Happy New Year!!

More sledding pictures...

Sledding!

We took the boys sledding yesterday morning on our fresh snow. Roz stayed home with a napping JD so I could go too. The big boys had a blast! Eli took a wrong turn into a small tree (a bush really) a couple times but he wasn't hurt. Wesley really liked it and pretty much could do it himself which was nice.

Hayden LOVED going down the hill but pretty much cried whenever he wasn't on the way down yelling "wheeeeeee!". Each time on the way back up the hill and waiting his turn to go down he cried. It was actually kind of funny. We just couldn't get back up fast enough for him. It's definitely good exercise walking uphill in the snow with your boots on pulling a child on a sled! I wish we there were more hills close by, it got kind of busy and we decided to head home. Jerry's boss drove up with his son as we were loading the boys in the van. So we left just in time! :)

That's some load!

Hayden and Justus ready to go!

JD's first bath in the BIG tub

JD had his first bath in the big tub last night. He is quickly outgrowing the baby tub. I think JD is about the size of Hayden when he was almost one! JD didn't seem to mind the big tub. I think he likes the warm water. Wesley had the honors of assisting (from inside the tub!). Normally, Jerry is in charge of bath time, but I always do the babies. So I swooped in washed my guy and got out of the way. Here are a few shots:

Christmas Fun!

Christmas Eve we all went to church at 5pm. The boys were so good. After a small upset because I didn't let Justus unzip his own jacket, they sat nicely the whole time. Hayden was the only one who was restless since he is used to being in the nursery. But a steady supply of cheerios worked to keep him in line. At the very end of the service they had everyone hold a lit candle. So for the last verse of Silent Night we let Eli and Justus hold them. They were so proud of themselves.

Here are a few shots of the Shown family on Christmas morning. The boys slept in! We ended up waking them up about 7:15. Justus came down still asleep in Jerry's arms. He finally roused when we started opening the gifts. They enjoyed everything. Despite the "late" start we had breakfast and were ready in time for Roz, Wesley, and I to keep with tradition and go to the 10:30 service with the DeCleene family.

Jerry, Hayden, Wesley, and Justus

Roz

Eli checks out his new scooter (Hurry, Spring!)

JD ready to go to Grandma's

After a quick lunch and early nap for Hayden we headed up to Grandma Linda and Pa's. There was a TON of food and it was nice to visit with everyone. That side of the family is almost all adults now with only Jake and Saige remaining in high school. Several of the cousins had there boyfriends or girlfriends there. My cousin Amber's boyfriend was here all the way from England!

The big boys enjoyed grazing on chips and cookies and playing with the cousins. JD was a little crabby but I am sure he was wondering why all these new faces were holding him! Everyone did fall asleep in the van on the way home (again!) but we had them in their jammies and took them right up to bed. Despite the fact they did wake up when we got home they went back to sleep with out too much trouble.

Since we were at Grandma's for Christmas, we did the last day of the Jesse Tree yesterday (26th). I highly recommend it! The boys really enjoyed it and it was a good review for the rest of us as well. I think the boys were a little disappointed to have it end. If you want to do it and need the links or information let me know. You only have 338 days until December 1, 2008!

Merry Christmas!

Jesse Tree Reading: Luke 2: 6-21
Symbol: star
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar!

Jesse Tree Reading: Luke 2: 1-5
Symbol: sandals
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

As you may (or may not) know I love to do genealogy when I have time. Which isn't often these days with six kids! I haven't done much in recent years but a few months ago I posted my family tree on a website called Ancestry.com. I have been pleasantly surprised that several people have contacted me about the various branches of my family tree.

In early December, I got an email from a Jozef DeCleene in Antwerp, Belgium. It ended up he is a distant cousin. When my branch of the family tree came to "Amerika", his stayed. He had some information that I did not so it has been a lot of fun to email back and forth with him. He apologized for his English skills, which I thought was funny since his English is much better than my Flemish! I have looked up a bit about Belgium and originally thought they spoke Dutch but Jozef informed me he speaks Flemish, a Dutch dialect. He also apologized for not being able to go back any farther in the family tree than 1660!

Yesterday, he sent me an e-card that I couldn't read! (Now I know how Wesley feels sometimes...just a bunch of letters on a page that should mean something but don't!) It had a picture of St. Nick so I'm assuming it said Merry Christmas! When I went to email him back I wanted to say Merry Christmas in Flemish. I have a translator on the computer but unfortunately Flemish is not one of the languages included. It took a bit of searching to find what I was looking for...so I thought I would share with you all...Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig Nieuw Jaar! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

And the weather outside was...

