A Very Moon Thanksgiving

Two days.

One grandfather.

One grandmother.


Ten aunts, uncles, fiancees (ugh, we all hate that word), and "significant others."

Four "born" grandchildren.

One "unborn" grandchild.

Two turkeys.

Three turkey legs (all consumed by one small boy).

Eight pounds of mashed potatoes.

Two trips to Urgent Care.

One trip to the Emergency Room.

One case of pleurisy.

One case of croup.

One ear infection.

One big Yankee gift swap (ironic, most of us actually being Yankees...)

Countless games of Jenga.

One Arizona football game. (Bear down!) (That has nothing to do with childbirth.)

Several coins and gifts from Taiwan.

Two adorable little dresses handmade by Beppie.

Lots of good times.

Four extremely overtired children.

One big happy family.

Because We Are Super Classy

Here is a video of our precious two-year-old daughter singing the classic Christmas song "Jingle Bells." As taught to her by her two big brothers. Holding a tinker-toy microphone. Wearing a dinosaur costume over fuzzy jammies. With no hairbow. In our extremely messy bedroom.

Seven

Andrew, unbelievably, you are SEVEN.

What's going on with you now?

• You are 48 1/2 inches tall.
• You weigh 54 pounds.
• You are in first grade.
• You are a voracious reader.
• You think anything involving underpants (oh, most especially wedgies) is the funniest thing, EVER.
• Your favorite thing to do outdoors is to ride your bike.
• You love to burp. At least you say "Excuse me" pretty automatically now.
• Your favorite meal (as requested for your birthday dinner) is spaghetti, fruit cocktail, root beer, and cupcakes. (I will not open my mouth about some of the components of this meal because it is your birthday.)
• You have been wanting me to spike up your hair with gel in the front when I comb it. Your earnestness about this makes me giggle to myself.
• You love building with Legos but have recently branched into K'nex.
• You are so excited that we have started weekly game night -- just you, Mom, and Dad. You are freakishly good at Rack-O. Dad and I can't seem to beat you!
• You are adorably kind to your baby sister.
• You continue in your twisted "You're my best friend/I can't stand the sight of you" relationship with your brother. (I think it'll work out OK in the end.) (Maybe with some therapy.) (I'm just saying.)
• Your daddy is your hero.
• You make your mom so very, very happy...just by being your sweet little self.

Happy 7th Birthday, Andrew!

In Search of a Good Time...

This year for Andrew's 7th birthday party, we had a scavenger hunt. A few 14 boys (plus Adam) came to help celebrate! It was an uncharacteristically beautiful November day, so pretty much the entire party was spent outdoors. Thank you, Jesus.

I found instructions for making this cute treasure cake online. Miraculously, the whole thing did not collapse on itself! Gangee, who was here for a visit, and I had fun shopping for all the edible treasure!

The boys were split into four teams of four. Each team had a leader. And at this point I must give BIG UPS to our friends Mike and Josh, who came with their boys to the party and stepped in as team leaders along with me and Steve. We could not have pulled this off without them!

Each team had a pack of clues to solve. Upon solving each clue, the boys had to find an object scattered in one of three yards (thanks to Elijah's and Josh's parents for letting us use their yards!) on our street. Then they had to perform a silly activity and have the team leader take a picture.

Best of all, the boys are at the perfect age for this. They were so into "team spirit" and earnestly raced around the neighborhood solving clues. **So adorable**

A couple of the teams in action:

The whole crew ready for some cake! (Can you see why we were so excited about having nice, outdoor-play kind of weather?)

The birthday boy blowing out his candle:

Everyone got to play and eat cake outside after the scavenger hunt.

What a wonderful day of sunshine, friendly competition, and celebration! A good time was found by all.

Decision Not to Order School Pictures:

Confirmed.

Pop Quiz

How well can you understand Adam-ese? See if you can translate the words/sayings below.

1. Edwoo

2. Wibby

3. Ooooh! I'm gettin' THAT!

4. Oooooh! Edwoo's gettin' THAT!

5. MooooOOOOoooooOOOm

6. Misser Fweeze

7. Skewwiken

8. Gridge

9. Backack

10. Wipe

ANSWERS:
1. older brother

2. younger sister

3. phrase uttered during EVERY toy commercial targeting boys

4. phrase uttered during Strawberry Shortcake toy commercials

5. maternal figure

6. favorite Batman bad guy

7. bones forming framework of human or animal body

8. structure which spans river or chasm

9. schoolbag carried on the back

10. color that is the "opposite" of black

Halloween Spooktacular

Have I mentioned how much I love the ages of our kids right now? I got so hyped up about Halloween this year! All three of the kids get it this year. We've had fun talking about it, planning costumes, and counting down the days to the big night.

This year I decided to do a full-out Halloween dinner menu for the kids. I knew I would do "Mummy Dogs" for the main dish and "Boo Cups" for dessert, but I was stumped for sides. I found an idea online about cutting potato slices with cookie cutters and frying them, so I tried it but had very low expectations. Can I just say, YUM? We had pumpkin- and acorn-shaped "french fries," and they turned out great! And Adam, our creative one, asked if we could cut green peppers to look like jack-o-lanterns. What a cute idea! Thanks, Adam!

With their tummies full, the kids were ready to put on their costumes and go trick-or-treating. If you're wondering why their faces look so sad and unexcited, so am I. ??? Seriously, they look like the dog just died or something.

Ninjas brandishing their swords

Libby wearing her Raggedy Ann costume (taken off her life-sized doll!)


And...HOW CUTE IS THIS? Since we have two life-sized Raggedy Ann dolls, Libby and Ella were both able to dress up in the outfits! Libby is wearing 2010 Raggedy Ann, and Ella is wearing 1976 Raggedy Ann, which I wore for Halloween when I was two! I could just gobble these two up.

Favorite quote of the night?

Me: Libby, what did you get for Halloween?

Libby: Scared!