Pops' Park Pics

My parents and Jason took the 3 big kids to the park a few days ago - here are some of my dad's pics!

Christmas {Lights} in Dixie

The Christmas decorations in my parents' town square were lighted and sparkly this warm (60 degree) evening! It was the perfect little outing for the kids. 

(Jason and Daphne stayed back since D was supposed to be sleeping - it didn't turn out that way, but that's babies for you)

We sat in "Santa's" sleigh!

Meredith and Russell both wanted pictures next to the trees that were about their height :)

I asked Paige to smile - she said "I can't!" By the way, that was a Christmas tree cheese spreader she carried with her all night :)

The kids said the Nativity was their favorite part. Russell was a sheep, Mer was Mary, and Paige wanted to ride on the "donkey" (she settled for standing in front).

Afterward, we walked to a candy shop for jelly beans (the girls' choice). Fun evening!

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving at my parents' house was absolutely wonderful. We had an abundance of food and family (Jef and Sejal, and all of the McDs (my mom's sister and family and their kids) for some portion of time). 

Russell and Meredith (especially Mer) stuck like glue to Jef and Sejal all day Wednesday and Thursday.

Meredith and I made 2 pumpkin pies :)

We had some playtime with Jax (14 months) and Megan on Wednesday - hadn't seen them since April!

Dinner was SO GOOD. Jef and Sejal did a lot of it (much like last year at our house!), and so did my parents. I felt good that we had contributed the pie baking :)

Meredith and Sejal having an important business phone call:

Love family time! 

Snow Fun

Today, November 21, was this season's first snow day! The kids were so excited :) We took snow walks, made snow angels, threw snowballs, and had hot chocolate!

Of course, it gets cold after a while, so we also made some slime (Russell was given this kit for his birthday and we've never taken it out):

And we made paper bag turkey puppets :) The kids are really into coloring and arts and crafts these days, which I love!

And sweet Daphne enjoyed her bath, as always! (I did not take her out in the snow this time.)

Typical days...

A wise friend told me, "In order to homeschool, you have to be home." It's hard to do that sometimes because we love to go, go, go - and there are lots of fun opportunities every day of the week.

But this is a season for us to be home more anyway - between homeschool work and a baby who needs to learn to sleep, we are here. 

Sisters snuggle (in front of mountains of laundry)...

we look at the new Christmas toy catalogues...

teach Daphne to sit up...

practice the violin (and she's learned her first real song, called School Waltz!)...

entertain a baby...

figure out how to be the caboose on a busy family train...

build lots of Lego creations...

pause to reflect...

and share lots of meals while baby swings.

{These pictures make it look much more peaceful and quiet than it is!}