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It’s been a good, long week off school.  We’ve stayed up late together and watched more movies and eaten more popcorn than I could have thought possible.  And the weather has finally turned colder, just in time for us all to head back to work and school on Monday.  Brad surprised us all by deciding we need a new Christmas tree this year, so we spent yesterday getting out our holiday decorations and trimming the tree.   Today Brad rallied the kids to help with some outside work so we can hang the lights before the weekend comes to a close.

Wednesday was the one-year anniversary of Will’s Gotcha-Day.  As I put Will to bed Tuesday night, I gave him extra snuggles and felt thankful that a whole year has passed since Will had to wake up “alone” in a room full of babies.  It’s amazing to look at where he is right now & how he has grown from the infant-like child he was a year ago.  In some ways he still has miles to go — but it’s nothing compared to how far we have come already.  I really did anticipate a meaningful day full of celebration & hugs, but it turned out that Will refused to nap, didn’t want to eat, and was naughty most of the afternoon & evening.  Isn’t that the way it goes?  Oh well.

Thanksgiving was quiet & relaxing.  It was just us & Brad’s mom.  The big kids spent the morning with her for some quality “Mimi time” and so I could make dinner & clean up the house a bit.  She brought them home around 2.  We ate, watched football, and just enjoyed being a family — oh, and watched another movie!

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All aboard the Polar Express!

It was really snowing (I should have brought a hairbrush & lint roller to use before our Santa photo!)

Hold on!

Only Jack remembered what he wanted to ask Santa to bring.  Margaret got stage fright.  Will was just trying not to cry

Back from the North Pole for some pizza – yum!

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We are taking a “non-vacation” vacation this week.  We’re not going anywhere, but the kids and I (and Brad when he’s not at work) are picking something fun to do each day to celebrate our Forever Family week and make the most out of the kids’ week off school.  This is a tradition I could get used to

Today after speech the kids and I loaded some snacks into the backpack and headed to the zoo.  It was a beautiful, sunny, autumn day with a perfect temperature in the mid-60’s.  We love, love, love our zoo membership & have gotten way more than our money’s worth out of it already. We were thrilled to see the handlers training the elephant, which was so cool!!!  We also got an excellent view of the tiger, who was making scary noises we could hear 1/2-way across the zoo — he was so loud, Jack was a little nervous about even approaching the exhibit! And finally, our favorite animals, the otters, were diving in the stream, rolling on the rocks, and putting on a great show for us.  The best part was that the zoo was nearly empty, so we didn’t have to “share” the exhibits with anyone the whole time we were there. 

So in spite of Jack insisting on walking 10 feet behind me, Will running 30 feet ahead of me, and Margaret sticking so close I couldn’t help tripping over her (aaahhh, to be a mom of 3 wonderful children who never fail head in 3 different directions all at once) it was an absolutely wonderful day!

Watching the elephant “perform” for us ———-A priceless picture of my 3 angels

Will beating the baby elephant with sticks (argh!) ————What’s this strange animal?

A sweet little spider

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 .  . . Three Little Cuties!   Will had fun at his preschool thanksgiving party.  The whole class dressed up in Native American outfits that they made themselves.  I decided to just stay in my own class, since we have learned through experience that it is just too hard for Will to say goodbye again after I pop in for a quick visit.  We did pass in the hall, and I handed my camera over to the Will’s teacher who snapped some cute shots of the party for me.

This week isn’t just special for our family because of Thanksgiving — it’s also the one-year anniversary of Will’s Gotcha Day.  I can hardly believe that last year on this day Brad and I were climbing the Great Wall of China, fumbling through our meals with chopsticks, and watching Chinese acrobats hurtle across the stage in Beijing.  We were still technically a family of four – and Will had no idea how much his life was going to change in such a short time.

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Jack competed in his youth league Superbowl this weekend.  It was such a HUGE deal for the boys to go into this championship undefeated.  The Truth has played great all season & these guys have improved so much as a team.  We are enormously happy with his coaches & with Jack’s personal growth as a player.  Unfortunately, The Truth got out played this time.  The opposing team took control in the first quarter, and our boys just couldn’t get it back through the duration of the game.  Our team fought hard, but just couldn’t pull off a win this time. 

After the game, Coach Deion went around to every boy on the team.  He made it a point to look Jack in the eye & tell Jack he was proud of him and glad to be his coach.  Although he is not the head coach, we have found Deion to be a strong and compassionate Christian leader.  Jack is so blessed to have had the opportunity to learn from one of the greatest professional athletes of our time.  We are also extremely thankful for the the head coach, Paul, and his family.  Coach Paul and all of the coaches this year have been so great about encouraging the boys to play hard, fight fair, and live right – both on and off the field.  There is nothing more we could ask for.

Waiting for the coin toss

Jack’s #1 fan, even when it’s freezing out!

Way to to “Jack be Nimble”

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