happy thanksgiving!

Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is GOOD. His mercy endures forever. we have much to be thankful for this year and had a great day of giving thanks to our God who supplies all our needs (and most of our wants too!) matt was scheduled to work thanksgiving but took some vacation time so he could be home. a 5-day weekend has been so nice!

we kicked off the morning watching the parade. sophie was ready to go and didn't quite understand why we weren't there to watch. when i told her we'd have to fly on an airplane to get there she really got excited. maybe someday....i'd love to watch the thanksgiving day parade live. the girls and matt followed the parade with turkey coloring sheets and then we all played thanksgiving bingo.

i was very thankful i had started food prep the night before so i didn't have to spend as much time in the kitchen on thanksgiving morning. i popped the bird in the oven at 7:15 and then just had a few things to warm and bake when it came out. while i prepared the sweet potatoes and green bean casserole to go in the oven the girls made turkeys out of our homemade pumpkin pie scented playdough and feathers.

 

molly's turkey needed more feathers!

 

sophie changed hers up a bit too!

 

molly even made an Indian!

after playdough was cleaned up it was time for the girls to start helping with lunch preparations.

mixing the pumpkin dump cake...um, this is sinfully delicious. here's the recipe; you must try it! http://www.thepickyapple.com/blog/2008/11/22/pumpkin-crunch-cake/

 

putting marshmallows on the sweet potatoes.

 

sophie placed the rolls on the cookie sheet

while molly finished setting the table

 

big girl sophie  helped put the rolls in the oven. she was pretty proud of this accomplishment!

 

we feasted....well, matt and i did. molly and sophie were their usual picky eater selves and we pretty much forced them to eat with a threat that there would be no cake later on. as i was cleaning up and picking bones off the turkey, i found the wishbone. the girls enjoyed this too. sophie was victorious only by cheating and holding on to the top  as she pulled when molly wasn't really trying.

the girls and matt spent the afternoon outside riding their bikes while i rested on the couch. then we headed to my parents house for some family time. matt went to walmart on thanksgiving night with my brother and sister and bought the girls some new fleece pjs. that was the extent of our black friday shopping. i didn't attempt the early morning shopping in order to keep myself and this little bundle growing inside me safe. next year, shoppers, i'll be there, pushing my way through, loving the adrenaline rush of getting a good deal!



awana grand prix

today molly participated in the awana grand prix at our church. we started with a block of wood and some wheels and had to design, cut, sand, and paint a car to race. matt helped her draw lines for cutting and then cut the car out. molly helped sand and of course painted the car (her favorite part). there was a parent race also, so we purchased a kit for sophie to help with.

 

 

when we got to the church this morning we did a trial run and neither car made to the finish line....doh! other dads to the rescue as they gave us graphite to put on the axles. a little bit of that made a big difference and the cars finally crossed the finish line. they weren't fast, but they finished!

molly's care started off strong, getting second place in the first heat, but then dropped into last for the remainder of heats. she may have had a few third place finishes but overall, her car was not a winner in the race department.

 

 molly's car is in the yellow lane in this picture.

 

sophie participated in the adult race and was so excited to watch her car go down the track.

 

unfortunately, the green monster was no match for the cheese car.

molly won second place for design, bringing her medal count up to 3! at this rate, we may run out of wall space to hang them. :) she loves, loves, loves getting medals!

 

fall family vacation

we like to take our vacations in the fall for two main reasons. one, it's cooler and two, it's less crowded. we couldn't have picked a better four days to go to branson then we did a couple weeks ago. it was wonderful. never too hot (or cold in the mornings) and the crowds were very minimal. we left wednesday afternoon after molly was out of school and started our drive. four hours doesn't seem that long, and it really isn't, until you're sitting in the van for that long. i'm not really sure how i made it as a kid when we drove to california and florida (that was a non-stop drive). anyway, the girls were great on the road, both ways. they napped, sang, colored and played with their babies. we had the occasional whine, but not too bad.


after checking into our hotel we went and grabbed some dinner at this little hamburger joint. it was okay...not the best hamburgers like advertised. after dinner we went to the acrobats of china and shanghai circus. what a neat show! the shows are one of the reason we love branson so much. there is so much variety and you can always see something different. our goal is to find things our girls would enjoy this was one of them. these acrobats were amazing. so much talent! molly was so impressed and waiting for one of them to get hurt because the stunts they were doing were dangerous. fortunately, no acrobats were injured during the performance. the most obnoxious lady sitting in front of us was (we were in the second row), however. not bad, but she made a big deal about it. a yo yo thing came spinning off a string and hit her shin. she didn't make a stink about it until intermission, thankfully. after the show the girls took a picture with one of the acrobats. molly said she'd pick the best one and that is who she'd get her picture taken with. no idea what this girl did anymore, but she impressed molly during the show.

