At the advent of Christmas Card season, we realized we hadn't had a family picture taken with all 6 of us. So we took advantage of a nice day at the gardens to take some pictures.
Henry tried out for and made the Lego Robotics team. They named themselves the Purple Squirrels- for reasons only a bunch of 4th and 5th grade boys will ever know.
They spend their Tuesdays building a Lego robot and coding its movements on computers. The goal is to get it to move through an obstacle course on its own, completing tasks as it goes.
There was a scrimmage to test their robot. They've got a lot of work to do before January.
Beatrice is still developing her love/hate relationship with her bouncy seat. On one hand, it's really fun. On the other hand, whenever she's in it, mom tries to walk away to get something done. Don't go mom!
Aunt Jenni really gets Georgie. She sent her these cool Pokemon pajammies for her birthday. Then she sent this cool bolero sweater that she crocheted. Georgie likes it so much she wears it to bed.
And during the daytime hours, she tries to ride a bike! Or she freaks out on our never-flat road and begs me to keep holding on to her.0
In a very last minute effort to win the ugly sweater contest, I tried to craft a minecraft-style Christmas tree sweater. But it didn't go so well.
Instead I wore one of Brandon's grandpa's sweaters and a pair of Christmas pants to admit my defeat.
June opted for a fancy look instead of ugly. And Beatrice wore her Santa costume.
The photo booth was a big hit again this year. Georgie and Marion took some funny shots.
We took pictures with Alex and Davis again.
Henry, Katie and I donned mustaches while Bea tried to figure out what was going on.
During our weekly bath, the girls have gotten excited about Bea joining the fun. Mostly because she doesn't cry if you pour water on her head.
I forgot to add this to the last post, but this girl really loves being in the water.
Georgie is missing her friend Olivia. She drew a picture of them both. She's really working hard on writing her name.
You may not have guessed that June was just sent home from school for vomiting. She doesn't seem to be sick at all. When I went to pick her up, she was dancing for the office ladies in the cool new clothes she got to pick out from the extra clothes bin. As it turns out, this would not be the last time June threw up at the lunch table. I think June has inherited her Aunt Jenni's knack for eating too quickly, choking on something and barfing. Now when she barfs, she has to go to the nurse's office. The nurse will usually call me, but she doesn't make June go home anymore.
Here's another great story about the extra clothes bin. In the mornings, Brandon gets up with Henry and June and takes them to school. We're not morning people, so most of the time, our eyes are closed through most of the morning routine. After Brandon dropped June off at school, I got this email from her teacher:
"I LOVE that June picks out her own clothes. It reminds me of when I was her age : ). This morning, she had on some tights and a dress that didn't quite cover everything up. The tights were falling down some, so I sent her to the nurse who gave her a dress to borrow (that she adores!). I wanted to give you a heads up when you see her come home in a new outfit."
Oh boy. Turns out Brandon let June go to school in a mid- hip length tunic and a pair of Georgie's tights that were way too short. Needless to say, June was pumped about getting to pick clothes out of the extra clothes bin at school.
We also got another email from June's teacher about this picture:
I guess June was told to draw a picture and hide her spelling words in it. Luckily June's teacher has a sense of humor. Did I mention that June is obsessed with a human anatomy book we got at the library?
I don't quite understand the idea of Southern Folk Art. But we heard that a relic of it is alive and well in Easley at Christmastime, so we had to check it out.
We met up with our friend Laura to see Tiny Town.
Apparently this place is the labor of love of an older couple and has been going on for over 40 years. (Their kids run it now.)
Tiny town is a series of ramshackle shacks containing scenes constructed from old toys. (You can see why the girls would love this.) And the whole thing is decked out in Christmas lights.
There's a Barbie Dreamhouse scene.
Random animals next to Santa Claus.
And a lot of animatronics.
Note that the whole thing is more than a little bizarre and a little weird.
Then you can go into a full size (but very small) house built for Tiny Town just stuffed full of old dolls. Best of all, it had a wood stove where the youngest daughter (who was probably in her 80s) was heating up hot chocolate and telling stories. Tiny Town, you may be bizarre, but you know we'll be back next Christmas.
The Elf on the Shelf is all the rage with kids today. We own an elf, but we don't let it get into the normal mischief that other people's elves do. I
Instead, we have fun with our own kid and her ridiculous elf costume.
Hey, where did you get that, little girl?
Get down from there!
Is that Dad's phone?
Piano pirate.
She's always watching you.
Creating mischief with the advent calendar.
Whipping up a little snack.
Mooning everyone on the world's fanciest antique diaper table.
Chocolate!
You really can't trust this kid at all.
And in case you were worried, I swear we had a spotter for every picture where we perched Bea on something. We really lucked out that she is the perfect age to stage these photos. She can sit up, but doesn't know how to move. I love 7 months old.
