Happy Thanksgiving!

Collin and Evan with our homemade Turkey headgear.

Wishing all of you a Thanksgiving filled with God's richest blessings.

The "Ballerina Machine."

The controls which operate the Ballerina Machine and the keys to unlock said controls.
Evan entering the Ballerina Machine
Almost made it in
Evan is now inside the Ballerina Machine
Exiting the Ballerina Machine
Locking up the Ballerina Machine "so strangers don't get inside."

As the weather continues to cool down and the days grow shorter, we find ourselves spending more and more time indoors. The boys used their imaginations and concocted "The Ballerina Machine." They created their machine by pushing together their Thomas the Train playhouse, their toolbench, their picnic table, a set of baby keys and one of Cami's toys. After all these items are pushed together, one must turn the machine on and maneuver through the various segments. I needed to know the purpose of this machine, so Evan and I had the following conversation:

Me: "What's this?"
Evan: "My Ballerina Machine."
Me: "What do you do with the machine?"
Evan: "You go through it."
Me: "And when you come out, have you been turned into a ballerina?"
Evan: "No, Mom. We go through it because it's fun." (Duh!)

I'm not sure where this idea came from. The only thing I can think of is that the boys view ballerinas as the antithesis of masculinity (my apologizes to any male ballet dancers reading this), so a boy going through a ballerina machine is the silliest thing on earth. In fact, this is so much fun, the Ballerina Machine is assembled on a daily basis.

With creative juices like theirs, you can see why I have to cover an abundance of gray hair.

Check It Out!

If you're in charge of preparing the cuisine in your family, you HAVE to check out this website:


www.crockpot365.blogspot.com


I don't know about you, but with three busy little people, anything that can go in a slow cooker is a sure hit with me. The lady who blogs on this site has all kinds of recipes for slow cookers, a cookbook you can order (might have to do that) and she's got a great sense of humor to boot.

Typical Household Happenings

Halloween. It was impossible to get all three kids to look at the camera. This was the best we could do. Collin's eyes were closed.
Cami's in the process of potty training. I put a potty chair in the middle of the living room floor. Collin decided she needed some privacy, so he built a wall out of cushions. The picture turned out blurry, but given the sensitive nature of the photo, that's probably for the best.
Modest? Me? Nah!
Who says you can't wear your swimming suit as a ski mask?

Pretty in Pink

If you happen to have noticed, most planned pictures of our children are taken with the kids posed in front of the fireplace. We're not very creative when it comes to photography. Cami was given this adorable coat and I wanted some photos of her in it before she gets too big to wear the coat. Craig was going to shoot the usual in-front-of-the-fireplace photo when I suggested he take her outside. I think the pictures turned out beautifully, so I hope you don't mind me showing off our little lady in pink.

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch . . .

Painting the pumpkins
The whole gang on a hayride.
Cowgirl Cami

While Craig and I were enjoying our break in Lanesboro (see previous posts), Grandma and Grandpa K took the kids to the I.A.G.'s (International Adoption Group) annual fall party. This year, one of the I.A.G. families hosted the event on their farm. The kids got to paint pumpkins, ride ponies and take a little hayride. Grandma and Grandpa reported that everyone had a good time. The photos are courtesy of our wonderful, thoughtful, friend Jeanne H.