Thanksgiving Day

It was a fun and quiet Thanksgiving this year. And as always, it's fun to see M&M experience new things. We were able to use the "prayer plates" they got for their birthday for the first time. I think they really enjoyed sitting at the table eating with us and they surprisingly liked most of the new food. Their favorite was cranberry sauce and lime jello salad! They ate some turkey and some mashed potatoes but didn't seem to like corn casserole, which is odd considering they love corn. It always seems to be about the texture. I bet we'll find that over the next couple of days, we have tons of leftovers, they learn to love it too.

They were finally able to wear these cute matching brown corduroy outfits they got when they were born. They are 9 month size and a little short on Michael but luckily still fit.



We had our friend Chris over who is here without his family and M&M loved watching and entertaining him. I think they just love having a new person to look at. I know they probably get tired of just seeing us!
All-in-all it was a fun Thanksgiving! Eventhough we are far away from home, we were able to estabished some traditions of our own and appreciate being together. We are thankful for our family, new magical experiences and especially M&M. Now we can't wait to see Christmas through their eyes!

Thankful Thanksgiving Crafts

I'm a stealer of ideas this week. But as Andrew says, "There aren't many more original ideas left out there". So I'm doing my part to pass on the good ones. I follow several Blogs of our friends and it is such a fun way to keep up with everyone but also a wealth of ideas.

I stole the Thankful Jar idea from my friend Ginger. When reading her Blog it reminded me of an email that floated around recently about a man that dies and goes to heaven. When he gets there an angel is showing him around and they go to one room that is bustling with activity. The angel explains that it's the "prayer request room". There are dozens of angels taking calls, and emails and filing thousands of correspondence. All prayer requests, needs, and wants sent up to God. They walk down the hall to another room where one angel sits at a desk doing nothing but twiddling his thumbs. The angel then explains to the man how this is the "thankful room" where all the thanks come in for God. This image has stuck with me. I remember all those days and nights fervently sending up prayers to God asking for things, big things. And now I look back and see how he's given them all to me or worked them out even better than I could imagine. How much of my time with God is spent thanking Him for all these blessings? I am committed each day to praise our Father for the wealth of blessings He has given us. So the Thankful Jar sounded like a great idea to me. We are in the midst of another transition that finds us on our knees once again and I don't want to forget the "thanks". The directions are simple...write down what we're thankful for and then every once-in-a-while go read them. Puts the focus back where it should be very quickly. And reminds us that God has taken care of us in the past and will continue to...that's what He does.

Our friend Laura, who is also a blogger, recommended a blog started by a former preschool teacher who is now home with her son. The blog is http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/ . It is full of crafts, songs, books and educational ideas to do with your little ones. Wonderful site that takes advantage of all her experience working with preschoolers for so long. The next few ideas come from her.

The first, are juice box crayons. If you're a regular reader of the M&M Report you'll remember my frustration at the first "masterpieces" that M&M tried to do. Well I thought that these big chunky crayons might make it easier. Fun to do and easier for little hands to manipulate. The directions for these are here http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/search?q=juice+box+crayons. OK, so they still tried to eat them. Oh well!

I also tried the muffin tin crayons with the left over colors. She explains the process here http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2008/02/readers-corner-try-this-at-home.html. This was even easier and is a great idea if you have a bunch of little pieces of used up crayons.

So the final craft idea is the Handprint paper plate turkeys which is a variation of her idea here http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2008/11/turkey-take-two.html. I just used M&M's handprints for the tail feathers instead.

All in all it was a successful craft time and now we have Thanksgiving centerpieces. Hope everyone has a THANKFUL THANKSGIVING from Andrew, Cece, Michael and Mary Ellen!

Cruising

Michael has really gotten the hang of the shopping-cart-walker lately. Once we get him started he will cruise around the house several times until he gets stuck or is distracted by something else. Funny to watch those little legs walking!

Poor Mary Ellen she just crawls along after him! Now if we can only get her doing the same thing. She has improved so much the last several weeks though. She used to be so tentative standing up and would often get stuck standing by the coffee table scared to get down. I think this was thanks to the fall early on when she hit her chin on the coffee table and her teeth cut into the underside of her tongue. Lots of blood and one freaked out Mama! But now she will pull up on anything and pop down whenever she wants. But they both just aren't ready to let go! I'm so proud of both of them, though.

The next task is to try and get Mary Ellen talking on video. We call it "Mary Ellenese". Who knows what she's saying, but let me tell you, it is something important to her!

