This is Eric's Christmas gift. I did this before he and I decided we would be foregoing gifts to/from each other this year. So, the kids and I gave it to him the other night. You can't really tell very well in the picture, but there's a braid of hair on the top and bottom. Horse hair is shockingly hard to work with. The vet gave us some of Cody's mane and tail and I knew we'd want to do something with it. The rest will go to the barn and hang in tribute.

I found it very hard to put this project together, for obvious reasons. I'm a little surprised how emotional I still get after over 3 months. Eric really enjoyed the collage and it will hang proudly in the Schreiber home.

ARGH!!!! I'm tired of sweeping up glass! Two nights ago, while I was trying to get dinner ready, Max, who is in constant motion, tossed an orange up and hit the light fixture. It popped and basically, it rained glass. He helped me get the dogs and baby to safe places, but I spent the next hour or so tracking down itty bitty pieces of glass.
The very next night, I was cooking a pork loin and went to add a little more water to the dish. BOOM! This time it wasn't a pop, it was an explosion. I screamed and ALL the kids came running. I had a piece of meat searing on the oven rack, spaghetti squash next to it garnished with glass and chunks of sharp pieces all over the inside and outside of the oven. WTF?!?! Eric walks in the door only minutes/seconds? later, as I'm still standing in front of the oven, thinking, "I don't even know where to start." We were able to salvage the meat and squash. At least no one began bleeding from the mouth as we sat at the dinner table. I opted out of this clean-up fiasco and offered to muck stalls and feed the horses. I definitely got the better bargain.


This was the biggest piece.

Most were of this size or smaller.

I knew Eric would be better at this sort of thing, because he is so anal (ahem), thorough. He took apart the oven and cleaned it out very well. However, how well can you REALLY clean up minuscule pieces of glass? I will be sweeping up glass for months.

Eric's company held a special celebration at the Columbus Zoo this past Saturday. The boys had a birthday party/overnight, so it was Dad, Mom, and the girls. Al got to decorate her own cookie after visiting Santa.

Columbus Zoo's "Wildlights" is awesome. New LED lights this year provided a beautiful scene. I think I heard over 2 million people visit Wildlights each year. Seeing how busy it was last Saturday, I don't doubt those numbers one bit.

Eric admits failing to read his email regarding what special shows the company had planned for Saturday. They rented a room for the employees and families. Zoo staff brought in animals for the kids to see and they had their own Santa. Cool, right? Yes. Very cool. Would have been even cooler if we had known about the Santa and didn't stand in line for 45 minutes waiting for the zoo Santa. But, whatever. We ended up getting the "Good Santa Photo" and the "Bad Santa Photo".

I sat Viv on Santa's lap and held my breath. She was mesmerized. She would have stared at him the whole time if it weren't for the photographer shaking a very loud bell.

Then, we went to the company Santa. Viv was getting tired and hungry. This Santa got the raw end of the deal.
Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas!

TIME FOR A POLL!!!


Viv has these long wisps of hair on either side of her head and a rat-tail in the back. I'm starting to think I should just cut these pieces.

As you can see, they are really long! Maybe a more clean-cut look? I already cut her bangs because they were getting in her eyes. So, obviously we won't be waiting until her 1st birthday for the hair-cutting to begin.

On the side of the blog, there is a poll. Vote!!!

CHRISTMAS FUN!


This was a gift from my sister to Eric last year. Our annual tradition is to watch "A Christmas Story" on Thanksgiving Day. Last year we went to the Christmas Story house in Cleveland. Great movie. Now, we have our own Frajeelay leg lamp!

Uh oh. Look who found the Christmas tree!

Sure, this could be an old man with a long nose and googly eyes. OR...........

Yeah, the cookie making got out of control. Dad, if you're reading this, don't be mad. The kids didn't know cookie dough would make grease stains on the ceiling.

More Viv pictures. It seems there's an uneven amount of photos of the baby, but she's a baby, right? :)



Look who found the dog's water dish! See the water splashed on the wall, her clothes, the floor.....

