matt!

Ornament/Cookie Pictures

Museum Fun

The kids & I went to the Children's Museum this afternoon for some gingerbread ornament decorating. For most of our kids though, it turned into a cookie decorating/eating activity! The kids got some playing time before we left. Emily discovered that things are getting smaller (or she's getting bigger) as she climbed up in a tight space to the egg. It will be a sad day for Zach when he is too big to climb because it is his favorite activity at the museum!

1-1

"Emily's team" was defeated yesterday, but they fought hard 'til the end!

The foul shots (and other shots) just didn't want to go in for most of our girls!

18 days until Christmas!

My B-Ball Girls

Zoe ~ #14

Emily ~ #35

Zoe had a game at Reeds Brook after school today & Emily had a home game against Reeds Brook after school. Matt went to Zoe's game & the kids & I went to Emily's game. Both of our teams lost. :-(

Let's stay home

Noah & I talked about going to the children's museum today, but once we got home from dropping the kids off at school, Noah didn't want to go anywhere.  I had plenty to do around the house, so I was content to be home, too.  Plus, I knew I had a busy, late evening out, so it was nice to be home some of the day.

Zach learned how to read a map during cub scouts this evening & he played some fun games like freeze tag & dodge ball.
Zoe made a necklace at young women's.  Then she played basketball, while Zach & I waited for her.  I had a nice chat with Dinah, so I didn't mind waiting.  Zach was very patient considering that he was very anxious to leave and get dinner at McDonald's!

I am happy to be home again.  It is peaceful & quiet.  :-)

Noah's Day

House progress.

More has been done then this picture shows.  All of the middle section on this side is done and a bit of the section on the left is done.

The awesome workers...Matt, Zoe, Greg, my Dad, & Justin

Jason, Dustin & Emily helped earlier in the morning.

The only picture I got at the parade of lights before my camera batteries died.

Why lay on the comfy couch or bed when you can lay in a box?

Today was Noah's day to pick something fun for us to do.  McDonald's!  He suggested that we go to McDonald's and then go to lunch with Grammie to Govenor's and then go to Great Grammie's apartment, but we only made it to McDonald's.
Noah wanted to rule the day on Friday, but that didn't work out, so he has been waiting awhile to have his day.

Both Zoe & Emily did great in their games today against Ellsworth! We won both games!  That is a big deal because we never win against Ellsworth!  Zoe's game was the most exciting!  It was a close game until the end when we pulled ahead by 6 points or so to secure our win.  Sweet!  Zoe stole 3 balls and made a left handed layup after one of the steals.  It was beautiful!  Emily played great defense today!  Patti came to watch the games with me, Eleanor, Zach, Kate & Noah and we had a great time!  Yay Bucksport!

Home Day

I gave Eleanor one more rest day today.  Noah & Eleanor had fun relaxing together.
Zoe had a major Spanish test last week and she was one of a few who got 100+ on it!  The test covered material from 5th-8th grade!
Emily got her basketball uniform today.  Her first game is tomorrow in Ellsworth.  Look for #35!
Zach loves singing Christmas songs.  Especially, Jingle bells Batman smells, Robin laid an egg...
Kate wasn't grossed out by asparagus at dinnertime like most of her siblings were.  She picked yummy Dunkin Donuts for our treat tonight.  The motivator to eat asparagus!
Noah picked Twister for us to play this evening.  It's a fun game, but some of the kids always end up in tears when we play.  The treat usually makes everyone happy again.

Sick day for Eleanor

I stayed home from church with Eleanor today.  She has a bad cough and a sore throat.  We watched "Esther" and then I watched a Time Out For Women talk by Wendy Ulrich.  I took a nap while Eleanor made a paper tree for her fish and she wrapped a few presents for him.  Then she watched "Jonah and the big fish".

We went over to my parents' house for dinner.  My grandmother ate with us, too.  We had a yummy baked chicken.  It felt like Thanksgiving again!  Minus the pie.  I did make a chocolate pie on Friday for myself and the kids, but it was gone before the day was over.
Matt & the kids (except for Emily who was protesting) sang Christmas songs all the way home after dinner.  I enjoyed listening to the seranade.  :-)

Christmas Traditions

Progress on our roof has started!  Matt didn't get as much done today as he was hoping to, but I'm grateful for what did get done.  A huge thank you to the men who stopped by to help as much as they could and a huge thank you to the wives, too!
Zoe & Emily went out at 7am with Matt to start working on the house in the cold, cold weather.  Emily went to get her hair cut at 12:15 with my mom, but Zoe didn't come inside until around 1pm.  She soon discovered her swollen hands and fingers and then treated her frost bite.  :-(
I watched Finn, Ian & Claire, so Justin could help Matt.  The kids had a great time playing together!  Lunch time was a bit crazy as I made lunch for the kids and also made a separate lunch for the workers!

The first Saturday of December brings the parade of lights in Bangor!  My mom & I took all of the kids except for Zoe.  We have learned from the past that a 2 hour parade in the freezing cold is too much, so when enough was enough, we walked to the beginning of the parade route and watched the parade as we walked.  Santa was just starting the parade route when we saw him.  I wanted to park & watch the parade at the beginning of the route this year to get done sooner, but it didn't happen.  We have it figured out for next year, though.  One of these years we will figure out how to watch it from the car!  It is such a fun and beautiful parade!
My mom treated us to Burger King afterwards.  :-)

The countdown to Christmas has begun!  Zoe got the first piece of chocolate today.  Emily started our nativity scene.  Eleanor put the doll in the #1 bag, Zach opened the door on our advent calendar about Jesus, Kate picked the first Christmas coloring page to color (a reindeer) & Noah unwrapped a book.  He unwrapped one of our favorites, The Elves and the Shoemaker.  :-)