SEASON'S GREETINGS

Another year has almost come to a close once again, and I ask myself, “Where has all the time gone”? I feel that in a blink of the eye, we find yourselves entering a new year. My children are no longer babies, and Joey's gray hair is getting much more noticeable. We have gone through way too much this year, just like any other year, which reminds me that this will be the first edition of my Christmas letter, therefore I need to go back to get everyone caught up in the Schuman household.

Abygehl- (Ms. Schuman) will turn 3 on the 7^th of December. She believes she is wiser beyond her years, as to when asked how old she will be, she replies “5”. She started potty training and although we haven't yet figured it out, I do see the light at the end of the tunnel. Aby is also a VERY big help around the house, whether it be picking up a mess or making one. She is always willing to lend a hand. I recently enrolled her in ECFE classes, which she loves! She plays, sings, and runs around with kids her own age. Aby enjoys her brother (most days), Dora, her dolls, dresses, baking and being outside. It is fun to have someone for both Joey and I to shop with as she likes clothing and Fleet Farm.

Elijah- (Mr. Man) runs the show around here. He started walking when he was 10 months old, which made me nervous, but he needed a way to catch his sister, and now the two of them run laps around me. He turned 1 on the 6^th of October, and continues to grow and learn. Along with Aby, I also enrolled him in ECFE classes. He gets the chance to run around and make friends, but he mostly cares what he can fit into his mouth. Last week it was a paint brush with green paint on it. Boys will be Boys, which I am finding out the hard way. He LOVES his sister, trucks, climbing on everything and being outside. The boy never seems to walk but runs everywhere he possibly can. He is a joy to have around!

Joseph- currently is still working with H&R construction out of Dalton. He continues to very much enjoys fishing and hunting. He was even lucky enough to bag a 9 point buck this year. Our freezer is over flowing with game meat. Joey is a wonderful father and we can't wait till he gets laid off for the winter.

Erin- continue to be a stay-at-home mom, working Friday evenings at BINGO and causal at The Cottages in Fergus. I also graduated from college in April with an Associate Degree. Everyday is a new adventure for me. I am consistently trying to find activities and outings for the kids and I. We managed to make it to the Chahinkapa zoo, multiple parks, and lakes this past summer. I was also able to attend 2 scrap-booking retreats this past year, which allowed me to have some much needed time to myself.

The Schumans- At the beginning of 2010 we finally sold our home! We had to move into my parents house for almost 2 months before we could move into our current house. We were able to find a 4 bedroom home with a family room that was more then double the square footage of our old home. We have the joy of seeing wildlife everyday, which includes 5 deer who live in the woods behind our house.

We hope this letter finds everyone healthy, and in good spirits. Another year in the books, and this family is looking forward to what 2011 has to offer!

Love the Schumans- Joesph, Erin, Abygehl, and Elijah

Playdough in the making

I recently enrolled the kids in Early Childhood classes in our town. I remember going to them when I was little with my mom and knew that if I still had those good memories with my mother then my kids would hopefully be caring these memories with them and share them with their kids (which I don't want to think about yet).

At class last week, we received a recipe for Home Made Play dough. A little nervous at first about making it, we ventured out last evening and gathered our supplies.

The recipe is as follows:

ECFE's Favorite Playdough Recipe

2 cups boiling water
(including any food coloring)

Add:
2 Tbsp oil to boiling water
1 Tbsp powdered alum

Add Alternately:
½ Cup salt
2 Cups flour

Playdough needs to be kneaded to work out flour lumps
(Keep hot mixture away from children until cool)

We made both Orange and Red. Now the recipe doesn't say when to take the mixture off the burner, so for the Orange we left the pot on the burner but turned it off, and for the Red we removed the pot from the burner. I don't think there was much of a difference besides the red might have cooled a little faster. But there you have it. A fun activity to do with the kids!

*Note: I found my Alum at the grocery store. They had 2 different brands, 1 was $2.98 and the other was $1.09. I went with the cheaper one and it worked fine.

The Orange doesn't look orange, but it works!

-Young Schumom

The weather outside is frightful

We (my kids and I) find ourselves in the middle of a minor snow storm. The dish is out, so I figured (while the kids are playing well together) that I would try and attempt to get caught up on my blog posts. I am not very good at making sure I write something every day or even every other day. I value my free time with no little ones around. I have a lot to do around my house considering I am a stay at home mom while my husband is gone during the week. So everything from Monday morning till Friday evening is my responsibility. Did I mention we also have 3 dogs... ruff, ruff, ruff. Therefore, when it snows outside I am the one that should clean the walk, and such. But thankfully we moved to a location that is considered “country”. I use “ “ because everything else around us is town. (I didn't make the rules, I just deal with them.) So any who, we don't have sidewalks and the mailman drives to our mailbox, so if I don't get out there in time, no need to worry about anyone failing... ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK! To conclude, I wanted to leave feeling warm, cause when I look out the window at the coldness all around me, I want to think of warm times. ENJOY!

Young Schumom

Out of the mouth of a schu-child

We stopped at my work tonight to pick up my pay check .

Aby asked, “Mom is this where all your friends are?”

I said, “No baby.”
In the mean time, a gal walked out and said she would watch the kids while I ran inside so I wouldn't have to bring them in with me the 1.2 seconds I would have been in there for.

I came back to the car, said thank you to the gal and hopped in.
Aby said, “Mom, well you have at least one friend!”

Oh Ms. Schuman, how you have stolen my heart. You were a blessing the day you were born, you are MY best friend, my sweet baby girl!

Not Me Monday

*I am potty training our two and a half year old, so when I ran out of pullups (and refused to put her brothers size 3 diaper on her) I certainly DID NOT put an extra thick pad in her underwear just in case she potted during nap time.

*I would NEVER forget to empty her potty chair, and then find my son in playing in it.

*To avoid the embarrassment of my daughter wetting herself in public, I DID NOT use a thin pad in her underwear to catch any dribbles. Being the mother I am, I would have had many extra pair of pants along, because I LOVE doing laundry everyday!

*Also, I WOULD NEVER allow her to run around a friend's son's first birthday party with just a pullup and t-shirt on cause she wet through everything else, NEVER!

*I would have NEVER put a swim suit bottom on her because I ran out of clean underwear. That would NEVER happen because I LOVE doing laundry.

A few firsts

These are a few of Mr. E's firsts (first ice cream cone, ride with daddy, and eating spaghetti)

Oh Mr. E
how you can be

such a boy!

Not Me Monday

*Our garage is rather full of stuff, so when it was pouring out when we got home I DID NOT pull into the garage pushing some items out of the way with my vehicle so I could at least get my door open so we could get out without getting wet.

* I certainly DID NOT allow our 2 ½ year old to take off her shoes, socks, and pants so she could stick her feet in the water yesterday, (which I might add was a pretty cool day)
:side note, hubby checked the water out first and said it was really warm

* Then after, I DID NOT allow her to ride home with nothing on her bottom because she would not put on a new pull up... NEVER! (we are potty training)

*I DID NOT beg my husband to stay home from work because I didn't want to be left alone with the little ones all week long.

NOT to break any rules...
BUT

I DID go g-saleing this past week and found some amazing deals!