Weekend Wrap-up

It's wayyyyy too late to be doing this, but I have to blog about this weekend before tomorrow's entry takes precedence (psst ... tomorrow is Grant's birthday!). 

Saturday was our annual Calvin Family Mother/Daughter Brunch held at Kelly's.  We had a pretty sparse crowd this year, due to illness and busy schedules, but the few of us who did make it had lots of fun and good food!

Florence and Kathryn made the drive from Daleville, Mona and Marla drove up and Jennifer and her kids were also there.  We had chicken noodle soup, homemade bread, taco salad, lime green jello salad, tropical fruit salad, and many desserts. 

Mona, Alix and Courtney spent some time together beading.



Alyssa had just stopped crying because she got an owie.  Beautiful even with her tears.  :-)





Trent, getting cuter by the minute. 

  We spent much time at the table chatting, laughing, and watching the kids and babies.  Later, we sang some hymns, accompanied by Florence, then took pictures. 

Marla and Mona, thick as thieves. 

Happy mothers and daughters (and one unhapy son  :-).

The "mature" bunch. 

Today we went to the graduation open house for a homeschooling friend, Adam.  There were many families from our former church there, so it was good to catch up with them.  It was a blustery afternoon, but the sun was shining and it was warm.  The kids played on the swingsets, and Grant spotted a basketball and goal that he was fascinated by.  I think that's the first time he's ever "shot" a basketball through a hoop (thanks to Daddy's assistance.  ;-)  Poor Trent had the least fun.  After having 2 interrupted naps today, he was shot, so we kept it to a short visit (difficult for me, but possible).  Sophia went with us, so the Orrs stopped by after we got back to pick her up.

We spent the rest of the evening eating dinner, then giving some much-needed attention to our messy house.  We do have a birthday party to prepare for, after all.  ;-)

Keepin' It Real

5:19. Typical school day. Stacks everywhere. Dinner started. Laundry to

be folded. Dirty children. <sigh> This doesn't look like Ann Voskamp's house!! :-D

Hungry Boy?

Last night, Trent, in an act of desperation, begins eating our dining room
table.

A Royal Weekend

This post is outdated, but I am still struggling to find a way to work with Blogger's picture-displaying capabilities. I'll get there ...

What a busy, but fun week and weekend we had! We ended up spending all of Thursday and most of Friday with the Ramseys at Mom & Dad's. The Mozingos, Bruces and Griffins came over on Thursday. Thursday night ended up being a late one, so I wasn't able to get up quite as early as I would have liked on Friday morning. The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was broadcast, starting at 4:00 am. I still remember getting up early to watch Prince Charles & Princess Di's wedding back in 1981, and I didn't want to miss this one either. I woke up around 6:30 and turned on the TV. It was about halfway through the ceremony, so I woke up Rachel, Courtney & Erica. It was amazing how quickly the girls got up, considering how slowly they get up on school mornings. :-) Then I woke Sarah up around 7:00 and Brooke around 7:30. We all agreed it was an absolutely beautiful wedding and a great way to start the day.

The rest of the day was spent getting ready for Mom & Dad's. I made the famous Mocha Layer Cake for the May birthday party, then we headed down. Mick ended up meeting us there later. After such a soggy week, it was nice to see the sun come out late in the day and the kids made the most of it by playing out in the yard most of the evening, while we did adult things, like watch, talk and eat. :-D Here are few pictures taken during the Telephone Game.

Lining up for the start of Red Light Green Light

Aunt Heather gets hugs from Trent. Not to take anything away from Heather, but this is an unusual display of affection from Trent. We think he temporarily thought she was me. :-D

Saturday was another fun day. Our church held a Craft Fair to benefit the OPC church in Japan following their massive earthquake and tsunami back in March. It was a small affair, but still fun. Just being able to spend time with the other sweet families involved made it worthwhile.

