The Black Friday Tradition Lives On

Shawn & I have gone Black Friday shopping together ever since the first year we started dating. It started because of all the sales and free-after-rebate deals when we were trying to stretch our resources in college. Now the sales aren't so great, but it's become tradition to shop. We use this time together to buy our Christmas presents, particularly for the kiddos. We rarely get time to shop anymore!

Our babysitter arrived at 7:30 am - she had been out at midnight the night before, so I'm sure she was probably sleepy. Shawn had gone out an hour earlier by himself to grab us a Christmas tree since our old pre-lit one no longer 'lit' after a decade of use. He also did some online shopping the previous night to grab some of the deals that we were NOT in the mood to stand in line for. While it took hours to check out at Toys R Us, it's easier to wait at home online than in a store with or without kiddos.

Mamaw agreed to watch Ryan for us, so it was truly a date! It's been forever since we've gone out just the two of us, and we loved every moment of it! Our first stop was Five Below. They had the Toy Story Operation Game the cheapest of any store. We also got a snowman making kit, a ball for Ryan, and a few other items for the boys' stockings. We felt good about our purchases there. Then we headed to AC Moore, who didn't have anything we were looking for. We pressed on to the mall. We didn't buy much, but we looked around in many of the stores. We had a $10 off coupon on any item $10 or more, and I needed some more underpants for the Bean. They were exactly $10, so we got them free! Hot deal!

We swung by Ollie's for a couple little things they had on sale before heading back to Mamaw's to get my little Schnook just before 11 am. He was ready to eat his lunch! We went home, where Miranda was already feeding our little guys their lunch. I was surprised, but also pleased. She's great! I paid her and took her home. Then we went as a family to Walmart. Unlike previous years, most of their Black Friday deals were already sold out. But, we didn't really care. The kiddos were ready for their naps at this point anyway.

Here's a picture of Joshua looking at the fish while Ryan looked at him. Caleb was with Daddy going potty. That night, we were SO tired from a long day of running. So, Shawn suggested we eat at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. He had a coupon that gave us 40% off, so I agreed that a cheeseburger didn't sound bad. The kids LOVE to crack the peanut shells. But, they don't like the peanuts inside. I told Shawn that we were a great match - SWEET! No work and peanuts to eat! Haaa!!! Everyone ate well and we headed home. It was a fun Friday! I love any day that Shawn has off work. :) :) :)

Saying 'Grace' - Blessing & Thanks!

Thanksgiving was a wonderful day this year. That morning, my sister Jen called and asked me to go to the gym with her. I said YES! It was a beautiful day, and I was planning on going for a run. But checking out a jazzercise/zumba/shazam class sounded like even more fun! I raced to her house and we were off to Universal. The class was GREAT! I wish we could afford a gym membership where the kids could go play in the kid-mazium while we exercised. Since it was a special class for a special day, there were multiple instructors and most of it was dance-oriented. SO fun! The room was packed, but there was still enough space to move. At the end, they had raffle prizes, and I won one! :) :) :) It was a great morning!

When I got home, I raced to make the sweet potato casserole. While it baked, I fed Ryan and got a quick shower and we raced out the door to go to Jen's for lunch. I was SO blessed not to be hosting this year. While I've hosted in the past at times, it is a TON of work. It was so nice to go to someone else's house. Her kiddos had made personalized place mats for us the day before. We feasted on turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, salad, dinner rolls and pumpkin pie. It was all very good.

Ryan got fussy while we were there, so we ended up leaving so that the boys could nap. Then Shawn & I talked about the logistics of going to Nonie & Poppy's house, and we agreed that it made sense for me to stay home with the baby since he was already fussy (his tooth popped through over the weekend). Much to my surprise, Shawn had also recorded the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade that morning while I was out. So, as I was cleaning up the house and holding the baby, I watched some of it in the background. While I missed the turkey at dinnertime, I had leftover salad when I got hungry. And when the boys came home that night, I was so glad to see everyone! We watched the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving specials together before putting them to bed.

It was a really nice day! I'm thankful for so many things - for God the Father, Son & Holy Spirit; for my incredible husband; for our amazing boys; for our extended family; for our health; for our stuff; and for our abundant blessings. Happy Thanksgiving!

