Nov catch-up

Whenever I get behind on the blog I think, maybe it's time to quit.  After all, who cares what our family did two months ago?  Well, I do!  And since this is the only journal I'm keeping right now, it's time for an update.

Mid-November, David flew to Minneapolis for an informal job interview and to check out the area.  On the way to the airport, we wanted to stop for lunch somewhere with a play area, and we just happen to end up at the Dwarf House, the first Chick-Fil-A restaurant ever! 

For you Westerners reading this, you may think that Chick-Fil-A is just a place to get a chicken sandwich at the mall. Here in the south, Chick-Fil-A is esteemed as a 5-star fast-food institution that typically has much better service, food and facilities than the competitors.  The Dwarf house was unique because you could choose the fast-food side or the "dine-in" side with waiters and barstools.  Of course we chose that side.
 
 David ordered the "Hot Brown."

After wee and paid the bill, Ethan sat himself on a barstool and ordered an icecream cone.  The super-nice guy gave him one free of charge!  (Claire got in on the action, too)

 
David loved Minneapolis.  He stayed with his potential future-employer's house in this neighborhood.

 He interviewed in this office building.

 Ethan's first dental cleaning.... almost.  He waited patiently in this chair for quite some time, asking me, "when are they going to come in?" 

 Don't these look like happy little dental patients?  (Still waiting for the hygienist to come in, nearly an hour after our appt time).  Ethan really surprised me by being afraid of the vacuum and jumping out of his seat before the cleaning could begin.  There was no convincing him to sit down again...we eventually just had to leave without cleaning or inspection.

 Speaking of teeth, Claire loves walking around the house with these vampire teeth in her mouth!  (Better than fingers or marbles, in my opinion)

My little artist.  He loves drawing space shuttles.  And check out those stars! 
 
 Happy Thanksgiving!  We gathered at the institute building with 3 other families for dinner and games.  It was a really fun day.  Next time I think I'll do my own turkey, though, just for the leftovers!

 Grown-up table.  3 out of 4 mothers at this dinner were pregnant (not pictured)

 Kid tables.  I was amazed how well Ethan and Claire sat at the table when surrounded by other kids instead of parents!

 

Happy Thanksgiving from Ethan and Claire

Ethan learned this Thanksgiving song and poem at preschool.  They decorated their t-shirts and put on a brief program for all the parents.  Here is a personal performance for your enjoyment!  Click here if you're reading this via email:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9ATRv-4RkM



Notice how Claire leaves half-way through... I didn't realize until later that she was writing on the wall.

Ethan's 4-year-old class at the preschool Thanksgiving Feast

 While many of our friends and family members are freezing this week, we've been enjoying beautiful fall weather.  Here are some pics in our backyard:

I'm thankful that Ethan learned to smile for the camera :)

 Puppet show, starring the rake

 Little tree huggers

A few reasons why I love my Ethan

1.  He is loyal.  He has loved the same stuffed "Puppy" for the past 4 years.  

2.  He asks interesting questions.  About 6 months ago we had this conversation:  Me:  We don't eat goldfish.  Ethan:  Why don't we eat them?  Me:  Well, they don't have much meat on them.  Ethan:  But why didn't God put more meat on them?  (More recent questions have included "but HOW does the baby come out?")

3.  He is a patient brother.  Claire slaps him much more frequently than he slaps back.  

4.  He is extremely forgiving.  No matter how upset I get at him or how many times I put him in time out, I don't think he's ever been angry with me for more than 3 minutes.

5.  He has the most beautiful eyes! 

6.  He gets wildly silly when he's sleep deprived, just like me (This is probably NOT why David loves Ethan, or me, for that matter)

7.  He randomly belts out the Muslim "Call to Prayer" during parties.

8.  We have conversations like this:  Me:  I love you, Ethan.  Ethan:  I love you, Mommy.  But Jesus loves me even more than you love me.  Me:  Yes, Jesus has a greater love.  I'm trying to be more like Jesus.  I'm trying to love you more like He does.  Ethan:  Yes, and I've already learned, so I love you as much as Jesus does. 

What a lucky mom I am to have two sweet children, and another baby girl on the way in March!

Disneyworld

We met Grandma and Grandpa Jungert in Orlando in mid-October.  We spend two days at Disneyworld between Epcot and Magic Kingdom. We had a great time!

 Claire's first ride (boat ride in tomorrow land). 

 

 Grandma and Ethan

 Morocco!  David said it was just like being in the real Morocco, except cleaner. 

 David liked the trash cans in the American section of Epcot.

 Ethan was sent on a secret Kimpossible mission.  

He got a cell phone that sent him on a scavenger hunt.

  The mission ended with Ethan's cell phone activating the clock tower at this train set.

 Senor Donald (the Mexican boat ride is sooooo cute!)

Eating David's special breakfast sandwiches, ready for a day at Disney.

  I couldn't talk Ethan into going on Splash Mountain, but he LOVED Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!

 The kids really like Peter Pan the movie, but they weren't too impressed with meeting him in real life.  "He sounds different" Ethan said.  David and I thought he was a pretty convincing character.

