Friday: dishwasher

Yesterday as one of the boys' chores I had them load the dishwasher.  I wasn't really expecting too much from Joshua, but I figured that Isaac would be able to do a pretty good job.  After all, he has to put away a lot of it as a normal chore.

Well, Joshua did about as expected.  He did a good job, but needed a lot of prompting.  Isaac did about the same as Joshua, which surprised me.  Maybe it shouldn't have.  We had to talk about where to put the cups and how to use the space as efficiently as possible.  I had to remind him where the bowls go.

I think this means they need to do it more often.

Isaac had a good time at the lock-in last night.  I was expecting him to call by 10am, as the after breakfast time sometimes drags and I told him he could call when ready.  I ended up going to get him at 11:30.  I think he was awake until about 2:30am, but stayed happy all day.

Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving!

1 Thessalonians 5:18: give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

This was the passage at church today.  It was a good one.  There have been some things this year that have been hard.  Don't get me wrong; there have been a ton of things that have been really good too.  The good far outnumber the hard, but the hard always seem to be ...more on the mind.  I'm not sure that's really what I mean, but I think everyone understands how it goes.  Anyway, give thanks in the hard seasons and give thanks in the good seasons of life.

After church we put up the Christmas tree.  It's unique.  It's also the first time the cats have had a Christmas with decorations, so we'll see how it goes.  I'm at 30% that the tree will get knocked over.  When we got home after Thanksgiving today there were four ornaments on the ground.  None broken, and most not even breakable.

We had Thanksgiving with Ben's family, and it was a lovely time.  I feel like it's been a while since we've all seen each other, and it was nice to get caught up again.  The food was also delicious.

Isaac is at a lock-in tonight.  He hasn't been in many of the pictures that have been posted but they've run the obstacle course (his favorite), made a fort with the obstacle pieces, and then several other things (but I didn't see him in the pictures, so I don't know what he was doing).

Wednesday: half day

Today Isaac had a half day of school.  Joshua also chose to have a half day of school, even though it meant he'd have to do some cleaning at home.

After cleaning Isaac made a checker board.  He added an extra rule into the game which I didn't love, but it was at least a simple rule so it wasn't too bad.  His strategy needs some work, as he got a little bit stuck and then just went back and forth between two safe spots while I ruled the rest of the board.

Tonight the boys started out with a sleep over again and there was lots of laughter until there suddenly wasn't.  Isaac was in his own bed.  Joshua was sad.  I think they were annoying each other and didn't handle it by just going to sleep.  Tomorrow night Isaac will be away, so maybe it'll be a good reset.

Tuesday: Happy Birthday

It was Ben's birthday today!  It was a rather normal day though.

We got him a Lego set, surprise surprise.  (Joshua had a pajama day.  He's apparently grown about three inches since last Christmas when he got the pajamas.)

Also, do you want to know how a Venus flytrap and an alligator ...hug?  When Joshua asked us this yesterday it was not the question I was expecting.  Apparently they use their mouths.

Monday: fridge and green belts

I ordered a new refrigerator today.  It's going to take over two weeks to get here though. :(  It's probably because white isn't as popular of a color any more.  I really liked the black stainless color too, but that cost even more than the white (which was already more than the stainless).  Oh well..at least it's ordered.

Isaac and I were promoted to green belts in karate today.  This means that we're officially considered 'advanced belts'.  I'm not sure that if it really means anything else...will training be more rigorous?  More exacting?  I guess we'll find out.  There was a bit of that today, but nothing too bad.  We still aren't quite half way to black belt.  Which is fine by me!  The black belt test looks scary so if it takes us a while to get there I'm fine with that.  Isaac needs some time to grow into his coordination too.

Saturday: giggles

The boys had a sleep over in the fort tonight.  We heard lots of giggles for quite a while after they went to bed.

Friday: in pictures

I tried to microwave the milk this morning.  I caught myself as it didn't fit.

While I was making breakfast Joshua gave me a three minute explanation about how his toy medal works.  It has a safety snap on the cord, which made the explanation take an extra two minutes.  Tornado blocked Joshua from getting to his breakfast.  Joshua's grunts didn't persuade Tornado to move out of the way.

Dad stopped by to help with a home fix-it project.  It only took two minutes, which was about 58 minutes less than I was expecting.  So we had some spice tea.

I helped out at Isaac's Thanksgiving Feast.  This year he was an Indian.  The students were much calmer than I was expecting.

We watched Frozen 2 with Ben's family.  It was good.  There were several very funny parts.  Earlier in the day Joshua and I were talking about it and he said his favorite character from the first one was the bad snowman.  (Whose name, I just learned, is Marshmellow.)  For Frozen 2 it is the big rock guys.  Normal Joshua...he does like his bad guys.