I think she just called me old!

This is such the season to be busy! I really wanted to share some recent pictures, but because of a shortage of time (and brain power) I will send another kid funny your way.

Yesterday, Kate crawled in bed with us earlier than usual. I decided to go cuddle up on the couch with her so that we could watch cartoons together until everyone else woke up. We both pulled a white blanket up to our chins, and she turned around and laughed and said, "Mommy! You look like Abraham!"

And it's a good possibility that I'll be as old as Abraham before everything is ready for Christmas here. We've had our tree up for several days, but we still haven't decorated it. I'm not finished Christmas shopping yet, although I did get quite a bit of it finished yesterday. I've got to get on the ball!

Back In the Saddle Again

The past month has been an absolute whirlwind here! I thought I'd ease back into the blogosphere with a kid funny for you.

Just before Thanksgiving, we traveled to Indianapolis to visit with Jonathan's family. Ben and Lily were killing time in the backseat and decided to entertain themselves with a game of rock, paper, scissors. Things went well for a while until they both chose scissors. Lily stared down at their hands for a second, looked up at Ben and said, "Well....mine are sharper."

Sibling rivalry at its finest.

Before and After Pictures

Before wrestling with Ben:



After wrestling with Ben:

Lily finally lost her first tooth! It had been loose for weeks, and the new tooth had come in behind it. We visited the dentist to get things checked out, and he told us not to worry, that the baby tooth would fall out very soon. Looks like he was right!

Our sidewalk

It was a perfect fall day yesterday, so the kids decided to do a little outdoor decorating to welcome our friends John and Kim, who were coming down for the weekend. Lily first wrote "welcome" at the end of the sidewalk, and then added their names. She and Kate quickly decided that wasn't enough, so they started adding everyone else's names too.

Ben was much less thrilled with the artistic process.

I'm glad I got pictures of it all, because the rain has now washed it away! I suppose that just means a fresh canvas for the next time.

Scarlet Fever and Furry Rodents

Yeah, it sounded like a downer, but it's really not!

Since Jonathan had to work this afternoon at his "third" job, the kids and I settled in for a movie afternoon. Every year when the weather begins to get colder, I pull out Little Women. It never fails to put me into the mood of fall cleaning and thinking ahead to preparing for the holidays. It also never fails to make me blubber like a baby... throughout the whole movie, in fact. But the worst part for me is during Beth's initial bout with scarlet fever, where Jo wakes up and rushes in to check on her. There is that split second where I see the empty bed, and even though I know the outcome, I hold my breath every time until I see Beth sitting up, and then the waterworks begin.

The older kids were already prepared for this yearly phenomenon, but it came as a bit of a surprise to Kate. She saw me crying and climbed up in my lap, asking, "Mommy, why are you crying?" I answered, "because Beth was sick, but now I'm happy because she's better."

Kate looked at me matter-of-factly and said, "Oh...she was sick and had a beaver."

I must say that she totally ruined the rest of the sad scenes for me. Anytime I started to cry I would think of that and begin giggling instead. But at least if I go back to the blubbering next year I'll know that there's a beaver to dam up all my tears.