Jesse Tree Reading: Matthew 1: 18-25
Symbol: tools
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

...frightful. I wish I could say the fire was delightful, but we don't have fireplace! For you AZ friends and family, we had some real winter like weather today. The morning started out about 45 degrees but quickly dropped to the teens. It was snowing and very windy (gusts in the 40-50mph range). At times it looked like the snow was coming down sideways!

After some discussion we finally decided to just go ahead and go to church. They were having a breakfast potluck and the boys love to eat at church. I thought we might be the only ones there but we weren't. There was plenty of food and people to eat with. The boys enjoyed it and I'm glad we braved the roads. Actually, the roads weren't too bad on the way to church but on the way home they were worse. We got home and with the exception of running Roz to work we stayed home the rest of the day. I wish I would have had my camera along to take a few photos of the drifting and snow blowing across the highway. Looks like it will be a bit nicer tomorrow and thankfully we'll have a white Christmas!

C is for Cookie!

Jesse Tree Reading: Luke 1: 26-38
Symbol: heart
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

This morning we all worked together to decorate the Christmas cut-out cookies. Even Jerry and Roz helped. Many hands make light work, right? Just like with the pretzels, Hayden ate his...he didn't even bother to wait for the frosting. After three cookies he couldn't figure out why we wouldn't let him have any more. Justus didn't put enough frosting on so he had trouble getting his sprinkles to stick. I think Eli worked on the same two cookies the whole time. By the time he was done with his second one we just let him eat it since no one else would be able to anyway. It was pretty much a pile of crumbs. But all had fun and I guess that's what matters!

Tonight we were looking at old pictures and Wesley all of a sudden says "What does miscreant mean?" I told him. Then a few minutes later when he saw a picture of Roz (who was lying on a bench at the park) he said, "She is such a sloth!" He's on an Ice Age and Ice Age 2 kick these days so that's where he heard both those words.

Speaking of funny things these boys say, Hayden is our little parrot these days. He'll say anything he hears...which can be good or bad! Yesterday, Buck was trying to sneak something off his tray at dinner and he yelled: "Down Buck! Geez man!"

December 21

Jesse Tree Reading: Matthew 3: 1-6
Symbol: sea shell
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

December 20

Jesse Tree Reading: Luke 1: 5-25
Symbol: man and woman
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

December 19

Jesse Tree Reading: Habbakuk 2: 1-4
Symbol: watchtower
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

Sweet House

Jesse Tree Reading: Micah 5: 1-5a
Symbol: city
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

Tonight at AWANA Wesley made this sweet creation:
He was worried it wouldn't make it home in one piece and asked every 2 minutes on the drive home how it was holding up. As you can see his little "gingerbread" house made it home just fine. He said he's going to eat it tomorrow.

Are you done yet?

Jesse Tree Reading: Jonah 1: 11-17
Symbol: whale
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

New poll! Take a second and vote. I'm almost done. Just one more small thing for Roz that I'm hoping to get tomorrow night during my weekly AWANA shopping trip. How about you?

Cousins at Christmas

Jesse Tree Reading: Isaiah 11:6-9

Symbol: wolf and lamb
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

Yesterday we headed up to Grandma Linda and Pa's for a Christmas get together. We had a good time and some great dinner...prime rib! The boys were pretty good despite missing naps. We didn't pay the price for those missing naps until we got home later in the evening. Everyone fell asleep on the way home and started crying when we walked in our door. I thought we'd be up with them half the night but they shocked me and went right back to sleep once we got them in their jammies and into bed. Well, except for JD...he was up past his usual bedtime but he wasn't crabby or crying just wide awake. Speaking of JD, here is a picture I took of him yesterday morning:

Below is a shot of the cousins except for Roz and JD:

December 15

Jesse Tree Reading: Isaiah 9:2-7
Symbol: rose
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

First Official Day of Work

Jesse Tree Reading: 2 Samuel 5:1-5
Symbol: crown
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

Here is a picture of Roz heading off to her first official day of work at Piggly Wiggly. She will be bagging for now. If you are there shopping and see her be sure and say hi! She told me if I go there to shop while she is working I shouldn't talk to her! So I'll let the rest of you embarrass her! I told her to give me a daily report on the weirdest shopping order each day. You know those people you are behind sometimes and you look at what they are buying and wonder....

The Candy Makers

Jesse Tree Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-13
Symbol: horn of oil
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

Every morning the boys ask me: "What are we going to do for fun?" So today I had them work assembly line style to make chocolate covered pretzels and other Christmas treats. They had a blast! They didn't even know they were working! Hayden ate so much he wasn't hungry for lunch. I set him up with a "station" like the rest of the boys but anything you put on his tray was considered his personal snack.

