Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year!!!


I thought I could edit this video down to a respectable length, but what can I say?
2009 was simply too good!


I can't get over how much we have all changed over the past year, especially the twins, I had a hard time believing that all of these photos are from 2009. Wow.
I hope that your holiday is safe and warm and that you are nestled in snug with those you love.
2010 has a lot to live up to.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Holiday Cheer


There is so much to catch up on.
I hope that like me, you had a wonderful holiday. I also hope, that like me, you have now had an adequate amount of time to recuperate from your wonderful time. I misplaced my camera's battery charger and didn't get many pictures at all this year. Imagine my surprise when I found it late Christmas eve exactly where it was supposed to be but where I never in a million years imagined it actually was.
Anyways.
Our Holiday was everything you would imagine it should be in a family of ten, and it has left me feeling rather humbled and hollowed. We have so much to be thankful for, and so much to rejoice in, and so much to laugh about and, well, just SO MUCH.

And before this turns into one of those sappy Christmas lectures let me just say that I am completely aware of how incredibly lucky I am and I am thankful everyday for all that I, for all that WE have, and I hope that I will never take it for granted.
The past 6 years have seen me through incredible growth as a woman and a mother and I credit my family for seeing me through this, and I can't wait to see what lies ahead for us. I can only hope that during the next part of our journey together I will continue to grow and learn along the way. There is so much my family has already taught me, but much MUCH more to learn!






There is a great story that accompanies this adorable apple. A few years ago when we were doing some spring cleaning I happened upon this apple toy, it was from Finn, Sidhe and Ruari's toddler hoods, and set it aside in the "give away" pile. As we were hauling stuff out to make a Goodwill run you could hear it chiming away at the bottom of one of the bags (it is a rolly polly sort of toy that makes a very pleasant chiming sound as you push it around the floor) and Brendan was clearly taken aback by the fact that the apple was clearly en route to someone else's home. This was way ahead of the twins and so we didn't have any apple users left in the house at that point, which of course prompted me to scoff at his wince of hesitation (in my ever so graceful "I'm right, you're wrong" eye roll type of way. Which if you must know I have been working on over the years....). So of course the apple went to Goodwill and our house very nearly got clean and close to clutter free that year, and I never really thought about it again. Until we had the twins that is and I began pulling out all sorts of memorabilia from Micah and Maija's younger years. You know, a few cute outfits, some fancy shoes that Maija wore during her first Easter, Micah's favorite rattle, the blanket I absolutely LOVED from his infancy. I had a story for each item and memories to go along with them, and ohhh how I started to miss that apple and to of course realize the extent of my error.
Fast forward to last week when Brendan and I were exploring an antique shop downtown where lo and behold on the top floor, in the less crowded, less poked through section of the shop I stumbled upon the VERY same apple!!! Well, ok, probably not the exact same one, but an exact duplicate!!!! Woohoooooooo. Had I been thinking straight I would have wrapped it up for him, but at the time I was just too excited and couldn't wait to show it to him. So there you have it and we've already decided to stow it away for our future grand kids (gulp).



Friday, December 18, 2009

Crafts


As usual I have a to-do-list a mile long,
and yet for some strange reason my dining room table looks like this:


In case you can't tell, this project is no where near the top of the list, it's on like the 2010 list, not the it's almost Christmas and I have a hundred things to do list.


And yet, here it is splayed out ALL over the place.......


Thanks to Emily for the tutorial on how to design this wonderful craft, although it doesn't appear to be helping me cross anything off the NOW list!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Snow Suits


Our new snowsuits arrived this week just in time for the warm weather! As you can see, the twins were absolutely thrilled about it....


They wound up having a great time, although I still don't think they understand the whole concept of a snowball fight yet, and why should they?



Avocado


Yesterday, December 12th, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, baby Saoirse had her first taste of spoon fed avocado. And as the tradition goes, I took a few pictures of her wearing it all over her pudgy little face.


Saturday, December 12, 2009

Santa


Santa, could you please send me a professional photographer? Because I cannot begin to do THIS family justice! Despite the lovely coordinating wardrobe, despite the location and despite my planning (I've been thinking about this for weeks), I just couldn't seem to get it right. Ugggg.
I am trying to not be too hard on myself, I mean, photographing 8 children is rather tricky after all!





After our photo shoot we went to a pancake breakfast with Santa fundraiser, where Ruari won the cake walk, we decorated cookies, no one won the raffle, Nuala was brave enough to make nice with Mr. Claus and we all regrouped with syrup and sausage.....







Friday, December 11, 2009

Burrito


Some afternoons, after Saoirse has been sleeping for over 2 hours, I can't help but peek in and make sure she's still.......well, still sleeping? Still in her crib? Still in the house? Still there? I mean, of course it's silly and doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, but ask any mom and I bet she'll tell you that she still goes and peeks in on her little one(s) "just to check".


We've recently brought back the swaddle (don't tell my mom, she is against it!) but the quality of sleep is affected by this technique.


I just love peeking at this sleeping burrito.....


