The Absence of Solitude

Wordless Wednesday

Dad's Visit

My Dad came for a quick visit over the weekend to participate in the blessing of Aaron. We were able to do a few other things while he was here, too.

We made our way over to the park full of lilac bushes. The festival is this weekend so we once again avoided the crowds. However, with the insane weather we have had the last month (hot to snow to warm, etc.) many of the bushes have not bloomed, bloomed early and the flowers are past their prime, or the blossoms were killed by freezing temps. We still enjoyed the lilacs though and most especially the fragrance in the air immediately after stepping out of the car.

We were able to have dinner with Matt & Mandy a couple of times. The kids love to visit their home! The guys and Mandy also were able to see The Avengers on Saturday. They all gave it a thumbs up!

And most everyone enjoyed a minor league baseball game. Andy Pettitte is coming out of retirement to pitch for the Yankees again but before he does that, he is pitching a few games in the Yankee farm team which happened to be playing here over the weekend. I think the highlight of game for my kids was Uncle Matt catching a foul ball without a glove.

And of course Dad got in some Aaron time, even while reading his book. Aaron was in his bouncer and was getting fussy so Dad picked him up and Aaron went right to sleep in the crook of his arm. We really loved seeing Dad a.k.a Papa and can't wait to see him again in just a few weeks!

On my own

Allen went out of town for work on Sunday evening. Mom left on Tuesday. And the older two kids are on Spring Break this week. The last two days have been, you could say, a bit of baptism by fire as a mother of five children. Thankfully my brother, Matt, gave me a brief reprieve last night when he came to take the oldest four out to dinner. Whew! It's been a little crazy. I keep singing the "Crazy Train" song in my head. It's a good crazy though, honestly. Aaron is such a good baby; it's really been about keeping Simon and Lauren from biting each others heads off. They are a pair, I tell ya! 

Aaron loves to sleep on his belly. He loved when Nana held him like this and he would quickly fall asleep. 

Nana with FIVE (of her 11) grandchildren!

 

Mom was here for two weeks and it was so wonderful. She helped out tremendously! I am so glad and grateful she was able to come for such an extended stay. It was heart-breaking to watch her walk into the airport. We are counting down the weeks until we get to go to Texas to see everyone. 

Thanks for everything, Mom!

Edible Christmas Trees

I found this idea on pinterest and actually did it! Last Friday for a after school activity we made some yummy edible Christmas trees. It was a sugar cookie frosted with white icing for snow with a sugar cone placed on top for the tree and iced in green and decorated with M&Ms. The kids all LOVED it, especially the eating of the trees!

 

 

 

Thanksgiving

We started the morning off early with the Turkey Trot. Ethan and I met Mandy and Matt there, along with over 4500 other people to take part in this event. It was a cold start but we were all quite warm by the time we were done. 

After we came home, we watched the end of the parade, got ready, gathered a few items we needed for dishes, and wrangled the kiddos we went to spend the afternoon and early evening at Matt and Mandy's home. All of our preparations on Wednesday paid off and dinner was ready in a very timely fashion. Of course we cook and cook and cook but it only takes a short amount of time to eat. It was good though and we enjoyed our feast. 

Here are a few snapshots of the day:

Lauren and Ethan took the legs again. Unfortunately, Lauren could not finish it like in year's past.

 The whole gang at the Thanksgiving table. It was so nice to share the holiday with family especially after it has been just our little family the last couple of years. 

Simon and Jillian were really excited about having soda pop. Simon kept trying to sneak another one and in the picture below, Jillian is pouting because I wouldn't let her have anymore when she was eating pie. 

And speaking of pie...

We all had different requests for pies so we made four! My favorite was the chocolate pecan pie that Mandy made...so yummy!

 

Once again, it was a wonderful day and we enjoyed spending it with family. We truly are so blessed in so many, many ways and for that we are indeed grateful. 

Recap of the past week---The Muppets

I just did not feel like blogging last week but now that I have things I want to remember, I am back this week. Maybe even with a post a day!

Last Wednesday the two little kids had a play-date and then Allen took over while I went to Mandy's house to get started on the Thanksgiving preparations. We made our pies, cheese balls, and got a couple of other things underway so we could have a more stress-free Thursday. After we were done, we met up with the rest of my family and Matt to see The Muppets. People, have you seen this yet? If not, please do. It was so great. I literally smiled from beginning to end (except when I got a little teary when Kermit sang The Rainbow Connection) just like one of the reviews said you would do if you grew up watching The Muppets. My kids have only seen a couple of the movies but still absolutely enjoyed it, even Jillian was rocking out to the songs, shaking her little body and be-boppin' her head. It was the cutest thing ever!

 

 

Mandy snapped this picture of Lauren and Ethan in front of the big movie display outside of the theater.

We all left singing Mahna-Mahna and were still singing it during the Turkey Trot the next morning.

(And yes, I read the Slate article that was on MSN about the origin of the song but it's still catchy and my kids don't need to know about the article.) :)

It was a great way to start our Thanksgiving vacation! We all want to see it again, if that tells you how much we liked it.

 

Wrap up: Part two

We went to Letchworth and hiked around the falls. The kids were also successful in finding a geocache.

 

 

We went to a bounce/fun center where the kids had their first experience rollerskating.

 

 

We went blueberry and cherry picking.

 

 

And we went to the Sacred Grove and had a picnic on the Erie Canal.

 

 

 

 

That is about the end of the trip, I think. It was a busy and fun three weeks. We were all sad to see it come to a close and we started missing everyone the moment they drove away. I have a few (or a lot) more pictures that I think I will save for some Wordless Wednesday posts.

Wrap up

I really need to finish posting about our July fun so I can move on to August. I am just going to do a couple of posts to wrap it up this week. So here are some pictures our adventures:

We went to the zoo

 
and then the kids enjoyed Slurpees.

 

We visited a couple of splash parks.

 

We went to the farmer's market where the kids enjoyed empanadas

 

and Leigh's kids were taught about the pure sugar high of a honey stick.

 

More wrap up tomorrow...

Fun Stuff

Leigh did a post yesterday about some of the fun things we did around the house and I was planning to do the same thing today. So sorry for the repeat but there are some new pictures...

I gathered supplies to keep the kids occupied during the downtime so we wouldn't hear, "I'm bored. What can I do?" I think they enjoyed all but one that was a complete failure and that was homemade harmonicas.

 Marshamallow Structures 

  

Alex did a whole lot of this while the big kids created.  

 

 
Sponge Bombs

 

 
Water Balloons

 

 
 
 
And other ways to cool off, too.

 

 
 
Tie-dye T-shirts 

 

 
 
Marshmallow Poppers

 

And my favorite:

 

 
Lava Bottles

 

We didn't get to all the crafts in the box but it the extras have helped pass the time since they left. We still have three weeks until school starts so I need all the help I can get keeping these kids entertained!

Beach Days

I think the heat followed our Texan family all the way here because we had our hottest temperatures while they were here visiting. We spent a couple of Saturdays at the beach with Matt & Mandy picnicking, swimming, playing in the sand and just having a good time.

  

 
 
 
 
 
 
My children have asked nearly everyday if we can go back to the beach. I think this will become a summer favorite, despite all the sand!