A Little Gobble Gobble

We live in North Carolina. At Thanksgiving this still means “Indians and Pilgrims” - we know it is no longer politically correct, but does remind us fondly of our childhood school days.

Ben turned our living room chair into the Mayflower and loaded up gear he would need for the long journey. At the church’s Children’s Morning Out program both Ben and Clara performed the Turkey Gobble dance (see the “gobble, gobble” action shots) and our personal favorite, “The Indians are coming, they don’t make a sound…” dance. Clara also managed to eat her weight in cake – and paid the price with an afternoon tummy ache.

For Thanksgiving Day we enjoyed a cozy and relaxed time as a family. We visited friends in the morning and then spent the afternoon playing “football” outside, making turkey crafts, watching the parade (many thanks for the fast forward wonders of Tivo), drooling over holiday toy ads and eating our feast – which for the kids meant rolls, sweet potato fries, peas and pie.

As the final leaves fall we are called once again to count our blessings, which we know are many. This season also brings our hearts to long for those we love so far away. We are a thankful bunch and we are thankful for you.

Fall Weekend

Last weekend was packed with fun - from family movie night, to a trip to the Hickory Museum of Art, to a jaunt to our favorite Science Center, to raking (and jumping in) the last big bunch of leaves, to ice cream penguins for dessert – simple, good stuff and some really cute kids (at least in our opinion!).

Around Town

Here are a handful of pictures of the kids having fun around town in the last week or so. A morning at the park where Clara picked out her own ensemble and Ben was sad we couldn't take home a squirrel as a pet. Another trip to the local police station with some very sweet and patient officers, Ben was speechless in his excitement; all he could do was give the officers a thumbs up. There was afternoon "band practice" with Mark in the sanctuary at church and as always, just hanging out at home. And we had to include a picture of our master bedroom- bassinet/ pack n' play free for the first time in years...but it still seems to be the preferred hangout place and dance party venue.


Little town, little kids, little moments…

Spooky

It really was a dark and stormy night...the weather on Halloween was cold, rainy and dark. It caused a rearranging of plans and sadly we had to forgo our usual outing with the crew (Ivy, Noah and Owen- we missed you!). Thankfully, Ben and Clara are still at an age where dressing up in costumes and a handful of treats is enough to make them giddy with excitement.

Ben adored his policeman costume, "Mommy, thank you so much! I have everything I need." (That statement more than made up for the glue gun burn on Leah's finger). Clara was the cutest little ballerina- all sweetness and chubby cheeks, so excited to carry her treat bag around like a big girl. We braved the weather to take the kids to visit the librarians at our local library (their presence had been requested) and then dropped by the police station so Ben could show them he was a “real policeman.”

The rain broke for a little bit so we walked down to the downtown square for the soggy festivities. That didn’t go so well…Ben is terrified of characters (he still sheds tears over Bob the Builder from LegoLand) and downtown there was a good number of “big, scary puppets.” We hightailed it home, broke out It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and enjoyed popcorn and candy for dinner -hey, it was Halloween!

Clara loved helping Mark hand out candy and chasing Mr. Edwards as he tried to sneak in the house every time the door opened for trick or treaters. Ben stood watch in his police gear, protecting us from any “big, scary puppets.” Our favorite word of the season has been “spooky”- it is our way of saying silly, Halloween fun over the scary, haunted stuff. It was a spooky kind of night…different than what we had planned and actually kind of perfect.