Favorite-Things-Phone-Dump Friday

Hey all!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We sure did.  We hosted a great group of 14 people at our house.  It was potluck-style so there was a TON of delicious food and SO MANY DESSERTS.  It was great to have the space to have both of our families together (except Mari- we missed you!) at our house.  We ate, drank and were merry, and there were tons of people to keep our children entertained.  Bonus!

So I'll start with the Thanksgiving pictures.

Favorite Thing #1: The group: Great Grandma, Nana, Papa, Grandma, Pa, Boom,
Bops, Auntie Yoda, Craig, Uncle Dan, Auntie Cat, Bob, Barbara, and Jeanne!

Favorite Thing #2: The tables were festive, the desserts were numerous,
and the baby was adorable.

Favorite Thing #3: There were many activities to keep the preschooler (and baby) busy...
making decorations, playing cards, doing puzzles, napping, etc. 
And then after the meal during the dishes, our sink basically exploded. 
So Pa and Chris got to work on fixing that, with a little flashlight helper.

Favorite Thing #4: The girls got good Pa and Bops time.

Favorite Thing #5: And the food really was delicious.

So it was a wonderful day and we're so thankful for the many blessings that we have.

As for the rest of the week...here are pictures from Monday through Wednesday.

Favorite Thing #6: A short week, so more time with the girls!

And today, we spent the day at G-ma and G-pa's house with them and Auntie Cat.  Our project for the morning was a gingerbread house.  It turned out, well, see for yourself.

Favorite Thing #7: The process.  We didn't really follow the kit directions, so we
got Pa involved to trouble shoot.  We ended up wrapping it in twine and putting it
outside to get all the pieces to stick together.  And then the decorating...well...
Let's just say it isn't the most beautiful gingerbread house you ever saw.

Favorite Thing #8: Comparing ours to the one on the box.

The rest of the day was spent just relaxing and playing.

Favorite Thing #9: Big girls and new skills

Favorite Thing #10: My girls

Miss Maya appears to be back in a screamy phase.  At about 3am on Thursday morning I googled "fussy 4 month old" (so much screaming) and guess what? It is actually a thing.  The internets call it a "Wonder Week" or something like that (there are many "wonder weeks"), but this one happens when babies are between 18 and 20 weeks.  Maya will be 19 weeks on Tuesday.  This is the time when babies make a "mental leap" and start to really understand and explore the world around them.  They learn new and exciting skills.  But apparently, it can be too much for the little beings to handle and the only way they can cope is through FREAKING OUT more often, not eating very well, and being terrible sleepers.  Maya can check off all of those things on the list this week.  And more specifically for her, the night time screaming is back. 

Sigh.

We just need to remember that it is only a phase and she'll come out of it knowing how to do lots more cool stuff.  I hope.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!  Sleep extra for us, will you?