Away we go!

This will be our last trip of the year, and boy are we excited! No, not because it's the last, but because we are heading to New York City! My sister and her family live in Manhattan. That's five kids and two parents in a three bedroom apartment. It's a close-knit family!

Hannah's closest cousin is Mary, who is the middle child. They have been very close through the years. (If I had more time and patience, I'd put a cute baby picture of them together--they are 8 months apart. But since I haven't really packed yet...and we have to be out the door before 8a.m., I'm opting for sleep instead of hunting and scanning!)

Mary is a ballerina. Last spring Hannah and I went to NYC to see Mary in a production of The Sleeping Beauty. Here they are after the ballet:


Now Mary is performing in The Nutcracker--we are SO excited to see the ballet, and all the cousins! Hannah is so proud of Mary, she always calls her "My Best Cousin". I'm sure when we return we'll have lots to share.

Camping out

After a disappointing Cowboys football game, Hannah retreated upstairs. She decided to go "camping".


She said, "I'm an old sad sick lady."


Then she ate some Halloween candy (I knew it would become relevant again!), and suddenly, "I'm not an old sad sick lady anymore! It's just me, Hannah! Candy made me young again!"

Photos by Hannah

Hannah's friend Elisabeth came over for a sleepover last night. They had lots of fun playing American Girl dolls and Webkinz. Later they watched "Annie" on DVD. That kept them up late enough that when the finally got to bed, they both conked out right away. They didn't even wake up until 9:30 this morning! Now that's my kind of sleepover!

Hannah took some pictures of the evening.















This morning I heard some giggling. Upon investigation, I found that Hannah discovered the confiscated Halloween candy (I shoulda thrown it out!). She filled her mini-claw machine with the candy and dumped out her piggy bank. They weren't even planning on eating any of the candy, they were just practicing their "claw skills"!

Elisabeth is so much fun--we can't wait until she can come again!

The Narrator

All morning long Hannah spoke in narrative.

Some samples:

Mom: "Nan, it's time to get dressed."
H: "'Okay, Mom', said Hannah."

(clothes are now on, time for hair brushing)

Mom: "Meet me in the bathroom for your hair."
H: "'I'll be there in a minute', replied Hannah politely."

(brushing out tangles)

H: "'Ouch!' cried Hannah unhappily."

(going downstairs, the dogs following her, each one passing her on their way down)

H: (in a dog voice) "'Step aside, Hannah,' cried Hazel. 'Thank you, Hannah,' said Bunsen."

"'You're Welcome.' replied Hannah."

The Advent Conspiracy

Consider giving water this year.

He did it!

Chris just received his acceptance letter to The College of William and Mary!



We are very excited for him!

The funny thing is that this afternoon I was in Williamsburg and I bought a W&M T-shirt to have ready for him--being the positive thinker that I am (sorta). Perfect timing! He hadn't checked the mailbox, so Hannah brought in the good news. William and Mary was his first choice school. He is planning on majoring in Biology and/or Chemistry and wants to go on to medical school.

Whew! Another kid ready launch! He has been a good student, and we're proud of him!

I have to say, getting a college acceptance letter is really really fun, especially for homeschooling moms. Besides SAT scores, it is pretty much the only job feedback there is! Twelve years is a long time to work at something and never get a review or report card!

Tagged or not, I'm it!

Since my brain is still recovering from the exceptional food intake over the past few days, I am stealing an idea I saw on another blog. It was a "Tag! You're It" kind of thing. The task was to look at the fourth picture in the fourth picture file on the computer, and write about it (or something close to that, I think...). If you've got a blog, do a show and tell too, and leave me a comment so I can come and see what secrets your fourth file shows!

So here it is:

This picture was taken on New Year's Day 2006. We were in the Atlanta airport, waiting to fly to Tampa. For Christmas that year, I got my first digital camera. It was Katie's last year at home, and we wanted to do something fun together as a family, so we went on a cruise to Cozumel and Grand Cayman (and probably somewhere else too, but I've forgotten). I had already taken a nice picture of these two patient kids, so, as usual, Hannah wanted to make silly faces.

We had a great time on the cruise. Hannah went on a submarine ride, and the older kids took their first scuba lesson. We snorkeled, danced, played games, ate well (except for the last couple of days...rough seas. Eww.), and had fun!

Wow! Chris has grown so much in three years! What a young 15 year old he was! Hard to believe that two weeks after this picture was taken he started his first semester at the community college! That's kinda crazy, don't you think?

Here's the picture I took just before the one above:


On another Chris note, I am so HAPPY to be able to say that he is currently PAIN-FREE for the first time in nine months! He's been going to a chiropractor three times a week for the past month. His residual back pain from the fractures is gone, and he's working on gentle exercises to gain more range of motion. We are so thankful for this blessing!

I hope you all have had blessings that have made your Thanksgiving holiday wonderful!