Happy Thanksgiving!

For FHE we make a Thankful Tree. We cut out leaves, wrote what we were thankful for, and pasted them to the tree. I couldn't decifer all of the list for this post, but I wanted to preserve what I could... The kids really got into it. Their favorite part was cutting out the leaves...

* Jesus

* a patient wife

* friends

* job

* church

* brothers and sisters

* words

* thanskgiving

* pictures

* treats

* leapsters and batteries

* cars

* grass, trees, air

* bikes

* toys

* baseball, ballet, and running

* Preston

* rooms

* family

* recess

* books

* animals

* music

* mom and dad

* tv

* my crib

* Dad

* cousins

* cows

* roof

* clothing

* schoool (yes porter actually wrote that one... shocking!)

* swimming

10 for TX

Another fun race! The race was originally scheduled for October, thanks to Ike, it got bumped to November. I wouldn't have been able to participate in October, but could this month. I really wanted to run it, because I ran it last year, and I wanted to see if I could improve my time. I took six minutes off last years time, and if the cold and the wind had cooperated, maybe I could have taken off more. But I'll take what I can get. Here are my very hideous race pics... I really didn't think I felt as bad as I look in the photos... Doug assured me I did look like I was dying. Oh well...

and... for the record... my results... finishing time... 1:17:33... average page 7:45 (a six minute improvement over last year... again...speedwork!) 9th in my age group (out of 66) . My first split was 39:58 (8 min mile) and my second split was 37:34 (7:31 min mile). Negative splits, always a good thing. The first half of the race was into the wind, and I felt it. The second I rounded the corner, away from the wind, I was able to pick up my pace, my final mile was around a 7 min. mile. I was so excited that I could run that fast after already running 9 miles.

Porter's Santa List

Dear Santa

For Christmas I would like:

* a go-cart

* soda pop

* Star Wars Lego Falcon

* Batman Legos

* a shovel, rake and a hoe

* a nerf gun

* a bike

* a sticky hand

* some go-gurts

* Lego General Grevious

* oh yeah, and a wii

Love, Porter

Sophia's Santa List

And I quote, word for word, with no promptings from mama, a very descriptive four year old...

Dear Santa

For Christmas I would like:

* a shirt with shooting stars, unicorns and frogs

* a princess Dora toy with a princess horse

* a Tinkerbell toy, barbie size, with light skin (like I have light skin) and a green dress

* a swimming suit with fairies around the waist, a mermaid top, and rainbows on the back

* a bike-- a blue one with princesses, mermaids and fairies, white wheels and blue handles

* a sticky hand that whacks bugs

* new shoes-- twisty shoes with pink sparkles, crystals and flowers

* a zebra stuffed animal

Love, Sophia

Family Photos by Kelsey Call

ENYA

This is what we listen to in the car... every day... Not because I am an Enya addict, nor do I insist that we listen to calming and soothing music... no, this is the only thing that all of my children can agree to listen to... if we listen to Porter's choice, Sophia screams... if we listen to Sophia's choice, Porter screams... if we listen to Enya, everyone is happy... I know, random... it gets worse, the only Enya CD we have is cracked, but the first six songs play without a glitch, so we listen to those same six songs over and over again... but my kids never complain... and that makes mom happy...

Front Tooth

Porter lost his front tooth. Check out the size of that hole! He's so proud of himself. He lost it at school, and proudly showed me his tooth in the cool tooth box they get from the school nurse. After all that excitement, can you believe the tooth fairy didn't come that night? Porter was devastated... Mom and Dad were sheepish. But the tooth fairy restored his hope and faith in mystical characters by making up for it the next night. Porter totally believes in the tooth fairy, but he can't quite make sense of the Easter Bunny, unless, of course, the Easter Bunny has a robot to help him, then all the pieces can fall into place :)

Dancing Shoes

Sophia's dance class finally pulled out the tap shoes. So fun! They're also practicing hard for their winter recital.

Happy Birthday Porter!

Porter turned seven!

The older he gets, the faster time seems to be passing.

The birthday celebration included meeting for lunch... where I asked him, "How does it feel to be seven?" He got a very surprised, then thoughtful look on his face, as though it hadn't yet occurred to him that he was no longer six.

I stayed for recess, then helped hand out the doughnuts and juice we brought for his class, to help celebrate his birthday. Sophia and Preston made themselves right at home with the other first graders.

Porter wanted pizza for dinner, and of course, we opened presents. Thanks to all of the grandma's and grandpas and aunts and uncles who remembered and sent happy birthday wishes via presents and/or phone calls. They made Porter feel very special and loved.

We ended the evening with trick or treating. Seriously, what a fun day for a birthday, it's a party all day long.

The party continued the following day, with an end of the season trip to Double Daves with his baseball team, and then a small birthday party. I am getting smarter in my old age, and only allowed him to invite a few friends. He opted for an all male party. The one gender made the guest list a cinch, and the small numbers made the party much more manageable and enjoyable for me. Although, honestly, it doesn't take many boys to create a rowdy bunch!

I did the happy dance when Porter told me what he wanted for his cake. I had imagined some elaborate creation centered around Scooby Doo, the theme of his party. Oh no, he wanted Oreo Cheesecake, you know, the one jello makes in a box. Wahoo!

So, the Internet is a party planning mom's best friend. I googled scooby doo birthday party, and voila, an instant list of ideas. I cut and pasted the best and we had a birthday mystery to solve. The kids had clues that led them to new locations with games ...the mummy wrap is above- the boys had a blast wrapping each other in toilet paper! In the end they found the birthday creeper who had stolen the party goody bags.

Happy Birthday Porter!

I can't believe I have a seven year old...

Church Halloween Carnival

(yes, my other children were there, but they were with their dad, and I was the one with the camera :)

Halloween Night

Glitz and Glam

A patient brother.

Check out the blue nail polish. Her choice.

The finished product.

In preparation for our upcoming family pictures, we all got haircuts last week. I took Sophia to our favorite place, Glitz and Glam. I love the pampering, and on Tuesdays, it's a little cheaper, so it's not much more than a normal haircut anywhere else. Sophia ate it up. She had a big smile on her face the whole time, and so did I, just watching her.

If you can't tell, we've been absolutely swamped the last couple of weeks. Today is the first day I've had to really blog, or read blogs, or do anything on the computer. Our days and nights have been absolutely packed. Last week, we had something, or several things every night. On Saturday, we had something almost every two hours. Whew.... I think things should slow down a little bit, although I hate to even say that, lest I jinx myself!

Children's Museum

Sophia has been asking for weeks to go the Children's Museum. I finally blocked a Friday for her, and away we went. I planned on enjoying the Halloween opportunities at the museum, but the two had so much fun in the tot spot, that we stayed there the whole time. This was Preston's first time to have free reign of the area, and he loved it. I love the car pictures, I have pictures of Porter and Sophia in this car at this same age. They've all loved it so much.