* Snow *

Our fresh fall of snow the other day was so neat.  There's such a peace in snow falling and the pure whiteness is refreshing.  And boy do we need a freshness in our house!

Since Thursday, I have been caring for the sick ... in my family!  I am so grateful that we had a healthy Christmas but we got blasted with the flu ever since.  It started with Hadassah and Mike not feeling well.  Mike was in bed miserable.  Achy and sore.  Hadassah didn't feel good too but mostly is was the cold for her that was the bother.  Ashlyn woke up Friday with a fever and not feeling well.  Matthew and I promised each other that night that we would both wake up still healthy!  :)  Well, the cold bug hit Matthew too.  A low fever.  Some more prayers and meds and now it's just a cold for him too.  Everyone but me had some kind of sickness.  I am believing in my good health!  I keep drinking lots of water and chewing on extra vitamin C's!  I believe prayer works too!  My family is finally on their way to good health again!  "Thank You Lord!!!"

Yesterday, we spent the entire day at home.  No church.  No hanging out with friends.  Just us as a family!  The day was fun, even though everyone, but me, kept wiping their noses!  (I disinfected all the door knobs and light switches and this morning put Clorox on the tubs.  The bed sheets keep being refreshed and the pillow cases washed and dried in the dryer!)  We played games.  Rommey O!  "Take One".  Marbles.  We read a bible story together.  We napped.  We ended the day with watching "Open Season" together.

I have been in the house since Thursday with only a minimum of getting out and about.  Today, I need to go get some groceries and get some fresh air!  The snow is still here but very little.  Maybe, Matthew will be able to finish up his snowman?!

Here is Matthew enjoying the snowfall on Saturday.

 Ashlyn says "coffee" a lot.  She says it so cute!  Every time we are sipping on coffee or hot tea or hot chocolate, she thinks its always "coffee".  Yesterday, as we were playing games, she spied the tiny cups in my cupboard.  I got one out for her and filled it up with milk.  "Her coffee"!!!  :)

 "Zoey" is growing and is sooooo cute!  Goodness, I know all puppies are cute but she is realllllly cute!  Just saying!  :)

She's four weeks old already and getting more active.  She can now crawl out of her 'little pool pen' and goes walking all around.  Her tiny legs take her flying all over the house. Way too cute!

She's getting teeth too and now we need to else keep her in her pen pool (which can be a challenge) or keep everything 'chewable' off the floor.  She chewed some of my journal pages yesterday and chewed two holes in Ashlyn's nuk.  (Why do dogs like to chew on nuks?  Carly chewed up and totally destroyed two of Ashlyn's nuk's.  We are down to only one good nuk in the house and I am hoping that soon Ashlyn will be nuk free.  :)  ) 

Here Hadassah and I had fun taking some pictures of Zoey.  Hadassah got new boots for Christmas and we stuck her inside of one.  Adorable.

 Here's why we need to keep things away from Zoey that we don't want chewed up!

Now, I am off to fold more laundry and grab some New Years Eve foods!  Have a terrific, healthy day! 

Longwood Gardens!!!

Last Friday night, we went to Longwood Gardens to see their Christmas light display.  It was Matt and Lena's idea.  They invited us out for Stromboli and then they gave our kids each a gift.  Earlier in the fall, they helped Lena with her leaves and she promised each a gift. 

 

We left at 6:30 PM.  It was so cold and windy but we bundled up good!  We took the wagon along and pulled baby in it!  Lena made some hot chocolate and I made hot tea.  We sipped on the hot drinks as we walked and walked the gardens!

 

Because I always take way too much stuff, I decided to let my good camera in the van and only use my phone.  I regret it.  The pictures just are not anything as nice as the displays actually were.

 

Here's baby ready for the cold ride.  We started with seeing lots of stars in the trees.

 Hadassah liked the lighted trees.  We watched a water fountain display that was really, really cool.

