Not Ready to be Done

Last year was hard for me to blog. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I had in past years. So I took a break...a long break and thought maybe my post form November 2015 would be the end of my blogging adventure. I'd print that book and call it a wrap. But I'm not done. I am missing it. My pictures sit in my computer hard drive begging to be looked at because they know they will never actually get printed (maybe that should have been my new year resolution). I recently sat done with my blog book from 2012 and I love having those memories; not just in pictures but with emotions attached to them. And lately I have started to create blog posts in my head again while driving which means I am not done.

I don't blog because I think our life is anything but ordinary. I don't blog because our life is perfect. I don't blog because every post I write gets a million shares on fb. I most certainly do not blog because my grammar & writing skills are those of someone in the top of the class. I blog because it is therapy for me and also because it will be something to pass onto my kids someday because you can bet there is no more scrapbooking going on around this house. That actually stopped after Drew was born!

So before I can move onto the new posts that have started writing themselves along I-80, I need to catch up with our December 2015 because I have some kids that looked really cute and I need to make sure they get into that blog book. So someday when they are 40 I can prove that we celebrated Christmas when they were 7, 5 & 3.

A 1st Birthday Party
December started off with us celebrating our godson's 1st birthday. Paul and I are finally at the point that we can go to get together's and not constantly have to be watching the kids. We actually get to relax and talk to others while the kids play which is awesome.

Luckily she decided to enjoy the fruit with the serving spoon near the end of the party. 

Can't you just hear her yelling at the boys because it is her bowl?

Apparently she decided to share.

There is always one in every bunch! Trouble maker since before he was born.

And of course it didn't take her long to realize she was missing out. 

Secret Santa's
Some may say Paul and I are the Grinch when it comes to Christmas gifts for our kids but we are totally okay with this. Our kids lack nothing. They have more toys than they ever play with (we have kids who seldom play with toys unless they are outside toys). And Paul and I refuse to buy "things" just because the calendar says December 25th. Each child got one item from us; the big girls each got a swim parka and the remaining kids all got new bike helmets. They then got a shared gift of a battery powered jeep since they constantly fight over our other one. Of course Santa came and you will see what he brought soon but this was it. Nothing more and you know what our kids didn't even notice that mom and dad only got them one thing.

The big girls did ask if we could do secret santa this year after their baby sitter, who also comes from a very large family, mentioned they do it. Paul and I thought it was a great idea and that the kids were at a good age to start it. Each kid drew a name and bought a gift for under $20 for their secret santa. For now Paul and I are buying the gifts but as the kids get older are plan is for them to save up enough to use their own money for this tradition. We all went to the mall and this was the only time Paul & I stepped foot in the mall during the whole month of December! Each kid got their siblings name on a piece of paper and off I went with three kids while Paul walked the mall with the other 4. We then did the grand swap so I could help the remaining 4 with their gifts. We all had a blast, except for Paul dealing with stupid holiday drivers at the mall as he calls them, and I know this is something we will continue. Most amazing part of the whole thing was that no one told anyone what they had bought!

You can see Drew running towards the big girls and Kenzie was also sprinting but Natalie is blocking her. We were gone for a max of 30 minutes but you would have thought it was 3 days by the way they came running!

I think he likes holiday shopping at the mall as much as his dad does.

One Picture December Happenings
This was the first year we took the big kids to see the Nutcracker. They all did really good and probably enjoyed it more than their dad. I think next year he will happily stay home to watch the babies. We concluded the evening by purchasing a nutcracker to always remember our first Nutcracker together.

I waited until the week of Christmas to do holiday baking this year. Ever since I can remember I have started baking in November and continue until Christmas. This year between just not having time and also absolutely no willpower to not put them in my mouth we waited until the very end. I didn't make nearly the variety I usually do but the kids still had fun and we indulged plenty the week of Christmas.

Shortly after Christmas Paul was putting his work notebook away when he found this letter in it. I cried. She is by far my hardest child and it is these moments that I know she loves fiercely.

