The Final Countdown

The countdown has started.  There are exactly seven-yes, SEVEN-days until Audrey's First Communion. And Olivia's Baptism. And my Prom.  Dear God, what did we get ourselves into?
The next week entails a LOT. We have to clean the house, the WHOLE house.  We have to buy shoes for Audrey, and for me. We have to cook, cook and cook some more. The yard needs mowed. We should probably finish the work on the powder room. There's a 4-H presentation due Tuesday and oh, and did I mention that 4-H pigs come this week too? This is going to be one. long. week. 
But at least I have a prom dress. Twenty four hours ago, I didn't. Did I mention that prom is in a week?  I have quite a problem with procrastination, but in my defence I THOUGHT I had a prom dress. But I tried it on again a few nights ago, and it turns out I didn't have it zipped all the way when I tried it on last. I had to have Mom AND Audrey help zip it up and when I did, after several failed attempts, get it zipped, I could not breathe. stupid ribs.  So, in an attempt to save what little precious pre-C, B, P time was left I ordered a dress off of Macy's and it showed up this morning in the mail. THANK GOD! And it fit! (Well, minus a few alterations involving some way-too-long straps.) But, hey, I HAVE A DRESS!  On to the next big thing I must do, though I'm not honestly sure what that is...

Have no fear! We are 8 will still be here!

Just a heads up, as We are 8 is still new it is still undergoing some changes, and as such a few things are going to change. Just cosmetic things, so don't worry! Here are some things you will get to look forward to with the updates:

• An actual written piece for the homeschooling page
• A new fuller family page, instead of each member having their own.
• A page of children's, teen's and adult's book reviews, reviewed by me (Sam), my siblings, my Mom, and maybe even Dad! (If we can con him into it)

So be on the lookout for these updates and more!!!!

For Mommy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!

-love us kids(:

A Livvy Photo Shoot

Happy

What do I think of when I think of happy? I think of Lili's laugh. I think of Livvy's smile. I think of Dominic's dancing. I think of Audrey's singing. I think of Tommy's humor. I think of my two best friends.
My happy place is where-ever my family is. It's where life is absolutely insane. It's when the house is loud and you can't hear yourself think. It's the late night talks with my eight year old bunk mate. It's the 'jokes' with my three year old sunshine. It's the light saber duals with my little bro. It's watching TV with Tommy and muting it so we can make up our own dialogue. It's watching Livvy bring a smile to people's faces. It's laughing 'til it hurts.  That's my Happy. <3

Crazy Weekend

7:00 a.m. Saturday morning my alarm goes off and it is the start of the crazy weekend. following true Ciferno fashion things still needed packed, kids still needed to be woken up and socks and shoes still needed to be found, but somehow we always manage to get out of the house on time (or close to it anyway), by 10:30 the cars were full of suit cases and kids, and we were on our way to Pennsylvania for wedding weekend (woohoo!!)

The wedding was beautiful, but anybody can say that about any wedding, but this wedding really was amazing.  Not because of the decor or her dress or the venue but because of the people there, a church full of people that love you is a beautiful thing, and I hope that the bride and groom know that(:

The reception was a blast for the little kids, Lili actually went to the reception in the room next to the one we were at and got a puzzle piece cookie from them. Dominic met our cousin's next door neighbor, was cradle snatched by her and the two of them danced together for most of the night.  And Audrey spent the evening on the dance floor with my cousin's daughter Katie.  By nine thirty that night Lili was falling asleep on a row of chairs, Dominic was trying not to fall over while dancing and Audrey was getting grumpy so Mom took them back to the hotel where all of the kids (other than Audrey) fell fast asleep. Sunday was full of swimming and more packing and going to our Aunt and Uncle's for the afternoon. But now we're back home, all the little kids are worn out and the house is quiet. Dad's back at work and Mom's busy cleaning up the last of the Easter decorations. That's all. Here's some pictures of the little kids at the wedding.

Audrey and cousin K.

Lili playing with the cheese in her French Onion Soup

The Bride and Groom (or the Groom and Bride if you're looking from left to right)

goofy smiles

Interpretive Dance

Ring around the rosy

April Sun



Today is absolutely beautiful, 70 degrees and sunny and all of us kids are making the most of it(:



The morning started off with a strange expression from Livvy



Then some doll-house-playing on the deck

which soon led to a cross-country Doll House Family Vacation

Dominic took a trip to the Moon of Endor (from Star Wars)

Tommy made a fire and cooked EDIBLE food so that he could move up in ranks for Boy Scouts

Dad (who blew out his back and had to call off work) put on a ridiculous turban

Don't worry, we checked to make sure he didn't have Voldemort coming out the back of his head ;)

Next came some epic zip-lining

and hot dog roasting



THE TURBAN HAS BEEN GIFTED TO THE NEXT GENERATION!

Mommy and Livvy in the rocking chair (:



and, what the heck, a picture of me :P

And the day is still young!!



God and Green Jesus

Is it just my siblings that are prone to thinking that priests are God? A few minutes ago I was showing Audrey, Dominic and Lili We are 8, and Lili pointed to the photo of Tommy, Fr. Tim, Fr. Dan and Jason and goes "Hey, look! It's God!" which brings us to the question; Why do little kids think that priests are God? When Audrey was three Fr. Behrend was the parochial vicar at our church, and every week she would ask the same question "is Green Jesus going to be at church today?", for a while no one really knew who this 'Green Jesus' was, and then Audrey pointed him out; Fr. Behrend in his green vestments, and since then Green Jesus has been a part of her life. It has been a few years since then (FIVE!) and Fr. Behrend has been gone from our church for four, but every once and a while you still hear something about Green Jesus, Audrey still has the photo of the two of them above her bed, and every Christmas we send him a card and he does the same for us. It just goes to show that you can find God in everyone, and Audrey found God in a very nice priest wearing green vestments.

Just another day in the life and times of the 8

So it is Wednesday, just another Wednesday.  Nothing special, nothing fantastic, just school, and laundry, and cooking, and laundry, and dishes, and more laundry.  The average day has four loads of laundry, more if we get behind or a little child comes running down stairs with arm fulls of mud-covered clothes. I feel for the Duggars, though they have more than one washer. Shockingly today there isn't as much as normal, we're ahead of schedule, so there is no laundry going at the moment, although I think I might have a mound of clothes on my bedroom floor.......

Baby brother was confirmed last night, CONGRATS TOMMY!!!