UNO & turkey stuff

The girls have been soooooooooo into the card game of UNO. Every day UNO. Skip a turn, pick up 2, pick up 4, UNO! They also like to team up on Michael & me and give each other high fives. In the summer, it was all about melting beads. But this fall has been all about UNO. It's a great family game.

Thanksgiving dinner with the Smith's and the Moore's was great fun. We had a potluck dinner at the Smith's new house. Joann made the turkey and an AMAZING stuffing. Ali's vegetables were delicious. And Grandma Smith made a great, tarty cranberry dessert (from Ina Garten's new recipe book). I brought the salad and pumpkin pie. Michael bought a chocolate eruption cake from Whole Foods with "HHWJTCRK and HTTTR" (or something like that) on it.

The adults played Cranium Whoonu while the kids played with the new Xbox Kinect. And then the adults played Kinect while the kids ate popcorn and watched "Polar Express". Fun was had by all.

As Cooper said, "Happy Thanksgiving, Turkey!"

No School Tomorrow Too!

Team Work in the Snow!

No School Today

...and this is what we did instead...

First Snowfall

Well, we got our first snowfall this morning. But the kids still went to school. When I picked up Madison, she was so happy to see more snow. Such a sweet moment to see a child's excitement over snow.

My kids know that I hate traffic. And everytime when I see the traffic on the way to taking Jaclyn's to school, I scream "Aghhhhhhhh". Well, this morning, Michael took the girls to school. And with the snow conditions, traffic was worse than usual. "It was a parking lot" as Michael said.
So when I picked up Madison after school, she told me, "The traffic was bad today when daddy pick up (should be drop-off) Jaclyn for school. You would scream really bad."

School is cancelled tomorrow. It's going to be a snow play day! In fact, I think they are playing outside now with Michael...and it's past 10pm.

Madison's Report Card

Madison got her report card on Thursday. I laughed so hard.

Ummm...unlike Jaclyn at the same age who got a lot of "AC's" (accomplished), Madison had quite a few "IP's" (in progress). But we shouldn't compare, right?

The written comments made me laugh in hysterics esp. when the teacher wrote that Madison demonstrates the "biblical virtue of INDIVIDUALITY"!!!!!!!!

Other comments:
"Madison is such a joy to have in class. She definitely has me thinking on my toes, in a good way. When she starts coming around in the mornings, she is very respectful and considerate. Madison displays an enthusiasm for learning and has a positive attitude towards school. Madison and a few of her friends love to do a little chit chat during circle time which we are working on together as a class, as well as individually. I look forward to seeing Madison progress and blossom this year."

Yup...the teacher is getting to know my little fiery, spirited child. I hope she has a good handle on her.

Other Recent Madison Quotes

1. "I am gonna throw Jaclyn in the ocean...the deep part...then she can't swim."

2. "Mommy, close the (car) window on Jaclyn's hand." Sheesh, Madison can have a real mean streak towards her big sister.

3. After Madison and I met up with a friend of mine for coffee, I said, "Isn't she cute?" to which Madison replied, "Yea, why aren't you like her?"

4. "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" for about half an hour. Next time, I will just let Madison win at Crazy 8's! It's just not worth it to win fair and square.

Duchess

Prince William finally proposed to Kate Middleton a couple of weeks ago. Waitie Katie got her ring - Princess Diana's beautiful sapphire and diamond ring.

In teaching Jaclyn and Madison about the Royal Family and the recent Royal Engagement, Jaclyn asked, "WHO is the Duchess of the Whales?"

Future Husband and Wife

Jaclyn had a conversation with her longtime friend, Jacob, about their honeymoon and where they would live, Hawaii, Disneyland. And then Jacob suggested they live in Lego Land in a lego house, followed by Jaclyn's comment, "and we can stay 'til midnight. In Disneyland, we can stay 'til midnight". It was cute.

Earlier in the day, they were talking about friends at school. One boy has not been too friendly to Jake. Jaclyn said, "Well, Jake, maybe you should say sorry for breaking his Lego."
Jake: "I did."
Jaclyn: "Well, maybe if you wait a long, long, long, long time, he will forget about it."

That's My Madison

Her teacher asked me this morning, "How is Madison doing? Is she liking school?"

"YES, she LOVES school. Why?"

"Well, the other day she asked if school was over yet, and I said "No, we have another 15 minutes", then Madison growled, turned her back towards me and wouldn't turn around. Then all the other students wanted to go home, too. It took me awhile to get the group back together. I remember you told me that she sometimes takes 30 minutes to warm-up but sometimes she warms up and sometimes she's just kinda set in her ways." (not exactly verbatim but that was kinda the gist.)

A Conversation in the Car

Madison: "Mommy, I am gonna throw Jaclyn in the garbage."

Me (trying to hold back a laugh): "That's a little bit funny, Madison, but it's also not nice."

Madison: "No, it's a lot funny AND it's nice."

Me: "Not really."

Madison: "Well, can I throw her in the recycle?"

Me: "That's not very nice either."

Madison: Well, how about I throw her way up in the sky?"

Jaclyn: "YOU ARE THE WORSEST SISTER EVER".

Halloween at Microsoft

I took the girls to a Halloween Event at Microsoft. It was actually my first time on the campus. They had all kinds of activities set up, crafts, photo stations, food and of course, lots of candy to pass out. The girls had a blast.

Hanging out with the boys

Hanging out with the Morrison boys when they came down to visit during Canadian Thanksgiving.

one to touch the heart...

Madison to me: "I just love you so much, momma. I love you 10 , 100, 100 million, all the way up to God, and then all the way up to Pluto. Is that a lot? Actually, I love you more than that."