From Thanksgiving to Christmas

We're getting ready for Christmas here! Our tree is up, the outside lights and decorations are up, shopping is nearly finished, and we got our Christmas pictures taken today. After all, there is only 26 days to go! Here are some of our Christmas pics:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Give thanks to the Lord,
For He is good,
His love endures forever.
Psalm 118:29

I'm thankful for my three little wild things this Thanksgiving:



Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday, Danny!

Today is Danny's 38th birthday. He took the day off and has had a good family day. He took Owen deer hunting for the first time. Before they went I told Owen to remember he had to be quiet. He was excited to go but said, "I hate that part about it, don't you?". But Danny said he was so good and quiet and even fell asleep! Here they are about to leave. Owen is wearing Danny's orange vest because he doesn't have one of his own. It was huge on him. Danny said you had to have 400 square feet of orange on, and that Owen's whole body was barely 400 square feet.;) They didn't get a deer (or zero deer as Owen reported to me), but they had fun.






This evening we had a little party, which was fun. I made his carrot cake that he asks for every year. It's the only time I ever make it. We had the mini cheesecakes too. We ordered pizza, so it was an easy dinner.



Happy Birthday, Danny!

If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you. - Winnie the Pooh

Mini Cheesecakes

These are so yummy, and easy!

2 pkg. (8oz. each) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Mix.

vanilla wafers
2" aluminum mini baking cups
Cherry Pie Filling

Place a vanilla wafer in each baking cup (I used regular aluminum cupcake liners). Put about three tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture on top of each vanilla wafer. Bake at 350 15-20 minutes. Cool and top with cherry pie filling. Refrigerate.

He's outnumbered

Today the kids had fun playing together and having a day to be home. Chloe and Phoebe were bothering Owen and I had to make them stop. Apparently they were working on another attack Owen plan, and he came and said "Those girls are gearing up to mess with me again".

Go Owen and a Parade

Owen got Student of the Month again, bless his little heart. It was for October, they are always a month behind. They gave out the awards on Friday, when I had lunch with him. When I got there he was wearing his medal and very proud. He got to eat lunch at the Star Student table. It had a blue tablecloth and a plastic toy tiger on it (the school mascot is a tiger). I picked up the tiger and said how neat it was. Owen told me I wasn't allowed to touch it. Oh. Sorry. The day before I went to school to have lunch, in his typical worry wart fashion, he asked me where I would hang my coat. He said there wasn't a hanger with my name on it, but maybe I could ask the teacher to put my name on a hanger. I said maybe I could put my coat on the teacher's desk. He said no, "They'd get you in trouble for that".



On Friday evening we went to the Christmas parade where it was around 18 degrees. Phoebe hardly moved. Except to wave slowly at Santa at the end of the parade. Chloe is with her neighbor friend. The girls and Owen caught a bunch of candy and Owen nearly tackled for it. When one of the bands would go by, he'd dance and dance.







This week we're enjoying Thanksgiving break, so no school stuff, and the only parade will be the Macy's one.

Elves, Mary, and Santa

Phoebe has been obsessed lately with a snowman book that was Owen's. (It has a snowman that squeaks when you push it that drives the dog nuts.) Danny was reading it to her and was pointing at different things on the pages and asking her to tell him what they were. On one page the snowman has elves standing around him. Danny pointed to the elves and asked what they were and she said "friends" in her sweet voice.

On the way home from the Christmas parade last night we were talking about Mary and Joseph. Owen was asking about Mary. Then he said "What about Mary had a little lamb?". We had a hard time convincing him it was a different Mary.

Chloe is ten but I haven't heard any questioning from her about Santa being real. Yet. She mentioned to me yesterday that some kids say that Santa isn't real. She said than who do they think the Santa they see is, because you never see any Santa costumes at the store.

One more day!