I could have stopped her, but 1. Why ruin the fun? 2. I was too busy taking pictures 3. Natural consequences, baby. She'll feel wet, not like it, then decide not to do it again......Wow, that was just as funny typed as it was in my head.

Meleah, Crissy, notice the babylegs? Love 'em. She thinks she's such a big deal.

Vivian LOVES Elmo!! She hears the theme from Elmo's World no matter where she is in the house.

I mentioned we got George back this weekend. The family did a wonderful job training him. George was a pretty calm horse for being green and the training helped his demeanor even more. Eric and I spent some time with him on Sunday.
Eric rode first and George was behaving....well enough. At one point, the saddle began slipping and Eric dumped off the side. This freaked George a little - ok, a lot. The horse takes off running. He misses the turn headed back to the barn and must have contemplated jumping the fence, but what ensued was a slider into home base-however not very graceful. He breaks the fence (which is an electric rope, basically), is up on his feet and at a dead sprint for the field. Eric is still lying on the ground, but moving. I call out to him to see if he's ok and he, well, kinda answers me. Hey, he was moving, ok!! I go after the horse, who has stopped just across the pond. I approach him as he waits for me. At the same time, the kids +2 are running out of the house, yelling. I'm not paying much attention to them, only to yell back."Shhhhh Don't spook the horse!" To which they reply....."Dylan cut his hand and is bleeding!!" Once I get George by the bridle, I turn to see that Eric is up and walking and the bleeding wound from friend, Dylan's, hand is only a flesh wound.







My turn out was a little less dramatic.

A family from the cowboy mounted shooting circuit has been training George for the past couple months. On Friday, Eric and the kids traveled to their house in North Central Ohio to retrieve George and take in some pheasant hunting. You read right.

I was concerned that I made the choice not to go....the baby, her naps, the 2 hour drive, the weather, etc. I figured the kids would get cold/bored and sit in the house all day. Soooo not the case. They were out there hunting and loving every minute of it.


Ally. She ain't no girlie-girl!!

The group.

Um, yeah. I can't tell you if I'm proud or mortified.

Ally designated herself the official pheasant carrier. Eric said she cradled one and while petting it said, "It just looks so lifeless." I asked her later what she meant by that. I kind of expected a philosophical answer like she had just seen it flying and now it was still. She said, "Well it's head just kept flopping around all over." She's a maniac.

They came home from this trip with souvenir pheasant feet and blood all over their clothes. Their instructions were to.. ..go ahead and tell Mom how much fun you had...in VERY LITTLE DETAIL. Thank God.

*Oh, and about 20 yards from their destination, the wheel fell off the trailer!! They were able to scrounge enough parts to get it back on for the trip home. The rolling turd came through, I guess. I have never felt more hillbilly in all my life.

Thanksgiving at the Schreibers. Eric has taken over turkey duty for the past few years. He found a recipe on the Internet called "kickass turkey". We've been making it ever since. YUM!
*Notice Boo - you can't actually see the drool on his chops, but it's there.

The boys helped me out. Jay was in charge of the mandolin (I KNOW!! At least it's not a sledgehammer) Max was in charge of grating cheese for the turnip gratin.(recipe from pioneer woman's website). Oddly enough, Max grated his finger and Jay came out of mandolin slicing unscathed.

Even Gracie and Boo enjoyed the holiday!

I can't even tell you why Max fell asleep on the stairs. All I know is that he hasn't done this in about 9 years. Kinda sweet.

Ahhh.....ok, I feel better, now. Sorry about that bah humbug stuff. It happens every year. Thankfully I'm able to get myself out of it, thanks to the dedication of my wonderful and generous friend, Kim. She "made" me take steps to enjoy Christmas a couple years ago. Baking cookies, "Elf", candy cane cocoa, watching the kids enjoy the season, these are the things Christmas is all about anyway.

