Monday, December 23, 2013

Advent 2013

I figured I should get some Advent pictures posted since Christmas Eve is tomorrow!  Here are some highlights:

Dec. 6th- St. Nicholas Day.  Gold coins in the shoes and a new book for each kid.


Close up of the coins w/ St. Nicholas pictures from Shower of Roses.


I bought these cute little Playmobil figures at the last minute when the Catholic Child website had a free shipping day.  They arrived just in time!


They go great with the Playmobil Nativity set I bought on eBay.  This set is retired, and I was excited to find one at a good price that included all the pieces.  I had been searching for a good play set for a few years, and I like this one because the figures move and have lots of little accessories.


There was finally enough snow a few weeks ago for the kids to go out and play.  I put on the snow pants I got for them and they played out there for a few hours!



Lucy watched them play and wished she could join them.  Soon, baby girl.  You gotta start walking first!



She was sick with an ear infection the first part of December.  Neither Alex or Mary have ever had an ear infection, so I wasn't suspecting that when I brought her into urgent care with a 103.5 fever.  The amoxicilin gave her really bad diarrhea, so I tried to make sure she got lots of fluids while she was recovering.


Alex and Mary are glad their baby sister is feeling better.  They have these funny nicknames for her, and lately have been calling her growly or sniffy.  Not sure where they came up with those names, but it is hilarious.  


Dec. 13th- St. Lucy's feast day. We had a traditional braided bread....aka Pilsbury cinnamon rolls :)
 

We decided to focus more on Advent purples and pinks this year with our decorations, and tomorrow we will put lights on the tree and replace the Advent colors with bright Christmas colors and decorations. We will then leave them up through either the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord or the Presentation of the Lord on Feb. 2nd.  I don't know if I can wait until February though, especially with a little one who has already pulled the tree down on top of herself!





Our Jesse tree....this year I laminated the ornaments, so hopefully they will last awhile!


We started a new tradition this year of reading a story together every night after we do the Jesse tree.  I have heard of some families that wrap the books, so the kids can open one each night, but I wasn't that motivated.  I put the following books on hold at the library (if we didn't own them already), and am posting the list here so I can use it next year.  I had planned to do one each night of Advent, but the library canceled some of my holds, and some nights we just did not get to it, so here are the books we actually read:

1. Mortimer's Christmas Manger
2. Legend of the Poinsettia
3. Hans Brinker
4. The Christmas Candle
5. Strega Nona's Gift
6. A crippled lamb
7. Room for a Little One
8. The Friendly Beasts
9. Cobweb Christmas
10. The Christmas Miracle of Joanthan Toomey
11. Great Joy
12. The Legend of St. Nicholas
13. A Donkey's Dream
14. An Orange for Frankie
15. The Last Straw
16. Bright Christmas, An Angel Remembers
17. The Legend of the Candy Cane
18. The Three Gifts of Christmas

I didn't do Christmas cards this year, but here is the pic we would have used :)  Merry Christmas from the Lynch family!  May the birth of our Lord bring joy and peace to your heart.





Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Thanksgiving/ Lucy's 1st Birthday

Pumkin streusel muffins for Thanksgiving morning :)  I thought the kids would love them, but they still didn't have much of an appetite from the recent stomach bug.  We had planned to go to Mass, but since the kids weren't feeling great, we just stayed home and watched the parade on tv.


Lucy's b-day cake.  I did a fall theme since we celebrated her birthday with the family on Thanksgiving.



I had to snap a pic of Mary with her pigtails, since she never leaves anything in her hair for more than a minute :(




I didn't get any pictures of the food, but it was all delicious.  Here is my almost-1-year-old and I with full tummies and happy faces :)


Present time :)







She didn't eat too much of the cake, but loved exploring it and squishing it between her fingers.





Here she is on her actual birthday.  I say this all the time, but the year has really flown by.  We have had a wonderful year with her, and she makes our hearts so happy with her precious smiles and joyful demeanor.  She is interacting with us more, and loves to clap and play peek-a-boo. She looks at her siblings with awe, and loves to be near them while they are playing.  I am awaiting those precious first steps and first words, and plan to enjoy and savor this special time.


I made cookie sandwiches with homemade vanilla ice cream for her birthday dessert.  Yum!  Happy 1st birthday, my sweet Lulu!



Tuesday, December 10, 2013

November 2013

Here are a few random pics from November.  I'll have more in another post from Thanksgiving and Lucy's 1st b-day.

November was very mild weather-wise, and I was glad for the extra outdoor time for kids.  






We always enjoy having friends over for baby playtime :)



I saw a recipe for Oobleck on Pinterest and it seemed so easy; cornstarch and water are the only ingredients.  It kept these two busy for almost 2 hours!  And it was easy to clean up too.  I am glad I was able to get a lot done during this time, because later in the evening Alex developed a fever.  We all went on to have a stomach bug, and Lucy and I had colds at the same time.  The symptoms in the kids would come and go, and sometimes I wondered if we were dealing with more than one virus.  



Monday, November 18, 2013

All Hallows Eve/ All Saints Day

We had a great time celebrating Halloween!  During the day we watched Halloween shows on Netflix and took advantage of all the yummy food deals (free Jamba Juice, and cheap Chipotle and Sonics) and then headed out for some candy!   The kids loved dressing up, and I am glad I snapped some pictures before going trick-or-treating, because it was a cold night and they were all bundled up. 

Alex was St. George.  I found a knight costume at a resale shop and made his sword and shield from Pinterest pictures.



Mary was St. Elizabeth of Hungary.  I used a little red riding hood costume and added veil, crown and a basket of bread and roses.  I tried to make fake bread from a recipe I found online, but it ended up looking more like a pancake :)


And Lucy was Mother Theresa.  It was such a easy costume; just white fabric and blue painter tape :)






Here they are midway though trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.  


And checking out the loot.  It is a little over two weeks later, and they finished their last piece tonight. I feel kind of guilty because I probably ate almost half of it :(  I have very little impulse control when it comes to candy.  Won't be able to do that when they are older and notice when the best candy is missing!


The next day we had an All Saints party with a few of the homeschool families at our parish.  It was fun to see the different costumes, and the kids enjoyed running around and playing a few games.


Pin the halo on the saint :)




I put together the St. Peter's fishing game.  I labeled fish with the spiritual works of mercy and the corporal works of mercy and the kids had to try to get a match to win a prize.  It was a hit!




This little boy was St. Francis of Assisi, and you can't tell from the picture, but his mom shaved the middle of his head to look like a tonsure.  So cute!