Archive for the category “Holidays”

17 Mar 2011

St. Patrick’s Day

3/16/2011- The Night Before St. Patrick’s Day

We set Leprechaun traps- the kids made them using their blocks, cups, straws & baited them with Rainbow Candy (skittles).

3/17/2011- St. Patrick’s Day

The Leprechauns were Here! They tossed the traps, ate the Rainbow candy & left behind some chocolate coins. (Nathan was *bitterly* disappointed to discover that the gold coins were actually chocolate. He was expecting to find a pile of real gold. Poor guy.) Those tricky leprechauns also made a mess in the kitchen, put chairs up on the table, tossed the living room pillows around. Very naughty.

We invited our neighbors over for a St. Patrick’s Day Dessert party. We had green (vanilla) milkshakes, Leprechaun Juice (milk colored green & brought for the children by one of our neighbors), green cupcakes & a rainbow fruit platter. The white mini marshmallows is a cloud & the bowl of pineapple is the pot of gold. A very fun day!

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22 Feb 2011

Valentine’s Day 2011

2/13/2011- Getting Ready for Valentine’s Day

The kids made lots of Valentine’s to pass out to neighbors & their friends at school.

Savvy, helping me to bake Valentine’s Day cupcakes. Notice the little teddy bear sticking out of the backpocket of her overalls. So Stinkin’ Cute!

Finished cupcakes… with a surprise in them!

Roo loves spaghetti.

2/14/2011- Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s morning….

Everybody gets a small present- Nathan got a little puzzle, Savvy got an ABC set & Mary got a letter writing set.

Our traditional Valentine’s Day doughnuts for breakfast.

The center of their cupcakes- this was surprisingly easy to do!

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30 Dec 2010

Christmas 2010

Christmas Eve- 12/24/2010

Setting out Reindeer Food- a mixture of oatmeal, peanuts, apple slices & cranberries.

Nathan with “his” baby.

Kids opening their Christmas presents from Paw Paw & Mimi (Kip’s Dad & his wife).

Christmas Day- 12/25/2010

Waiting to come down stairs.

Opening their “big” presents from Daddy & Mommy.

Savvy got her long awaited “Jessie” doll.

Nathan has been asking & wishing for a Buzz Lightyear for a year or more now- he was thrilled!

Mary had been wishing & hoping for a doll with “hair you can fix”. She is such a happy & content girl, it’s a pleasure to buy her something that she was hoping for since she so rarely expresses a desire for something.

Happy, sweet Roo on her first Christmas Day!!!

For my own memory: Lyra’s First Christmas presents- A Steiff bunny rabbit, Madame Alexander doll, wooden stacking/nesting bowls, vanilla teethers from Vuilli, stacking/nesting bowls that click together to make different sized balls.

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29 Dec 2010

Christmas Train Ride

12/23/2010- The Polar Express

Back in October we ended up with a little bit of extra money so we bought tickets to ride The Polar Express on December 23rd and got a room at Calhoun House Inn & Suites. We got up early the morning of the 23rd to make the 4 hour ride to Bryson City, NC where the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad is located. After the little girls had a nap we headed into downtown Bryson City. We visited The Story Telling Center of the Southern Appalachians. We learned a little about NC history and enjoyed a story telling session. Tim the story teller also makes wooden toys in a corner of his shop so we enjoyed watching him work and bought one of his autographed tops.

Mary & Nathan with their new friend enjoying the story.

I think Tim the Toymaker and Lyra enjoyed each other.

Every child received an orange from the toy maker.

At the restaurant for dinner. It was fun to see kids all around town, all in their pajamas, ready for the train ride.

What did Nathan want to order for dinner? Salad, of course!

The Polar Express, coming into the Train Depot.

Waiting to get on the train- can you tell they are excited??

I love this picture of Kip & Lyra- so cute!

Kip says that squishing Lyra into these pajamas is like trying to stuff a sausage. LOVE IT!!

The waiters/actors on The Polar Express were SO great- they were really into it- excited, engaging with the kids.

Mary says, “This is the Life!”

The train was decorated with lights, greenery & ornaments.

Each table had a basket with gingerbread cookies, mini muffins and petite fours (this basket has already been dug into by the kids). Also candles & greenery. Everyone got hot chocolate in beautiful, collectible mugs that we got to bring home.

Reading “The Polar Express” storybook.

About 1/2 way into the ride, they turned out all the lights on the train as we went by a lighted Christmas village. The waiters were shouting out- there’s the elves dormitory! That’s the reindeer stable! Santa’s workshop! Toy storage!

Waving to Santa on his sleigh…. Shortly afterward the train stopped to reverse & the waiters told the kids that if they had been good Santa would get on the train to talk to them- every kid on the train was glued to the windows on the way back to see if Santa was still there or if he was on our train.

Caroling while we wait for Santa to get to our train.

SANTA!!!

