Grateful

We had a nice Thanksgiving in Gtown.  I'm grateful for our family and extended family.  I didn't eat any pie!  Yay!  L acted like he might throw up when it was time to go home but he didn't.  Yay!  The kids really enjoyed eating some mallow cream pumpkins we had saved from Thanksgiving.  Delayed Gratification Yay!

traditions

We buy a box of a dozen doughnuts when the children loose a tooth.  We generally get Krispy Kreme and share with P's family.  It's been a fun way to celebrate these milestones.

We also like to do lantern walks.  It's very magical walking in the dark forest with a candle in a jar x 10-50 small children singing and hearing the story of St. Martin.

We also like to go to the zoo in Jville which is free for children 12 and under in November.

In September there are a lot of free events here in SA.  This year we were so busy with play practice and bike training for the big ride.  We didn't even do the trolley!

I'm looking forward to taking the kayaks down to the creek and doing some exploring.  Yay for making memories and new traditions.

Our ward had a fall festival tonight and it was fantastic.  Instead of focusing on costumes and candy like a trunk or treat, it was just social, games, and a great dinner.  We met from 4-6 on a Saturday and did games for the first hour.  Kids outside with tons of activities and snowcones (yes, it is Florida).
The older crowd stayed inside and played bingo.  We all gathered to eat chili and it was all set out so nice.  Bowls of sour cream and cheese were placed in front of each crock pot.  So many neat details like this made it a great event. 

Christmas is coming this next month and I'm looking for more traditions for the kids to be involved in magical service.  For years the children have taken turns stuffing stockings and filling St. Nicholas shoes.  But there are 5 of them and they fight over who will do what.  Yikes.  So I'm trying to find new traditions to get the older children involved in so the younger ones can do the simple treat giving activities.

Kindle Cuddle

My friend gave us this Cordaroys bean bag.  It's got two full size beds inside!  The kids love it so much.  Grandma C gave us a kindle 8(?) years ago.  We're slow adapters and didn't even use it for months.  Once we got in the habbit of getting library books, it became such a resource for P.  Then G he got one for the kids to share.  M bought her own a few years ago and lP got one for her 7(?) birthday.  B will need one soon.  I eventually bought one, not so much as a constant companion, but so there would be a back up.  I prefer paper books.  But it is nice to occasionally have immediate access to a book on the kindle that I would have to go to the library to get.

Catching up

We had some amazing adventures that P's phone had pictures of.

P's parents came home from their mission.

 The climbing wall is almost done.

 P does an amazing job of including the children in construction projects, not because he needs their small bodies to fit into small places (as my father did...) but because he loves them and wants to include them.

 Oh yeah!

Another awesome FHE activity by P.  He hid duplos in 5 colors, 1 for each year of a child's age for the children to find.  I love how deliberate he is.  The rest of us don't plan like this.  I'm so grateful for his example.

fantastic day

Today  we made it to choir at 8 with a movie for the littles and refreshments for the choir.  The Primary Program was awesome.  The youngest 3 groups of children said their parts in unison.  That really cut out a lot of time and effort compared to having those 15 children say individual parts whispered to them.  I went to the ASL women's class and it was so fantastic to have an intimate discussion with 5 ladies in ASL.  I am so happy to have that RS/YW option. 

We were home by 11:30!  The whole day stretched before us.  We had an informal lunch of whatever the kids wanted to eat.  I started bread for dub dubs, salad and chicken pot pies for dinner.  Around 3 it was so gorgeous outside that we went on a walk.  It was cool and lovely to walk with the children.  After so many years of having an infant, I am amazed at how fun it can be to have all 5 of them chatting and running around in a group.

M made rice crispy treats dyed green with white "chocolate" drizzled on top.  The children each had a piece, then practiced their piano to get another.  I love how they are each learning to practice independently.  It's really lovely having the house full of music.

On the walk the children collected sticks and asked if we could do a fire on the back porch.  That turned out to be a great excuse to have an outdoor picnic.  It was getting cold as the sun had set but what a lovely time we had.  We made a fire in the BBQ grill which burned as we ate dinner.  After we had cleaned up from dinner the coals were ready for marshmallows.  After that fun was done, the children gathered leaves, sticks and pine needles from the porch to add to the fire.  It was so lovely and cold.