 Enjoying the lights.  Matthew actually tried climbing a tree until we said that he might damage the lights.  :(  We went to the Conservatory Greenhouse and that stole the show!!!  By far!  So many gorgeous flowers and I loved it!  The smell was unreal wonderful and I wished I could bring some of the scents along home!

 We walked into the huge greenhouse and they had hundreds of lilies displayed all about.  All white and it smelled so good!  Huge Christmas trees were filled with hydrangeas.  I am telling you nothing beats seeing this in REAL LIFE!  REAL FLOWERS everywhere!  These are real hydrangeas in the tree!

 They had a huge table set up in red, white and tons of flowers!  Water surrounded it!  There were lots of red berries all around.  Crystals.  Lights.  We stood there in total awe!  This picture just don't at all show the real beauty of it but oh well.  It's what I've got!  There were 30 buffet chairs set up on each side.  It was long and gorgeous.  It reminded me of the feast we will all share in heaven.  Imagining the beauty of heaven and real jewels is beyond my mind!  This was by far my favorite of the night!

 This wreath was filled to the max with real red flowers.  We toured their long stem roses section.

 Hibiscus!  A poinsettia tree!  Yep, all real flowers!  Amazing!

 They had white trees with tons of blue hydrangeas all lined up throughout the path we walked!  Again, so pretty!

The night was fun.  We walked a lot and the kids were ready to be back in the van and heading home.  Mike and I decided that this trip would be worth doing again on a date night.  So romantic and if love flowers ... you must go and see this for yourself! 

Thanks, Matt and Lena for the idea and for going along!  You are special in our lives!

Christmas Memories of 2012

Well, the holiday parties are over for us.  (New Years Eve to look forwards to yet though!!!)  We had such a wonderful time with our families and spending lots of time playing games, eating the best foods in town, and opening gifts.

Christmas Eve/Afternoon - Is there such a title?  For the kids it is!  They were looking so forwards to reading the Christmas Story, opening up their mysteries gifts, and then going down to my parents for the evening!  We started with Ashlyn and she received puzzles and an animal puzzle that makes noises.  Matthew got an iPod, shoes and sandals for Florida!  Hadassah opened up her huge package and was thrilled to have a new zebra print chair!  Then Mike brought in a white desk to go with it for her room.  She was so delighted and it was even more fun knowing that we kept it all a secret and she was really surprised!

For the first time, the kids decided to stuff tiny stockings for each other.  Nail polish and candy were found inside.  I also stuffed bigger stockings for each of them and they got some gloves, gum and baby got a puppy toothbrush cover.  :)

Loves lollipops!

Too tired to keep going!

 We loaded up the van with more gifts and headed down to my parents at 5 PM. It couldn't have been more perfect. As we drove, there was the first fall of snow falling!!! White, beautiful flurries! We listened to one (and only one) favorite Christmas song while we drove. When we pulled into dads driveway, the kids were out of the van as soon as possible. Seriously, we like had to say, "Wait, till we are in park!"

Mom had the dinner table all spread out nice and in Christmas decor! The smell of oyster soup and steamed crab legs soon filled the kitchen air! We ate like kings and queens!

The night was fun and filled with games. (Just wish Tyler would have felt better. He was so sick and laying all night.) The kids stayed overnight while Mike and I and Ashlyn came home to let Ginger out and enjoy our own cozy beds!

Christmas morning came fast and after delivering some small gifts to our neighbors, we went back to dads for a big 10 AM breakfast! We sat and ate and I told Mike that my family beats any other families breakfast. The whole nine yards ... Eggs, French toast casserole, creamed beef, scrapple, mush, bacon, coffee cake, sweet rolls, toast, etc.!!! See ... told you the whole nine yards!

The rest of the day was spent opening gifts, eating snacks and ribs and more crab legs! Games: Panic, Rommey Oh, Haus, Acquire, Scum, etc.. So fun! But not for everyone ... Jody and Tyler were both down all day not feeling well!

Christmas at my parents ...

We really needed this!  :)  Sick people were in the house!

Baby stroller ... boots and duck tape!

