So Not Ready!

Reading blogs, it seems that many have already decorated for Christmas. I am one of THOSE people who refuse to decorate until December! (although I did decorate my blog header already, does that count?) The decorations and Christmas songs start at Halloween in the stores and by December 25th, I am so tired of it. Doesn't that seem too early? It just makes Christmas so over commercialized.

Of course I am also THAT person who still has shopping to do and helps to fill the stores to capacity a few days before Christmas. I have not bought one Christmas present yet! Right now I've been focusing my attention on Andrew's 7th birthday party this weekend but I have that nagging voice in my head (I seem pretty good at ignoring it!) that keeps telling me I'd better get started on the shopping! This year I may try more online shopping since I have lots of access to the internet but my time in stores is very limited.

Sigh... I just wish I was more organized like some of my friends who have it all planned out and are done with their shopping. Another thing I'm slack on (well another thing of many!) is wrapping the gifts! We usually stay up late on Christmas Eve wrapping instead of wrapping as we buy. There is still time, I need to start now!

But there is one thing I must do first... can you guess? Yes that's right, I still need to get Andrew some birthday presents! See? Slack or what? I KNOW!

You Know You Have Been Reading Too Many Blogs When...

...you dream in blog post format. And I'm not even joking!

What's up Doc?

It is has been pretty quiet this week on this here blog! Two of the kids and I have battled a stomach bug. It always amazes me how fast the kids bounce back but when I catch the same thing, I'm bed ridden for two days. Thankfully we are feeling much better and hopefully the last two members of our family will be spared! (and I got to catch up on some sleep, that is never a bad thing) Today is report card day so I'm excited to see how my kiddos have been doing and they are always excited to bring them home (not sure how long that will last!). We still have one more birthday before Christmas. Andrew has his 7th birthday on Nov.30 and he told me he wants to invite this girl from his class because she gets picked on a lot by the boys. He has started playing with her at school too, to cheer her up. Isn't he the sweetest? Andrew has always had a gentle heart but when he was telling me this, it was all I could do to not tear up. I love that he always sticks up for the underdog, even if it means going again the grain. He'll be the first to make you a get better card if you are sick and cry for you if you are hurt. I look forward to celebrating this big birthday with him. He thinks it is a big deal because the earliest age he remembers of his big brother is 7 so he feels like it is really growing up! And so he is.

By The Way...

Jim has some new wooden guys on up for auction on ebay, you can find them here. Happy Remembrance Day, hope you all got a chance to think of our veterans and to pray for those who are still on the battlefield.

Birthday Boy

Well, the Big 10 birthday has come and gone. Here some pictures from the big day I'd like share with you:

Jim made one of his little wooden toys to look like Nathanael. You'll often see Nathanael wearing that striped shirt and you can't see it from this view but he is wearing his backpack too!

Here is a gift from some close family friends. There were at least 4 or 5 of these paint by numbers, should keep him busy!

Nathanael decided to start band this year and is playing trumpet. Grandma and Grandpa were generous enough to buy him the trumpet and he is really enjoying making the sound of a dying goose! (He doesn't start band until Monday so he doesn't know how to hold it yet!)

He is so proud!

Here he is, my handsome 10yr. old. Hard for me to grasp yet but thank you God for giving me this amazing boy to take care of!

HOW CAN IT BE????

How did time go by so fast? I awoke this morning and realized I am now the mother of a 10 year old. Ten? Double digits? What happened to my little baby? Where did those long and hairy legs come from? How did he get so big that he now is as tall as my shoulders? How come he didn't keep his word when he promised me he wouldn't grow up? Am I really old enough to have a 10yr. old? Ten years from today my oldest was born and these are the questions floating around in my head as I try to grasp this milestone birthday. More to post on this tomorrow, after the birthday celebration! HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHANAEL!

WFMW

This week's Works For Me Wednesdays has a theme: Toys Worth Buying. What works for us is homemade toys. My husband is pretty crafty with a wood lathe and paints! My husband kept his old fisher Price play set, do you remember those? He has a bunch of his old Fisher Price Little People too but has been making his own to fit in the set for a while. The kids love to play with it and use their imaginations and they really love the homemade people because they are so customizable. My husband has made one for each of the boys that looks just like them and wearing their favourite clothes. They like that he can make all their favourite characters too. This year whe will make us some Christmas decorations too. Check out some examples he has done on his blog. He is almost done making a handful that he will be putting up on Ebay, so stay tuned for that. If anyone has their old Fisher Price play sets, this is a great gift for your children! If you are handy with a lathe or chisel set, try to make some of your own, you can even let the kids paint them.



Check out more Works For Me Wednesdays over at Rocks in my Dryer for hundreds more Christmas toy ideas!

**Edited to add: Jim now has some up for auction on ebay, you can find them here.

Halloween Costumes and an Unwelcome Surprise!

Here is how my little squirts looked for Halloween:

I didn't spend one dime this year. Joseph was more than willing to use a costume passed down from his brothers. He was the fireman and loved every minute of it. He kept pointing out to everyone how he has smoke (soot) on his face from fighting a fire. Nathanael and Andrew decided to make their own costumes this year. Now I might not get the names right but I think Nathanael is Power-Man and Andrew is Mr.X (both made up of course). They picked out a shirt in the colour they wanted, drew and taped on a logo and then we painted on masks, to protect their identity!

Then on Sunday we got a nasty surprise, well, depending on your view point!

That's right, we got our first snowfall of the season. Nov.1 is too early for me! I know there are others with snow right now like our old home of Dawson City, Yukon but that is expected, I don't want it here!!! I'm sure in the good old days they got several feet of snow in November and maybe even October (you know those type of stories!) but I don't want to see the white stuff before December. Oh well, you've got to roll with the punches, the kids thought it was pretty exciting. I can't really complain, it did all melt the next day when we had a beautiful sunny day. As long as Jack Frost is just visiting and not intending on a long stay, I'm good. It is nice to see some snow on Christmas though, which isn't that far away! EEEK! I'm sure you are all getting ready for Christmas, may even have your shopping done. Not me, I have two more birthdays to get through and then I'll start thinking about it...thinking. That is why I'm usually shopping in mid December when there are far too many people in the malls!

*Edited to note: I was wrong, the snow came on Nov. 2! A few days later it warmed right up to 18 degrees and feels like spring. Crazy weather!