Weekend Snapshots

All wrapped up and ready for bed.

Son of a preacher man.

He's all about preaching these days and likes to look the part.

I remember Toddzilla would walk around with a little Bible at this age too

and would say he was "off to work."

No pictures of TZ today, (he's gotten plenty of press here lately), but a sweet story

I don't want to forget. He threw us all for quite a loop tonight as the

girls discussed their plans to be engineers one day

(this is due primarily to the book we're reading, see below).

"What do you want to be, Toddzilla?" they asked. We were all expecting the usual: soldier, warrior, truck driver, ATV operator... He looked up with those big brown eyes and said,

"I think I'll sing for the Lord."

Elbow lost another tooth this weekend so she's looking like somewhat

like a left over jack-o-lantern from Halloween. She doesn't seem to mind.

We're reading The Great Wheel right now for history - it's about a young man from Ireland who comes to America and works on the first Ferris Wheel at the Chicago Expo.

Bobo worked on her own miniature version with her dad during the first chapters of the book.

Advent One tomorrow. The calendars await.

Happy Thanksgiving

I think I've mentioned before that I love Betty Crocker's Entertaining Basics for all things Thanksgiving. It lays out a time table, starting three days before the meal, so that you don't have to be crazy on the morning of Thanksgiving. Today we had great fun with the stuffing and potatoes, two dishes that lend themselves easily to the help of little hands. My daughters can wield knives now, so both dishes were put together almost entirely by the children. (Everyone wanted to see how teary they could get over the onions. This became a great contest between the oldest three. Toddzilla used a regular table knife, don't worry.)

I thought Crockett would love tearing up the bread for stuffing, but he preferred just sitting on the table watching the world go by.

Wishing you a very wonderful Thanksgiving!

Dad, You Made the Short List

We're "watching over" a neighbor girl's talking Teddy Bear while she's away for Thanksgiving. Crockett was raptly listening this morning, when Teddy asked him, "Who gives the best bear hugs?"

Without missing a beat, Crockett quipped, "Papa and Master Yoda."

Turkey Week Stuff

Toddzilla passed his swim test on Monday, granting him access to our pool's two super fun slides. I honestly did not think he was ready to take the test, but he was determined to give it a try. By sheer determination he paddled the 25 meters, never touching the sides or bottom of the pool. He was giggling the whole time, which clearly amused the lifeguard, brought his siblings to stitches, and made me even more nervous. All in all, it was pretty cute. (He also broke his first board in Tae Kwon Do - it's been a big week for him!)

Thanksgiving count down: We've made our cranberries; tomorrow we'll make the stuffing and potatoes. Hubby's in charge of pies so I don't know the time table on that one yet.

Goings on around here: it's a quiet week as all extra-curriculars are on break. The girls are busy with new favorite books (Bobo: 39 Clues, Elbow: The Spiderwick Chronicles). Hubby is busy with extra services for the holiday, I'm busy tending a first-time sick baby and trying to get Thanksgiving put together. Crockett is making all sorts of mischief, Toddzilla's helping me in the kitchen.

Weekend Prep

Weekends tend to fill up fast around here. (We consider Friday part of the weekend because Hubby is off and Sundays are more work than play). This morning we're off to music lessons for the girls, a shopping trip for Operation Christmas Child, and our last science co-op meeting of the semester.

By the way, those whole wheat peanut butter cookies turned out fine and I got my workout in after all. And then I found this note and craft my oldest left lying around - which makes those tiny inconveniences seem oh-so-no-big-deal.

Translation:

"I love what I do and I do what I love.

But if I am to love what I do, I shall do it for Christ."

My Day

Went to bed last night at 8:45 PM thinking I was coming down with swine flu. Woke up feeling great, proceeded to get through math, spelling, writing, and out loud reading with the girls.

Headed to club for a workout. Hit treadmill for seven minutes. Heard my name over the loud speaker. Found out my two year old had an accident in the child center. Didn't bring a change for him because he hasn't been having accidents. Gathered all children and went home.

Same two year old plays with a bar of soap while I'm making lunch and proceeds to get it in his eyes. Continues to rub eyes, while screaming. Bath, remove soap from eyes, put to 2 babies to bed.

Later. Making peanut butter cookies with newly minted 5 year old, as a way to "redeem the day." Find out - mid stir - that we have no white flour. Who actually gets through that 25 lb bag from Sam's Club? Apparently, we do. Use whole wheat flour instead. Waiting for results.

Day is beautiful. Big children are outside. Small children are sleeping. Coffee is hot and it's MOTT tonight. Phew.

Big bear, little bear

My little bear got quite a kick out of seeing this big polar bear swim by last week at the Cincinnati Zoo - a field trip for our science group in conjunction with our study of primates. (I do realize the polar bear is not a primate, but he was too cool to miss and we did study bears earlier this year).

Big Tae Kwon Do competition this weekend and a music recital for the girls. Let the holiday busy-ness begin!