 

we went to silver dollar city thursday morning and basically had the park to ourselves. the girls got and off the rides without having to wait. poor sophie was an inch too short to ride most of the rides which was a big disappointment to her but she made it through. she was able to ride the frogs which made her happy. molly rode her first real roller coaster, thunderation, and liked it. she was a little scared but glad she did it. she's quite the daredevil. matt took her on the teacups and she kept asking to go faster. they were already the fastest teacup spinning and matt looked like a crazy person the way his head and body were moving to spin faster.

                                            

 

 

                                     

 

 

that night we went to yakov's dinner adventure. it was a play about a ballerina and a clown falling in love and coming to america. olga, the sister who loved power over love, tried to stop them. molly loved this play. there was comedy involved, audience participation - molly was picked to go on stage and stand in the middle of a giant bubble, acrobatics, dancing, fire, juggling, singing, and more. it was a great show and the story was loosely true as well. we were served dinner and dessert and then we were able to talk to the clown after the show. we bought the live performance dvd of the night if anyone wants to see molly's big branson show biz debut!

 

friday we went back to silver dollar city for about four hours and then back to our hotel to swim. we ate dinner on the branson landing and walked around a bit. the girls were playing a cute game with matt which led to the trouble we knew it would...sophie getting hurt. she opened up her cut on her knee and scratched up her chin. that girl is tough though...she quit crying almost immediately and didn't let it bother her.

 

saturday we headed to the butterfly palace to get up close and personal with the butterflies. this was a neat place to visit. there was a science discovery center where we were able see different animals and reptiles. then we went into a mirror maze. this was a lot of fun. sophie kept running into the mirrors. then we went into the butterfly room. it was amazing to be surrounded by so many butterflies. one landed on my nose! molly was a little skiddish around the butterflies and wouldn't hold still for them to land on her. sophie just wanted to catch them with the hat. she was successful but then had to put the hat down since that wasn't allowed. she did have one land on her head. the butterflies loved matt's blue shirt.

 

 

we had such a good time on our trip! matt and i were ready to head home, the girls were not. they could have stayed in for several more days. for them, the hotel was just as exciting as any other place we visited. molly loved sleeping in the big bed. sophie, i think enjoyed snuggle time with mommy and daddy. she had to sleep with us because she fell out of bed the first night. much to look forward to on next years visit! 

 

take me out to the ball game

last night i took the girls to their first "real" baseball game. i've been wanting to all summer but it's been so stinkin' hot that we've had to wait. molly kept insisting it wasn't her first game since she's been to many of her uncle alex's high school games. nonetheless, it was a the first game in a stadium. we went to the t-bones game for a more relaxed atmosphere, not to mention it's cheaper!



 

i like the t-bones games because everyone just goes to have fun. there's no booing if they totally blow it or if there is a disagreement with the officiating. don't get me wrong, i love competition and all the rivalry and the way fans get into the games but sometimes it's nice to just watch a fun game.

not to mention, these two sillies don't exactly sit still and like to move around. the fact that their weren't many fans there made that possible. we had half a row to ourselves and we weren't up high so moving around was very permissible.

they got so excited whenever sizzle, the bull, came out on the field and wanted to see him. he finally came to our side so we high-tailed it up the steps to try and meet him. once we got close, sophie was terrified. clinging to my leg and hiding behind it terrified. molly, loved every minute and he stopped to take a picture with her.

we had some play time on the swing set during the sixth and seventh innings and were fortunate that the nice man checking bags and purses allowed us to bring in our snacks and water. i assumed it was like the royals game and they allowed you to bring food and drinks in.

the t-bones end their home games for the season on sunday so i'm glad we made it. it was the absolute one thing i wanted to do with the girls this summer. check it off my summer bucket list!

first day of the last year of preschool

the day molly has been anticipating since the end of may finally came today...school! this girl has a love for learning and loves school. she would have gone all summer if she could have. we've been counting down the days and today was it! molly woke up singing (as she usually does), hopped right out bed and ate a cheese omelet with chocolate milk for breakfast. she marched right upstairs afterwards and got dressed. then, requested her hair be braided. easy, and done. she was ready to go!



when we got to school, molly walked right in like she'd been there just yesterday, hung her backpack, sat down at the table and got to work! 

molly seems to have a great teacher and the year is looking to be a great one. although, i think she may be disappointed that she doesn't learn all that she's planning on academically. one of the first things she told me when i picked her up is that they didn't work on spelling because it was the first day. she's ready to go back and is glad she only has to wait a day.

