A nice read to start the week......

http://booksandbairns.blogspot.com/2010/01/if-you-have-eyes-to-see.html

Currently Until The Whole World Hears By Casting Crowns see related

~Catch Up~

 Okay, so I was off to a good start, back to blogging, when I got hit w/ a horrible headache on Thursday........Wednesday was a pretty normal day, nothing too exciting....Wednesday's supper was a family favorite:  a big pot of Spicy Potato Soup......I was in bed most all day on Thursday and Natalie took care of the girls for the morning and early afternoon.....I know they were busy as I saw several board games laying around the living room...some markers and paper, other odds and ends......Bob got home from work just after 3 and took over......Friday was spent recovering from Thursday's headache....I usually still feel like I got hit by a train the day after a headache, so not much gets done.....Abby watched alot of cartoons on tv, as she cut the bottom of her foot and spent most of the day resting on the couch.....Alli and Rosie spent alot of time upstairs in their room playing together....not sure what they were playing, but they were getting along, so it worked for me...They did some reading, Alli wrote a letter and got that in the mail....I organized our recipe binder, sorted some bills and papers that were laying around, snuggled w/ Abby for a bit, and Alli and I made a Missisissippi Mud Cake for dessert.......Nat and I worked together to get supper on the table......Roasts cooked in the crockpot, mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted carrots, green beans.....it hit the spot w/ all of us....It was the first sit down meal we have been able to have this week due to class schedules.....Bob worked late though, so we kept his warm for him.....After supper, everyone went off and did their own thing.....Abby and I snuggled down in my bed....we played a couple hands of UNO and then she watched her Sprout shows.....I finished my book......Nat and Nik worked on homework...I think Nikki watched a Pistons game too...Jake played a few games w/ Alli and then the boys watched Numbers....Rosie and Alli helped Dad w/ his computer game....and then they went upstairs for the night to do some quiet reading.....not a very exciting Friday night, but nice anyways.......

Currently A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table By Molly Wizenberg see related

a day of fun and games

Yesterday the girls all slept in a bit, so they missed Magic School Bus, which is what they usually watch each morning.....So our day began w/ some PBS Sprout, one of my favorite channels.......After some Sprout, breakfast and chores, the kiddos moved on to the 'puters and Webkinz...Abby decided that she was going to have a pj day and wear pjs all day....No one was really in the mood to pull out any school books, so I asked each of them what they were going to do to keep busy.  Here's what we ended up w/:  Several Games: Checkers, Uno, Sorry, Monopoly, Monopoly Jr, Trouble........Music: Selah and Fiction Family and Lullabies (a cd that I have loved for years....we first had the cassette tape when Natalie and Nikki were little..I remember holding them both, rocking and rocking, while this cd played over and over again.....We bought the cd for Abby when she was a baby and the girls love to listen to it at night after we've tucked them in....but, yesterday, they brought it downstairs to use while they were playing house)......TV: Barefoot Contessa, Dog Whisperer and American Idol.....Playing House: Pillows, blankets, and lots of stuffed animals in the living room, plus several other extras needed for setting up............Nikki and Alli played outside for a bit in the snow........Rosie and Abby made the dogs some yummy treats  (I found a really simple recipe online and Rosie has made them several times...we've been using these instead of buying packaged treats for the dogs and they love them!!!).......Nat went to the gym in the am w/ a friend and in the evening she had to work........Aaron had a long day of classes....Nikki had class too.....Jake helped out at kindergarten and went to the gym for awhile....I even got a bit of reading in while they all watched AI...though I did fall asleep reading my book, just too tired to stay awake, lol....All in all, I think everyone did a pretty good job of keeping busy.  Of course, I have a few pics:

Two in a Row~

Yesterday was not the best start to our week........the younger girls woke up too early.....and were kinda grumpy all day long...it seemed that there was lots of bickering going on....Rosie still isn't feeling well.....she has quite the headfull.....and no one just really got along all day.....it was just one of those days....We woke up to more snow.....which didn't really bother me......but, the cold......oh, it's been soooo cold.....the furnace runs all the time....brrr~

So, here's my notes from yesterday.....yes, I keep notes throughout the day...I put them in my binder along w/ what does or what may count for school as we go about our day.....

