Pies

Apple, cherry, and pumpkin pies.

A housefull of kids with the stomach flu.

More pie for me.

Of course we can't forget the cinnamon crust.

I can't wait for tomorrow.

Wrapping presents

I have been wrapping presents for the last few days. I think I may be 1/16th of the way through now. For me, wrapping presents rates right up there with mucking out the pig pen and clipping my children's fingernails, so I put it off until the last minute. Of course it would be hard not to put it off to the last minute since I don't shop until the last minute either.

But now the shopping is done and it is time to wrap the presents. My kids don't seem too worried about the lack of presents under the tree--they are more concerned with what they are going to BE this year. BE? Several years ago I noticed that the big kids were guessing what was in the presents with their names on them. They seem to have inherited my husbands ability to guess presents. So...instead of putting their names on the packages, I assigned everyone a fake name in order to throw them off the trail. Now instead of trying to guess what is in the package they are trying to guess who they are. I would appreciate some comments about how clever I am, thank you.

This year I am going a little different route and using gift tags. Everyone has a different picture. I set some presents out this morning and it took my 13 year old daughter all of about 5 seconds to figure it out. At least she doesn't know which one she is.



I have a billion presents to wrap. Really. One husband and eight kids times 6-7 presents each, plus other family members, plus the stockings equals a billion. Do the math: (1+8)7+OFM+S(9)=1,000,000,000

So I will be wrapping presents until my fingers bleed. Usually by Christmas Eve my husband takes pity on me and helps me do the stockings. This was actually another really clever trick of mine (no one tell). A few years ago I didn't wrap the stocking stuff and then on Christmas Eve at about 10pm I whined, "But I still have to do the sto-ckings." So he helped me. I did it again last year, and by now it is a tradition, so he has to help me. I am so smart.

As if a billion presents isn't bad enough, I have some from my mom that got sent directly here that I have to wrap. I am in present wrapping HELL.

*That's okay, Mom, there were only 5 and I don't mind, really, I am just trying to get some sympathy, that's all.

I have a friend that found out that her girls went in her bedroom while she was at work and peeked at their presents (not wrapped yet). She doesn't know for sure what they saw, but she told me she is going to just put all the presents in a box (still unwrapped) and give them to her kids that way. Just toss them on the floor in front of the tree after they have opened the wrapped presents Christmas morning. "Let them sort it out." she said. After being semi horrified at the thought of those poor girls having such a "memorable" Christmas, I was instantly jealous that my friend didn't have to wrap any more presents. I really, really hope she gets over her mad and doesn't do that to her family.

Press on, press on I say. Piles of paper and tape and boxes galore. And the time. The time it takes to wrap all of these presents. But in the end it is worth it to see how pretty it all looks under the tree, and how happy it makes my family. They know the reason we celebrate Christmas, because we talk about it all the time. But they also like presents, so I will keep wrapping. I don't mind.

They are worth it.

Tuesday Ten: My Favorite Christmas Tree Ornaments

I have a lot of Christmas tree ornaments that I like, and the memories that go with them. These are some of the ones that are my special favorites.

1. Birdhouse:My husband chose this one for our first Christmas after we got married. We were remodeling a house and it just seemed to fit. He could't find any "Our first Christmas together" ornaments that struck his fancy, so this is what he picked out.

















2. Snowflakes: I have several, and I like them all. Sort of fragile and floaty looking, something about them makes me happy. I think I got some of them from my mom, although I am pretty sure I bought the one on the top right myself.




3. Baby's First Christmas booties:I have a ton of "Baby's first Christmas" ornaments. Gobs. Most of them are for my first born. He has 5 or so. Everyone else only has one, and the baby doesn't have one yet. Nevermind that this will be his second Christmas. I found the perfect ornament for him the other day but it said "Baby's First Christmas 2007". Do you think he would notice? I can answer that--No, but the other kids would, and they would be sure to point it out to me endlessly.


4. Glass Heart: The picture really doesn't do this one any justice. It is so pretty when the lights shine through it. It is the first ornament my mother-in-law gave me. I used to get ornaments from her every year. She hasn't given me any ornaments for a long time--and the last time I got any they were a whole bunch of rakes, shovels, and clippers, so I guess I should be glad. Nevermind, just wait until next week.






