#2 had a play date last week and all the kids made these mini houses. I also made little boxes out of patterned paper so the kids could transport them home. (Instructions for the boxes can be found here.)
We used graham crackers, royal icing, and various toppings like marshmallows, gumdrops, skittles, and sprinkles.
I assembled the houses first and let the icing harden so the house was stable enough for them when they started to decorate it. They each got a ziploc bag of icing and went crazy.
The kids shoved some candy and marshmallows inside so when they broke the houses open, there would be a special surprise inside. (#2’s idea.)
(Word of caution: It’s never a good idea to make these right before dinner.)
Ever-Patient and I frequently get asked: “How do you do it?”
“It” meaning: having 5 kids, me staying home, him being able to pick up and drop of the kids, us remaining calm (95% of the time) and do everything we were meant to do while living in 1100 square feet of space.
This quote explains “it” all:
You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage — pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically — to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside.
(This post is over two weeks late…but gimme a break…I just conquered an Everest-size mountain of laundry…clean underwear trumps a one-month celebration any time.)
To #5:
Happy One Month Birthday!
November 22, 2009
It has been a whirlwind of a month.
It was full of:
sleepless nights
moments of disbelief that we have a son
moments of disbelief that we have 5 children
hugs and kisses and more kisses from your big sisters
poking and prodding from you big sisters
getting to know each other sessions (you like to eat, i like to sleep…we’re still having trouble reconciling those two things)
baby grunts and coos and other noises I’d love to record and save forever
yummy smells that I’d love to bottle and save forever
not so yummy smells
meals generously donated by family members (thanks Mom, Pop, Ever-Patient’s parents, and my cousin Francis)
attempts to scrapbook (I especially enjoyed trying to do it with friends – thanks Shanley and the girls!)
documenting via this blog and through taking photos when I can
tantrums and anti-sleep protests from your big sis – #4
adjusting to being a single mom on Tuesday and Thursday nights
your attendance at various volleyball events including your first varsity game and #1’s tournament
memory loss
arguments over who gets to hold you (although the novelty is starting to wear off now – “He’s heavy! Mom, can you take him back?”)
lots of pajama days
little smiles in your sleep
mommy yelling, “He got me again! Crap!” at diaper changes
debates over who you look like
many well wishes as well as concerned phone calls, emails, and text messages
staring contests between you and your sisters (you’re still the undefeated champion)
You were 7lbs 10 oz at birth and you now weigh in at 10lbs 8oz. Crazy. Time is moving too fast again. You are already outgrowing your newborn sleepers and diapers. You have a belly and a double chin and meaty thighs. You can hold your head up when you’re on your tummy. You eat every two hours, sometimes eating so fast you’re gulping as if I’ll run out of milk. When you eat, you have to hold my finger. You sleep best curled up in my arms (or daddy’s – but he isn’t as soft as I am). You are no longer hysterical at diaper changes. We know you are in a deep sleep when your mouth hangs open. You like Top 40 songs, and unfortunately your favourite songs are by Pit Bull much to the dismay of your mom and dad so to calm you, we hear #3 chanting, “I know you want meeeee…” You are sometimes so frightened of the sound of your belches that you jump.
Although it is has been wonderfully strange having another man in the house, we all can’t imagine how we lived without you. I remember when you were a fleeting thought (or more like a silent prayer for your dad) when we contemplated having a 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th child, “What if this was a boy?” Now you’re finally here. You have no idea how much you were meant to exist as a part of our family, how the stars were miraculously aligned to allow for you to be. After your fourth sister was born, I thought I was as happy as I could ever be – complete with my 4 girls. But now as I see your sisters surround you with love, making promises (and wild threats) to hurt any girl that would hurt you; and watching your father hold you tight and whisper, “my son, my son, my son” over and over again, I keep watch over you as you sleep and inhale each of your exhaled breaths and I literally feel my heart expanding inside my chest.
It’s unbelievable and almost too good to be true that I am this happy.
Not only does this force you to clean your house, decorate it early enough to truly enjoy the festive season, and give you permission to indulge in egg nog, you are able to welcome the colder weather with the ones you love/like/tolerate.
This past weekend we hosted our annual holiday party for my cousins and their families. (It’s a precursor for our larger family party on Christmas Eve.) Pot luck and poker is always the theme and this year, there were also hilarious rounds of broken telephone and one cousin brought back a favourite childhood event: “The Funny Game” (Thanks for the chicken wing and egg roll, Marv!). There really is nothing like sitting around a large table, eating samosas, chinese food, pasta, Hamilton cupcakes and catching up with family. We all lead such busy lives that some of us really only get to see each other a couple of times a year.