Every child received a bell from Santa’s sleigh. Here Santa is handing Savannah her bell.

ACK! Mary blinked! Still cute though…

This was such a great trip- wonderful memories were made. I’m so,so,so glad we did this!!!

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06 Dec 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

Tuesday, 11/23/2010- We took the day off from our usual schoolwork today and did some of the fun extras. During their Monday co-op class they made some things for the birds to eat- apples, oranges, cheerios, peanut butter & bird seed, etc. We started the morning off by hanging these on the Japanese Maple in our front yard for the birds Thanksgiving treats. We cozied up in the living room and read a large stack of Thanksgiving books, including Alice Dalgliesh’s “The Thanksgiving Story” (and about 10 others). Afterwards the kids made beaded bracelets that tell the Thanksgiving story. A black bead for the Pilgrims, a White bead for the sails of the Mayflower, 3 blue beads for the long trip over the ocean, 3 white beads to signify the long winter, then a pink bead for the coming of Spring, a tan bead for the arrival of help by the Native Americans and then 4 beads for foods eaten at Thanksgiving dinner- red for cranberries, brown for turkey, orange for pumpkin, yellow for corn. (Mary put hers on a ribbon for a necklace- see in her picture below) Fun Stuff.

Later that evening we made our own Mayflower ships to be used as name cards for Thanksgiving dinner at my Mom’s house the next day. We split Walnuts and filled them with a homemade play-doh that I scented with cinnamon & nutmeg. Then made the sails out of paper and toothpicks. Super easy & fun.

See Roo in the grass? More pics of those tomorrow!

Isn’t he fierce???

Roo in the grass!

Making Mayflower Ships- cracking the walnuts.

Kip playing with the kids- leftovers of our homemade play-doh.

Lyra at my Mom’s house in Blowing Rock- Wednesday, 11/24/2010. HER FIRST THANKSGIVING!

Could she BE any cuter??? I don’t think so!!

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08 Nov 2010

Halloween 2010

Halloween, 2010-

I hate that I’ve been so slow in getting this post & pictures up, but my brother gave me his Mac Laptop! I’ve been spending a few weeks getting used to it & tending to sick kids, so I’ve been a bit behind.

These first pictures are from Saturday, 10/30. Kip & the kids searched the internet for pumpkin carving ideas. Then Kip drew it on the pumpkin and carved it with some “help”. Don’t they look excited? We also roasted the pumpkin seeds and I made Zucchinni Bread. Perfect evening!

Sunday, 10/31- Because she had been sick, Lyra stayed home with a sitter. Mary really wanted to be a “girl from India”. We have a friend who sells vintage Sari’s that are bought in India and shipped here. Another Indian friend gave Mary a pack of her red dots and so she was all set. We had an Elephant costume in Savannah’s size- she was so cute. Best of all was Nathan’s knight costume because he & Kip MADE IT THEMSELVES! We’ve been studying Medieval times for the past 6 or 7 weeks of school- one of our projects was to make a suit of armor. I think Kip & Nathan did a really good job! They made the helmet, shoulder armor, breast & back plate and coat of arms.

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02 May 2010

Easter Pictures

Easter Baskets…

(Lyra is, of course, to young for Easter candy. I knew the kids would want to know why the Easter Bunny didn’t leave her a basket so I put the candy I had for Kip into a basket for Lyra. The kids were happy she had a basket and didn’t mind that Lyra was “sharing” her candy with Daddy.)

Easter, 4/4/2010

Egg hunt in the front yard!

This Easter Basket was my Dad’s basket (Norman Fairchild) when he was a kid. Then I had it as a kid. It was 60 years old and getting to be in pretty bad shape last year so I sent it to a man who repairs wicker. It is good as new and ready to be used by another generation or two. I think it’s neat that Mary is the third generation to have this Easter Basket.

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06 Mar 2010

Valentine’s Day, 2010

Happy Valentine’s Day to my three FAVORITE kids in the whole wide world!

Each of the children got a small heart box of candy (it has 3 little pieces in it), a Reece’s Peanut Butter heart, a 3 Muskateers and a small gift. Mary received her own copy of the movie “Black Beauty”. It’s her favorite movie and she’s always disappointed when it has to be returned to the movie rental place. Nathan got a robot puzzle/game and Savvy got a frog jumping game.

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04 Mar 2010

Growing Doughnuts

We grew some doughnuts for breakfast on the morning of Mary’s birthday!

First we spread “doughnut seeds” onto a pan. (that would be cheerios)

Next we sprinkled “plant food” on the doughnut seeds to help them grow quickly. (powdered sugar)

After 15 minutes in a dark room, look what happened! The doughnut seeds grew into fluffy, white doughnuts! (We swapped the cheerios out with some of those little white Sweet 16 doughnuts while the kids were occupied in another room) The bought it hook, line & sinker. Now they keep asking when we can grow doughnuts again!