They have been busy little elves!

Jacob making an ornament all by himself. He did such a good job. He put all that green ribbon in there all by himself. No other colors..Green is it. In Jacob's world there are no other colors.

We also dipped spoons in chocolate and then decorated them. Put them with a hot cocoa packet and it's a yummy treat. The kids had a lot of fun getting messy with food.

Jacob had a hard time with the concept of just dipping the spoon in chocolate. He thought for sure the spoon had to be filled with chocolate and as much candy as possible!

Giselle wanted to get in the action. She had a fun time dipping the spoons...but once the chocolate started flying around the room. She was done...or I should say, I was done!!

Jolie was the HEAD Elf. She was great at helping all the little kids with the spoons and ornaments.

2ND in command Elf Genevieve displaying her ornament she spent much time on. Isn't beautiful?

The finished products. The kids did a great job and I had a lot of fun watching them and helping them. Yummy treats are a lot of fun with a good group of elves!

giveaway!!

This amazing person is doing an amazing giveaway. A NIKON D90. I would LOVE to have this camera! Wish me luck!!!
Her blog is http://www.ohsoposhphotography.com/blog/?p=5458

Jacob's Preschool Christmas Show!

Giselle waiting for big brother Jakey to come out!

Jacob was very excited for Mommy and Daddy and Giselle to come to his Christmas show.

He spotted us and couldn't hold back the excitement. Jingle bells and all. Look at that cute boy!

He talked all about playing the Kazoooo!!! Of course it's green, that is his favorite color. He played Jingle Bells so nicely on it!

Now it's time for him to sit with his class and watch another class perform. Can you believe it? He is sitting still!

Next year Jakey will be up there the whole time like the 4's class he is watching right now!

He did a quick check to make sure Mom and Dad are still there. Yup, they are! Phew!!!

Jacob looking so handsome in front of the Christmas tree at his school.

Daddy and Giselle got a turn with the star of the show. We loved having daddy there.

Mommy couldn't miss out on a chance to take a picture with my big boy. We love you Jacob you did a great job!

nothing like 20 degree day to take a picture!

OK, so it's been on my to do list for months now...FAMILY PICTURE!! It's been following me and haunting me. This past couple months have been so crazy and hectic that it just didn't get done. Then all of a sudden it's the middle of December and uh oh we need to take a pic NOW! So we gather all the white t shirts and clean jeans we can find. Who has time to coordinate multiple colors with multiple children..not me! We found a brave soul to snap a few pictures. It was FREEZING!!! The poor kids were dying. We only got a few pictures because it was just way too cold. This one we did not use in the Christmas card but it made me laugh. Giselle not looking, Brett's eyes closed. Jillian grimacing...just a typical family photo! Hope everyone else got there Christmas photo done..because you don't want to be later than me..than you will be REALLY late! :)

Christkindlmarket!

This past Saturday Brett and I and the kids decided to go on an adventure. We loaded everyone up and headed to the train station. Or where daddy works. Since Jacob thinks Daddy's job is on the train. ( Coolest job ever, according to Jacob). We thought we were taking the 1:55 train but it turned out there was only a 2:55 train so we decided to explore the cute town Hinsdale since we had time to kill. They had a whole village set up with free activities for the kids. This was a house for children to drop their letter in the mail for Santa!

Another little house had Santa in a chair waiting for children to come. There was no wait and the kids were excited to say Hello! They also got a mini candy cane. SCORE!

A really pretty fountain was decorated right in the middle of the village. I felt like we were in one of those small towns you see in movies. I loved it!

Daddy with his super cute crazy kiddos! I love this picture of Brett because it's what he loves. Being with his family!

Next we went to a big white tent that inside was heated and we were able to decorate Gingerbread people. They had candy eyes and sprinkles for everyone. The kids loved it and we loved that it was free!

The last thing we did was take a sleigh ride pulled by horses. Genna in the front asked a million questions to the driver. Luckily he was very nice and answered them all. He told her to come back next Saturday because they will be there again. Once again FREE!!! Woo hoo. My kind of fun time! Giselle is holding her gingerbread cookie..she never did take a bite.

We finally got on the train and it was SUPER packed. The train of course was delayed just our luck. It was delayed because of heavy passenger loading. BUMMER!! So no pictures on the train going down...toooo crowded.

This is the BIG tree in the middle of the German Christmas Market!

We had a lot of fun looking at all the booths and trying many new and different things. Chocolate covered grapes. Caramel pecans. Potato pancakes and Bratwurst. We also got a German fire house village and a Polish Christmas tree ornament.

The market was jam packed with people. We had Giselle in the stroller the whole time and ended up putting Jacob in the stroller too. As you can see he didn't enjoy the stroller. He was crying to get out the WHOLE time and did escape a few times. Brett and I would have loved to stay longer and look at more stuff but it was just too hard with Jacob and Giselle. We decided to head back to the train. We were trying to catch the 5:42 train and we only had a few minutes. I of course was wearing slip on shoes and couldn't run. I decided to take them off and just run in socks. We got to the train station at 5:44...we just missed the train. SOOO bummed. We finally made the 6:40 train and was able to get on pretty early so we could all sit together this time.

On the train we enjoyed some Hot Chocolate that I had made at home before leaving...still hott too! We also brought a bunch of cookies. I wanted to sign Jacob up for a polar express but they were all booked. Many people laughed at me when I called to see if any spots were open. They said they fill up in August. I told them we didn't move here until October. They said, sorry. Call early next year. THANKS! So we did our own polar express. Just as much fun and a whole lot cheaper. Going to Chicago was really neat. We are so lucky to be able to just hop a train and go. Kids are free too...BONUS!!! I want to go to the zoo next because they have a light show there. Maybe this Saturday..we'll see!!!

