Thanksgiving Tree

This year we have decided that our children should hear and study the words of the prophet, Thomas S Monson. I made some framed prints with a quote of and put it in a place where we will see it often. We will change the quotes throughout the year, but here is what we did for Thanksgiving. We did our annual tree and wrote things we were thankful for. It was nice to have a little more of a grateful attitude in our home.

Kate and Allie are wearing their "Tweedledee" and "Tweedledum" shirts. Allie and Luke taught Kate to say "I'm Tweedledum". What a nice brother and sister.

Thanksgiving

Bob and Kim hosted Thanksgiving at their house this year. It was nice to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and the food was fantastic!

Mallory and Allie

The spread

Kate and Allie

Primary Talent Show

Allie and Luke had a talent show for a Primary activity at church.

Allie played "Purple Mountains"--a song that she wrote for piano. I think it's been on the blog before, but oh well!

Luke performed a magic trick that he learned at the magic show. He practiced a lot to prepare!

They had popcorn and licorice for a snack. Kate was a constant visitor to the snack table and ate a pound of licorice.

Harvest Feast

At school, Luke's class got to make applesauce, bread, and butter for a harvest feast that they had last Friday. I got to go help with the bread making. There's nothing like eating homemade bread that had 10 little first graders hands kneading it. It was delicious! Luke was very proud of the bread and got to bring home a little loaf to share with the family.

Veteran's Day

Freedom has a price the protected will never know

Thanks Dad--thinking of you today. Hope you have a great day and know that I'm proud to be your daughter. I love you.

Sleep Eating

Last Friday we went out shoe shopping for Luke after school got out. We didn't have much time, so we jumped right in the car and got ice cream from McDonalds to eat on the way. (I had some great free coupons) Anyway, it took us forever to get to the store with traffic. I noticed in my rear view mirror that Kate was falling asleep while eating her ice cream. So I pulled into a parking lot and recorded it on my little camera. I have a bit of a mess to clean up, but it was worth it.

Mega-Nap

It is difficult to get Kate to take an afternoon nap. I am finding though--that I need the break. So the other day, I put her in the high chair and let her watch the "monkey movie". (Curious George--her favorite.) I was working on the other computer and kept hearing her scream and then stop. By the time I would get there to check on her--she looked fine. She did this several times before I caught what was going on. She was falling asleep and each time her head would bob, she would scream to stay awake. I knew if I got her down, she would wake up and be grouchy. So I bundled the blanket around her and she dozed off. She slept like this for about 40 min until I had to get Allie and Luke from school. So I picked her up, and carried her over to school. She slept the entire walk over, while we waited and the walk back. And it was raining! When we got back, I knew if I put her down she would wake up so I held her on the couch. She slept another 2 hours. Crazy! She was very happy that night and I enjoyed getting to hold my baby for so long. And yes, she didn't go to bed that night until 10:30. But she was happy!

Magic Show

Last week I took Luke and Kate to a magic show at the library. Allie was at school for choir so she missed it. Kate sat on the floor in the front next to Luke until the show started. When the music began and the magician stepped out from behind the curtain, it scared her and she ran screaming back to me. She was terrified and sat on my lap the whole time. She enjoyed the show, but wanted to stay close. Luke was enthralled by the show. He was chosen to help with the last trick--where the magician would be cut in half. I'm not sure if the video quality will be good enough on blogger, but his face is so funny to watch. He was so happy to be up there!

Reader

This is Kate's reading spot. She is refusing naps now, so she spends her afternoons here, reading Sesame Street books to Elmo and Baby Elmo.

Luke's Soccer

Showing off the flashy yellow shoes that he picked out.

Almost scored!

On his way to score

He still runs with his fists clenched--we are working on it!

He looks ready to punch someone out.

Just scored

Love the missing teeth!

Another goal!

No goalies allowed

The baby sister

She can put her boots on all by herself!

The babysitter

Luke's soccer season officially ended tonight. He had his best season yet--it seems things have clicked for him. Or maybe it was the bright yellow cleats. He did say they made him run faster than the black ones. We don't have many pictures of him playing this year, because I was coach and couldn't really ref and take pictures at the same time. Almost all of Allie's games were at the same time so Mike got to take her (and Kate) to those games. Luke never quit. He would chase people down to get the ball and scored lots of goals. In one game, he had 5 goals! Our favorite games were the rainy, muddy ones where we left the field completely drenched.

I'm glad that I got to coach his team. Coaching 12 first graders is really something interesting. It makes me so grateful for all the soccer and baseball coaches I had. Allie and Mike helped out a lot. When Mike was still at work at not able to watch Kate, Allie would take care of her during the practices. She kept her from getting squashed on the soccer field and from running into the road. And Mike got to take her to all of Allie's games.

And not that we were keeping score or that that even matters... but just for the record, we did have a winning season. :)

Halloween

On Saturday, we had a Halloween party at church. It was a blast.

Luke entertaining himself while I was fixing his "boots"

Luke was Luke Skywalker (when he fights Vader), Kate was Elmo, Allie was Hermione Granger, I was an Apple Store Employee, and Mike was a guy with really long hair.

Thank you Grandma Galyan for making the AWESOME costumes.

Kate really liked the trick or treating part. The next morning, candy was the first thing on her mind. Usually when she wakes up before me, she comes into my room and asks for 1 of three things: water, food, or the "monkey movie". On Sunday morning, I heard her down stairs saying, "Mom, I want candy!" She kept that up until we left for church. As we were pulling out of the driveway, she called out, "Bye-bye candy!"