~A lil' bit of bragging from a very proud Momma~

Woo-hoo!!!   We have final grades......and everyone did super well!!!! We are so happy and so proud of each of our kiddos!!!! Way to go Guys and Gals!!!!!!! 

Natalie:

Intro to Early Childhood Education: A
Introductory Algebra: B
General Psychology: A

Nikki:

Intro to Human Services: A-
Cognitive Behavior Therapy: A-
Human Development 1: A
Sociology: A-

Aaron:

Intro to Automotive Service: B
Automotive Electrical and Electronics: B
Engine Theory: B-

Jake:

Essential Math Concepts: B-

~Both Natalie and Nikki made the Dean's List.........The Dean's List doesn't apply for Aaron and Jake.......

Pictures, pictures, pictures!!!!

Here are all the pics of our Great Adventure getting our Christmas Tree.First we all loaded up and headed out:

and after a fun, family ride, all together, nine of us, in our little van, we arrived, safe and sound, ready for some fun:

And now we are ready for Christmas:

A great time was had by all!!

And we love our Perfect Christmas Tree!!!

Even if it is a "little" too big~

A Charlie Brown Christmas Tree...um, not at our house.....

Hope everyone had a nice weekend......Ours was busy, but nice.......Friday evening, Bob and I took Aaron and Nikki to Walmart to get their Christmas shopping done......On Saturday, after Nat got home from work, we went and cut down our Christmas tree......Our GINORMOUS Christmas tree.......

Sidenote for those of you who may not have seen Elf (is there anyone out there, who really hasn't seen Elf??? LOl!

Main Entry: ginormous
Part of Speech: adj
Definition: simply huge; extremely large
Etymology: 1948-53; giant + enormous
Usage: ginormously, adv

It was quite an adventure.....we had so much fun and laughed soooooo much.......And of course, some learning had to be involved right?, us being homeschoolers and all......And the very important lesson that we all learned was.....that........when Mom says that the tree will look much larger in our living room than it does in the field, um, she is probably right!!!!

And she only says it about 20 times, because that must be how many children she has because she must have heard "Mom!" "Mom!" "Mom!" about a zillion times....

Child:  "Mom, how about this one? This one is a pretty one!"

Child: "Mom, come, look at this one!"

Child: "Over here, here's one!"

Mom:  "Yes, it is.  It is very pretty!!  But it is also too big!!  The trees don't look as big in the field because they have so much room around them, but, once you get that tree home, it will be too big.  It will take up the whole living room.  We don't want one that big.  We have to have room to sit somewhere.  Where are we going to put it?  No, I'm sorry, that one is just too too big."

And then what does Mom do????  Bet you can't guess???? She goes ahead and chooses one, thinking that she has found a tree that is about the right size.......big, but not too big......um, another sidenote:

If the tree is about 4 feet taller than the 6ft tall men in the family,

then it's probably a bit bigger than you want for your living room......

and if it's as wide as your piano is long, then it isn't going to fit into the nice little nook that you have had planned to put your tree in since before Thanksgiving....and you are going to have to find a new spot to put you beautiful, awesome, but very large Christmas tree....

Anyhoo, our tree is up, it has lights on it (1400 lights, to be exact)...and it's beautiful!!!  It's the most perfect Christmas tree ever....and our kiddos will always remember the year that we went and cut the huge Christmas tree that took up the entire living room.....

And now, on w/ this post......

Anyhoo, after our tree adventure, and  after a yummy supper of Layered Chicken Enchiladas ( a new recipe for us), along with some cheesy rice, refried beans and corn cake, we headed out to Walmart, as we needed to buy some more lights for our tree.....turns out that 7 sets wasn't even going to come close, so we took Rosie, Alli and Nat so that they could get their Christmas shopping done....A quick stop at Mickey D's for eggnog shakes to take home to everyone, except everyone didn't get eggnog, because not everyone likes eggnog, but anyhoo, we got eggnog shakes for some, chocolate shakes for some, a diet, caffeine free pop for one, and a small smoothie for another one...........then home to finish the tree......Nat and Nik decided to take Rosie and meet with a friend of theirs to go see Christmas Carol....only Miss Nat got too bad a headache and ended up staying home.....Nikki and Rosie thought the movie was really good.....Nat helped us finish getting the tree decorated........Sunday, we all made it to church......Nat and Nik went to a friend's house to spend the day...Bob and I made our 3rd trip to Walmart for the weekend....we took the younger 3 girls w/ us......Granny and Bumpa came over to see our tree.........the boys went to the gym and played some basketball......Bob made a yummy supper of pork chops and mashed potatoes....Alli and I rocked out some Guitar Hero...and of course, she whooped me.......Later, we all sat in the warm, soft glow (um, yeah right...more of a glare, really) of the most perfect Christmas tree ever and we watched the new Christmas movie on ABC Family....and called it a night....a really great weekend was had by all....

