our thanksgiving

I made us a thanksgiving dinner on sunday. We're getting together with all the extended family on thanksgiving so we'll get it twice.
I did a crock pot chicken instead of a turkey because we are providing the turkey to the "big" dinner.

yum! i love displaying all the food on the island.
As we ate dinner we took turns sharing what we were thankful for. Jack started. He said he was thankful for God. Then Ginger said she was thankful for Jesus and his sheep. I said I was thankful for my family and that I could be home with them and take care of them and thankful for Glen and how much he does for us. Then when Glen talked about what he was thankful for, we realized we lost the kids attention. He finished what he was saying and then we both laughed and said, "well, maybe next year it will go better." hahah sometimes we forget to keep things short and sweet and to the point. hahah

trying to be a better mom

I've been really enjoying the kids and am so glad i get to be home with them. Ginger is supposed to start school next fall and I'm really debating on whether to homeschool or not. i found this great blog, "confessions of a homeschooler" which I just love. I really look up to this lady. The more i read about her and what she does, the more i feel like i want to homeschool or at least do preschool seriously...more than what i have been doing anyway. She truley inspires me. Her blog is a great resource for craft ideas and all kinds of things. Here are some of the things we've done.
Handprint Trees, paper plate turkeys, playing with beans and rice in the tub (which kept these two busy for over an hour!!), glueing beans to paper, color over leaves etc. I want to do more crafts with the kids and activities instead of letting them just "play" all day.

One other thing i did was take our nesquick container and cut a hole in the lid and let Gretchen drop glue sticks in it. She loves it and plays with it for a long time. Jack likes it too. I think they like the thunking noise it makes.

One of the days we went and collected leaves. we later found a ladybug on our bad. I immediatly thought of what my sister wendy would do in this situation. she would take a million pictures of the bug and put it in a jar and let the kids look at it. so I did that! :) they loved it. they took turns back and forth examining the bug.

random pics

we used to lock jacks door to keep him in at night but i never liked doing that and now that he's potty trained, that doesn't work to lock his door. i was wondering how it would be to give him his freedom back and to my surprise, he is doing very well! Ginger plays a big part in that. She knows the rules and encourages him to be quiet and not go in our room and wake us up. This is how i found these two little piggies. ginger was "reading" to him on the couch. They just sat there together looking at books while i got up and got Gretchen ready for the day. so nice! i love days like this.

it's winter so we have started bringing out the indoor slide again. Little gretchen shook the first time she went down the slide. it was so cute. When she went down, she was so proud of herself. she threw her arms up and said, " i "deed" it!"

3 years old!

My little Jack-a-bot is 3! I'm so proud of him. he has made many several improvements and is turning out to be a very sweet boy. Jack loves all things orange. He loves tractors and legos. He likes to jump and tumble. He likes to be like daddy and match him. :)
Jack, to my relief has figured out how to pooh in the poddy chair. No more diapers except for night time! I'm so glad it's been alot easier with him. he likes to build things and likes to sing for me. so cute! love my little boy!!

Jack's birthday

Thanks for the tractor aunt Linda. He loves it. Mom, you did such a good job on the pjs. so cute! love the tractor buttons. the snaps are just fine. Did you realize you got him a matching hat too? It's the same as Glens. :)