Snapshots: Camping

I'm not exactly the "funnest" mom on the block.  When it comes to special outings and little extras I just don't do very well. I enjoy spending time with the kids, but the days are full of meals, dishes, laundry, schoolwork, diaper changes, and discipline.  Of course, they are also full of cuddles, laughs, funny things the little guys say, and interesting conversations with the older crew.

In an attempt to be fun and spontaneous, I planned a little escapade for last weekend.  Claude was out at a 50K, camping overnight in the little van so as not to miss an early morning start.  I thought, why not take the kids camping while he was away?

Before you start thinking that I'm some kind of super mom, just check out our campsite.

Our very large toy room (soon to be occasional guest room) seemed like the perfect spot for our 9 person tent.  Of course, it had to actually fit.

Which it did.  Perfectly.

We started our campout with a rousing game of Memory.

The kids were bouncing off the walls (literally...if they could defy gravity they would have been up and down and all around the walls and ceiling).  The excitement was extreme, and they didn't even know that we were sleeping in the tent.  They were wired from a day of merely playing in the tent.

I went for easy, camping kind of food - hot dogs and frozen peas (still frozen) served in coffee filters.

*Note: Coffee filters are my new favorite way to serve everything from hot dogs and sandwiches, to popcorn and pickles.  Try them.  They are awesome.  Cheap.  Compact in the trash.  No washing necessary.

Next we enjoyed S'mores, which I made in the oven.  Half a marshmallow, two pieces of chocolate, and a two graham cracker halves.  The kids each had about three, but even with that their sugar intake was significantly less than if we had used full marshmallows and twice as much chocolate.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed them.

Here are a few of the messy faces.

While the older three kiddos watched "Milo and Otis" (which, by the way, scared Abby immensely), I sat upstairs to monitor the little guys.  They did well, but boy did they blow a lot of raspberries before they finally conked out.  My lips were tingly and then numb just listening to them!

And then, before I knew it, everyone was sound asleep.  One was even snoring.  One claimed to have stayed awake the whole night.  :)

And then Rachel woke up three times in the night.

And then she cuddled with me on my mattress and we slept for a while.  And then she woke up, walked all over the tent, and brought things to drop on my head.  And then she toddled down the stairs with me at 5am because I finally caved and decided to give her a bottle of milk.

We slept beautifully after that.  :)

And then the morning came and with it the metldowns and grumpy attitudes I had feared.  Saturday was a bit rough and I was so glad when Claude walked through the door!

We had fun.  Made some memories.  And learned some rules about tent dwelling.  Now that we've had a practice run maybe we'll attempt a "real" camping trip!

Mugshots

Snapshots: Sunny Sunday Afternoon

How do you like to spend Sunday afternoons?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

We had fun ringing in the new year complete with the entire crew eating bowls of cereal at 11:30pm, family Bible time in Daddy and Mommy's bed (yes, we were up until midnight), and a New Year's brunch of chocolate waffles and ice cream (yes, we did feed that to our kids...at 1pm...and no, they didn't eat breakfast before that).  We also had fun catching up with an old friend and making a new friend this afternoon.

Last night, over our midnight snack, I asked the kids what they would always remember from 2012 and here's what they said:

Joshua:
...Watching fireworks.
...Having our last ride on the subway.
...Driving across the Mississippi River.
...Packing to move.

Hannah:
...Playing at the Dietsch's.
...Buying the van.
...Packing everything.  "We had to squish the beds in [the trailer] 'cause they were too big!"

Abby:
..."We watched fireworks in Texas.  Yeah, in Houston in Texas."
I asked her three times, each time she gave this same response.  Apparently last night's fireworks made an impression on her!

Claude and I have a bit better long-term memories, so we'll write another post with our response to "What will you always remember from 2012?".

Looking at these photos I realize that we probably look outrageously happy.  Don't get me wrong, we're happy and blessed.  But let's be realistic...4 kids stayed up past midnight.  You know we had some pretty crazy moments around here today!  Keep reading and you'll hear plenty about the nitty gritty of life with a handful of little blessings.  For now, let's pretend that we never stop smiling.  :)

So, how did you celebrate the new year?  Staying up late?  Going to bed early?  Exceedingly unhealthy brunch food?