We purchased the quad stroller when the babies were 6 months old and it changed our life. It meant freedom for the days Paul and I were alone with all 7 kids. We figured out early on how to get out of the house with just one parent and all of our littles. We needed to. Some of it was necessity and some of it was just to keep us sane. The week of New Years we passed our freedom on to another family. It felt great to be moving on from the stroller stage, yet at the same time I couldn't believe my babies were growing up. 

The big kids decided they wanted to try our for our church's Christmas reenactment for the Christmas Eve service. I was more than willing to bring them but never expected all of the kids to be asked to be involved! Not sure what the lady was thinking when she thought it would be a good idea to have four 3 year olds as sheep but in the end they were adorable, mom was sweating and Drew had every one laughing with his "me too, me too" line. I did get extremely nervous as we walked in and Rylan told me his tummy hurt, especially since the day before Drew had been throwing up. Can you just imagine how we would have been remembered in the church?!?

Christmas Eve

A Christmas tradition is having great grandma's coffee cake. It is something the big kids look forward to the minute the box shows up early December. We told Grammie a couple years ago that we had so many kids because we knew the more kids we had the more coffee cake we would possibly receive. Unfortunately all the kids agree with me on which one is the best while Paul gets to enjoy his poppy seed all by himself.

Every year while we are at mass Santa drops off Christmas jammies to wear while we open Christmas presents. For some reason I can still see me being the last one in the car for mass even when my kids are home from college!

Yup, this is what one does when the thought of moving the elf every night makes one want to cry!

This is the first year the babies really understood what was going on. They had so much fun but didn't always understand why they couldn't be next.

After every single gift this kid posed with this cheesy grin and ran to us to say "thank you". Such a goof!

Christmas Day

Too many stocking for a fireplace mantel. Thankfully we have a really long staircase.

Santa must know our family's love for popcorn!!

So glad Aubrey got out her camera otherwise a child could be left wondering if mom ever was around.

The 10 cousins!

Family Time
We had my dad, stepmom, brother and sister up for 5 days after Christmas. The kids love when they come because they all look up to Ella and Conner and have a blast when they are here.

See that bridge in the background? We had to walk across that twice and let me tell you the guardrail is not child safe. My anxiety was so bad when we got to the car. I did not deal well even though we had 3 adults. I recently found out that at one point there wasn't even the unsafe guard there is now. Don't these bridge makers have kids?

Grandpa taking all the kids on a nature walk by himself. I did later find out he made them trespass on someone's yard and Natalie did not find this kind of adventure entertaining at all. Not sure who she takes after but I know exactly the kind of anxiety the poor girl was dealing with at that moment.

The mornings following Christmas were cold. Like frost on the ground cold and these crazy kids still were outside at 7am riding their bikes.

Some how December always goes so quickly even though there is so much we try to fit in. Somethings we had to leave out this year but in its place we added new things. Next year we will adjust once again for the hussle and bussle the holidays bring. Just for one year I would love time to slow way down so we can just stay home and enjoy the time with our kids as babies before they grow up to be big people. The innocence and pure joy of Christmas is the best right now and I will miss it when it is gone. 

And just a real life glimpse of lazy mornings in our house with way too many people and way too small of bed! I can guarantee the other two non-photo takers were on the end of our bed smashing our legs and kneeling on our shins.

Fall Traditions: Orchards & Patches

I am barely going to get this one posted in "fall" even though we visited both the Apple Orchard and the Pumpkin Patch in September and October. I figure by not posting them til after my Christmas pictures are taken I just extend the memories just a little longer.

 

We spend more time eating at the Apple Orchards than anything else but who can pass up warm Apple Cider Donuts? Each Orchard is handpicked based on what treats are served!

Together since Chloe was born 3 months after the girls and the best of friends.

And sometimes life is just too rough.

We have been visiting Bishops and Apple Hill since the big girls were little. Both of these places are fun for both adults and kids. The only sad part is both have become so commercialized over the past 7 years. Paul and I were in sticker shock this year when it cost us $36 for our family to ride the 2 minute train around the pumpkin patch. I understand we are a big family, but seriously it is a ride around pumpkins with a cute little musical tune that is played throughout the cars to make you feel it is so much more. It was pretty easy to limit it to 2 paid activities this year at that price.

All Lesnau activities commence with the use of the van potty.

