Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving as a family with Chris having work off! Claire was excited to have him play all sorts of games with her and we got a new firepit that we tested out after our feast. The girls actually ate some of the dishes without being too difficult and part of that was because they helped me cook some of them. We had delicious ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, carrots, rolls, and some sparkling cider and eggnog to drink. The only thing they didn't want was mashed potatoes for some reason, and then they got to enjoy our pumpkin pie after our tummies emptied watching our fire. We also focused on decorating our Christmas tree because I had pulled out the decorations on Wednesday since we would be leaving for the weekend. The girls were begging to decorate all day Chris was at work and then when he left to go work out instead of decorating in the morning it was so annoying for them!

Family

My brother and his family were going to visit but unfortunately got sick and had to stay away, we drove across Idaho to visit Chris's family for the weekend. Chris had someone who wanted to pick up some hours at his work so he got off earlier than expected and we drove in time to make it for dinner on Friday. Then we had all Saturday to help get the house ready and play with cousins for a few hours before decorating Grandma and Grandpa's tree they cut down from their front yard in the morning! We aren't a sports family except for Chris always wanting to go shooting with his brother, but they had time to go work out together if that counts...there was snow on the ground and I didn't bring snow clothes for the girls so we were stuck inside playing. It would have been fun to go sledding because there was just enough to have a few inches, but the sun was out so it wasn't too cold. The snow here is making me ready for snuggling up and not going outside!

Girls

With Claire having all week off of school, the girls have been getting tired of each other so it's good we got time with others over the weekend. By halfway through the week, Claire would ask me before lunchtime how long it was until Daddy got home because she loves to play little games with him. We play plenty of games with the girls during the day when we are here at home. I'm trying to figure out how to get Shay's emotions to simmer a little because she gets really upset about little things and will hold onto that emotion for way too long. This is a good age to be excited about visiting cousins, but they also have way too much energy to play nicely for the whole time we are together. And by next year we will have three newborns added to the mix!

Obstacles and Bikes

 Claire

We have had a few fun things happen this week. We were given a princess bike that someone didn't need anymore which is an upgrade for the old bike Claire used to ride, but that means she has to learn how to ride without training wheels! I don't know how well she will do before the snow starts to fall and we have to put it away for the winter, but we went to a church parking lot and Chris held on to her to start practicing. She was nervous for the first time, but when daddy didn't let her fall, she got more excited about doing laps around the lot and improved in at least confidence if not skill just yet. On her day off from school on Wednesday, she asked me to build her an obstacle course and I came up with a few things that made it fun. She specifically asked for the basket that could catch her which at first I wasn't sure was possible, but it worked out alright and it's been up all week now. She did a funny thing when she got home from school one day and asked for apple juice and an apple slice so she could put it on the side of her cup while she drank from it. Such a funny girl she is!

Shay

She was a little jealous that Claire got a new bike, so we might have to make her feel extra special by getting her an Elsa bike when she is ready to upgrade to no training wheels. I think she needs more practice with confidence on the bike she has though because she doesn't have the speed to make me think she can start to balance correctly. It breaks my heart that she feels left out by these kinds of things and I want to make her feel special too even though it seems that Claire gets all these new things like bikes and going to school. Hopefully being able to help Mommy with the baby after he comes will make her feel special and Claire will have to be the jealous one because she has school when Shay stays home with us. I think coming shopping with me all the time helps too, and she doesn't seem to be waiting around all day for Claire to get home because she plays on her own a lot and is content here at home for now, especially now that she can do the obstacle course without Claire in the way!

A Week of Appointments

 Claire

Almost every day after picking her up from school we drive by the park and they want to go and play so we did that a few times. I was cold but they made some friends and got some energy out before we had to go home. They went to the dentist before school this Wednesday and were complimented on how well they listened when the nurses were cleaning and brushing their teeth. They both liked getting new toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss after being good girls. Today was the primary program and I had a perfect front-row view of Claire's singing which mostly involves her copying the director and waving her arms. I wonder if she thinks that's a good calling because I did it in Farmington right before we moved and she remembers me doing it. I hope music is important to them and they will join me in singing in the choir in the future.

Shay

She came to my appointments this week and showed how well-behaved she is by listening so well and sitting quietly. I love that she doesn't try to make Claire jealous that she goes places with me and always thinks about getting something for her sister when we go shopping. We had an extra long baby appointment and she made a tower for Rapunzel and then when she knocked that over on accident we built a huge castle because she gets to go live at home at the end of the movie. This week we started working on her ability to say her name because she usually pronounces it 'Tay' so we were teaching her the 'sh' sound because during the primary program, she has to introduce herself. It was very separate when she said 'Sh-ay', but I'm sure she will get better as we continue to work on it. I think it was pretty cute and I had some other people notice how adorable my children are!

Halloween and Welcoming November

 Halloween!

On Tuesday, Claire dressed up at school and had a little party with her class, and then there is a track out back of the school where Shay and I went to watch the parade of costumes. Shay had fun seeing the many different costumes and Claire was excited to see us and wave the 3 times she passed where we were standing. Once we got home she showed us all the fun things she got...including slime...and we ate dinner and waited for daddy to get home from work so we could go trick or treating! We had some neighbors come to get candy from us right as Chris was finishing dinner and Claire asked to stay home to hand out candy and see more people! I don't know how many people came around our neighborhood but I had a bowl on our porch for them and we went to a bigger neighborhood to get our treats. There are a lot of people around this area that set out bowls probably going around with their own kids! Both girls filled up their little buckets and had us carry them once they were 3/4 full because they were getting heavy with several full-sized candy bars, and plenty of variety! You can see Claire was a mermaid again, Shay was Catboy, and Chris and I decided to be skeletons to stay warm which I was grateful for, but too bad we didn't have time for face paint.

Claire

Every morning while they eat breakfast I let them watch cartoons before Claire has to go to school and she has been picking Bluey every day! She then got it in her head that she wanted to do ALL the 12 puzzles we have because of one of the episodes that reminded her of the puzzles. It took her 3 days and help from Daddy, Shay, and me to actually finish them all because she gets distracted like in another episode we know...She is doing really well when we read together and is improving and enjoying it now especially since she can earn time to play phone games on the old phone if she reads two books in a row with me. We limit that to the weekends mostly and only if she asks so she doesn't spend time on the phone much anymore and we are glad we broke that habit. 

Shay

She helped me take down the Halloween decorations at home and put up the 5 Thanksgiving decorations we have. I wish it hadn't rained most of the week because it feels like we've been stuck inside forever and at least we have lots to do inside. With Claire's obsession with Bluey, Shay likes it too and we brought down all the stuffed dogs that were currently hiding in the closet. She found her puppy from the library and did her hair then told me to take her picture. Luckily I did or else I'd only have pictures from Halloween! I love this little cutie!!