Thankful for Nature

We spent Thanksgiving in Oklahoma this year and the theme seemed to be nature and crafts... two things that kept the kids entertained!

The week kicked off with paintball in the woods for the adults. Kids of all ages love a little game of hide and seek, don't they?


While us parents aimed to splatter, the kids (supervised on a rotational basis) spent their time running around the fields, walking the dry creek bed, watching the big horses graze and sitting on a pony.

Thanksgiving day consisted of decorating and eating Turkey cupcakes...

...cooking in the kitchen (the "rrrwheeel" kitchen as Hayden says)...

...and crafting all sorts of things such as these darling little reindeer antlers.

Keith became the storyteller of the week, reading to the little kids each night before bed.

We got to spend time with our good friends, the Odoms, which always means lots of laughs. We don't get to see them much but we cherish every moment with them.

Family time with the Melkers always brings something unique and fun. This year we had a Pops soda taste test. It was fun to try a dozen interesting flavors and compare tastes.

Our favorite part of the week was the good ol' fashioned fun we had playing in the leaves and rolling down a nearby hill. Payson and I cheered on the cousins as they rolled...and rolled...and rolled. (See video below).

Madison got a kick out of covering Aunt Chelsey in leaves from head to toe. As always, Aunt Chelsey was a good sport and let sweet Madison have her fun.

Hayden doesn't like to get dirty but she loved running around in the open space and acting out a memorable part of the "Three Little Kittens." She played out this scene at least a dozen times! (See video below).

After a while Uncle Barry found an old trash can lid and began taking the kids on a little "sled" ride down the hill and into a pile of leaves! (See video below).

Madison had a blast but I caught her in a moment of downcast with a tear sitting on her cheek. It's amazing how the sun is outlining her entire silhouette.

We soon found ourselves in a large creek bed where the kids spent time throwing rocks into the water, playing with sticks and climbing trees.

Madison's dirty face exudes outdoor fun!
And what a fun Thanksgiving it was!

First Haircuts!

The girls got their first haircuts last week! Madison was super excited about it but she made it a challenge with all of that squirming! She kept wanting to look at the scissors.

Hayden was equally thrilled about her first haircut. She pounced on the step stool when it was her turn as she could hardly wait!

I didn't cut much more than an inch, but it allowed me to even out their hair in the back and save their oldest "baby" hair for their baby books.

I am so tickled by this photo of Hayden and Payson's impromptu embrace. I was so happy that I had the camera within reach to capture such a pure moment!

It's not even Thanksgiving yet and we are already planning for Christmas! The kids each put together a box of toys and necessities for a child somewhere around the world who would otherwise not receive anything for Christmas.

The kids really enjoyed compiling their boxes and really seemed to get the basic idea that they have a lot and are giving to other children who have very little. I wrote about our experience on the Dallas Morning News Moms Blog.

Our church has been collecting for international missions and each of the kids made and decorated little Chinese take-out boxes to help them get their own donations. A few of our sweet neighbors pitched in and the kids learned that their donations would help build a church for those people who don't have one. It was another great opportunity to teach them about giving!

Last week I got to attend the kids' Thanksgiving Feast at school. It was so cute to see them all sitting so well at their tables and enjoying the company of their school friends.

They were so proud to have me there and to show off some of their favorite things in their classroom. Surprise, surprise, Madison's favorite part of her feast was the roll!

Since we have one day that only two kids go to school, I get to have one-on-one time with one child each week on a rotational basis. This particular week, Payson and I attended a fun little LEGO class.

The kids are loving their Melissa & Doug easel. There is a chalkboard on one side and dry erase board on the other. The kids are drawing straight lines, circles, ovals, etc. and the easel provides the perfect place to play and practice!

Madison is a little Grandma! Her baby now has her own baby doll making for three generations!

Party Time, Excellent!

Hayden and Madison had a blast attending their first girls-only birthday party. Their sweet friend, Charlotte, had a super cute princess dress-up party.

Hayden received her very first manicure!

Madison showing off her purple nail polish.

Tea time! The girls were entrusted with real ceramic tea cups, saucers and plates. They felt like such big kids!

Here is Hayden's interpretation of how to drink tea.

Madison practicing her proper tea time etiquette.

At my multiples playgroup, our nine toddlers did an awesome job of staying in their seats at lunchtime. And for the first time ever I think no one ate off of anyone else's plate! (Aka, no mealtime screaming!)

Madison, Payson and Hayden loved sitting on the firetruck while on a fire station tour with our neighborhood playgroup.

Hayden decided she wanted out of the firetruck right as I took this picture of her and Payson with their friend Elle.

Gotta love a good 80's party! Here's Brian circa 1989, The Hi-liter (aka Charles in a super-bright yellow shirt), and me in my Risky Business costume out bowling and celebrating Morgan's 30th birthday!

Fly girl Morgan rockin' metallic spandex pants and crimped hair!

Happy Birthday, Morgan!

Three Little Monkeys!

Here are our Three Little Monkeys and Mom and Dad as bananas. It's a metaphor and there are several you can choose from based on your liking: monkeys love bananas, our monkeys drive us bananas, and then there's the correlation of having three two-year-olds to the famous Monkey Experiment.

Last year the kids were Three Little Pigs and they loved them so much (they still ask to wear them!) and they like animals so much that we knew these monkey costumes would be a hit. Indeed they were and we even had a fit or two when it was time to take them off.

Trick-or-Treating with Grandma!

They kids were so brave and headed on up to each house without hesitation. I'm sure it helped that they had each other for security. They were quite frightened by the scary costumes the big boys were wearing but once a few nice boys showed them their faces underneath their masks, the kids were much less fearful.

Our Three Little Monkeys all said "Trick-or-Treat" and "Thank you", with some occasional prompting, of course, and, surprisingly, we didn't have much of a struggle limiting their candy intake.

Back at home the kids, particularly Payson, loved passing out candy to Trick-or-Treaters. He would eagerly fill their bags with candy and then run back to his spot on the porch to sit down and wait for more. So cute!

Going in reverse order here... Earlier that day the kids "opened" their Trick-or-Treat bags full of fun things (think Christmas stockings).

And that morning, bright and early before church, we carved our first pumpkins as a family! Everyone was really interested... at first.

But after about ten minutes Hayden and I remained the last two interested pumpkin carvers. She was a hard little worker and didn't mind getting her hands dirty!

Hayden was all smiles as she and Mommy cleaned out the pumpkins.

Surprise, surprise, our boy was interested again once we brought out the carving knives.

The kids were so proud of their finished pumpkins! They each chose their own decoration: A Jack O' Lantern for Hayden, tiger for Payson and ladybug for Madison.

The day before Halloween we had a big Halloween party with our playgroup. Here's Daddy with three little monkeys hanging on his back!

Madison giving Daddy a kiss.

Payson taking in the action while savoring the cupcake he decorated.

Monkey Madison hanging from the basketball goal. Don't worry, grandparents, Daddy is right there waiting to catch her!

Madison, Hayden and Payson had a blast running around with their friends. Here they are all dressed up with their friends Elle and Luke.