We did a two hour shift ringing for the Salvation Army at our local Fareway.  Em made it the entire time.  The kids and I rang for almost 80 minutes.  Dallas was "starving" and Noelle was cold, so when Robert arrived we left Em and him to finish the last 40 minutes.  He also likes to ring "on the beat", so it was good that I took the erratic ringers home!

 Assembling a fireplace at Grandpa Dallas new place, Emily was daddy's helper.

 This little sickee was napping in our bed earlier this month.

 Basketball practice has begun

 This church has a garage

 Cyclone tree got new lights this year thanks to finding a gold strand at Fleet Farm

 Rehersal:  It takes practice to be this angelic

 These two pictures were from our Chrsistmas devotion.  "What God wants for Christmas"

 Reading Christmas books

Baby Jesus getting a ride to the car wash

My sweet little boy is five years old. He hates sleeping through the night, he loves sleeping in our "soft, cozy bed". He loves building, towing, and setting up rigs to haul or dump just about anything. He plays quite well with Noelle these days, they are constantly in the middle of some tale and they are both sad when it is time to break to eat or have Dallas head off to school. He likes preschool these days. Gone is the first hard month of anxiety. He happily hops out and scampers in to greet his teachers and friends. He loves his new snow boots (I can't believe I bought camo boots!) His favorite friends at school are Ben and Cameron. But sometimes he plays with Bailey, who he says always wants to sit by him. The teacher says he is a great helper, and most of his skills are right on track. He could write his name a little better, but we are practicing when he wants. They seem so excited that he enjoys going now, they know what a hard time we had in the beginning. He has taken a little interest in math lately, Em and I drill a lot orally and I think he picks up on some. Prepare to be stumped when he asks you what "times seven times 5 plus" is. He loves wearing his cowboy boots, and dressing up for church, I do believe he likes all the compliments he gets when he wears a bow tie. Dallas always has a plan, and likes to try it out before hearing your theory on how it works. He is really proud of the things he makes and wants to tell you about each intricate detail. He asks the best questions, completely out of the blue. He is always thinking, especially about vehicles, or what daddy's big red truck can do compared to his little green truck vs. the van. He really wants us to sell the van and have me drive a "smooth" car again.

 

 Birthday mail

 His little pallet on our bedroom floor.  This was well past 8:00 am. 

 Building birthday Legos

 admiring his handiwork

 He wanted Jimmy John's for his birthday meal.  We even let him eat in on furniture in the living room!

One big birthday cake!

Fourteen things

It's December!

1.  We will have a five year old in the house by the end of the week.

2.  Remind me not to ever buy Pixar themed stamps again, the kids think they are stickers.

3.  Emily and I played Christmas songs together as background music during the Festival of Trees this Sunday.

4.  We are doggless again, we recently returned Riley to his new house in Ankeny, and of course Noelle and Dallas were playing doggie today.

5.  Robert is back to working, working, working, preparing to feed us in the New Year.  He had about three hours of rest over Thanksgiving break.

6.  We saw the movie Frozen on opening day.  It was wonderful.  And guess what, a guy's true love kiss didn't solve all the problems in this movie. 

7.  The house is 70% decorated.  I am afraid the Cyclone tree needs to be restrung.  I am in search of gold lights, I remember it was difficult to find them the first time around.

8.  Ames has been dealing with a rash of burglaries, I was fine dealing with it, until Robert got worried about it.  Now I get a little freaked out in the evenings.

9.  I am breaking in new workout shoes. Lynne and I went shopping a few weeks ago.  I hated them for two weeks, but I think we are finally friends.

10.  Parenting is hard work

11. Homeschooling is hard work. 

12.  We have been having a rough time lately, hoping we are in a brief valley and the big girl and I can climb on out soon.

13.  Maybe I will get a sweet teacher appreciation gift.  I will have to remember to get some for Dallas preschool teachers as well.

14.  I am debating the merits of purchasing one of the one cup coffee makers.  I have been tolerating Casey's coffee and Dutch Oven's coffee.  I take it with half and half, and I like that it is warm.  I am not sure it is keeping me awake, but I think I am less grumpy.