Before we get wrapped up in the Christmas holiday, lest we not forget Thanksgiving. OF course I am thankful for my family, friends, health, country, etc. Here are a few more obscure things I am thankful for:

1. Ellen Degeneres (because she makes me laugh every day)

2. The smell of horses ( not the shit, but their, ya know, horsey smell)

3. The brief time I had in my life when I could stand in line at the grocery store and NOT rock back and forth. Noticed I had really just stopped doing that before having Viv.

4. Ponytail holders

5. Grapes. Ok, what the hell, fermented grapes. Hee Hee Hee.

6. Odor eliminator garbage bags

7. Peroxide and vinegar (although I haven't tried them together). Who KNEW you could clean so many things with them!

8. That reminds me...occasionally an actual HELPFUL email comes my way. So, the Internet would be another thing I'm grateful for.

9. Elmo. 'Nuff said, right?

10. Coffee, chocolate and Johnny Depp

I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving. Eat, drink, and be merry. I know I will!!! :)

*Sigh*

It's a struggle every year. I want to be festive. I really do.

Why am I such a bah humbug?!?!

Whoever said money won't buy you happiness, never had 3+ kids with Christmas lists. One of those kids had his list made out long before Halloween. They've never had to explain why even Santa can't bring you the $200 item on your list, which, by the way, includes 12 other items. My dear hubby's solution seems obvious, right? "Well, we'll just have to come up with 3 or 4 items and they'll have to be happy with that." Uh....ok. So, since Santa brings 3 gifts each year, that leaves.....one, maybe two presents to open Christmas Eve???!!! Yeah, it's more obvious he's never had to do the Christmas shopping, organizing, hiding, or budgeting. ARGH! Yes, we will cut back even more this year, blah, blah, blah. I'm even considering reaping the savings on Black Friday. EEK!! I'm not quite that desperate ...yet.

Oh! And want to know what's even MORE fun this year?! Christmas shopping with an 8 month old baby with a rigid nap schedule! ............(yay.)

Inner scrooge, you persistent bastard, one of these Christmases you WILL go down! I WILL be filled with joy, dammit!!!

And so it starts.................crawling...walking...the urge to move. Actually, Viv has little interest in crawling. She does, however, want to walk!! She's been trying to pull herself up lately. She usually is crawling up ME as I sit on the floor with her. She has gotten herself to her knees, mostly. Today, she got herself all the way up on her feet via the couch.


"NOW what do I do?!?!" The reason she is crying is because the only way down is to, basically, fall. OR, she can wait for mommy to come pick her up. It's a shame mommy is too busy taking a picture. WAH!!!!!!!!........

Viv loves being outside. (Especially with Max)

Apparently, she loves grass, too!! :)

Too tired to even lay down.......:)

Ohio State can suck it.

I had high hopes. OSU fans (in general) are obnoxious, so I usually route for whoever is playing against OSU. Don't get me wrong, I happen to love some OSU fans - some great friends and wonderful acquaintances. However, we've lived in many big ten states and one SEC state. We have never strayed from our Iowa roots. We have not become gophers, bulldogs, badgers, or buckeyes. I had high hopes for Iowa. They had a rookie, freshman quarterback and they came to play. They gave it a great shot.

GO HAWKEYES!!!!!!!

Vivi loves the dogs. Boo likes to lick food off her face and Gracie, well, tolerates the baby. This is as close as Gracie likes to get before she gets up and walks away. Viv's idea of affection is to grab and pull, so I don't blame her :)

Ally

Jay

Max

Our neighbor is an artist and told us about the local art studio's November show. It's called "Through the Eyes of A Child". I told the kids to draw/create something for it. I didn't have to twist their arm :)


Last night was the reception, so we went to see the kids' artwork displayed!!

So, while the grown-ups were partying, Viv was "lights out". Actually, since I had been awake since 4:30 AM, I was lights out, too. I laid on the couch and watched "Music and Lyrics", while Viv slept. The partying was done by JON, while KATE stayed with the kids. Hmmmm...sound familiar????

Mark was "Michael". You can't see his wings in this picture, but it was a great costume.

Some memorable costumes from Wright's Halloween Party:


LOVE it!

Rock of Love

I.... don't even...know, but it was hilarious.

Dawn on Uno