Until I accidentally wake her up that is!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Alpaca


There is alpaca in my living room.
I finally did it, I invested in some quality, all natural fiber, beautiful (if not slightly expensive) YARN. I found a friendly shop where the owner was extremely welcoming and helpful and now I don't even know where to start or what to make, but I've got a lot of ideas and certainly enough people to create for, although not a lot of time until Christmas, and I am determined to get it all done. It probably just means that you won't see me as frequently as you might like, but what can I say? There are simply too many projects up in the air right now and I was never good at juggling!



What have you been working on for the holidays? Do you need a little inspiration? Because I have the answers if you do. There is a wonderful little craft tutorial happening this week right HERE and if you venture over and decide to join in, you might even win a prize, so you should definitely check it out.

As for me, well, I am off to play with some yarn. I hope you are all finding time to play with some toys of your own. I know how truly important 'playtime' is.

No Luck

No luck on the snow day, BUT.....
I have been stalking the mailman for the past week or so waiting for a letter to arrive. Back in October Finn applied to a high school here that involved submitting a "portfolio" (you know, his grades from last year, his attendance records, and proof that he had some type of after school involvements/interests) and taking an entrance exam. Now, the night of the testing, I gave him a wonderful pep talk before hand and made sure he knew that the essay portion needed to portray him, to be written in his voice, after all he's an incredibly smart and FUNNY person. "Just be yourself" I said as we parted ways and he was swept up a stairwell with about a billion other hopefuls, while I was left to elbow my way down to the cafeteria and wait it out with about a billion other parents (longest hour of my life).

Apparently the school tested about 1400 students for 385 spots. Now, I know that Finn is super bright and talented and that any school would be lucky to nab him up, but 1100 kids would be getting rejection letters, they ARE in fact getting those letters right about now, and I couldn't help but worry a little that we needed to start thinking about a plan B.

"How was the essay portion?", I asked on the drive home, "what was it about?".

"It was fine, I guess, it asked 'where has reading taken you?' and you only had to write one long, descriptive paragraph".

I allowed myself a big sigh of relief, because I can confidently say without a shadow of doubt that Finn is probably the most well read eighth grader I know, and just as I was starting to perk up a little bit in the driver's seat he interrupted my cozy thoughts with a "but".

"But, I sort of got off topic, like way off topic, while I was writing."

"What do you mean? (nervous pause) Like, how far off topic?"

"Well, I started talking about..........(wait for it).............VIDEO GAMES".

At which point there was a rather lengthy and perhaps uncomfortable silence in the car as I tried to come up with a response. I quickly pulled it together and we joked the rest of the way home about the entire thing, but it definitely added an extra bit of apprehension to the past six week waiting period. Which of course brings me to today. As usual the mailman arrived mid morning and I immediately rushed to the box since I have been expecting a letter from the school for days now, and today it FINALLY came. And what's more, it was an ACCEPTANCE letter!!!!!

I mean, I don't know what you were so worried about, the kid's a genius you know.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Tah Dah

Remember when I recently said that the finishing touch to our holiday decor would be snow????
Well, it's HERE!!!!




The kiddos are all tucked in warm and snug with hopes for a snow day tomorrow and I must admit that the thought of it is making me feel like a kid myself. Just think, we could all be snowed in together! We've got plenty of anything we could possibly want and an abundance of everything we could ever need. I stocked up on yarn today (at an actual yarn store~goodbye acrylic), we made a run to the market, and Brendan hauled in enough fire wood to see us through any storm. Did I mention we have cocoa?
Yes, a snow day sounds divine right about now.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

The Season


Tis The Season (you know).
Last year since we did such a disgraceful job of decorating for the holiday we decided to work overtime this year in an attempt to make up for it. As soon as we packed up our Thanksgiving feast we trudged out to the tree lot and brought home a beautiful Douglas Fir, and ever since then, this is pretty much what our evenings have looked like.....






Oh, and this is why you haven't heard from us in ages and ages. Knitting. This happens to be my first (and quite possibly last) stab at a sweater.




Ruari is obsessed with the countdown and is in charge of changing the number each day.
I for one am SUPER excited about this holiday season and can't wait for the finishing touch to our decor:
SNOW.


Tenth

Well, I've been on a rather long hiatus from this lovely blog world.
Guess what????
The most important event that you missed was the celebration of Miss Ruari's 10th birthday!
That's right, that's what I said, TENTH, an entire DECADE old.
She took it all in stride.......





And what is there to be said about this little one? Where would I even begin, or even know where to stop? She's the guardian angel of this family, always has been, and hopefully always will be. These days we have been calling her the baby whisperer, as she has a natural talent for finding little ways to keep the twins involved in new activities for long stretches of time. Whereas Finn is one for wrestling and riling, and Maija is more of a mothering sort, Ruari has a much more subtle approach to play time and they absolutely adore her.

She still loves school and enjoys challenging herself and pleasing her teachers. At home, she is very interested in kitchen business and I feel we may have one more chef to add to the family. She is still truly thirsty for knowledge, for information. We recently made turkey decorations for Thanksgiving and I asked the kids to think about what they were thankful for and to then write about it on the turkey feathers (a fairly standard and traditional art project for this holiday) and one of the first things Ruari wrote was "education", how awesome is that?