Happy Thanksgiving

Chris and I drove down to VA for the day to spend Thanksgiving with Michelle and her family. Aimee stayed in Ohio to do the day with her in-laws, and Dad planned a trip to Tahiti, so he didn't come up. We had a great time, in spite of the rain on the way down. The kids got to watch the movie Cars, which was really cute, and we stuffed ourselves on some great food. I brought all the desserts, since Aimee wasn't bringing her pies. Troyer made brownies, Noah made a pumpkin pie, and I made apple crisp. It was all yummy.

After dinner, Michelle invited 4 of the boys to stay overnight, offering to drive them back up the next day. They were super excited! Poor Caleb hadn't been very good about behaving and getting his chores done all week, so he didn't get to stay, and he was very upset. But that opened up a slot for Micah, who has not been on a sleep over yet. he was very excited! We thought it was an excellent opportunity for him, since he'd have his brothers with him to help with any nervousness about leaving Mom and Dad. They all had a great time, and when the boys got home and Michelle and Gary drove off, Micah cried at the door that he already missed them.

We all had such a good time that I forgot to take pictures until we were going out the door. Here are the few that I took:


They had a great time playing with cousin Alex, who exhibited loads of patience with all the noise!


Micah was so busy playing that he almost didn't have time to give a hug goodbye!


Troyer was happy to stay!


Poor Caleb was very sad to go.


Levi was looking forward to getting home to bed!


Caleb was upset to ride alone in the back, so we did end up moving him up next to Levi.

Once we got home, Caleb realized it was kind of fun to have the house and his baby brother to himself, and wasn't quite so sad anymore. He also did a very good job of cleaning up the house, making up for all the work he didn't do all week.

(Little) Men in Uniform

This weekend Troyer and Noah's Pathfinder group held their induction service during church. This meant they had to wear their uniforms to church. Don't they look cute?



Noah was inducted, so he got to stand up, recite part of the Pathfinder pledge, and light a candle. He managed not to set the tablecloth on fire! Way to go Noah! LOL

As long as I had the camera out, Micah and Levi wanted to get in on the action. Here is a cute picture of the two of them:



Notice that Levi likes to have his breakfast "to go" LOL


I took this picture in front of my house this weekend also. It has been unseasonably warm for a few days, but really, you'd think the silly plant would know better? I only wish Spring were so close... sigh




And finally, a tidbit of news from a few weeks ago:
2 weeks ago Chris had to go on a business trip to Florida. It was his first time ever on a plane. He was nervous and I was nervous for him! I wasn't so much worried about the actual flight as I was about managing the whole airport maze, from leaving the car in the overnight lot to checking in and checking bags, to getting through security, to finding the right gate (gate*s* - he had to switch planes both down and back), as well as renting a car down there, and finding the hotel, an hour away from the airport. We briefly considered my figuring out a way to go with him, but that just wasn't going to work out with all the kids. Luckily he was able to convince the client to fly his coworker down, too, so he had help with the whole mess. It ended up being a pretty smooth trip, though he said it was more boring than anything.

Meanwhile, I was home alone with all the kids for a week. All went well, and I was looking forward to Chris getting home on Thursday night. I wasn't expecting to see him until midnight or later. Of course, just at the time his flight was taking off, disaster struck, lol. Caleb had been playing in the living room, "spinning," and fell and hit his head against the corner wall. Next thing I heard was Noah shouting "Mom! there's blood!" Oh great. Well, he split his head open good! He got a 3/4" gash close to the crown of his head, and it bled a lot. I was afraid he'd need stitches, and I just dreaded the thought of dragging all the kids down to the ER. Of COURSE it had to have happened when Chris wasn't here! So instead I just told Caleb he'd better stop bleeding or ELSE! LOL. Luckily it did stop quickly, so though the cut was long, it wasn't deep. I trimmed the hair away and put antibacterial cream on it and then stood there trying to hold it closed with my fingers. I couldn't put a bandaid on it because of the hair, and the lump that was forming was keeping the sides of the wound apart. I had him hold a piece of gauze to it for an hour or so, and let him stay up a few extra hours to make sure he hadn't hit his head harder than we thought. He didn't have any dizziness or nausea, and it wasn't long before he said it didn't even hurt much, so thankfully I was able to send him to bed, ER avoided.

He had me take a picture of it, since he couldn't see it himself.



The wound dried enough and formed a scab pretty quickly. Of course, under clear instructions to play quietly for the next few days so he wouldn't get the blood flowing again, he fell and hit his head on his bunk bed while playing hide and seek with Micah. (He was jumping out from hiding to try to startle Micah) More blood, etc. LOL Since then, thank goodness, he's managed to let it alone, and it is healing nicely.