Pictures, pictures, pictures

Here's another round of pictures--I'm getting close to being done soon with this trip. Aren't you glad???
We had the pleasure of being at Willow Creek on the Sunday that Kate Gosselin from "Jon and Kate Plus 8" was being interviewed. I've only been able to see the show maybe 5 or 6 times since I don't have cable but I have enjoyed what I've seen. It was really neat hearing her speak of her faith in God and His plan for their lives. Also, she spoke very candidly about how she felt learning she was pregnant with 6 babies. It was really wonderful! This is a picture I "stole" from Marissa.

Here is sweet Bella. We stopped in to see her in Cincinnati on our way to Chicago. Marissa was sick so only Shelly and I could go in to see her. We brought her and her Mommy a basket full of goodies and enjoyed spending some time with them both. She loved her photo album.

Is he a sweet baby or what???

I love Levi's expression in this one!

While in Virginia on the way home Marissa cut the girls' hair. Thank you Marissa!!! We caught up on American Idol while she cut.

One more cute snow picture!

Words of Wisdom for Traveling With Small Children

After two weeks, 54 hours logged in the van, and almost 3000 miles us girls (Marissa, Shelly, and I) have gained some valuable tools for surviving a road trip with children. Of course I want to share all our wisdom with you. So, in no particular order.

• You must have a sense of humor and a willingness for adventure. At one point when we were going in figure eights through downtown Cincinnati (the 'hood) compliments of the GPS that was trying to lead us to the highway--Shelly and I were getting really goofy and laughing really hard about something (can't remember what now). Joe said, "why is this trip so funny to you guys? My answer--"honey, if we don't laugh, we'd probably cry.


• Definitely choose to travel with two vans, ten kids, and three mommies in the dead of WINTER. Why go when it's sunny and nice? It's much more adventurous to brave potential snow and ice and to freeze your tushy off everytime you have to exit the van. You also have to pack about double the stuff when you travel in the winter--coats, hats, gloves, scarves, boots, sweaters, and blankets. This makes it much more of a challenge to pack the van but provides extra padding in case of an accident. Also, the more tightly packed in you are the less likely you are to be able to move out of your seat and get hurt in an accident.


• When unloading a van with ten kids in a busy parking lot continually shout, "hand on the van, hand on the van, hand on the van." This is so 2 out of those 10 kids will actually hear and obey you.


• When it's about 8 at night and you are trying to feed nine kids and refuse to be hassled by taking orders--order one of each thing from the McValue dollar menu and randomly hurl each item into the back of the van. Each child eats whatever they get hit with. Or you can do what we did and order 9 $1 double cheeseburgers with only ketchup and "take one and pass it around."


• DVD players are a MUST and should be kept running at all times with never a delay. If the movie is a musical and you feel the urge. Find something that resembles a microphone (like a Frappucino bottle) and sing along like nobody's business. LOUD. "Annie" is an excellent musical to try this with.


• When it comes to choosing the next DVD, we took a sweet little saying from preschool, "You git what ya git and ya don't pitch a fit." It's always Mommy's choice. Always. No opinions from the backseat.


• Lots of coffee!!!


• If you really want to make good time put off lunch until you find a Chick-fil-a with a playplace no matter how long it takes. Even if lunch doesn't happen until 3.


• Once you get to Chick-fil-a make sure you tell the kids no that we are all stopping at the bathroom FIRST. Especially if you've not stopped for the last 2-3 hours because you are sure that at the next big exit there will be a Chick-fil-a. Shelly and I preferred an alliteration for this little talk. "Potty before you play, you must produce pee." Repeat a few times for effect.


• If you can't find a Chick-fil-a or a McD's with a playplace. Go to Steak 'n Shake! They have great hats.


In this picture I am wearing the sweatshirt that I mentioned before and threatened to take home. I want you to know I am not stealing it--just borrowing and I have permission!


• When you've been traveling for who knows how many hours and you are taking a little too long at the gas station pump and some teenybopper girl hardly old enough to drive a car stares you down...as you leave make really hilarious faces at her.


• If you have gas and you are in the van with all the kids and you can't roll down the windows because they don't work--hope that your co-pilot has gas too and agree to just blow each other out if necessary. Thankfully both pilots who were potentially in this situation never had to use their "guns." Luck maybe?


• When kids are asking for snacks and other things continually and all you have done is honor requests and answer questions for an hour you absolutely must--"Close the kitchen." A large blanket works well for this. You know the saying, "out of sight, out of mind." This is what that looks like:
  


• When serving lots of kids lots of snacks, "tram bowls" come in handy. These may look like regular plastic bowls but they earned the name "tram bowls" on this trip. On the way up I was telling Shelly some story about a tram and was interrupted by a request for a snack. I then asked the kids to pass me their "tram bowls." Hence then name and it has stuck. The nice thing is they can be filled and fit with a lid and thrown to the back of the van.
  