New scooter and rip stick!  Jody gave dad a huge york patty!

Matthew said, "Daudy's got a money wreath (from their employees) and now they got a credit card tree!"  :)          Ashlyn trying out her gift from Mommy!

Small gifts for our neighbors ... cappuccino!  Hadassah is receiving a suitcase from Daudy!

Homemade ice cream!!!  The table spread again with food!

 We got back home that night at 11. Everyone was tired and happy for the fun Christmas day! Thanks mom and dad for hosting the crowd! The food was wonderful!!!

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"Second Christmas" came quick too! December 26 - we spent with Mike's family. I went out for a short, cold one mile run while my potatoes were cooking for mashed potatoes. We got to Dad Lapps in time for a delicious noon meal. Ham, mashed potatoes, pineapple filling, real gravy, peas and carrots, rolls with peanut butter spread, salad, ginger ale salad, etc.. So good!

The meal time was loud! We left the kids eat with their cousins, but Mike and I both agreed that the next time we will be sitting closer to them. The noise was too high and that makes for a hectic meal. Mom worked so hard to make everything look nice and taste wonderful and then we arrive and things go crazy! Oh, well. Love the kids!!!

Mom passed papers around for everyone to pick one out. We do this every year and I like it. It gets everyone involved with some kind of chore for clean up. Mike's paper said to entertain the kids in the rec room. I was to dry dishes. With every one's help, the clean up went only 1 hour (well, imagine if just mom and and the ladies did the clean up. That's all we would have gotten done! :) )

We gathered down stairs in a circle and sang carols. We didn't exchange gifts but in stead put funds together for a needy widow in our area. But, of course, Daudy Lapps had something for everyone! Hadassah got a new dress and art supplies! (Her and Jeff love to draw!) Matthew got a new pair of cowboy boots! Ashlyn got a new dress and a doll in a cradle with a blanket with her name embroidered on it! Too cute! She loves it! I got a huge outdoor solar lantern and money. Mike got $ too. Thanks so much mom and dad! Us adults did a 'now you have it now you don't' exchange. Never fails ... when you have seven siblings ... you have seven opinions on how to play the game. We did make it through and had some good laughs!

Settlers and Acquire filled most of the evening hours. The snack and desserts and another bowl of delicious oyster stew was so yummy! Holiday foods are rich and so good! Blessings!!!

Christmas at Dad Lapps ... Mom made snowmen out of rice krispies for all the kids!  Mary Sue's peppermint crackers were good and looked so pretty in her jar!

Hadassah played two songs for Daudy Lapp on her keyboard.  Mike told her she needed to do extra practice and then she would get $5!

Here Ashlyn is playing with her new doll set!  This blanket Mom Lapp made and got her name put on it!

Matthew's new cowboy boots!  Hadassah got a bunch of york patties from Mommy Lapp.  Her favorite candy!!!

Another entrance through our door at 11 PM.  We were tired and ready for another night of rest!

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December 27 = Home!  Cleaning day.  Organizing day.  Putting gifts in their new home day. 

Mike woke up not feeling well.  Flu.  Hadassah also woke up with the same symptoms.  They both were laid up all day.  Jeffrey stayed overnight and I am sure he had the most boring day ever here today.  (Sorry, buddy.  Hadassah just wasn't up to par.)  Matthew spent the night with Jeremy.  We exchanged kids at 4.  It was so sweet when I picked Matthew up.  He had gotten to go to McDonald's and he saved his fries for Ashlyn.  He knows how much she likes them!

The evening was spent doctoring up the sick here at home and playing uno attack and take one with Matthew! 

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Today = Home!!! Again!  Mike is still down with the flu.  Hadassah is feeling a little better!  Praise the Lord for that!  I have the washer working overtime.  The ornaments need to come off the tree and the tree taken out.  It's drying up.  :(

Enjoy the days at home with your kids.  School will start again soon!  "Take One" is something we played this morning and I know it will be a fun winter game for me and the kids!

Be blessed!