5. Christmas Angel: What. It's an angel. I'll have you know I thought of myself as quite the artist when I was in second grade. Of course she had to have blue eyes, who cares if they are closed. And how in the world are you going to know she has nostrils if they aren't painted on? For some reason, my husband always puts this one on the back of the tree when he helps decorate. Of course I move it to the place of honor, front and center, where it belongs.



6. Another first Christmas: Picking out an ornament for a baby's first Christmas is a big deal around here. Not just any old ornament will do. It doesn't have to actually say "First Christmas", since we will know what it is for. For those of you that know my 2nd daughter, this one fits her perfectly. It isn't the girly-girlness of it, because she is definately not a girly-girl. It is more the feeling of perpetual motion. And the birds. Oh, and how could we have known, when she was just a few months old, to pick out an ornament of a girl doing a straddle split jump? It was almost 4 years before she started in gymnastics. Uncanny, I say.

7. Pile of Bears: Instead of picking out a new ornament each year for the kids, we used to pick out one for everybody. This was (obviously) what we picked out when we had 4 kids. Four little bears all tangled up in lights. I thought it was cute. Still do.







8. Shell ornaments: These are all Margaret Furlong handmade bisque porcelain ornaments. I LOVE these ornaments. If you visit the website, you will see 3 of the 4 ornaments on the home page. Cool. The star came from my good friend Sylvia, the heart from my oldest son, the small angel from my mom, and the other angel from my husband(I think). So many people love me!


9. Puffy night before Christmas ornaments: I don't know what else to call them. There used to be 4, but I can't find the last one. It was a Santa and on the back it said something like "a bowl full of jelly." If you haven't figured it out by now, I made these. The date on the back says 1984 but I didn't finish them until 1988 or so. It was a kit. Hey, they came out better than the wooden cutouts depicting the 12 days of Christmas that I painted in junior high or high school. Those ended up on my mom's tree. I bet she couldn't wait until I moved out so she could throw those puppies away. Anyway, I don't care if they are slightly tacky, I like them.

10. Noodle Angel: Isn't that cute? I saw some at a craft fair and years later I made some. I actually sold these for a while. I only have 2 left because the dog used to hunt them down and eat them. Dogs are so disgusting. If you are thinking of getting one, don't. Our dog's new favorite thing is to sneak off across the road. We live across the road from the sewage treatment plant. Nice. When I want to gross myself out I wonder what he is finding over there.
Note: The property for the STP is probably over 100 acres and we only smell it occasionally in the summertime. It isn't any worse than living across from the chicken packing factory, really, unless of course your dog keeps going over there.

Merry Christmas!

Cathy's 10 Favorite Christmas ornaments

Reading

I have a love/hate relationship with teaching my children to read. I love that I am teaching them something so vital to their success in life. It warms my heart to see the understanding dawn on them. To go from "what's that letter, Mom?" to picking up a can of foaming bath soap and reading "ff-uh-nnn that says 'fun'! Mom, that says Fun Fum(foam)!"

I have often felt sorry for all those parents of public school kids that send their little Kindergarteners off to school for someone else to teach them to read. Some are reading when they go into Kindergarten, but not very many. All those parents missing out on telling their little ones the sounds of the letters and how they go together. Over, and over, and over...this is where the hate part comes in.

My sixth child is now Kindergarten age. Usually I don't do much preschool type stuff with them so by age 5 they mostly know their letters and not much else. Six kids means six times 100 times of saying "A says ă like in cat." Six times 1000 times of saying "T-H-E says 'the' most of the time." Oh Lord, save me from this repetition.

C-K says 'k'
Q-U says 'kw'

Why does the english language have to be so confusing? It just doesn't seem fair to keep changing the rules all the time. First 'A' says ă, then just when the kid is getting that without having to be reminded a billion times, all of a sudden it says 'ā'--but only if there is an E at the end of the word. Or a Y. And what about "said" or "ball". No wonder I have to keep saying it. There is so much to remember.

And then. The worst part of all. I can handle the repetition somewhat, because it is necessary. But I declare that having to listen to the PAINFUL sounding out of the words is going to be the death of me. I am a busy person. Often we are doing reading lessons in between my chores, other schoolwork, computer work, etc. Crying baby, crabbing toddler, piano playing in the background. Then I have to sit down and listen to "hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (deep breath because he used it all on the first H) hhhhh hhhh aaaaaaa t. Hhhh (breath) aaat. Hat." For every word. It is all I can do to smile and say "Good job! Next word." Meanwhile my mind is screaming "JUST KILL ME NOW!!!!!!!!!!"

