THanksgiving

My dad came to visit from Mississippi for Thanksgiving this year. The boys had fun with Granddad Randy. Here are some photos from Thursday and our trip to Maymont on Friday.

(Playing football in the yard while waiting for Thanksgiving dinner to be ready)

















Everyone loved feeding the goats!

November "Funnies"

Wow! It has been far too long since my last post...
Nicholas has been quite the comedian the past few weeks. Here are some of his recent "funnies:'

• (During a conversation I was having with him about the First Thanksgiving...)

Bev: The pilgrims didn't have grocery stores. Where do you think they might have gotten their food?"
Nicholas: From the refrigerator!

• (Right before I was going to spank him for disobeying...)

Nicholas: Wait! I mean you no harm! (This was a line from a Buzz Lightyear book we have. Needless to say, I couldn't help but crack up.)

In case you didn't hear, he took his first trip to the ER on Wednesday after biting (almost) through his lower lip in the Chick-fil-a play area. There was quite a bit of blood involved, and we weren't sure if he'd need some stitches. Turns out, he's going to be fine and no stitches were needed. I think Nicholas enjoyed the trip to the hospital. The kind nurses gave Buzz Lightyear an i.d. bracelet and treated him for a broken leg. As my sister-in-law Erin said, we may have quite a few trips to the ER in our future with two boys!

Daniel is really starting to respond to books. While reading From Head to Toe, I said, "I am a penguin and I turn my head. Can you do it?" He replied, "Ike d'it!" (I can do it!) He is very interested in animals (especially giraffes) and seems to like his animal books the best.

Until next time, have a great Thanksgiving!

Those Heart-Melting Moments

Sometimes, you just have one of those moments that melts a mom's heart. This morning, Nicholas climbed into the rocking chair in Daniel's room and asked if Daniel could sit with him there. When I put Daniel beside him, Nicholas proceeded to pick up a book and started "reading" as D-Bear listened with rapt attention. Afterwards, they rubbed heads affectionately. It was such a sweet moment, and I'm so thankful that God uses those special times to remind us of what a blessing it is to be a parent. In the midst of all the chaos, it's easy to be focused on the disobedience, messy house, and all that needs to be done. What a loving Father we have to let us delight in our own children! And, how much more He must love us- more than we can even imagine.

It's gotten pretty chilly this week. A couple of days ago, we went out to play, and the boys looked so cute in their winter caps that I couldn't resist snapping a couple of pictures:

Momma is the sweetest name.

This week, Nicholas started calling me Momma. (It used to be "Mom.") For some reason, there is something about that that just melts my heart. I'm finding I have more patience when he prefaces a question with "Momma..." (even if it's the same question he's been asking over and over for fifteen minutes).

Daniel is walking all over. I have a feeling I will soon be chasing after him in the stores, park, and house. Nicholas only just stopped running away from us about 3-4 months ago, so it's been a short break. At least I've taken up running this year, so I can keep up with him! Here are some recent pics from our (second) trip to the pumpkin patch:

Something about the half-birthday

Okay, so I need to know: Has anyone else experienced a change in their child(ren) around the half-brithday? I was so relieved that Nicholas was obeying more frequently and seemed to be maturing since he turned three. Well, all of a sudden, we're back to the tantrums and disobedience! I was baffled until I read an article in Parents magazine that said that kids usually alternate between contentment and struggles every six months. Then it occurred to me that Nicholas just had his half-bd last weekend! Is this for real?

A Busy Weekend

Whew! This past weekend was so busy. This time of year is just bursting with activities. I took the boys to the pumpkin patch on Thursday. (But we'll go back with Chris again soon.) On Friday, we all went to the zoo, and Saturday was a Junior League event called "Touch-a-Truck." This was awesome! About 30 giant trucks were parked in a lot, and the kids were able to climb in, on, and all around them. Of course, Nicholas had a blast, and I think Daniel enjoyed all the goings-on as well. Here are some pics:

The Worst Dinner (and other stories from the week)

Ever fixed a simply disastrous dinner? Well, I have several times, but before the other night, it had been a while. On Wednesday, I decided to make something "fun"- fried chicken fingers. My mom has a recipe using panko bread crumbs, and it's pretty tasty, and since I'd been fixing boring things like asparagus and salmon prior to this, I thought it might be a crowd-pleaser... Well, I'll give you a tip: Make sure the chicken is completely defrosted before breading and frying. In my case, the outside was practically burnt, but my dear (and incredibly patient) husband bit into a raw chicken finger. Not only that, but the shells I'd made as a side tasted funny for some reason. So, that left us with salad. In the old days, we probably would have just laughed and ordered a pizza, not minding the 45 minute wait, but with two hungry little fellows at the table, I was forced to pull out some leftover lasagna. (Yes, Erin, I was talking on the phone to you while this dinner diaster occurred, and I learned my lesson about multi-tasking!)

Updates on the boys from the week:

• Daniel's favorite book is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. (This is pretty funny considering it's about a caterpillar who eats and eats, but is always hungry- like Daniel!) When I was reading it to him, I paused on, "On Monday, the caterpillar ate through one..." and he said, "Apple!"
• Apparently, my child is in no hurry to walk. He has taken steps, and can walk, but drops down to crawl when he wants to get around.
  
• Nicholas was giving Chris a very sweet hug following his nap today. He said, "I really like hugging you. I could hug you ALL day, Dad!" Then, a moment later, "I could hug you twice a day!"
• We made a scarecrow and hung it up in our kitchen this week. I didn't know how much Nicholas enjoyed this project until he said, "I just love my scarecrow, Dad. Don't you?"(By the way, this was a shape review. I cut out squares, rectangles, a triangle and circle for N. to glue together.)

My sister-in-law, Erin, told me about a very cute blog of a mom who uses Bible verses to teach her child the letters of the alphabet. This week, we did the letter I (I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalms 139:14) Here's the blog for other ideas: http://impressyourkids.wordpress.com.
If you've found/thought of any other great ways to teach your kids scriptures, please send them my way!