One more day until Thanksgiving break! I don't know who is more excited, me or the kids. We're all tired. I went to school today and helped with the fifth grade's Colonial Days. I was at the butter making station with Chloe's teacher. Chloe, and all the kids, had such a fun day. They went to different stations for 30 minutes each. They made colonial hats, candles, a quilt, wrote with a feather pen, played colonial games and sang songs, and made butter. To make the butter, put about 2 ounces of heavy whipping cream into a baby food jar and shake, shake, shake! Soon you'll have butter. Then add a pinch of salt and enjoy. We sang a butter chant while we shook up the cream.

Chloe making a candle:



Shaking the butter and chanting:



Chloe modeling her hat:



Playing a game:




I got to have lunch with Chloe in the cafeteria. Owen wants me to eat with him tomorrow. I'll be at school tomorrow for a Diabetes Walk the school is doing. I'll walk with Owen at 11:30 and Chloe at 1:00. I'll get my exercise at least. It's going to be cold and a little snowy for walking.

Owen is ready for a break from school too. This evening he said he didn't think he could go to school tomorrow because he thought he was sick. I asked what was wrong and he fell to the floor and said "I think the pneumonia growed back". Just one more day!

Snow on the pumpkins

We had our first snow on the ground this morning. It was just a little dusting but it made us all excited. Several times I saw Phoebe just looking out the window at it. By afternoon it was gone (but still freezing cold!) and when we went outside Phoebe had a puzzled look on her face and said "Where the snow go??". It's supposed to be in the teens tonight. I have two words for that. Hot Chocolate.

Phoebe, no swiping

Today Phoebe saw a fly in the window. She pointed it out to me and then said to get the "swiper". I asked her to repeat what she said and she said the "fly swiper". I got her the flyswatter and she tried to get the fly.

Notice her pants in the picture. I asked her what she wanted to wear today and she said stripes.

Cornucopia Snacks

This evening the kids and I made some cornucopias for a Thanksgiving snack. We used Bugles for the cornucopias and then we smeared a little icing on the inside and put on some Fruit Loop marshmallows shaped like fruit. When Chloe was little we made these with Trix cereal. Now Trix cereal is shaped like balls, not fruit anymore. I thought of fruit snacks and Runts candy, but they are too big. Luckily, some Fruit Loops have the fruit shaped marshmallows.

Movies are stressing me out

We got a free month of Netflix. We get up to three movies at a time and when we send those back, we get more. It's totally stressing me out. I feel like I have something else I have to do. I don't have time to watch them when the kids are awake, so that only leaves after the kids go to bed, or when Chloe and Owen are at school and Phoebe is napping. Today while Phoebe napped I tried to watch 27 Dresses. I laid Phoebe down and hurried and made some potato soup for dinner and threw some laundry in to wash, then turned on the movie. I watched a little bit of it and the phone rang. Then Phoebe woke up before it went off. I kept watching with her on my lap, but then it was time for the bus. I finally finished the end of it after dinner. I've enjoyed some of the movies, and I mostly stay up late to watch them, but then I'm tired because I have to get up at 6:00. I've rented a couple for the kids, one of which Chloe reminded me we already own. So the verdict is, I'm not renewing after my free month. It's too much pressure.

Wordless Wednesday

A popping good time!

This evening the kids and I made a Thanksgiving craft. Even more fun than the craft, was popping popcorn for the craft. I guess we usually just make microwave popcorn, so the old fashioned popcorn popper (which I recieved as a graduation gift in 1991) was a big hit. Phoebe maybe had never watched us pop corn like that before. She laughed so hard.

As for the craft, just use green and yellow construction paper cut into corn shapes. Then glue the popcorn on the yellow part for corn. Older kids could just glue the corn kernels on if they wanted. Or, just skip the craft and pop some corn!

Where's the show?

Today we went to a Craft Show. When we pulled in the parking lot Owen asked where we were. I told him a craft show. He said, with excitement in his voice, "Great!! I can't wait to see the show!".