Ever-Patient and I started this tradition a few years ago when there was drama in our family and some of my beloved cousins were not going to show up for the larger party on Christmas Eve, but now it’s just become a tradition that my kids really look forward to…although #3 desperately wants it to become a DANCE PARTY…
I must admit that we make the effort to host for purely selfish reasons. I have 5 children and it’s important for us to keep them close to their cousins and aunts and uncles. I’m a pragmatic person (although Ever-Patient calls me morbid). I don’t take any day for granted that I have with my kids. It gives me great comfort to know that they will have such a tremendous support system should anything happen to me or my husband. I know they will be loved and taken care of.
This time of year is the perfect excuse to just get together with people. People you haven’t seen in forever. People you see often. People who you’ve been mildly acquainted with like the neighbours two doors down. People you love/like/tolerate.
Before winter arrives along with the hibernation and laziness, get out of your comfort zone. Host a tea party, a cookie swap, a pot luck, a secret santa gift exchange, a play date, a cocktail party, a formal dinner, a brunch, or just invite a friend over for coffee. And the most important thing? Enjoy the little moments and don’t get caught up in your own expectations of being the perfect host.
(No photos of the holiday party this year…having too much fun and totally forgot to whip the camera out…so if any of my cousins are reading this and took some pics, please send!)
Yesterday the kids wrote their letters to the big man. (Actually, #3 and #4 drew pictures of what they wanted and #1 and #2 wrote their letters.) I gave them each 3.5″ x 3.75″ squares of paper to draw/write on. After they were finished, I collected them and made this matchbook type folder to keep them all in to send:
the outside.
Here’s the inside:
first page...sorry - a little blurry.
#4's letter. (a princess dress)
#3's letter. (A red toboggan.)
#3: “I want a red toboggan to bring to the Bahamas.”
Ever-Patient and I look at each other puzzled.
He says to me: “Do you want to take this one or shall I?”
Me to #3: “But there isn’t any snow in the Bahamas.”
#3: “I know that.”
Me: “You know toboggans are to be used on snow, right?”
I will enjoy the season. I will smile daily. I will not stress over family dramas. I will believe in magic. I will give until it hurts. I will listen more. I will have a sugar cookie and a cup of hot cocoa whenever I get anxious or hyper. I will be open to the spirit of the holidays.
This is my “Holiday Manifesto.”
I wrote this last year and created a scrapbooking layout to remind me. I mounted it on a canvas and date stamped it: Dec 1 2008. This year I decided to pull it out again as I went through my shopping list and calendar and started to hyperventilate. I date stamped it: Dec 1 2009 and it is again displayed in my living room as a constant to reminder to just enjoy myself this year:
I should also add: "I will remember to breathe."
For today’s family activity, as per our advent calendar, we cut out paper snowflakes to be hung on the windows:
#3's masterpiece.
our growing pile of snowflakes.
#4 and her cutting fetish...she can sit for hours cutting up paper..and other things.
#2 opening up her little snowflake.
The kids made dozens of snowflakes. Once they figured out how to make the snowflakes have hearts and diamonds and other shapes within them, they couldn’t stop experimenting with the scissors. #2 tried to figure out how to make her snowflake have rounded versus sharp points while #3 and #4 just loved to test their skills in dexterity and coordination with the scissors. #1 eventually joined in the fun and made a couple of them although she preferred making them here. In the end, the girls enjoyed an artificial snow fall as they tossed their pile of paper snowflakes in the air.
While most of you were sound asleep in your cozy beds, Ever-Patient and I took turns holding a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed baby and we finished this:
....our advent calendar.
The kids had stamped the envelopes about a week ago but the envelopes still needed to be stuffed.
Each envelope contains:
...a daily family activity...
...4 little love notes a day...each a different colour for each child...(sorry #5 - you'll be included net year)..
and… 4 Hershey kisses, since it’s not a real advent calendar unless there’s some chocolate!
