I love this picture that Tara captured of me talking to Levi.  He was very resistant to wanting to stand for the pictures, so I was trying to talk to him.  It’s so hard to get candid pictures of myself in pictures since I’m normally the one behind the camera.  So, once in a while it’s fun to come across a gem like this.  I love it.

The kids only have school two days this week–whoo hoo!  I can’t believe it’s already Thanksgiving week… my, how the time flies.  I can’t guarantee that I’ll remember to hop back on here later this week, but maybe I’ll quick pre-post some pictures to pop up on those days.  Pictures are always fun, right?

I seem to have caught a little cold bug that has settled itself into my throat.  Basically I feel fine but I can’t talk. I suppose I should be thankful for that fact that I don’t really have any other symptoms.  However, as a Mom and a teacher, not being able to talk makes my life a bit more difficult.  I’ll be doing a bit more whispering, since I am still able to do that.  I must just be more susceptible to losing my voice because I can remember this happening quite a few times in my life.

In random other news:  We are finishing up our Thankful jar this week.  The kids have been so great about it.  Even Maddie has been participating this year (her answers are pretty funny… and repetitive). I changed it up this year so instead of writing each person’s thankful thing on a tiny slip of paper each night, everyone has their own large sheet of paper that we each write our own.  It’s soooooo nice now that Josiah can write all on his own and can participate.  I write mine and Maddie’s and everyone else write their own…  And Levi just watches.  😉 I can’t remember if I’ve posted our full list on here before, but I think I will.  We’re going to read through them all on Thanksgiving Day.

We have a Maud Hart Lovelace All-Star in this house!  Yup!  Chloe has officially finished and passed all the tests for the 10 MHL nominated books!  TEN BOOKS!!!  And she finished them before Thanksgiving even!

Let me tell you, we have made huge leaps and bounds in her reading this year.  She went from dragging her feet to willingly sitting down with a book.  Major progress.  Here are the 10 books.  I’m still way behind her… she passed me up about a month ago and hasn’t looked back.  Ha!

And here is a short video she took of herself talking about the MHL contest.  We are so happy!

Well, it’s that time of year again, folks.  Tim is transitioning into his off-season.  He’s still working a little, but he’s able to be home by 3:00 to take the kids when I start teaching.  I really appreciate having the nannies, but I also am so thankful to be able to transition to life without extra people in the house.  The kids don’t try and push the boundaries when Tim is in charge, there is less chaos while I’m teaching, I don’t have to have the house as clean, and if I forget to make supper Tim can whip something up for us.  It’s great.

It really plummeted in temps here right after Halloween.  We had a nice mild evening Trick-or-Treating, but then right after it got COLD and then snowed and hasn’t really been above freezing all that much since then.  A day or two here and there, but mostly just cold.  On Monday morning when I walked the kids to the bus stop, the temp was 7 degrees with a wind chill of -1 degrees.  That’s cold for November 12th!

Tim surprised me with my Christmas present early!

And I was TOTALLY surprised. I went away for the afternoon to watch Abby perform in a Honor’s Band concert and came home to this….

I was flabbergasted!  Now, don’t get me wrong, we really needed a new one. But I was bound and determined to just make it work. Most of the time it would cook at 25 degrees lower than you see on the display… but then sometimes it would cook 50 degrees lower… and then sometimes it would randomly cook at 50 degrees higher. It made cooking a bit of Russian roulette. I had constantly be checking the oven while it was cooking and adjust as needed. I’m delighted at the prospect that when I set a temperature, it will actually stay at that temp! Exciting!

Of course, I also feel terribly guilty to have such a nice stove. But apparently he’s been stashing away money for several months now to save up and he got it on a crazy sale. So, that helps my feelings of guilt a little. Plus…. it’s just SO PRETTY!

Bring on the Holidays foods to cook!!!

This past weekend I went to see Little Women (the musical) with some friends at the Chaska High School.  The lead role (Jo) was being played by our very own worship pastor’s daughter.  And let me tell you… She.  Was.  Fantastic.  And the music was great.  There are a lot of duets and trios and complex harmonies and they did great.  Especially for a high school production.  I was so moved I cried when Beth died.  I know… I’m a softie.  But it was just done so well!

Our old nanny, Alisa, was the first one to introduce me to the musical.  She loved it and wanted to sing a bunch of the songs in her lessons–which proved to be quite difficult since so many of the songs required another person to sing along, but we managed.  I would encourage you to listen to the music if you haven’t already.

Next weekend I’m heading out to see Shakopee’s musical:  The Addams Family!

I’m trying out a new product.   No, I’m not getting paid to test this product.   I’ve looked into this before, but chickened out… but then I had some more girlfriends express their interest (and hesitation) in it, so I decided to just bite the bullet and try it.   I’ll be the guinea pig for you all.

It’s called EcoEgg.

Here’s what the box says:

Wash Clever: Simply place the EcoEgg Laundry Egg on top of your laundry in the drum of the washing machine, and wash as normal – no washing powder or liquid needed.  It’s the clever way to wash.  The Laundry Egg is packed with our unique powerful cleaning pellets which activate in the water and are proven to gently lift away dirt and grime without using any harsh chemicals.

Intriguing, right?

I’m still working through my feelings of unbelief that it will actually DO anything.  I’m skeptical.  But time will tell.  The one I purchased is good for 720 washes. Yup.  That’s a lot of washes.  I love the idea of the kids being able to start a load of laundry without having to reach or measure the liquid detergent, and I’m also excited about the prospect of not having to remember to buy any laundry detergent for almost 3 years.

Now, there are some pellets inside the egg.  Some you never replace and then there are a few that you do restock after 3 months or so.  Those pellets are the ones that have a very mild scent (I chose Clean Linen) and activate the other pellets.  Those wear down over time.  But all of the replacement packets that I need are already included in the box, so I’m good to go!

So, the question of the hour: Does it work?

I will be smelling my laundry a lot in the months to come to make sure that we are not the stinky family…

But I can tell you I am pleasantly surprised that the first 4 loads I have done smell good.  They smell….clean.  No flowery scent, just a very subtle linen smell, and mostly just, clean.  Crazy, right?!  I have 4 kids, so the laundry will keep piling up giving me ample opportunities to test the EcoEgg again, and again, and again…

I’ll try and remember to post my follow up in a few weeks and months.

As of today, I’m happy!

Levi has officially transitioned to regular cups.  Another milestone.  No more sippy cups.  Yippie!

But the funny part about this is that he learned this summer all by himself.  By playing in his water table on the deck.  We would fill the table with water then give him a bunch of toys (balls, ducks, squirt guns, and yes, even cups!).  So, he made a big mess of water every time he tried figuring out how to drink the water, but I didn’t care since he was outside.

So, thank you water table.  You have served us well.