Cookie Elves!

Holiday baking is one of my favorite parts of the holidays. All the yummy food and sweet smells. Makes the hustle and bustle of the shopping not seem so bad if you have a melt in your mouth cookie waiting for you at home. This year making cookies is double the fun with ALL kinds of helpers. Some are taste testers. Some are quality and quantity control and some are good cheerleaders. All are very important roles. Thank goodness I have so many elves to help this year. I LOVE it!!!

I don't want to be the mean scary psycho mom!

I don't get it. Really, I don't. How is it that EVERY place we move. We have some kind of crazy neighbor. I know kids are kids and they just want to have fun..but seriously people just because I have 5 kids doesn't mean I want your kids ALL day too! I always thought that Iwould be the fun mom. The one that all the kids liked and all wanted to talk to. I know silly, but I really thought that's what I wanted. Boy was I wrong. I just want my kids to have nice friends that have good manners. That don't ring the doorbell 500 times and then sit on your doorstep when you tell them " they will come out and play when they are done with lunch." So they sit on your doorstep and SCREAM..waking Giselle up from her nap of 15 minutes and causing more gray hair to grow on my head. Why don't parents tell their kids..hey maybe they need a few minutes as they JUST got home and probably have to see what their mom needs. Or hey here's a simple one to teach your kids...when they come over to someone's house...PLEASE I beg you don't let them walk in and say...I'm hungry, can I have a snack? Really, you live across the street, you've been here 3 sec. AHHHHHHHH!!!

How do I set limits without being the bad guy? I'm not remotely perfect...sooo far from it but I do think I have pretty great kids. I'm not bias or anything. They have had their not so good moments... a certain child who will remain nameless..since they sometimes read my blog. I made my kids take the day off from the neighbor kids yesterday because I needed a day off..I haven't been feeling well and having 2 extra kids just didn't sound like fun to me..plus they are always coughing and telling me.." I'm sick".

OK, I am just sounding like an awful person now. Hopefully you don't think i'm a terrible person now but I just had to vent.

Thanksgiving!!!!

I love this picture of these boys! Under the table happy as can be. SO true to form. The 3 amigos had so much fun together. It's amazing how quickly they grow and become friends!

We love taking pictures of our babies with the turkey. I know this isn't Giselle's first thanksgiving but the turkey weighed 22lbs which is how much Giselle weighs so I thought it would be too funny to put it right up in front of her...hahaha you can barely see that monkey!

Daddy and Giselle are just so sweet to each other. She LOVES when daddy comes home!

Aunt Laura and Aunt Jennifer are wonderful Aunts. Giselle got lots of love and cuddles and any treat she wanted! Just how she likes it!!!

The big feast this year was ONE big table. Jolie was quite upset that ALL the little kids got to eat at the big table...she thought it should be just her. Someday Jolie, someday! All the food was delicious and Mom Fox pulled out all the stops. Thank you for cooking such a bountiful dinner.

After dinner the little guys were super excited for the train to be set up. We have to supervise because too many little hands like to help conduct! Choo Choo!

One night we decided to Fondue. It was so much fun. I was a little nervous that the little kids would just make a big mess. They did great though. They loved tasting all the fruit in the chocolate and having there own stick. I think the adults had just as much fun as the kids but didn't get (too) much chocolate on their face!


Doesn't that look yummy. Who doesn't love Fondue..NO ONE!!!

We love Christmas Jammies. So cute and fun to match. The girls had striped pants and the boys had snowman pants. Nolan was the only one that was not excited for the pj's..that's just because he is in denial of winter. He wants shorts and t-shirts.. we feel your pain buddy!

Lucy and Giselle are quite the cute tag team. They are soo cute to watch and play with. They will be even cuter to watch grow up.

Jillian say's " Give me that turkey leg..it's MINE!!!"

The BIG move!

Jacob standing inside our BIG BROWN tub. ALL the kids can lie down in it at the same time. Too funny, huh?

Our bedroom with the lovely orangish something color carpet. We are renting so we really don't care about that stuff right now.

The family room has the main tv in it now. The kids love it but I have to say they are watching way more tv than they used to. I'm going to have to get better about that. The blinds on the left lead to a big blue deck in our backyard and on the right there is a door to a big mud room.

we just arrived after driving for 2 days and one night of Giselle not sleeping ONE minute..hence the glasses and dazed look on my face. The kids did great on the driving part and were very anxious/excited to see our new house in ILLINOIS!!

A close up of our new house.

another view!

I started decorating for Halloween right away. We love Halloween and it helped me to feel more like home! This is the entry way when you first walk in.

We decided to put the toy room on the main level this time since we don't have a dining room table and the basement has granite floors so BRRRR. Cold. This view is of the Living room on the left and toy room on right.

**********Sorry the pictures are out of order***********

So yes the rumors are true. We moved from Virginia to Illinois. Brett took a job with a firm in Downtown Chicago. We live in a really cute town called Willowbrook. We live minutes from a train stop and Brett can take an express train and be downtown in 22 minutes. Way better than his old commute in Virginia. Life so far here has been good. Change is always hard but we are all trying really hard to enjoy this experience and rely on each other as a family. We have already had a few fun experiences and I will post about those soon too.