I do have lots of pics to share....and even a few of the finished tree....and will get them posted sometime today......I hope.......I need to get them uploaded to Photobucket and put in some sort of slideshow.....

Todayis the beginning of our baking week.....

and we have a few Christmas projects for the girls to work on....

Hope everyone has a good week!!

Currently Eloise at Christmastime By Julie Andrews, Sofia Vassilieva, Kenneth Welsh, Debra Monk, Gavin Creel see related

Celebrating Jesus

Currently Julie & Julia (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) By Various Artists see related

Oops.....

I was trying to post this yesterday, but it needed serious editing and my mom called....we got to talking and I forgot all about it....sorry about that.....

Anyhoo, here it is, from yesterday.....w/ a few changes to bring it up to date....

~Good Afternoon Everyone~

I'm sitting here with a hot cup of peppermint tea.....We've had another pretty productive day...After breakfast and chores, the younger girls and I sat down and read some of our Bible History stories.....the girls colored Christmas pictures while I read....Rosie and Alli also did some quiet reading on their own....they've both already finished one Christmas book and are each starting a new one......Rosie finished The House Without a Christmas Tree and now she is reading A Country Christmas (couldn't link it).....Alli finished Ten Christmas Tales, and she is now working on Christmas Stories (from the Little House books)....Abby and I read a few picture books.......Poky Little Puppy's First Christmas and Morris' Disappearing Bag, along with an  older Little Golden book version of The Gingerbread Man.......the 3 girls again practiced their Christmas Eve service stuff.....they are working really hard on learning all the things they need to.......Aaron and Jake went out to lunch at a near by sandwich shop.....while Nat, Nikki and Rosie walked up the street and got us girls all a sandwich from Subway, which we ate while we watched Rudolph on dvd......After lunch, we all worked on some Christmas stuff.....Rosie, Alli and Abby worked some more on the paper chains that they are putting all around the top of the dining room......and Natalie worked on popcorn/cranberry garland for the tree.....Nikki worked on her Christmas list.....I worked on my Christmas cards...I have so many leftover from years previous that I am thrilled I won't be needing to buy any this year.....another extra cost saved...... Nikki took the 3 girls outside to play in the snow....we don't have much snow.......and it's bitter-cold out, but they were having fun anyways....Nat worked and the boys  played basketball at the Y..Jake made  supper (an easy one of our version of Taco Mac....mac and cheese, w/ taco seasoned meat and diced tomatoes), while Bob, Nikki, Aaron and I headed  out so they could do some Christmas shopping......then home again....After everyone got settled down for the night, the girls and I sat down and watched Julie and Julia....I've been waiting for this movie to come out forever.....And of course, I really liked it.......

Now, today, Nat is working until 1 and then we will be getting our tree......We are getting a real one....I think we may even be cutting down our own tree.....this will be a first and I am sure will make for some fun family memories.....9 people packed in our van, 9 people agreeing on which is the perfect tree, 9 people packing back in the van, w/ said tree tied up on top, and then of course, the fun part...getting the tree in the stand....and, um, making sure it's straight......and then there is the lights, um, so not Bob's favorite part......and then the kids favorite part, putting the ornaments on....you know, two here, 3 here on this branch, none on that one, etc.......and finally, my favorite part.....sitting in my comfy spot, snuggling w/ a kiddo, a cup of hot tea, and just enjoying the lights of "The Most Perfect Tree Ever."

~Picture Post coming soon~  It's been a long while since I've posted, so I know we have lots of pics......