Black Friday

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Another year, another great Thanksgiving!  

I love my men in argyle.

We have so much to be thankful for, but this year I am particularly thankful for my health and my family's health. In August, I watched my friend lose her 36 year old husband to cancer.  I am going to try and never take my health for granted again.

Under Wonder

 

I picked up some Cars undies for him a few weeks ago thinking it may provide a little extra motivation for Henry to get on the potty.  The good news is that he LOVES them and doesn't want to take them off ever.  The bad news? He prefers to wear them OVER his clothes instead of under.  Baby steps, I guess.

Indoor Camping

Smart Cookie

These "turkey" cookies are a staple at our house each Thanksgiving.  However, this year I didn't quite make it to the store for the exact right ingredients.  We did our best with what we had.  We made a few turkeys and then went a little freestyle.

Amelia is smart--she started making some cookies so piled up with icing and candy and more icing that she knew she would be the ONLY one eating them. (The green down below is sour apple laffy taffy--ew).

Power Tower

Have you seen the "Power Tower" idea floating around the internet?  You write words that you want your child to learn on the bottom of Dixie cups.  Then, you hand them a big stack and they build a tower with the cups after reading the word on the bottom. 

I was having a little trouble believing it was really as popular with kids as people say, so I gave it a try. Now that Amelia is in school full-time with homework nearly every night, I try and not do too much extra "school" work at home.  And if I do any outright educational activities, I try to make them as fun as possible since she gets her fair share of worksheets at school (seriously, like 35 a week!).

So, I loaded the bottom of the cups with some new sight words (we have been working from the Dolch list since she long ago learned the ones her class is being taught this year).  I couldn't believe how fast she picked up the new words AND how much she enjoyed stacking them.  Of course, it is no surprise that knocking them over at the end is the best part! They are really easy to stack (she made the above "tower" all by herself) and they store perfectly in a Pringles can.  We have a (slightly less popular) math version, too, with simple addition problems on the bottom. 

At the Zoo

Another date with just Henry and I--this time to the zoo.  He loved every minute of our trip to the zoo and lasted much longer than I expected (I wish I would have packed us a lunch!).

Dear Fall,

 

Please don't leave.  Stay forever. 

Party like a Rock Spar

Amelia got to attend a birthday party unlike any other she has been to.  It was a Tae Kwon Do party at a nearby studio.  For being such a girly girl, she loved every minute.  Here she is "sparring" the birthday girl.

End of the Year Soccer Party

It turns out that Pizza Street is the perfect spot for a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds to hang out and celebrate their (successful) soccer season.  Especially on a Tuesday night when kids eat free and there is a face painter on hand.  But, for future reference, that is about all Pizza Street has going for it.