A flash of a weekend

Thursday. Technically not part of the weekend but I'll put this here for documentation purposes at least. We're marking this as FAIL #2 on the advent calendar. The item was supposed to be "donating coats to Project Warmth" which technically we did. I picked the boys up from school/daycare and drove down to the dropoff location on Shawnee Mission Parkway. Reid fell asleep first, followed shortly by Ryan. The car was toasty warm and it was a long drive so when we got there I hopped out and dropped off the coats and drove home. The boys slept until we hit our garage. We played Sequence for Kids that night (Thanks Grandma Cella) so they did do something fun but I'm not sure they caught much in the lesson about helping others.

Friday. On Friday night Reid had a hockey practice and a goalie lesson so waiting for him meant that the advent calendar didn't start until 8:00. I did the best quick idea I could come up with and we made 'door hangers for the boys' rooms'. They were actually a big hit and very quick. All of the pieces were foam stickers. I took the backing off of the stickers for Ryan but he put everything on following the pattern that was on the packaging. Reid did his all by himself.

* I love this picture. He was kind of hiding behind his door but also so proud of his door hanger - quite the look on his face!

* And this was Reid's...

Saturday. On Saturday Reid had a boy scout 'Go and See' at the Shawnee Fire Station. Ryan was invited along but decided not to go and stayed home with Ross and I. Once Russ found the station (they gave the wrong address in the e-mail they sent out... nice!) they had a great time. They got to see a lot and Russ said Reid answered all of the safety questions.

* Guess who's kid is screwing off in the picture... Russ' of course!

Saturday night. On Saturday night we were babysitting for our friend's three kids (The Miller's). The Miller's and two other families help us out watching Reid before school in the mornings so we no longer have to do before & after school care. It has worked out fabulously for us and we are so thankful for their friendship. We are trying to come up with ways to pay them back so we offered to babysit for each family at some time so they could take a date night. Russ took their oldest son (Caden) to Reid's hockey game to watch and I stayed home with Finley, Ashtin, Ryan and Ross. The night could not have been any easier! Seriously - why don't we do this more often?? Ryan and Finley played in his room for a LONG time while Ross, Ashtin and I played in the living room. Ryan wasn't whining, Ross wasn't screaming... it was NICE! They all ate really good and then went back to playing. Finley and Ryan went to the basement and played tools and Ross and Ashtin were back in the living room. When Reid and Caden got home from hockey they ate dinner and then really only had about 20 minutes to play together. They played in Reid's room for a while and then I took the Miller's home to get ready for bed. Russ kept our three boys at home and did showers and then the advent calendar. Given the busy day we went for 'ice cream for bedtime snack... with chocolate syrup." I read books to the Miller's and put them in bed and their parents were home about 30 minutes later - it really all went very smoothly... who said 6 kids was hard?

* The kids eating dinner. Ashtin did a really good job sitting at the "big kid" table since Ross had the high chair.

* Yes, Ross ate ALL of this... and then some!

Sunday. We had a big day planned for Sunday (one that included Ross staying home with a babysitter, Ms Taylor Zimmerman). Our mortgage broker had rented out a theater and invited us to see the movie Elf. So, our advent calendar was "Go see Elf and then visit Santa." The boys had never seen the movie before so even though it was a couple of years old it was just the same as going to the theater for them, complete with snacks and popcorn! They both did great during the movie. We went directly from the theater to our neighborhood clubhouse and saw Santa. We only had to wait in line behind one family. Reid went first and spent SEVERAL long minutes carrying on a conversation with Santa. We kept saying that we had to move on as other kids were waiting (only a few) but Santa kept asking him more and more questions - I think the two could have went on all night long! I fully expected Ryan to back down when it was his turn but he hopped right on up there and talked to Santa and answered his questions as well.

* Deep in conversation...

I guess Reid is past the "sit on Santa's lap" as he just stood and talked to him.

Ryan was right on the knee...

He did this a couple of times... stared at Santa and just took it ALL in.

Russ took the boys home and relieved the babysitter while I stayed and volunteered (filled drinks) for an hour. Then I walked home so Russ could get to a hockey game. I gave the boys their bath, read some books and they were OUT! I wasn't far behind them.

