We are so thankful! (And grateful to the Beyars, for the tree idea.) Danya painted the tree on old IKEA bookshelf-package paper. And we used to useless leaves I can't help but gather each fall. Each evening, we wrote what we were thankful for on a leaf, and glued it to the tree. Some of my favorites:
Snow
Great Grandma's successful surgery
Karate Kid
Pizza
This leaf
[drawing of exercise equipment at preschool gym]
God answered my prayer.
(The prayer was for another chance to use the exercise equipment! Three gym classes in a row, Tima was delighted to try it all out.)
After first big snow, we played for over an hour at Danya's school. Although the cell-phone picture doesn't have a wide field, you can see groups of kids all over the place, each rolling up huge snow balls. It was a fun time with friends and the blessing of snow.
Daddy's home--and here's a package! The kids were shocked to see what was inside.
"Is it real?" asked Ella.
"Will it live in this box," asked Tima.
"A hamster!" cried Danya
Welcome home, Pumpkin Pie! This is our new guinea pig. She came to us on Thanksgiving, and the kids are delighted to have their first pet. She is still pretty skittish, but likes being held. It's fun to feed her--she eats a lot of hay, oat grass and carrot peels. The kids are pretty skittish still, too. They don't like how sharp her claws are, and are scared of squeezing her too hard, or of letting her go. Ella mostly loves to run screaming away, crying, "Mama, it's an emergency!" --which doesn't help anyone calm down!
