Little Turkey

Here's some random video of Cailin. She was doing this little arm flapping dance saying gobblegobblegobble like a turkey, it was so cute! The only place we figure she learned it was Sam's preschool show, or the subsequent video of the show. Of course, when we made her do it for the camera it was pretty halfhearted, but still cute. Then it's just silly Cailin antics. Trying to get her to say Ben (whom she calls "B") and Sam (whom she can call "Sam" pretty well, but usually won't for some reason). Then her baby-doll crying noise she makes all the time. Her babies are always crying, but it's cute. Then her being another kind of turkey--being possessive of the couch (note that she can say "mine!") and swatting Sam. Don't mind the hairdo, she was rolling all over the couch!

Thanksgiving

I started this post the other night, but didn't get any farther than the title. Here goes again. We had a very nice Thanksgiving.

Very relaxed. Very delicious. We have never done sweet potatos before since neither of us care for them, but Jason wanted to try some this year. We found a highly rated recipe online, and they turned out really yummy (though more like a dessert than a side)! Cailin figured out the olives-on-the-fingers thing all by herself and was very proud. Sam was not happy that I made them put on their Indian headbands that they each made at school, but I needed picture!We had the boys write/draw what they are most thankful for, and they said family, friends, school, dinner. What I'm thankful for is a wonderful husband who loves to cook all our big/fancy meals! I do most of the day-to-day meals, but he does most of our Thanksgiving dinners. A couple years ago when I was pregnant with Cailin and having some preterm labor, I had an appointment the day before Thanksgiving. The doctor told me to go home, put my feet up and let someone else do the cooking. I told him not to worry, that was already taken care of! I'm also thankful for our nutty kids who keep us laughing, our cozy home, and our family though far away. After dinner, we cleaned, ate pies, and played Guitar Hero and Lego Batman. When Ben gets tired of playing, he wants me to play so he can "just watch". He then yells "go over there, no not there, jump up, switch guys, break that!" etc the whole time! On Friday morning, I got up and went to snag a few deals. Not at 4 AM, though! More like 9. I'm only halfway crazy. After lunch, we got out the Christmas stuff. The boys were so hyperactive all morning waiting for the tree to come out of it's box. Finally, it begins. We turned on some Christmas music to help. Don't know why the boys had to "watch" it. I opened the decorations boxes, and the boys were very eager to help unload them. Sam in particular really got into it. Almost done! Sam found "The Polar Express" book and was so excited. He has been watching the movie every day for the last few days, and playing with his Thomas trains again, which have been severely neglected for quite some time (although Sam was never quite as obsessed as Ben was with Thomas). Until recently, he actually called it "The Cooler Express", which always made us laugh. He also has an array of "funny faces" like this one to keep us laughing. I got the first cherry chocolates of the season while I was out, and Cailin caught me trying to sneak one. She was an instant fan. Sam, however, was not. He has some some texture issues with food, and didn't appreciate all the sticky goop flowing out. Should have known, it's the same story with Cadbury eggs. As always, there were a few issues with the lights, but at last the tree was ready for ornaments! Cailin loved all the glass ball ones. She always got offended when I tried to hand her another sort to hang. Luckily, we haven't had any broken ones yet, even with Cailin's technique of throwing it at the tree and hoping it sticks! Here are the boys laughing at my ornament I made in kindergarten with my picture in the middle. Thanks. I thought my hair was cute!The kids worked hard.Finally, we were done. Obviously, we still need to do a little redistributing. After all the decorations were up, Dad and Sam were exhausted (Jason had gotten up at 5 for some online deals)! Here's Cailin this morning, always doing what she sees mom doing. And here she is doing what Cailin does! Today we headed to Ikea for a few odds and ends. We love going there and having lunch first. This time we tried out the "smalland" place where you drop off your kids to play. Ben and Sam are both tall enough and potty trained now. They had a great time, while we had an easier time shopping (after Cailin finally fell asleep). Once we got home, I finally got the van cleaned out from our "vacation" a couple weeks ago. Amongst the debris removed were a hundred million board books, about ten pounds of sand, a skate fish egg case, eight empty or nearly empty water bottles, two umbrellas, and lots of legos and coinage. Then we put up our outdoor lights. It took forever as usual to get the configuration just right with all the various plugs and cords, but we did it. Neither of us are fond of ladders, and this house's eaves are higher than one story, so we don't put lights up there, but we have plenty on the ground! This picture is from last year but we used it as our guide, so it basically looks the same (except Jason just said half the doe is out now). Ben told us that today was the best day he's ever had. He really liked the ball pit at Ikea, and riding his bike for so long while we wrestled with lights and cords! We've had a busy long weekend, but are glad we are so ready for Christmas and it's not even December yet. We are almost done shopping for the kids, too (thank goodness for Amazon!).

