Lucky Number 7

Erik's birthday was the day after Thanksgiving this year, which he was happy about. I honestly don't think it made much of a difference because the rest of us still ate Thanksgiving food for dinner on his birthday (leftovers) and he had whatever it is he eats for dinner. I really can't remember what he ate for dinner. It might have been noodles or bread with carrots, but really, all the white carbs are the same, so it doesn't matter what he actually ate. He did have a memorable day, though.

He started out with a pop tart for breakfast, with his warm white milk, per his request. We all went to see The Grinch  at the movie theater, on my mom. The kids had all decided they wanted to buy themselves drinks there, so they did, but I treated Erik for his birthday. We brought our own popcorn and candy. It was a great way to kick of the holiday season and enjoy something fun for his birthday. On the way home, we stopped by Jimmy John's  to pick up some day old bread, as I usually do when I'm in that area. Since the day before was Thanksgiving, they didn't have any day old, so they gave me fresh for the price of the day old! Jimmy John's bread has become a favorite of our family's lately. So, that's what we had for lunch- turkey sandwiches on JJ bread. Yum! We had planned on stopping by McDonald's for fries for the special day, so we did that as well and some of the kids ate those, but it was funny that Erik didn't finish his. He mostly ate the bread.

Something that our kids don't usually get to do on their birthdays is service. Due to rainy Saturdays, the yard of a widow in our ward needed to be done that day, so we went there after lunch and raked her leaves and cleaned up her yard. It was great to serve her and fun for the kids to be outside on a day that was less freezing and sunny.

Presents and cake (I was surprised he didn't ask about opening presents earlier in the day) happened pretty quickly so we could put the Nebraska game on. Erik happens to love Nebraska, so it was a nice end to his special day.

He loves playing using the cat tree as a place for his toys.

Austin and Grandpa Jim made this marble game and Erik just loves it!

Erik's biggest hobby right now is reading. He reads all afternoon and evening, just about, while I'm taking various children different places. It seems one of my girls is home each time I need to leave so I can leave him at home. Besides reading, he loves to play games, especially tag. He plays with his toys by himself or with Austin, here and there. Mostly imaginative games using his cars, animals, shop kins, or other character toys. I love seeing his growth in school. I volunteer once a week in his class and he's one of the "helpers" at the table he sits at. Others kids can ask him questions if they need help. It makes me proud!

He mostly reads graphic novels,  but he'll read anything he can get his hands on! He's great at reading the scriptures with us too!

We had his party a few weeks ago. I decided that earlier was better so it doesn't get in the way of holidays. We splurged this year and had his party at Jungle Java, an indoor play place with lots of slides, bouncy things, climbing, and other monkeying around. It included drinks and a table with balloons for when we had cake and ice cream. It was very fun for the kids, especially since my own kids have been wanting to go back there, even though it's for a younger crowd. Sure enough, the girls did get tired of it after a while and I thought it was way too loud. We were in between two other party tables, so there was a lot going on, but the kids played hard and were nice and sweaty!

Carrying his cake in.

Waiting to light the candles.

Logan happened to be in town that weekend- bonus!!

Happy Birthday to my baby!

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving my mom and Jim came for a visit. We had a very relaxing and fun day, full of delicious food and fun.

We were going to do our own turkey trot that morning, but with a real feel of 15, I worked out inside and my mom braved to cold for a walk. The rest slept in and then went for a walk later, even though it didn't get much warmer.

Twins in our workout clothes.

As usual, Jason did the turkey and didn't disappoint! He takes good care of our turkeys, massaging butter and herbs into them.

I'm always the assistant in these operations. 

The girls are helping me make some pillows for Christmas this year and Grandma helped with that project. It was nice to work together.

Austin is making a birthday card for Erik here while Victoria cut fabric.

Grandpa and the boys played with Legos and made some turkeys out of them.

I guess I didn't get any close-ups, but they were pretty clever!

Erik had his usual Thanksgiving food strike, including leaving the room during dinner. He didn't even want to smile for these pictures. Oh well. He ate a lot of food for breakfast (turkey bacon, milk, and bread) and for snack during our movie after dinner (cheese, grapes, and ginger cookies), so I think the hype of the meal makes him feel overwhelmed.

The night before Thanksgiving we went to the last place we could find Michigan dough nuts and cider, that was still open, The Red Shed. We wanted to take my mom and Jim for the ultimate Michigan autumn experience. One perk we didn't realize in going as late as we could was that everything was half off!!

Beautiful night!

Cozy shop.

Freezing outside!!

Washington DC

Victoria went to Washington DC last month for the 8th grade field trip. Being that she was born just outside of  DC and made many trips there as a baby in my baby Bjorn, made it more special.  They shuttled a bus there on a Thursday, very early in the morning, stopping by Gettysburg, and came home over night on a Saturday to Sunday. She had a great time! Here's some pictures from her phone.

Just before leaving on the bus.

Misty Copeland's ballet slippers.

#1!!

Karissa's squad took 1st place in the cheer portion of competition a couple of weeks ago and second place for the dance portion! I was so happy,  I cried! This has been a rough Steelers season for me, so this helped put a better light on the season.

Number 1 and Number 2!

 As I mentioned in my homecoming post, the schedule was changed at the beginning of the season,  making many games on Sundays and homecoming the week after her 6th grade camp. She had a small part in that routine, for that reason. From that week on to just about the last few practices (about 5 weeks total) there was at least one girl missing from each practice, usually the same girl,  which messed up Karissa's stunt group. They never got to practice their stunts, therefore they weren't able to stunt in their routine. The reason this really bothered me was because since there were only 8 girls on the squad,  they barely had enough for two stunt groups.

 The main reason I decided to allow Karissa to compete with the squad,  on a Sunday,  was so that she could allow the squad the extra person in order to have two stunt groups during the routines.  I was very upset when I found out she wouldn't be stunting at all in the routines in addition to the fact that we were now committed to going to competition on a Sunday.  She was happy to be a tumbler, which is not her strength right now, so she made the most of it.  (On a side note, she injured her wrist, a week before competition, doing cartwheels.  She wore a brace the whole week and I even took her to the dr, but it wasn't broken and ended up being fine. That was a couple days before Austin broke his pinkie,  which was why I wasn't happy to go back to get an x ray a few days later. )

The squad pulled through and brought home a gold and silver medal. They looked great,  though it wasn't Karissa's personal best.  She worked hard and I'm glad she loves cheer so much,  otherwise I would have just signed it off.  

Monday was the banquet and they received nice gifts from their coaches.  Next year she'll be on varsity, assuming the man in charge can help prevent so many Sunday games, so there will be a lot more girls. Currently varsity has 26 cheerleaders! Some will move on, but a bunch will stay.

Karissa got her hair cut the week after competition. No more high pony tails for a while!

A plaque with her bow and some cute pictures framed, along with a little Steelers charm, were her gifts.

Here's to the end of the season-hooray!!