A Feast Before Thanksgiving

 

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Mamaw watched Ryan (thanks!) so I could go to the preschool to help Joshua's class. I love being able to see him in action, and I also enjoy that he likes when I come to school with him. So far, I haven't become "uncool" to have around. We dropped Caleb off at his room first, and his class was making stone soup and pumpkin cookies. Each parent volunteered to bring in the ingredients to help. After he was in his class, Joshua & I walked to his room. I sat at a table and asked students to fill in the blank about the first Thanksgiving. Many of the kiddos said that the Indians taught the Pilgrims how to play. So cute! Most of them, though, knew that the Pilgrims came to America on a ship and were taught how to plant food. Many said "plant corn" including Joshua. When asked what he was thankful for, Joshua said "YOU, Mommy!" So sweet!

Then at the same table, we played a turkey game where children would roll dice and move their turkeys up a board to a finish line. I would say several didn't know how to move their pieces or count the numbers on the dice - I could tell they hadn't played games. Our kids LOVE playing games. :) :) :)

Then I helped set up the feast, which included roasted chicken, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, grapes, juice, and green beans. I couldn't believe how much kids ate! Joshua just ate the grapes, from what I remember. Silly Bean! While setting up, I listened to the "normal" activities of the day - how they sang songs, did their share bag, talked about the date and weather, and how the teacher taught them. I was highly impressed with all the teacher got done in this short amount of time. Mine was just one of the three stations - when students weren't playing the turkey game, they were doing crafts and writing.

At the end of the day, we split into three stations again to play more turkey games. Joshua said it was fun to have me there. I was tired by the end of it! That's a lot of kiddos and a lot of activity! I'm glad that he gets to enjoy preschool. We have been very blessed by his teacher and her activities. She does a great job with the students, not giving them a moment of free time to get disruptive.

That night as a family, we watched "A Snoodle's Tale," which turned into a little "family dance party." I remember the year before we started dating, Shawn & I danced together on the night before Thanksgiving. That was a VERY different scene. Who would have thought then what our Thanksgiving Eve would look well more than a decade later? In many ways, I appreciate the one we had now more. We love to see the kids sing and dance and enjoy themselves! :) :) :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Psalm 118:1 "Give THANKS to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever!"

Psalm 100:4 "Enter his gates with THANKSGIVING and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name."

 Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God.

1 Chronicles 29:13 "Now, our God, we give you THANKS, and praise your glorious name."

Psalm 7:17 "I will give THANKS to the LORD because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High."

 Psalm 69:30 "I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with THANKSGIVING."

 1 Corinthians 15:57 "But THANKS be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving THANKS to God the Father through him."

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1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Be joyful always! Pray continually! Give THANKS in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Revelation 7:12 "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and THANKS and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

Psalm 107:8-9 "Let them give THANKS to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind, for He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things."

Ephesians 5:19b-20 "Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

A Boom Chicka BOOM!

Saturday, November 19, was an AMAZING day! We had a bunch of things on our "to-do" list, but they were things of FUN! We wanted to finish creating our Christmas lists, so we told the boys we were going on an exploration trip to get an idea of what they might want ask for when they write their letters to Santa.

The boys LOVE to explore, and it's fun for us to take them if we tell them in advance that we're not buying anything. Joshua wanted everything in the store, while Caleb doesn't usually fall in love with much but INSISTS on those things when he finds a gem. We have a pretty good idea what 'Santa' will buy both boys this year. And we're not going crazy - we're thinking about the gifts of the Magi and how they brought three things to Jesus. I think that we might try to stick to three things for each boy. The idea of Christmas is that our Savior came to the world to save us from our sins - what a powerful message that gets lost often in the 'gimmies' of the season!

While we were at Toys R Us, Caleb asked Daddy to go potty. When they were washing their hands, a man came in with a FULL white beard. Caleb cried out in excitement, "Santa's here!" Shawn said the guy didn't even so much as crack a smile. We thought it was hilarious, though. I saw the man walking around later, too. Haaaa!!! Kids are SO great!

After we were done at the toy store, we went to the Manheim Township Public Library. I wanted to get a couple books on loose teeth for Joshua to explain that it's okay to have wiggly teeth. When we got there, he found several he wanted to look at and take home with us, including one on astronauts. No loose teeth ones, though! We did come home with an amazing movie called "A Snoodle's Tale" from Veggie Tales. We watched it later in the week as a family. What a powerful message that God made us each special - we were created to give Him glory! So, it truly doesn't matter what others think of us if we know who we are in Christ.

