Thanksgiving Break

Dave and I both had Thanksgiving week off of work, and I gave the kids the whole week off of school.  And we took a BREAK!  It was wonderful and much needed.  We had good times with family and friends.  We ate dinner in front of a movie three times.  We did some organizing and shopping.  And we gave thanks.  Here's some of what we did.

On Monday and Tuesday, Dave and Caleb went backpacking with some friends from church.  Not my kind of fun, but they had a great time.

Meanwhile, Molly and Audrey came over for a girls' night.  We ate junk and watched a movie and  dressed babies in matching outfits.

Wednesday was sunny and warm, so we went to the zoo. We had a picnic in the park first.

The kids rode the carousel and the train.

I just had to include this picture of Dave reading to Jordanna.  The kids were thrilled to have him home.

Thursday was Thanksgiving at my parents' house with my Grandma and aunt.

Four Generations

Friday we put up the Christmas tree.  For some reason, most of the ornaments are on the front on the bottom.

And now we have 2 birthdays to celebrate and Christmas coming soon!

Things I Don't Want to Forget

I feel like time is just flying lately! How is it even possible that in a few short weeks, Jordanna will turn 3 and Sierra will turn 1. Anyway, here are a few recent memories that I don't want to forget.

 - We were playing soccer with the kids in the backyard the other night. When Dave scored, Alexa cheered that he had gotten a strike. A few minutes later, she cheered again that he had gotten a field goal. She's a bit confused on her sports vocabulary. And Dave kept pretending to miss the ball so that the kids could score.

-Jordanna is usually the first child up in the morning. I love how she starts talking a mile a minute as soon as she gets up (okay, I love this even more when it's 7:30 or later). I love her sweet morning cuddles and the few minutes we get to spend alone before the others get up.

 -I love story time with the kids. I read the books facing out like the librarian while they sit on the floor in front of me. The other day, as I was reading, they kept sneaking back to the playroom one at a time to get another book to add to my pile. I pretended not to notice, and we must have read 10 or 12 books in a row.

 -My normally quiet Caleb will all of a sudden burst forth with a long explanation of how he thinks something works or what should be invented or why something happens. I love hearing the wheels turning in his head.

 -Right before bed, we sit on Caleb's bed and read a book and have family devotions. I love closing the day listening to 3 little voices belt out "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" or "All Hail the Power of Jesus Name." And Sierra grins and coos along.

 -Speaking of Sierra, when I walk past her, she wiggles and stretches will all her might to try and get to me. I don't think anyone has ever adored me so much or needed me so much as she does.

 -I love nursing and rocking a sleepy Sierra before bed. She is so warm and cuddly and gives the goofiest smiles. We moved her into the girls' room last week, and I am loving having my room back, but I do miss her.

That's all for now because Sierra is paging me from upstairs. I'm sure I'll think of more to share later.

Apparently Alexa Found My Camera Again

And here are some of the lovely pictures that she took.

From My Kitchen

Jordanna helping me make Snickerdoodles for church.  She LOVED rolling the dough into balls.  One lady even told me that they were the best Snickerdoodles she had ever had.

Sisters!

Teaching Time

Alexa is still struggling with blending short vowel words in phonics.  So I'm always trying to think of new ways to practice.  Last week we put consonants on some post it notes and endings (at, ad, ig, etc.) on another pile.  Then we stuck the post it notes to cars, crashed them into each other, and read the words.

Then I helped Caleb with a word search puzzle.

Happy Birthday, Molly!

For Molly's birthday this year, I offered to keep Audrey over night so that she could get a break and go out on a date with Nick.  We met for lunch at Chickfila last Friday, and I took Audrey home with me afterwards.  I got everyone down for naps then after naps we met Megan and Charlie at the park.  When we got home, Dave chased kids while I made dinner.  I bathed Audrey and Sierra together, and the only pictures I took were when they were in the bath, probably because that's the only time they were contained and happy.  Molly and Nick picked Audrey up the next morning.  We had a great time having Audrey over for hopefully her first of many sleepovers!

Cutely Costumed Children

I am WAY behind in blogging.  Life just keeps me busy these days.  Anyway, we had some cutely dressed up children a few weeks ago: an Angry Bird, a butterfly, a flower, and Cinderella.

We had quite the busy fun day (which of course also happened to be the day after I was at urgent care with Sierra until 2 a.m.).  When Dave got home from work, we took the kids trick or treating at Publix where they had stations set up in each department.  Them we went to an event at the nearby safety village.  It was fun for the kids but a bit cheesy.  They'd play a game about bike helmets or car safety and then get candy.  Next we went to Chickfila where the kids got free kids meals for being in costume.  Finally, we went to my parents' church as we usually do for fun and games.  And the kids got lots of candy.  The end.