Sam's Show

Sam had his preschool Thanksgiving show today. It was so cute. They picked out Native American names, and Sam's was Rain. He looks so bored here, but he was actually having a good time for the most part. The room was tiny and crowded and Cailin was being a pill, so I didn't have the best angle for photography and videography, but I managed some. I loved his reaction when he first came in!

Sorry for all the video, but as my friend Sariah said, this is the grandparent's version! After the singing, we got to do some "cranberry construction" with cranberries and toothpicks. Sam and I built a guy and a house. The shiny red berries proved to be too much temptation for Cailin. She popped one into her mouth right away, and although it was immediately apparent she did not like it, she would not stop trying to eat more! Meanwhile, Ben had a full-fledged Thanksgiving feast in his class today. He brought in the rolls, something I could send with him since I couldn't bring hot food in to his class with Sam's show going on. I baked them last night, and realized all too late that I should have made a few extras for us! The smell was making us so hungry for real Thanksgiving. Between both boys' crafts and centerpieces, we'll barely be able to fit our plates on the table! Guess we''ll have to limit it to one centerpiece per kid.

In other news, we finally had Ben's pediatric cardiologist appointment for his heart murmur yesterday. Everything is fine, thankfully, and his heart is perfect. It was a long appointment (two hours) with three kids, but they were pretty good, all things considered. In the ultrasound room, they had a tv/vcr combo and a selection of videos (a good thing--that was the longest ultrasound I've ever seen!). Ben chose to watch Harry Potter, and when the lady pulled out the cassette, Sam yelled "What is that rectangle?!?!" I had to explain that that's how we used to watch a movie, back in the day. Sam also insisted that the video of Ben's heart looked more like his stomach, although Ben said it looked like a baby picture.

The Birds

The birds around here are going crazy (or perhaps just one bird?), reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's movie! A couple weeks ago, I began noticing bird poops appearing all over the side mirrors on the van. Every day there was more and more, big ole' purple splats--yuck! I never saw any birds sitting out there though. Their (or his) madness has intensified in the last couple days though, and I finally caught one at it today. Apparently, they (or he--I only saw one at it, but with the amount of poop, perhaps there are more) are trying to gain access to the van. I watched out the window as it would sit on the mirror and periodically flutter at the side window or the windshield. Not only is it trying to get into the van, but it's also trying to get into the house! You'll have to wait a few seconds for the action to begin on the video, sorry, I'm too lazy to edit it.

Which explains this on our bedroom window.It flutters and flings itself into the windows over and over. It's so creepy! I first saw it yesterday morning in Ben's room. I was getting out his clothes for the day, and a bird started doing that at his window and Ben just said "Oh, they do that all the time." So.....what's their deal? Did they forget to fly south for the winter and need accommodations now that it's freezing out? Or is it just one mad purple-pooping bird? Either way, I hope they or it leaves soon, I'm getting tired of all the poops everywhere, and the fear of being attacked as soon as we open the door!

Unexpected Suprises

Today we woke up to.....snow flurries! The kids were sooo excited. Sam just sat here for the longest time watching it, and when Ben got up, he joined him. I guess it's pretty rare to happen this early around here. Ben was all antsy to go out and play in the snow, but I told him we didn't have time because we were all getting dressed and ready and he was about to go to school. He was a little mad, but still happy about the snow. I love it how the snow around here rarely actually sticks to the road! I guess we've only been here one winter, though, so I'm no local weather expert. Out the front: Out the back:It kept falling and falling in huge flakes all morning, but of course it had all melted away by the time Ben came home from school. Luckily, a late birthday present arrived for him today! Lego Batman! It helped ease the snow disappointment very well. Thanks aunts, uncles, and cousins!!! It's been a peaceful afternoon thanks to you! And Ben says thanks, too, that it's "so awesome!"

