captatio benevolentiae

My oldest, like St. Paul, knows how to "capture the good will" of an audience before making her requests known.  

Here's her recent letter to Santa (I couldn't get it scanned in, but I'll keep her original spelling and punctuation, for posterity's sake):

Dear Santa, I hope you have a Merry Christmas.  All I want is pece, joy, happyness.  But we have been saveing up for a horse. We have $32.70, but we probly won't get one.  

To the girls' credit, however, they've been hitting the pavement hard in search of financing for that horse thing. First it was the Buckeye Leaf and Landscape Company, which garnered two customers (including me). The latest venture is meeting the school bus with hot cocoa in hand, ready for a quick profit. So far, no takers on that one. Apparently school children don't walk around with cold cash on their persons.
Next up is a shoveling business which they believe is a sure-fire way to big bucks.

Almost Advent

Thanksgiving's come and gone; we're preparing for Advent around here. We usually wait until the second Sunday of Advent to begin decorating, mainly because a fresh tree can only last so long. But since we're going artificial this year, I think we'll put it up on Sunday.

Lots of plans are in the works, most of them centering around our church. It's our first Advent with this congregation and there are many wonderful opportunities planned for the whole family.

One thing we'll be doing at home will be working on this great Advent lapbook. There's enough in there to last through the season; we'll probably do a little each day.

The children were sneaking around their ornament boxes this afternoon, knowing I didn't want them out until tomorrow. It's always so much fun to see how excited they get re-discovering their special treasures after a year's absence.

This, however, is one treasure we're hiding away. 

Crockett started taking the toilet seat in the car with him - and then even to bed! (It's thoroughly clean; no one's used it in years). The final straw though was when it became his preferred reading chair. You gotta draw the line somewhere...

Wrong On So Many Levels

Where to begin?

Remember the last time we had Lucky Charms in the house? 

All was way too quiet during school today so I sent Toddzilla down to investigate. Obviously, he never came up to file a report. (Yes, that would be the entire box of not-so-Lucky Charms on my kitchen floor).

I guess Toddzilla figured his silence was payback for Crockett's willingness to join him the other night in just-as-disgusting-sugar-induced-naughtiness. (Yes, they're dipping popsicles in cool whip).

The most disturbing part - in case you missed it - is that Crockett has been carrying around that toilet seat for two days now. Could he be trying to tell me something?

Tidbits

We're reading the Addy series for our next American Girl doll book club meeting. I bawled through the whole first book this afternoon.  My older daughter was right there with me.  The second one was rolling her eyes and reminding us, "Addy is a made up girl, Mom."  

Cranking up the holiday spirit around here. Hubby took the kids on an Operation Christmas Child shopping trip over the weekend and now he's baking one of his many fall pumpkin pies. (Which will be eaten way before Thanksgiving day - probably tonight). All I have to make for Thursday is cranberries and stuffing. That's about all this motivationally challenged pregnant mama can handle at this point.

We're also in the market for our first artificial tree ever. Sob. Hubby's allergies finally won out last year.  We'll all miss the trip to the tree farm, finding and cutting down the perfect tree, and hitting Perkins on the way home. Sigh.

One of these things is not like the others...

A lonely pilgrim with the Wampanoag girls

Not quite understanding the time period,

but wanting in on the action nonetheless.

Speaking of Girls Playing Hockey...

My second daughter is downstairs listening to the Disney song "Feminity" over and over again.  

"You must walk feminine

Talk feminine

Smile and beguile feminine

Utilize your feminity

That's what every girl should know, if she wants to catch a beau."

Some apples fall far, far from the tree.

Liberty Girls Club

The first meeting of our brand new American Girl Doll book club was a big success! There's nothing cuter than a gaggle of girls carrying dolls to a party.  We discussed Meet Samantha and the historical time surrounding the story, made gingerbread (Samantha and Nellie's favorite treat), worked on samplers, and had a prim and proper tea party on my grandmother's china.

My mom was with us over the weekend (and then, surprise! so was my dad)* so she got to join in the fun as master gingerbread baker.  

The rest of the weekend was a blur: a great mother-daughter bonding time for me and my mom and a not-so-great-no-holds-barred-weekend-long-tantrum by one of my dear children (who of course will remain anonymous).  Just keeping it real.

*My dad is famous for his surprise visits. When I played hockey for Dartmouth, he'd just magically appear at various games all over the East Coast.  He hid behind a newspaper during warm-ups at Harvard my freshman year, popping out just in time to see the first goal of my college career.  

It's a...

boy!  

Friday Field Trip

Our little science group headed to Kentucky to see the Newport Aquarium on Friday.  We've been studying aquatic animals this year through Exploring Creation Through Zoology: Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day.  It was a great hands on, up close experience: petting sharks (I didn't, all my children did), feeling star fish, handling crabs... We also signed up for the behind the scenes tour, which lead us through the filters and feeding grounds, even the surgery room - everything it takes to run this huge facility with millions of gallons of water. Hubby was along for this trip; he was chief rescuer when Crockett wanted to jump right into the shark tanks during the behind the scenes tour.  

We continue to love the Apologia elementary science books.  They are very in-depth, going far beyond my own very limited science education.  The experiments are fun and not too intimidating.  The author of this series - Jeannie Fulbright - is herself a home schooling mother and they are written with the Charlotte Mason method in mind.  

When the weather was nice, we often took the science book outside after dinner so the little boys could run around while we read.  Quite often I'd soon have an additional student or two - neighborhood kids - clamoring to hear more about sea turtles or primeval reptiles.  They're that good.

Four.

 

Happy Birthday, Toddzilla!  

We love you and can't wait to see what this year has in store for you.  

The Day After

It's a sad day. I'll never understand how a man who - based on his "connections" - could hardly pass a security check point can become President of the United States. Mentioning his record on life death is too painful to mention. Alice poignantly let Scripture's plaintive cry speak for itself:

"A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more." Matthew 2:18.

My daughter reminded us all this morning, "Well, God's our President, anyway." 

A Picture Is Worth 1000 Words

This sign, made by Bobo, greeted me on the stairs the other day.  

We're praying for big things tomorrow. 

A Balmy Halloween

I'm not sure I've ever sent my little trick-or-treaters out the door without a jacket before last night.  It's quite wonderful to actually see everyone's costume; we're used to little tiaras and long princess skirts poking out from under down jackets and ear muffs.  

I will say, my neighborhood seriously knows how to do Halloween.  The dads head off with the candy seekers, the moms hang out in front of one prominently decorated house and pass out treats.