Can Turkeys get Bronchitis??

Life during the holiday season can become so hectic that I feel like we celebrate the day and  move on. This year is no different. We flew through Halloween, I mean I was making C's costume the morning of his schools vocabulary parade! As Thanksgiving was fast approaching I realized that the kids have no idea why we celebrate Thanksgiving day at all. So what does one do when they want to teach their 5 and 2 year old the meaning of Thanksgiving...go to Amazon, Pinterest and Target of course!

I found so many cute ideas and books that were simple enough lil C would take something away from it and yet interesting enough to catch big C's attention. This is a huge problem with several things right now.

I found this book when searching on Amazon. Michelle Medlock Adams writes a whole series of board books that explain holidays to little ones with from a biblical perspective. Lil C loves it and we have read it every night since she opened it.

                                           

Big C is reading now so I wanted a "chapter book". I struggled to find a level one reader but I think this one will last us a few years! He has read most of it a little at a time each night this week. And I was so impressed at how much he already knew as we read. Apparently he is learning at school :)

 

 

I found this really cute worksheet on Pinterest.

 

 

I have been working on colors pretty hard core with lil C lately so she really had fun with this...and I'm sure she ate a few along the way!

 

I'm really not sure who had more fun with this Little People set, me or the kids. I may have played with it more than they did! I also got a great deal on it so that's a bonus.

                                         

                                                        

Clayton's class invited parents to school to see the cutest play ever!! My little man played the pilgrim minister in search of freedom. After the play we helped the class make a special snack of cute little turkeys.

          

                                           

                                           

Thanksgiving dinner would not be complete without handprint placemats!

And unfortunately that's where our Thanksgiving celebration week ended. The kids and I went down to South Georgia to celebrate with my in laws but the Friday before Thanksgiving Clayton started feeling bad. By the time Thanksgiving came around the whole family, North and South Georgia, were horribly sick with some type of respiratory infection. Fever, chills, coughing, nausea etc. I took one bite of Turkey and went back to bed :( Hopefully December holds much better health!   

I am Thankful for

J went back to Kuwait on October 30th leaving us roughly 4 months until he is home for the "good". My kids respond very well to knowing what is going on and how long until the next step. Clayton is obsessed with calendars...I have no idea who that came from. I love countdowns too and wanted a fun way to help the months pass but also be engaged in the time and not counting our days away.

For November doing a Thankful themed count down was a given. I made 30 leaves with my Cricut and each night we write what we are Thankful for and tape it to the cabinet. I'm going to add each day and update this post as we go along.

 

 

 

        

Which goal is our's again?

This "deployment" is going by at a snails pace and I am dragging right along with it. I am so used to being the busy commanders wife and on every board I could get myself on, that small town/civilian life was killing me...so I filled up the calendar!

 

The Y is like our second home and I love the staff and families there so I was super excited that Clayton wanted to play soccer there. He played on a really cute little team and had a blast! He loved the coach and made fast friends with his teammates.

Coach Mike and team Thunder

 

End of game high fives-all just friends in the end

 

The Y really pushes that at this age it is all about having fun and learning the skills of the sport along with listening and team building skills. There wasn't a goalie and they didn't keep score and while I don't always like that mentality in life it was ok for this league.

 

I will be the first to say I'm not planning college applications based on a soccer scholarship! Clayton "played" more than he played soccer but he enjoyed the team and learning and can't wait to move on to a new sport.

Sissy was at every game cheering on the "kids" with her Thunder shirt.

 

End of the year party- Getting his first trophy ever!!

Having pizza with his "girl" friend Ava. They go to school together too and are super cute together :)

 

Next up is basketball season. While Clayton may be in the 5th percentile in height he is going to rock that court...maybe

Charlotte Grace turns 5 I mean 6 months old!

In good Danielle fashion I am roughly a month behind! Oops...The whole family had been really sick over the last month. Flu/pink eye/bronchitis/stomach flu sick FOR A WHOLE MONTH!! So there that is my excuse for not blogging for the month including missing Charlotte's 5 month update.

5 month birthday

6 month birthday

When we left off she had just turned 4 months now she is 6 months and the sweetest, cutest and fun baby ever (besides Clayton of course)


Her schedule is pretty much the same except moved up and hour and she goes to bed a little later (otherwise she would never see her dad!)
6-wake up 6 oz
9- 6 oz & solids
12- 6 oz
3- 6oz & solids
6- 6oz
8 bedtime

She is now eating solids! I love this stage, it is so fun finding out what they like and don't like. So far green beans are her only not like. She has tried: sweet potatoes, squash, peas, avocado, pears, peaches, apples, bananas, green beans, barley, rice, oatmeal. Usually at a meal she has 1-2 tbls of a fruit and veggie and 2-3 tbls of a grain. I make her food, which is actually really fun so her food is portioned out into 2 tbls ice cube type blocks and it is super easy to keep up with what she needs to eat. She is super interested in our food and when we eat but it makes more sense for her to eat when we are not so at dinner she gets a small snack..biter biscuit or some puffs to keep her occupied and give practice with grasping.

 She is 90% still sleeping through the night and taking roughly 3 naps day. Because she has been so sick and will cough her self awake her sleep and naps are a little off but now that she is better she is getting back into her schedule very quickly...thank goodness!!

She is still loving her Jumperoo and slowly getting tired of her bouncy seat and swing :( She loves people mostly men and kids Clayton's age.

She is becoming quite attached to me and that makes things pretty hard but she is so sweet and lovey I have  hard time not picking her up when she cries.

She is wearing 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers. At her 4.5 month checkup she was 15 lbs and 23 inches, so in the 5th percentile for height and 25 percentile for weight...short and stout...are you singing the teapot song because I am?! As far as shoes goes she is still in newborn sizes...so tiny

She can finally roll from front to back and getting so close to rolling back to front. She can sit for  few minutes without support. She can grab anything and does! And it goes straight in her mouth every time...speaking of mouth I am pretty sure a tooth is on the horizon!

 Sitting on the couch alone

 Holding her bottle

 Always chewing on her fingers

 She can sit in highchairs and shopping carts now!

Look at those tiny feet and not so tiny legs!!

 Playing hide and seek with Clayton he was in the tunnel peeking out at her :)

Pretty princess!

She has a Dr. appointment on November 18 and I can't wait to see her growth.