"In the Spirit"

Lexie had her 2nd grade music program, "In the Spirit," tonight. It was an enjoyable evening for all of us. They had a good variety of music for all the major December holidays (Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, & even one in Spanish).

Here is Lexie dancing to the "Peppermint Twist." Ignore the technical difficulties...Rick was on the ground holding his arm out trying to record it. We'll see what our friends got on their camera later, I know it's better than what we got. Her class got to help coreograph the dance.

It was a lot of fun watching Lexie & seeing her personality...especially with things that she liked doing & things she just wasn't comfortable with doing. She's been practicing these songs around the house for about a month. I think Joseph could have gone up & sung with the 2nd graders because he knew them so well.

Field Trip to Old Chicago

Today we got to go on a field trip with Andrew's class to make pizza at Old Chicago. It was really fun! Each of the kids got to make their own pizza. All of the kids got to see the dish washing area, the pizza dough maker, the pizza oven, & they even got to go into the fridge! Then they go to see their pizzas placed on the conveyer belt & them coming out the other side all cooked.

Andrew really enjoyed eating the pepperoni-especially before it was cooked!

It's funny, recently he's decided he doesn't like cheese. So, I told him to make it snow all over his pizza & he seemed to go for that, for a little while at least.

Off to go bake their pizza!

The finished product & it was delicious! Andrew is a great pizza maker!

We all had a great time on this field trip! Who couldn't have a great time when pizza is involved?

Eliza's Blessing Day

Our sweet lil' Liza was blessed today at church. It was a beautiful blessing for a beautiful little girl. We are so grateful to have her in our home! She really is an amazing little one.

We're glad Grant & Joyce could come out for the blessing.

O Christmas Tree

My friend, Kristin, gave me a great idea for the Christmas season: make a chain to countdown to Christmas & each day we do a fun family activity. This is day one:

putting up the Christmas tree. The kids, especially Joseph, are so excited about the chain & are constantly asking what tomorrows activity will be. It's gonna be a fun month!

Playing Dress-Up

It's been awhile since the kids have played dress-up & I think this is the first time we've had Andrew dressed up as a fairy. They had a lovely time.

Got Socks?

As I was looking through pictures the other day, I noticed that I forgot to post this one from back in September. Andrew loves to wear socks! He often refuses to take them off for days & when he bathes, he will take them off & then promptly put them back on. Hence, this:

Do you think he may need a new pair?

Serenading Baby

For the past few days, Andrew has been singing this song to Eliza all of the time. It makes me laugh. And it makes us smile. She is always so calm when he does it for her. She just loves it when someone sings to her.

Happy Thanksgiving

While Rick was out playing football, Lexie & Joseph wrote stories about the first Thanksgiving. I think they may need a refresher course, but we sure had fun!

The First Thanksgiving by Lexie
One stormy night all the pilgrims and I were sailing across the stormy sea. It was dark and damp inside the little room. Pilgrims were everywhere in the little room. Suddenly kaboom! The ship broke! All the pilgrims had to swim now. All the pilgrims including me swam for at least one year. At last we got to America! We met some Indians. We had a great Thanksgiving. The End!

The First Thanksgiving Gobble by Joseph
One sunny day a lot of people had a Thanksgiving. Suddenly they saw a turkey and they grabbed the turkey and killed the turkey. Gobble!

Reading...

Andrew loves to sound out words lately though blending is still a bit of a trick. He loves to ask, "What does Andrew start with, yes, A." And he will do that for lots of different words. Lexie & Joseph are trying to get him to tell him what different words end with but that is a bit more challenging for him. Yesterday Andrew came up to me & showed me his magna doodle & said, "Look Mom, this says play, laugh, grow!"

It took me a second & then I noticed he was pointing at the Fisher-Price logo...

One Month Old

Eliza is one month old today. She is another dream baby & we love her. Here are just a few things we have grown to love about her this month.

Dad: I'm happy to have someone who is willing to stay up with me to watch football.

Mom: I love that she is so happy & content & has a very calming effect on her siblings.

Lexie: I love that she is so cute & that she's my little sister & no one elses. And that she is so fun to hold.

Joseph: I love that she is so cute & she is silly sometimes & that she's so fun to hold & to play with.

Andrew: I love that she plays trains with me.

Little Assistant

Everyone is pitching in to help Andrew get potty trained. Joseph decided to read a story to Andrew so he didn't get too bored sitting on his little potty. It's great to have such good helpers! (Especially with a little boy who has so strongly resisted giving up the diaper.)

First Snow of the Season

And of course, we had hot chocolate for after school snack.