On Thursday afternoon, Dan, Joe, and Stephen took off for a Come and See Weekend. 

Marianna thinks she's going too.

Those of us left behind with no other plans for the next few days decided to have a pajama day on Friday.  I am not a big fan of this idea.  I figure if Dan comes home from work and we're all in our pj's and nobody's sick he's going to wonder what we've been up to all day.  Besides, I just feel lazy when I don't change in the morning (and I'm always nagging my teenage sons to change out of their favorite sleeping attire, ugh).  But my little kids have been begging to do this, so that's that!

Clare's version of PJ Day

I also splurged on some different flavors of ice cream and other junk food to bribe everyone to clean the house and help keep everything running smoothly while the big guys were gone.  Clare and I managed to have a movie night (just us girls...so very rare around here!) and the younger set were amused with this much anticipated package....

I had ordered some moccasins for Andrew and Therese, tomahawks for Gabers and Johnny and a leather pouch for Matthew (all in need of assembly, of course). The tomahawks were easy to put together and Matthew pretty much assembled his pouch on his own, but those moccasins were a completely different matter.

Andrew really stuck with me through the whole process. He was a real trooper. Therese, on the other hand, seemed to think that a magic genie was going to appear and her moccasins would be ready to wear.  The magic genieMom around here was kind of pooped out though, so Therese had to wait an ENTIRE day before her moccasin could get some use!

Anyway!  They were all thrilled to have something to show off to Dad when he got home...  and my fingers will recover eventually.

The Extent to Which Things are Falling Apart Around Here

The fixer-guys have been at it again.  They're back to working on the Honda.  You know the car with the new transmission and a million other things waiting to go wrong on it.  Yeah, that one!

Don't ask me what this is.  I wasn't even at home on the night in question.  (The past week I attended four meetings from Sunday through Thursday night and Tuesday we did our weekly family Mass night....)  Let's just suffice it to say that Jimmy Biz (Tim's band buddy and fav friend) hijacked the camera took these fabulous photos.

Nice shot of the back of Joe's head.

Here's Tim hard at work doing what he always does when there are car repairs to be made.

If our vehicles don't start behaving, we might have to resort to this...

Of course, it would work better if we had a little snow.

Next up!  I want them to fix this...

the switch on the left won't work unless it's EXACTLY in the middle.  Not up, not down, just EXACTLY in the middle.  It's a two-way switch so you'd think that we would just use the one in the kitchen, right?  WRONG!  Tried it. Didn't work. Tried running back and forth across the room switching ON/OFF, ON/OFF.  No go.  Tried having a kiddo stand at each switch and turn them on and off SIMULTANEOUSLY.  Nada. Only this switch works and it has to be EXACTLY in...the...middle. 

Just to let you know how worrisome the situation has become, I'll also tell you that Stephen has been seen with a screwdriver claiming that he is going to fix this hear little problem.  Anyone who knows Stephen, knows that his name should never be mentioned in the same sentence with screwdriver and electricity.  Definitely not the Fixer in the family, need I say more?

A few of my favorite things....

a very little girl, walking, walking, walking all over the house

quick blurry picture

new sippy cups that don't DRIP

this cereal in-stock at ALDI, my littles' love it

a new set of dishes, I guess we got civilized, finally

MICROWAVEABLE  unlike our previous garage sale finds

a husband who's NOT shy about his faith, this appeared in our living room while I was at the Women's Conference last weekend

6 feet tall!

very quick and super fun sewing projects, look Grandma, it's reversible

old family photos

Stephen and Timothy(check out that awesome hair)

 

Happy Anniversary, Grandma and Grandpa!

Uh-oh...who gave that girl chocolate!

We miss you.....XOXOXOXO

Love, Marianna (and the rest of the gang)

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

It's official! A certain 16 year old has been granted full driving privileges by the State of MN.

School Stuff

We always have a big-time lull at this time of year.  Doing "school" becomes pure drudgery.  To combat this, I told the little people I would post some of the projects they have been working on.  I also rearranged our schedule a little and printed To Do lists to keep me on track.  I am a visual person so if it's out of sight, it's as good as forgotten!

Then I bought a new stash of pencils.  Never under estimate the thrill of colorful writing materials.

We are studying Astronomy (note the planet posters in the background, they think it's fun to put each one up as we read about them.  It's really for me though, like I said out of sight is out of mind!)

We are also working our way through a Lewis and Clark unit in history and found lots of interesting reading material at the library.

Although one book is on my yucky list.  Why do they think little kids would care whether Sacagewea had a romantic relationship with Lewis (or was it Clark?  Dang, tells you how much I retained.)

Anyway, caught that one before it was read out loud.

This project was a mobile of animals of the West and they listened to a CD of music from the Early American time period.....pretty sure I heard their brains growing!

Andrew made these men as another part of our history study.  The guy in brown is Daniel Boone and there's a British soldier, can't for the life of me remember what the other two are though.

And, of course there's always time for a good read aloud with an older brother!

What's up with the mittens Dabers?

SNOWBIKING?

It is February and we are seriously desperate for some outdoor activity around here.

Oops, Dabers needs a tissue!

Look at those rosy cheeks.  Gotta love 'em!

Just a stroll down memory lane...

TOP TEN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT STEPHEN!

1.  You have an awesome, quirky sense of humor.

2.  You are big time organized (well, maybe not your bedroom.  Of course, that couldn't be your fault).

3.  You are argumentative (in a good sort of way, you know what you belive and there's no compromise).

4.  Very best buddy to Timothy and worst buddy to Joe (someone's got to keep him on his toes).

5.  You are helpful...would have never written that a couple of years ago, like good wine, you've definately improved with age.

6.  You are a logical, mathematical thinker (I'm only letting you move out after Marianna finishes geometry)!!

7.  You are motivated.  You put your mind to something and it will get done.

8.  You are disciplined (waking up early being the one exception).

9.  You are well-spoken...ha!  Couldn't help throwing that one in after the meeting yesterday;)

(A fellow soccer mom came up and said that my son was very well spoken.  Ahem, are you talking to me?)

10.  You are here...with us...to celebrate your 16th birthday and I am so very happy about that!

Our family wouldn't be the same without you.

Happy Sweet 16!

Love, Mom