Our Prayer!

Though the election didn't have the result that we prayed for we are certain that God is in control. He is bigger than one man, one party, or one ideology. The truth lies with Him and His will most certainly will be done. Therefore let's move ahead with prayer, believing that even this, He will bless!

Our Prayer!

Heavenly Father, You are the real foundation of nations, raising them up to serve and care for the people dwelling in their boundaries. I thank You for making us citizens of this land of freedom and unlimited opportunity---which are the result of it's Christian beliefs. Send forth Your Spirit to this country and make it a source of wisdom and strength, order and integrity throughout the world.

Thank you Lord for President Bush's strong leadership and resolve through one of our country's most difficult periods of time. Thank you for giving us this Godly man who consistently sought Your will and guidance, through great personal sacrifice and public vilification. Bless President and Mrs. Bush as they celebrate their 31st anniversary this week, thank you God for the excellent example of their marriage which has remained strong in spite of the tremendous pressure of living in the public eye. Lord give them many years of joy and blessings as they transition into the next phase of their lives.

Please be with President-Elect Obama that he will be awed before You God, with the responsibility he has to seek Your face as he prepares to lead the nation. Lord let Your will penetrate every aspect of his plans and actions the next 4 years. Help us to humble ourselves before you and pray for his protection and strength to lead our great nation where You would have it go. Also be with Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin, that they will have God’s grace as they return to their former responsibilities.

As the brave men and women of our military continue to serve the causes of freedom and liberty with faithfulness, Lord give them strength and support from America. Lord God cover them with Your powerful protection. Be close to each one as they carry out their duties, and we pray for those working closely in difficult and dangerous circumstances to have the unction of God’s grace as they serve.

Amen!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Andrew, known around here as Daddy, turned 37 yesterday! He actually had most of the day off so we were able to spend some quality time together as a family. It was a fun relaxing day! Andrew slept in and had a nice breakfast, made by his dutiful wife. He woke up to M&M clad in their finest Clemson-wear in honor of his birthday, which made him very happy. He then enjoyed playing with M&M until he left for a little business at the Embassy. We celebrated last night with presents and a special dinner.

Andrew opening his card from M&M

Showing M&M the special picture of them we made in their Clemson shirts.

Checking out his new DVD's.

M&M loved chewing on the cards. I swear in Mary Ellen's mind she is really reading it. I mean she uses her finger to follow and babbles away like she's reading!

Last night she also did something else for the first time. She loves to follow around after Michael. She will go wherever he goes. She has always had such an intense love for him, even when most of the time he ignores her. But last night she was leading. She'd crawl a few steps then sit and turn around and say "wi bul" (for all you SLP's I wish I could write it phonetically). She did it enough times for Andrew and I to look at each other and say almost in unison..."she's saying 'Michael'!" She did it a bunch more times last night and would always look at him like, "come on 'wi bul'!" Such a sweet little gift for Daddy :-)

Andrew also got a homemade lasagna and brownies, his favorite, for dinner and we all agreed it was a fun day. Now, I'm not the "older woman" anymore and for 8 months at least we're the same age!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Halloween Fun!

What a fun....and exhausting Halloween we had! M&M had a ball in their costumes, minus the head gear, and laughed and laughed at the sight of each other. Michael was a monkey and Mary Ellen was a butterfly.
Like I said, the head gear gave them fits...it was a love/hate relationship actually. Mary Ellen tried all night to chew on her antennae...so did Michael. And she also pulled on Michael's ears all night while he just tried to pull it off. They were so cute though! It always amazes and delights us how they interact with each other.

The picture above makes me crack-up every time I look at it. Michael discovering Mary Ellen's antennae and Mary Ellen finding Michael's monkey-belly-button! This was serious business for them :-)

We went trick-or treating to a few houses in our neighborhood handing out Halloween cookies. And then to another neighborhood where a few other friends lived. So it was quite exhausting for Mama and Daddy, but worth it. We actually had several trick-or-treater's when we got back home too, which was fun.

I wanted to add a picture of M&M last Halloween to emphasize how far they've come. They had just been discharged from the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). Mary Ellen was still under 5 lbs. and Michael around 8 lbs. They were Clemson Tigers for their first Halloween. Papa and Mama Jo (Andrew's parents) had these little outfits made for them. My what a difference a year can make!

My sweet little Monkey!

My pretty little butterfly!