How's this for a cutie pie?
The girls made crocheted hats, beaded jewelry, stationery, a chocolate bouquet and potted flowers. Unfortunately, it wasn't very well attended, so we ended up buying quite a bit of each others' things. :-D

On Sunday, we went down to celebrate Mom's birthday. The Orrs were there, too. We had chicken noodle soup, ham and cheese sandwiches, lots of fruit and crackers and some really wonderful chocolate cake Kelly picked up at Costco called "Great American Chocolate Cake" or something like that. Yes, we broke with tradition and bought a cake instead of making one. But the Orrs had just gotten back from their Boston trip the day before, and we had the been at Mom and Dad's on Thursday and Friday and had the Craft Fair on Saturday. The only downside to the weekend is that Trent picked up a nasty cold. It was so bad that the Orrs loaned us their nebulizer and we gave him several breathing treatments over the course of a few days.



How sad is this face??? :-(

Ahhhhh … asleep at last.

Grant, Claire and Sarah ended up getting sick, too, but I think we're all on the mend now. Just in time to head down to Grandma Worley's church tomorrow for Mother's Day. Then, it's back to Mom & Dad's. Here's hoping for some nice weather. It's supposed to be sunny and 74 deg. Most of next week shows at least a chance for rain each day, except Sunday.

Rain, rain, go away!

This radar image, captured a few moments ago from Intellicast.com, pretty much sums it up. We’re drowning! We’ve had a protracted period of rain, rain, rain for the past few … well, days? Weeks? Months? Seems like forever!! Also had a tornado warning for southwestern Boone County for awhile this evening (so glad we’re in NORTHEASTERN Boone County!). Despite all the yellow and orange on the radar, we have mainly just gotten a steady drizzle tonight. At times it has gotten heavy, and we’ve had some rumbles of thunder, but no strong storms … yet.

Looking ahead to happier times tomorrow, when we’re planning to go down to Mom and Dad’s to visit with Minda & Mario and the Ramsey cousins. They have been here since Monday night, but we haven’t been able to see them yet. Wah! On Tuesday a.m., Minda took Jordan to a Med-Check because he had had a fever and sore throat. The diagnosis turned out to be strep throat! They started him on antibiotics right away and he should be past the point of being contagious by now. The girls and I may take some of our craft projects down with us. We are having a craft fair this Saturday at church and have several more things to make. Don’t know if we’ll a) get everything organized and loaded up or b) actually work on those things at Mom and Dad’s if we do manage to get them hauled down there. It’s challenging enough getting all the kids and their gear out the door and in the car.

Hopefully, the 2 youngest Mozingo girls are on the mend. They started out the week with an RSV diagnosis. Poor little Alyssa also has a double ear infection. I’d like to sign up for a plastic bubble to put Trent in until these germs are gone! The Orr family is on the great New England tour. Glenn’s company sent him out to Boston for work, so they decided to make a family vacation. They started out seeing the Niagra Falls at the beginning of the week before they headed to Boston. They are heading back on Friday evening.

It has been nice to have a somewhat “quiet” week after working so much during the past month. I’ve completely lost steam and am hoping I am just recharging my batteries and will be able to jump back into things next week. Seeing some sun would certainly help!

************************************

Today's blessings:

1. A warm, dry house.
2. Healthy kids (despite a few coughs and sneezes – practically inescapable during the winter and spring months).
3. 8 sleeping children! (knocking on wood … quietly).
4. A hardworking husband.
5. High speed Internet.

Grant

This is one of my favorite Grant expressions. :-)

Christmas 2010

Christmas was both beautiful (white!) and memorable. Memorable for the good and the bad! The good was obvious. Everyone enjoyed safe travels to and from Mom & Dad’s on Christmas Eve and Day.

Dad & Trent share a sweet moment

Erica

Luke, Holly, Brooke & Sophia

Dad reads to Grant

On Christmas Eve, everyone but the Mozingos made it to Mom & Dad’s. The Mozingos spend Christmas Eve with Steve’s dad’s side of the family. The rest of us enjoyed pizza and goodies, several games of Family.

