Have a Very Merry Hairy Kerrie Christmas! I'm hanging out in sweatpants watching my kids open presents. Most likely my dad and stepmom are over. My mom and stepdad are coming over later. I'm happy. It's awesome.
How about you?
Friday, December 25, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
McLoughlin Family Christmas Letter 2009
I love getting Christmas letters, but hate writing them. My first draft always sounds like I'm trying to hard to be funny and like Mother of the Year. Then it sounds braggy. Then it sounds too self-deprecating, like I'm trying to downplay all my blessings and good fortune and am looking for something to complain about. So below is the final draft of this year's letter. I decided to just go with normal. I also added some cute little symbols, like a cross for Joel taking First Communion, a swimmer for Michael learning to swim, a music note for Callie wanting to sing (her first "when I grow up I want to be..." was to work at McDonald's), a present for Eva ripping into gifts, a smiley face for Sam hanging on me all the time, an airplane for Aron not traveling and a martini glass for me trying to concentrate on homeschooling (as if I'd rather be drinking). Enjoy ...
CHRISTMAS SEASON 2009
Dear Family, Friends and Neighbors,
Merry Christmas! We hope you are all happy and healthy. Here’s what’s been going on in our growing household:
Aron’s travel was minimal this year (he’s on his 11th year with CSI), which gave him some time to tear apart our main bathroom and redo it entirely. As of this writing he’s tiling the floor. He also took on the job of Den Leader for Joel’s Cub Scout den, takes the boys to Religious Ed class every other Tuesday night and took them on 3 fishing trips. He was the hero of the year when he put up a zip line that Ellen Jones gave us in the backyard.
I’ve been writing when I get the chance … assignments for Kansas City Parent, then selling the reprints to other magazines. I like keeping up my blog (TheKerrieShow.com), collaborating on another (WritingMommies.blogspot.com), writing e-books for fun and sales letters/blog posts for companies. I stare longingly at my scrapbooking projects while I concentrate on homeschooling.
Joel (3rd grade) received his First Communion in May, then in the summer tried his hand at baseball and started going off the diving board at the pool. He enjoys delivering our Meals on Wheels route, Cub Scouts and spending the night with Poppy (my dad). When he grows up, he wants to own some sort of nature sanctuary on Truman Lake.
Michael (1st grade) likes to make interesting things out of just about any material and taught himself cursive this fall. Although he doesn’t want to be an official Cub Scout until next year, Michael attends all the den meetings and participates in all the activities. He learned to swim on his own over the summer. He wants to work in a museum when he grows up and “make the art.”
Callie enjoyed going to 15 different nature centers and museums for the Ernie Miller Passport to Adventure. She likes to sing, dance and color and can write her name. She also loves to have her nails painted by Tutu (my mom). She wants to dance, sing and be a Rescue Hero when she grows up.
Eva is our Tasmanian Devil … into everything and keeps us on our toes with her writing on the walls and herself, dancing on the table, destroying her siblings’ stuff, etc. She’s a happy little imp and chases the other kids around. She enjoyed playing at all our different pools this summer and loves going “bye bye.” Currently we’re teaching her to stop unwrapping the presents under the tree.
Samuel Scott (a.k.a. Samwich or Spam) is our 7th family member. He was born October 7th weighing in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces (labor started at 7 a.m. and he spent 7 days in the NICU due to meconium aspiration). He’s a sweet boy and loves to be toted around and held by his brothers and sisters, although he spends most of his time hanging out on his mom.
We’re praying everyone has the best year ever in 2010. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Love from Aron, Kerrie, Joel, Michael, Callie, Eva and Samta Claus McLoughlin
CHRISTMAS SEASON 2009
Dear Family, Friends and Neighbors,
Merry Christmas! We hope you are all happy and healthy. Here’s what’s been going on in our growing household:
Aron’s travel was minimal this year (he’s on his 11th year with CSI), which gave him some time to tear apart our main bathroom and redo it entirely. As of this writing he’s tiling the floor. He also took on the job of Den Leader for Joel’s Cub Scout den, takes the boys to Religious Ed class every other Tuesday night and took them on 3 fishing trips. He was the hero of the year when he put up a zip line that Ellen Jones gave us in the backyard.
