Thankskgiving Times

We spent the last few days at my parents house with my sister and her family. She and her husband also have 3 children. So we had 6 kids all under the age of 7 and 1/2 under one roof. We definitely spent as much time outdoors as we could. I was so thankful for the nice weather and the super find at the Salvation Army- 5 pairs of in line roller blades. It was also a bag sale and 50% off so we spent maybe 4 dollars on all 5 pairs!

This is the crew!

The even bigger crew on the steps of my parents house

We were finding fossils and shells!

Peter was listening intently for the "voice of the ocean" with my sister's guidance.

Although it had been since February that our families have been together, the kids let nothing stop them from where they left off. Emma and Charlotte took to each other like
"two peas in a pod".

I am thankful that we got to spend Thanksgiving together and my kids are truly developing wonderful relationships with their cousins.

Off to school....

Since our kids don't go to public school, they have yet (and probably won't) experience that "off to school" landmark. However, they do have an amazing opportunity because they are home schooled. Today, Emma left at 7:00am to go to Duke. Philip has started a tradition with the kids that each semester he will take one of them to school with him for the day. This was Emma's turn and today was Philip's last day of class. She has been so excited about this day since the beginning of his semester. She had her backpack packed in September (we did have to unpack it). She will sit in on all four Philip's classes; they'll attend chapel services together, go out for lunch, share an ice cream cone and have hot chocolate. She is so excited. In her backpack she has two new coloring books, her notebook, box of crayons and pencils, a snack and a drink. I'm hoping the new coloring books will keep her occupied through the long day of classes.
Maybe one of these semester's I'll get a chance to go to classes!

"Go and See"

Peter and his father started Cub Scouts this fall. It has been a great fit for Peter. He loves it. I have really seen him flourish and get excited about the activities, electives and assignments they have. I also love that it is something that he and his dad can do together but at the same time it is family friendly on days when the rest of us get to come along. This morning the Cub Scouts met at the Christian Help Center to turn in the food the boys had collected to stock their food pantry.

Second Snow

This is officially the second snow of November. We all awoke to the sight of snow on the ground. Everyone dressed quickly and we headed out to enjoy it before it melted!
Ryan was a bit in awe.
I guess you always have that need to just taste the snow! This happens to be part of a trailer that was in the church parking lot.
We have had hay bales in the church field for a while now. Peter and Emma were trying desperately to roll them. They tried this way....
then this way- No luck either way!
I suppose this is one of the occasions that it worked out for the early bird. Since we were back in side by 7:45 and the snow had all but melted within the next hour!

Playing in the leaves...

If you read Saturday's post, you read that my kids decided to live outside for the day. They couldn't have picked a better day because the temperatures hovered in the 60s and have since plummeted to the 40s! They really did stay outside for about the whole day. Everyone took about a 2 hour inside afternoon break but bounded back out when that was over. When Philip was done with work he set out to mow up some leaves. Unfortunately, the mower wasn't cooperating so we brought out the rakes. The kids were happy for the adult interaction and a little bit of leaf jumping fun!
Ryan was actually able to hang on to that boat until the very end. He did end up losing it but I'm not sure if he remembers!
That night, both boys attempted to sleep outside (under the watchful eye of their father). However, they quickly opted for their warm soft bed....maybe next time!

Shoe boxes

Here's a shot from our churches fellowship hall as some of us gathered to assembly boxes for Operation Christmas child.

Living outside

Last night at the dinner table, Peter asked me if he could sleep outside. Philip was not with us because he was helping a friend pack a moving truck. I am trying to be supportive of Peter's need for "adventure" and be a "good" mom for boys. So I said, hmm- you know it's cold, rainy and wet outside. Those obvious facts didn't seem to deter Peter's desire to camp outside. So my next strategy was delay until dad came home. I told the kids they could sleep in sleeping bags on their floors.
Philip got home in the nick of time- he granted Peter permission to sleep outside! Peter promptly went out to make himself a cozy bed in a pile of leaves. It's about 8:00, mind you. Not long after, Peter comes rushing in and declares he heard wolves howling and maybe he should hear a bed time story. After a few more tries outside, Peter decides it's a bit scary and he would rather sleep inside on his sleeping back.
This morning as Peter awoke and he headed directly outside to live. It has turned out to be a warmer day than usual. He managed to convince his sister and brother to go and live with him. He also managed to convince me that he needed some apples and bananas to eat since there wasn't any food outside to eat.