After making chocolate covered pretzels we moved on to chocolate covered Ritz and peanut butter "sandwiches". If you've never tried them they are good! We did have to halt the assembly line once when the workers were caught licking their knives! I had to get fresh knives for everyone and take those sandwiches off the line. The boys were good and didn't lick them again but Eli starting using napkins to wipe his knife instead of licking it and I had to put an end to that before he used them all up. Then it was on to chocolate covered peanuts clusters. After all that Wesley had the nerve to ask when we were going to make the cut out cookies to decorate. Not today! Soon though since those are my favorite!Here is a picture of what the Jesse Tree is looking like these days. It is getting full! The boys are really enjoying it and ask each night what the next ornament will be. They are getting better about sitting still and listening. Just when you think they aren't paying attention they say something that proves they were listening after all. Last night, Hayden had us all laughing when we were talking about Ruth and Naomi. The devotion mentioned that back in Bible days most women couldn't get jobs. Hayden yelled "JOBS!?!" really loud for no apparent reason and cracked the rest of us up. He is so funny!

December 12

Jesse Tree Reading: Ruth 1:15 - 2:3
Symbol: wheat
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

Do you have your own blog or website? Want to share it? Email the link to me and I'll add to the new "Friends and Family" section on the left side.

JD's new habit

Jesse Tree Reading: Joshua 2: 1-21
Symbol: rope
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

Look what JD has started. We've never had a thumb or finger sucker before. Just in the last week or so JD has been doing this. Usually it's his thumb as you can see above but occasionally he'll suck two fingers. He doesn't like the pacifier at all anymore. I'm not sure if it will last or not but it has been kind of handy for him to sooth himself.

Christmas Potpourri

Jesse Tree Reading: Deuteronomy 5: 1-22
Symbol: tablets
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

It is really starting to feel like winter with all the snow on the ground and chilly temps. I thought I'd put this potpourri recipe on here to share in case anyone wants to give it a try. It will make your house smell like Christmas and it's super easy! Let me know what you think if you give it a try...

One orange, cut up
1-2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
2 tsp. whole cloves
water
If you have a potpourri simmering pot just put the above in there with water to cover it
but it also works if you just put it in a small pot (with about 2-3 cups of water)
on the stove burner set to low.
Keep an eye one it and refill the water as needed.

December 9

Jesse Tree Reading: Genesis 37: 1-36, 50: 15-21
Symbol: coat
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

Here are some more shots of our tree trimming yesterday...

Wesley

Justus

Roz

Eli and Justus

Tree Trimming

Jesse Tree Reading: Genesis 28: 10-22
Symbol: ladder
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

We decorated the tree today. Eli has been asking every day to get the "big" tree out. Last year they tipped it over and broke the stand once so I wasn't in any hurry this year. Well, it's up and I'm curious to see how long it will be until we have some kind of mishap. (Notice I didn't say if!)
It is Roz's job to put the tree together. Since we are using the little one it didn't take her long. We (Roz and I) do the lights and garland together. Then everyone helps hang the ornaments. Wesley did the honors of the angel on top. We decided (wisely) last year to use only non-breakable ornaments. We made most of them from foam. I made a few angels and snowmen from wooden clothes pins too. (Maybe I'll post some pictures of those later since they would make a cute craft project.)
You can tell the boys did most of the decorating since some branches had 5 ornaments and some had none. The lower half of the tree was full and the top half was pretty bare except on the side where the boys could stand on the couch to reach higher. Eli took the trimming very seriously as you can see above. Wesley and Justus were more jolly decorators. We did this all why Hayden was napping. He came down stairs and started "un-decorating" the tree right away. Then he got mad when I told him NO. He got over it quickly though.

Dec 7

Jesse Tree Reading: Genesis 22: 1-14
Symbol: ram
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

Dentist Appt. and Snow Cocoa

Jesse Tree Reading: 21: 1-17
Symbol: cradle
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

The twins had their first ever dentist appointment last night. They were so good. Eli was a little nervous when he got in the chair but was okay once things got going. Justus was a chatterbox the whole time. Telling our hygienist Maureen all sorts of stories. No cavities for either! I was a little worried about Justus' teeth since his two front top teeth are a little discolored but the dentist said that can happen if you get sick as an infant, even one really high fever could do it. It could have been that Group B strep that sent him back to the hospital but I guess we'll never know for sure. It shouldn't affect his permanent teeth so that's good.

Everyone was excited to see that St. Nick had stopped by last night to pick up the artwork we colored for him. And they were even more excited to find the candy and Christmas coloring book that he left in their stockings. When I told Hayden to put his candy in a ziploc bag for later he told me, "NO WAY!". Each boy was allowed one small piece of chocolate but the rest was put away for later. Roz loved her mini bottle of Martinelli's sparkling cider that I found her...umm, I mean that St. Nick left. She said she doesn't want to drink it! I thought it would be funny to take it in her lunch one of these days!