As we were picking out books, Shawn saw that a special story time was about to start for ages 3-6. He volunteered to wheel Ryan around if I wanted to take the boys into it. It was on Thanksgiving. And it was AWESOME!!! Thank you, Shawn, for letting me go in with the little guys. They had a BLAST! I was highly impressed by the librarian who read the books and sang all sorts of songs. It started out with the kids getting a "situpon" to sit-upon. Then they sang the song about it being time for a story. The boys loved it!

The Librarian told the story of the first Thanksgiving, then read a book that was really a song about "one little, two little, three little pilgrims."

She had a felt display for the following song:

My Albuquerque Turkey

(Sung to the tune of Clementine)

 He's my Albuquerque turkey,

And he's feathered and he's fine,

And he wobbles and he gobbles And he's absolutely mine.

He's the best pet you can get yet

Better than a dog or cat.

He's my Albuquerque turkey,

And I'm awfully glad of that.

And my Albuquerque turkey

 Is so happy in his bed.

 Because for Thanksgiving dinner

We're having Egg Foo Young instead!

She also read the following Jack Prelutsky poem, which was one of my favorite authors when I was little:

Ate Too Much Turkey

By Jack Prelutsky

I ate too much turkey,
I ate too much corn,
I ate too much pudding and pie,
I'm stuffed up with muffins
and much too much stuffin',
I'm probably going to die.
 
I piled up my plate
and I ate and I ate,
but I wish I had known when to stop,
for I'm so crammed with yams,
sauces, gravies, and jams
that my buttons are starting to pop.
 
I'm full of tomatoes
and french fried potatoes,
my stomach is swollen and sore,
but there's still some dessert,
so I guess it won't hurt
if I eat just a little bit more.

She also read a great book (one I may have to get some year - we all loved it!) about "There was an old lady who swallowed (instead of a fly) a PIE, the Thanksgiving pie that was really too dry, perhaps she'll die." The song and book went on and on as the kids laughed, and Joshua would sing along with me.

 

She had hand motions for many of the songs, and then eventually she got out scarves and we followed her in a fun "I said a boom-chicka-boom." The boys thought this was GREAT! Then we did "Shake, shake, shake your shakies out; wiggle, wiggle, wiggle your waggles out; jump, jump, jump your jumpies out!" with little shakers. Again, they were having a blast. It was SO much fun! I was highly impressed by the quality of this free program.

We left the library right before the craft time because Ryan was ready to go. We had lots of books, but none on teeth. Such is life! It was still a GREAT trip! Later that evening, we went to Dutch Wonderland and donated four toys for tots and received four 'free' tickets to the Winter Wonderland. I was so excited! The boys are looking forward to going!

It was SUCH a fun Saturday!

Five Things!

Two weeks before Thanksgiving, in both Caleb's classes, he was asked what he was thankful for. I was genuinely surprised by his response. In both classes he was thankful for 'my baby' or 'baby Ryan.' So sweet! I forgot to take a picture of the one craft, but the other was a little turkey Christmas tree ornament, and his response was written inside. I took a picture of both sides of it because I thought it was precious.

Then as I was rocking and singing with Caleb on a different night before bed, I asked him to name five things things that he was thankful for. I told him it could be anything that he would like to thank God for as we were praising Him together. He responded: "ONE for lollipops, TWO for candy bars, THREE for candy... hmmm... what else is there?"

I asked him "How about for your brothers?" "YES!" "How about for your mommy & daddy?" "YES! That's five! That's what I'm thankful for." Haaaa.... I'm glad he couldn't think of cookies and chocolate, or we would have been off his list. :) :) :)

2011 School Year Pictures

Happy 62-month, Joshua!

I keep asking Joshua how he's gotten so big... how is it that he's turned into such a fine young man already? His response is that he's had so many birthdays! It's true! He's celebrated 62 birthdays (if you go by months). And each and every month, I remember to thank God that Joshua is alive and with us. He is such a blessing! He is truly growing into a great kid. Shawn & I often comment on how obedient he is and how much he helps us. It's incredible to see the transformation that has taken place from a toddler into a boy who I believe is ready for school. He has demonstrated incredible responsibility and learning in just the last year or so! And within the past few weeks, I have seen that he is truly the BIG NUMBER 5!

