This Christmas

We've had a busy December so far and we're not even halfway through with the month!  We got a couple of inches of snow last week, and Silas and Eli enjoyed getting out in it. 

My little marshmallow playing in the melted snow.

Eli was so bundled up he could hardly move.  When I put all of it on him, it took him a couple of seconds to regain his balance.  After this walk, I found out that while they are called snow boots, his shoes aren't necessarily water proof.  He loves splashing in the puddles too much, though! 

We went out and cut down our own Christmas tree.  It was  a little bit taller and a little bit wider than we planned, but I like it.  This was the first year Silas really helped decorate, and Eli just stood there looking at it and bouncing the little ornaments.  Good thing they're shatterproof!

Silas at the Singing Men of Arkansas Christmas Concert, with Aunt Sissy next to him.  I always like going to some sort of live concert around Christmas time.  Last year we saw the U of A's orchestra perform Handel's Messiah.  This year was a men's choir, with accompaniment by a local ballet company.  Silas liked the girls with the golden hair.  He also liked it when the choir did a funny Deck The Halls medley and went into the Lone Ranger theme song.

My grandfather painted these little houses for me over the years for Christmas presents. 

It's just not Christmas til Poppy's houses are lit up.

Chinese Charades

A favorite family game we like to play is Chinese Charades.  It's Chinese Whispers (aka Telephone) and Charades mixed together.  You divide into 2 groups.  One group is sequestered and the other group comes up with an idea to act on in Charades.  The first person of the sequestered team comes in, watches someone from the other group act out the idea, then in turn acts out that charade to the next team member.  And so on and so on, until you come to the last person of the sequestered team, who watches the charade and then has to guess the original idea.  Usually it's way off base.  The last step is that the person that acted it out from the group that came up with the idea performs the charade again so that the whole team can then see how vastly different the original was from the end and guess what the original charade was actually about.  So now you know how to play.

Faith performed our group's idea of killing, plucking, and cleaning a chicken (something she was familiar with, as her daddy had done it 3 times that morning for us; it's not Thanksgiving at the Dennett house until something gets killed and gutted).

Christian's turn performing the charade.

Kiersten using Abi as a prop.

Malachi's turn.

By the time it got to Sophie, the charade was pretty different than the original.

All for our enjoyment.

Eli trying to grab everyone's attention.

My team's turn to act it out.  I had to guess what it was.  I thought it had something to do with some rock concert.  It was actually a charismatic church service. 

Eli taking his turn.

After the adults had a couple of turns, we did an all-children charade.  This is Abi (who needed a little help from her mum).

It was surprising how very well the kids performed.

Malachi giving his fiercest face.

Silas' turn with the fierce face, except he was having too much fun so it didn't quite look as scary.

Silas taking his bow.

Charlotte performing the original charade again, David and Goliath.

Try it at your next holiday party or family gathering.  It always draws laughs.

Thanksgiving

We had a lot of family and friends come in for Thanksgiving, some from Texas, some from Kansas, and some from right up the road.

Thanksgiving day started off slowly.  We got a couple of things started, like the turkey, but then we got to have a relaxing morning.

Our friends from Texas, Faith and Christopher, were good playmates for Silas over the holiday break. They are great kids.

Becky helping me in the kitchen, and the only evidence I have that my mother was there - her left elbow.

Mmmmm...carrots.  These were grilled on the BBQ pit and were tasty.

Acorn squash.  They were in the oven for an hour and a half and they still weren't completely cooked.  Oh, well.

Putting the finishing touches on it all.

Caleb making the gravy and Becky working on that acorn squash.

Eli ran around having a good time.  There were plenty of people to give him all the attention he could want.

All in all there were over 20 people this year.  It was great to see our family and friends and spend some relaxing time together.  I love Thanksgiving.

Messy

"No, Mommy.  Don't show them how messy I am.  Please."

"Fine, then."

An Update

Eli got some new winter boots.  He loves them.  He walks a lot more when he wears them.  It's probably because he can't scoot around on the floor as easily with those huge things on and because he's a little bit more stable than when he's only in socks.  He walks about half the time now.  

