Thanksgiving Crafts and our Thankful Turkey

Gosh I love a good school craft keepsake. All the better when they start accumulating with a holiday theme. 

Here are some recent treasures coming home for Thanksgiving. 

That silver thing is an inflatable balloon of a dragon for the classroom Thanksgiving Day parade.

And here is our cutie Thankful Turkey for 2024

This year we are home in NJ and not hosting anyone. I'm going rogue with the menu and we plan to take the kids to Medieval Times on Friday. 

Wishing all of you a very happy holiday!

A very important entertainment announcement

Hello, hello. And Happy Tuesday!

I'm emerging from one of the most busy and stressful weeks of work in my life to alert you all to a very important public service announcement. Very. Important.

If you love Broadway or even remotely enjoy musicals, get yourself to a movie theater ASAP to see Wicked. If you haven't heard about it's release or seen the flood of marketing merchandise, you're living under a rock. 

It has taken the world by storm.

I've been a Wicked fan since high school when Mandy and I first started listening to the Broadway cast recording. I saw the national tour in Chicago my Freshman year of college and then I saw it twice on Broadway. Once with my friend from college and once again with Dan.

It's my favorite show. 

The movie released on Friday and my friend, Stephanie (who saw Wicked with me in 2016) made me part of her trip to the area just to see it with me. 

We were blown away.

The movie is so authentic to the show while simultaneously expanding the plot and making the characters come to life. The music is amazing. The acting is phenomenal. Sets, costumes, special effects. All. Of. It. The movie is absolutely the most stunning film production I've ever seen of any movie-musical adaption. Or any movie for that matter.

ANY. MOVIE.

It was so good I saw it again on Sunday with Mandy and again last night with Dan. That's right, three times. I have never seen the same movie in a theater more than once and I've now seen this movie three times in less than a week.

And we are teetering on taking the kids to see it over break.

I really don't know what else to say about it except you will not be disappointed. Broadway fan or not, the story of Wicked is for everyone. The last 20 minutes alone will re-energize your life. It's the most incredible 20 minutes in cinematic history.

GO SEE IT!

And I hope you're happy. 

Ivy || 4 1/2 Years Old

Yesterday was Ivy's half birthday. A big deal around here, as you know. We celebrated with a small gift  and we made exciting "unicorn cookies" the night before which thrilled her. Age 4 has been a turning point for us as Ivy has greatly matured in the last six months and gained so much independence since starting school. She has grown out of a lot of the volatile toddler rage and is still the sweetest and most sensitive soul as always.

Ivy at 4 1/2 Years

Weight: ??? (33.5 lbs. at 4 years) 

Height: ??? (40.2 inches at 4 years)

Personality: Sweet, smart, and deeply devoted to unicorns

Flashback to this post to see Ivy's update when she turned 4 years old.

Double jump in time to this post to remember Kip at age 4 1/2.

 

Milestone of age 4/12

Played a season of soccer

STARTING Pre-kindergarten

Learning to take showers

Starting gymnastics

Writing her name

Learning to write letters and numbers 

Drawing people and unicorns

 

Sleep

Nothing much has changed in the last six months when it comes to Ivy's sleep habits. I'm still her nightly roommate on the trundle bed in her room. She still occasionally wakes in the night and will climb down to snuggle with me. Her bedtime routine is much the same: potty, brush teeth, 2-3 books, and then someone sits in her room until she falls asleep listening to a quiet music Tonie. We never had to sit in the room until Kip fell asleep but Ivy will not go to sleep if someone is not in there. It's a dragged-out process to get to her to fall asleep but once asleep we don't have her getting out of bed in the night. I mentioned in her 4 year old post that our sleep arrangement with her is not ideal but it genuinely doesn't bother me. That's still the case and I don't really care what other people think about it. Yeah I know it's a sleep trainer nightmare but when I'm old and gray and the kids are out of the house, I hope I remember these days when Ivy would climb down into bed next to me and my presence was all she needed to feel safe. It's certainly better than fighting with her in the middle of the night to go back to her room and back to bed.

