Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We have had a busy couple of weeks. Pappy Tom took Malin and Gavin (and Daddy) to the Penn State vs. Temple football game last Saturday. It was pouring. Gavin made it through 44 seconds of the first quarter and then he was ready to go. Malin followed not long after. Tuesday this week we took them to see Penn State vs Bucknell mens' basketball. The game went in to overtime, and both kids (along with both Holderman girls) made it through to the end of the game. Gavin wasn't in his seat much -- Daddy would guess that he did about 16 complete circuits of the arena! Unfortunately, Mommy's digital camera is broken, so we didn't get any pictures of either event, so eveyone out there might have to put up with pictureless blogs for a bit until we get it fixed.
Both kids are in bed after a busy turkey day. We took our traditional trip to the cabin last night. Daddy and Uncle Nick took all the kids spot-lighting. We didn't see any buck, but about 8 doe. We watched one brave one for about 10 minutes before Uncle Nick's spotlight died. We had trouble getting Gavin settled - the usual routine when he's not in his own bed. He finally got to sleep around midnight, and then at around 5:15 thought that it was time to get up for the day. Mommy had to take him home, where he promptly fell asleep until 8:30.
We had over 50 at the table again for the meal, with just about every dish imaginable. We finally got cleaned up and headed home around 2:00. We all fell asleep, and almost slept through our afternoon meal at Nana's! But Mommy managed to wake Daddy, and get the sleeping kids in to the car. We got to Nana's just in time for the meal. We had plenty to eat there for the second time today, and are just getting home. All our bellies are full, so Daddy thinks that as soon as he is finished blogging, he will go to bed too!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Gavin

Mommy and Daddy really can't believe he's growing up so fast, but Gavin turned 3 on Wednesday. We celebrated with a family party at our house on Sunday afternoon. We all had a good time visiting and eating. We had sloppy joe's, mac and cheese, baked beans, lots of ring bologna and cheese, deviled eggs, many chips and dips, and lots of desserts, including home made peanut brittle, cake and ice cream for dessert. Gavin has recently been in to Mickey Mouse, so that's what he chose for the cake. Among his favorite gifts were a house coat (for when we use the hot tub), a sleeping bag, Lincoln Logs, and some new puzzles. Here are some pictures of Gavin enjoying his party, and also a shot his cake.

 

Oh, Gavin!

	From prying up the registers and crawling down in to the ductwork, to undressing and smearing toothpaste all over himself, to eating money, to digging a dead mouse out of a trap and chasing Mommy with it, there are times when we’re just not sure what to do about Gavin’s ‘boy ness’. Here he is almost 3 years old, and we still can’t turn our backs on him for a minute! Gavin’s latest adventures :
Getting in to a bottle of Mommy’s fingernail polish earlier in the week,
	and today, prying the night light out of the receptacle with a pair of scissors (scare!)!!!

 

Clever Crafts

The kids got creative making jack-o-lanterns this year. These were made with Mr. Potato Head pieces:
	Gavin made a pirate,
and Malin made a princess
Also, they made these vampire jack-o-lanterns with sticker kits at a church function last weekend
All four are sitting on our porch greeting visitors!