We doubled our contributions to the school's biggest fundraiser of the year. D was amazing -- I kept asking him if he wanted to take a break for a drink of water and he just keep on running, even with a bright red face that made his momma feel protective but proud. When K ran it was much more crowded, which I think influenced her lack of desire to push herself. She still ran two more laps than her brother, though, which is all that mattered to her. (Last year she ran 17 laps & this year 15.) It was great to have my dad and M & N along to watch them run.
After we watched D, we went to the park, where the wind started to blow & the children decided it was best to hide in the tunnel for a while. When K got home she relaxed by drawing beautiful pictures of things like mermen & mermaids. The PTO didn't make their goal, but made enough to make a big difference in the classrooms.
Snow! November brought us below freezing temperatures after a mild October. It was grand to play in the back yard, in the front yard, in the pocket park, and walk to the sledding hill. This was N's first time sledding and she would fuss a little at the end of each run, but let us take her down again. We were delighted to have her along. One time when she stayed inside, M & D worked together to bring snow to her and then they decorated it as a giant snow cake. The snow was great entertainment & when the temperature reached above freezing we thought the weather was pretty nice!
N is growing like a week and I began putting her size 18 month clothes aside to give away when I realized I never had my group picture with the magic outfits I bought for our trip to Florida. Well, they wore them at Disney World but you can't tell because they all had rain coats on top. So we had to grab this picture before K headed off to school. It was Mickey Mouse's birthday too, so after lunch the younger 3 and I celebrated by doing a Mickey craft and watching old cartoons like Steamboat Willie. They loved it. D & N laughed so hard! I think M is more like me in that our laughter is suppressed by the sympathy we give to characters amidst slap stick comedy.
We had 8 swimming lessons in 4 days the week before Thanksgiving. Our poor boy decided he couldn't float anymore during his group lesson and had an anxiety attack. So he went back to private lessons and has been doing great. Meanwhile, the 3 girls are loving their group lessons, as demonstrated by this happy girl just thrilled she is all ready for her Aquababies.
Time off! K and D had the entire week off and M still had preschool two days, so they got to do fun things like pick her up from school. This is a neat experience because Momma Rosie will let you hold her baby chicks now.
We also had lots of time to play with toys, clean the whole house (thanks for helping with the washing machine, Natalie), dance in costume, and read books at bedtime. I don't think I have ever been so grateful for my children not to go to school for a little while. I am happy to know I am almost half way done with having 3 different pick up times during the day.
The day after my dad needed to work, so our family and my mom headed to Denver for the Silk Road exhibit and Whales exhibit at the DMN&S before our membership expired. I had to promise K I would not renew it. She says she is so sick of going there. Sometimes I think someone engineered my first grader to act like a teenager and it ain't pretty! Let's just say it took her 5 days to forgive me, but the rest of us had a blast! And she liked it too, but wasn't willing to admit it. (For example, if I caught her smiling or being wowed at something she was turn away.) Maybe she'll go through that whole attitude thing early and be easy on her parents in high school like I did? Please!
It was a lovely day for late November so we walked over to the zoo for a couple hours before it closed. This was the first time Natalie was old enough to see things without being held up and she loved it. She also got quite a workout watching the African penguins by getting lots of cliff hanging time in. I think she may be stronger than I am.
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