• Another motto that we came up with last night was "eat it or wear it." I had just filled tram bowls and Hannah said, "I don't like animal crackers, can I have almonds and cranberries instead." Not sure what to do with the full tram bowl of crackers I just tossed it over my head and all over sweet Hannah. Whoooo, that was good for about a 15 minute laugh. Anything that helps pass 15 minutes of a 12 hour car trip laughing is well worth the mess.
• You must celebrate at any and all state line crossings. On this trip we crossed lots of state lines--FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, West VA, OH, IN, and IL. At every state line we screamed, hollered, and tooted (the horn that is). When there was a baby sleeping we did this celebrating a little more quietly.
• Celebrate BIG when you cross back into your home state. When we crossed into Florida at sunset we pulled the van over and Shelly and I got out and ran around screaming and beating on the car windows and acting like the crazy women that we are. You can see Shelly's arms and the welcome sign in this picture but it was too dark to see her thrilled expression. The sign behind her says, "Emergency Stopping Only, Photo Opportunity at the rest area ahead." Oops.
  

I hope you are able to glean some valuable information from our experience. We are all stronger women because of this trip. :0)

We've Made it to VA!

We made it to VA this evening around 8:30ish. We made it in 15 hours this time--not bad considering it took us 18 hours to get there. All we've seen is snow since Chicago. It's everywhere--all through Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia. We were in some potentially hazardous weather in the mountains in WV, it was snowing a little and wet and dark and just plain messy. God brought us here safely though and we are so very thankful! Shelly and I still have to get back to FL but that will seem easy compared to the trip to Chicago. We'll stay a day with Marissa and family before heading south hopefully on Wednesday. I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow!
Update on Keri--she has not had the baby. We decided to go ahead and leave anyway. It was pretty crazy for all of them being packed into the house and with the weather and snow it's not easy to get out and do things. It wouldn't be a nice calm environment for Keri to labor in anyway. So, that's why we went ahead and came home.

Turning Our Nose Toward Home

It's 4 am and I'm up and ready to go. Just waiting for the call from Marissa and Shelly that they are on their way. Then I'll have about ten minutes to rouse the kids and get them pottied and shoed and then we are on our way. Pray for our safety as we hit the road again. Hopefully the trip will be a little shorter getting home. It ended up taking us 18 hours to get from VA to Chicago but that included a stop in Cincinnati to see Bella. We are taking a slightly different route home and I think we are all intent on getting there in a timely manner. As timely as you can be with 10 kids, three of whom are still in diapers. Shelly and I will rest up in VA for a day before heading back to sunny Florida. We have had a wonderful trip but it is true that "there is no place like home." We've made so many fun memories and I can't wait to make my next photo book! I asked Grace yesterday if she was ready to get home yet and she said, "well, I'm ready to see some color. Everything is white. The ground is white, the sky is white. I'm ready to see some other colors." I'm with her. Although, I hear that we will be seeing a good bit of brown in FL along with the green. There was a bad freeze the week we left and the plants have definitely suffered.
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers today!

Sledding Anyone?

Well, our vacation is complete--we've been sledding! We went to a great park for sledding today--lots of big hills. The kids had a blast and sledded down and trudged up that hill for almost 2 hours! I took lots of video and pictures and even went sledding down once. That was enough for me--with all my aches and pains I'm afraid of really hurting myself. Do I sound old or what?
I love this picture--Two men headed up the hill talking about their amazing sled run.

Do you notice how happily Joe has posed for pictures this trip? The cold makes him cooperative.

Here comes Grace with everybody else behind her.

Here's the view from the bottom of the hill where I spent most of the time. It was warmer down there and less wind. It was practically a heat wave today--the temp went above 35 I think.

Here's a picture of my one and only sled run. I think I yelled the whole way down--I felt so out of control!

Hannah and Ellie

This was triple decker sledding. If you look closely you'll see three people on each sled.

Crash!
And below--a couple of live action videos for your viewing enjoyment.

A Playdate

We had a playdate with the Smith's and Lydi--we did a Valentine craft out of the Family Fun magazine. I've been getting the magazine for years and this is maybe the second thing I've ever done. I wasn't totally prepped so it took a while but it was fun. What did we make you ask? A Valentine Ipod out of a box of conversation hearts and reese's cups. The kids also made postcards to send home to dad. After our crafting they all went outside and stayed very busy out there for a long while. Jacob built a snow cave and the girls built a snow tunnel. They all had a great time. Then it was in for popcorn and hot chocolate and a game of Whoonu. We matched up non readers with the readers and it went quite well. We found out that Hannah S. hates hotdogs and that Levi loves tree houses. That game is so fun! Before we knew it Granny Marcia was there to pick them up and take them out for Chicago style pizza. We had a great time and Marissa and Shelly had a much needed break. Here are some pics...

Lots of Pictures

I finally got some pictures off my camera and onto the computer. They are in no particular order but you can get an idea of what we've been doing. Stephanie (Ollie's sister) and I met Marissa, Shelly, and Keri at Cheesecake Factory for coffee and dessert. The cheesecake was awesome!

Lots and lots of snow pictures!

Grace tried to put a big hunk of snow on her head and it crumbled all over her!

This is Nonna who we went to visit on Sunday. And below--Aunt Suzie and Uncle Dave's dog. I think she enjoyed all the kiddo attention.