A Relaxing Thanksgiving

The kids had multiple half-days for teacher-parent conferences, so the schedule was strange for us as Austin is in half-day Kindergarten and it gets moved into part of the morning. So Colleen and I had a fun Costco trip alone and sharing lunch. She is such a ham when she gets one-on-one attention.

 

This girl lost a tooth in the middle of Austin's karate lesson! All 4 canines are gone now.

 

Pictures that Amelia's teacher sent of her class at the school Thanksgiving Feast.

This is the first year in the entirety of our marriage that we did not have plans to travel anywhere or have any visitors with us for Thanksgiving. We tossed around a variety of ideas of places to go or things to do for the holiday. Then I came down sick on Tuesday night with respiratory junk; we decided that a relaxing holiday at home was in order. It ended up being really nice. We cooked a simple meal but the kids enjoyed eating it on china with fizzy drinks. They loved having a pajama day and working on projects. We are thankful and blessed. 

One of our big projects for the holiday weekend was to let the kids paint these crates that would become toy storage in our garage. 

 

The girls got their nails painted. (Although Colleen woke up late and had to finish her pumpkin pie first!)

 

They each got a playtime bath.

On Friday, I was feeling much better so we took them bowling. It was Colleen's first time bowling and fun was had by all! 

 

 

Then after rest time we put the tree up and decorated it. The kids were super-engaged and interested in the stories behind the ornaments. 

 

 

Playing right next to the tree is currently in vogue.

Colleen got to work on her crate. 

Fun mix of autumn and Christmas

On Sunday, Amelia insisted on wearing this dress that Martha sewed her, even though it was too cold for a sleeveless dress. She found a solution that made her happy.

This girl woke up from her nap cranky and fell asleep on me after church. The sleeping snuggles are rare these days.

Sunday afternoon - hang up the crates! They are awesome with Patrick's snow and rain boot holders.

 

So thankful for 4 days together before the next round of Patrick's traveling.

Autumn Snow Storm

I think they knew a cold snow storm was coming - they were super cozy this particular day while Amelia was off at school. We spent the morning doing some more art projects. Then it started snowing in the early afternoon and came down fast enough to have snow to play in by late afternoon.

 

 

The big kids were thrilled to get out in the snow as soon as I let them. Colleen slept through this entire afternoon of play, but she still enjoyed the hot chocolate at the end.

 

 

 

Her siblings brought her in snow to play with so she wouldn't feel left out.

 

Austin had been having so much fun with his Little Passports Japan box. He made the fish kite and then these Japanese pancakes as part of our dinner. 

When Daddy said he'd take the kids on a post-dinner snow walk, this girl was ECSTATIC. She apparently had not forgotten her love of snow from last winter.  I didn't know it until they came back in later, but the ended up going sledding instead and Colleen was thrilled to sled ALONE.

 

The next morning, school was canceled so they begged to get out right after breakfast. So we all suited up and went for a walk around the neighborhood. Then I pulled out the beach toys and let them play.

 

 

 

Snow day lunches are always a big event.

He finished Japan and begged to start on Brazil. His first task was this monkey drawing, and he was so proud of it!