Thanksgiving

One cool thing about living here is that we are close to some extended family members we've never lived close to before.  Thanksgiving was a great big fun family gathering!

My cousin, Preston, and his girlfriend, Mandy.  Aren't they cute?

Jack hung out by the Muddy Buddies until meal time.

Eliza had fun sliding down the stairs to get to the toys in the basement.

Let the feast begin!
Do you like Cat's Native American headdress?

My cousin's son Wes.  He was hilarious digging into his turkey leg!

My cousin Steph (hostess extraordinaire) and her younger son John.

Fun with Daddy until Pie Time.

Eliza and Zoe (another cousin's daughter; here she's standing by her Mommy) ate a lot more Muddy Buddies than they did actual Thanksgiving food.

Play time in the basement.

Whip it, Steph!

I didn't do a very good job of documenting Thanksgiving, but this gives you a little idea of how it went.  We had a great time talking and laughing with family and friends, and of course enjoyed lots of yummy food.  We are so thankful for the many blessings we have, especially the wonderful people in our lives!

A little more snow

Last Saturday we had our first "real" snow.  We woke up to about 2 inches of snow.  The perfect amount, in my book.  Enough that everything is white and pretty and the kids can play for a while, but not so much that the driveway or sidewalk required shoveling or anything.

The back yard.

It actually wasn't that cold on Saturday, so it took some convincing for Cat to put her snowsuit on.  (Also, this was the first time she'd seen the snow pants and she was pretty unhappy that they were black.  But the alternative was pink, and she already had a purple coat, so I was a bad mom and insisted that the snow pants be black.  Plus, Jack will be able to wear them one day.)  I knew that I needed to set a precedent of always wearing a snow suit when the kids go out in the snow, so we spent 30 minutes or more getting everyone geared up for some play time.

Cat and Ben were the first to play outside, then Ben had to go to school to get some work done.  I'm glad they had time to for a quick snowball fight!

It's easier from point blank range!

Jack looked on enviously until he was suited up and ready to go outside.

Then he tried his hand at making his own snowball.

Cutest snow bunny EVER.

We couldn't find both of Jack's good mittens, and he didn't want to keep the not-so-good ones on...

It didn't bother Eliza one bit that this toy was covered with snow when she sat on it.

Jack had fun "making a road" for the truck in the back yard.

And of course, when I brought the little ones inside, we all had to have some hot chocolate.

It's a must with snow, I think.

So we have a lot of hot chocolate mix on hand.  I feel that I should be prepared in this way.

Cat kept playing outside with the neighbors for a while.

This is their snowman.

And she couldn't get enough of eating the snow.

I know, I know, that's gross.  But she just doesn't seem to think so.

I guess winter's on its way....

and we're trying to be excited about it!

Try again!

I fixed the video of Cat's dramatic reading of a writing assignment she completed recently.  Please take 30 seconds and check it out.... I think you won't regret it.

Scroll down 2 posts or click here to view the post.

Ballet Picture Day

Since Cat's ballet class is held at the local rec center, everything is done on the cheap.  That means that instead of hiring a photographer to take individual and group shots before the December concert, the ballet teacher invited parents to come on a designated class day to take candid and group pictures.  (Fine with me, by the way!)  Here's what I got...

Nutcracker:

Waltz:

Freeze Dance: (probably Cat's favorite part of ballet class)

Group Shots:

What can I say? The girl loves to sing.

When Dad's away, the rest of us will...

(go to Idaho to) PLAY!

Ben was out of town last weekend, so instead of staying at home and hanging out with the kids by myself I decided to go to my good friend Kathryn's house and hang out with the kids there.  I picked Cat up early from school on Thursday and we drove the 5 1/2 hours to Boise. (It went surprisingly fast, thanks to the 75 mph speed limit.  Sweet!)  The kids did really well on the drive up there and we arrived in time to eat dinner at Kathryn's house.  Then we had 2 full days to play!

On Friday morning Kathryn took us on a driving tour to get a feel for Boise.  The highlights were the temple, Boise State University, and the fun downtown area.  

Cat with K's daughters, who are a year older and a year younger than Cat.  Perfect!  They were making those melty-bead shape things.  A great way to keep them happy until dinner is ready.

That night K painted the girls' nails while I was putting Jack and Eliza to bed.  

The next day we took the kids to the local children's museum, where there were lots of fun things to do.  This is a chair that uses a pulley system so that the rider can pull him/herself up, then air-resistance brakes to slow you down when you are ready for descent.

Cat loved it.

And Jack even pulled himself up.

As always, the kid-sized grocery store was a big hit.

If Cat looks like a professional here, it's because she's had lots of practice.  We have not one, but TWO  toy cash registers at home.  Don't you just love receiving hand-me-down toys??

Make way for the little shopper.

This was a flat surface that you lay down on, then when you push a button, nails (not sharp) come up and lift your body up.  It doesn't hurt because your weight is distributed evenly among the nails.  Jack did it several times.

Having fun with the delay & reverb mics.

This girl is sure that she will be a rock star one day.  Isn't she adorable?  She had lots of fun with the mic.  Watch out - she just may be the next big thing!

Air from the cone is suspending the ball in mid-air.  Jack was into it.

Giant bubble maker.  A cool idea, but it was being finicky when we were there.

Fun with a green screen!

Jack's turn to see the upper portion of his body floating on TV.

The older girls just wanted to play meteorologist.

Kathryn helped them build a perfect arch.

Outside play time back at the house.  Sidewalk chalk,

Jumping rope (Cat's new FAVORITE thing),

and Bubbles.

As you can imagine, they were all pretty worn out by bedtime.
What better way to wind down than with  some good books?

We had such a fun time with these guys!  Thank you for hosting us, sharing your toys, and showing us around your town.  What a treat!