Tonight is the Mother's of Multiples Christmas Party. I am bringing what I brought last year..."Snow" Cocoa. It's a white hot chocolate. And it is so good! The low last night was -6 and the high today is only going to be 23. Sounds like good hot chocolate weather to me! If you want to give it a try here is the recipe:

Snow Cocoa
2 cups whipping cream
6 cups milk (I use 2%)
1 teaspoon vanilla
12 oz. white chocolate chips
Put in crockpot and heat on low for 2 hours. Stir well to blend.
Garnish with marshmallows if desired.

The hardest part about making it is getting it to the party. Carrying a crockpot full of hot liquid over an icy driveway out to the van, driving with it sloshing around, and carrying it in to the meeting is almost dangerous!

One last bit of exciting Shown Family news...Roz is starting work today. Piggly Wiggly still isn't open but she starts her training this afternoon. She is just going to walk there right after school. She was filling out her W2 form at 10 o'clock last night. When she had a question about it Jerry started to explain and in a typical teenage voice she said: "Dad, just tell me which box to check. I don't care about how it all works!"

St. Nick Ramblings

Jesse Tree Reading: Genesis 12: 1-7
Symbol: Tent and camel
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

Don't forget to put out your stocking (or shoe!) tonight for St. Nick. Maybe if you were good you'll get a little treat. When we lived in Arizona we were part of the very lonely few who celebrated St. Nick's Day. Last night I did my usual grocery shopping while the boys were at AWANA and there were "Don't forget St. Nick's Day Dec. 5!" all over the stores. I didn't say anything to the boys about it but Wesley got in the van and asked about it right away since someone at church had mentioned it. Wesley even remembered that last year I let him eat a piece of candy before breakfast.

The year we moved here Roz was so surprised when other kids got to school on Dec. 6th and actually talked about St. Nick leaving them a little something. Some here make it almost a second Christmas with several gifts. I think it's interesting how different parts of the country and different families celebrate this simple little tradition. When I was little St. Nick's Day was how we got our list to Santa. I did that with Roz but with the boys I want to tone down the "gimmee" attitude so they don't make a list, instead they color a picture to leave for St. Nick and in return he leaves some candy. (They also get an ornament from Mom and Dad.) Some use stockings, some use wooden shoes, some just get candy, some get expensive gifts, some have never even heard about it at all...

So do you celebrate St. Nick's Day? Take the poll and then leave a comment about what if anything you do...

Dec 4

Jesse Tree Reading: Genesis 6: 11-14, 7: 17-8:3, and 9: 8-13
Symbol: Ark and rainbow
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

Dec 3

Jesse Tree Reading: Genesis 2: 1-19
Symbol: Apple with serpent
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

Snow!!

Jesse Tree Reading: Genesis 1: 26-31

Symbol: Earth
What's a Jesse Tree? Click here.

The boys have been waiting and waiting...after a few flurries to tease them last week we finally got enough snow to go out and play in! We let the twins stay up from nap and sent them outside instead. It took 6 mittens, 6 boots, 3 pairs of snow pants, 3 hats, 3 jackets, 3 boys, 1 mom, and about 2o minutes to get them out the door! But it was time well spent since they were out there almost 2 hours. They had fun and didn't want to come in! Dad joined them for part of the time and supervised the making of a snowman. Justus said he made a snow angel too. It was pretty warm and the snow was getting slushy, so they came in soaking wet. The clothesline in the basement if full of hats and mittens hanging to dry.

Ready to head out!

Out in the snow...finally!

We had an open house today (in case you were wondering...no one came) so after church we went out to Chinese Buffet for lunch. The boys were really good and a lady (who had 5 kids herself) stopped by to say how nice it was to see a large family. She just had to check to see if we had a girl in the baby carseat. Nope, 5 boys and a girl. She must have thought we left our girl somewhere else because she thought Roz was our "helper"! We all chuckled at that. When we were getting settled in to our seats Eli asked for a "Jeopardy cookie". It took us a minute to follow his train of thought but we eventually figured out he meant fortune cookie. We go to Chinese Buffet quite a bit and somewhere along the line we started calling fortune cookies "Wheel of Fortune cookies". Well, what is on before Wheel of Fortune? Why Jeopardy, of course! Hence...Jeopardy Cookies!

Countdown to Christmas

This year we are trying something a little different to countdown to Christmas. We are going to have a Jesse Tree and do a short devotional each day leading up to the birth of Jesus. Today's symbol is a tree stump with a branch and today's verse is:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD
Isaiah 11:1-2

Wesley is also coloring a star each day on a little Advent manger scene that I found online here. He loves that kind of stuff! If you are looking for other fun activities to countdown to Christmas check out this Advent website...there are coloring pages, cookie recipes, and all sorts of fun things to keep you busy each day until Christmas!