We Are Thankful

We tried something fun to help us feel thankful as we approached Thanksgiving this year--creating our own poster of all the things that we are thankful for.

Some of the highlights:

* books

*blankets

*many iterations of family

*snuggles

*Heavenly Father, Jesus, and the gospel

*nature

*and many versions of food!

It was fun thinking of things to be thankful for each day--probably should keep this up all year.

And one of the things that I am most thankful for--a husband who cooks! While I went out running this morning, he made 4 pies (the apple is still in the oven)--sure beats me staying home cooking while he goes out to play football!  I didn't take any other pictures for the big day, but these are one of the favorite parts. He tried a lemon meringue which isn't in his normal rotation but it was tasty. 

We are so grateful for great neighbors who include us in their Thanksgiving traditions each year. We feel like we have a family-away-from-family in Mary and her longtime friends and family. The food is always great, and the company is perfect.

Slight Change of Plans

This was not a sight I ever planned to see. I was in the other room when I heard noises and this was what I saw when I came running. Daddy-o was working on the bathroom demolition and stepped on a exposed rotten area and luckily caught himself before he fell any further.

So I guess the popcorn ceiling in our dining room will be removed after all. We'd kind of given up on the idea after doing the kitchen right when we moved in, but this is making it a bit of a necessity!

The Downside of So Many Trees

We might have a few leaves to rake this year. 

This would be our lawn, which has a nice thick covering of leaves. The kids had so much fun playing in them and I took advantage of the chance to do a little photo shoot with Peanut.

His little happy faces are so stinking cute.

He had so much fun playing.

Although full disclosure--we're pretty sure Daddy-o was bitten by a baby copperhead when reaching into a pile later that day. So maybe the leaf piles aren't the safest spot to play. It was a dry bite and he's fine, but it makes it a little less fun.

But what we didn't know didn't hurt us and he was a happy boy!

Demolition Time!

While we fell in love with our house when we first saw it, there were a few things that we hoped to eventually change.  The master bathroom was on the list.  It hadn't been updated at all, and we weren't fans of the gold or the low counter/sinks.

But all the normal homeownership costs eat up our funds and remodeling just for fun isn't really in the budget.  So it took finding decay and rot around the shower to make us realize that we were going to have to finally do some renovating.

Luckily the tub can stay, so we're working around that.

But it is bye-bye time for the gold shower.

And while we're tearing up part of the floor, we figured it's time for a new floor.  Throw in a new vanity for good measure and we're hoping it will be the bathroom we've dreamed of.  (Okay, I'll be honest, I don't really dream of bathrooms, but it still will be nice.)

Daddy-o started tearing everything out on Veterans' Day and pretty much had the thing demolished by that evening.

He's really good at destroying stuff.  We'll see how long it takes to put back together.  Although he will have some help with that.

There's a little of the crumbling wood we found all around and under the shower.

Unfortunately it was more than just the plywood and actually affects some key 2x4s, so reconstructing it is going to take a little time.  Let's just hope not too much time.

Where Did the Colonists Go?

Bean's class has been learning state history this year, which means they learned one of my favorite stories from US History--the story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke!

And their class put on a play to tell us the story and ask the questions of "Where did the colonists go?"

The play was fun--they sang several songs and shared some of the possible outcomes of what historians believe may have happened.

(Actually, it's kind of funny that they did this play right now, as there seems to be more and more evidence that explains what happened and the colony is no longer "lost"--wonder if they will rewrite this for future classes?)

                                             

Bean is absolutely loving being back in school this year and getting to spend her days with her friends (the learning in nice, too, but she can do that anywhere, haha.)

Renaissance Festival

After living about 15 minutes away from the Carolina Renaissance Festival for the last 5 years, we finally went this last weekend.  It was like stepping back in time, into a village full of pirates and knights, queens and jesters.

There were lots of shows to watch--more than we could fit in one day.

Santa and Mrs. Claus were there, too.

One of the many stages around the "village".

We saw the raptor show and really enjoyed the birds' flight.  They're trained to fly low and there were a couple times that we could almost feel their feathers on our heads.

One of the big events of the day was the jousting tournament.

Our knight was Sir Maldron.

It was a good show and it must have really made an impact on Peanut.  The next day, completely unprompted, he said, "My love Maldron."  I'm lucky if I can even get an "I love you" out of him.

With our knight in shining armor.

We let each of the kids have a few dollars to do something fun.  Bug picked the camel ride, and we figured Peanut would love that, too, so I got to ride with him.  Pretty fun to be able to say we've ridden a camel.

Fire twirling--the shows were pretty fun.

Bean picked the "Flying Pirates" activity.  She managed a few front and back flips.

And finally, Bug got to try out archery.

 

This is definitely going to be a day we do again. 

Birthday at the Biltmore

Bug picked something a little different this year--instead of a party, he wanted to go to spend his special day at the biggest house in America.

 

We let him bring along a friend, and these two buddies had a fabulous day together.

These two boys have been friends since before they were 2.

Movies in the car, the tour of an amazing house, dodging rain showers, racing in the gardens, playing with the farm animals,

and amazing views everywhere around the estate.  This was a fabulous weekend to visit--all the fall beauty on the outside, and they'd just decorated for Christmas on the inside.

This picture cracks me up--I imagine that the children who grew up in this house probably rolled around on the ground, too.

And these three found a small fortune of pennies in the gravel.  They were excited about their $1 treasure.

This sweet little guy got off easy and was carried through most of the 178,926 square foot house.  (But he never napped, which we've been paying for ever since.)

Fall at the Biltmore farm.

I'm glad we still have 9 more years before he can drive!

The house isn't the only thing that is super-sized there.

Brothers.

 

Love this picture of these two friends!

7 Bug Facts

Birthday Boy.  I know I say this every year, for every kid, but I seriously can't believe that Bugaboo is 7.  There seem to be certain periods of their lives where my kids just stick for me, how I think I'll always think of them, and this kid is always going to be 2 in my mind.  But he's not.

 

There are so many things that we love about this kid, but 7 favorites are:

 

1.  Bug has amazing focus on the things that catch his attention.  This is fabulous in school since school keeps his attention.  Also pretty awesome when watching him work on a craft or project he's come up with.

 

2.  He is incredibly creative.  Always coming up with fun new things.

 

3.  He is snuggly and the one we can count on when we need a hug or kid snuggles.  When I went into his class to do the birthday book reading, he wanted to sit on my lap and gave me multiple hugs and kisses.  And I'm completely aware that I need to savor those moments because I'm sure at some point, he will decide that it's not cool to sit on his mom's lap.  But for now he's still my 2 year old little buddy.

 

4.  His mind never quits.  This boy is always thinking and has a way to explain every thing that comes across his path.  And he will tell us all about it.  Even if it means explaining how he'd make a prosthetic knee over breakfast.

 

5.  He loves books.  Loves to have them read to him, loves to read them to us or Peanut, who loves having another person to read to him.

 

6.  He is a good friend.  His teachers have told us what a good example he is to the class, how patient he is with answering people's questions and trying to teach others, and how kind he is, to everyone.  I have seen him get hit or otherwise hurt by someone and he just looks confused as to why someone would do that, but he doesn't retaliate (unless it's his sister--all bets are off with sibling interactions.)

 

7. He is thoughtful.  This shows up the most in his prayers, where he regularly comes up with new things to be thankful for and is great about remembering anyone who is sick or otherwise needs a special blessing.

 

Love this boy!