December 21

Today I wrote and delivered a letter to Caleb's school, indicating that I will be withdrawing him once Christmas break begins. It's happening, people. Home schooling is happening. At this point, I am keeping Daisy in preschool. While I'd love to save the money we spend on preschool for her, and I'd love to get rid of the rushing to drop off and pick up, it's hard to deny that she is thriving there. For now, she doesn't want to be home schooled, so she is staying in preschool That could change at any given moment, though.

Once Caleb was on the bus (with Christmas gifts for his bus drivers, teacher, and teacher's two-year-old daughter, complete with handmade cards), the little ones and I got ready to join Amber and her boys for a play date at the Bird Sanctuary. Shockingly, it was in the 60s (on December 21!), so it was a perfect day for outside exploring.

Daisy and Drew are so funny together! They were all over this face cut-out board. (Is there a name for these, and I'm just blanking?)

The chickens were definitely a highlight.

It was about this time that Eli, wrapped snugly on my back, began squirming and saying, "Bird. Bird. BIRD!!!" So I put him down.

He was totally into the chickens. 

And he totally knows what he's saying when he says "bird".

Also, can you tell that Lily chose her outfit today? I'm so far beyond the point of being embarrassed by her outfits. Now I just think they're fabulous!

Amber sent me these pictures that she took:

Those Polish chickens were definitely my favorite. 

I'm glad Amber got a shot of all of the kids together, even if it's just their backs. Also, isn't Dean's stroller-cycle awesome?

Back to my cell phone pictures: 

Peek-a-boo, Lily! I see you!

Inside, they had a whole menagerie of animals. There were several colorful parrots, which I thought Eli would love. Then one squawked, loudly, and Eli lost it.

No parrots for him.

But there was a bunny that the girls loved.

Lily was particularly enamored of the bunny (who probably didn't appreciate being photographed while she was in her littler pan) and talked all day about how soft the bunny was.

And then, just when we were ready to go, Eli was asleep. Silly baby. Luckily, he stayed asleep when I transferred him to his car seat. Target was on our way home, and the kiddos have been plowing through our boxes of tissues with their awful snotty noses, so we braved the crowds and did some shopping. I was particularly thankful for my red card, because Target gave me a free smoothie just for having one. The girls thought  I was the best mommy ever!

We finally got home, had lunch, and everyone went down for naps. That's when I got out one of my Christmas projects:

Ever since he first saw The Wizard of Oz, Caleb has been begging for a pair of sparkly red shoes. The problem is, they don't make sparkly red shoes for boys. I've repeatedly told him this, but every time Daisy or Lily gets a pair of sparkly shoes, Caleb's old longing comes back. Finally, I decided to just do it. I suppose it would have been faster and easier to get a pair of leather or canvas shoes and glue glitter to them, but these were really inexpensive  and good quality. Also, they lace and tie, and one of my goals for the next six months is for Caleb to learn to tie his shoes. I'm hoping these shoes will provide some motivation.

I still have a lot of sequins to sew on, though, so I need to get to work!

On his way home from work, Chris picked up our Christmas cards, so while the family ate dinner, I feverishly addressed them all. Maybe a few people will get them in their mailboxes on Christmas Eve? Then, I left my family to go be with my people: it was Book Club night.

This is the reason this blog post is a day late. Usually we meet at Jessica's house, but tonight we celebrated by going out. Our book club has been meeting for five years now, and it is something so special and wonderful for me. When we first began, I had one child. These ladies and I have talked babies, birth, breastfeeding... oh, and books, of course. I am so thankful for them!

(And no, our eyes don't usually look like that. We are neither demons nor vampires, though over the course of the past five years, I think we have read books about both!)