Monday, November 26, 2012

Date Night With Ethan

This week, we are beginning our homeschooling journey. I am scrambling to try and get things organized but then realize that I've been organizing all summer and we've already started "school". It will be official however this Thursday and to kick of our homeschool year, we took Ethan out on a date to talk to him about how excited we are and our vision being homeschooling his Kindergarten year. We dressed up and took him to The Cafe. He was able to order anything he wanted off the menu (which is rare in his case). He picked orange soda with a steak for dinner. He ate it all and loved it! We talked to him throughout the meal about what his thoughts were and how our home life might look a bit different this coming year. Meaning Ethan will have more responsibility and a few more formal activities to do throughout the day. The curriculum we finally chose is very straight forward and I think that it's probably not something I will stick with but it's a good way to get our feet wet for the first year. After the meal came our dessert and after going over the choices several times, without hesitation, Ethan chose the chocolate lovers cake. It was definitely loaded with chocolate and Thomas and I may have had a small portion of it but Ethan really finished it fast. We were happy to let him. It's not every day you get to choose from a fine restaurant what you want for dessert and have the option of eating the entire thing by yourself. It was a great time and if nothing else, I think it communicated our love for Ethan and excitement around being his Mom and Dad!
Ethan sipping some orange soda!
Now that is one big chocolate cake!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Thanksgiving 2012

I know I say this often, but time sure is flying by! We're almost to December and 2012 is nearing its end. I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by. As I reflect, I think it's been an exciting year of firsts! Ethan started school and learned to ride a bike without training wheels, Simon purchased his first pair of big boy underwear and started preschool, Samuel started sitting up, crawling and walking all in the same year, and Thomas and I went on our first trip without any of the kids! I'd say it was a full year of firsts for all of us! What a joy it's been to experience these blessings each day! Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving in West Branch with Grandpa and Grandma Fawcett, Troy, Leanna, Grace and Grant, Uncle John Fawcett, Tom Stumpff, and Kent and MarKay Stuart. While were were in West Branch we were also able to visit with Allen and Elaine and their children Owen and Nora, and Elaine's parents, Mike and Ginny Zimmerman. We shared a wonderful time together over great food, good conversation, many laughs, along with good memories from watching old home videos. Since the weather has been atypically warm, we were all able to go outside and watch Grandpa and Uncle Jon do some outside chores by the barn. He had quite a to do list and we were able to be there to watch him plow through it with the help of Uncle Jon. Unfortunately, we provided little help however, Thomas and I are doing our best to prepare the boys to be oriented around service and that means helping out grandpa with the farm chores when we're back. Hopefully, we're raising up some helpful, strong hands! We often tell them "many hands make light work"! I remind them of this when I'm picking up the dumped lego bin for the 5th time that day! The boys watched Grandpa power wash the combine as it needed to be cleaned after harvest. We all went to the pond one morning and took down the Teepee. The boys liked helping with this project.
We also watched grandpa, Uncle Jon, Kent and Allen pull "Hollywood", the pond's floating dock, onto shore, dry it, clean it and store it for the winter.
The following day, we went back out to the pond and went on an adventure, hiking all the way around it and through the wooded area. Everything is an adventure with the boys...and Thomas! He is always telling a story! I was quite proud of myself as I found a 5 point deer antler on our hike. I found it as I was collecting pine cones for Ethan's Birthday party next weekend. When I showed the boys, they were quite impressed. Even more impressed was Thomas when I showed him. I didn't think it to be much of a big deal until I saw everyone's reaction and so as a result, I became very proud! It's not every hike you find a 5 point antler! I think it will be a nice centerpiece for the camping party, along with the small piece that Thomas bought home off of the buck that he hit with his new truck last week! I have to say, mine is a bit more impressive...and it didn't have such negative repercussions. The meal that Grandma Fawcett prepared was amazing, as usual. The spread of dishes was so beautiful on the table and everything taste so delicious. My favorite was the turkey this year. I've never seen a turkey come out of the oven and look just like the turkeys you see on the Butterball advertisements. It was fantastic to look at and even better to eat! It was so moist and tender and the flavor was great!
The pies were wonderful! Uncle Tom made an elderberry pie and it was a nice change from the traditional pies. We all filled our plates with about 3 or 4 different pies as no one could choose just one. Thank you to Mom Fawcett for a wonderful meal! And lastly, Grandma and Grandpa are always so thoughtful and never let a visit go by without a special gift (or gifts) :) for the kids and I wanted to include a picture of the boys after they had opened up a Christmas village scene of children sledding down a snow covered hill. The figure plays music and lights up and the kids' faces say it all (or at least Samuel's does)!