Workshop time

As part of our Christmas present to the older boys we cleaned out their workshops downstairs and restocked in with an Udoo for Mr. 10 (the Raspberry Pi had an unfortunate mishap) and a new soldering iron with projects for Mr. 8.  Tonight they completed their first joint project - making a LED blink using the Udoo.  Success!

http://youtu.be/mSN2Cb7iDps

Merry Christmas

After a grumpy, cranky Christmas Eve, the older boys decided they needed an early bedtime so they could have their best attitudes for Christmas morning.  The parents were up ridiculously late setting up the Christmas surprise and weren't quite ready for the 6:30am wake-up but a little coffee and we were excited to celebrate.  It was a wonderful morning and everyone was excited to see their very own studio (previously known as the pantry), especially Mr. 2.  We feasted on scrambled eggs and cinnamon rolls, stayed in our pajamas until noon, and enjoyed slowly opening gifts.  Through the wonders of technology we talked to grandparents far away.  And then we enjoyed Christmas dinner with dear friends.  The early morning (and late night) began to catch up with us at the end so we quickly got everyone to bed and the grown-ups enjoyed a little secret Super Mario Galaxy 2 time.   Merry Christmas!

Holiday spirit

What do you get when 14 adults and 20 kids gather in one small house to celebrate friendship and Chistmas?  More fun than you can guess complete with lots of food, two crazy white elephant gift exchanges, and a game of sardines right through the middle of it all.  We wouldn't have it any other way!

Plans change

Friday was another packed day with all the dominoes perfectly lined up - and then they didn't fall quite as we expected.

Becca had taken the day off to enjoy Mr. 4's preschool Christmas pageant and to spend with the boys but had to give a presentation at work so was up bright and early to finish preparing and get in by 7:30.  When she left at 6:45, the boys were all sleeping (except Mr. 2 who is up with the dawn).  Mr. 4 had looked a little glassy-eyed at bedtime but we were hopeful he was just in need of a good night sleep.  Unfortunately he woke feeling a little warm and saying he did not feel good and did not want to go to school.  David texted Becca at work, called the preschool, and gave Mr. 4 ibuprofen.  Unfortunately the cleaners were due to arrive at 8am so the headed out for breakfast at the local diner while the house was cleaned.  During breakfast Mr. 4 started to perk up and was now very sad at the idea that he would miss his program.  Becca made it home from work and we decided to give the program a try - after a call to the preschool to make sure it was okay to bring him in.  Mr. 4 promised to cover all his coughs and since it was such a short time with other kids, they agreed to let him come.  Everyone met back at home to discover the cleaners had not arrived.  No time to spare - we packed up into the van and headed out.

Aunt B had been here with Cousin K for the past 2 weeks and unfortunately her flight was at the same time as Mr. 4's program.  The plan was for David to drop us all off (minus Mr. 2 who has been questionable at sitting still recently) and then run Aunt B and Cousin K to the airport and then try to catch the end of the program.  He dropped us off at the school, Mr. 4 joined his class already lining up, and the older boys and I found seats.  Five minutes later, David shows up with Mr. 2 - turns out the flight was delayed so he came back.  Aunt B decided she'd rather do a bit of Christmas shopping (likely a wise move given a tired Cousin K).  I took Mr. 2 up in the balcony while David took over the camera and we watched Mr. 4 sing and smile and generally have a wonderful time.  We gathered up the crew right after the show and headed home for lunch and naps and a trip to the airport.  

And still no cleaners.  After lunch, David headed to the airport with B and K and then into work.  Becca got Mr. 2 and Mr. 4 down for naps.  Of course the cleaners show up 30 minutes later.  Where to go on a winter day with four kids, two still half-asleep?  Why, CVS of course.  To gather last minute supplies for our homeschool Christmas party (which Becca was in charge of) and to get a snack.  We shopped and then stood outside eating popcorn where the older boys discussed crime - what were the worst crimes they could think of, what is high treason, what does it mean to plead not guilty.

And then it was time to head downtown for the party on the train with all our supplies in tow.  It was a fun night of house building, snowflake making, pizza eating, chatting with friends.  Mr. 4 seemed a bit low key but insisted he felt fine.  We didn't get home until almost 10pm and were so happy to come home to a clean house and no hockey practice in the morning.

Trip to the ER

Mr. 2 made his first trip to the ER after falling into the corner of a bookcase.  He typically moves just a bit faster than advisable as he careens from one thing to another and this time it caught up with him.  It wasn't a deep cut so they were able to glue it up and send us on his way. 

Here he is all patched up.  It's hard to get a picture of a moving target!

"I cooking"

Mr. 2 has not been much of a talker.  Although his receptive language is good, his expressive consisted of about 12 words at age 2.  So we're very excited to hear him say new words.  This weekend he started saying "I draw" as he got out papers and a marker (another lefty in the family).  And "I cooking" which means put something in the microwave.  Sometimes it's his muffin, sometimes a shoe, whatever object he can find.  Then he randomly pushes buttons and sometimes he actually manages to turn it on.

Happy Halloween!

So a funny thing happened last night...

We had plans for some friends to come over and go trick or treating with us and then order pizza.  We have a great neighborhood for trick or treating and love to get together with friends so everyone was excited for Halloween to arrive.  Last night some other friends emailed out to out small group that they would love to get together with some others for trick or treating and was anyone interested.  I emailed back about our great neighborhood and invited them to join us - to the whole group.  So tonight we had an impromptu party with 22 people over for pizza.  There were actually supposed to be 26 but sadly one of the families got stuck in traffic and didn't make it.  It was unexpected but very fun and we were glad they could all make it.

It was fun to see everyone's reaction to trick or treating this year.  Mr. 2 would run wildly down the street and I would try to send him up to a house to get candy and sometimes he would go and sometimes he would just yell no and it was unclear what criteria he was using to decide.  Mr. 4 got a bit tired at the end and I ended up having to bribe him with Skittles to get him home (he kept saying I'm too tired so I would give him a Skittle for extra energy which would get us a few house before he needed another).  Mr. 8 charged ahead of the crowd.  And Mr. 10 would wait and come up after the other kids had started to move on and say "this is hold-up - give me some candy".  Then he would chat a bit and end with "you should have given a trick instead".  The funniest part is that a couple of times he was so into his routine he just walked away without the candy.  One woman kept shaking her head as he walked away saying she had never seen a kid pass up the candy.  For Mr. 10, the performance was worth much more than the candy.

"Raking" leaves

Mr. 8 has been asking if he can help rake these all fall so last Saturday (between hockey practice, flag football, and soccer) we raked leaves together.  Really it was just an excuse to jump in the leaves over and over again but they had a grand time.  After they all jumped through the pile they buried each other in piles of leaves and then buried kids under piles of leaves in the wagon.  Their grand plan of jumping out and surprising someone walking by never actually worked out because of the need for a bit more patient waiting than they wanted to put in.  Fall in New England is really the best season there is!