16 days until Christmas

WOW, is this month flying by or what? We're on our NINTH night of our Christmas Countdown already. Again (of course), it was a busy night for the McDowell's. I had a late conference call at work so got the boys picked up later than usual. When we got home I had to hurry to get dinner ready so Russ and Reid could head off to hockey practice. We did our calendar when Reid got home. Our activity was to "Make Rice Krispy Treats." The boys did great and they can really "help" more this year than they have before. Reid measured out the four cups of mini marshmallows without any help and I helped Ryan measure out the six cups of Rice Krispies. Reid and I stirred the ingredients on the stove and then both boys helped push the treats into the pan with the wax paper. As soon as we finished cooking we had to go watch Survivor! It was a later than usual night for the boys (9:00) but we're sticking with it!

And of course a few pictures...

I hadn't shown it this year yet... here is our famous calendar that we got two years ago and the boys helped us paint then and we've been using since...

It was Ryan's night to open the door...

And of course they ALWAYS act crazy when they read what's on the paper. This year we have been joking around with Ryan when it comes out. One night we told him that it said "spankings" so last night when he pulled the slip out he yelled "Spankings!"

And here's Reid helping me stir the butter and marshmallows and giving me one of his signature crazy poses. See the scratch under his nose - apparently he took a true nose dive at recess... OUCH!

Getting Closer to Christmas

For weeks now Ryan has been obsessed with the man that stands on the corner holding a sign for the Hot and Ready $5 pizza at Little Caesars. He's upset if the man is gone or if he doesn't see him and he asks tons of questions about the guy. He's been asking if we could get pizza from "the pizza guy" for a while now. So, Monday night's activity was "Pizza from the Pizza Guy." Reid chose to stay home with Russ and Ross and Ryan and I went to pick it up. We drove up and said hi to the guy and took his picture - I'm sure he thought we were a little wierd but that's okay :) We did ask him first and he tried to talk Ryan into getting in the picture with him as well but Ryan was not okay with that. After we said hi to him we went over to Little Caesars and picked up the pizza and breadsticks and it actually wasn't that bad. 3 large pizzas, 2 orders of breadsticks... $20... and my family of SEVEN all ate and we had leftovers!

On Tuesday night Ryan had his last soccer practice. For the second week (out of 8 weeks) he had an absolute fabulous night! There were no tears, whining, special requests, or ANYTHING! We got there and he went out and played and listened ALL NIGHT long. I spent the entire time following Ross around and it was EXHAUSTING! He wanted everything (other kids' water bottles, trash on the floor, another kids snack, etc) and screamed if he didn't get his way so I'd have to pick him up and move him somewhere else. Ryan took each water break and ran back on the field before I even saw him. After the practice they all got medals and he is very proud of his.

When we got home from soccer it was time to do our calendar. Tuesday night's activity was to view the e-mail videos that the boys received from Santa Claus. They were a HUGE hit.

This was Reid's video.

And this was Ryan's video.

I HIGHLY recommend the PNP site to all of my friends with kids!

Weekend of Counting Down

I'm trying to stay caught up with documenting our countdown this year but I'm sure I will slip on the weekends. Finding time to sit down for long enough to put together a thought just doesn't happen during the weekend. I get more time on the computer during my work day. I did stay up Friday night until after midnight watching a movie but I paid dearly for it - I skipped my run Saturday morning (boo).

Friday night I was determine to get a few pics of the boys since I hadn't with our other nights yet. Our activity was to deliver our Christmas plates of cookies to neighbors and then watch "How The Grinch Stole Christmas." Ryan has been very into this book lately so I had picked it up knowing it would be a big hit. After delivering cookies and putting on our pajamas we popped some popcorn and snuggled up to watch the movie. It was actually the perfect length - 26 minutes! Ryan was able to watch the whole movie without getting squirmy and it didn't delay bedtime too much. Reid and I shared some popcorn and snuggled and Dad and Ryan did the same.

