Saturday, November 28, 2009

Zen Gorilla

Sometimes Ben and I think that our kids go to the zoo just to get on the statues and get their pictures taken. Every time we see the obligatory zoo statue of an animal - big or small - the girls run up to it and fight over who gets to sit on the head for the picture. Are my kids insane, or is this the normal fare?

Despite our general annoyance at this habit, we indulge them with relatively good humor. So when we went to the zoo this past Friday after Thanksgiving, we were able to derive great enjoyment from Olivia's gorilla statue escapade.

Since there are two gorilla statues side by side, Kelsey climbed on the smaller one and Olivia was bound and determined to sit on the big one.
Despite the fact that actually getting on the statue proved rather difficult, she perservered.
She was able to get this far on her own, then finally asked for help the rest of the way. And if you look carefully at the right-hand side of the picture you can see the temper-tantrum that Kelsey is throwing because we won't let her climb on the big one, too.
And here it is zoomed in. Are we five or two?
But getting back to Olivia. She finally (with mom's help) got onto the giant gorilla's back.
In the meantime, Ben got Kelsey happily situated on the smaller gorilla.
And what was Olivia doing while we were taking Kelsey's photo? Meditating, apparently.

And just to give you an idea of just how many of these pictures Ben and I have to sit through in a single trip, here's all the other statues they got their pictures taken on:

Rabbit (in the bright sun)
Tortoise
Connor's first: the Tiger
Tiger again (with his sisters, though something other than the camera caught Kelsey's eye...)
Lion family
Rhino (why it's the smallest one there is beyond me!)

And last but not least, a picture to prove that Ben and I were actually there with them. What do you think, Noni? Is it time to throw this hat away, too? He insists it's finally broken in and I'm not allowed to touch it!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

It has finally come. The culmination of our month-long attitude of gratitude! It's been fun, folks, but I know we are ready to move on to Christmas lights and carols decorations and excitement now. But before we do, Thanksgiving isn't over yet, and we have one more post to do today!

Ben is grateful for... a good digestive system. I'm sure it will restore his body back to comfort by morning and he will no longer be so uncomfortably full. Gluttony, anyone?

Anita is grateful for... her husband and kids. As homesick as I have been this week for our family in South Carolina, I can't imagine how much worse it would have been if I was here alone. I love these guys, and feel so blessed that my life is so full!

Olivia is grateful that... Thanksgiving is finally over! (I assume this has something to do with the "moving onto Christmas" part of the season.)

Kelsey is grateful for... having friends over for Thanksgiving dinner today.

Connor is grateful for... buttons, gadgets, tools, etc. Give him a button and he will push it. Show him a moving panel and he will open it. Show him a hole and he will try to stick a screwdriver into it. Or a key, if that's all he can get his hands on. If all else fails, he will use his finger. I think this love of gadgets and tools must be hardwired into the "Y" chromosome. He'd definitely all boy.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Day #25

The turkey is thawing in the sink, the pumpkin pie is baked (and my house smells wonderful, by the way!), the chocolate pudding pie for the kids in the the fridge, and my sweet basil turkey rub is already made and in the fridge. I'll have a few more things to cook tomorrow, some guests are bringing other yummy foods for the Thanksgiving feast, and the house is even almost clean. I love Thanksgiving!

Ben is grateful for... a 4-day weekend.

Anita is grateful for... the wonderful imagination of her children. They were playing in the backyard for hours this afternoon, and at one point I looked out and this is what I saw:
What is it, you may ask? It's a tee-pee they made out of branches and the grill cover. They did a pretty good job, wouldn't you say? But where in the world do they get some of their ideas? I love love love their imaginations!

Olivia is grateful for... Trixie! And here's a picture of them chilling out together tonight:

Kelsey
is grateful for... no school today.

Connor is grateful for... music. The little man loves to dance and groove!

Ho Ho Ho!


Santa has come a little early this year at our house! He's a bit younger than I expected...