The girl car

The boy car

We went with our friends and it is so fun when you go places with other large families. To us it is no big deal having 3 parents with 12 kids all under the age of 10 but when I look at pictures I understand why we turn heads.

Love this picture of my Bella. The babies have all started saying each others names in play and Isabella is always Bella. I love it because she has always been Izzie or Isabella to us. 

Thankfully there were many other memories to be made besides the expensive ones; hanging out with friends at both places, lots of yummy apple snacks, family time & the realization that our kids are getting older. There were no strollers this year, no diapers to be changed, no bottles or time outs for nursing and no hurry up to get home for naps. Life is really getting easier when it comes to taking our family of 9 out on adventures. It also amazes me how much my kids remember year after year and this is the exact reason we will continue our Fall Family Traditions. Now if only my kids would forget about that dang Elf on the Shelf that they reminded me will be here in the morning...

Only way to get everyone in was to angle the camera!

My Babies!!

Fall Traditions: Trick or Treat

I am so happy this holiday has left us. It is one the kids love and I despise. Who ever thought it was a good idea to have kids wait all. day. long to be able to put on costumes and knock on doors asking for candy never had kids of their own. Maybe I would enjoy it more if we went trick or treating at 8am so that I wouldn't have to answer 49 times in one day that we would go out after dinner. Yet then I would have to deal with crabby sugar high kids all day so really it is just a holiday that I will continue to find silly.

I love when the calendar turns to October because it means I can decorate for fall. I love all things orange, things that smell like pumpkins and just the warmth that fall decorations bring. This year one of the twins asked if we could put skeletons at the end of the driveway. The other twin was quick to answer with 'no because mom only does cute Halloween decorations not scary.' In years past I have tried to get into the Halloween spirit by coming up with themed costumes for the kids. Last year I probably spent over $200 in completing our Frozen theme. It was fun and they were cute but in the end it rained and the kids spent less than 3 hours in their expensive matching outfits. This year I vowed we were not wasting money on garb for one evening. Instead we rummaged through our dress up box, borrowed from neighbors and only ended up spending $6 on clown hair. No one complained and everyone was excited for their costume. Aubrey even wore a clown outfit that was mine. I was trying to tell her how old it was but I decided saying it was 25 years old made it old enough without stating exactly how old it was!

Aubrey

Kenzie

Bella

Even though I don't get into Halloween the kids had a blast and Paul & I enjoyed hanging out with our friends. Nothing like adding 9 more people into a house who already have 7 of their own. We enjoyed a fast pace meal of pizza and salad and when all the kids started getting to antsy we moved everyone outside to start trick or treating. Not a one complained! The best part of the night was hearing the homeowners responses when they opened their door to 13 kids all under the age of 10. Just when they thought they were done handing out candy Isabella and Tate would make their way to the front for two more cute "Trick or Treat" and "thank yous" which often got said in the wrong order. We knew it was time to call it a night when kids started shedding costumes, buckets got too heavy to hold and kids were tripping on one another.

Natalie

Tate

After candy was checked the babies each got one piece and they were totally content. The big kids got to eat until their tummies were full. I think Drew kept expecting me to tell him to stop so that boy was shoving candy in his mouth as fast as it would go. I don't think he liked the way a Sugar Daddy slowed him down so he did come and give me a partly eaten sucker. It always amazes me how many empty wrappers I find in their still full buckets of candy when the night is over.

Drew

Rylan

This year was the year of mix-matched costumes, Reeses peanut butter cups and day light savings which had my kids up way too early the next morning. Though Halloween is a tradition I could easily do without but I don't think my kids will let us skip this fine day. So until next year we will continue hiding and sneaking this years candy as I decide if Halloween 2016 will be themed or hodgepodge.

The first house the quads ever trick or treated at. They really had no idea what we were doing but after 3 pieces of candy got placed in their bucket it didn't take them long to figure it out. Kenzie was down the drive way in no time heading to our other neighbors. 

Our neighbors who spoil our kids. All of the houses in our neighborhood are on at least 3 acres which means we get no trick or treaters. Our two neighbors had stopped us earlier in the week to let us know a treat would be ready for them!