Evalynn was all decked out for her first Thanksgiving. She was a champ at our large family lunch and at Grandma and Papa's afterwards.
Being held and being talked to are two of her favorite things and there was no shortage of those.
Sweet chats with Great Aunt Annette and Great Grandpa Bryce...
Taking a nap with Great Uncle Pat...
Talking to Grandma Num and getting a fresh diaper.
Some days are hard but there is a mileS long list of things to be thankful for in this house and we don't overlook that.
My 6 largest earthly blessings are my stronghold, Mike, and our five beautiful children.
{We can't take a decent picture but they are still my blessings.}
We don't take for granted their health and our ability to homeschool them and to spend our days making memories together.
Thank you, Lord, for all of these and so much more.
Fancy Pants is 3 months old today.
We love her so very much.
This month she has started laughing often and working more on "talking" socially. She has the most expressive eyes and eyebrows.
She could roll over if she cared enough, but she doesn't. Truthfully she likes to be held. A lot. I'm trying to soak it up. It won't be like this forever.
If you give her your time and attention she'll usually smile for you.
Those double chins though. ⇧
She has recognized that mama is her constant and -her wuvs me a whoooole lot-.
She sleeps in the bassinet beside me from about midnight-1 to 7-8 a.m. This long stretch at night means she nurses a lot during the day.
I'm working to find a good routine during the day - so far unsuccessfully. Hoping to get it down better this month.
I limit my dairy, but truthfully I do that as much for me as for her. I have not had to give up any food groups while nursing. I'm so thankful!
A fast quarter of a year, but we can't remember what life was like before you, Evalynn. You are doted upon by all four older siblings and treated like a princess. We all love you very much.
I {DO} feel blessed that little Evie sleeps all night, but do you know what the baby who sleeps all night needs to do allllll day? Eat. Oofta.
Monday morning snuggles...
Monday night milk bath...
We call her the queen because queens take milk baths, right?
Tuesday...
Mia watches me be a mama and then she works at being a little mama, too, all day long. Giving her baby a bath
Monday I woke Ev up to eat and she crabbed at me all day. Tuesday I let her wake up on her own and she was better but the days are still filled with cat naps, frequent feeds, and not wanting put down. She's cheery as long as the focus is on her. Ha.
I finally gave in and held her through a good nap Tuesday so she wouldn't be so grumpy.
Wednesday...
Daddy was home so he held her through her naps. We did get one short nap in her crib and one in the swing.
I love you, Ev, and I'm thankful for a full night's rest. Now to just get these days ironed out.
Some took the week off of school, but not B.L.I.S.S Academy. We were in session but I did try to add in a few fun activities.
Monday -
STEM Challenge: Make a 3D turkey
Xabe's had spurs and a snood.
Preschool...
New glasses for X and M arrived Monday morning!
Mia also has a loose tooth. This was a big week in kindergarten for her!
Tuesday -
STEM Challenges: create a 3D Mayflower (I forgot to take pics)
Build 2D and 3D shapes from cranberries and toothpicks
{PS - cranberries are fun}
I just let the youngest two build anything with the cranberries. Zayden made this super awesome sun! Mia chose to use the cards as inspiration but also built a house!
Natalee reading to sis while Mom taught kindergarten and preschool.
Thanksgiving Science: the science behind baking bread (yeast) and making butter.
First I showed the kids how to proof the yeast and talked to them about it being a living organism. We talked about what yeast likes to feed off of and how it's in our bodies, etc., and Xavier said, "that's why you don't let us have so much sugar, so we don't get too much yeast in our stomachs!" Ta-da! Light bulb. We'll keep talking about this in the coming weeks and what we can do to keep our bodies balanced.
Then we mixed up the dough and everyone got a turn kneading.
While the bread rose we worked on making butter.
{supervisor}
Shaking whipping cream for 15 minutes.
We stopped to inspect it after about 8 minutes and found we'd made whipped cream! 😉
Keep shaking, kids.
We shook it the whole time and made a beautiful little mound of butter. Forgot to take a picture. Oops. I offered to let the children taste the liquid off the butter (whey? buttermilk? I thought it was called whey - went to double check on the internet and google says buttermilk - I'm sure one of you knows!). Mia and Xavier tasted it. A funny for you...
I gave the kids each a bit of dough to make their own little loaf. They LOVED that. I should try harder to get them in the kitchen. Their little loaves rose and they got to eat them with supper with homemade butter smeared all over!
Xavier, Ameliya, Zayden, Natalee
Wednesday -
STEM Challenge: Build a 3D Thanksgiving table (forgot pics again)
The rest of today was just finishing up loose ends so that they could have a couple days off. Both big kids had a math test. Natalee had a reading exam. They were done by mid morning and are excited to have a couple days off!