Calzones

I was inspired last week to try out homemade Calzones for dinner. My good friend, Michelle, gave me the idea and lead me through the steps (via email).
The were easy to make and very yummy. I started out with the frozen white bread loaves (from Walmart). After the loaves thawed out, Emma and I set to work rolling and stretching them out. That was surprisingly harder than I expected and I was truly tempted to try and toss them in the air! After filling them with pizza sauce, cheese and left over smoked sausage, they baked beautifully in the oven for 14 minutes. I definitely have some techniques to master as some of the calzones opened while baking! Philip declared them a definite "keeper" to my list of meals. I am very sure the kids liked them because there was little talking and mischief at the table.

Thanks Michelle!

And five becomes....

Six!

"The Chryst family is here and my mommy is having a baby" exclaims Peter. That is what Peter said to the very first person he saw after we entered the doors of the OB office last Friday afternoon.
Philip and I have kept the news quiet of my pregnancy in anticipation of this first visit. We sprang the news on the kids in the parking lot moments before my appt. The kids were excited to say the least. For every person they saw they all shared that "my mommy is having a baby". Ryan, however, was announcing to everyone, "I'm so excited. I'm having a baby.". Needless, to say they filled the waiting room with joy and excitement over the new idea of a baby brother or sister.

They were fascinated by the ultrasound and who couldn't be. Even though this was my 4th one, I am continued to be amazed by the wonder of pregnancy. Even after 10 short weeks of development, this baby has a distinguishable head, arms, legs, heart beat and ear.

It has been neat to absorb all the comments from the kids as the day has progressed.
Peter has been very practical. As I was getting my blood pressure taken just beside the waiting room, I hear Peter saying, "Oh- Where is the baby going to sleep?" Philip responds, "what do you think?". Peter thinks, " Oh, we still have Ryan's crib. It's in the attic. You'll have to get it down for the new baby.".

Emma has been quietly planning. She will keep to herself for a while and then comes out with," I know where the baby bottles are. We should get them down." " I have 3 blankets. I will give the baby one of mine.". "There are 4 of us now. Peter can take care of Ryan. Daddy will take care of mommy and I(Emma) will take of the baby." "Oh, you're going to get a really big tummy." She wants to know who is going to take care of them when we have to go to the hospital. She wants to know what will the baby's pj's look like. She knows where the baby toys are kept. Since the concept of time is basically irrelevant to her I have been telling her that the baby will not be born until after her birthday(May 27th) and we really don't need to get ready until she turns 5.

Ryan- well he's reacting like a typical 2 year old. "I'm excited. I'm going to have a baby."!

So I am indeed blessed to be pregnant for the 4th time. We are expecting this bundle of joy to come on June 11th. It happens to be my father's birthday but I wouldn't mind if the baby didn't quite make it that long.

I can't hear you

So yesterday afternoon, I was trying to sneak in a few minutes to read my book while the kids were playing by themselves. Soon enough, Emma found me on the couch and asked what I was doing. I told her, "I am reading a book".
She of course asked, "Will you read it to me?".
I replied, "No, this is just a book for Mommy to read to myself because I like to read."
She said, " I don't hear you reading."
I said, "I am reading silently; to myself."

She thought and then put her ear up to my ear and listened. Then she said, " I still can't hear you reading.".

I guess when your 4 and your total concept of reading for you is to have someone read aloud to you or to read aloud to yourself; it's a little confusing to see somebody reading silently!

Beach review

Our time at the beach was great. Everything was wonderful expect that Philip couldn't be with us. It definitely put a damper on things but we tried to stay positive. We headed to Wilmington first thing Thursday afternoon so we could play with old friends and meet a new brother.
We headed straight for the beach on Friday and spent most of the day there. It was truly such a blessing to be able to enjoy such a beautiful day at the beach. Peter spent most of the time like this...digging, digging and digging.
The skies stayed blue until Saturday afternoon. It was lots of fun to see all the fisherman that were lining the coast in hopes of a big bite. Ryan was with us but he wasn't being very photogenic!

Beach time

It's that time of year when Philip heads off with the youth to Pilgrimage. I joined the group last year but this year I offered my spot to other loving adults who desperately wanted to chaperon!
The kids and I are going to spend some quality time at the beach. I am so looking forward to a warm sun shiny day and a walk on the beach! The kids have lots planned themselves but their ideas mostly revolve around candy, tv and maybe Chinese food!

Halloween

It was about 30 minutes before we were going to leave for a Fall Festival on Halloween night and I decided to help the kids get dressed up. We have never worn costumes for evening events so the kids were a little confused about actually wearing them outside the house.

After spending a couple of hours at the Fall Festival eating hot dogs, bouncing in bouncy things, playing games, eating fresh Kettle corn,we headed to a friends' house to do some real trick or treating. Yet another first in our family- trick or treating to people we don't know. It was fun and now I'm ready for the candy to be gone!!