Granddaddy and Minnie Mouse Come for Christmas...

Or for New Year's, depending on how you read the calendar.

Either way, their first night in town, we had our (last) family Christmas celebration. Granddaddy, Minnie Mouse and Uncle J met us at the Sheep house for dinner and Bowl Game watching.

There were a couple of boxes of baseball cards that have mysteriously disappeared since they were given to me...I'm still investigating...

Granddaddy helped Little Sheep pass out gifts (he did a wonderful job!) and then we began opening. Our family opens one present at a time, so everyone can enjoy seeing what everyone else received.

I loved all my presents, but have gotten a lot of use out of my heating pad - homemade by Boo and HubbySheep!

The Caterpillars loved their gifts, especially the one where they got an ornament filled with money and were told that if they could get the money out - Minnie Mouse and Granddaddy would take them shopping!

Needless to say - that happened rather quickly. I don't think they were counting on CW's tiny fingers. ;)

My favorite gift that they received were their new sports clothes. B10 is now sporting a festive LSU sweatshirt (even though the one-eyed tiger is a bit disconcerning to me both on his chest and on the middle of the football field). Meanwhile, CW is entertaining the crowds as a Peyton Manning impersonator - and excellent occupation!

CW is trying on Little Sheep's hat, trying to convince him it's not scary! (I kind of like it - he looks like an odd fishy critter!)

Hubby and BooSheep managed to snuggle up under their new blankets and just observe the rest of us.

Dinner was BBQ, complete with baked beans (my favorite BBQ side) and fried chicken fingers. I really loved the evening - and thank the Sheeps so much for letting everyone come over!

~Lone Butterfly )i(

My Silly Second Grader!

That's right! CW is now an official 2nd Grader!

He's finished up his 1st Grade work, and while he will take a quick break when he's off to visit his Dad, he'll return and start up 2nd Grade immediately.

I'm so very proud of my little monkey. :D

~Lone Butterfly )i(

(As a side note - B10 will also be promoting, he'll be in 4th Grade beginning in January. He didn't so much want to pose for pictures - he wanted to play the Wii!)

Christmas with Cookie and Doc

On the evening of B10's birthday we went over to Cookie and Doc's house for hot dogs and hamburgers cooked on the grill. Afterwards, we had our Christmas with them.

The Caterpillars crawled under the tree to collect and pass out the gifts. (Very exciting for CW!)

Then we took turns opening up our presents.

It was rather chilly, so Jezebel (B10's cat) sat next to the heater when she wasn't trying to get into my lap.

In the interest of keeping this a truthful blog - here is a very unflattering picture of me with both Caterpillars cats sitting on me (Jezebel and Solomon).

It was a great night - I received a season of BONES and a bunch of penguin stuff! The Caterpillars also enjoyed their presents, especially CW and his baby aliens (which Cookie found in a gumball machine - and puchased many quarters worth).

Overall, a wonderful evening to end B10's birthday.

~Lone Butterfly )i(

Freaky Felines

First, here is a photo of Bathsheba - notice her happy and satisfied look. People are GONE from her house.

Yet, she still just sits on the bed it our Master Bedroom, the exact same place she sat all last week when the house was full of people...

And here is Solomon. Solomon is suppose to be CW's cat, however, Doc loves him very much and he lives at Mum and Doc's house. For B10's birthday we had corn on the cob.

Solomon loves corn on the cob. He went into the trashcan to retrieve this piece. Then growled at anyone who came near.

See?

Freaky felines!

~Lone Butterfly )i(

Happy Birthday, B10!

B10 turned 9 today! It's always a challenge to do something special so soon after Christmas (and right before New Years - which ends up being another Christmas), but we were up to it!


Mum called me early in the morning and I woke B10 up to get dressed very quietly. Then the three of us went to have a special breakfast at IHOP, where he received his presents from her.



He loved his new Asian Lung Dragon and Dragonopoly game.


He REALLY loved when the waitstaff came after he finished eating to sing him the IHOP Happy Birthday song and bring him ice cream for dessert!



B10's choice for today was to go bowling (much like we did for CW back in February), so Hubby fed CW breakfast and they picked up Doc and headed towards the town where BooSheep lives. That's where the best bowling alley is.


We were the first people to arrive when they opened. Hubby had our gifts for B10, more Legos and a new book he had been hoping for about the mythology of Monsters.

CW was excited about bowling again. Both Caterpillars have talked about wanting to join the Homeschool Bowling League that meets on Mondays during the day, but we haven't been able to work it out yet. Hopefully someday.


BooSheep and Little Sheep dropped by to say Happy Birthday! Little Sheep helped Mum bowl (her score increased when he did!) when it was her turn.



Baby Larva and I bowled together, also.



The Caterpillars tried to bowl with and without the "helper ramp". We didn't have bumper lanes, so there were plenty of gutter balls (from adults as well as kids). At least with the ramp they had the opportunity to aim the ball where they wanted it to go. It's hard to fling the ball when your wrists are so little!


