Fashionista

I've given up on influencing Charlotte's fashion choices. At least she's out of "sporty pants" (like her brother) which was her previous obsession. Apparently we've moved on to maximizing the number of patterns per outfit!

Happy Thanksgiving (a day late!)

Due to unforeseen turkey issues and too late of a start on Thursday, Tom and I sent the kids to bed with a dinner of chicken quesadillas and ate a lovely Thanksgiving grownup meal after the kids went down. But Friday was designated our Family Feast Day. It actually turned out nice because all the cooking was already done and we had a nice relaxing meal together. Since I'm still recovering from my tonsilectomy I hadn't really planned on making a big meal, but the requests kept pouring in, and I couldn't deny my son who asked for turkey, green beans and cornbread. (I made all of those along with pear cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy and pumpkin pie)

Charlotte's pilgrim hat from a few years ago got lost somehow, so she opted for Pocahontas. She doesn't really like pie, just whipped cream. So that's what she had for dessert. A pile of whipped cream!

Yum!

Pocahontas Pose

Happy Thanksgiving!

How You Know You've Been Slumming it for Too Long

Charlotte asked at dinner tonight - "Do you have a meeting tonight, Mama?" I told her no I didn't, that I'd be home. She replied - "Then why do you have earrings on?". I guess it's really time to get out of tonsil-removal recovery mode, folks!

Charlotte's a 3-Day Hippo!

Charlotte started school this morning. She'll go three mornings a week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Her teachers are Ms. Patty and Ms. Ginny in the Hippo class. It's a new year in a new class in a new building.

Think she's excited??

The Flip

Charlotte wanted "some curls" this morning. So cute!

Labor Day at Six Flags

The Kings and the Allens decided to brave the possible crowds of Labor Day at Six Flags since the weather was so fantastic. We were amazed at how few people were there. The lines were so short and we had a fun, fun time together.

We arrived early to buy our 2012 season passes and ended up having to wait around a bit until they opened the park. Luckily there was a security guard handing out stickers...

and Scooby! JD and Tyler Allen are huge Scooby fans, so this was the place to be.

Last time we were at Six Flags we skipped the Ferris wheel (called Colossus) because the lines were so long. Tyler and Charlotte were determined to get on it this trip, so it was our very first ride. This is one of the only rides that (pregnant) Cari can ride. The girls (and Tyler) in one car,

and the big boys in the other.

Off to Bugs Bunny land with the rides perfectly sized for Charlotte and Tyler. Nicholas opted for these rides over one of the nearby coasters JD wanted to ride with his dad.

Lunch at Johnny Rockets. Chicken rings. :)

The Joker. Tyler looked a little green, but the big guys loved it and rode it over and over. Charlotte watched!

The antique cars are such a favorite of Charlotte and Nicholas. This time we had an unexpected visitor while we waited in line.

Daffy went for a drive too.

Tyler and Jamie

Charlotte LOVES driving. She can reach the pedal, but sometimes forgets to push it down when she needs to steer.

Shaggy!

Charlotte posed and smiled every time around. That girl is a ham!

The tugboat in Bugs Bunny land is Charlotte's favorite ride.

The big kids went on Sky Screamer (new this year) and raved about it.

Thunder River (the other ride we skipped due to long lines last time) was finally open at the end of the day. A perfect way to end our day!

Six Flags has become a big favorite for our family. We're lucky to be only 30 minutes away and have season passes (and free parking!). I'm sure we will be there again soon!

Saturday in the Sprinklers

Our Little Mary Lou

Charlotte went to a gymnastics birthday party today and is totally hooked. We'll be signing her up for classes at the gym by our house.

Bear crawl on the parallel bars

Balance beam (those are crocodile masks on the mat)

Although a non-olympic event...the trapeze was a hit.

It's off to go leotard shopping!

The F Word

Last night, the kids and I were on our way home and as always I was in "prepare for the madness that is the 6:30 bedtime routine" mode. I looked at the kids and asked "What do we need to do when we get home?" I was expecting them to mention putting shoes away, getting right upstairs for bath/shower. Those kinds of things. Charlotte looked at me very seriously and said "Focus." Obviously I have used this word a lot in the past during bedtime routine madness!

Tonight when the kids were getting ready for bed (always rough on Wednesdays when Nicholas has music until 5pm) that word came up again. I asked Nicholas if he knew what that meant, because as much as I say it...I really wasn't positive that they knew. He said yes, and gave me this explanation - "It means no fooling around. And to be quick and careful. Especially when carrying fragile things". Love it!

Career Options

Last week Nicholas firmly decided that he wants to be a garbage man when he grows up. Torn between actually driving the truck and riding on the back, he went with riding on the back. Because there's a pole to hang onto just like on a fire truck. Duh.

Tonight, my now space obsessed son decided that he's changed his mind and now wants to be an astronaut and fly a "rocket" to space. But he'd like to take us with him. Perhaps Virgin Galactic will be in full operation when the time comes!

Pretzels?

Tonight Charlotte kept demanding to wear her "pretzel" jammies. I was perplexed. She was determined. She finally dug through the drawer and found these. "See?!? Pretzels!" I guess we haven't really introduced peace signs yet!

Preschool Literacy Night

Charlotte may have missed PJ day at school yesterday because of her Monday night fever, but she'd recovered just in time for Literacy Night. The kids in her class wore PJs to the party and stuffed bears, read bear books and had animal cookies and hot chocolate (or just marshmallows in Charlotte's case). Although these aren't the most flattering pics of Ms Sally and Ms Dodie, the joy on Charlotte's face shows her true love of them. We will miss them terribly next year!

If Only Our Video Monitor Could Record!

Sometimes Nicholas is so sweet it makes me want to cry. Last night, he insisted on sleeping with 5 (yes, FIVE) of Charlotte's babies. He LOVES babies. Tom and I were downstairs and heard him on the monitor moving around in his bed. We checked the video monitor and saw him lying there on his tummy, picking up each baby in turn, kissing each one 3 times and laying them back down in his bed. We just watched and smiled. But it gets even better. Tom mentioned to him as they were snuggling tonight at bedtime that we'd seen him being nice to the babies last night. He told Tom that he was kissing them so they wouldn't be scared. Nicholas had heard a noise outside (snow plow??) and gotten a little scared himself, and didn't want the babies to be scared. Oh my sweet little man...

Master of the Chopstick

It is no surprise that my darling, incredibly slow-eating daughter has decided that she loves (and is remarkably proficient at) chopsticks. Even for rice.

It is also no surprise that Nicholas prefers the more straightforward fork approach!

Snow Day Sledding

6 inches of snow arrived overnight. That means...Snow Day!

The kids pulled their bar stools over and ate their breakfast gazing longingly out the window at the snow. We got a call from some kindergarten friends to meet at a new sledding spot. We were certainly up for that!

This picture does not do justice to the steep slope of the hill at the takeoff point. After trudging up with Charlotte after each time she went down, I can tell you, it was steep!

Now that looks a little steeper...

J.D.'s little sister Olivia hung out at the top.

Nicholas did not.

That kid would have stayed the whole day.

Charlotte was the fearless younger sibling. All the others rode with other kids or parents. Not our little daredevil.

Izzy and Catherine with a lap full of snow!

As it's not supposed to be above freezing for days, we may make another run at this hill with Daddy over the weekend!