Joy & Thanksgiving

I was the mommy Joy School teacher today- we had a great time!  It was all about Thanksgiving!  We were minus one kid so I only had 4 which was easier, but we missed Calista!  We talked about all of the things we were thankful for and make a super LONG list-

And then we made corn bread with our Pilgrim hats and bonnets on.

We also made turkeys from apples and toothpicks.  My kids didn't quite finish making theirs before they were eaten, and Johnnie wanted to make his one-eyed-many-armed-Mom that was NOT a turkey!  Cailee's was perfect :)

The lesson today was a lot of fun!  I am so happy to be doing Joy School for my kids- they really seem to enjoy it and it's definitely more creative than my mind will ever be!

I forgot to put up some of these pudding painting pictures from Joy School a couple weeks ago- it was a little crazy but SO fun!

I should probably clarify that although I said that pudding painting was one of the best childhood memories I have, I think I should have added that it's one of my best SCHOOL memories I have- it would be kind of sad if it really were one of the best memories from childhood!

Conversation with Mykelle yesterday:

M:  Why does Santa live at the North Pole?
T:  Because that's where elves and his reindeer live.
M:  Why does Santa have elves?
T:  Because the elves make all the toys for everyone.
M:  Doesn't he have machines to make the toys?
T:  Uh... Yes, of course!  But he needs elves to run the machines and to help with all of the other stuff- like packaging, loading, and other stuff.
M:  Why do naughty kids not get presents?

Here's another one of those things I never could have imagined would come out of my mouth...  "Evan, is it nice to pretend you're peeing on your friends?"

Evan has just about the cutest facial expressions and silly antics of any kid I've ever seen but he can also be one of the whiniest!  I remember having a really difficult time with Mykelle at this age because of her whining, and Evan is the same way.  So glad Mykee has mostly grown out of it!  I've been having a hard time breaking Evan of the habit of the whiny/crying noise... The, "MMMEEEHHHHHHEEEEEIIIIII!!!  MMMEEEHHHHHHEEEEEIIIIII!!!"  Know what I mean??  It drives me crazy!!  But we are working on it, and he seems to be pushing his limits (which usually comes before he gets past the behavior).  He is also getting really frustrated and angry when he gets disciplined, so he's working on not hitting walls/doors and instead just trying to take deep breaths (and/or hit his legs or a pillow if he has to).

Evan tells some of the best stories, just like you'd imagine a little boy would.  There are a lot of expressions, sound effects, monsters, and overcoming the bad guy.  Mykelle's stories are usually the opposite- where our happy family rides on unicorns and picks flowers for each other and we all live happily in a castle in the clouds (or some sort of mix of all that girly stuff :)  Adam is really great at story time before bed.  They usually get to read a couple of books and tell stories in the dark before actual bedtime, and then they fall asleep to Primary songs on the CD player (lately it's been Christmas Primary songs and hymns).

The kids have been into doing "shows" on their little table in their room.  I love that they use whatever props are around and the dolls can be any gender, regardless of the obvious anatomy.

The big 3-0 came and went this weekend, and it didn't really bother me like I used to think it would.  Maybe that's because my perspective has changed with having to go through all that the last year entailed?  I am grateful to have reached 30 and hoping to reach many more major milestones in the future!

My beautiful birthday cake!  

We are headed to Adam's cousin's house for Thanksgiving on Thursday.   It's so nice they live only an hour away-  Happy Thanksgiving!