Christmas catalogues

It's amazing what a difference it makes having Ben home a couple hours earlier each day. This week he has all shortened days for parent teacher conferences. The boys have gone completely feral. The house is trashed and they've been at each others' throats on many occasions. There has been screaming, yelling, jumping, throwing and plenty of potty noises. Last night in an attempt to stop the spiraling decline of social order, I got out the hundred million toy catalogues we've been getting in the mail. I told the boys to circle the things they think they'd really like to have. After a few pages, Ben began circling every single toy, as he was saying "I'm going to get this...and I'm going to get this...and this." etc. I told him that these weren't necessarily the things they would get, and that they can't get everything that they wanted, and Ben replied "But one year, I did get everything I wanted and then some more, too!" Hopefully he feels the same way this year, even though he will not be getting a giant ride on dinosaur, nerf shooting guns, or a playstation 3!

Shameless bragging

Feel free to skip this post if you don't like people bragging about their kids, but we are just so proud of Ben! Jason went to Parent-Teacher conference the other night. His teacher said Ben is one of the brightest students in her class (while being the youngest). His thinking and reasoning skills are more advanced than she usually sees at this age, and sometimes she tries to catch him with a question while he doesn't seem to be paying attention because he is looking somewhere else, but he always has a thoughtful answer for her. He's in the most advanced reading group, too. They recently rearranged the classroom seating, and he was so proud to be able to sit in the back of the class now. He was up front and center before, and knows that he gets to sit in the back because he's good. He has also been doing his homework without complaint and quickly too, thanks to Jason's ingenious idea. He was at Staples one day and saw this for sale. He snagged it with a plan. Everytime Ben finishes one assignment (he usually has 3 a night), he gets to push the button and hear it say "that was easy". It has worked like a charm! He is still impatient to get things done so his handwriting is still the thing he needs to improve, but other than that, Ben is doing really great in first grade!

Cailin had her 18 month check up this week as well and is now 20 lbs 6 oz, hooray! Finally passed that 20 lb mark, I though we'd never get there! I can't remember her height, but that it was in the 50th percentile. Her weight is a little lower than the 5th percentile, but the doctor said not to worry because it's been consistent. Cailin HATES the doctor. As soon as they get near her, she is screaming and thrashing about, even just getting measured. I guess I can't blame her, since her visits usually end in shots! The doctor asked me what words she says, and wanted me to list them all off the top of my head! I said a few, but I can't remember every word she says! The doctor said, oh about six, then? I said no, more than that, and she waited for me to tell her the words. I gave a couple more, so she wrote "about 10" in the chart. So silly! With the boys it was sufficient enough for me to say that they say plenty and I'm not worried about it. Poor baby with a bandaid on her leg (why do they always seem to cover the poke with the sticky part?!?). I got those cheap-o rubbery shoes at walmart during the summer, and she has finally grown into them, and loves them! She is always bringing them to me to put them on her. Also, as you can see, she has learned to remove her pants. Maybe she is ready for potty training after all (but I'm not)!

Brrrrr!

This week, we let go of the 65 degree weather and plunged into 30s and 40s. Literally overnight! What a shock to the system. Not to mention the scrambling to locate winter coats in the basement, and finding out the kids have outgrown almost all their fuzzy hats. I always seem to forget how I do not like the cold. Here's Ben all bundled up this morning. And the younger kids had to get a little bundled, too even though we're not leaving the house at all except for the bus stop after school and maybe the mailbox. Yes, I'm a weather wimp.I went out and "winterized" the backyard the other day (cleaned up and put away all the toys) and I could hardly stand to be outside. Cailin wanted to stay out and play longer, with her little nose all red and eyes watering. Silly girl. My "winter skin" has also arrived, reminding me that I need to be more disciplined in lotion application, or really suffer! I have been loving the seat warmer in the van, though. Since we got it in March, I never really used it before. Nice! Now they just need to make the steering wheel and gas pedal heated, too, and I'd be all set. The frigid weather has also thrown a wrench into my plans for refinishing the little kitchen set for Cailin. I had done a few coats of paint here and there when it was warmer, then the next day went out to apply a coat (I was doing this in the garage), and the paint started rippling up immediately, and I realized duh, it's too cold for painting! So I'll have to sand that off and bring each piece inside to do one at a time, I guess. And somehow keep Cailin from seeing it. I got some magnetic primer to do the little fridge doors so we can put magnets on it. I also got some speckled rock-looking paint for the sink countertop, so it looks all countertop-y. So cute. I can't wait until it's finished, and hopefully I don't mess it up with my impatience!