Cousins at last!

There's something special about a cousin.

Especially when you are only two days apart!!

A ready-made friend.

(I tried to get a nice picture of all of them.... really I did. Good luck getting 7 kids 9 and under to sit still and smile on cue - at the same time!)

Feast of Saint Nicholas

How can it already be past the feast of Saint Nicholas?? I am in awe of how fast time passes as I get older and have more children. It really is true what they say about how quickly the littles grow up. My oldest is already nine years old, and becoming a little lady. Here she is holding Samuel for me, while all the siblings gather round and humor me so I can take a photo of all my sweet children.
The kids put their shoes out the night before, and could hardly stand the wait until morning when they could run downstairs to see what Saint Nicholas might have left them in their shoes. They were not dissapointed!! At the peaceful hour of 5am the awoke and waited (patiently) until 6:30: Chocolate coins, holy cards, a rosary ring and a big chocolate St. Nick (gluten free of course). Oh, and they all shared a new veggie tales movie and a book.

(In case you aren't familiar with this feast dat, it's largely a European tradition, where children put out shoes or stockings on the evening before the Feast of Saint Nicholas - december 6th. He is the patron saint of children, and was a well loved bishop in the third century... go to The Saint Nicholas Centre website for stories, history and activities).

After a breakfast of chocolate, we headed off the church for the 2nd sunday of advent, in a big snowstorm, and spent the rest of the day resting, watching new movies and enjoying each other's company. At bedtime, all the kids piled into mommy's bed and I read them one of the many xmas books I have taken out of the library. Good thing I have a kingsized bed!!

A is for Advent...

Advent is upon us already, and we are enjoying the change of our usual school routines. We will spend the next four weeks preparing for baby Jesus to come and getting our homes and hearts ready for the grace-filled Christmas season.

This year, with so many preschoolers in the house, we are doing an Alphabet Advent. There are 26 days of advent, so we are doing one letter a day until christmas. We have made our advent chain as in years past, but this year we have a letter for each day and an associated activity. Thanks to the always inspiring Jennifer at O Night Divine (a fabulous blog for advent/christmas ideas), we were inspired with many crafts, books and activities.

A is for Advent Wreath: light the first candle, Angels: color a picture

B is for Bethlehem, baby, birthday: read the story B is for Bethlehem and make our own nativity picture collage in the style of the illustrator Elisa Klevin.

C is for Cookies (gluten free of course... the recipe is from Carol Fensters 1000 Gluten-Free Recipes) and D is for Decorate. Yummy!!

A smile to cheer your day

Just look at those little cheeks. Isn't that enough to make your day brighter? (and people feel sorry for me, having so many little kids around... if they only knew how sweet they can be).

6 weeks old

Samuel is already 6 weeks old, and he's a cutie pie. He hardly ever cries, is very peaceful, and smiles for his family often. We are all quite smitten with him :-)

The twins especially love their little brother. They are always checking on him, kissing him, rocking him, and wanting to hold him. It's so good for them to be the 'big' ones now. They 'help' with diaper changes, putting him in his carseat and even keeping him happy if he gets fussy. They have tried to play swords with him, but to their dissapointment, he can't hold one yet.

I can only imagine the craziness when Samuel starts running around the house with them in another year. Next xmas will be fun indeed! Four boys under 7 can liven up any house.

And here are all of my wonderful children! Six little blessings.. each on different in their own special way, and I'm so privileged to be their mommy.