Happy 12th Birthday, Mark!!

Mark's first birthday!!!
Mark's 12th birthday.
(I have to admit, you have gotten a lot neater as the years have past)

On Martin Luther King Jr Day

I want to apologize for neglecting this little space in the world wide web. But sometimes life gets in the way, and the fun things, the happy blog worthy happenings, seem to get pushed to the side. But I received a comment today on this old post....and I realized that we haven't been doing any on the "fun" things that used to fill our days....so I am going to try and remedy this, and fill our days with more intentional, enjoyable activities.

So being Martin Luther King Jr. Day I found a couple fun crafts to make with the kids. I found this handprint/poem craft here.
And who can resist paint....not my littles!!

These pictures were just the thing to get back a little of the joy of homeschooling.

I found the idea over at Handprint and Footprint Art.

We finally have some snow on the hill

Last year by this time we had received 78 inches of snow, just in the month of December. This year nothing...until yesterday....a whopping 5 inches.
At least it was enough to get out the sleds for the first time of the season.

Climbing the "hill"

Ready, set, go!

Kimmy-5

I believe this technique makes the whole sledding experience more exciting!

The amazing speed!! She is just a blur.

Here's to many more sledding days this winter!!

Christmas Eve-2011

We are awaiting the birth of Jesus!!

Our manger is empty, but tomorrow morning baby Jesus will be here!!

Amy made these beautiful paper ornaments.

I think next year we will decorate the whole tree with gorgeous homemade decorations.
Pat and Grace
On Thanksgiving Day, it is our tradition to have the 10 kids exchange names for our annual Christmas Eve secret Santa gift exchange.
It is a wonderful time to be together as a family, especially now since everyone isn't living at home.
Laura and Dan
It is fun to see what the kids get each other.

Becky and Amy
I was still baking for tomorrow, but I would like in years to come, to have nice treats that we can all enjoy. It is tough, though, to get everyones work schedules lined up to allow for several hours of fun. For instance, today, Matt and Pat had to run off to work after only being with us about an hour.

Grace, Luke, Becky and Amy

Grace, Daddy, Matt and Luke

Matthew

Laura

The little kids were so excited....they had been staring at the gifts for hours.

Luke and Dan

Big boys know how to make little boys very happy.

(We ended up with an abundance of weapons)

Kimbery-5

Kimberly-5

Mark-11

Kimmy-5

Laura---(a perfect winter hat from Becky)

Grace-10

Grace-10 and Kimmy-5

Dan with a giant whoopie cushion (perfect, Becky!)

Although Daddy didn't get a Nerf gun...he enjoyed the battle!

Pat---Looks good!

Matt---another Neft warrior

Becky

Laura

Becky and her secret Santa Mark

Becky and Grace

Daniel

Merry Christmas, from Ten Kids and a Dog!!

Ten Kids and a Dog---Christmas Eve-2011

Merry Christmas---from our house to yours!!

"All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth"

Luke-age 6

"Lights on the Lake"

We made our first ever trip to see the "Lights on the Lake" in Syracuse.

We all enjoyed it. The kids especially loved seeing Santa at the beginning of the drive.

It will definitely become a yearly tradition, especially since we now know the best time to visit.

Last week we tried to see the lights on Saturday night....we were in a stand still traffic jam for about an hour and then were able to escape the gridlock and head for home.

Tonight, Thursday, right as the park opened, provided us with no lines and no waiting.

We were also very happy to see the whole Nativity scene in lights.

Merry Christmas, everyone!!

Three of my beautiful girls....inside and out!!

Macor Monday--the lighting of the candles