Now that his molars are coming in, I let him eat popcorn without first removing all the kernels.  He went to town with it.  His eating habits have changed a lot.  He doesn't like as much stuff anymore and has become a pretty picky eater.  We've had several battles of the will between us and him concerning food and he definitely gets in a huff when he loses.

He's also talking and understanding words a lot more.  He knows where his nose, mouth, and eyes are.  He's saying a lot of words, but not all that clearly.  Today he was definitely referring to the cat, Colin, but it came out more like, "Dodin."  He gets confused with the sign for Thank You and blowing kisses.  So usually when we tell him to say thank you, he starts blowing kisses. 

While he wants to be held a lot, he's not really a cuddler.  He doesn't like people getting near his face, i.e. for kisses.  Silas likes to try to steal kisses from him and he really doesn't like him being in his face.  While he  does cry and whine a pretty good amount, he's also definitely a charmer.  He can turn it on when he wants, but it's at his whim whether he decides to or not.  

Meanwhile, this boy amazes me every single day.  We're now going into our 3rd month of kindergarten and he blows me away with not only how well he does with it, but how enthusiastic about it he is.  He rarely gets tired of schoolwork, even when we've been doing phonics for an hour and a half.  He also is pretty good with math.  More than that, he's very sweet and loving.  When I put him to bed at night, right as I reach the door he always says, "I love you, Mommy.  I'll see you in the morning."  I thought those were supposed to be my lines!

Strange Ones

I'm not sure where they get their quirkiness from.  It's not like it runs in the family or anything.

Oh, wait.  Hmmmm.

Enjoying The Weather

The weather has been so nice lately, we've been going outside a lot to enjoy it.

Christian came across some wild mint in a field while chopping wood.  I picked it and dried a bunch of it.

Eli and I like sitting and playing with rocks together.  He puts them in his mouth and I take them out.

Trying to capture the beautiful day; the sunlight through the trees behind our house.

Just A Swinging

We recently put up a swing for Eli, which Christian's sister let us borrow.

He loves it.

He also loves it when I let him pretend to kick me in the face when he swings my way. 

 I love this boy's giggles.

Falling In Love

Silas came into my bedroom when he woke up this morning and told me, "I had the goodest dream EVER!"  He had this peaceful, happy look on his face.  He said the dream was about love, but he didn't want to tell me what happened in it.  I finally convinced him to tell me, after he got over a little bit of embarrassment.  He said in the dream he met a girl and he fell in love.  I asked him what it was about the girl that he loved, but he couldn't really say.  He could, however, tell me that she had long, straight black hair and blue eyes.  And she was five.  He told me some other parts of the dream, about playing Legos with a boy that was there, and going gorilla hunting with the family.  I asked him if he went gorilla hunting with the girl and he rolled his eyes and said, "Mommy, of course not!  We weren't even married!" 

We talked a little about love and marriage, the difference between liking someone a lot and loving someone enough to commit to them forever.  About marrying someone who also trusts in Jesus.  And he told me not to worry, he still loved me, too.

Throughout the morning I could tell when he was thinking about the dream because he would have a big grin on his face.  He asked me a lot of questions about the girl, like if the girl was real and if he really would get to marry her.  I told him that one day he would grow up and meet a girl that was so much like the girl in his dreams that he would want to marry her and be with her forever.  "But is she real?"  I told him that maybe somewhere that little girl was living her life and waiting for the day that she would grow up and meet him.

When I put him to bed, he told me again that it was the goodest dream ever.  Silas has bad dreams fairly frequently, and I've told him about praying to God and asking Him to take the bad dreams away.  He knew tonight that this good dream was a nice gift from God.  He asked why God would give him such a good dream.  I told him it was because He loves us and wants to give us good things.  It was one of the easiest bedtime routines I've ever had with him.  I think he was hoping he would have another dream like it tonight.

Fayetteville Police

First, a gorgeous picture of my boy on his fifth birthday.

He got this great costume from his aunt and uncle.

Which he wore for the rest of the day (with the appropriate full-mouthed expression).

There we are at lunch, with him wearing his police costume.

And guess what happened? A real police officer drove up next door!

They let him take his picture with them.

And he got to get in the police car!

He also got to meet some firemen (the one he's talking to was born in England).

Awesome birthday moment!