The daily family activities include:
Drive around the neighbourhood and look at the holiday decorations and decide on the best
Sing Christmas carols
Bake cookies and distribute to neighbours
Donate mittens and other winter wear to a local shelter
Learn to say “I Love You” in 5 different languages
Write Santa letters
Have breakfast for dinner and eat in pajamas
Trim the tree
Call 5 people and tell them you love them and why
Watch Lord of the Rings Trilogy (our little family tradition…the little ones LOVE these movies! Weirdos.)..this lasts for 3 days when the kids begin their holiday
Pray for peace
Go to the library and borrow holiday-related and/or winter books
Make a snow angel OR make hot cocoa (if there is no snow)
Have a snowball fight OR decorate a gingerbread house (if there is no snow)
Each buy a toy for gifts for a family in need
Have a holiday party (Last year, #3 wanted it to say a “holiday dance party”)
Have dinner by candlelight and dress formally
Research how other cultures celebrate the holiday season
Watch the Sound of Music
Take photos with “Mall Santa”
Send holiday cards to 5 people we’ve lost touch with
I will document each day in December with photos and recording the stories behind them (hopefully!). Ever-Patient doesn’t understand why I make “things harder” for myself – and I know this thought was going through his head while I nursed and wrote 96 love notes last night (more like early this morning). But I think when he saw the kids get excited at the sight of the advent envelopes hung over our mantle this morning, and when they couldn’t contain their anticipation over opening the first envelope, he understood the method to my madness. This is our family tradition. This is the stuff that the kids will carry with them forever. I want them to see the holiday season as a time for celebrating us as a family and not just a time for exchanging gifts.
Although they do love eating the chocolate each day, the kids get more excited over the family activity to do together and reading their little note. With each note, they are looking for the one that says: “Mommy time!” or “Daddy Time” which means that day, they will get a block of time with one of us. They are already planning what they will do with us including go for hot cocoa with dad or just read as many books as possible with mom. Truth be told, Ever-Patient and I look forward to these one-on-ones too.
So…with all the stress and drama that I expect to accompany the holidays, I am going to ENJOY the season nonetheless…..and not think about next year when I will have 120 love notes to write…
#3 pretending to be on TV...American Idol to be more specific.
#2 and #3 playing school. (#4 is in there too somewhere...I think they might be sitting on her.)
Now, they're hosting a cooking show on The Food Network. The recipe for the day has something to do with "pasta soup."
They've made me change the channel and now I'm watching American Idol again.
This is a picture capturing #2 and her next idea for the box. "A rocket ship Mom!!!"
Non-stop fun in a cardboard box.
Great fall activity for the kiddies on cold and rainy days. Take a couple of boxes and let their imagination run wild. (Not pictured: two other boxes that they have transformed into cars…but are now contemplating adding them to the box above to make a whole apartment complex because when they grow up, they are all going to live together next door to each other apparently.)
The fun was also in the planning process for them: deciding the purpose of the box, decorating it, and adding other recyclable items like smaller boxes, paper cups, and scrap paper to the inside. This “boxed” fun lasted for hours and they still pull the box out when they’re bored and figure out another use for it like:
a princess castle
a store front
a train
a submarine
a super-duper computer
a camping tent
a robot
This “box” activity is also not limited to children:
This led me to fall activity #10: The Big Purge.
The kids playing with blue bin items for hours led me to wonder if they indeed really needed all the toys that are cluttering our basement. They tended to gravitate to activities they could play together and that ignited some sort of creative spark.
So….
We have donated a huge chunk of their toys that have been sitting in piles in our basement and books that they are not interested in anymore. I’ve realized that my children love playing pretend and creating things so we are now limiting most of their play stuff to fall under the following categories: Dress-Up/Pretend, Kitchen/Food, Arts & Crafts, Family/House, Sports and Board Games. They now choose an activity to do together and run with it on their own. On mornings without #2, the little ones need a push to play together. For example, I’ll set up a grocery store, complete with shopping bags, a cash register, and money. This is usually enough for them to get going. This activity can now morph into bringing the groceries home to cook or set up a restaurant. At this point, they’re in full make-believe mode and I can now tend to the baby, attack my laundry, or eat (OR do all of the above simultaneously).
With the holiday season approaching, we decided that streamlining makes room for all the goodies the kids will be receiving. In one corner of our basement, where a huge pile of miscellaneous toys used to reside, we now have a pile of blankets and pillows and large stuffed toys where the kids build forts, nests, or just cuddle when they watch a DVD together.
Just another way we are making our lives simpler as a family of 7 living in 1100 square feet of space.
we are in full ground assault…two loads left to fold…baby is in full gassy mode and #4 is headed for another crank-fest – it’s like land mines surrounding us…phew…the cavalry is here – #1 has been enlisted…she is taking a load and running…God speed girl. God speed.