I wonder what Claire was trying to say about this little boy.

 Grandpa and Grandma on the boat cruise

Claire's most "magical" moment!  

She was pretty tired as she waited in line for this ride.  Then David got into the car with her, and suddenly Claire realized that SHE was the one sitting in front of the steering wheel.  

Her face lit up in the biggest smile I have ever seen! (not captured in the photo, unfortunately)

Grandma and Grandpa must really love their grandson to squish into a tiny car 

and let him drive them around.

Ethan and Claire received Artist of the Day awards at an art shop on Main Street.  

I love how Disney does everything possible to make your day special.

 

"Magical Moment"

Claire, Mommy, and Grandpa.  Claire is wearing a hat that my parents bought for me at Disneyland when I was a little girl.  My name is embroidered on the front.  My dad said Claire looked just like little Dawnell.

"Mini-Me"

Fountains and fieldtrips, superheroes and scooters

David's brother John came to Atlanta for a conference in September.  We hung out with him on his dinner break by the fountains at Olympic Park.

 

Nice how Claire is crying and I'm laughing at her, huh?  Water up the nose is the worst!

 Cute wet footprints

 

David currently teaches a class at UGA and has soccer and football players as students.  Here we are supporting women's soccer.  

 Ethan frequently strikes up conversations with strangers.  This guy was on the drum line. 

Superheroes!  A friend of mine threw an incredible super-heroes party for her 4 year old.  She sewed capes for each of the kids who attended.  They ran around the playground in their capes, while eating superhero popsicles and listening to superhero theme songs.  It was a really fun party.  I'm sure my poor children will never have such an elaborate party of their own!   

 

My work time increased from 3hrs/week to 12/week when I began serving kids at a fancy charter school in Greensboro, about an hour south from home.  It's probably the nicest K-12 school I've ever seen, and the kids and teachers I work with are all great.  Plus, I get paid for 4 hours/week of driving! 

 This is what most of my drive looks like.  I felt really guilty the other day when I hit a small, furry animal with the car.  Why did the squirrel cross the road, anyway???

 Lake Oconee Academy (a.k.a. posh charter school).

Speaking of charter schools, David had the opportunity to give a presentation about Oman to a group of 3rd-5th grade students at a local charter school.  Ethan, Claire and I came to watch.  The students loved it!  They were so interested, and of course David made it all very fun and interesting.  We brought fancy dates, hummus and pita bread for them to sample.  We also dressed the kids in middle eastern attire (I knew those boxes of clothes/souvenirs would eventually come in handy!) but unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries before I could get pics. 

Watching General Conference on the internet.  David is such a good dad... he helped Ethan create a chart full of pictures of potential conference topics (faith, family, tithing, love, etc.) and then Ethan put a sticker on each one whenever he heard the topic mentioned (Kind of like BINGO). 

Ethan got to go to work with Daddy one day to participate in an all-day study on children's use of computer games (sponsored by Disney's Penguin Club, I think).  Ethan brought "Quackers" along, since it was his turn to care for the preschool class pet. 

Preschool field trip to the fire station.  I guess Ethan was worried about the air horn.

 

 The field trip ended at everyone's favorite park.  Here's Ethan with his favorite friend from school (the only other boy in the class!)

Emery, do you recognize those boots?  :)

 

One of the many bulldogs in Athens.

DATE NIGHT.  We'd been needing one of these for awhile.  But what do you do in Athens that doesn't involve drinking, late-night concerts, or spending too much money?  SCOOTER DATE!  We borrowed a helmet from a friend and went for a scooter ride through town.  We felt so European.  We came across a trendy, new frozen yogurt place and happen to meet up with some friends and fellow scooter riders.  

So after pumping some hand sanitizer onto your hands, you can use these teeny-tiny cups to sample all the flavors you want.  When you're ready to commit, you grab an ENORMOUS cup and fill it with all the frozen yogurt and fun toppings you want.  They charge by weight.  I'm pretty sure I sampled at least as much yogurt as I purchased.  This cup cost about $4.50.

 

I bet David and I were ALMOST as cute on the scooter as this couple:

"Thirty, flirty and thriving"

If you haven't seen the movie "13 going on 30," it's pretty cute.  The 13 year old makes a wish to be "Thirty, flirty and thriving" like the woman on the cover of a magazine.  

David finally turned 30 this month.  I say finally, because he's been ready for this for a long time!  He was always the kid who hung out with the older kids at school.  Then he married an older woman (I was 22, he was 20).  So, I'm glad we are both in our thirties now!

Notice David's Georgia t-shirt.  He went to his first Georgia bulldog's football game on his birthday!  If you don't know, football is like a religion here in the South.  People pay big bucks for tickets, women wear heels and fancy dresses, and everyone drinks way too much at the pre-game and post-game tailgate parties. (Wait a minute, that sounds nothing like a religion!)  

  Kids singing Happy Birthday

Tickle Chamber.  This is a game I try to avoid getting involved with.  Claire sure loves it, though.  One of the reasons we needed to have kids was so that David would have someone other than me to torture with his tickling.