DPP Day 6 - The full empty day.

Today was the day with space this weekend.  Time to get things done, prepare for the week, relax, and catch up.  As frequently happens, the day filled quietly and quickly with plenty of things that were not what I had originally planned.  Laundry is done - but not put away.  My plan to have two different kinds of cookies baked didn't happen.  And the grocery shopping will have to wait one more day.  Let's hope the milk holds out!  There is the regular work to do and even more to do to prepare for Christmas.  I am going to have to start getting more things done!  While it stresses me a bit to be behind, the day was fun.  Lots of moments in the day that were fantastic.  I took a ton of pictures today - so I think I will let those stories speak for themselves.  I won't bore you with all of the pictures.  I will try to pick my favorites. 

I titled this one "IronPig" and shared it already on Facebook.  We are on a screen hiatus for the time being - which means I have a bustling household with four kids playing in creative ways and coming up with new games all the time.  This tends to leave a little bit of fallout in their wake.  These two abandoned items from two different fun games were found by this little one.  She picked them both up, brought them to me, and requested that they get put on.  She stayed that way until those whom they belonged to decided that they needed them back, right now.  :)  I am certain that IronPig saved many a life today in our humble kitchen.

Once IronPig had completed her duties - it was right back to mini-mama mode.  Here she is giving her monkey (Ben's monkey) a drink.  She gave them each a drink before proceeding on their walk.

Ben and his friend are taking some time to trade Pokémon cards.  I do not understand this fad or whatever it is - but they love it.  I am all on board with learning negotiation skills - no matter how they come. 

I also do not understand why some cards deserve a place of honor with plastic coating and held under close watch - while the vast majority of them can be found in couch cushions, air vents, under beds, used as bookmarks, etc. 

This kiddo has discovered Legos and he is a champ.  He has figured out how to read those books and he puts together each package - usually in one sitting - exactly as it is supposed to be.  Once, he got all the way to the end - and one piece was backwards from the way it should have been - but it was buried within the ship.  Brandon disassembled the ship and started again.  He is my details boy.  Calm, careful, thoughtful, and charming.

Here is a good picture of our fur baby, Teddy.  I am not going to lie - about week two of this new addition - Rich and I had some serious worries about what we had gotten ourselves into.  But here we are - well into week 6 and finding that this pup is pretty wonderful.  He is smart and picking up the rules of the house quickly.  He potty trained easily - thank goodness.  Don't get me wrong - he is still a puppy and drives a bit bonkers once in awhile.  But he definitely has more good moments than bad.  That's all you can ask of a 3 month old pup, right?!?!

There it is - one of those melt my heart moments.  There is such a big age gap between these two that I sometimes worry they won't be close or end up good friends as adults.  But when I see Elizabeth slow down to care for and play with Katherine - it reminds me that whatever bond they have - it will be special.  Elizabeth is making it so by investing so much in this sweet sister of hers.  **By the way, it was HILARIOUS listening to her try and get through Fox in Socks!  If you haven't read it out loud in awhile - try it.  Not.  Easy.**

Elizabeth is reaching the age where I want her to start developing a better understanding of the value of a dollar and what it means to commit to something financial.  She has been dying for a phone for several years.  Now, she assures me that EVERYONE has a phone except her.  So we talked about what that would look like.  She promised to buy her own phone and to pay for everything.  Pie crust promises - as Mary Poppins would say.  She is practicing to see what it will be like to need to earn $25/month to pay for her portion of a cell phone bill (which is cheaper than the $60 if she were to  sign up for her own line). 

With her determination with which she always attacks things, she arrived at my mom and dad's ready to work.  She filled that large black trash bag full of leaves.  And she also stayed behind to clean up after the party. 

She has a long ways to go to get her savings to back her up in case she has a month with no money.  But I know she will do it.  And she will appreciate her phone and the service that comes with it even more.

My parents have this clock that does the craziest things when you either push a button or the clock strikes the hour.  Katherine finds this completely entertaining......and so do my parents.  You will see Katie saying "Uh-oh, it is broken" here in this picture.  If you look closely, my mom is doing it too.  :)

As I read this through a second time looking for errors - I can hear my father saying, "Erin, you didn't tell them that it plays Christmas music too!"

Sometimes life moves so fast - things take a while to get done.  So today, we celebrated my birthday.  For those of you who know me - that was in September.  :)

It was worth the wait.  A delicious dinner, a cool new flash for my camera, and Oreo cookie dessert.  Most importantly, some time with family, which is always something I treasure.

Here is today's post because I think it is most important.  This is Brandon learning (again) why we celebrate Christmas.  It can be so hard when you are a kid to realize it isn't really about Santa.  Brandon was a good listener to the story I told him.  Then I began to sing a bunch of different Christmas carols to him and told him to listen to the words.  He kept smiling and saying, "Hey, that is about Jesus too!"  In this picture, my dad is singing "Away in a Manger" while Brandon creates the scene.




I always find myself getting to the end of the weekend and wishing it would last a little longer.  But alas - back to work tomorrow with some big things that need to get done this week.