Thanksgiving Fun

We had a great time with the entire Bray Family in North Carolina for the Thanksgiving holiday. Here are two videos to prove it.
P.S. My mom would kill me if she knew I was putting this on here, but how could I resist?!

The Blustery Day

Ever since since this summer (when we got a free kite from the library's summer reading program), Miriam asks if we can fly her kite whenever there is the slightest breeze. We've tried once or twice, but it's never been windy enough. Finally, this week, Miriam's dream came true.

Henry's Attempted Get Away

Miriam proves she's a "Big Girl"

Miriam's arms are now long enough to reach both handles and she loves to run on the wheel and show us how grown up she is!

Miriam the Snapper

Miriam is thrilled that she has learned how to snap. It is just one more proof to her that she is a "big girl". In fact, the other day over breakfast, Miriam declared, "I'm a big girl. I'm getting closer to being a mom!" I'm proud that her dream is to be a mom, but I'm quite content for her to stick with snapping for a while longer.

Zerberts

Henry enjoys giving zerberts, and we enjoy being his recipients, until his teeth accidentally dig in.

Little Red Riding Hood

Miriam loves acting out stories. Usually it's just Miriam and me or Alvin trying to cover a large cast of characters. So, while we were in Illinois, we took advantage of a house full of people to put on a production of Little Red Riding Hood. (keep in mind that there was no dress rehearsal!)

Cast:
Little Red Riding Hood -- Aunt Reta
The Wolf -- Miriam
The Grandma -- Grandma
The Woodsman (who I mistakenly called the hunter) -- Grandpa

The Audience -- Alvin, Ammon, Seth, Henry

Summer Dance Party

We created this blog a long time ago, just as a test to see if our family wanted to use it as a means of staying in touch. We then decided that a newsletter works better for us.

Although we won't use this blog very often, we've decided that it is a fun way to share videos that we can't include in our newsletters. Here's one from our summer vacation to Alvin's home.

I apologize that the first half of the video is sideways, then I figured out that I needed to flip the camera. Maybe you can rotate your computer screen for the first 10 seconds. :)

Miriam has titled this video: "Cinderella Dancing with the Prince"

Featured Artists:
Aunt Reta
Miriam
Alvin (on piano)

Zoo

We went to the zoo this week with Aunt Louise, Cousin John, Baby Beth, and Marvelous Maria. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time, as can be seen in this video. Too bad energy is non-transferable.

The New Year

We spent New Year's Eve alone this year. Miriam went to bed around 8pm like any other night. We celebrated by making delicious mint brownies and watching the movie "The Ron Clark Story," which we highly recommend. The movie finished just in time to turn on the TV and watch the apple drop. We planned to invite people over for food and games on New Year's day, but Miriam had a bad cold and the rest of us were starting to show signs of getting it, so we decided it wasn't fair to have friends over and share our germs. So, we played games, watched football, and ate yummy food by ourselves.


Miriam's beginning to feel better although she still has a cough. Unfortunately, Henry has gotten worse throughout the week..runny nose, fever, deep chesty cough, and very "wheezy". I took him into the doctor on Saturday where they confirmed that he's pretty bad. They gave him a breathing treatment that was not as effective as we would have liked. We are now using the nebulizer a few times a day at home and praying that Henry will be able to breathe easier and feel better soon and that it won't develop into something worse. We are thankful that he continues to be a happy baby despite the circumstances.


Traveling for Christmas and then a week+ of diarrhea (side effect of her antibiotic) have required Miriam to have a potty-training refresher course this week. We're close to being able to trust her again and are excited to check potty-training off our list. Miriam is turning into a "gamer." Alvin's in heaven and I'm beginning to go a little crazy. She's constantly saying, "Let's play a game!" and as soon as you're done, "Now, let's play a different game!" Her inflection and enthusiasm are difficult to resist. We played Memory yesterday for the first time with upside down cards (we usually have them face up and just find matches). She surprised me several times by remembering matches that I couldn't even remember.

Miriam got some brown, chocolate-flavored chapstick in her Christmas stocking. Unbeknownst to us, she decided to sleep with it one night and we found it in her bed the next morning, along with some brown streaks on the pillow. The next night she asked for the chapstick and I told her she couldn't have it in her bed because that could make a very big mess. So, for three nights in a row we've caught her sneaking into the bathroom after we've put her to bed trying to get the chapstick! You'd think she would learn that we're on to her, but she persists.