Brothers

After licking the brownie batter from the bowl.


Feeling the love.


The other cutie.

Happy Birthday, Dad

Today is my dad's 61st birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad!

Some Pictures

Popcorn, thrilled with the all-girl party at Chuck-E-Cheese. The place was filled to capacity and had a line waiting to get in. Contrary to the picture, he really did have fun. I was just glad that Jon had the rest of the gang at home.


Here is Sinatra at a birthday party at Celebration Station two days before the Chuck-E-Cheese party. Little guy happily waited for his older siblings as long as he could sit in the car and drive.


The Lincoln Logs from Nana and Grandpa this Christmas have been very well loved. They now make me take pictures of their creations so that their sibiling can wreck them up and use the logs for their own structure. Popcorn's birthday is in another three weeks. We're planning on adding to the supply so that I can stop taking pictures.

Dusting

Today our county schools were closed due to snow. All of you in Pennsylvania and Indiana can have a good laugh over the threat of this massive snow storm. As you can see, you can still glimpse the pavement in spots and the grass was never covered. We were supposed to get up to a whopping two inches, but it has mostly melted away. By tomorrow there will be no evidence left.






It was kind of nice to have our homeschool group cancel today: we got to see the inauguration from home.

The Plea

When we were in Florida a couple of weeks ago we saw this:



I actually deemed it picture worthy--why? It's ridiculous! At least this one was tastefully done: no airbrushed Incredible Hulk or "I eat cars for breakfast" bumper stickers. The big U.S. flag might be a bit much but...Hum, "tasteful monster truck"--it just doesn't add up. Anyway, this particular monster caught the attention of the boys in our van--Popcorn and Sinatra. Sinatra was concerned when he heard that it was a monster, but Popcorn kept going on about how cool it was. Jon egged it on and said that maybe he would trade in his truck for a monster truck like that one.

Weeks later:
Popcorn was lying in bed the other night after prayers and looked sad. "Dad," he pleaded, with a sober face, "I don't want you to trade in the van for a monster truck." Jon could hardly contain himself enough to answer the kid. "Okay, Popcorn. We'll keep the van."

I don't know. Maybe getting five young ones in and out of a monster truck wouldn't be so bad. After all, I like to sit up high when I drive. Maybe they have mini elevators. Tempting.

Hot Wheel

That's what Sinatra called the backhoe that dredged the retention pond behind our house today. The kids had a front row seat from the bottom deck of the tree house.

Christmas Visit

We also took some time to visit with Jon's parents in the Tampa area. His parents had the older kids for the afternoon and Jon and I took the younger ones on a tour of the coast. And when it's 80 and sunny you have to stop by McDonalds for ice cream.


We enjoyed Christmas morning and the traditional biscuits and gravy that we have for Christmas. We gorge ourselves on it and then roll around the house until the evening meal. You just can't eat more than two meals on that day.


Here is Sinatra ripping into a toy. When asked what the little one might want I replied, "anything with wheels." ...and he was occupied the rest of the day.




The cars entertained the little one, but the small pool on the lanai (I have absolutely no idea how to spell that) became the favorite hang out of the older ones. Despite frigid water temperatures, they stayed in for hours.


He never got in, but wanted to take his shirt off like the big boys.

Missing

More Vacation Pictures

Another speedster on the speedway.


When we went to Hollywood studios we were treated to an amazing Christmas light display. At the end of the street, suspended in the air, is an earth made of lights with the writing, "Peace On Earth" with shepherds and wise men on either side and angels all over the sky surrounding it.


But I was shocked to tears when I found this humble scene at the end of the street. Disney said, "Merry Christmas," not "Happy Holidays".


Open wide, Popcorn!


Shakespeare loved the Star Wars ride and the speeder.

Christmas at Disney

We celebrated the week leading up to Christmas at Disney! Thankfully, there was unseasonably warm weather the entire trip, so we got in plenty of swimming and wearing of shorts and sandals!



Sinatra adored the speedway at Magic Kingdom. He drove and smiled the whole time and I had to hold him back from cutting in line on the second and third time I took him. We hung out a lot together because Jon took the others on all the thrill rides. Popcorn just made the cut to get onto the Space Mountain roller coaster and loved every moment. Sintra did get to ride the little roller coaster in Toontown. He called it a train.



Gem spent a chunk of hard-earned money on this little ensemble. She wanted to do it one last time. It got hot and she quickly abandoned the princess dress during our visit to Magic Kingdom, but it was still fun while it lasted.



What would Christmas be without family?! This is Jon's brother's daughter in the pool with Popcorn. We enjoyed visiting with them for four days in Orlando.



The place we stayed had water park water slides. Popcorn wouldn't go down by himself, but was happy to ride on Jon's lap. The odd thing about the pool was that they played Christmas music all the time. It just felt odd to be soaking up the sun and listening to "Walking in a Winter Wonderland".