Oddly, CW actually refused to use the ramp about half the time - and did just as well when he didn't. When he did use the ramp, he was constantly making little adjustments to its position to make the ball go where he wanted it.

The whole family enjoyed the bowling and the popcorn/drinks that came with our package.

After bowling, each Caterpillar had a $5 arcade card, then we headed back home to rest for the afternoon. Mum invited us over for dinner - Doc was grilling out for B10's birthday and we had a lovely Cookie Cake to share.

It was a great day, spent with family. We'll hopefully have a joint birthday party for the Caterpillars in January - if Baby Larva can hold off coming - but this was a nice, quiet celebration for us.

I really can't believe my oldest baby is already 9!

~Lone Butterfly )i(

WE ARE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

HUBBY PASSED HIS FINAL CPA EXAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the Second Day of Christmas

My true love gave to me...

A day with my family!

The entire family had to wake up early today. Hubby was driving the Royals to the airport for an early flight, while the Caterpillars and I had to make it to the Specialist office for Baby Larva's weight check.

The great news is that Baby Larva is up to 3 lbs 2 oz, which moves her from the 9th to the 11th percentile. The technician also found that she was still not practice breathing, so I'm following all the same doctor's orders that I was given a few weeks ago. I'll be going back in two weeks for yet another weight check.

Schoolwork was the order of the day for Caterpillars, but they didn't have much to do and finished in pretty good time. After a brief nap (CW has been feeling tired, so many things to do this week!) we headed out to BooSheep's house. She and Little Sheep spent the day at home and it was nice to help her break up the day a bit.

Little Sheep loved showing off his new trains and kitchen to the Caterpillars and they enjoyed just being with him. B10 and Little Sheep played and watched a Joe episode of "Blues Clues", Little Sheep even wanted to sit with Hubby in the chair.

CW brought Cletus over to show BooSheep.

Dinner was drive-through Wendy's brought back to the house, but often the best times are those that have the least planning and stress.

From there, we headed home to play another round of Super Mario Galaxy.

It's been a great week and it's not over yet! Cookie and Doc come home tomorrow (we've missed them so much) and we have another week ahead of us to spend time with my side of the family.

Not to mention I have a Caterpillar birthday coming up!

The fun's not over yet. ;)

~Lone Butterfly )i(

Now This is Christmas!

As happened yesterday, we've been creating traditions as we go along. One that will (I expect) become my favorite is that B10 woke up first this morning (at a very reasonable 7:55 a.m.).

Wanting a bit more sleep and time to get dressed, we informed him that he was responsible for making breakfast.


20 minutes later, Hubby and I sat down with the Caterpillars for a delightful meal. Then we moved into the living room to open our family presents.

Legos were exchanged and both Caterpillars loved their non-Lego gifts. Every time we've been to Barnes and Noble in the last 6 months, B10 has looked at the same book. It's about the history of Monsters and how their mythology has grown through time. The book itself is large and green, with shiny jewels on the cover - not the kind of book we pick up when we go to the store regularly. He was ecstatic when he opened it this morning.

CW, on the other hand, has been fascinated with Cletus on Fox for a couple of years now. Fox has a robot (it looks sort of like a Transformer) that dances and does football moves during commercial breaks when they air a NFL game. His name is Cletus - and CW just loves him. Hubby and I have looked on and off, but never found one that could be bought. Until this year. Please note the progression of joy on CW's face as he realizes what is in the box.





CW is in love.


The Caterpillars picked out a new family Wii game for Hubby. Our entire family enjoys the Nintendo Mario games (we've played the very old ones for the Caterpillars to watch) and so I was really happy when we found this one created especially for the Wii - Super Mario Galaxy.


I also received a bevy of delightful gifts.


A blanket to keep me warm (it matches the master bedroom and the den), the Willow Tree that represents Baby Larva, the Wii game I wished for (Lego Indian Jones) and an exquisite pearl necklace and earring set.

We picked up the wrapping paper trash and let the Caterpillars play for a bit in their room with their Legos. Then it was time to get the house ready for dinner.

Guests began arriving at 3 p.m. - Aunt HappyOne and her family arrived first, which was wonderful, she really helped me finish setting everything out.

We had such a great time. I was surprised by how well 25 people fit into the house (9 of whom were under the age of 8). Next time, we'll need to figure out how to keep the house cooler - the odd December weather seemed to throw everything off. (It's hard for the house to be cool, when it's 65 outside!)


After everyone left, Hubby and I did a quick clean around the house - while the Caterpillars bathed and cleaned up their room. By 8 p.m. we were all sitting in the den, so Hubby could play his new game. We spent almost 3 hours as a family, enjoying our time together, before turning off the game and making mugs of hot chocolate.


Edelweiss made us homemade marshmallows for Christmas, so we topped our drinks with one slowly-melting-cube-o-sugar. The Caterpillars carefully sat around the Christmas Tree and watched it twinkle while we talked about our favorite parts of the week.



A perfect tradition born.


I hope your Christmas was merry and bright. And that the child who was born is a Savior you trust.


~Lone Butterfly )i(