Back to Blogdom?

I have been advised that I should start blogging again. There are just way too many memorable events happening for me to keep them to myself! I will attempt to relate some of the highlights of our daily escapades for your enjoyment and mine.

Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas from the Shurtleff House!!!

We had a White Christmas for the first time since 1926! and NO I was not around then, even though my kids think I am pretty old. To my knowledge, I have never had a white Christmas, so this was a first, and we had a great time playing in the snow this morning. Gabriel made many snowballs to throw at me and his siblings. Elena did not want to wear gloves, but she cried when her hands got cold. Hannah and Graham came outside for about 5 minutes before returning to the warm house for a little more Mario Cart fun.

We tried to balance the gifts between media fun(Wii game and a few new vidios) and outdoor activities(a new basket ball goal for the culdesac out front and new street hockey goals)

On Christmas Eve the family attended the usual Christmas pagent at the First United Methodist with Mimi, then on to the service at our church where Clara, Gabriel, and Paul sang with the kids choir. A new twist on the evening was dinner out at AMIGO'S in Richardson. if you haven't tried them out, the food is excellent, and the prices are very reasonable.

After dinner and bedtime for the littles, there was a small amount of last minute wrapping and preparing(no trampolines to assemble this year-Haleluia!) off to bed by midnight-WOW
Christmas morning included the traditional Cranberry Holiday Cake-Yummy, poptarts, and candy from the stockings(gummy worms, yogurt covered pretzels, and jelly belly beans) I think I have a stomach ache just writing about it. the candy, NOT the yummy cake.
Present opening was followed by SnowPlay, Wii Play, a feast of Ham, potatoes, and veggies, a walk at Breckenridge Park, naps, and more play time. all in all, it was a Great Christmas Day. We talked on the phone to the missing family members--Alex in CA, Jessica and Roy snowed in in Vernon, TX and Grandparents in Missouri. we love to sing "we wish you a merry Christmas" on the phone ;) we had a blessed day, hope yours was the same.

Wedding!!!!!

There was a wedding in our family last Saturday. It was a great event, and lots of fun was had by all! Jessica and Roy were married at our church, and had a very fun reception with dinner and dancing at a nearby location. 5 of her 6 brothers were in the wedding, and the youngest one just wore a tux and looked cute!!!(see pictures) 2 of our daughters were bridesmaids, and again, the youngest had a matching dress and, of course, looked cute. Everyone looked so nice -- I have added a picture of our whole family so you can all see!!!

after the wedding on Saturday, they stayed in town at a nice hotel, then drove back to school on Sunday. Roy is in Med school and Jessica is finishing up her doctorate in physical therapy. we are so blessed to have Roy in our family, and we wish many happy years of marriage to the 2 of them.

Blog Trauma--FIXED!!

All of my posts have dissapeared. the pictures are still here, but all my words are gone!!!!(I have never been without words before) I don't know what happened :0( I will try to find my words....

I have found my words!!! When you accidentaly make your text color the same as the background color...poof! words gone! change it back...and Poof! words are back :0)

Spring is here in Texas

Spring always brings great variety in weather, and we love that about Texas. Our trees are all leafing out (is that a word?) There are flowers everywhere!! We are looking for a new variety of living places as well.

We have recently decided to put our house on the market, and I will post pictures soon of the changes we have made to enhance it's appearance. stay tuned for pictures of the house we want to move into as well. it is a great house on a cul de sac with a 1.4 acre yard. we are excited about all of that.

A Typical Day(well..kind of :0P)

I am a SAHM with 10 children, 7 still at home-ages 13, 10, 7, 6, 4, 2, and 7 months. Here's an idea of how our day might go.....


3AM-wake up and feed Elena(7months)-back to sleep in about 30 minutes
6:20-Dad gets up for the day
6:30-Paul(4 years old) usually wakes up (hungry? of course!) Daddy gets him breakfast
6:45-I wake up(or hit the snooze til 7:00) and try not to wake a still-sleeping Elena
7:00-wake up 7 year old Gabriel(if he did not wake up on his own at 6am)
I make some coffee and enjoy a little breakfast time with whomever is up
7:20-wake up 6 year old Peter--NOT a morning person -- feed him a little breakfast before time to go
7:30-wake up Hannah(13) or Clara(10) to watch the littles-Elena, Paul, and JP while I drive Peter and Gabriel to school. they take turns with this "morning duty" as some or all are up by now. Dad leaves for work.
7:45-leave for school
8:00-back home(school is REALLY close)--have a little more coffee, feed Elena, finish up breakfast, check e-mail while kids watch Sesame street.
8:30-wake anyone who is still sleeping-they dress and eat breakfast
9:00-start school work for H and C, try to give Elena a nap, play with little boys, run an errand if needed
11:45-Fix and eat lunch
12:30-clean up lunch-girls take boys on a walk or outside to play-or they clean up and I go outside to play :0)
1:00-2:45 nap time(or rest time if they don't sleep)Girls work on schoolwork, I catch up on laundry, plan dinner, grade math, or manage whatever crisis that has cropped up...or...Mom sleeps too!
2:45-go get boys from school-back by 3:15
3:15-snacks and homework, then outside time
4:00-take girls to gymnastics practice-play at the playground there if we have time-or an errand or a drs appt or run to the store for what I forgot to get for the dinner...
5:30-TV break for the boys while I get dinner together
6:00-Dad's home!!Yeah!! Dinner with dad--then clean up dinner(all will help)
7:00-wrestle with Dad, baths, teethbrushing, books, prayers(23rd Psalm before bed)
7:45-Peter to bed(Paul and Jon too if they did not nap)if they stay up, they play in the den with legos, tinkertoys, or playmobil. one of us goes to pick up the girls at gym.
8:30-Gabriel to bed(and the other boys if still up)Girls eating dinner and showering-and talking to us about how sore they are from workout! We enjoy this time since they aren't here at dinner time.
9:30-Elena to bed(good luck with this one!), Clara and Hannah in bed(lights out at 9:45-10:00)
I am usually getting things ready for the next day, talking to Preston, folding laundry, on the computer, etc till about 10:30 or 11:00
11:00-I shower, read a little, crochet on a project, or take care of Elena who has woken up by now...
12:00-go to sleep...whew! that's why the blog is called "My Busy Crew"

here we all are at the graduation