Selah loves...

Brushing her teeth! (And chewing on the toothpaste tube!)

Kids...

Aren't they strange? This is what I found when I went in to check on the boys tonight. Noah sleeping with this truck on his chest! And it's not a light truck! Every year Hess (which is a gas station)comes out with a new truck, only available during the Christmas season and some friends send the boys these trucks for Christmas every year (can't order them.) The boys both think they are awesome (because they are-very well made with working lights and always transporting something that has working lights, too.) Well, here's proof of just how much they love them. I think this was last year's truck.

Cheetahs

Are pretty cool when they're almost life-size!

Selah's favorite activity

Selah LOVES to read. It is almost impossible to get anything done because she constantly brings a book to one of us and begs to be read to. And how can you say no? (It's a rare treat to get to sit with her and not have her screaming to get away!)

Oh Christmas Tree...

Well, we're done decorating for Christmas! It was pretty easy this year, and clean-up shouldn't be hard either.
I figure that it'll look like a ton of presents under the tree this year! Jonah was a little dumbfounded that THAT was the Christmas Tree this year, but I reminded him that Jesus was born in a stable. We should be counting our blessings!!
(And yes, that is a Wii under there. I managed to get it for $150 by going out at 4 am today. So the boys are only $62 away from a Wii. And they aren't likely to forget it since Bryan's torturing them by making them look at it! But I do believe that this shall build character, appreciation, and hopefully a little responsibility!)

Turkey cookies

Gobble gobble

Thanks to Aunt Keri...

I have a bunch of adorable new bows...even a Buckeyes one!

No words necessary

I wonder what's in there?

Commander Wilhelm

Flying the space shuttle.
(It might not look like it, but he is completely tucked into the box.)

Sitting on some apples

Checking out the sales.

Noah's space shuttle

Noah has been pretending all morning that he (we) is in FL for the shuttle launch. And now he has built a space shuttle to blast off in. I was particularly impressed with his engine. He may not be able to write his name, but he can build a space shuttle in detail! (I do not know why the lighthouse picture is there. I'm sure there's a reason, though.)

Spoiled

Selah is hard to control in the highchair. She can stand up even with the straps on, no matter how tight I make them. The problem with skinny kids, I guess. This was her eating her breakfast this morning. She would pick up a bite, stand back up, and put her foot on the tray as she put the food in her mouth. EVERY TIME. And I would sit her down, EVERY TIME. It was a total power struggle, I'm not sure who won. I finally said she was all done if she wouldn't eat sitting down. Unfortunately, she doesn't much like to eat, so this wasn't a big deal to her. And unfortunately, this is a pretty common occurrence. Good thing she's cute!

I know you're jealous

I bet you wish you had a 30'x10' storage unit that looked like this to dig through for baby clothes, too! We actually got this side all cleaned up last night, but only found baby girl clothes...boys can wear pink, right? We shall tackle the other side on Wednesday in hopes of some blue stuff. (The middle is the furniture.) Buying a house and settling there sounds better every day...even in Michigan...

We went to the park after church...

And someone got ahold of her brother's juice box. I think that there will be a mad brother in a minute...

The "new place"

People keep asking when I'm going to post pictures of where we live. So I finally took a few, and here you are.

Our door is the one on the right, bottom level. We do have 2 windows in the front (and one on the side), just like the upstairs, they are just hiding behind the tree. (Well, the were when I took this picture. Now the tree is leave-less.)

Here's the dining area/classroom. Jonah was doing schoolwork and decided to hide when I took the picture. You can kind of see him there in the back...

And this would be the living room/Selah's room. (view from the front door)

Living room view from the hallway.

Lovely, isn't it? I'm sure it will become more crowded as we try to add Micah in here, but it's working for now.

Mmmm, sour cream

So, most parents know that quiet is not a welcomed sound unless your children are not home or are asleep. And it's no different here.

Here's what I found under the table after the quiet yesterday...

Wow.

This stuff is GREAT!

You don't think it's bad since I got it out of the trash do you?
(Thankfully, we had finished it at lunch so it had only been in there a couple of hours and wasn't all moldy or anything!)

NOAH! Did you tell on me?

Well, I was going to share, but I'm not now.

Maybe if I hide inside Mom won't notice me...

Oh! I forgot some down here!

Mmmm! I think this'd be a great snack every day!

It is a little messy, but you can hardly tell since my shirt is white!

You know, it is a little sour...I wonder if Mom will let me add sugar next time...

Pumpkin cookies

Bryan and the boys made Pumpkin sugar cookies from a kit- and had a blast.

Apparently it was hard to squeeze the frosting out of the tube, so Noah had to use his mouth to help.
The finished products.

Noah's are the two on the left, Jonah's the three on the right (with lots of green), and Bryan did the ones in the middle.
Nope.

Haven't seen any pumpkin cookies.

There's one missing, you say?

Hmmm.

Orange frosting...

Nope. Doesn't ring a bell.

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra

After much procrastinating...
We have finally joined a homeschooling group. Last year, the issue was that we didn't have a car, so it was pretty pointless. This year, Bryan carpools with Eric most days, so a car is usually available. But we aren't planning to stay in the area. (If we stay in MI we plan to move Northwest of the city so we can have more than a 2-foot backyard.) So we didn't really want to get involved and make friends and then leave. But finally Bryan made an executive decision and joined a group for us. And what a blessing it has been!
We have actually joined 2 groups. One is a Catholic homeschooling group that does Bible study twice a month. It's been great, the kids love it, I love it, and I am so grateful to find other moms who homeschool to socialize with, and it's even more comfortable with us all having the same religious beliefs. On Tuesday we had an All Saints Day party and the kids got to dress up and tell about the saint they chose to dress up as. I have a few pictures I will try to post later.
The other group is open to all Christians in the county (or outlying areas) and is a very large group that plans a lot of activities. So last week we went on a field trip to the Port Huron Museum and did Pioneer Days- again, pictures will (hopefully) soon follow. And this week, Bryan was able to stay home with Noah and Selah while Jonah and I went to the Orchestra. We had a great time, it was a concert for students so it was short (45 minutes) and the music was geared more toward kids. I thought Jonah looked bored, but he said he really enjoyed it, and the music was the best part (even better than getting out of schoolwork for the day or seeing his friends! I am quite shocked, but hey- culture is good for him!) The last piece was a John Williams piece from Indiana Jones- Raiders March (the one you probably think of when you think of Indiana Jones.) Jonah was disappointed that it wasn't
a Star Wars piece, but really enjoyed anyway, even though he's never seen Indiana Jones. All in all a fun time and it was nice to do something out of the norm. (The picture is of Jonah with his friend from Bible study. Notice his busted lip. Nice, eh?)

Selah's walking!

Make sure your volume is down, I sound really loud! Not the best video, but here's a little taste of trouble!