Wordless Wednesday

I call this one:

Goats in the Snow, Begging for a Snack.

I call this one:

Black Dog Playing Snowball Fights.

And I call this one:

White Dog Who Thinks She is Camouflaged But Really Looks Yellow.

I'm an artist.


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Snow Day

Snow shoveling




Snow sleddin'





Snow men



Snow ladies





Snow wrasslin'




Snow horse




Snow ponies







Snow dog




Snowy day board games
(Pay no attention to the empty wine glass)

It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas

We had Christmas a little early, at least on a small scale, when my sister and her hubby and their little Christmas cookie came to visit this past weekend. There were breathtaking lights to ooh and ahh over at Longwood Gardens, gifts to exchange (more ooh-ing and ahh-ing), Christmas cookies to be rolled and cut and frosted and tasted, and lots and lots of skating on the pond.
Oh and baby soft elbows and knees to kiss and cuddle.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree .....

Went tree huntin' on Saturday and we bagged a good one. Other than the mild disappointment expressed from five of them b/c their tree wasn't the one selected, it went pretty well. The Weather Fairy gave us one perfect day sandwiched between two weeks of deep-freeze. No wind, lots o' sunshine, 45-ish; perfect for the task at hand. Sis, who seems to lack the power of speech, gave each of the kiddos a bag of popcorn, and off we ambled.



We found our tree in short order and hauled it back to the car, and my two young men strapped the bounty to the top.



Next there was hot chocolate to be consumed by all, and the younger kids had the fun of picking out their very own Charlie Brown tree, complete with rickety wooden stand made on the premises.







At the tree farm, we saw some rustic "lawn reindeer" made of logs. So of course the first thing my artist James did once we got home was to make one himself. This was the first time he ever made one and I think it came out better than the ones we saw at the farm.





Once we got our prize home we went ahead and strung the lights and decorated it right away. It won't win any prizes from Martha Stewart, but I love it. It's filled top to bottom with paper chains the kids have made and their "special ornaments" that Santa brings them each and every year. As they unwrap them from the plastic bags and tissue paper, the family room is filled with "I remember this one!" and oohs and ahhs.
The kids love the tree too. In fact, four of them slept on the floor next to the tree that very night, all cuddled up in their sleeping bags, staring up at the lights of their tree.

Snowed In

This past weekend we had a huge blizzard. Huge. To the tune of 2'+ of snow, plus lots of wind for lots of drifts. But on Sunday we played in the snow, making snowmen, snow angels, sledding, snowball fights, the works. It was lots of fun. As a bonus, the kids even had a school cancellation on Monday.

Not so much fun was the snowstorm we got Tues night and all day Weds. Though we didn't get such an accumulation as the w/e storm (only about 17" this time), the winds were fierce, causing blizzard conditions with often less than 1/4 mile visibility. The kids really couldn't play in it while it was coming down, though they did try several times. Fred was at work, so the kids and I did need to get out to shovel the snow berm along the top of the driveway so that when he got home he would be able to pull in.

But when Fred got to within about 1/2 mile or so from the house, he was stopped by several cars ahead of him stuck, unable to get past a wall of 3 - 4' drifts across the road. So he had to turn around and try another route. He finally made it home and jumped right on the tractor to begin digging our driveway out from under all the drifted snow. He worked wll beyond nightfall, but he got it done.

This morning, however, he was unable to get to work despite all his efforts last night. He got to the end of our driveway only to realize that our road was completely snowed in, with 2 - 3 foot drifts across most of it. Though I had heard snowplows out several times last night, it looked as though our road had never been touched. The only vehicle I've seen on it this morning has been a team of Amish mules pulling a sled.

So, it looks like we'll have another snow day. Every school for miles around has been cancelled. A state of emergency was declared yesterday afternoon. Our power is still on, thank goodness, so we'll be fine. I just have to keep up with all the perpetually incoming wet snowsuits, gloves, hats and boots, finding places to lay them out to dry before the next time they're needed. I think I have enough firewood left for one more day of fires in the wood stove, so I'll go get that started in a minute.

Yesterday I cooked up a quadruple batch of pancakes in the morning, plus a pot roast with enough mashed potatoes to feed a small army. Seems eight cold and hungry children go through quite a bit of food (two of our kids' best friends have been over here since Tuesday afer school). But that's OK. Like I said, we have power. We have food. We have TV and X-Box and board games. And we have lots and lots of snow outside to play in.

Lots.

Irony Lost ....

I took advantage yesterday of our school district's snow day by finally taking the kids on a surprise trip to go snowtubing in the Poconos. We had a blast. They kept trying to guess where I was taking them but couldn't get it and it was killing them. The mystery of it all was aided by the fact that I had pre-packed (without them seeing me do it) snowsuits, boots, gloves and hats into the back of the car. When we were about 1/2 hour from our destination, James spotted a billboard with a picture of someone snowtubing, so he finally guessed it.

