SNOW DAY!

Look at *all* the snow we got!!! That amount of snow warrented a snow day for the boys today. Needless to say, they are thrilled. They have enjoyed 1 movie, are getting ready to eat pizza, and then will be baking cookies. WOW, what a rough Monday for them. Travis didn't have to go into work today, he had continued ed. classes. So he'll be home early as well. Looks like the Ferris Family is going to finally have a decorated Christmas tree.

Sunday happenings

Olivia modeling her adorable dress, leggings, and cowgirl boots. She was all dressed and ready for church. I had to get a picture of her in this outfit, it was one of my favorites and she's outgrowing the dress and boots (oh the horror my child, at 4 months old, outgrowing a 3 month dress and newborn size boots).


Travis taking a break from our church Christmas dinner to read books to Maddox and his friend Andrea. I wish I had been in the nursery minutes later when both Maddox and Andrea climbed onto Cooper's lap and he read them 2 books (completely unassisted!!!! Yeah for the wonderful Rockwood tutors!!!!)

Cooper, the amazing big brother.

While trying to make dinner tonight, Maddox was being very demanding of our attention. Cooper, seeing this took him into his lap and started reading to him. It was a glorious 5 minutes for us to finish our dinner preperations.

Olivia says HI

ear infection recovery

Maddox woke up screaming Tuesday morning. He continued to do so for 5hrs, non-stop!! I got him into the doctor that afternoon. Thankfully there was a fast diagnosis and treatment. He has his first ear infection. Today after his nap he was still kind of cranky, so he took a cookie, his dogs, and his Thomas the Train boots and climbed into my bed to watch Little Einsteins.

I'm a scrooge...

I am 100% finished Christmas shopping, and have been for quite a while now. I have all the wrapping paper ready to go, but no desire to wrap presents. I have recipes pulled, ingredients bought, and grand plans for Christmas cookies and yummy bars and breads, but again, no desire to bake. I did finally put the stockings up yesterday. Maybe by this weekend we will have the tree up. I would love to blame the weather, it's in the 50s and rainy today, but it was cold all last week...
This funk needs to leave me, soon! Otherwise Santa is going to be forced to put the kids' presents under my house plant.

On a cute note, Maddox was being really sweet to Olivia this morning and I managed to catch it.

Maddox and Olivia wanted to say good morning!


Olivia smiling for Midwest Ortho.

Recant!!!

No HGTV tonight. I was given the wrong information.
It's NEXT week.
7PM Central time.
Holiday Windows 2008

That is the show that will be giving Olivia and myself our television debut.

Set your DVR

Mom, set your VCR.
Sunday, 7PM Central, HGTV.
Top 10 Christmas Towns

Olivia and I will be making our TV debut.

Bonding with Uncle Tim

We had too much fun this weekend. It wore Olivia and her Uncle Tim out!

Holiday weekend

Olivia showing how excited she was for Thanksgiving!


My kids with my parents! Can never have too many of these pictures.


A generation... Grandma Van Dyk, Mom, Me, and Olivia


Maddox very excited to show off the choo-choo under Grandpa and Grandma's Christmas tree.

Olivia hanging out on the reindeer in Grandpa and Grandma's family room (doesn't evey family room have one this time of year?)

Newest Family Pictures

I never knew how hard it was go get a great picture of all 4 kids! I settled for a good one.

Olivia's Dedication

The whole family. (not at all a good picture, but at least Maddox wasn't crying and the older 2 were looking in the direction of the camera)


Grandma and all her grand-daughters.


Chilling in Aunt Sheila's arms. Aunt Sheila even managed to get her to go to sleep during the service.


During lunch Olivia decied she had enough of the crazy family. Thankfully they all wore her out. She got home and slept for over 3 hrs.

The Awesomeness of Daddyhood

Most days, being a father feels the same as any other. It doesn't matter if you're a new dad of one or a seasoned dad of more than 4, the special moments seem few and far between the endless amounts of teaching, telling, asking, yelling, refereeing, disciplining, bathing, dressing, diapering, pacifier-hunting, toy-fixing, and everything else we do because we love our children.

And when you add to that, the stress of trying to fill Mom's shoes while she's at the dentist, life can be a bit overwhelming. Tonight was that sort of night, when I added cooking and cleaning to the list. (My wife does much more than that, but I've accepted the fact that she's better than me at some things. At first it was difficult to admit, but after realizing I married a SuperMom who manages a house, 6 different schedules, and the stresses that comes with it, while I simply try to survive it, I had to face reality.)

