Happy Thanksgiving!

We are spending the morning putting up our Christmas tree and watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The other day, though, we took some time to do a Thanksgiving craft and talk about what we are thankful for. Gabriella’s list was family, friends, food to eat, and things to do. Benjamin came up with food and Jonah. Then he looked outside, and it being garbage day, said “and garbage cans.”

Today, I am thankful for the everyday little moments that make life so special. The patter of little feet in the morning, and the ensuing hugs and kisses to start my day. Watching my boy concentrate on his coloring so he can stay in the lines “like a big boy.”  Listening to my girl read. The sparkle in her eyes when she spots me in the lineup of cars after school. Our family ritual of Dance Party after dinner. Snuggling, and dozing off, while trying to read just one more book at bedtime. Getting take-out and watching a movie with the hubby for our Date Nights. My boy asking to put his winter boots on and go “crunch crunch in the ‘now”. The hubby delivering Caribou coffee so many weekend mornings. The joy I see in my children’s faces when they get playtime with Nana, Papa Dit, Papa, Grandma…  Having the love of a special man, 2 wonderful children, a fabulous mom, and many many more family and friends. And happy memories to put a smile on my face as I look to the sky and say Happy Thanksgiving, Dad.

Many Blessings to you all on this Thanksgiving Day.

Our Little Swimmers

This past fall, Gabriella finally braved the waters enough to put her head all the way under in swimming lessons. Now that swimming lessons are over for the session, we don’t want her to lose her momentum. So Kirk and I took the kiddos swimming yesterday at a local hotel pool. The water was a little cold, but we had a great time!

Number Squeeze

When Gabriella missed a day of school last week, needing a little extra rest as her cold had been knocking her down, I e-mailed her teacher asking about the “Number Squeeze” game on the schedule for the week. We had a great time playing at home!

Build and Grow with Lowe’s

We had a great time building adorable snowman frames this weekend. The kids are really getting good with the hammers – Ben only got Kirk’s thumb once!

Old Man Winter Blew In

We got dumped on with about 8 inches of snow last weekend. I had to work all weekend, but Nana was here with Kirk and the kids, and they enjoyed building snowmen. Gabriella insisted on building hers all by herself – and even had the idea to use the jump rope for her hands! I love her creative mind.

And a little mosaic art time once they came back inside.

Chef Ben

Making rainbow cupcakes = a little color lesson, and a lot of fun squishing up the colors!

First make the batter.

Then pour it into individual baggies and add some food coloring. Ben was dancing and laughing while he did the squishing.

Next, the colors get layered in the pan and into the oven they go.

Ben was a little anxious. After 2 minutes, he said, “Mom, dem done.”

Ah, finally, getting to enjoy our yummy rainbow cupcakes.

We also enjoyed making a “pie”. This activity was inspired by Ben asking to make a pie like Tyrone [the Backyardigans]. Only our pie is not made from dough, it has one ingredient, shaving cream. Okay, two. Halfway through we decided to add some green sprinkles for fun. And we talked about how to make a real pie.

Me: If you were to make a real pie, what ingredients do you think you would need?

Ben: Seeds.

Me: What kind of seeds?

Ben: Black seeds.

Me: Any other ingredients?

Ben: That’s it!

Me: Then what would you do to make the pie?

 

Ben: Kick it and mix it.

Me: And after you’ve kicked it and mixed it?

Ben: Then I eat it all up!

Me: Don’t you have to bake it?

Ben: No, mom, you don’t bake pie.

 

 

 

 

 

I promise – if you ever have pie at my house – it will be baked. And it will contain a few more ingredients than black seeds.

Havin’ a Fun Fall

A trip to Apple Jack Orchards with the Jude’s

Raking leaves at home

Some family fun at 101 Market

Family Fun Night at Gab’s School – dress as a hero

Kirk’s birthday

Gabriella’s very first friend sleepover – we had lots of fun making cookies with Miss L!

Gabriella the Scarecrow for her Halloween parties at school and dance

 

 

Trick-or-Treating at Pioneer Park with the Cousins

A very happy Zookeeper with her seal, and a very unhappy policeman

 

Carving pumpkins

Can you believe I did not take a single picture on Halloween night? Kirk took the kiddos out trick-or-treating with our great friends, the Blackman’s. Benjamin would not wear his policeman costume, but he happily went out with a scary mask. He loved wearing it around the house, too, and shouting “Boo!” We’d pretend to get scared, and he’d quickly lift the mask and say “It’s just me!”