Rachel, Minda & Caleb

Sarah, Mom & Trent

Cameron

Monica, Sarah & Rachel during "Family"

Noah and Jordan

and then on to caroling. This year, we made it to all 3 houses we planned on caroling at. First was the Richards (Mom & Dad’s neighbors). When we kids were teenagers, caroling at the Richards’ was one of our yearly traditions. After the Christmas Eve service, we, along with Steve & Mike Mozingo, headed first to the Potts’ (Mike’s future in-laws), then down to the Richards’. The Richards always celebrate Christmas with Kim’s side of the family on Christmas Eve. We caroled there on Christmas Eve for many years, even after we started getting married and starting our families, and Mike’s Christmas Eves took him to his in-laws. For several years, we didn’t make it down for caroling, but this year we were able to do it! It was fun seeing their family, and how they’ve grown.

Then, it was on to the Noots. This is the 2nd year we’ve caroled for the Noots. Their home was also full, with Mrs. Noot’s side of the family. When we came in singing, her niece said “I’ve never been caroled to … ever!” Moments like that make it all worthwhile! We sang several songs, including “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”, which Mrs. Noot requested. I don’t think the kids knew that one, but they looked cute, watermeloning their way through it. ;-)

From there, Mom & Dad and the Ramseys headed back to make it in time for their Christmas Eve service, while we went on to our friends, the Dennys. The Dennys’ Christmas Eve was a little more low-key, with no extended family when we were there. But Terry & her husband Derek are the parents of 8 kids (20-something down to 11), so they’re a party all by themselves. :-)

From there, we made the snowy drive up to church for our candlelight Christmas Eve service. Our ladies’ madrigal group was scheduled to sing “While By My Sheep”, but since we were missing 2 members (and that’s a lot for an 8-member group), Pastor Mark made a last-minute change and asked Rachel, Courtney & Erica to sing their arrangement of “What Child is This.” They were a little nervous at the last-minute request, but of course did beautifully. The kids were pretty wiped out after all that excitement, so we drove home, had a simple dinner of cereal and they went to bed around 9:30. Mick and I stayed up … correction: Mick stayed up, then woke me up around 11:30 to get the gifts ready. About 45 minutes later, we were done and Mick headed upstairs, while I crashed on the couch with Trent. I blinked and woke up around 6:30 or so. Got things ready – even took a shower! – and woke Mick up, who also took a shower (I think that’s a first for us – not showering, mind you … showering before the kids came down to open presents ;-) After the gift unwrapping, we enjoyed a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon, hash brown casserole, Glazed Orange Spice Bread, and fresh strawberries – a real splurge this time of the year, but they were delicious!

This year, we were all at Mom & Dad’s on Christmas Day except Chuck & Monica and the boys, who were with Monica’s parents. Each year, we struggle to come up with a good solution for gift opening. It’s difficult with so many kids, but we figure if Mom & Dad spend so much time carefully picking out gifts for the grandkids, they should be able to enjoy watching them open the gifts. Easier said than done! What we ended up doing was having each family sit on a couch to open their gifts. If there were duplicate gifts, those kids would also come over to the couch. It worked out pretty well, so we may keep that tradition next year.

On Sunday, Mick and I drove back down after church, since the Ramseys weren’t leaving until Monday. It was very relaxing and good to spend the extra time with them.

So, I started this post saying that Christmas was both good< and bad. The bad hasn’t been mentioned yet … but we’re still dealing with it. Yes, everyone, except me and Trent, has come down with a particularly nasty cold. It’s so bad that I think it could be influenza. Lots of hacking, sneezing, runny noses, congestion, high fevers, even Pink Eye for Grant & Claire. Since it started a couple of days after Christmas, we had a very low-key New Year’s Eve and Day. It’s almost a week after it started and we’re still in the midst of this. I haven’t wanted to let anyone hold Trent, to try to protect him from it, so I’ve been pretty busy. Everybody looks and sounds pretty pitiful. I’m hoping they get some relief in the next day or so.

Today, I go back to work for the first time since Trent was born. I’m pretty nervous about it – especially since everyone is sick. Thankfully, Mick is still on vacation today. I have no expectations of being gone all day, just long enough to train the 3 new employees.