Favorites Lately

Claire's favorite song: "Eye of the Tiger" This may be my fault. I had an 80's themed interval class a few weeks ago and prepared much of it in the car, and I noticed that every time "Eye of the Tiger" came on both of my children's heads started bobbing in rhythm. Not long ago we were having family worship when she requested this song and of course, we sang it. I think the Lord understood.

Averi Kate's favorite phrase: "Baby Jesus tired." But in your head when you read that, you must say it like this: "Baby Jeeeeesus taaarrrd."

Claire's favorite excuse for people doing bad or unkind things: "They must not know the true meaning of Christmas."

Averi Kate's favorite mode of transportation around the house: Galloping. She just gallops from one room to another. Actually, this is also my favorite way to get around the house. It must be genetic. (Don't lie, Mom. I know you gallop around your house too.)

Claire's favorite game: "Let's pretend like I'm a little cat and I'm all alone and sad and I don't have a family." Me: "Okay. Oh hey. What's wrong, little cat?" C: "Meow. I don't have a family." Me: "Oh okay, you can be in our family." C: "Meow! Thank you!" (Put the preceding dialogue on constant repeat and you have a picture of my day.)

 Averi Kate's favorite movie: Wee Sing in Sillyville. She calls it "Barney" (the dog's name is Barney on the video) and she tells every single checkout person at every single store about it. She holds the empty DVD case every time she rides in the car. This was also her aunt Gigi's favorite movie as a teenager little kid. Come on...can we have a little throw-back with the Bitty Booties?

The kids' favorite activity that I should have thought through a little bit more:

A plastic bin full of shaving cream.

In hindsight, I think this entire episode should have taken place in the bathtub. Oh well.

Of course music in all of it's forms remains a favorite of everyone.

This one is a little long and the theology is a work in progress...

My favorite moments lately:

Claire's first race: On Saturday she ran in a 1 mile fun run and did awesome. She finished in 11:30 and later said, "Mommy, I could have done it faster but I was scared I would get hurt." My child.

Claire reading to Averi Kate:

My favorite conversation with Averi Kate:

Playing Catchup

 Well, now that it's December I figure we should all catch up on what happened in November...

First, we went to NC and saw some wonderful friends. Brent and Amanda (and Ivy and Hayley!) who have moved to Kentucky for seminary, arrived in town for the Christmas tree season, and we came up to visit on the same day! Amanda's sister Sharon was so sweet to let us stay in her house. Claire quickly found that there weren't any "toys" in the house, but leave it to Mando to come with a most unconventional "baby doll" made out of a pair of Sharon's fuzzy socks.

Complete with clothes and a diaper.

I regret that I didn't get more pictures with the Stewarts. Claire and Ivy had a great time playing together (Ivy was so sweet to her even though there is a three year difference in age) and Hayley and AK actually did pretty well together too! Brent's mom had us over for supper one night and then we got to hang out again on Sunday before we left. I miss you so much Amanda! You are so special to me!

That Saturday I ran in the "Conquer the Mountain" half marathon in Franklin. Here I am pre-race with my two cold children.

Waiting for the race to begin...

The kids found a way to pass the time while I was running!

This was about mile 10...

And coming in for the finish!

I actually won first place overall for the females, coming in at 1:45 for the 13.1 miles. This was a much better time than I anticipated, especially since the name "Conquer the Mountain" was not a metaphor. I wish the Coach could have run it with me but his knee was giving him trouble during training so he had to back out. However, I couldn't have asked for a better support team than the Coach and the girls cheering me on!

One other fun thing that we did in Sylva was to visit our favorite park where I used to take Claire (pre-AK).
 

On our trip back, we stopped at Tallulah Falls.

Claire did awesome on the endless staircase! She was a trooper!

The next weekend we had a birthday party for Claire at the park. I didn't get many pictures since I was just trying to enjoy the moments, but Dobby has some on her camera. Maybe I'll get them onto my computer some day, but for now this is what I've got!

And then, of course, Thanksgiving. Oh, what fun we had at Popple and Nan's house. Popple, Nan, Bo, Bonnie, Gigi, Bean, and most of all, Justice and Venus...what more could a girl ask for???

Claire insisted on being in their family picture!

The Pickards...

Oh, how these cousins love one another!

Notice the change in AK's face from this picture to the next, when Venus comes on the porch...

 Poor Venus is not used to quite so much attention...

The McLeods...

And a sibling picture.

...Aaaaannnddd, a more realistic sibling picture.

Justice, this is how we all felt when it was time to go.

When we got home from our Thanksgiving trip, the girls had a little surprise waiting on them...

Ellie the Elf is back!

Trying to figure out what is going on...

And, that's November!