Precious Words

Bought a new trivia game the other day for the kiddos. Benjamin had some very interesting answers for me on a couple of his questions:

Question: What is soft – metal or cotton?

Ben’s answer “Cotton… and puppies!”

Question: Robin is 12 years old, Sally is 11 1/2. Who is older?

Ben’s answer “You mom!”

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Ben: Gabriella is a girl.

Nana: How do you know she’s a girl?

Ben: ‘Cause girls talk too much.

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Often times, when Gabriella is bossing Benjamin around, we kindly let her know “Gab, you are not the parent. We will take care of it.” Well, now Ben has started to chime in. And for those of you that have heard how articulate he is, you can imagine how funny it is to here him say “Stop Gabriella. You. Not. Da. Pawent.”

Our Budding Artist

When Gabriella was 2, she hated coloring. HATED. I was lucky to get her to spend 2 minutes sitting down with color crayons in hand. Now… well, let’s just say we are helping keep Crayola in business.

I love Gabriella’s creative spirit and her attention to detail. I love that she wants it to be just right, and she pushes herself to get better and to learn to draw new subjects. Everyday I am amazed at what I see. Today, I was beyond amazed. And very proud.

I’m not sure where she gets the artistic talent from, but I am pretty sure I was not drawing like that at 5.

Still learning everyday…

Getting into a good routine has been a challenge, but we’ve managed to fit in a few learning projects lately.

Benjamin worked on his scissors and glue skills with this Oscar the Grouch activity from DLTK Kids.

 

Gabriella is so anxious to learn to read and loved the word piggy bank I made her, which she gets to add her sight words to as she learns them.

We’ve added several words since I took this picture – we’ll have to get an updated pic up soon!

I even got to practice my marker skills! The kids are really into the Cars movie right now, and talked me into drawing the characters for them one morning. I was surprised and pleased with how they turned out. Kirk thought I traced them, but nope, this was freehand with Crayola markers – maybe I do have a little of my dad’s artistic ability :)

Precious Words

We are slowly settling into our new routine with Gab a big kindergartner now. Benjamin and I definitely miss her while she is gone, and getting up so early is definitely taking its toll. But we had some sweet & funny moments as we finished up the first week of school.

Wednesday: Ben was pretty excited to come home and watch a movie with mom. I turned on his favorite, Cars, and went upstairs to fix lunch. When I came back down to get him about 10 minutes later, he was curled up on the couch, sound asleep (see pic). So much for watching a movie with Mom!

Thursday: 6 am, getting ready for school, Gabriella was sitting there with her head in her hands and a scowl on her face. When I asked her what's wrong, she said "Mom, when's kindergarten going to be over?" Oh no, I thought, and asked her why. "It's really hard getting up this early."

Friday: Benjamin and I decided to join Gabriella for her school mass. We waited patiently in the church, and when she walked in with her class Ben stood up and called, “Ella!” She eagerly came and sat with us. Ben put his arm around her and gave her a big squeeze. Then he asked, “Ella, you wuff me?” She kissed the top of his head and told him yes. He then replied, “Aww… me wuff you too.”

First Day of School

Wow, has it really been since mid-June since I have posted? I guess I have a lot to catch up on! Hopefully I will have time to do that now that my precious little girl is in SCHOOL! Yes, I have a kindergartener.

The night before school started she had a mini-breakdown and I had a mega-breakdown. She was scared that she would miss me too much (among other things), and I was scared of the same exact thing. She cried for 30 minutes before falling asleep, and then I went to my room and cried for twice that long.

But the next morning she woke up with a renewed sense of readiness for school. Getting her up at 6 am when she is used to sleeping in until 8 proved to be a lot easier than I expected. And she excitedly woke up her brother, “Ben, it’s time to take sister to school!”

Breakfast Time

followed by driving to school and finishing breakfast in the car because my kids are slooowww eaters

and then into the classroom we go!

Only a few tears were shed at drop-off, but pick-up was another story. When I saw my not-so-little-anymore school girl, saw her face light up when she saw me, and she came running into my arms, I lost it.

Day 2 was a little easier. Nerves were pretty calm, in fact I decided to take another picture since we were both feeling better (and the fact that I forgot to have her hold a kindergarten sign the first day).

She enjoyed her 2nd day as much as her first.

And I still lost it at pick-up time.