November Run Down

The month of November has gone by very fast. I have had several things I meant to post as the month went by, but alas, they seemed to be the last thing on my list. But today is a perfect day for blogging. It is raining outside, I have the smell of homemade apple pie drifting through my home, so really it is a great day to cuddle up with a book. But since having two four year olds around is not very conducive to relaxing on the couch without being interrupted every other paragraph, catching up on the blog seems to be the next best thing.

A Close Call for the Tooth Fairy

Back at the beginning of the month Gracie lost a tooth. For some reason she thinks I am the tooth fairy. In a last ditch effort to convince herself the tooth fairy is real, she decided she'd try to catch her. Luckily for the tooth fairy, all Gracie ended up with was a jar of fairy dust.

5k Fun Run

Also at the beginning of the month I reached a goal that I have been wanting to do for a long time: run a 5K. My husband and I both ran, it was my first, but not George's. He really ran just to support me, and was an awesome coach. I was worried because I am a pretty slow runner, but there were so many people there at different fitness levels that it didn't matter. Although my finish time is nothing to brag about, I beat my practice time by seven minutes! Woo Hoo! It was a fun experience and I hope to do another one in January

Fall Decorating

I enjoy decorating for the Holidays. I remember once when I was growing up Mom saying she couldn't wait to see what I decorated my house like when I grew up. I don't think she meant holiday decor as much as she meant what my house would look like in general, but every time I put up my seasonal things I wish she and the rest of the family was closer so I could share it with them. So here is the next best thing. Nothing fancy, but still fun.


Preschool Pilgrims
Tim and Tab had their "feast day" at preschool yesterday and came out in their Pilgrim attire, having eaten chicken noodle soup, corn bread, and pumpkin pie.

Traditions
We don't have a lot of Thanksgiving traditions, other than the big feast and expressing what we are thankful for on that day, but here are a couple things we do to make Thanksgiving fun and meaningful:

Tom Turkey begins the month bare of tail feathers. We leave box of feathers out and throughout the month when we think of something we are thankful for we write it on a feather and add it to his tail. Even the preschoolers do their own "writing." By Thanksgiving Day he is arrayed in all the splendor of a Thanksgiving Turkey.
This is the second year we have made these fun Turkey Cupcakes. We make a bunch and then choose the best looking ones to take to friends.
Then we eat the mutant ones ourselves.There is November thus far in a nutshell. I hope everone has a great Thanksgiving!

If He Created it Once . . .

Tim and Tab have learned a lot about the creation and where they came from. They ask a lot of questions about Jesus and what he created and so forth. Tonight Jeremy was telling us about a book he is reading that compares sci-fi weaponry with the real stuff (read on, this does have something to do with the previous two sentences). Eventually the conversation turned to the ultimate sci-fi weapon, the Death Star (Dun dun dun Duh duh dun Duh duh dun). After Jeremy reminded us how it could blow up the whole planet, Tim commented, "Then Jesus would sure have a lot of work to do!"

Dirty Business

There is something about boys and dirt that are inseparable. Now that the weather has cooled off enough for the kids to be outdoors for more than a few minutes without incurring heat stroke, Tim has taken up residence in his favorite place. The sand box.
He is usually joined by one or more of his siblings, which is no problem as George built it big enough for all six kids to dig around in if they so choose.
Tim loves the tractors. Here he and Tabs have a whole parade of them going to the work site.
Often when the bigger kids are out there they will carve out lakes and rivers and fill them with water. They like to watch the water erode their castles and bridges, and have even been known to bury the hose inside a "volcano" and then turn it on and watch it erupt!

Through Little Eyes

My friend Monica and I were lamenting the other day how our youngest children seem to act so much older than our oldest children did at the same age. Being youngest in a family has got to be a totally different experience than being among the oldest. Tim and Tabitha have a different view of the world than their older siblings did. They are exposed to a lot more activities, movies, and people and places than they were. Not just more, but different.

Although they do still posses the innocence of little children, they have a tolerance for things that would have terrified their siblings at their age. They will sit calmly through the movie Jurassic Park and then draw pictures of rainbow colored dinosaurs when the movie is over. We would NEVER have shown this movie to our three oldest at this age. Jeremy used to hide behind the couch and cry when Pooh Bear got stuck in Rabbit's front door.

In some ways this worries me. They are much more graphic about things at a young age also. For example they have been known to sing, "Three little monkeys jumping on the bed. One falls off and cracks his head and blood comes out." I swear they don't watch anything gorier than Jurassic Park (the first one, the least disgusting of the series). And here is a lovely picture Tabitha colored at church. It is supposed to be a picture of two kids sharing. Her interpretation: Tim is sharing his blocks with me and I am throwing up on them. Notice the rainbow colored barf?
And of course they pick up language. Luckily we don't use any expletives in our house that would warrant embarrassment if a little one blurted them out in public, but it really cracks us up when one of the twins stops in their tracks and exclaims, "What the heck?" And they are great name callers, "You poo poo!" being the most prevalent insult.


It's not all bad. They have a lot of confidence and understanding of the world around them and how things work. They also have a strong grip on what is reality and what is pretend, hence being able to watch Jurassic Park and not be traumatised. They learn how to do a lot from their older siblings from teasing to acting like they are doing homework. They get to tag along to their siblings' activities and schools and see what the world is like after preschool. They look forward to doing the things that the big kids do, and "practice" being big kids through their play.