It was awesome. We spent about three hours sledding down the hill in singles, doubles, and every combination of chains you can think of. Afterwards we warmed up by the fire with some hot chocolate, then headed home, stopping off at Perkins, where the kids consumed gigantic portions of breakfast food for dinner.

The only problem was that Veezy, my VZ Navigator GPS system on my phone, decided to take me a different way home than the way up, and then abruptly quit talking to me partway home. So we got a little lost and it took longer to get home than it did to get up there. To the tune of four hours door to door, including the dinner stop.

Translation: a carful of tired kids with a case of the Backseat Boredoms. The batteries on their various electronic devices all conspired to die at the same time. I had packed a few movies, but no one could seem to agree on which one to watch, or whether to watch any at all. There was bickering galore by the kids and wailing and gnashing of teeth by yours truly. Finally, within about ten minutes of home, a few of them decided to play the Silent Game. Brilliant, I thought. Why didn't I come up with that myself hours ago? However, about a minute into the game, Daniel started going, "PaCHAW. Pa CHAW." Everyone told him he lost but he maintained that he was allowed to do that b/c it wasn't talking. And so of course a heated debate ensued, discussing the Silent Game Rules.

The irony of the fact that the Silent Game was the cause of so much noise seemed to be lost on the kids.

Four Days of Fun

Thursday
I awoke to a familiar noxious odor and came downstairs to find that apparently the stomach of one of my dogs had exploded in the night all over the wood floor.
Cleaned it up.

Cooked breakfast for all my chillens.

Got through a relatively easy morning with them until about 5 minutes before the bus came, and then all hell broke loose. Broke up two fights and calmed several people in tears, including myself.

Got showered and dressed. Ah, my good friend had arrived to visit for a few days, what nice timing.

Drove Daniel to school, but on the way he felt that his stomach, too, might explode. Pulled over to do an assessment and decided he seemed fit for school, so got him to school with the promise that I would call after my dr's appt to check on him.

Submitted to my retinal exam which included having several drops squeezed onto each eyeball, then having a stick poked in each eye, then bright lights shone to check my retinas. Stumbled out of there barely able to see.

Called Daniel's school, hoping against hope that he would be OK so I could treat myself to a quiet pampering morning at Borders to spend a gift card I had received for Christmas. That was not to be the case. Daniel was sick, so I drove back to his school to pick him up and take him home.

When checking e-mail, learned from one of James' teachers that he had lied about homework and was in danger of getting an after-school detention.

Took James to an appt with his therapist shortly after the kids got home from school. On the drive there he decided he would be mad at me for not taking him to a candy store, so he stopped talking to me. I had to wonder, fourteen or four?

Friday
Fred left for a conference for several days, so I knew I would be all on my own.
Took Rosie to a middle school dance at Boomer's.

Few hours later, picked up Rosie plus three friends. Drove them home with the car rocking back and forth to their singing and dancing along with the radio.

Nearly hit a deer, having to hit the brakes and swerve hard to the right to avoid it.
Instead of singing and dancing, the girls were now screaming and crying.
For the next hour or so, tried to keep the girls somewhat quiet and contained till I finally succumbed to exhaustion and dropped into bed.

Saturday
Cooked breakfast for 10 kids.

Reminisced with James and Julie. This was the one year anniversary of their arrival home.

Said goodbye late morning to the last of Rosie's friends.

Baked two cakes: one an anniversary cake, one a birthday cake for Patrick and his friends. He was having a party a month early so he could take them out to see Sherlock Holmes.

Patrick's five friends arrived and headed out to the pond for a bit before it was time to leave for the movies. They got in a cattail fight and came in covered in the feathery dust from the disintegrated plants. One of the boys had his shoes (which I later found out were relatively new) nearly sucked off his feet by a patch of deep mud.

Found some pants and shoes for him to borrow.

Headed out to the movies with 7 big boys in my car, Rosie staying home with her friend Lauren to babysit Julie, Bella and Daniel.

Stopped by Wendy's on the way home to pick them up some burgers. One man looked incredulously at our group of nearly 6 feet tall 14 and 15 year olds and asked if we were from a bus. I just smiled.

Tolerated (best I could) the noise and rambunctiousness of the beasts running through my house playing hide-n-seek, video games, and whatever else they could think of.

Brought out the cakes and sang Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday.

Cleaned up and ran the dishwasher for the 2nd (3rd?) time of the day.

Hid out in my room. Tried to make it through the news but fell asleep.


Sunday
Cooked breakfast for 11 kids.
Said goodbye to Patrick's friends late morning and then orchestrated a clean up before the house could be condemned.

Finally stole away to the computer to treat myself to some reading and writing time.

Enjoyed the idyllic scene out my window of about a dozen neighboring Amish kids playing ice hockey and having races across our frozen pond. Oooh, I just noticed a couple of them are still in their Sunday best. Are they gonna get in troubllllle!



I'll try again next week for Borders. Wish me luck!

Blogger Slacker

Who would have ever thought that I, the Blogging Queen, could go over a month without so much as a nod to my blog?
Who would have ever thought that I could let two holidays pass without so much as a blip?