My absolute favorite part of teaching reading is when the child finally gets it. It stops being all about sounding out each letter and more about just knowing what the words are. It is fascinating to me to actually be able to see that transition. And so exciting! When my kids go from thinking they can't read (but trying anyway because Mom is making them) to believing they can. That is when reading becomes fun and not a chore.

Soon my little redheaded 5 year old will be reading fluently. I will forget all about wanting to bang my head against the wall and only fondly remember teaching him to read. Then it will be time for the next one to learn.

Joab reading
If you want to take a listen I hope this works. Background accompaniment courtesy of 9 year old piano player.

Brothers

Tuesday Ten: What I did last weekend

WE'RE
very very busy
and we've got a lot to do
and we haven't got a minute
to explain it all to you
for on SundayMondayTuesday
there are people we must see
and on WednesdayThursdayFriday
we're as busy as can beeeee......
-BusyBusyBusy by Sandra Boynton from the Phildelphia Chickens CD

What did I do last weekend? Well, I didn't make a blog entry, I know that. With Christmas coming up, things are getting a little hectic around here.

1. Saturday morning I worked at a gymnastics meet. The optionals (levels 7-10) were having their first meet of the season so I had to help out. My 11 year old daughter is a level 6 so she did not compete. It was fun anyway.

2. Aforementioned 11 year old daughter's best friend came to spend the afternoon. She lives in Corvallis so they don't get to see each other very often since the friend isn't in gymnastics anymore. The friend brought her brother along so the boys had someone to play with as well.

3. Forgot to go to Cousin Zipper's birthday party. I was supposed to take 2 of the boy's to watch Cars and have cake with their cousin. I forgot. Once I figured it out I felt awful. I prefer forgotten things to just stay forgotten so I can skip the guilt, thankyouverymuch.

4. Watched my husband frame in a wall. Still working on those pesky stairs. The end may be in sight, I am not sure. It may be a trick.

5. Saturday evening I made dinner for 14 people. Not a big deal, since I am usually cooking for 10. The previously mentioned best friend's parents stayed for dinner when picking up their kids. We had spaghetti, green beans, and biscuits.


6. Worked on my cross stitch project for 2 1/2 hours. It is really aggravating just how s-l-o-w-l-y cross stitching goes. Two and a half hours and all there is to show for it is two tiny buffalo, a teepee, and some indians. While stitching, I was watching a movie that I have already seen, which may have something to do with my going so slow. Or not, since I spent most of the movie looking down. Mostly I was keeping my husband company while he watched the movie.

7. Went to church. Oh, and get this. My husband got up when I did and helped get the kids ready to go instead of staying in bed until 15 minutes before we need to leave. We actually got to church on time for the first time in months. Note to self: Throw fits more often.

8. We went to get our Christmas tree. Although we prefer to go to the mountains to drive around for hours looking for the perfect tree, then chop down said wild, untamed tree in the freezing cold and snowy forest; second best choice is going to a local tree farm that has Noble Firs and chopping down the well-behaved, cultured tree from the extremely muddy field. Choices abound, all the trees are so pretty. The trick is to get one that isn't too bushy. Bushy is bad when you are looking for a Noble Fir. I think we were at the tree farm all of 15 minutes, half of which was spent trying to shove the 8 foot tree into our already packed to the brim (with people) Suburban.

Side note: Why don't people check their spelling when making a sign to sell something? Why? It doesn't take all that long. I can understand typos, I have done my share. But if someone wants to SELL something shouldn't they at least spell the name correctly? I have seen signs around here selling "Nobel" Firs. Twice the price, by the way, but that is neither here nor there. If, if I were going to buy a tree from a tree lot, I would probably choose a place that can spell.

9. Found out that the pigs have about another month before being ready to butcher. Seems they are about 200-220 pounds right now and we have to be on the lookout for the tails to pop. What? Sounds messy to me. Apparently, the tail will start getting really fat right at the base and that is the time to butcher. Gross. Now every time I look in their pen I am staring at their behinds. Gross.