if you're on pinterest you've probably seen the questions to every year on your child's birthday. well, i completely forgot on their birthdays so i decided to do it on the first day of school. here's molly's 1st day of preschool interview:

favorite color: purple and pink

favorite animal: monkey

favorite toy: polly pockets and my baby

favorite food: peanut butter and honey

favorite thing to do outside: call my friends on the phone and ride bikes with them

favorite song: Jesus loves me

favorite book: tinkerbell books

favorite t.v. show: caillou

favorite movie: peter pan

favorite fruit: pineapple

favorite thing to do with mommy: make art projects

favorite thing to do with daddy: go fishing

favorite Bible story: Jesus heals the sick girl

favorite restaurant: dinosaur restaurant (t-rex cafe)

favorite sport: gymnastics

favorite outfit: polka dot shirt

best friend: maggie

when i grow up: school teacher

hard to believe in a year she'll be in kindergarten 5 days a week, all day long. i'm going to miss that girl when she's gone all day!

our morning at the weston red barn





this morning the girls and i went with some friends to the red barn in weston, mo. we had been once before around halloween last year to see the animals and look at pumpkins but this trip was even better! we saw chickens, geese, turkeys, and goats. the nice lady working there showed all the kids how to feed the geese and chickens grass so they wouldn't accidentally try to eat their fingers!  

molly was successful in feeding the geese however, they became more interested in a stroller that one of the moms had and left before sophie could try her hand at it.

here the girls are feeding the chickens. sophie continually called the chickens over, demanding they eat and tried forcing grass into their beaks! she wasn't so successful in the feeding department!

trying to lure the chicken with some grass.

here the nice worker is helping the girls feed the geese. sophie must not have had a long enough piece of grass because it nibbled her finger while trying to take the grass.

we picked apples after seeing the animals. this was so fun! i have never (that i remember at least) picked apples. the girls absolutely loved it. molly took care to look for holes and bad spots on the apples before picking.

i love that the apples were close to the ground so the girls could reach with out having to be picked up. sophie didn't take much care in the selection process; she just picked. she didn't do too bad though!

here sophie is moving on to a new tree.

there were so many apples and lots of trees to choose from!

tasting one of her apples. these girls are loving the apples. they've already each had three today! molly has big plans for me to make a pie as well.

55 apples! 10 pounds! we have a lot of apples! not too bad on price either. it came out to $1.80/lb. just a bit higher than the grocery store sells them right now. and it's more fun to eat them because we picked them. we'll definitely be visiting again for more apple picking this fall! 

summer olympics 2012

the olympics have been so enjoyable over the past two weeks. molly cried today when i told her they would be over tomorrow and she would have to wait until she was 8 for the summer olympics to be back on. we've watched more t.v. and had it on in the background these past two weeks then i think we do in two months! so worth it though. molly is a big USA supporter and loved watching to see how many points we had or if we were number one. she finally figured out that we live in the united states (after asking a billion times when i'd tell her the united states athlete was performing).

gymnastics (of course) was probably the favorite sport around our house. molly hasn't stopped flipping. not that she really had before the olympics but it seems more prominent now. the girl constantly has to be flipping off the couch, standing on her head, doing somersaults and cartwheels. lifting a leg in the air, etc. she's even trying to perfect cartwheeling off her balance beam and asked me if she would need to use chalk on her hands during gymnastics class. i assured her it wasn't necessary just quite yet. sophie's quite the little somersaulter as well and is looking foward to turning 3 so she can take gymnastics too! oh, molly will be in the olympics so she says. look for her in 2024!

swimming and diving were also fun to watch. molly perfected the backstroke at our pool and tried out synchronized jumping with another little girl. she'll be a multi sport olympian! sophie in the mean time is attempting to swim underwater and is convinced she is when she holds her breath and puts her mouth in the water and walks in the pool. it is the cutest thing ever. i need to remember a camera next we go so i can capture this achievement!

sophie enjoyed horse jumping and they both tried their hand at rhythmic gymnastics with a large ribbon we have. molly learned a little about volleyball and liked watching the girls dive on the ground to hit the ball.

we did a few fun/learning based activities to go along with the olympics as well. here they are.

painting the olympic rings with homemade puffy paint. i found it on pinterest at this site: http://www.housingaforest.com/microwave-puffy-paint/  it's kinda puffy when you microwave but didn't look at good as the example. still fun and the girls loved it. don't over cook - it will burn!

 molly took great care in making her rings. she's my little perfectionist when it comes to art!   

 sophie's final product! hard to see the puff but it did work a little!

                        
 molly's final product! notice the burn mark. paint was a little thin in this area. the thicker the better and the more puff!

 here the girls are working on some educational activities. this learning pack came from 3dinosaurs.com. sophie is making a color book. she had to look at the colored word, then color the ring to match.

 molly is working on pictures of her favorite events. then she wrote the name of the event and i wrote down why she liked the event.

 counting practice

 more counting practice.

sophie did a matching puzzle game with different girls playing different sports in the olympics.

molly worked on a puzzle of the olympic rings and medals.

 sophie's finished work!

molly's olympic drawings.

















it was a fun olympic year. i'm looking forward to the winter olympics and so are my girls!