We started with S’s birthday celebration on Wednesday.  Of course, that had to include visiting Daddy at work and eating lunch with him at Chick-fil-A.  Then we came home to make the cake.  Clever mom that I am, I thought I’d save money by making the cake at home instead of ordering it, but by the time I bought all the supplies I didn’t save a cent.  What’s the cliche’ commercial?  ”Spending time with your children while making their own birthday cake:  Priceless.”  I decided that it had to be one of those moments instead.  :)

She had a fabulous birthday party with presents she loved, including a brand new bike!  On Thursday, we intended to head to SeaWorld instead of having a huge meal (and avoid the large crowds on Friday) but Chris moved our plans to Friday, mostly because their Christmas festivities started on Friday.

So what did we do for Thanksgiving?  Why, we had an un-Thanksgiving, of course!  Frozen pizza!  Ha!  (Chicken pot pie for those of us with tomato sensitivities, ahem.)  I had opted not to go grocery shopping to avoid pre-Thanksgiving crowds and then go shopping on Friday when everyone would be in the Black Friday frenzy and NOT at the grocery stores.  (Yes, I strategically plan to avoid crowds, it’s a disease.)  So who did not have any food in the house on Thanksgiving Day?  *hand raised*

And which store was open on T-Day?  The dreaded W-World.  The place I do not buy fresh fruits, veggies or meat.  *shiver*  So frozen food it was.  :)

And we were thankful.  :D    I was thankful my kitchen was clean, oh so very clean.  I was thankful I didn’t spend hours cooking.  It was nice and low-key.  This way I can gear up for a lovely Christmas meal now.

Friday…SeaWorld.  We got there late, after lunch, so as to enjoy the after-dark festivities.  The kids really enjoyed the ice skating show.  S’s facial expressions were something to behold.  I think I enjoyed watching her more.  The weather was incredible – just perfect for walking around a park like that.

Did you do anything un-Thanksgiving-like during Thanksgiving?  Like eat frozen pizza?  :)

Five years old.  The big five.  A handful.  S is our beautiful and amazing surprise from Heaven born on Thanksgiving Day.  We call her our Turkey Baby, but she quite offended by that the other day and cried.  She didn’t know what we meant.  Ha!

She is drama, she is joy, she is our social butterfly.  She can be very discerning, she is very artistic, she loves to dance.  She wants to learn piano, she loves to hear the “God songs” in the car and sing them as loud as she can.  She wears the craziest outfits you have ever seen and wears them proudly, then changes into something else 30 minutes later.  (Laundry is the bane of my existence, currently.)

She loves to be on stage.  Yesterday at her preschool’s Thanksgiving program, she boldly waved to us and yelled “Hi, Daddy!” then primped and posed between songs.  She was dressed as a little Indian Princess

Today, we will be making a Unicorn Cake (her choice, I have NO idea where the idea came from) and having pancakes for her birthday dinner (can we say sugar overload) and having dear friends over for the dinner and party.  Then tomorrow, we buck Thanksgiving tradition and head to a theme park to celebrate her birthday.

A little wild, a little crazy….just like our beautiful S!

G:  Daddy, what’s your favorite word?

Daddy:  (not wanting to play favorites, of course)  Mommy, G, and S

G:  Mommy, what’s your favorite word?

Mommy:  (following Daddy’s example)  Daddy, G, and S

G:  Daddy, what’s your favorite word?

Daddy:  (same answer)

G:  Mommy, what’s your favorite?

Mommy:  (same answer)

G:  S, what’s your favorite word?

S:  God.

There you have it.  Totally shown up in the wisdom department by a three-year-old.  Imagine the silence in the car as Chris and I just stared at each other.

Think on it this Resurrection Sunday.  Love to all.

On the first evening of Daylight Savings Time.

The bane of parents of young children trying to get them in bed on time, an hour earlier.  Sigh.

S went down beautifully.

G not so much.  In fact, it is 9pm and we just had the following conversation:

G:  Mommy, I’m scared

Me:  Ok, go to bed, talk to God about it.  He’ll help you not be scared.

(a few minutes later he comes out again)

G:  Mommy, God told me that S is asleep.

Me:  He did, huh?

G:  Yes.

Me:  Did He also tell you not to be scared?

G:  Yes.

Me:  Did God tell you there were no monsters?

G:  no…

(a minute later…)

g:  Mommy, God said I could read more books…

(this is a classic delay tactic to avoid going to bed, but I had to give him credit for creativity, it made me laugh out loud)

(another few minutes later)

G:  Mommy!  I love Jesus!

(I couldn’t help but grin.)

(a few minutes before that…)

G:  Mommy, God said he’s holding on, and letting go…

(I’m not sure of the meaning of that one, but it means something to G I guess)

G:  Mommy, Jesus loves Winnie the Pooh

(Now, he’s really pushing the limits, but it sure still is cute)

G:  Mommy, Jesus wants to play the computer with me, he doesn’t want to go to bed

Me:  G, God wants you to go to bed.

G:  God didn’t say that.

Me:  Well who do you think put me in charge?

Never a dull moment…

Both my children are monkeys. They climb everything with ease.

I was walking leisurely along with the Hunt-ster by my side and I turned back to see where the rest of the fam was in catching up to me.  S was standing with her foot poised over what I thought was just a very large leaf.

VERY.  Large.  Leaf.

She kept insisting she was going to squish it and I couldn’t imagine why she would want to squish a leaf, but hey, she’s two.  That’s quite an imagination she has going on there.

C-r-u-n-c-h.

That was no leaf.  Look at the bug in the below picture – this was the one just like it that was encountered on our way back home.  Just like it – only HALF the size.  Yes, the bug S squished so gruesomely was DOUBLE the size of this one.

HUGE.

I’ll spare you the neon-colored details of its insides.

Mutant grasshopper

We play, we swing, we lounge in the humidity of an average afternoon here in the South, then venture on home.

We encountered not small spiders, oh nooooo….because mutant insects are the theme of the day ’round these parts.

Monster spider - he was actually twirling a bug into its web-by casket. This was on the bridge over to the park.

Not overly mutant...but interesting none-the-less. Kids enjoyed it.

We were all exhausted upon arriving home.  But none more so than Huntley.  He literally laid with his face in the water bowl.

Lazy drinker

• I made chicken stock last week and put it in a juice pitcher until I could get freezer containers of the proportions that I wanted.  I should’ve guessed that S would think it was really juice.  She demanded some.  After awhile, I complied, with an evil grin on my face.  G wanted some, too.  I gave G his cup and he promptly made a face and didn’t finish it.  S gulped hers down and asked for more. I am not kidding.
• S disobeyed me several times in a row and per my promise I had to discipline her.  I sat her on the couch and asked if she wanted a spanking or time out.  She thinks for a minute, looks at me with a cute grin, and says, “Lollipop?”  I couldn’t stop laughing long enough to discipline her at all!
• This morning, Chris was sleeping on the couch because S crawled into bed with me.  He awoke to G getting out his VSmile game (video game console for preschoolers) which we had told him several times was broken and not to get out.  Chris snuck up on G and when G turned around his jaw dropped open.  He quickly recovered and said, “Daddy, go back to sleep now.  It’s ok, go back to sleep.”
• And just some cuteness…S loves having her hair brushed.  She’ll even fall asleep in my lap while I brush her hair.  But if I stop, she wakes up and makes me keep going, then she goes back to sleep again.  It’s a few minutes before she’s sound asleep and I can stop.  I love those moments.