This year, the kids were out of school for the whole week of Thanksgiving, and Matt had been working so much overtime lately, that his boss gave him the whole week off as well. We didn't have huge Thanksgiving plans, but we enjoyed lots of family time.
Katherine had gymnastics on Monday morning, and the kids are always excited when they're out of school during her gymnastics. They love cheering her on during her class and playing in the gym, especially Elisabeth who gets to play with her good friend Emmalynn during the class.
Monday afternoon we went to see Frozen 2! The girls and I were SO excited! Frozen has always signified an introduction to the world of daughters and has a special place in my heart. It came out just before I found out I was pregnant with Elisabeth, and came out on DVD just before we found out she was a girl. I justified buying it on DVD because we were expecting a daughter, and we've gotten our money's worth, ha- especially when Katherine arrived a few years later. Katherine is a big fan of Frozen right now which has renewed a love for Elisabeth.
The girls had to wear their Anna and Elsa dresses to the movie, of course. The kids all really loved it- they all said they liked it better than the first. I really liked it too, but I don't know if it surpassed the first one for me. But the music and costumes were incredible and Olaf was hilarious. Matt pointed out all the plot holes and we decided to just ignore him and remember the great parts of the movie, ha! I got caught up in the Disney magic during one of the songs. I don't know how Disney is able to create such magical, emotional moments, but I love it!
We can't wait to watch it again.
We spent Tuesday morning at the mall taking family pictures and rewarding the kids with books at Barnes and Noble for awesome report cards! This is Nathan's first year to receive letter grades on his report card. He got straight As and both boys received Exceeds Expectations on every behavioral category. We are so proud of them not just for their intelligence but even more so for their character, kindness, and respect for their teachers and fellow students. Samuel struggled some last year in the behavioral areas- especially listening and paying attention, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the improvement on his report card this year.
Wednesday we spent the day prepping for Thanksgiving. The kids helped bake an apple pie
And they cleaned the bowl of chocolate cake batter too.
I gave them free reign and they definitely took advantage of it, ha!
My grandparents and Aunt Sydney came to town Wednesday afternoon and we had fun visiting and playing SkipBo.
Thursday morning the kids decorated their chocolate cupcakes with turkeys. These little cupcakes have become a Thanksgiving tradition.
The kids were great helpers with lunch preparations too.
We had a pretty laid back morning- cooking, playing and watching the parade.
Then we ate a yummy lunch
After lunch the kids asked us to go upstairs and watch their "football" game they'd been practicing for all week. It was complete with halftime entertainment, ha! I love their creative minds and especially their working and playing together (without arguing)
We came downstairs for pie.
That afternoon after family left, Kate took a nap and the rest of us snuggled up to watch Christmas movies.
It was a great Thanksgiving!
Friday morning we drove to Edmond to spend the day with Matt's family. I was dying to get my hands on my niece and was thankful to hold her for most of the day, except for the rare times I shared her with her cousins.
We had a relaxing day visiting and snuggling. We drove back home Friday night and had a lazy Saturday morning. All the kids were feeling crafty Saturday morning.
My parents picked them up at lunch time to take them to ride the Polar Express which left Matt and me with a free date day, woot woot!
We had lunch at Roosevelt's and loved the Christmas decorations. They were stunning.
Then we went bowling, and I had to document my score, since it's a rare thing for me to beat Matt, ha!
The kids had fun riding the Polar Express.
We picked them up from my parents on Sunday afternoon and came home for Sunday Family Game Night.
In the busyness of school schedules, extra curricular activities, Matt's crazy work, and just the normal hectic pace of maintaining a home full of six humans, I so enjoyed a week to slow down and spend quality time with my favorite people in the world. There's no one I'd rather spend time with than them.
These girls like to play slumber party a lot now. I love how much they enjoy playing with each other.
Elisabeth has struggled some this year going to school full time. She'd been asking for a mom day, so I let her skip school one Friday, and we had a special girls' day. She asked to get a hair cut, go to the mall and to Sams, so that's what we did -except the line at the hair salon was too long so we had to postpone that to another day.
These girls were ready for a day of shopping!
Elisabeth wanted to go to Sams to get a new blanket, and we grabbed lunch too.
She asked me to take a silly picture of her very loose tooth, and then she preceded to pull it out at Sams. There's never a dull moment with that girl.
After Sams, we ran to the mall. Elisabeth wanted to shop at Claire's. She was set on buying a Best Friend necklace for her friend Addisyn. Of course, we found plenty of other things she and Katherine needed too, ha!
We also had some time to play at the play place before we came home for Kate's nap.
Elisabeth was so excited to give her Best Friend necklace to Addisyn. These girls are so, so sweet! I'm so happy they're in the same class at school and at dance and are neighbors, so they get to play together a lot!
The girls had to show off their art work.
And they also had to show off their pretty church dresses. They are both always asking me to take pictures of them.
Nathan had to do a Thanksgiving project at school where he researched Ron Howard (all the third graders were assigned a famous Oklahoman) and disguised a turkey to look like him.
This is a pretty normal morning with this girl- demanding to get dressed by herself, always wearing some sort of jewelry or dance outfit/skirt and acting silly. We're never bored with her around.
We have playing while the big kids are at school!
The Pre-K class invited all the parents to a Thanksgiving lunch at their school, and I got to spend some time with my big girl in her class.
You rarely find these two girls separated from each other.
Nathan has been waiting a long time (lots of random delays) to test for his yellow belt in Karate, but he finally tested and passed! He was so proud and excited and has a renewed passion for karate!
The first graders put on a Thanksgiving play in their classroom, and I couldn't wait to watch my Samuel perform. Nathan did the same play in first grade, and I just love the school traditions and the memories. Samuel did awesome! I still can't get over his maturity and growth this year in school. It was such an adorable play. I'm already looking forward to when the girls are in first grade and I get to watch it again, ha!
Samuel's fan club watching his play. They were excited to watch him too.
Since Thanksgiving was a week later this year than normal, I convinced Matt to set up the Christmas tree the weekend before Thanksgiving. We had a fun afternoon reminiscing while we decorated it. It's overflowing with memories from vacations, first Christmases, and homemade ornaments, and I absolutely love it!
