Thanksgiving Tree

Am I the only one, or is anyone else in shock that next week Thursday is Thanksgiving??  I don't know if it has been the warm weather here lately or just the busyness of the days, but I do a double take when looking at the calendar and seeing that today is November 17!!  Wow!  It seems to me as though Thanksgiving has become one of those "back seat" holidays (like Labor Day, Memorial Day, St. Patrick's Day) that are celebrated and exciting on the actual day, but there isn't much "build up" to them.  I personally blame the stores.  The Halloween costumes and candy are not even out of the stores sometimes when the Christmas tress and holly are being displayed.  And while I love Christmas and the decorations and music, I have moments when I am disappointed Thanksgiving - a holiday in which we give thanks to God for all the amazing things we are blessed with - is overlooked.  I suppose one way to look at it is that we are to be thankful every day, thus the one day that is set apart for being thankful is not as emphasized.  However, I don't think that most people view it that way.  And as we attempt to raise our kids to be thankful and grateful for all things, I was wanting to find a way to encourage a more "hands on" approach to thinking about all of the blessings in our lives.

At MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) today, we did a craft that I loved.  For me to say that, it must have been good!  I thought it was useful, relevant, and easy to do!  We made Thanksgiving Tress.  Our creative leader brought in tree branches, and we punched out leaf shapes from construction paper to put on our trees.  And the idea behind it is to have your family write something they are thankful for on a leaf and attach it to the tree.  The answer to me wanting something tangible for Thanksgiving!  The past few days I had been talking to the kids about being thankful and of course asking them what they are thankful for.  And I would get the same answer every time from Faith - "food".  Maybe she was hungry??  Anyway, when I showed her the tree, explained the idea, and asked her if she wanted to put a thankful leaf on the tree she was very excited!  And the thing she said she was thankful for was love!  For Shane's turn, he wanted me to write he was thankful for animals!  Here is a picture of our tree so far...

As the days continue, I look forward to hearing the things for which my children are grateful.  I know I have so much that I can offer up in thanksgiving.  And who knows, maybe our Thanksgiving Tree will stay up all year!

Family Time

Tonight we did something new with the kids!  We had a fire in our backyard fire pit with them!  While we have used the fire pit before, this was the first time the kids had the chance to experience it!  They were so excited as we were talking in the afternoon about having a fire.  After getting their pjs on, we headed up the top portion of our terraced lawn and enjoyed a great fire!  They were amazed by the sparks that would fly at times.  And of course they absolutely loved seeing the moon and stars!  At one point, Faith explained to Shane that stars were pieces that had broken off the moon!  It was cute!  We even read some books up there. 

It was a great fire!

Shane kept a tight grasp on his flashlight!

Here are a couple pictures from yesterday before church.  Of course I was trying to get the two kids to sit nicely next to each other so I could take a cute picture of them.  As is the pattern, they would have nothing to do with "posing" for a picture!

So we have the lots of love picture...

And the attack mode picture! 

On a side note, we became a couple steps closer to our kitchen remodel today!  The guy who is designing our cabinets came out as well as the counter top guy!  It was great to see a computer created picture of what our kitchen will be like!

Imaginations at work!

As the kids grow older, one of the really fun things to see develop is each of their imaginations!  The ideas they come up with make me smile!  This morning, one of the more regular imagination situations was in full works.  The kids call in "roller coaster."  They both climb into Shane's crib, Faith collects quarters, and then they put on their seat belts, which are also known as blankets!  Then they go up and down, round and round!  And squeals of glee accompany each imagined twist and turn!  Here is a picture of them in the roller coaster!

After a few rides on the roller coaster, they decided to take the bus to the airport.  That is of course after they took the correct freeways and parked their car!  Here is Shane waiting on a bench for the bus...

When I grow up...