So this is Yesterday:

Hot Coffee, Fresh Grapefruit Juice (Yum!), Life Beautiful Magazine, I Chronicles 16:23-25, Magic School Bus on Tv, First day back to classes for Natalie and Aaron, Mount Laundry, Lots of Music:  Hawk Nelson, Leeland, Plumb, Mark Schultz........Geopuzzles, Uno, Online Geography Quiz, Math worksheets, graham crackers w/ chocolate and peanut butter, the first Harry Potter Dvd, some Food TV for Mom, a new recipe for supper (not too bad, worked in a pinch)......bedtime devotion and Bible readings....some Funniest Home Videos......and a  yummy cake for evening snack....We ended the evening w/ prayers and some quiet reading...........Alli is reading Mr. Popper's Penguins, Rosie is reading the 2nd Harry Potter book....and Abby is still plugging away at her Dick and Jane books......but it's awesome that she can now grab a book and head upstairs w/ the other girls to do her own reading....though, we still enjoy a snuggle and a stack of library books on my bed now and then......

Here's a few pics I took from yesterday: 

Currently 3 Days: Zoo Mystery [Game Download] By Realore Studios see related

Getting Back at it......

Okay, so I really wanna get back into the habit of blogging about our day-to-day here.......especially since I really think it's neat to have a diary of sorts....it's fun to go back and re-read posts from long ago and see what we were up too......That's what I've been busy doing the past couple weeks, going back and reading my blog since back from the beginning......wow, so much has changed.....and then, so much hasn't, lol~

Anyhoo, I am going to again attempt to get back to more regular blogging.......

But, since I already feel like I've fallen behind, here's the latest in a nutshell:

Friday evening (our last official weekend before the kids all started back to classes):  A pretty typical day....I don't remember much of what we did during the day......Evening was:  Patty Melts and Band Hero........We all love patty melts, but no one likes making them...it's not fun to stand there forever, making as many as it takes to feed our family....so hubby offered to make them...and they were super yummy.....Bob, Aaron and I made a quick trip to VG's to get a few groceries for a couple recipes that I wanted to try over the weekend...After everything was cleaned up for the night, we couldn't find anything on tv worth watching, so it was time for some Family Band Hero.....not a good way to settle everyone down for the night, but fun anyways......

Saturday:  Rearranging Day....Nat worked...Bob was home, so he got up and took her so that she didn't have to walk in the cold.....he brought home some yummy doughnuts, not that we needed 'em.......and he helped us get the bunk beds put back together in the younger girls room.....we had been using them as two separate beds....but, they really needed the extra room up there......so we put 'em back up.....did some re-arrranging....moved some bookshelves out of the living room.....and did some re-organzing trying to get the house decluttered a bit.....as it's been getting pretty bad around here.....9 people+small house= too much clutter!!!  Well, we got it done pretty quick......Alli and Nikki worked on the girls bedroom....the rest of the kids worked on the bookshelves....and by night time it was looking pretty great in here......it's so much nicer to sit in the living room....and the girls room has more room in it....they've already spent more time up there......thankfully, though, they are keeping it clean......so far, lol~ Rosie wasn't feeling well all day, so she spent the day resting...and Alli ended up getting sick later that evening.  We tried our recipes.....Crunchy Noodle Salad (no one really cared for it).......and Chicken Chili (pretty basic, but good)..........

Sunday:  Everyone made it to church except Rosie, Alli and I..they spent the morning on the couch watching cartoons....After a quick lunch of leftovers, Alli sat down to watch her Star Wars Clone Wars dvd from Netflix......that girl has been on a huge Star Wars kick.....and w/ Miss Abby on a Power Rangers kick...oh my....Anyhoo, Volleyball has started back up w/ our church, so Nat and Nik went and played......And Aaron and Jake went to the Y to play some basketball...I tried out a new computer game, (posted above) seeing if it was an okay one for the younger girls to play.....Supper was fend for yourself.....A new Hannah Montana episode......and then after that, we all sat down and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (dumb!) and that was our Sunday......and our weekend.......nothing exciting, but hey, I thought it was great......we were all home before the chaos of classes begins......and we got some cleaning done, always a good thing...plus everyone got along very well....all in all the makings of a good weekend....