Stickwork

 Since February, Guilford College has been hosting a really neat display by Patrick Dougherty called "Disorderly Conduct". This guys does some really neat work by twisting together fresh-cut saplings and limbs into beautiful designs that you can walk into and touch. We met up with some friends and let the kids run around in the display and they had a blast.

Park Days

Since I changed my schedule, we have spent several Saturday mornings at the park as a family. We have had beautiful weather this fall. And I am so very thankful for the family time.

 

And just a shot to give 4 Baby some press. 35 weeks.

Sibling Classes

Rebecca has to take classes each time she is pregnant for her insurance. Now, she isn't so sure she really needs the classes but we are thankful for the discount on our insurance. :) The end of her birth and baby classes is a sibling class and tour. Olivia and Gabe were very excited to participate. Ezra, well, i'm sure you guessed it, but he just sort of came along. At the end, the teacher even gave Olivia a bit more information by showing her posters of the baby inside of mom and answering her questions about the birth process.

Ponds and Streams Nature Hike

As we continued Olivia's study of rivers and lakes, we stopped by a couple of places to look more closely at a stream and a pond/marsh.

Ducks feeding in the stream

We talked about how the leaves in the stream decay and provide nutrients for all kinds of plants and animals.

Olivia went digging in the mud to see if she could find any hibernating bugs, frogs or turtles. We did see a water strider scooting around, but it was too fast to get a picture of.

If you look closely, there's a tiny fish in the middle of the picture.

At the marsh, we talked about how ducks and other birds like the reeds and cattails for shelter and camouflage.

While we didn't see any, there was some clear evidence that beavers had been here at some time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, we spent Thanksgiving at Rebecca's folks' plave this year and had a wonderful time, great food (of course, I cooked it...:) ) and lots fo laughs. As is typical, we spent a whole lot of time eating and lounging and not so much on the picture-taking...

On Thanksgiving morning, Rebecca got up at about 3:45am (thinking it was 4:30am) and went with her dad to make and serve turkeys to a big group of missionaries. They slaved in the kitchen there until after 1pm, but all were fed and happy.

I got up around 7am and made the kids special "turkey" pancakes... 

That's when I started "slaving" over our Thanksgiving meal. It really wasn't that hard, but we had turkey, mashed potatoes, chipotle sweet potatoes, broccoli casserole, green bean casserole, cornbread (courtesy of Rebecca's mom :) ) and her Aunt Kelly brought pie. Mmmmm...pie.

Grandma was so kind to play with the kids outside for the morning, putting them to work in the barn or swinging on the swings or riding on the horses so I didn't have to worry about entertaining them and cook, too.

Once we were all fat and happy, Olivia took charge and dragged Grandpa outside for more hours of playing. She'd been waiting patiently all day for him to get home. :) 

On the way home the next morning, we swung by Rebecca's grandparents' house and got to spend lunchtime with them as well as her Aunt Bethany and Uncle Phil, and cousins Matthew and Hunter. Matt and Hunter spent a good while playing with the kids and a fun time was had by all. :)

Preparing for Thanksgiving

We attended a Thanksgiving party and had so much fun. The kids heard a few books, made lots of crafts, and enjoyed a very festive lunch.

Stories

turkeys, cupcake teepees, indian corn cookies

Lots of outdoor fun on a beautiful fall day

Our  family sunflower. Thank you Amber. The sunflower only has one leaf right now as we will add the baby's foot soon. :) 

Gabe's crafts:

Olivia's Crafts:

Our Cottage School visited Guilford Homes. We sang the folksongs and hymns we have been studying the last two terms and gave out placemats that we made to the residents. It was a blessing to bless others. Unfortunately, my camera didn't end up with me. Gabe is very sweet and outgoing. He held hands and talked to a staff member as we walked into the building. He also went and stood by an elderly gentlemen as we sang. The kids went around and visited with the residents as they were eating their lunches. Olivia and Gabe are both very outgoing and strike up conversations easily.

Each family used their own creativity to make the placemats so we had a fun variety. These were ours except that each placemat had a different scripture having to do with Thanksgiving.

At home we pulled out the Little People mayflower and Thanksgiving sets that we have and read books. Olivia watched a movie about the Mayflower crossing and the Plymoth Colony (again, found on Youtube) and worked on some brainstorming activities about the kids experiences. Gabe worked on the Thanksgiving preschool pack from Carissa at 1+1+1=1. As a family we have spent time each day for the last week listing the things that we are thankful for. It is a very good exercise and will hopefully create a habit of gratitude in our lives. Olivia then made this chain out of our list. Olivia says, "We have so many things to be thankful for!" And I couldn't agree more!

Ezra's First Haircut

We finally had to do something about the boy's mullet. It was getting just a little too pronounced, so I took the clippers to him. you can see just how excited about it he was...Although, compared to Gabe, he was easy...