I’ve been writing when I get the chance … assignments for Kansas City Parent, then selling the reprints to other magazines. I like keeping up my blog (TheKerrieShow.com), collaborating on another (WritingMommies.blogspot.com), writing e-books for fun and sales letters/blog posts for companies. I stare longingly at my scrapbooking projects while I concentrate on homeschooling.
Joel (3rd grade) received his First Communion in May, then in the summer tried his hand at baseball and started going off the diving board at the pool. He enjoys delivering our Meals on Wheels route, Cub Scouts and spending the night with Poppy (my dad). When he grows up, he wants to own some sort of nature sanctuary on Truman Lake.
Michael (1st grade) likes to make interesting things out of just about any material and taught himself cursive this fall. Although he doesn’t want to be an official Cub Scout until next year, Michael attends all the den meetings and participates in all the activities. He learned to swim on his own over the summer. He wants to work in a museum when he grows up and “make the art.”
Callie enjoyed going to 15 different nature centers and museums for the Ernie Miller Passport to Adventure. She likes to sing, dance and color and can write her name. She also loves to have her nails painted by Tutu (my mom). She wants to dance, sing and be a Rescue Hero when she grows up.
Eva is our Tasmanian Devil … into everything and keeps us on our toes with her writing on the walls and herself, dancing on the table, destroying her siblings’ stuff, etc. She’s a happy little imp and chases the other kids around. She enjoyed playing at all our different pools this summer and loves going “bye bye.” Currently we’re teaching her to stop unwrapping the presents under the tree.
Samuel Scott (a.k.a. Samwich or Spam) is our 7th family member. He was born October 7th weighing in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces (labor started at 7 a.m. and he spent 7 days in the NICU due to meconium aspiration). He’s a sweet boy and loves to be toted around and held by his brothers and sisters, although he spends most of his time hanging out on his mom.
We’re praying everyone has the best year ever in 2010. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Love from Aron, Kerrie, Joel, Michael, Callie, Eva and Samta Claus McLoughlin
Monday, December 21, 2009
Christmas Picture Out-takes
With a big family, it's hard to find the perfect time to get everyone dressed up with a smile on their face and antlers on their head. Our official Christmas photo that we're sending out has Sam nursing and you can't even see his face, but everyone else looked decent. And we had to bribe Eva with a candy cane to even get her to sit down, and you can just forget about those dang antlers. So here are a couple of the out-takes for those who enjoy Christmas pictures.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
English as a Screwy Language (ESL)
My friend teaches English as a Second Language, so I know she'll appreciate this one.
So in what universe does "ph" sound like a "v"? Apparently in this one, where the name STEPHEN sounds like SteVen. I should know; it's my son's middle and my dad's first name.
How come once you get to the number TEN, then you don't go Oneteen? Why do we have eleven, twelve, thirteen and fifteen when the rest of the teens are more logical? Why not oneteen, twoteen, threeteen and fiveteen?
Mom and I love when words are screwed up by people. Our current is "volumptuous". As in: Kerrie McLoughlin is volumptuous.
We also like "immaculant". As in: Kerrie's house will never be immaculant.
Gimme some more messed-up words, and be sure to use them in a sentence, Class!
Have a nice week. I'm taking it off to pursue Christmas Craziness.
So in what universe does "ph" sound like a "v"? Apparently in this one, where the name STEPHEN sounds like SteVen. I should know; it's my son's middle and my dad's first name.
How come once you get to the number TEN, then you don't go Oneteen? Why do we have eleven, twelve, thirteen and fifteen when the rest of the teens are more logical? Why not oneteen, twoteen, threeteen and fiveteen?
Mom and I love when words are screwed up by people. Our current is "volumptuous". As in: Kerrie McLoughlin is volumptuous.
We also like "immaculant". As in: Kerrie's house will never be immaculant.
Gimme some more messed-up words, and be sure to use them in a sentence, Class!
Have a nice week. I'm taking it off to pursue Christmas Craziness.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Water Fun to Buy Some Time
People wonder how I deal with the younger kids while I homeschool the older ones. This picture shows one way: set Eva up at the kitchen sink on a chair and turn on the water. Throw in some plastic dishes that need to be washed, and you have one occupied 2-year-old. Sure, I have to change her wet shirt at the end of the session, but the Water Fun tactic usually buys me about 5 minutes to homeschool, which is like gold.
Oh, and thank you to the readers who told me to write about what I want to write about and not cater to everyone else. Good advice. And the hodge-podge blogging continues ...
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