There are other things that are different that I just can't seem to put my finger on, but make me wonder, "Did my other kids do this, act like this, were they interested in this, at this age?" Part of it could just be personality. Both have strong personalities and opinions. But I think experience has had an impact too. Ever since Grandpa Mac passed away almost a year ago Tabitha has asked many, many questions about him and where he is with Jesus (Is he in outer space?). She talks about Jesus a lot and asks if he created this or that (cars, flowers) and if he knows what we are thinking. Some of her questions seem awfully deep for a four year old.


Drawing out all these examples in writing makes me worried that they sound like disturbed children! Then, just as I typed the last sentence, Charity walked in the room and confessed she ripped Tabitha's night gown. How? "I was trying grab her and stuff paper in her mouth." Okay, so maybe they really are just learning from the best. Or maybe they are all disturbed.

Update to "My Boy"

Today Tim added a more masculine touch to his dress-up ensamble.
After all, he is a BOY .

My Boy

Tim just came in asking for help with his dress. Yes, I just said dress. When the girls get out the princess dress ups Tim likes to join in the fun. He is very selective, however, and will only don the yellow "Belle" dress.

I helped him guide his arms through the sleeves and do up the Velcro in the back. Then I said, teasingly, "There you go pretty princess!" He gave me a very stern look, said, "I AM A BOY," and glided away in his fluffy, sparkly gown.

Tim and Tab, ready for a night at the ball.

The Replacement

Tim has never been a little "Linus," dragging his blanket everywhere with him. He isn't one of those kids who can't get to sleep with out his blanket or who sits sadly by the washer when the beloved item has become too dirty to be considered sanitary. But after we left his "bwanket" behind at a hotel earlier this summer, he began to miss it.

His darling siblings began to create a new one for him, and although their intentions were good, it never came to full fruition.

It has been over a month since the blanket abandonment, and the boy sleeps, eats, plays, and even settles down when he is sad without it. If I was worried about security item attachment issues I'd be feeling pretty good that he doesn't need it anymore. But he has never needed it like that. It is a small comforting item to him, and heck, I have a favorite afghan I like to cuddle up in when I am reading a book or taking a nap.

Every once in a while he asks if we are going back to the hotel so he, "can wook in the woom where we weft my bwanket," so I decided, even though he is four and is at about the age where most parents are trying to wean their kids from blankets, to go ahead and make him a new one.

I found some fun flannel with cars, trucks, etc. on it and stitched one up for him the other night.

He still asks about the other blanket, but was very excited to get this new one. After all, a blanket isn't just a blanket, it's a cape, a roof of a fort, wrapping paper, somewhere to wipe your face, a hiding place, and oh so much more.

And They're Off!

My two oldest boys took off on an adventure yesterday morning. My mom came into town on Friday, spent the weekend with us, and then flew the two boys back home with her. They get to spend a full week with Grandma and Grandpa without having to share them with the younger kids. They were so excited to go on the trip and their first airplane ride. Here they are in the airport Monday morning:

The decision was made that the boys would not have me lock the door to their room while they are away after promises were extracted from their siblings that whoever went in there to play with the Legos would clean them up (was that a run on sentance?). Still, I found this sign on their door:

Today I am cleaning out out pantry and taking stock of the food storage items I have in there. Sometimes kids can really make it hard for you to get a job done, or they make it a little more fun. This time Tim was helping me carry some of the big #10 cans out of the pantry. I was amazed that his little four year old body could carry them, some were really heavy! While I was busy organizing other things he arranged the cans to make the outline of a house and then began to pretend they were honey pots, which apparently belong on the couch.

And of course you can't have a bunch of big cans hanging around without feeling the need to do a little drumming!

My Boy

Posting that picture of Tim in a Belle dress yesterday got me thinking of some of the funny "gender" related things he does. He insists that I do not call him "sweetie." Every time I slip and call me that he reminds me, "GIRLS are sweeties, BOYS are handsomes!" Tabitha is very concerned with what she will be like when she grows up and often starts a sentance with,"When I am a mommy. . ." Tim will then pipe up to say what he will be like when he is grown and says, "When I am a mommy, uh, (shakes his head) I mean DADDY!" It's cute to see him flustered like that. The poor guy is around his sister and I all day while his big brothers are at school.

Tomorrow is the last day of school. For those of you who still have weeks to go, we start back mid-August, so we'll probably be in school while you are still havin' fun in the sun. The elementary kids have their water party today, and my intermediate school kid took candy to eat through his first three classes. Tomorrow is a ridiculously short day (2 hours, 15 min) but I guess law requires a certain number of school days. I'm sure the kids will enjoy one last day hanging out with their classes.

Summer Vacation Countdown:

Reasons I Can't Wait For Summer

#7 No packing school lunches. I don't know why I hate packing the lunches so much. I guess because it is just one more thing for me to do at the end of the day, or first thing in the morning. I tried to have the kids do their own lunches for a while, but it just didn't work out because it was one more thing for me to try to get them to do at the end of the day or first thing in the morning. My oldest kid who probably would do it without a fuss buys lunch everyday.

Silly me, when summer is here they will be fixing their lunches at home and dirtying dishes and eating twice as much as if they took a lunch to school. Our grocery bill will increase significantly! I guess when summer is over I'll be glad to pack them lunches again!