But today, the overwhelming day ended up being special. After making a pot-luck dinner of 1 left-over chicken quesadilla, 3 pieces of left-over, kid-made pizza, 4 corn dog bites, and 15 pizza bites--all items that fit on the stoneware and can reheat at 350 for 15 minutes while I feed Olivia a bottle-- the boys and I enjoyed our bachelor meal.

And after they had put their dishes away and started coloring, I began setting up Cooper's spelling homework when Nelson all of a sudden interrupted me and said, "Dad, I want to ask Jesus into my heart!" At which point, he realized how vulnerable he just made himself and his tenderness showed and he began to cry.

Women probably don't understand this, but guys usually don't cry when they're hurt, mad, sad, or angry. Sometimes they do, but it usually comes from the act of being vulnerable with another person, not from the emotion itself. But it was an awesome thing to share that moment with my son.

So after they got ready for bed, we said our prayers, and then Nelson and I said the same prayer I prayed with his older brother earlier this year, "Dear Jesus, I know that I do bad things sometimes, and make bad decisions that keeps me from spending forever with you. I believe that you died on the cross for me. Please forgive me for the bad things I have done. Please come into my heart and help me make good decisions and live for you. I love you, Jesus. Amen."

Thank you God, for the reminders of just how awesome being a Daddy is!!

God speaks, we hear different things...

I'm convinced God spoke to me this morning, and it was rather clear! While unloading the dishwasher, making coffee, and making breakfast (yep three things at one time) I somehow got a pinched nerve in the base of my neck.
I quickly called for Travis and started down the hall into our bedroom to explain the immense pain in my neck. He told me it was nothing major and should go away in 3-5 days. Nothing major?!?! I want to see him have a pinched nerve and do laundry, clean the family room, and chase the kids all day.
I told him I thought this nerve was God speaking to me. I heard that I should have a cleaning service, personal chef, and live-in nanny. He said from this he heard I should keep things in their place, set the coffee pot at night, before I go to bed, and remind the boys that they are able to do things on their own.
I like my interpretation a lot better!

Winter has arrived.

My parents left yesterday morning for an 8 day vacation in SUNNY, WARM, Jamaica. I talked to them at the 2 airports and then again when they landed. I gave very detailed instructions of what they were supposed to do when they got settled. They were to go to the beach, face Northwest and BLOW!!! I was hoping they would send some of the sun and warmth to us. But, alas, they didn't. They have chosen to be selfish and keep it all to themselves. Maddox, Olivia, and I are forced to come up with our own ways of keeping warm today... I have chosen to clean, call it creative exercise. I figure sweeping, washing floors, and dusting should keep me toasty and burn off some extra weight at the same time.
Maddox gets comfy under his fleece batman blanket and watches Blue's Clues.

Olivia knows how to beat the blahs, she just snoozes with her doll from Auntie Sheila. On a side note, check out her jowls! She's getting big. I never thought she was heavy until I spent Saturday carrying her in my arms for almost 4 hrs.

Our first girls' weekend

This morning. My parents, myself, and Olivia decided to venture down to State Street and Macy's to see the big Christmas tree (unveiled by Tommy Hilfiger) and the Christmas windows. It started out as a very uneventful day, but that quickly changed...

Mommy and Olivia getting ready to look at windows.


Me being interviewed by HGTV for a holiday lights special (to air the first weekend in December, stay tuned for times and show name). This was very exciting for me and my parents, we are all HGTV fans. I was also very thankful I had taken the time to dry my hair this morning and put make-up on.


Olivia sitting on a book display with all of the Oliva books


Meeting Mr. O'Leary, the designer of Waterford Crystal. Grandma Nelson bought her a Christmas tree ornament and he engraved her name on it and signed it!

Standing in front of the observation window with the tree in the background. This year the theme was Christmas' from the past. The tree was beautiful, like always. We didn't get to meet Tommy Hilfiger, the lines were just too long and Olivia was getting fussy.

Halloween cuteness everywhere!