Shawn has been teaching him to think through things rather than get frustrated (oh, how my Bean has my personality!). Shawn reminds him to stay calm and really think about a problem to come up with a solution. It has been impressive to see Joshua stop in the middle of getting upset and think about how it works and then come up with a better way to attack a situation.

Joshua loves school, and his teacher said to me recently: "Joshua is a great boy with

a wonderful smile. I can tell he likes to learn and enjoys the different activities in the classroom." My Bean does enjoy learning and doing different crafts and activities. I love when he comes home and gives me a play-by-play of what they've accomplished that day. He loves the singing and dancing! He also seems to like the most wild boys the best. The other day, I suggested that he play with a couple different kiddos, whose parents I know. He said, "Mommy, it's okay for you to like who you like, and I can like who I like." I thought about it, and he's right. While I can guide him to make good choices, I also want him to be a light to his friends. And these children may need a light the most. So, I pray for Joshua to be strong and keep his good character and raise up the other boys around him!

Joshua is one of the kindest little boys I have ever met. He is so sweet to baby Ryan. I can never imagine him intentionally hurting another child, even their feelings. When we watched a movie where children were making fun of another kid, he told me that that's not nice. He is so loving and gentle! How I pray that that sweet spirit is protected as he grows!

Joshua is also funny. Daddy was doing something and said "Whew! After this I may need a beer!" Joshua heard him and said "Yes, and I'll get you a mustache with that beard!" Haaaa!!!! You can tell how many beers he's ever seen in his life. So funny! He always provides comic relief to our family. We love him so very much!

He's become quite amazing at the Wii, he's doing better and better with his writing skills, I can tell that his artistic abilities are increasing with his cutting and drawing, and he is able to communicate his ideas more and more. There are times that I say "wow!" to what he knows. He still loves Bible stories and remembers the details of many. How I hope that he'll grow up with a strong relationship with the Lord!

Happy 62-month birthday, Joshua Bean! No matter how old you get, you will always be my baby!

Little Turkeys

On Tuesday, November 15, Joshua's preschool had its Thanksgiving Day Program. The programs were held all week, but the school did three classes at a time, and Joshua's class happened to be scheduled for the same time as my Bible study. It ended up working out well because Caleb & Ryan were both in their classes so I could enjoy Joshua perform with his classmates. Mamaw also came that morning to see him. Here he is entering and giving me five! He was SO excited to see us, I could tell. :)

They said their Bible memory verse (John 3:16) and performed three songs. One of them was the same as last year "Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you?" and there was a new adorable one sung to the same song as we sing grace that went "Thank you, Mom and Dad, thank you, Mom and Dad, for your love, for your love, Mom and Dad for kisses, Mom and Dad for hugs, we love YOU, yes we do!" So sweet!

I loved the little turkey hats and seeing the kids perform. Joshua has a sweet little singing voice, and I love to hear it and watch him in his class. I'm glad that I'm able to go to see him and his activities - it is truly a blessing!

After his performance, all the families were invited downstairs for snacks and to see the classroom. I first went and picked up Ryan and thanked the ladies who took care of him profusely. I had asked the woman in charge if it would be okay to leave the other kiddos in their classrooms for this short performance, and she said that was absolutely fine. I was glad! I was also thankful that Mamaw remembered her camera because in all my business of getting ready that morning, I completely forgot. So, thank you, for these pictures, Mom!

 

After we were done snacking, we took a couple more pictures and then went to get Caleb Luke from his classroom.

We then went to look at the boys' school pictures.

As we were heading out, I took a picture of Mamaw with the older boys (I had already put my little Schnookie in his car seat and stroller combo). Thanks for coming along, Mamaw!

Since Shawn wasn't able to join us that day, I told Joshua he needed to make sure and put on his hat and necklace for Daddy that night and perform his songs. He agreed!

Shawn & I love that the kids sing and dance. What precious gifts they are to us! I wasn't able to see Joshua show Daddy since I taught class that evening, but I'm sure he did a great job, just like he did at preschool. Happy gobble gobble, my little turkey!