As I drove Faith home from school today, she was unusually chatty.  I don't know if she was still excited from the extra time she spent there (took her lunch again today!) or the undivided attention she had (Shane was home napping!), but it was really nice!  She shared many details about school, and even let me know that when she gets big she wants to be a teacher!  And a teacher of little kids like her!  Of course that brought a smile to my face!  And while only time will tell what she will actually choose to be when she "grows up", it wouldn't be all that surprising if she did choose the teacher road.  After all, she has quite a few relatives who are teachers!  But even beyond that, it made me happy to think that she must really like school and her teachers is she would want to do the same thing some day!

Summer in November?

So it seems as though the weather in Southern California is on a bit of a delay.  During the summer months it was cool - highs in the mid-60's and kind of cloudy.  The joke was that once school started in September the heat would come.  We waited...still cool weather.  Then October rolled around and we had a week of heat - record heat!  It was thought at that point that summer just decided to come in one week.  Well, now that we are in November, each day so far has been above 80 degrees!!  Yes, November!!  Being a Midwesterner, when November rolls around I start thinking about adding wool sweaters to my wardrobe, scarves (not just for fashion reasons but out of necessity!), Ugg boots (see note on scarves), and other fun things like hot chocolate!  Since that is not our reality this year, our family took yesterday evening and embraced this crazy November heat and took an evening beach walk.  It was enjoyable to feel the cool ocean breeze, watch the waves crash, laugh with the kids, see the sunset (a definite highlight for Faith!), and just be together as a family.  Family time is so precious, especially after having Steve at work for four days, and we just loved the time we could spend as a family.  And I actually remembered to bring my camera on the walk, so we have some great pictures to show what a beautiful day it was!

As we began our walk at Emma Wood beach we were able to see an Amtrak train go by!  Naturally, this is a highlight for the kids!  It's hard to see, but Faith is totally excited about the train.  And of course the ocean on the right...!

Just cruisin' along!

This is our favorite spot to walk since we are able to be so close to the water

Sunset shot

Faith and Steve went down closer to the water while Shane and I started to head back.  It was getting late; he needed to be carried the whole way back!

On a different note, Faith for the first time ate her lunch at preschool yesterday!  She had been asking to do so for a while since some of her friends do that.  The excitement she had to pack a lunch, bring it to school, and then stay and eat it was so cute!  And of course on our way into school in the morning she had to stop and show everyone her lunch pail and tell them that she was staying for lunch!  Thankfully, it was a MOPS morning so I dropped her off early and we didn't see too many people!  It was a good reminder to enjoy even the little things in life!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  The kids are nestled, all snug in their beds, no doubt dreaming of eating the candy they want to eat!  Little Minnie Mouse and Buzz Lightyear had a great time!  Unfortunately, Steve had to work, but the kids and I went to a Halloween party with a number of my friends, so we had lots of fun.  I tried very hard to capture a Kodak moment before leaving for the party, but Shane was less than cooperative!  He was so excited and wanted to be in character, so he was trying to fly all over the place!

Here Faith is waiting patiently for Buzz to land on the step by her, but he refused to get off the of "Beep, Beep" (what he calls his riding car) as he thought it was his space ship!

Continuing to fly...

"To infinity and Beyond!!"  He was trying to go off the porch on the Beep, Beep! 

Minnie again waiting for Buzz!

A group shot of the kids before heading out to Trick-or-Treat.

The kids were really into Trick-or-Treating this year!  It was helpful to me to go in a group like we did as Faith wanted to run ahead with the big kids, while Shane and I were in the back of the crew as he wanted to walk and hold my hand.  We finished the evening by calling Steve on Skype so he could see the kids in their costumes on their sugar highs!

Because you're curious...

I thought I'd give you the highly anticipated potty training update!  Shane is doing so well!  While I was hopeful he would do well as he showed many signs of being ready, he has surpassed my expectations!  He hasn't had an accident since Day 1, and is staying dry even during nap time!  I am shocked!  I still put a pull-up on him for the naps, but he really is proud of himself for keeping his undies dry all the time!  And of course it's so cute to see him so excited about what a big boy he is and how well he is doing.  Faith continues to be proud, which is also fun to see! 

