Christmas is just six days away and Happy the Elf has been busy keeping an eye on the Talbert kids. Every night he goes to the north pole to report to Santa and in the morning he returns, sometimes in the most unusual places. On the morning of December 1, Kitty spotted our little elf friend on the shelf of our book case. He looked like a kind and friendly little elf, so the kids quickly named him Happy. Happy lives up to his name. He is indeed a kind…
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Happy Birthday Little Bear
It was a cold and blustery December day in Spokane, Washington. We had a couple of inches of snow on the ground and more was coming. The Talbert kids were anxious and excited about celebrating the birth of two babies. The house was decorated with stockings, an advent wreath and lit up Christmas tree. Chris and I just returned from my last ob appointment and a lunch date at Perkins. That afternoon Chris had to go back to the office in the upstairs bedroom to work. I was tired, sore,…
Read MoreChocolate Covered Pretzels #Christmas #recipe
Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love watching the excitement on my children’s faces when we lift a new flap on our Advent calendar and light a new candle on our Advent wreath in anticipation of Jesus’ birth. We have several Christmas traditions. Some are from our Catholic faith while others are just because. Making chocolate covered pretzels is one of our, “just because,” traditions for Christmas. This simple recipe is fun and everyone loves sweet flavors mixed with the salty. Ingredients: 1 20 oz bag of pretzels1…
Read MoreI Need a Vacation
**Please note this post is a little graphic and should not be read by persons with a weak stomach. It has been a rough and hectic couple of weeks for me. Thanksgiving arrived and I was busy cooking, cleaning and entertaining my family. Now that it is December my kids are excited and anxious about Christmas. Our tree is up, the lights are out on our front porch, our advent wreath is up and the nativity scene is displayed. I finally got my Christmas cards addressed and ready to mail…
Read MoreHappy the Elf
I love celebrating Christmas. We have many Christmas traditions including driving around to look at the lights, listening to Christmas music, saying special prayers after lighting our advent wreath and displaying our nativity scene. This year we started a new tradition. On the morning of December 1 the kids woke up and found a visitor from the North Pole. Meet Happy the Elf. Happy is a friendly scout elf sent by Santa to watch the Talbert kids and report back how they have been behaving. Each night he leaves our…
Read More#WordlessWednesday with #linky on a Tuesday – A not so Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday is live on thehealthymoms.net and talbertzoo.com. Link up to your Wordless Wednesday post. I am finding less and less time to update this blog and well, do things that I enjoy. I know I have ranted about my lack of time since we’ve moved to Chicago and the rant continues. I pray and hope every single day that soon I will have time for the things that I enjoy. I need to try to accept the way my life is in the here and the now which has…
Read MoreWe Love Our Library
When we moved to Crystal Lake (Chicago) I knew that Bear was going to get bored quickly once his siblings all started school. This is the first year that I have Monkey in school full time and am home with just my youngest. I knew he would need to develop better social skills and interact with kids his age. We can’t afford to put him into a preschool, so the next best thing is our local library. The Crystal Lake Public Library is one of the top rated libraries in…
Read MoreA Very Scary Halloween Story
Once upon a time there was a tired and cranky mother of five energetic children. Halloween had arrived and the youngsters were excited about seeing their Jack o’ Lanterns all lit up, attending the Halloween party at school, and of course trick or’ treating. The young family had recently moved from a far away state. Their new neighborhood was friendly, but many areas in the new town were unfamiliar. Mom and Dad warned their children about going trick or treating outside of the neighborhood. “It just isn’t safe to be…
Read MoreSlowing Down October
Today is October 27 and I can not believe that the month is nearly over. I noticed that I have been updating this blog less and less so I will try my best to write more often. It seems like my days fly by faster and faster. Don’t you wish that you could just make your day go in slow motion? I certainly do. When I was talking to Chris the other day I told him that I never get my to-do list done. Does that ever happen to you? …
Read MoreDreaming
I have been doing a lot of dreaming lately. It is not just the dreaming that you do when you are asleep at night, I also dream when it is quiet in the house and I only have this little guy for company. Being a mother of five children, four with special needs, is very challenging for me. So I dream about what my life would be like if they were different, or if they were a little older. What if always crosses my mind. What would my life be…
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