Weekly Happenings: It seems that Abigail has gone from asking when it will be Halloween to asking when it will be Christmas. 😀 I’ve explained that Thanksgiving comes in between, which she is happy about, but she’s definitely looking forward to putting the Christmas tree up and putting up her stocking (those were the two specific things she mentioned). This week has been a pretty ordinary one. It’s hard to believe that we’re less than a week out from Thanksgiving and then full-launch into the holidays after that. I’m really looking forward to it. Watching the joy of the holidays through my children’s eyes is kind of my favorite.
The Weekly Weather: it has definitely not been acting like we’re in the middle of November. This year reminds me a lot of how it was the year Abigail was born. It’s not hot, per se, but it definitely isn’t cold, either. It’s that “jackets in the morning and shorts in the afternoon” weather that Texas is famous for. 😀 No rain, either…which is weird.
What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been busy with stuff with the neighborhood and he’s also been getting the decorations ready to put up at the different entrances to the neighborhood. He’ll be doing that a week from today. It’s crazy that we’re already at this point!
What Sarah’s Been Up To: I’ve been testing out my new pressure cooker. So far, I’ve made boiled eggs, steamed some spaghetti squash, and used the slow cooking function to cook a pork shoulder (I ended up pressure cooking it at the end because I had greatly underestimated just how much time I would need to cook it, since it was a bigger cut than I usually get). I’m excited to see what else I can cook in there!
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He made it through his last week of school and is now officially on Thanksgiving break (which he’s really excited about).
What Abigail’s Been Up To: Because the mornings have been cold, we’ve pulled out the hats to wear while dropping Joseph off at school. She has enjoyed wearing all the different hats and has also enjoyed pretending to be different superheroes, cartoon characters, etc.
This Week in Pictures:
I was finishing up Joseph’s lesson and Abigail wanted in on the fun.It was in the 40s one morning, so we bundled up. She also had her mask on since we were getting ready to walk up to the school to drop Joseph off and her sunglasses on because it was really bright out. When I realized I could only see the top of her nose, I just had to snap a picture.Pretending to be the Incredible Hulk. She was stomping around saying, “I’m pretending to be Hulk!” Then she grabbed a little plush Incredible Hulk she has and said “Hulk is chasing my nice dinosaur! He’s so angry. We need to put him somewhere!” I told her to put him in the “pillow prison” (under a throw pillow) which she agreed to. Then all of a sudden several other toys of hers all each became the Hulk and they all had to go to the pillow prison. Then, after they calmed down, they were allowed to leave the prison. Then she said she needed to get her Cinderella finger puppet to help Hulk (the original one) stay calm.Several years ago, I bought Joseph a long-sleeved Mario shirt that came with a matching beanie. I royally messed up the shirt while trying to get a stain out of it (I was using rubbing alcohol to get out a marker stain from the back of the shirt and it soaked through and took part of the silk-screened design off of the front ). He was devastated, so I went and bought a replacement, which meant he ended up with an extra hat, which has always been just that: extra. It’s come in handy a couple times when he’s misplaced the other one, but it really came in handy one day when Abigail was bent on matching him in some way, shape, or form.I love these flowers. I love the subtle bit of darker pink right that surrounds the yellow right at the center. I love the contrast between the pink and the green. I love their delicateness. I just love them!I just got this tool and it is awesome! It easily broke down my ground beef into smaller, more uniform pieces, which made it cook a lot faster. I’ve also used this thing to smash boiled eggs for egg salad sandwiches. I have more plans for it, too (mashing potatoes, smashing fruit to make filling for pies, breaking up frozen fruit juice concentrate…the possibilities are vast). I love multi-use tools!This is my pressure cooker. It came with this glass lid to use when I want to use it as a slow cooker. Here’s the regular lid. That little red button pops up when the cooker is under full pressure. I also like how far the pressure-release button is from the valve itself. I’m not worried at all about scalding myself. Also, the outside only gets warm to the touch, not hot, so I’m not worried about the kids getting fingers burned. That’s a huge benefit!Some days I’m just glad she’s eating breakfast and the location isn’t important. Funny enough, as soon as she heard I wasn’t going to let her have a coaster to go with her drink, she was quick to get back up to the table.I used my breakfast sandwich maker to make an individual serving of…well, the recipe called it French toast, but it was probably closer to a bread pudding. It was so yummy!She loves this Minnie Mouse. If you press its hand, it sings a song.I love seeing how much joy she finds in little things. It warms my heart.
). He was devastated, so I went and bought a replacement, which meant he ended up with an extra hat, which has always been just that: extra. It’s come in handy a couple times when he’s misplaced the other one, but it really came in handy one day when Abigail was bent on matching him in some way, shape, or form.
