Call Day #30, 11/29/13

This morning the girls played with a box full of Barbies and tons of clothes.

Nanny helped set up a store full of Barbie clothes.

Eleanor wanted to play on the piano so Nanny taught her to play scales.  Check out the proud smile at the end.

Then, we went on a tour of the Samaritan's Purse processing center for Operation Christmas Child boxes.  We spent most of the tour here, learning about how and why to pack boxes as well as how they get to children around the world.

They talked about how we get Christmas presents and how other children don't have as much as we do.  Claire volunteered that she would like a baby bed for Christmas.  She's been saying she'd like one for a long time now.

To learn how a box gets to its destination, each child was given a role and everyone acted out a box's journey.  The boat and helicopter wait for their turns to transport the box.

First, the boat carries the box.  (The boy right behind her is playing the role of the box.)

The shoe box is transferred from a boat to a helicopter.

Helicopter transports the shoe box.

A view from above as hundreds of volunteers work below.  A lot goes on here--about 120,000 boxes are processed each day and they do 2 million in a few weeks time.

Barbies were played with more in the afternoon.  With all the small pieces they were only to be played with in one room, away from Oliver.  Of course, little brothers don't like being kept out behind the gate

Papa Jimmy, Mimi, and Eleanor look at pictures together.

Call Day #29, 11/27/13

Oliver busies himself emptying a cabinet.  He is quite good at pulling things out of bins and off bookshelves too.

Girls watch wood being delivered.  One of the many steps in getting ready to fence the backyard.

Snacktime after driving to Charlotte.

Hot chocolate too.

Nanny and the girls made some feathers to decorate a little turkey vase.

Oliver was getting into everything in the kitchen while we tried to make dinner.  Then he found the onions and was content with them.  They roll just like a ball!

Extra hands are helpful!  Glad to be at Nanny and Papa's house for Thanksgiving.

Call Day #28, 11/17/13

Oliver helps unload the dishwasher.

The kids' choir practices "Come and See the Works of the Lord" before Sunday school.

Oliver was happy to crawl all over and listen.

Eleanor's sweet smile.  She has been really looking forward to singing in church.  She told me a few days ago "I want to do choir for as long as we live in Durham."  Yesterday she wanted to do all of her laundry so she'd be able to pick out any outfit she wanted for this morning.  On the way home from church, she wanted to know when the kids get to sing again in worship.  Choir is clearly a hit.

The song as sung in practice this morning.

Eleanor "playing library."  She had organized the books in alphabetical order and was using the computer as the checkout station.

Showing off the library card she made, with Minnie Mouse on it.  She has named her library the Minnie Mouse Library, no doubt inspired by the character on the new pajamas she is wearing.

Call Day #27, 11/15/13

 Eleanor woke up excited about shooting off rockets with Daddy after we did it without him during school yesterday.  Erik agreed to help her do them again today.  Waiting for it to launch...

There it goes!

 This is how she felt about the whole thing:  "Mommy, I wish we could do rockets everyday in school!"

Claire wanted to do her own school and picked out this number matching activity.

She joined me while I worked in the kitchen and asked if she could eat the peels from the carrots.  Sure, why not?

Afternoon craft.  We've been learning about snakes and the girls are making their own cardboard version.

I have a bag I am always adding to of things to donate.  Maybe Oliver's checking to make sure I'm not getting rid of anything he wants?

Dinner at the counter.  Somehow much cooler than at the table.

Call Day #26, 11/9/13

Nanny teaches an art lesson.  The girls copy her drawing.

Eleanor's version.  They drew and then colored while quietly listening to Vivaldi for probably 45 min.

 Showing off their work.

 We walked to an estate sale in the neighborhood and the girls showed Nanny the little gnome door they like in the yard of a nearby house.

Claire shows off the backpack that was given to her at the estate sale, with her doll inside.

Papa, Nanny, the kids, and I visited Erik at work for the first time.  Claire enjoyed cuddling with Daddy.

 We took lunch and ate in the cafeteria.  Unfortunately, Oliver has had a cold for a several weeks now.  He seemed extra snotty and fussy today.

Eleanor shows off the centerpiece she arranged on the porch.  There are many beautiful glittery, painted leaves which she made with Nanny and Claire.

While the girls watched a movie tonight, Oliver crawled around exploring in the kitchen.  Here he is after finding a bag of markers left within reach.  Whether it was the dose of Advil not long before or the chance to get into things, I was just glad he was happy and let him go.

Standing up looking out the window.  Also, feeling the air from the vent.

Opened  his first cupboard.  Uh oh.

Call Day #25, 11/6/13

Eleanor reads a whole Berenstain Bears book to Daddy before he heads off to work.

 Claire has been working through a preschool book some days while Eleanor does school.  She finished it today.  Eleanor jumped in the picture too--apparently I didn't take a picture of her when she finished her first math book.

At the doctor's office for Oliver's 9 month checkup.  The girls brought babies and "shooters" they had made (sticks wrapped in white paper and tape).  Here they are giving their babies shots with their pretend syringes.

This afternoon while the girls watched a movie I unpacked some boxes in the master closet.  Oliver kept me company.  He spent probably 15 min playing with the faucet on the bathtub, not turning it on, just touching it and banging on it.  I thought he was going to climb back up there in this video but instead you can hear some of his current sounds.

Call Day #24, 11/4/13

 Claire puts away her laundry.  Girls both folded and put it away entirely by themselves for the first time this morning.  Took a long time, but they should get faster.  They had "cleaned" their room by throwing the clean clothes on the floor into the hamper one too many times, and I was hoping seeing how much work that makes will convince them to do otherwise.

Almost done.

Dancing after doing some schoolwork

 Curls.

Two bottom teeth.  Working on getting the top two now.

Wanted to sit down and color a bit.  The part of me that loves things in their places loves that Eleanor colors this in symmetrically.

Crunching in the leaves on a walk around the neighborhood.  Need a few more weeks to have enough to really crunch.

Left Oliver alone for a few minutes and came downstairs to find that he had crawled from the living room to the kitchen and started playing with the art supplies.  Had found a fun Play Doh tool.  And standing up too!

Eleanor helped me unpack some teacups and saucers a few days ago and wanted to use them this afternoon.  A fancy afternoon snack.

The girls' first trip to one of the yogurt places that are everywhere around town.  When we got there, Eleanor sat at a table and told me I could go order for her.  Once I got her to come with me and see the number of choices, she was amazed, "Whaaaat?"  She loved that she could "spray" her own yogurt into her cup.

Putting toppings on.

Yogurt creations.  Heavy on the jelly beans, gummy worms, and sprinkles.

People watching.

The girl who likes math:  She saw a chalkboard and wanted to do math rather than draw.  She came up with the problems and solved them.  She hesitated a bit on 64 + 64 but quickly came up with the right answer when I told her to think about adding the tens together and the ones together.  I thought it was amusing that she knew the answer was 128 and said that aloud but didn't know how to write 128.  Tried 1008, then 18, then 108, then 128.  In our math book thus far, she's only added numbers whose sum is 40 or less.