Who would have ever thought that I could get through the Christmas break with my six darlings home for 12 days with only a handful more grey hairs?

Well, it's all true.

I last posted at Thanksgiving. From the next day forward I was busy what seemed like every second of every day decorating inside and out, baking, shopping on-line and off-line, thinking of gifts for no less than 16 teachers, wrapping scores of presents (well over a hundred at last count), assembling castles and doll houses, attending Christmas parties and presentations, helping children make homemade Christmas presents for classroom gift exchanges - such a charming idea (sorry, is my sarcasm showing?), cooking dozens of Russian bliny for "culture day" for two classrooms, taking the kids out to shop for their "Stockings for Kids" and "Hat and Mitten Tree" at school, sending in fruit trays, creating and sending out our Christmas card and newsletter, getting our tree, taking the kids out to see the holiday lights, visiting with out-of-state friends and family .... and .... pant, pant, gasp. Someone please check my blood pressure.

Anyway, it was all worth it. The kids had a magical Christmas season, and believe it or not, I did too. I love the beauty of Christmas and can't get enough of it. In fact, though it's past New Year's, we still haven't taken down our tree and decorations. James says he wants to leave it all up till his friend Madiyar visits later this month and I just may do that.

Of course my "old kids" loved it like always. But our "new kids" were just beside themselves for weeks. They loved every aspect of it, from opening cards and Advent calendars to hiking through the cold to find our tree and of course opening gifts Christmas morning. As the icing on the cake (literally), we even had a white Christmas this year, with plenty of snow play and ice skating on our pond in the days before the big event.

We kept to our usual Christmas Eve traditions of driving out to see a holiday lights drive-thru display at the Herr's Factory, then home to set up the manger, put out cookies and milk and a loving note from the kids for Santa, and each opening one homemade gift. James and Bella got custom-covered body pillows, Patrick and Julie got homemade "snuggies", Rosie got a beautiful lighted display cabinet made by Fred to display a movie sheet for New Moon, andDanielo got a hand-carved and decorated walking stick for his nature hikes. Mom and Dad each got some beautifully made cards and loving poems. Then off to bed for the kids. It's been their tradition every year that they all sleep in one room on Christmas Eve. Wasn't sure if we'd be able to manage it this year, but somehow all six kids snuggled down for the night in Julie's room, snug as bugs in a rug. Of course, Fred and I (and my visiting sister Mary) were up a bit longer bringing gifts down to set up under the tree, but we were done by about 11:30, so not too shabby.

Still, 5am (our Minimal Acceptable Time) came pretty early as they all ran in to our room and jumped on our bed screaming Merry Christmas. We always make them wait at the top of the steps while we go down and turn on the Christmas lights, start the coffee and ready the video camera. We go s-l-o-w-l-y just to torture them, which is more fun than should be legal.

For the next several hours they emptied their stockings of treasures, ate candy, and took turns opening gifts. Santa brought Julie and Bella i-Pod Nanos, Patrick an i-Pod Touch, Rosie a laptop, James a stereo, and Daniel a castle for his knights. Fred and I supplied them with plenty of clothes, books, video games, movies, Barbies, and whatever else sucked the credit cards out of our wallets to last 'em for a while. The pile under the tree was nothing short of obnoxious. I know I should be ashamed of myself. But you know what? It's once a year. And really, the years between 4 and maybe 14 are the ones you just giddy about, so 10 years out of 80 or 90 I say let 'er rip, do it up big with no holds barred.

Over break we also went to the book store and the mall to let the kids spend some gift cards they received, went ice skating at an indoor rink, had some family friends over (more ice skating on the pond), and went to the movies a couple times. We rang in the new year quietly, seeing Avatar in the evening (phenomenal movie) and then stayed home with one friend over to help us make some noise and drink some sparkling cider.

Now here I sit, on the brink of our lives returning to some sense of normalcy as the kids return to school. We had fun. Lots of fun.

But I'll be glad to see that school bus motoring down the road toward our house tomorrow morning .....

Adoptive Mother of the Year Award

As you may have heard, our area got hit with a pretty big snow storm Sun night. The kids of course had the day off of school, and we had steps to shovel, so I figured out whose turn it was and sent them packin'. Fred came down a bit later and asked if he should call the social worker. I was clueless for a moment or two till it dawned on me. All three of my adopted kids were out shoveling snow while my bio kids were inside toasty and warm by the fire. It honestly just worked out that way based on chores and turns, but I have to admit, it didn't look too good.
Still, I don't think Fred will be reporting me. Then he'd have to take care of this crew all by himself ....

New skates

Finally found some ice skates roughly the sizes we needed and on sale, so I picked up a few pairs, along with some hockey sticks and pucks. Got another good freeze, so the kids got to go try out the skates instead of just slip-slidin' around our pond in their snow boots. They had a blast. An icy blast. It was about 12 degrees out. I decided they were safe enough if I watched from the window with a hot cup of coffee in my hands.