Bloopers:

Combining all my clothes into one load felt so good.  Into the washer once.  Into the dryer once. Colorfastness and bright-whites are so last decade and a half ago.

Simon wanted to wrap a present all by himself and kept holding things in place with his foot- cowboy boot and all.

Somehow we ended up trying out waxing with the boys.  They all bravely tried it on their neckline.

We went to the Grand America for their window walk.  We had to take a picture of Max in front of the window that a year ago had a different intricate display on three different pedestals.  He accidentally bumped them and we heard crash after crash after crash.

My Computer sounds like an airplane taking off only nothing takes off, not firefox, chrome, finder, etc…  just a lot of sad noise.

We missed garbage day for the second week in a row.

We caught the cough, fever and sore throat bug.

At our pottery demonstration one of the workers cut herself on some baked glaze.  It made Jack feel so bad he said it made him feel like he wanted to give her a marshmallow.

When I asked Simon if he said his prayers he said, “Yes, I said sorry to Jesus that we celebrate his birthday on a different day.”

Jack was so excited to spend his money at Max’s bake sale.  We tried to tell him he didn’t need to spend his money that he could have it for free but he insisted.

Highlights:

When I was little my brother and I got chicken pocks at the same time, it was the best. We played and did everything together.  A couple of days this week were like that.  Our whole family except Jack was sick.  We jammied around and watched movies together.  We also had a very nice grandma bring soup and groceries.

Somehow 5 days into germs at our house Jack is still bounding with as much exuberance as ever.  He tried extra hard to convince us he could walk to church and come home by himself because he knows the way.

My best 45 minutes happened when I decided to help Jack and Simon make a snowman.  I was in the middle of trying to finally clean my bathroom while simultaneously working on a Christmas project.  Thankfully tender perspective was fresh on my mind to Love them Little before i can’t (It didn’t hurt that I was feeling better too… read here for details.)

Sy and Jack made a basement playground out of an old mattress, a couch and cushions.  I didn’t have the heart to tell them they shouldn’t jump on the furniture.

Max put together a bake sale and met his goal for sales – oh well that the spigot got broken in the process.

Burton memorized the preamble to the constitution.

Jack and I online whisper shopped even though we were alone in my room with the door locked. Getting a present for Ollie is extra sneaky business.

Aaron Ashcraft, a potter at the Red Kiln, was so kind to give us a pottery throwing demonstration.  We learned so much and left very inspired.  Tina showed us around and taught us about glazes, cones and the Kiln.

Max loves his “new” 1956 Tom and Jerry cookie cutter.  He got it last week on a trip to the antique store.

Simon and I sat on the porch swing together working through his sad feelings.

Burton set the tone when we tried to put together a gift for a loved one in need.  Each of the boys excitedly pitched in their dollars and quarters.  They drew pictures and wrote messages.

Ollie helped make spaghetti sauce and as a Christmas gift to Dave and me he is working on rubbing the paint off an old frame I chose for our family picture.

Jack found his dollars in his Christmas hat.  He had been wearing them.