 

Eat

Not much has changed with Ivy's picky eating in the last 6 months either. We have started a little motivation sticker chart to encourage her to take a bite of something new. Her hurdle is just trying it. If she won't try it she doesn't know if she likes it or not. If she takes a taste, she gets a sticker. If she doesn't want to taste it we won't force her, just no sticker. 10 stickers earns a small toy. She is highly motivated by stuff like this and it has helped at dinner time to get her to at least taste something new. Kip was also very picky at this age so I'm hopeful she will grow out of it with time. For lunch at school Ivy takes a lunch Mandy or I make. We always pack things we know she will eat tiny sandwiches, homemade pizza lunchables, or a "picky platter." Her most favorite things to eat are fruits and treats. The girl is made of sugar so she's got to fill-up on it.

 

Play

Ivy is such an imaginative little player and that is largely thanks to Kip exposing her to his imaginative worlds and playing with her. They are really good playmates right now as Ivy is old enough to keep up with this game generation. They play all sorts of variations of things and right now they really like playing with Ivy's Magic Mixies play set and pretending it's Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Last month it was Mr. Bones versus everyone and the month before that it was Bakugans. Kip generally comes-up with the game and leads the charge but Ivy is able to catch-on and add to whatever scenario is happening. It's not all sunshine and there are plenty of yelling matches we break-up, but for the most part they are great little friends. I've caught some very sweet moments of love and encouragement between the two of them.

Ivy has made a couple of friends at school but we haven't yet done any outside play dates to see how she handles those relationships. 

Ivy is also incredibly creative and artistic. She has great fine motor skills and loves to color and craft. She is learning to draw as well but gets quite frustrated with herself when someone doesn't turn out the way she pictured it in her mind but she gets better every time she tried.

Talk 

Ivy has limitless vocabulary and is very mature in her conversations. She is articulate and smart. People outside of our family often assume she doesn't talk much because she can be very shy. But, once you get to know her she has no hesitations letting you know something is on her mind. She loves to talk about unicorns and what her plans are for her birthday in 6 months. She'll let you know what's happening today and remind you of something you told her weeks ago. She is highly observant and has a solid memory. But if you break her heart, oh man, she will show you with giant crocodile tears or a silent treatment and cold shoulder. Her emotions are RIGHT at the surface, so be ready for the full spectrum.

 

Things to remember about Ivy at age 4 1/2

"Concrete" and "Jinxy" the cats 

"I got this"

Asking for "anything" for lunch

Collecting sequins from the arts and craft center at school and stashing them in her treasure box

Playing with Magic Mixies and Hatchimals and Littlest Pet Shop with Kip

Listening to quiet Tonies at bedtime

Snuggles with mom

Finally taking herself to the bathroom independently instead of being told

Learning to do somersaults independently

The way she sings to herself all day long

Memorizing lyrics to songs on the radio

Dancing to That's What Makes You Beautiful

Her first school friend

Dictating stories to be written in her diary 

Earning Tiger Tickets in school and picking tiny prizes from the treasure box

Requesting "pony tails" in her hair

Her absolute thrill over picking outfits and accessories for the week

"Expelliamus fireball!"

"You broke my heart" 

Her love for shopping and "girls club"

What's Next

There is nothing grand or new on the horizon for Ivy in the next several months. Adjusting to full-time school is a long transition, so we're still working on that. Ivy is enjoying her weekly gymnastic class (primarily tumbling) and she is making slow and steady progress at her weekly swim lessons. We aren't doing any sport or other extracurricular activities at this time as both Ivy and Kip really relish long and uninterrupted play time. Ivy is very much looking forward to Christmas and has already started planning her 5th birthday (did I mention that??).

Happy HALF Birthday Beautiful Girl. We adore you.

Other Peeks from Fall Break

School in November is a bit of a joke. The kids had 10 days off of school at the start of the month. They attend for 9 days and then have 4 half days followed by Thanksgiving break. 

Before Grandma's visit, the kids had several days at home. We didn't plan any trip or anything special because it's so close to the holidays that it's hard for us to take extra time off from work. So we play locally.

They went to several different playgrounds.

Mandy and I took them to Rock N Air one afternoon. The last time we came here, Ivy was a bit of a pill refusing to do anything independently. Now after going to school and starting gymnastics, she had a lot more confidence.

This was Kip's first time on the zip-line and ropes course. Let me tell you, he had a blast and I was near panic watching him. 

 

 

Mimi and Ivy made a pumpkin pie for Grandma's visit.

And as the sun was setting on Fall Break, we romped in the leaves.

Ivy was a little turn nosed because someone at school told her there are "black worms in leaves." Ugh.