Thanksgiving 2011

We are fortunate to have family that lives just a couple of hours away.  Chris' two brothers and families came over for a whirlwind couple of days.  The kids were a constant hive of activity, there were games, wresting, lots of food, Wii play, a little bit of shopping, some Wolfe traditions, and beautiful weather for playing outside.

The kids colored turkey place cards for the table:

Wii, Wii, Wii

Lots of time spent in the kitchen

Some version of hackey-sack:

We love having the little guys running around:

Traditional bagels:

Some form of four-square, they played for hours!

These two are pretty inseparable and self-entertaining:

Traditional service project, this year letters to servicemen:

The Wolfe cousins, quite a bunch!

Sweet Suichuan girls:

 
We have much to be thankful for.  This year I am thankful for family more than anything.  I am thankful that despite the many miles that separate us, we've had lots of time to spend with all of our brothers, sisters (a new sis-in-law!), parents, and cousins this year.  I am thankful that my dad is doing well with his fight against cancer.  I am thankful for a loving and supportive husband that provides for our family.  I am thankful for my five treasures and the gift of watching them grow and mature each day.  I am thankful for the privilege of homeschooling them and spending so much time with them.  I am thankful for the blessing of living in this country and all the freedoms that come with being a citizen here.  We don't know what the future holds, so we count each day as a gift, a blessing from Him.

I hope each of you had a special Thanksgiving with loved ones!

Lazy Days

The kids are enjoying our week of vacation.  There have been puzzles, games, K'nex, Legos, and much more.  Of course Mom has been doing more cleaning and getting ready for Thanksgiving company, but our slower pace and break from school is a welcome reprieve.

Hanging out in PJs late into the morning, fixing doll's hair :)

The boys have been creating claws, robot hands, robot arms, etc.  Their details with bendable knuckles and all have been amazing.

They have the iPod hooked up to speakers blaring Christmas music in their room as they spend hours creating.  :)

The Weekend

It's been a busy and productive weekend, and we're loving the fact that we have all of this coming week off of school.  Woo hoo!

We've been working on some annual cleaning out of closets and such.  The boys and I spent way too much time cleaning their room.  Oh my.  What do you get when you clean out the room of two boys that like to collect everything, keep parts and papers to everything, have many projects that never got completed, and so much more???  You get five big bags of garbage and five big bags of give-aways.  The boys have both inherited some of Grandpa Clark's traits and they have a lot of "junque" (as my dad says!).  I thought about taking some before and after pictures, but it would have been too embarrassing.  :)

This afternoon Michaela, Benjamin, and Johanna rode on the church float in our holiday parade.  Michaela and Benjamin were puppeteers and Johanna waved at the crowds.  The rest of us braved the cold and Elijah and Ami came home with plenty of loot to share with their siblings.

Brrr...waiting for the parade to start.

Don't ask...I have no idea.  Somewhat disturbing, eh?

B is the yellow guy with black hat, M is the blond puppet, and Johanna with the queenly wave.

Oh, the candy....

Dismantling the float:

The Purr

The other day Grandpa Hires invited us to come down to hear his tractor "purr".  He has restored countless tractors and this latest one finally got it's engine going.  This tractor has been in the works for much longer than other ones because he's been through a pretty difficult spurt over the last couple of years with the passing of Grandma Hires.  It was special to see the proud smile and sense of satisfaction on his face.  It meant much more than the fact that a tractor had started, it also meant moving on.  He's always ready to share all sorts of facts, stories, and information with the kids.  We are so thankful for a grandpa figure that lives just up our driveway!

 (And he's always ready with a mini vase of flowers for Ami!)

Grandpa Hires also just got back from a trip to China.  He said it was our fault that he had to go see the country that was so special to us.  :)

S'more Season

It's that time of year.  We finally got our first fire going in the fire place yesterday.  We've had a fairly mild fall and haven't really needed to get the wood stove going yet.  But yesterday was the day and the kids couldn't wait.  As is the tradition, we had to break out the s'more fixings.  Yummy!  We tend to have s'mores a lot more in the winter than in the traditional fall bonfire season. 

 (Chris brought home these cable cover things from work and Ami thought they made great fingernails.)

Puppets

Michaela and Benjamin still help with the puppet ministry at church.  They visit retirement/nursing homes a few times throughout the year and put on a show for the residents.  It's nice to see the smiles on the faces, or feet or hands keeping beat with the music.  Afterwards the kids always come out from behind the "stage" with the puppets and interact with the older folks.  It's a great experience for both young and old alike.  Here are a few pictures from their latest performance.

  (Michaela in pink and Benjamin in orange)

Another Then and Now

Our last trip to Colorado Springs was four years ago.  Since we visited some of the same places, I had to look back at our old pictures.  What a difference four years makes!

Garden of the Gods:

Focus on the Family (Narnia wardrobe):

Pike's Peak: