Holidays and Sacraments

This was how I found Benjamin napping one day recently.  It doesn't look terribly comfortable.

Anyway. We're back! No, we didn't physically go anywhere, but we've been a bit out of touch for the last two weeks.  As most of you know, a stomach flu hit our family and it was uh-gly! But everyone is fine now!  Kevin and I were somehow spared the worst of it, but if I could have traded places with the boys I would have - they were soooooo miserable.  They've never been sick like that so it was a bit traumatic.   Poor Benjamin even had a brief visit to the hospital because he was quickly getting dehydrated. 

Fortunately, appetites were starting to return in time for Thanksgiving.  We had a nice, quiet day at home that included a scrumptious ham dinner.

Which I somehow forgot to take any pictures of. I must have been too hungry. 

Benjamin was REALLY interested in everything that was happening in the kitchen! And my talented husband can cook a delicious meal even with a baby strapped to himself. 

It seemed safer than having the baby underfoot.

 

Our only real venture out of the house recently was to support Thomas in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  

He did a great job and was so proud of himself!

We decided that ice cream was a good treat for after First Confession.  

 

That's pretty much all we've been up to around here.  Now we're working on putting up Christmas decorations and getting back to school work and other activities. 

Just to remind everyone, I also post things on my other website, so you may want to check in there from time to time. Especially if there isn't anything posted here for awhile and you just want to make sure we're still alive or something.  You can also subscribe to that site if you want to be informed when there's a new post.

 

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

~ Dori

Lego Happiness

The view outside our house this morning.  As I write this the boys are outside playing in the one inch of snow that's been falling since late last night. I guess winter is on its way! It almost makes all of the Christmas decorations and holiday music at all of the stores bearable. Almost. Can't we wait until after Thanksgiving?!

Last weekend we gave the boys a HUGE surprise - Lego KidsFest came to Cleveland! We bought the tickets but decided not to tell them where we were going. It was about a half hour drive to the I-X Center, which is near the airport and the boys were very patient and trusting the whole drive. As we got closer, they saw the big sign and figured out where we were taking them. As excited as they were, they still couldn't imagine all of the Lego happiness that awaited them inside!

 

The first area we came to was full of Lego statues of just about any character you could imagine. 

Yes, that one was my favorite.  The boys did not appreciate Batman as much as other characters, though.

I'm pretty sure that the Star Wars statues were their favorites. Lightning McQueen was also a big hit. 

Next up was an enormous outline of the United States (that's Florida right by Matthew's head) that was being filled in with Lego creations throughout the weekend.

 

 Of course the boys wanted to contribute with their own creations.

 

They were very proud of their finished models. 

All of them.

Benjamin was forced to watch from the safety of his stroller.

The place was HUGE! So big, in fact, that there was a Ferris Wheel inside!

 

The boys were pretty focused on all of the Lego action, though, so we didn't bother waiting in the very long line to ride the Ferris Wheel.

We did wait in line for a turn to try out the Lego Mindstorm - something Michael has been VERY interested in.  

 

Each station was set up with instructions and pieces to build a simple Mindstorm "bot" and a laptop for programming it. Michael had no trouble building the robot and once we figured out the software (wouldn't have taken as long had it been on a Mac!) we successfully got the bot to move forward and  stop several times.

It was a great opportunity to try out the Lego Mindstorm - it's a bit pricey, but I think someday it would make a great addition to the boys' Lego collection.  With their imaginations and building capabilities it would be a lot of fun! 

Moving on...

 

There were several monochromatic building areas that the boys really enjoyed. They seemed to like the challenge of creating something out of only one color.

All of them.

We also spent time in several areas with a different building theme - mostly because there were free Legos after you built something!

 The boys each spent some time creating their own version of a Lego Ninja.

 

One of the last things we did, was probably my favorite - Lego Challenge. Each family has their own Lego station and the group is given two minutes to build something fitting with the "theme." Ours was "something you'd have on vacation."

I thought this was a great idea for something you could play together at home. We had a rolling suitcase, bag and sailboard, by the way. Since I know you were wondering.

Other areas of Lego happiness were a build and race a car area, a mural, Lego Master Builder Academy, Big Lego Pile, Duplo area and Lego Store. 

After a long day full of Lego fun and junk food, we headed home.  The boys declared it, "the best place they had EVER been!"  And they had enough "freebies" to keep them happy and awake for the car ride. 

The disappointment came when they asked to go back the next day and I had to explain to them that it will be another year until they return.  (Please come back to Cleveland next year, Lego Kid Fest!)

I hope you had a great week!

~ Dori

Halloween

I love fall. Is it strange that I get a little sad when noticing that the trees have just about lost all their leaves? 

Fortunately, we did not have the rainy weather that was predicted for Halloween.  The boys had really been looking forward to trick-or-treating. I also spent most of Monday sewing like a mad woman to finish a crucial piece to Michael's costume.

He decided a few months ago that he wanted to be Indiana Jones and I think his costume turned out really well! We bought the jacket and whip, I made the satchel and we had the rest. 

Thomas made a last minute decision to be a firefighter - fine with me since we already had the costume!

Matthew opted for the pumpkin shirt after briefly considering dressing as Buzz Lightyear.

Benjamin's ghost shirt was mostly covered up during our trick-or-treating walk, since it was pretty cold outside, but his cuteness was still noticed by everyone we encountered.

We had great weekend of pumpkin carving, hot apple cider drinking, pumpkin pie baking and of course trick-or-treating! I really wish fall could last just a little longer. 

Please?

The boys are very excited about winter, though (I know, strange). In the car the other day they were even telling a friend of theirs about what they plan to make (build) in the snow this year. At least they're looking forward to it. 

This weekend we have a HUGE surprise for them - Lego Fest is in Cleveland! We have tickets for Sunday but are waiting to tell the boys until the last minute. I can not wait to see the looks on their little faces! 

So I will share pictures of that very soon. 

Have a great weekend and enjoy these last beautiful days of fall!

~ Dori