December Activities

The kids loved the snow a couple of weeks ago!  They are hoping for much more of it in the coming months. 

Kate was learning about her five senses one week.  Later that afternoon, we were making some type of dessert with frosting.  Very seriously she said, "Can I eat some to use my senses?"  

Another time she opened the pantry and said, "I really need more food to get energy because I used it all up."  

Clever ways to ask for a junky snack if you ask me. 

Kate wasn't thrilled about doing this, but Natalie convinced her to just go along with it.  It's sometimes tough being the little sister. 

Natalie made a gingerbread house at school, and then Grandpa & Grandma did it with the others so that they could get in on the decorating action as well.  Such fun!  (Messes completed at school and at the grandparents house...added bonus!)

 Goober 1, Goober 2, and Goober 3

So we started a new tradition this year that I just know the kids will be asking for again next December.  As a spin off of Elf on the Shelf, the kids followed the wisemen on their journey to find Baby Jesus.  Some days, their hiding spots seemed like they were the Three Wise Guys instead of the Three Wisemen, but in the end, they succeeded and made it to the manger.  The kids raced to be the first one up each day to find where they were hiding.  (So, I made need to rethink that next year since sleeping in was not rewarded.)  Anyhoo...the kids all loved this and really got into it.  Last night, I breathed a sigh of relief when my nightly reminder went off on my phone to "HIDE WISEMEN"...game over for now.  Here are a few examples...

363 Days Until Christmas...but I'm not counting!

The tree is down as of yesterday, the gingerbread houses have been trashed (shhh!!), and I've politely asked Scott if he knows any other tunes to blast out on his keyboard other than Christmas songs.  :)  

We certainly had a wonderful Christmas, and now I'm ready to move on.  :)  Please don't tell me I'm the only one who feels this way.  

I'm going to get this year's blog put into book format again, so that means time for some serious blogging to finish up 2016.  

For starters,  we had fun celebrating Thanksgiving.  The kids participated in fun feasts and such in their classrooms.  Here they are in their cherished costumes...
 
           
In late November, I received an early Christmas gift...a brand new vacuum!  I was happy about my gift, but my kids were ECSTATIC.  After school one day, they started begging me to open the box and try out the new vacuum.  That was not on my agenda for the evening, so I told the kids that there were too many things out and that the house needed to be picked up first before vacuuming.  Much to my surprise, they started picking up.  The house had gotten out of control, so they picked up...and picked up more...and organized...and picked up some more.  Jon asked me if it was really happening, and we watched in amazement as they plugged away at cleaning the house in order to get their reward...opening up the vacuum box. 

Then, after picking up the entire house, they vacuumed until bedtime.  WHAT??!!  The fun didn't stop then either.  They vacuumed before and after school the next day, too.  Stairs, couch cushions, little sister's toes...it was unbelievable!  Sadly enough, the newness has since worn off.  Next week, I'm thinking I'll buy them feather dusters and see how far I get with the dusting. 

The kids made multiple tries to get the block tower to the ceiling.  After a few failed attempts, they decided that head protection would be a bright idea.

We pulled the kids out of school one afternoon in early December to hit the Children's Museum.  They thought that was pretty cool. 

Jon could have done the slide all afternoon, but I limited him to two turns.  (Just kidding...he wonders when it will be his turn to take pictures at the bottom instead of sliding with the kids!  Everyone needs a racing partner.  #Should'vehada4th!)

The blogging marathon continues tomorrow!:)

When They Grow Out of Saying Funny Things...

...my blogs are going to get a lot shorter.  I get such a kick out of things children say. 

Kate recently was learning about the Armor of God.  She was eager to show Natalie her Sword of the Spirit and Shield of Faith crafts.  Natalie said, "Can you make the home plate of righteousness next?" 

At the kids' well checks, the doctor always asks what they want to be when they grow up.  Kate's is coming up, so I was asking her what she was going to say this year.  She said, "A rockstar or a girl dentist.  Boy dentists are mean cause they pull out your teeth."  (Lesson from Natalie)  Last night, out of the blue she said, "When I grow up, I'm going to be a witch!"  Hopefully I have time to steer her towards the "girl dentist" answer prior to next week's check-up. 

Scott just started up piano lessons again.  The sisters were interested too, so Scott said that he was going to start them on some basic lessons at home.  After Kate's first lesson with Instructor Scott, she declared, "That sounds very good.  I'm ready for the recital." 

Much to HIS delight, Jon got a buck and a doe opening morning of deer season.  The meat is now wrapped nicely and sitting in our freezer.  It may be there for awhile.  :/  The kids were a bit apprehensive at first, but quickly warmed up to the dead deer.  Scott came bursting into the house and shouted, "We named them!  We named the doe "Moe" and the buck..."  (a name I can't type here and a name I certainly wasn't expecting to hear my innocent 8 year old cheerfully exclaim.)  We changed his name to Huck.   

In light of that off color story, here's a sweeter one.  I often have Christian music playing.  Lately, Kate's been commenting on the songs after hearing the lyrics.  "Mommy!  This person believes in Jesus!"  (next song...same artist...)  "The person singing this song is a Christian!"  (and so on...) She's done this on several occasions now.  It's wonderful to hear that she's listening to the truths declared in these songs. 

The kids were watching an old home video of toddler Scott and baby Natalie.  Kate noticed she wasn't around yet and said, "When will Kate hatch?"   That hasn't been covered in her preschool curriculum yet.  

 I walked out the other day to shake out some rugs and was an inch away from grabbing the handle to head back in.  I screamed and ran in through the garage.  These things are EVERYWHERE! 

Watching the Election Results Roll In...

Four Years Ago...

Same duo, Same couch...hoping for a different election outcome this time around...

Combine Central & Complaint Control

Over fall break, the kids had the opportunity to ride on a relative's combine during harvest time.  They got to bring home (LOTS OF) soybean pods and shared them with their classmates. 

Yesterday, the farmers harvested the corn next to our house.  We took lots of pictures for Scott since he was at school.  The bare fields now surrounding us has really changed the appearance.  We miss the corn.  You know what they say...good cornstalks make good neighbors...or something like that.  :):)

Scott completed his pumpkin project and is mighty proud of his bunny pumpkin.  I mentioned putting it out for trash day since it will rot, but Scott wasn't quite there yet...guess we'll hang onto it until it starts to smell.  :( 

The first and second graders celebrated the 50th day of school recently.  Natalie dressed in 50's clothes and went to a theater, and Scott tried his hand at bowling.  He was delighted to come home and tell me that they had velcro bowling shoes!!  (Prior to his trip, we had talked about him inventing them someday, but someone must have beat him to it!)

More school fun!

I told the kids we were going to drive the van around the block the other day.  During our mini-excursion, Kate was frustrated and kept saying, "Where's the block?!  I can't see the block!"  The older kids got a kick out of this!

This past week we started a complaining contest in our house.  If you grumble, you get a strike.  The person with the most "strikes" at the end of the week loses.  We have prizes and penalties, as well.  After the end of Day 1 in our game, Natalie said, "This not complaining thing is the hardest thing I've had to do in my entire life."  On Day 2 (and every day since), Natalie has tried to convince me why she needs to drop out of the contest and expressed why she doesn't want to participate in this game anymore.  STRIKE!  

 We (a.k.a. Jon) carved and lit the pumpkin.  Now Kate's ready to move on...