10. Went Christmas shopping. Finally. Nothing like leaving everything for the last minute.

Cathy's Tuesday Ten

For Sale

Tuesday Ten: House Rules

We have a ladder system at my house. Break the rules, move down the ladder. Obviously, not every little problem results in a step down--I try to save it for the big deal ones. When someone is moved down the ladder they lose priviledges depending on how far down they move. At least that is how it is supposed to work. We are not perfect, I will admit.

There are two main rules but I am a big rule person so there are lots of mini rules. In my opinion, all of my rules are common-sense-should-go-without-saying rules. They also change at random and new ones pop up daily. This is not unreasonable, trust me.

1. Do what you say you are going to do. No promising to play legos if so-and-so plays a game with you and then going back on it. No saying yes ma'am I will feed my rabbits every day and then having to be reminded EVERY DAY.

2. Do not encroach on others. Yep, I actually have that written down. My kids know what it means too. It covers all the no hitting, biting, kicking, spitting on your brothers and sisters, sitting on people's heads, taking toys away--I could go on for hours.

3. No worms in the house. I found a worm in the window track yesterday. Is this normal? Is it normal to find worms in the tracks of the windows? Am I wrong to be totally grossed out by this? I don't even want to know how it got there. I sort of asked and didn't get anyone to confess so I left it alone. Not the worm, it went outdoors.

4. No picking through your sister's dinner. My 11 year old daughter eats dinner late most nights because of gymnastics so we save her a plate. Apparently, someone has been picking through and taking the good pieces of whatever we had for dinner. Not anymore.

5. Change your underwear every day. This is on my list of things I shouldn't have to say more than once or twice per kid. However, I have said it a lot more than 14 times.

6. Don't jump out at the baby(15mo) and shout "BOO!" He cries. It isn't nice. Don't do it.

7. When having something for dinner that you know someone else doesn't like, don't turn to them, smile, and say "We are having mushrooms for dinner! YUM, I LOVE mushrooms!" Mean. Mean, mean, mean. Gets you sent from the dinner table to think about manners for 5 minutes, then back to apologize. We'll see if that nips it in the bud.

8. The laundry basket is for laundry. It is not a boat, car or train. It is not a fort. It is not made to withstand being turned over and jumped upon. It is especially off limits when there are clothes in it. One exception to this rule is if the baby wants to be pushed around in it. Key word: wants.

9. Don't do things that you wouldn't do if Mom or Dad were there. This just applies to the kids. It includes eating a snack (without permission)in front of your brothers and sisters and telling them they can't have any. Nice.

10. Pick up after yourself. I usually turn into a raging maniac at least once a day about this one. Funny, but that doesn't work very well.

Cathy's Tuesday Ten House Rules

Questions

Question: Are these pigs ready to be butchered?




Answer: This has been plaguing me for a few weeks. I don't know the answer. My guess is not yet, in which case I have to go purchase more food for them. I have someone coming to look at them pretty soon who can answer this question.

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Question: Is this rooster really mean?



Answer: My kids say he is. I ignore him and he ignores me so I don't have first hand knowledge with this one either.

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Question: Will I fall in this immense puddle? Or will my husband dig a ditch to redirect the water around our property? It looks harmless, but the best route across this puddle is right next to the worst route across. One misstep and I am up to my waist in the bathtub hole.



Answer: No! I will not fall into the bathtub hole (called this because the boys dug a bathtub out of the ground there last year). The ditch has been dug and water should be going around rather than across. However, I have been informed that there are some more holes in the puddle area so I still need to be careful when crossing. Thanks a bunch. At least I can jump across now instead of wading.

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Question: Aren't these the cutest kitties ever?




Answer: Of course!

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Question: Will we finish the framing on the garage before our permit expires?



Answer: Sadly, no. We have exactly 5 days until the expiration and too much work to do. This isn't exactly our fault since we have worked on it steadily since August when the last of the foundation was poured. But the six months started in June with the foundation forms inspection, then we didn't pour the slab until August. So ALL of the framing, including the stairs, eaves, roof, inside walls, etc., had to be done in 3 1/2 months. This is a lot of work considering that 1. we are clueless, 2. most of the work is being done by one person with two helpers, and 3. it gets dark at 5 pm. And then there is gymnastics. And soccer. And life. And, darn it, it is cold out there. The good news is we can buy a six month extension, one time only, for $130. That is what we will do.

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Question: Will my children ever learn to pick up after themselves?




Answer: Not bloody likely.