And since Shane is doing well, we have been getting out of the house and doing fun things!  Fall break has been fun.  It's so nice to have Steve at home for a few days.  Faith was able to go to a birthday party of a classmate today, and she had a blast!  She even saw some friends from her preschool class last year who she doesn't see anymore, so that was fun for all involved.  Can't believe tomorrow is Friday already!  Have a great weekend!

Fall Break & Potty Training

The schools in our area are on Fall Break.  Even the preschools!  Faith was a little disappointed when I told her there was no school all week, but when I promised we could do some school-type things at home she felt much better about it!  Of course she held me to that, and so we did some work in one of her work books of writing letters and numbers!

  Since we are home all week with nothing on the schedule (no swimming, no MOPS because of the fall break), I decided it would be a great week to potty train Shane!  He has been showing an interest for quite some time, and to be honest, I have been putting it off because I didn't want to put the time into just staying at home for 4-5 days to train him!  But yesterday I figured this was as good as week as any as we wouldn't even need to leave the house to do the drop offs and picks from school if we didn't want to!  The undies were bought (Toy Story and Cars, of course!), the Pull-ups were bought for naps and nighttime (I tackle one training at a time!), and I made sure we had some chocolate in the house for me! 

Reflecting on Day one of potty training, Shane did really well!  I wont go into detail for fear of sending him into therapy when he can read this some day and realizes that I posted all the details of his training, but we were proud of him.  And by we, I am referring to myself and Faith, who served as his cheerleader today!  Steve is proud too, but was working today!  It was cute to see Faith encouraging Shane, cheering for him when he went, and just becoming so excited each time the "potty song" came on and it was time to run to the bathroom!  Here are a few pictures from the day...

The little man swingin' away in his undies!

And Faith!  What can I say?  Since we didn't leave the house, I gave her the option to stay in her pajamas if she wanted.  Then she decided to add the hat and glasses to go outside!  She thoroughly enjoyed her 'jama day!  Oh, and a side note...Shane is not freezing being outside in just undies!  It was pretty warm today, and so Faith was overdressed!

Trunk or Treat!

It was an exciting day at the Poelstra house!  Not only are Grandpa and Grandma Bruinsma visiting, but tonight was highly anticipated Trunk or Treat event at Faith's preschool!  While the kids weren't exactly sure what this whole thing was going to be about as they had never attended a Trunk or Treat before, they knew they were going to wear their Halloween costumes to a party, so they were excited! 

A goofy but cute picture!

At this point, Buzz did not want to put on his wings...

Buzz with the wings on!

At Trunk or Treat!

Faith with some friends from school

Faith really got into the whole Trunk or Treat thing!  She had an absolute blast, and loved showing off her costume to friends and teachers!  While Shane overall enjoyed himself, he was a bit more timid and was even a little scared of all the costumes and masks!  I thought it was kind of cute that he was scared!  And of course they were both amazed at the candy they received!! 

At school today for Faith, her class led the songs in chapel.  She was very proud of the great job that she and her entire class did. 

Pumpkin Patch

One of the highlights each year for the kids is a visit to a pumpkin patch.  Typically, they love it so much, we make more than one trek out to a farm to play amongst the pumpkins.  Today Faith's school had a field trip to a local patch, which of course we could not miss!  Even though it was raining!  And as always, they had a blast.

Couldn't be more excited!!

This pretty accurately captures their relationship right now!  Someone being nice while the other attempting to push buttons!  Shane was intending to throw the pumpkin at Faith!!

By the big pumpkins!

Once everyone from the school arrived, we listened to a talk on pumpkins, squash, and other gourds.  Faith was able to participate by naming "sunlight" as something needed to grow pumpkins!  We were proud!  After the chat, it was our turn to go on a hayride, which was much more interesting than talking about pumpkins!  Finally, we were able to look at the farm animals and pick out a small pumpkin.

Shane loved the sheep and the pig!

