Thanksgiving

It's been 4 years since we celebrated a proper Thanksgiving in America, so this was a very exciting, and educational, time of the year!

The kids only know Thanksgiving as a time to make paper turkeys, hear a very watered down version of the story (can't tell the whole truth to my British friends!), and eat chicken. Yes, chicken! Turkeys are for Christmas in England! Anyway, this was my chance to tell the whole story. But, I didn't have to...school had it all under control!

The week before Thanksgiving, the boys indulged in a Thanksgiving feast at school. Aiden got to go in early for lunch and I heard all about the turkey and fixings when they got home. The best part was that Jacob, as a second grader, got to dress up as a Pilgrim - Captain Myles Standish to be exact! They studied the Mayflower the whole week and, on the day after the feast, I boarded the Mayflower to hear all about it. It was very cute! Check out the video below.

We kept the tradition of making turkeys and saying what we were thankful for. Jacob: his cousins (he also wrote food, cause without it we'd die!). Aiden: Georgie (his stuffed monkey). Jeb: blankie. Pretty simple stuff. Was kind of wishing to see 'mommy' on one of those thankful feathers, but I'm going say that that was a given...hopefully.

The actual day was spent at the Blauwkamps. I don't think I've ever seen my mom so happy to have us all around the table once again. I'd have to agree. I've got a lot of things to be thankful for. My thoughts always tend to go back to 2008, when we brought Jeb home from the hospital on Thanksgiving. We were so thankful to have him healthy again. Things have changed, but health is still something I'm thankful for, along with all the crazy stuff that having three boys brings! Yep, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

p.s. It's "I have fiery red hair and a temper to match."

A Little One on One

And I'm not talking basketball here. I'm talking one child, one parent. This, however, doesn't happen too much and we have suddenly realized it.

Lately, in the midst of running around, bringing one boy here or another boy there, we've lost the basic communication skills that lie outside of "Did you do your homework?" or "Have you made your bed?" Jeb seems to get the most one on one time, but to be honest, most times he's being carried around in the same fashion as my purse. We just need to get the errands before school pick-up, so off we go! Sounds fun for a 3 year old doesn't it?

So, we drew a line in the sand and established "Breakfast Saturdays" for the older boys. And, Jeb has experienced his first library storytime with mommy. Sadly, Jacob was about 3 months old for his first storytime. Sorry Jebbers...I'm trying!

Anyway, last week was Aiden's turn to go out to breakfast and he chose mommy. I didn't realize how exciting this would be for him until I heard knocking on my bathroom wall (from his bed) at 6:45 in the morning! I went in his room to find him fully dressed and ready to go. Ok, this is going to be an early breakfast! Off we went 15 minutes later and we slid into our booth by 7:10. I ordered myself a coffee and Aiden a chocolate milk - every kids favorite. Except Aiden looked at me and said, "mommy, I don't like chocolate milk, remember?" Oops, I guess the one on one time is good for me too.

And the following day, I took Jacob to the park. We haven't done it in ages. He was trying to race himself on the monkey bars and I was supposed to be timing him. I looked down at my watch and then up at him and everything seemed to stand still. The fall colors were behind him as he moved along the bars smiling. And then I realized he wasn't so little anymore and I'm just not sure where that time has gone to. Sounds cliche, doesn't it? Not to worry, my sappy moment was soon brought to an end when he was yelling at me, clearly annoyed that I wasn't timing him.

Here's to one on one time. Bring on the waffles, story books, and monkey bars - it's all we need to make some great memories.

Halloween!

It's been about three years since we have really celebrated Halloween, so we tried to really do it up this year! First, came the explanation of what trick or treating was. Aiden, as always, had an abundance of questions leading to the ultimate question of 'why do you trick or treat?' And the final answer of, 'to get candy.' His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he realized the simplicity of trick or treating - free candy if you ask.

The festivities began the Friday before with a Halloween Parade at school. The weather was nice, so the kids were allowed to walk around the neighborhood. Who should lead the parade, but the child who has never trick or treated before - Aiden (aka Darth Vader). He was all smiles. Jacob was pretty pumped about it too. It was a great sight to see and I got the warm fuzzies of being back home to celebrate this event.

Saturday was designated the day to carve the pumpkins, but before diving into that project, we did a trial run of trick or treating. Downtown Elmhurst was opening up the businesses for trick or treating and I think the whole town came down. It was a bit crazy. The boys went from store to store collecting their loot and at one point I couldn't get in with them, so I waited outside. Big mistake. Suddenly, a 7 year old vampire was at my side with a member of the Lightning McQueen pit crew. Through tightly gripped plastic teeth, Jacob looked at me and scolded me - "You must hold Jeb's hand!" Could it be that I just got yelled at by a 7 year old? No, I must have heard wrong. On to the next store. This time the little vampire took both Tom and I aside and gave a little lecture of holding Jeb's hand at all times. Yes, just when you think you've got it all figured out as a parent, your kid tells you you're doing it all wrong.

We made it home without losing McQueen (phew!) and got out the pumpkins. No one wanted to use the templates, so Tom and I listened intently to our junior pumpkin designers and carved to our hearts content. Jacob insisted on doing his own and, thanks to the kiddie knife from Pampered Chef, we didn't lose any fingers.

Sunday was the designated day to trick or treat by the city of Elmhurst. And it all started at 3:30. A scary vampire, Darth Vader, and a Lightning McQueen Pit Crew memberall took off with daddy to join the neighborhood entourage of dads and kids begging for candy. The kids came back loaded down with goodies and very excited! We had dinner with some friends and took off soon after finding Jeb trying to take a nap on the stairs. The day had taken it's toll, but it was so exciting.

The candy count? 110 peices on average per boy. We all know 25% goes to mom and dad...or is it 50%? Happy Halloween!!

Halloween Parade

Ready for candy in their cool costumes

Off to trick or treat

It's time to go home when you find your kid napping on the stairs

The loot