In late November, Grandpa and I took the boys to our museum of nature and science in downtown Denver. They have kid-friendly sections with hands-on space activities, health activities, and other areas. The kids love the dinosaur exhibit and they even had a special exhibit on the Amazon. By the time we got to this section, the kids were done but I wish I had more time to peruse the area as I love South America. 
The kids even painted an Amazon fish - - well, they painted a clay mold of a fish then they pressed it onto white paper. I really liked the piranha and the other scary fish they painted, but I promptly lost these works of art in the mayhem of my minivan.
Prior to Thanksgiving, Harriet ate all the couches in the front as seen by the evidence in the below photo. It's a real treat to come home and see this type of destruction (insert sarcasm)...anyway, we threw out the couches and turned the front area into a kids' room. While this wasn't the best way to figure out this new configurement, it has turned into a great choice. I love the new look of our house when you walk in the front door. The couches were old and worn, so this fresh look is organized and a good area for the kids.
I love this craft that Eban made at school with the onset of Thanksgiving. He wore it a lot and I couldn't help but think about how the teachers taught them about the Pilgrims and the Indians....just a side note from a former teacher.... 
Let's see some other stories from the month prior to hitting Thanksgiving.
The boys have learned the 'ladies first' notion. It's so cute when they open doors that are too big for them to handle and they grunt out ladies first and let me walk through as they struggle to continue to open the door. I want to bear hug them but instead I smile politely (and sometimes curtsy) and say thank you. They giggle and continue to grunt which I just love.
Eban has really excelled with puzzles. He can now do a 100 piece puzzle all by himself and I love to see the intense concentration and dexterity of this new found skill. Jack can do a 24 piece puzzle now too...I think it's a competition between the two at times as they both want to be good at the things the other excels at. I hope this manifests into a good thing when they are older...and now I find myself wondering how I can help with this idea.
Eban has been
quite fearful of 'monsters' at night now. He doesn't like to use the potty by himself and wants someone there with him. Ryan and I have been saying no so he can learn independence and learn that there aren't any monsters in our house...but Jack will step up and say, "Eban, I'll go with you to the potty." And Eban will sigh a big sigh of relief and they will go together. Ahhh, brotherly love...I love it when I see it as sometimes I hear, "I'M NOT YOUR FRIEND!" from both of their mouths. We're working on not using this sentence when they hear something they don't like.
With the Christmas season arriving, our neighbors have put up a light show to match the Griswold's (you know, from Family Vacation)! Scott has even gone so far as to time the lights to music so the blink in beat with the carols that he plays each night from the house. The kids love it and it's impressive to see the amount of time he puts into this work of art. We are the Grinches and haven't put up any outdoor lights...much to Eban's dismay.
Jack's daycare stint is coming to an end as he'll start preschool in January. I'm excited to have the boys at one place but also intensely worried that I can't get him potty trained in one month as he's so adverse to wanting to use the potty. He'll pee, but he won't poop. Everyone says...and my lovely Internet research tell me...that you can't push a kid to use the potty. Ugh...what I wouldn't do to have him potty trained.
Jack also had a funny response to his daycare lady. He was sitting at the lunch table eating but not saying anything. She asked him, "Jack, what's going on?" She had to repeat her concern, "JACK, what are you thinking about?" He sternly looked at her and said, "I'M PONDERING." And went back to looking down at his plate with his infamous scowl. Nice. My kid ponders. We had a good laugh about this statement.
Finally - - Thanksgiving!
We headed up to Keystone, Colorado, to the Rainen's place for the holiday. Due to the inclement weather, the Gerhards and my father missed out on the festivities. The snowstorm hit Vail Pass but it didn't get over to Keystone so all the weather alerts weren't too accurate. The Rehms made it up on Thursday and so did Jenn's parents (who always cook the birds).
There were others and we got busy working in the kitchen making the preparations for dinner. Everyone chipped in. I don't think the tv was turned on until after dessert. And we 
chatted, and chatted and chatted...just like I like it. 
The dogs were surprisingly unaffected by the masses. They are typically neurotic with so many new faces and smells, but they were content to be there and eat off the ground. I was happy about this too...although they did get in the way as they really started to beg due to all the wonderful odors from the kitchen and the plates in the dining room!
The kids hop
ped in the hot tub and were super happy to stay in there for a little bit. On Friday, I had some girl time and hit the outlet stores with the ladies. I really hate shopping so I need to work on this tidbit in my life. The boys, except Jack, went snowmobiling at Vail Pass. Eban and Dennis were scared at the beginning but soon fell in love with it.
Finally, w
e left on Saturday to return to the Front Range and take it easy for a day...Loveland Pass was beautiful as seen by the below photo and the boys were conked out so they missed everything. The day early return meant that we had an opportunity to catch up on laundry, prep meals for the week, make a valiant attempt at some chores around the house, etc. At least we had a decent amount of leftovers for sandwiches and other snacks for the following week. Can't beat that!