Saturday's activity - EPIC FAIL! The idea was that we would go down and eat at Buca Di Beppo and see the plaza lights. As we were driving down I called to see if they took call ahead seating and found out that they were booked the ENTIRE night. They weren't taking any walk ins. Apparently everyone had the same idea as we did because we ended up in a ton of TRAFFIC on the plaza and there were a lot of carriage rides going on. The lights were pretty but the van full of passengers was hungry. We ended up driving south calling and stopping at several restaurants and found nothing with less than a 45 minute wait and by this time it was 7:00. We settled on Culver's. It was nothing special and patience was short. We ate and headed home. Definitely something we will plan better next time. Hockey Ross and Tyler were with us so we're guessing they won't be taking us up on an offer to go out to eat again anytime soon.

Last night (Sunday 12/5) we were ready for something a little more low key. The activity was to read books about Christmas by the fireplace. We picked out six of our winter/holiday/Christmas books and piled up pillows by the fireplace and read them before bed while eating popcorn of course.

The calendar is much harder to manage this year. We have different bedtimes, bedtime routines and activities... but I am determined to see it through - and the boys really do enjoy it. A few things up this week - rice krispy treats, pizza from the pizza guy, shopping for siblings... stay tuned!

Missing husband and other fun stuff

I've been joking about it but I really think I'm going to open a missing person report. Has anyone seen my husband? He's around 5'9", 160 pounds (it's okay to hate him for that), short to no hair... anyway. His dirty clothes are appearing in the house and food is disappearing but he doesn't seem to be around this week. Monday night he had hockey, Tuesday night he had night class, Wednesday he worked until after 7pm, Thursday night he had night class... it's been a busy week!

Our house is a mess of projects right now. We've got two trees up but neither is decorated and we have no outside lights up yet (and this weekend is predicted to be COLD!). Last Sunday I got the idea to REALLY clean the boys' bedrooms and rearrange the furniture since I had gotten them new bookshelves. We got the furniture rearranged, the books sorted to the appropriate child based upon age, etc and the rooms vaccuumed. Then we had to leave to take Courtney to the airport and what I didn't get to were the toys. Ryan has a small pile on the floor of his closet, Ross needs some passed down to him for his new toy holder, and Reid... well his floor is COVERED with toys that need gone through. We could simply pick them up BUT they need sorted, weeded out, passed on - a job only a mom can do - but I can NOT find the time to do it.

So, with a missing husband and a list of projects... what do I do? I decided to add on to my list of projects. I sold our washer/dryer on Craigslist QUICKLY. I am finishing up as much laundry as I can today so they can be picked up tomorrow. The laundry room, half bath and front door are getting painted on Tuesday and then I need to find a new set to be delivered. I need to pick out which set I want, find paint colors... OH MY!

Oh yeah, and the point of this post... we're still doing our Christmas countdown every night. Last night our activity was to "Make Cookies." We made lots and lots of kinds. I think several batches could have spent a few extra minutes in the oven, probably due to the fact that we had several sheets in there at once. We had fun though. I forgot to get any pictures of the boys helping, but here are a couple of pictures of our results.

Countdown to Christmas

For the third year in a row, our family will be doing a countdown to Christmas activity every night. We began last night with "writing letters to Santa." A friend of mine had told me about this cute kit for writing letters that was $1.00 at Michael's so I picked up three of them. Here are the boys' letters:

In case you don't have much practice with first grade spelling and handwriting... This is what Reid's says: I am Reid. Could I have a nerf stampede? Could i have the game Loops, Sorry Revenge? Your friend, Reid.

Hockey, hockey, hockey

There's been a WHOLE lot of hockey going on at our house lately. Floor hockey, knee hockey, hockey games, lessons, practices, etc... There's no escaping it - we are a hockey family. I think Ross has caught on to that quickly too... he now walks around ALL the time carrying a hockey stick. He carries it around, finds a ball, hits the ball and then cracks up laughing. It's really quite funny. I haven't caught a video of him hitting the ball yet but below is one of him just walking around with his stick while Reid was practicing spelling something.

Ryan and dad were partners here...


Reid being silly...






Ross wasn't playing this time - just sitting on the couch, but I liked the pic...



And I took this one of us sitting together... His personality is really coming out and he's such a ham!