We didn't know it but there was a parade in town for Veteran's Day. We watched part of it and they threw some candy and the Fair Queen threw a few little princess sets. The kind from the dollar store with a little crown and wand. Owen got one. A little girl asked him if he could have it and he said no. We thought he'd give it to Phoebe. Oh no. He was very happy about it and said "I can't believe I got this Princess Kit". I loved that he called it a kit. We got in the van and he put the crown on and waved the wand around and said Abracadabra. His Daddy would be so proud.

Now it's croup

Well, Owen had pneumonia the beginning of the week. He's better now. Then yesterday Phoebe got sick. She has croup. It came on suddenly. She had a bit of a runny nose and her voice was a tiny hoarse yesterday morning. By the time dinner rolled around I could tell she had croup. I took her to Urgent Care yesterday evening. Sure enough, she has croup. She doesn't act like she feels too bad, so that's good. She sounds bad though. However, it's hard to complain when other children are so very sick, like a little boy named Dante who is Phoebe's age and is fighting cancer that is throughout his body. Praying for Dante, and for our little family to stay well now, but especially for Dante.

All better

Owen is better now, and went back to school yesterday. Phoebe isn't feeling great now, but hopefully it's nothing major. She's been so funny. She says "I love me" instead of I love you. Or maybe she is meaning she really does love herself. She used to say I love you but now it's just I love me. She says it when she's happy and feeling lovey, or when we tell her we love her. She came in this morning wearing a crazy outfit she put together. She said "I look glamorous". On Halloween night Chloe's neighbor friend had come over to play. When she walked home I stood on the porch and watched her go because it was dark, just to make sure she made it okay. Phoebe stood with me and I called out "Happy Halloweeen!" to Marly. Phoebe told her the same. Then one evening this week Marly had come to play and I stood on the porch again to watch her go home. Phoebe must of remembered us saying Happy Halloween last week, and realized it wasn't Halloween anymore. So, she yelled out, "Happy Birthday!". It wasn't her birthday either, but it sounded nice and festive.

For a Chloe funny, we were at the store last night and Owen was wild. After telling him for the millionth time to stop it, I told him he was starting to aggravate me. Chloe said "He's been aggravating me for five years". (He's five years old.)

When I was tucking Owen in bed last night I kissed him and told him I was proud of him for his report card and how well he's doing at school. He then said he was a good kid to have around. Very true. I took him and got his hair cut yesterday evening too, and after his bath he said I messed up his stylish hair.

Chloe did great on her report card too. She has a very hard teacher this year so all those As are well deserved. So the day she brought her report card home I guess we made a big fuss over her. The next day she had homework to do, a couple chores, etc. She said "Yesterday you were all proud of me and today I'm just another mouth to feed". Danny and I laughed so hard over that. Where in the world did she come up with that?

Sick Boy Update

I took Owen to the doctor this morning. He has pneumonia. He was given antibiotics and a good cough medicine. The dr. advised us to have Owen drink chocolate milk after the antibiotic because it has a bad taste, but works really well for pneumonia. So, we got home and I laid out both medicines and the chocolate milk in his cup. I asked him which one he wanted to take first and he said "the chocolate milk". Such a smart boy. He's been asleep now since right after he took his medicine. I found him like this in his room:



Get well soon, Owen!

Thankful

Owen and I put out a couple Thanksgiving decorations today. One said 'Give Thanks'. I told Owen I was thankful for him, then I asked him what he was thankful for. He said Lego sets. I said "What about your family?". He said, "That too. But I'm really thankful for Lego sets". The boy has his priorities.

Owen has still been sick with a cough and fever. He's been playing and eating today, but still not feeling great. He is not a complainer, but when I ask him how he feels he says "Not berry good". He is absolutely dying for a Frosty from Wendy's. He got some Frosty coupons for Halloween that are eating a hole in his pocket. Everyday he says he wants to go get a "free Frosty". It's become a chant now "Free Frosty, Free Frosty, Free Frosty". So, for dinner we'll go to Wendy's. Since he's sick we'll go through the drive thru, and get the poor boy a free Frosty.