Our kids couldn't get into their costumes fast enough on Friday. (Well, that's not true, I quickly discovered Olivia is not as girly as I thought... She hated playing dress-up.) Maddox was the first costumed and ready to go. He was standing by the front door ready to go 45 minutes before the other 2 got off the bus. The boys, Travis, and my friend all arrived at the house at the exact same time. Travis helped Cooper and Nelson into their costumes and I started snapping pictures like a mad woman. Nothing turned out great, but with 4 kids and the oldest being just over 6, I had to set realistic expectations (ie, everyone looking at the camera, no one crying, and no one being smothered boy a brother.)
We took pictures, ran to Target to get Trick-or-Treat buckets and candy and were on our way to my brother's house for dinner, Trick-or-Treating and nacho fun!


The older 2 striking Ninja poses


Maddox just being absolutely adorable.


Olivia in a brief moment of not crying, living up to her costume, the angel.

FYI

Before complaining to your computer geek husband for a day and a half that your computer won't come out of hibernation check to make sure it's even turned on!

Heaven in a coffee mug, even for non-coffee drinkers!

The mugs waiting to bake...


After 3 minutes in the microwave.



Coffee Mug Chocolate Cake:
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips(optional, I like using the mini chips for this one)
a small splash of vanilla
1 coffee mug (large)

Rather than mixing these in the mug, I used a bowl.
Add dry ingredients, and mix well
Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, depending on the size of the mug you use. Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired

School casualty

I'm not sure how clear it is, but therer is a scrape between his eyes, on the tip of his nose and his right eye is bruised and slightly swollen. Apparently the "cool" way to leave a playhouse at school is to trip and use your face to break the fall. He had a bloody nose and was all scraped up when I picked him up yesterday. Overnight it got a lot better!

Taylor Swift, the perfect way to start the morning.

The Ferris Family is embarking on a new "adventure". The older 2 boys are starting to develop an opinion about music. They love the "Bibe School songs" which is a CD my old youth pastor and his wife put together and then performed some of the songs at VBS 2 summers ago. They also really like Taylor Swift, an 18 yr old country star who rights most of the songs she performs. This morning Cooper finished breakfast and his reading early so he was rewarded with the music of his choice. Apparently Taylor Swift is just what the doctor ordered on this cold morning!

HOO-RAH Chris!!

If you don't know someone in the military to pray for, I have a few names I can give you: My brother is in the Army National Guard, my 2 cousins are in the Air Force, and a high school buddy is a chaplain in Illinois Army National Guard.

And now I'm proud to announce that we can add my xbox buddy, Chris to the list. Yesterday, he reported to duty in Texas as a Chaplian in the Missiouri Army National Guard, and as a friend, I couldn't be more proud-- and thankful that guys like my brother, cousins, and friends serve our country, so I can stay at home.

I'm thankful for their sacrifice, so I don't have to sacrifice time with my wife and kids. I'm thankful of the gift that every man and woman in uniform gives me, the ability to play baseball with Cooper, Nintendo with Nelson, wrestle with Maddox, and hold my baby Olivia.

So here's to all those we know in the military. Go Guard- Go Chris!

What a morning... and it's only 8:30!

Every child woke up before 6:15AM this morning. Good grief, I need a nap and I've barely started my morning.

Olivia has also had enough of the crazy morning and her crazy brothers.


Maddox sat on the potty this morning! He even put poop in it.




Maddox emptied his bookcase and sat in his bed reading books for 10 minutes. (It took half that time to empty the shelves)



These crazy kids were outside 20 minutes early, waiting for the bus. They were so excited to ride to school together. (It was an early dismissal day)

PSA: Olivia shouldn't run out of clothes anytime soon.

The clothes that start at the purple shirt and go back are all summer and next fall. I purchased those, that's why there is no pink. From the purple shirt forward are all gifts that should keep her warm and cozy until the spring.

All about Maddox

Taking a minute out of his busy day to read Nelson's library book. He loves books!


All smiles with his new fridge farm. He knows how to put the animals together correctly, but choses not to. They are much funnier when mis-matched.

Since turning 2, Maddox doesn't think he needs a booster. He really doesn't think it's necessary when eating leftover birthday cake.

Happy Birthday Maddox (and Evan)!

A picture of the cake, complete with a truck!


Enjoying the yummy birthday cake


Sitting with Evan, his cousin and the other birthday boy.


Showing off his new DVD and bit truck.


Patting his lap to make Pat-Pat Rocket blast off.