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

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 allow my 3 year old to play soccer in the frigid morning air on Saturday. If I had let her play, I’m sure she would NOT have gotten dirty and her adorable pink shirt, jacket, sweats, mittens and hat everything would still be pink.

I, also, did NOT allow my 3 year old to eat hay on a hayride.

It did NOT feel like we were in a blizzard while on said hayride.

My 4 year old loves to have her picture taken. She would NEVER pout because things weren’t going her way.


It did NOT take 2 teachers to pry said 4 year old out of the van in the preschool drop off line this morning. This does NOT, at all, make me feel like a horrible mom deserting my crying little girl. (I’m soooooooooooooooo glad I homeschool after they graduate from preschool. I simply couldn’t do this to her everyday!)

It was NOT 56 degrees in my house when I woke up this morning. We're Clevelanders... we're tough...we don't need stinkin' heat!

On the Adventure Guides Car Scavenger Hunt, I did NOT add a few spontaneous clues so that we would happen to drive by our own home so I could make an emergency potty stop in my own bathroom.

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, along with 2 nurses, hold my 4 year old down, while said nurses administered pain medication following ear surgery.

I did NOT bring my daughter home from her ear surgery and then proceed to take a very looooooong nap with her. Upon waking from the oh-so-delicious nap, I did NOT feel as if I was the one trying to come out of the anesthesia.

I have NOT mastered the fine art of bribery this past week in order to give Sarah ear drops and ointment 3 times a day. This bribery has NOT included dvds, ice cream, donuts, cookies, sleep-overs in mommy’s bed, new shoes, a new purse, trips to Mimi and Papa’s house and trips to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. This most certainly will NOT continue for the next 30 days!

I did NOT log on to my Facebook account to find that I now have literally hundreds of new friends. This would NOT be thanks to my dear husband, who plays a certain game ::coughvampirewarscoughcough:: using my account and needs to build up his clan to become more powerful and advance in the game.

Speaking of Facebook, I do NOT hold conversations with my husband via FB simply because I’m too lazy to walk downstairs.

Sarah Allison Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine

On our bazillion and one trips to the zoo, we have never ventured into the Sarah Allison Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine. This facility provides world-class care for the Zoo's 3,000 animals. I think it will probably be a regular stop from now on. Here, the displays feature hands-on interactives, tools-of-the-trade, and views to surgical suites where you just might be lucky enough to sneak a peak at a treatment procedure in progress! On this particular day we didn't have enough time to borrow an actual vet bag and become veterinarians for a day, but we did explore most of the other activities.

Rachel was busy preparing lunch for a Colobus monkey.

I think Emily may have been preparing her own lunch.

I mean, after all, you do work up an appetite taking care of animals, so if you do happen to get the grumbellies, just grab a snack.
We were able to open the cabinets and drawers (which were covered in plexiglass) to see what supplies and surgical tools were inside, use the scale and blood pressure machine.
This is the exam/operating room for large animals.

Smaller patients are cared for in this room.

Hands-on computers!!! Something the littles don't have much access to at home!

Uuuugh - Let's try not to think about the germs...
The stool was more fun for Emily than the phone because it had wheels... thus, the blurry picture.

We studied real xrays. This bird had swallowed 37 cents. They are quite attracted to shiny objects.

According to Rachel, this poor, unfortunate lemur had broken every bone in his body!

Have I ever mentioned how much fun it is to homeschool?

Sarah's surgery update

Sarah was the very first to bring home the Alphabet Bag in her preschool class. She was assigned a certain letter and had to fill the bag with items beginning with that letter and return it to school to share with her friends. Can you guess what letter she had?

Peek-a-boo! Guess who jumped into the picture! It's really too bad they don't love each other. And look at those gorgeous tans, which will be quickly fading!

Speaking of our little Sarah Bear, she had surgery this week to repair the hole in her eardrum. It was a huge hole - 40% of her eardrum! I guess you could say she had a hole in her head.

The surgery went well. Waking up after surgery, not so well. She wanted everything OFF!!!! The blood pressure cuff on her leg, the pulse oximeter on her toe, the band aid on her ear and the IV in her hand. And there was going to be no discussing it or trying to reason with her. It was all coming OFF and quickly!!!! Like five minutes ago! She was in pain and it took three of us to hold her down and give her the medicine. Poor baby! She didn't understand why we were doing this to her and kept asking WHY?!?!?!?! She even requested a whole new ear, rather loudly -*ahem*. So much for a quiet recovery room.

We have to give her antibiotics once a day, ear drops three times a day and ointment on her ear three times a day, none of which she enjoys. I'm getting lots of practice in the fine art of bribery.

Tonight as I was putting her to bed (in my bed, the result of tonight's ear drops/ointment bribery), she said, "I think my friends at school prayed for me because we always pray for our friends who go to the doctor." She had the sweetest smile on her face as she was thinking about it. In the midst of her discomfort, it was comforting to know her friends were praying for her. A hug from Jesus.