Faith was very proud of herself and wanted it documented that she picked up the pumpkin in the correct way - two hands on each side as opposed to picking it up by the stem, which has prickers!  And she was very worried that we were not paying for it!  It didn't matter how many times I told her that we already paid money at school for the field trip and the pumpkin, she didn't feel right about taking the pumpkin without paying.  While I was getting frustrated in the moment, I'm glad she is learning that it is important that we pay for things!  And despite the rain and ensuing mud, we had a great time!

Haircuts

The kids finally received much needed (by Shane at least!!) haircuts today! It is so funny to me that they both love to go and visit Dawn, the lady who cuts their hair! But she does after all have great toys and offers lollipops upon completion!!  It was another successful visit!

Shane in the chair - busily playing with a game!

The highlight for Faith is the Barbie computer!

The finished product...although not the greatest picture of them!

Leggings!

 This morning I was thrilled when Faith announced she was going to go and get dressed even before I had to ask her to do so!  This was exciting for me as she hasn't been too into getting ready in a timely fashion lately.  As she headed into her room, she mentioned something about being a little chilly.  While I didn't give too much thought to it, this is why she said that...

Apparently she really wanted to wear her "leggings" as she calls them!  Since it was not a school day, I decided to embrace her desires and just smile and tell her she looked cute!  She was very proud that both her shirt and the leggings had stripes as that made them match! 

Shane allowed me to dress him!  Thankfully as I write this now, the fog has burned off, the temperatures have climbed and Faith is no longer chilly!

Here's a picture from Faith's swim lesson yesterday!  She had so much fun jumping in I couldn't resist taking this picture and posting it!  Happy Tuesday!  Embrace what comes your way!

The rest...

 As I type, Steve is loading the Jet Skies back onto the trailer and we have two extremely tired kids sleeping in the other room.  To me this shows that not only is vacation nearing an end, but that a good time was had by all!  A few highlights from the past two days...Steve bought the kids some sidewalk chalk at the store (and I can't not mention how he took them both to the store so I could have a bit of time to myself!!  Amazing!!), and they loved creating all types of pictures around our room.



Shane loves to color!

Here's Faith putting some details on our "neighborhood" picture!

Steve was great about helping them make their pictures!

One of the aspects of coming to stay at The Nautical that we enjoy is meeting other families!  This is very much a family place, and it is always great to meet other families who have kids around our kids' ages.  The extra toys, the adult camaraderie, the new playmates, all make for additional fun!  Today we went with some new friends across the lake to Havasu Springs for lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon just watching the kids play together.  Another vacation success.  More great family time.  New memories created.

And how can I end the vacation posts without another pic of the jacuzzi tub?!



Days 2 & 3

Here is the recap from days two and three from our vacay...the weather has dictated most of what we have done (or not done!) the past two days!  Each day has been quite breezy with a chance of showers.  As a result, the jet skies didn't make it into the water until this afternoon.  Yesterday we used the sunny morning to take the kids to the park, something we have never done here!  We found a park right by the water and of course the kids enjoyed running around!

Shane-man sliding away!

Doing his Buzz Lightyear imitation by running around and "flying"!

She had more fun than it looks like in this picture!

 After running a few errands and taking naps, we did head out to the beach for the afternoon.  As we got ready for dinner, we could see the beginnings of a storm rolling in!  The Midwesterner in me loves a good thunderstorm, so I was really hoping it wold make it to us! 

Can't end the day without a bath!

Watching the end of Toy Story 2 before bed!  What a great brother/sister moment!!!  And after they were sleeping, the storm did roll in!  It was a decent thunderstorm that even had a bit of sideways rain and hail!!

Today we awoke to windy conditions once again, which Steve took full advantage of by bringing out Faith's kite!  The wind was perfect for kite flying as it flew the best it ever has!  Despite the breeze, the jet skies were put in the water with hope that things would calm down later in the day.  We headed out on them this afternoon and enjoyed a great dinner across the lake at Havasu Springs!  It's so fun to be able to all go on these trips, and it's a joy to see how much the kids enjoy them!  And overall, the time spent together as a family so far is absolutely priceless!