The kids even painted an Amazon fish - - well, they painted a clay mold of a fish then they pressed it onto white paper. I really liked the piranha and the other scary fish they painted, but I promptly lost these works of art in the mayhem of my minivan.Prior to Thanksgiving, Harriet ate all the couches in the front as seen by the evidence in the below photo. It's a real treat to come home and see this type of destruction (insert sarcasm)...anyway, we threw out the couches and turned the front area into a kids' room. While this wasn't the best way to figure out this new configurement, it has turned into a great choice. I love the new look of our house when you walk in the front door. The couches were old and worn, so this fresh look is organized and a good area for the kids.I love this craft that Eban made at school with the onset of Thanksgiving. He wore it a lot and I couldn't help but think about how the teachers taught them about the Pilgrims and the Indians....just a side note from a former teacher.... Let's see some other stories from the month prior to hitting Thanksgiving. 
The boys have learned the 'ladies first' notion. It's so cute when they open doors that are too big for them to handle and they grunt out ladies first and let me walk through as they struggle to continue to open the door. I want to bear hug them but instead I smile politely (and sometimes curtsy) and say thank you. They giggle and continue to grunt which I just love.Eban has really excelled with puzzles. He can now do a 100 piece puzzle all by himself and I love to see the intense concentration and dexterity of this new found skill. Jack can do a 24 piece puzzle now too...I think it's a competition between the two at times as they both want to be good at the things the other excels at. I hope this manifests into a good thing when they are older...and now I find myself wondering how I can help with this idea.
Eban has been
quite fearful of 'monsters' at night now. He doesn't like to use the potty by himself and wants someone there with him. Ryan and I have been saying no so he can learn independence and learn that there aren't any monsters in our house...but Jack will step up and say, "Eban, I'll go with you to the potty." And Eban will sigh a big sigh of relief and they will go together. Ahhh, brotherly love...I love it when I see it as sometimes I hear, "I'M NOT YOUR FRIEND!" from both of their mouths. We're working on not using this sentence when they hear something they don't like.With the Christmas season arriving, our neighbors have put up a light show to match the Griswold's (you know, from Family Vacation)! Scott has even gone so far as to time the lights to music so the blink in beat with the carols that he plays each night from the house. The kids love it and it's impressive to see the amount of time he puts into this work of art. We are the Grinches and haven't put up any outdoor lights...much to Eban's dismay.
Jack's daycare stint is coming to an end as he'll start preschool in January. I'm excited to have the boys at one place but also intensely worried that I can't get him potty trained in one month as he's so adverse to wanting to use the potty. He'll pee, but he won't poop. Everyone says...and my lovely Internet research tell me...that you can't push a kid to use the potty. Ugh...what I wouldn't do to have him potty trained.
Jack also had a funny response to his daycare lady. He was sitting at the lunch table eating but not saying anything. She asked him, "Jack, what's going on?" She had to repeat her concern, "JACK, what are you thinking about?" He sternly looked at her and said, "I'M PONDERING." And went back to looking down at his plate with his infamous scowl. Nice. My kid ponders. We had a good laugh about this statement.
Finally - - Thanksgiving!
We headed up to Keystone, Colorado, to the Rainen's place for the holiday. Due to the inclement weather, the Gerhards and my father missed out on the festivities. The snowstorm hit Vail Pass but it didn't get over to Keystone so all the weather alerts weren't too accurate. The Rehms made it up on Thursday and so did Jenn's parents (who always cook the birds).
There were others and we got busy working in the kitchen making the preparations for dinner. Everyone chipped in. I don't think the tv was turned on until after dessert. And we 
chatted, and chatted and chatted...just like I like it. The dogs were surprisingly unaffected by the masses. They are typically neurotic with so many new faces and smells, but they were content to be there and eat off the ground. I was happy about this too...although they did get in the way as they really started to beg due to all the wonderful odors from the kitchen and the plates in the dining room!The kids hop
ped in the hot tub and were super happy to stay in there for a little bit. On Friday, I had some girl time and hit the outlet stores with the ladies. I really hate shopping so I need to work on this tidbit in my life. The boys, except Jack, went snowmobiling at Vail Pass. Eban and Dennis were scared at the beginning but soon fell in love with it. Finally, w
e left on Saturday to return to the Front Range and take it easy for a day...Loveland Pass was beautiful as seen by the below photo and the boys were conked out so they missed everything. The day early return meant that we had an opportunity to catch up on laundry, prep meals for the week, make a valiant attempt at some chores around the house, etc. At least we had a decent amount of leftovers for sandwiches and other snacks for the following week. Can't beat that!
In the above video, Eban is jabbering up a storm about all sorts of stuff
