Catherine Is Eight!

Catherine turned 8 on Sunday and started off her day with a breakfast of Pop Tarts, per her request.  We all went to Mass, followed by donuts afterward.  Then she got to choose her lunch.  Leftover turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce!  That was easy.  :)

For dessert we had cupcakes made from extra cake batter.

Then Catherine got to open a few presents.  New books to read!

Roller skates!  I think those have been on somebody's feet ever since Sunday.  They are adjustable from size 1-4, so they should last a few years.  Notice the blurry toddler in the back!

Catherine got Little House on the Prairie paper dolls, which she just loved, and she spent the next couple of hours playing with them.  We've been listening to the series in the car when we go places and we are almost all the way through it.

 

Even the boys were interested in checking it out.

Later in the afternoon, cousins came over to play!  Here is the dinner party, with a meal of fried chicken and kenebel soup.

Catherine with her birthday cake.

A close-up of the cake.  

And one last gift to open, a potholder loom.  Catherine finished her first potholder today!

The St. Louis Zoo, Too

So, we waited for the zoo train and then got on board.

We took up three seats and right away Anthony started to "get" Joseph.  This picture cracks me up!

The girls

The twins

The train was really neat, except the first train we got on broke down part-way to the next stop.  So we got off and walked around.  Here is the big male elephant.

The kids loved this cute "little" baby elephant.

Awwwww!

A stop for snacks and drinks.

Back on board the train (no more problems there), we rode through a few tunnels.  Here's Joseph going through one of them.  I think he was a little bit excited.

These two chimps were the funniest sight to see.  They were carrying something and one got behind the other, and then they walked along in perfect step with each other.  I wish I had gotten it on video, but I wasn't quick enough.  Da doot da doo, da doot da doo...

Who's checking out whom?

This bunch is all tuckered out and ready to go!

The St. Louis Zoo

On our trip to St. Louis in October, we had a free afternoon, so we went to the zoo. 

The kids have only ever been to the zoo in Wichita, so it was fun to explore a new one.

We got to see the penguins really close up, which was nice.  Anthony was very interested.

The St. Louis Zoo has free admission, but it costs a lot for parking, for the carousel, for the train, even to get into the children's zoo.

Of course, we rode the carousel anyway! :)

The kids loved the carousel!

The zoo was all decorated for Halloween. 

And, of course, we had to ride on the train.  I mean, look at that neat train.  How could we not? :)


To be continued...

Never Thought I'd Experience One Here!

What am I talking about? 

An earthquake!

Here in Kansas we worry about tornadoes, hailstorms, windstorms, drought, flooding, lightning strikes, but I can say I have NEVER ONCE given earthquakes even a passing thought!

And yet, on Saturday night, we had just finished watching that crazy, but exciting K-State/OSU football game, where even with one second left to play, K-State had a chance to score to tie the game.  I went to get ready for bed and about 10-15 minutes later (10:53 pm to be exact), it started. 

I had just brushed my teeth and was about to open the door to leave the bathroom when I heard a bunch of rattling and banging.  I thought to myself, What on earth is Dan doing out there?!  In our bedroom, I was astonished to see two tall pillar candle holders and my jewelry box jumping around on my dresser.  Dan was out in the living room and said it sounded like there were people jumping up and down on the roof and trying to break in the doors.  In less than 30 seconds it all stopped and that was it.  The first earthquake experience for both of us.

Later, we found out the earthquake was of 5.6 magnitude and was centered about 45 miles east of Oklahoma City.

Trick Or Treat

Catherine, the Good Witch; Dominic, as Woody; Anne, the Princess; Joseph the Knight; Anthony, the Toucan.

Anthony would not keep the Toucan head up there for very long.

Here Anthony is about ready to start crying because somebody (probably me) put the hood of his costume back up.

Sisters

The Knight and the Princess

Trick-or-treating.

The four older kids were so excited to go out trick-or-treating.  Anthony rode around in the little green wagon, eating as much candy as we would let him.  Then he suddenly seemed to figure out that the kids were getting candy at these houses, and he started launching himself over the side of the wagon when we got to each house, so he could take his own little bucket up to the house to get candy, too.  It was so funny.  He was not afraid at all.

Pumpkin Carving

A week before Halloween we went to the store to buy some pumpkins to carve.  Dan had planted some, but they did not survive.

Dan bought a pattern book, but decided that in order to carve 4 pumpkins in one evening, he'd better simplify.

So he had each of the four big kids draw a picture of what they wanted their pumpkin face to look like, and then he drew it onto the pumpkin and carved it.

Here is Joseph with his pumpkin.

While Daddy carved, the kids began to show me their scary faces.  Here's Catherine.

Anne just can't make her face very scary!

Dominic

Joseph

Anytime we ask Anthony to show us his funny face, this is what he does.

Anthony, of course, was right in the middle of all the action.

The girls loved to pull out the seeds and goop with their hands.

The end result.  From the left:  Dominic, Joseph, Catherine, and Anne.