Wordless Wednesday

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

The other day I wanted to go take a shower but Steve was busy in the basement. One of the kids suggested, "Why don’t you have dad put the thermometer on so he can listen to what we’re doing?" Umm, do you mean room monitor by chance?
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On a different occasion Sarah noted "Funny things come out of Emily's mouth."

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Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.


This was NOT the year of falling behind in most areas of Christmas celebrations/traditions.

We are NOT in the process of writing the Christmas letter and sending out our cards 3 days after Christmas.

I am NOT one of those parents who not only allow their children to stay up past their bedtime but also take them out late at night. That is why you would NOT have found us visiting Santa Claus at 10:00 pm on the day before Christmas Eve. We certainly did NOT then proceed to the train for a quick ride. Our children are religiously in bed each and every night at 8:00 pm sharp! NO exceptions!

Brusha Brusha

Emily came to me crying the other morning because Daddy had sent her out of the bathroom so he could take a shower. She had been brushing her teeth, for quite awhile, and I guess he assumed she was done. When I asked her what was wrong she said, "I only did the down-lows(bottom teeth). I still needed to do the up-lows (top teeth)."

a Bit of a Blogging Break But now i'm Back!

One of our annual traditions is to attend Country Lights at Lake Farmpark. As we pulled into the farm we saw this beautiful sunset.

Our first stop is always Santa's Workshop where the kids get to choose a wooden toy to build with the elves. With safety goggles in place, they get to hammer, drill and chat with the very friendly elves.

Look at that brave elf holding Sarah's wood while she's armed pounding with a hammer!
Every 20 minutes or so the music gets cranked and all the elves and the kids stand on the tables and dance. Presents are tossed about (Rachel got hit in the head this year) as well as the Grinch (Grouch as Sarah calls him) and it all ends with a huge snowstorm!


After the toys are constructed we move to the painting area of the workshop. All four of the kids really took their painting seriously this year. In fact, we were in there so long we saw the elves do their dance twice.

We can't forget the glitter!

Benjamin's finished toy soldier.

Sarah's finished teddy bear.

Emily's finished penguin.

Rachel's finished angel.

After we completed our toys, we bundled up and went on the horse-drawn wagon ride to see the lights. Many nursery rhymes are represented and it's sweet to hear the kids reciting them as they recognize the displays. The Twelve Days of Christmas are hidden throughout the farm so it's a challenge to find all twelve days. We have yet to find that partridge in a pear tree!

Nothing makes Emily happier than riding on a pony. Of course, once she saw the 'big horsies' she was determined to ride on one of them... maybe someday Em.

Sarah enjoyed her pony ride too, even though she would have rather rode on the tall kids pony that Benjamin and Rachel got to ride on.

Rachel made sure to bundle up (it was coooooooold, like 16 degrees!).

Gotta love the boots!

These horse rides were free, too bad we didn't see them first!

We visited with the other animals: there were several piglets, including an adorable runt, a turkey whom we had a previous encounter with earlier in the fall, bunnies, chickens, sheep, etc. We ended the evening by helping to milk a cow. All six of us had success. I think we might be farmers at heart.

Fun family times

Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.


I did NOT disappoint my older two children by telling them a special guest would be joining us for our trip downtown to see the play Stellaluna, only to reveal two stuffed animal Stellalunas.

On the other hand, the littles were NOT excited, at all, about our special guests!

My children did NOT behave like perfect little theater goers at last week's performance of Stellaluna at the Ohio Theater downtown.

I would NEVER allow my 4 year old to hold the camera in the van and take random pictures just to keep her quiet happy and I certainly would NOT have been, possibly, maybe a teeny bit curious to see what she would photograph.

I'm sure she would NOT have taken pictures of her foot...

or the scarecrow riding in the car seat next to her...

or several shots of her beautiful self, post-party frosting and all.

Sarah's Field Trip

A couple weeks ago I went to the Brecksville Nature Center with Sarah and her preschool class. They learned how to identify different birds such as chickadees, woodpeckers, owls and hawks.

There are several bird feeders outside the big window and we were able to sit very still and watch many different kinds of birds feeding.
We took a short hike where one of the preschoolers spotted a beautiful butterfly on the ground. He was standing pretty close, bent over, watching intently when one of the adults walked by and... you guessed it. CRUNCH. Wow! We certainly weren't expecting that! Surprisingly, he didn't get too upset. Without skipping a beat the teacher scooped up the remains on to a leaf and under her breath said, "Well, at least now they'll get to see one up close!" And that we did! Never mind the gooey stuff coming out of the butterfly.

We learned how the ants live inside the trees and the woodpeckers make holes in the trees while trying to feed on those ants and other insects. Next, along comes the chickadee to live in the hole made by the woodpecker. We were able to spot many holes in the trees as we looked more carefully and we wondered who might use the holes for shelter.

It is indeed a marvelous and amazing circle of life our great God created!

(And, I have no idea whose crying child that is third from the right.)

Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

My husband and I did NOT unsuccessfully attempt to bring the basement couch upstairs to the Family Room.

It's a good thing we had NOT already hauled the current Family Room couch to the curb where we did NOT watch the garbage truck crunch-it-to-bits.

We do NOT currently have a pile of pillows where a couch should/could/would be located in our Family Room.

Our dog did NOT eat the powder at the bottom of the dog food bag for supper because we hadn't made it to Petsmart in a while.

I did NOT get caught skipping several pages while reading Dumbo at bedtime tonight.

Yippee Yi Yay

Last Monday I was privileged to accompany Emily on her very first preschool field trip. She was very excited and for several days prior told anyone who would listen that she was going to the “big farm to see the animals.” We visited Spring Mist Farm in Brunswick and it was a dream come true (she got to ride a pony) and a little disappointing (there were no dragons) all at the same time.

Not only did she get to ride Cinnamon, but she was the very first rider! She was a little unsure when “Uncle Dave and Uncle Norm” plopped her down in the saddle but she quickly recovered and has been wearing her cowgirl boots ever since. Yes, even to bed when I let her.

Uncle Dave also helped her pet the lamb along with many other animals.

Emily helped to feed a bottle to a calf and

Uncle Dave fed a bottle to a 14 month old “Campbell” as Emily called it.

The wagon ride was fun and Emily was sure we were off to see the dragons at long last!

“I think I might see one over there….”

The trip ended with a rice crispy treat.

Oooo la la.... Life is good!

Wordless Wednesday