Xmas Prep

For FHE one night we reenacted the night of Jesus' birth using Little People. Isabelle was Mary, Miriam was Joseph and David was the innkeeper. So Jonathan would say something and then the girls would repeat it. For example, "Then Mary said 'oh, my tummy hurts, I think I'm going to have a baby' and then Isabelle would repeat it." David's favorite part was yelling, "No Go Way." They pretended to be sheep and angels and there was a wise man for each of them.

Time to decorate the tree!

Most ornaments ended up exactly 1 foot off the floor.

Emily got to watch us.

The final result.

We visited Santa's Workshop. Isabelle was describing to him exactly how big of a truck she wants. Miriam asked for an apple. When he asked what else she wanted, she asked for a banana. David refused to go near Santa.

Emily wasn't sure what to think.

Santa's elves hard at work. We all enjoyed the hot cocoa and cookies.

Can we go for a sleigh ride?

Miri's hair

After Thanksgiving, I was feeling inspired by Jen's amazing ability to do kids hair, so come Sunday I decided to try something new. I braided Miriam's hair in a spiral. Sounds weird, but it turned out pretty cool looking so I had to share the pics.

While we are on the subject of Miriam - although she has been potty trained for 1 1/2 years now, she still has an issue with occasional nighttime bedwetting. As a result, every night when we go to bed, we wake her up to have her go to the bathroom.

This particular night, she must have decided that her room was too far away because she fell asleep on the hallway floor. Sometimes, she just cracks me up.

Thanksgiving

Better late than never, right?

So Thanksgiving was fabulous. We had Jonathan's cousin, Chris English, and his family over for the holiday. It was so great to have them visit for a couple of days and to get to know them better. All of the kids got along wonderfully. There was no fighting or anything. I had a few fears going into it since my kids have a tendency to get into things they know they shouldn't when friends are visiting and Jen's kids are known to be creative, but nothing untoward happened. The food was also scrumptious. Yum, yum.

Thanksgiving morning Isabelle and Madeline made cards for everyone.

Here Chris is doing baby duty. Emily fell completely in love with Chris, who obliged her by holding her most of the time.

The girls loved their "crown" braids. Jen is so good at doing their hair!

Madeline was showing Isabelle how to play the violin. We enjoyed ;P the screeches for a good half hour after.

I must say that I think part of the success was due to my switching out toys only a couple of hours before they arrived. The train set and legos that had been in the garage for months kept them all entertained.

The sandbox lid was left open the last time it rained, enveloping he toys in solid ice. The kids had fun smashing the ice to free the toys and then jumping on the pieces (and eating them).

After the English's left, we boiled and then stripped the Turkey carcass down for Turkey & Rice soup. Isabelle was fascinated by the vertebrae. She even saved it in a ziploc to show her teacher. (Luckily, by Monday she had forgotten about it and I was able to quietly slip it into the trash).

Jonathan and the kids tried to see how high they could build a lego tower without it falling.

Car Conversation

I just had to share with you a conversation we had in the car on the way home from the grocery store.

Miriam - "I'm hungry. I want a snack. I want crackers.?" (said with a whine)

Isabelle - "You can't eat crackers in the car. They make a really big mess. Didn't Daddy already tell you that? Yes, he did!" (said authortatively)

Miriam - "Stop it!"

Isabelle - "Stop what? I didn't do anything!"

Miriam - "Stop controlling me!"

Jonathan - "Who can count to ten?"

Isabelle - "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10" (said quickly)

Jonathan - "Who can say the alphabet backwards?"

Isabelle - "Z...Y..."

Miriam - "F"

Isabelle - "No" (said in an annoyed tone) "Z, Y... X... W"

Miriam - "Hee, hee. I'm going to mess you up. F... X... F..."