{best friends}

Summer & Hannah

This & That

---fun at a birthday party---

 ---school projects:  maps of Israel & volcanoes---

 Hannah's finished map.

Samuel & I made a map together.

There's so much more.  We've been doing a lot and I've got a ton of pictures.  I'll get to them someday....hopefully.

little broadway star

Hannah did such a great job in 'Annie.'  She was too cute.

My favorite part was the servant scene.  In every practice she stayed toward the back of the stage and pretended to clean with all of the other servants.  I have no idea what got into her during the play.  She walked onto the stage with the other servants, did a ballet-like leap towards the front of the stage and then started "cleaning."  It was hilarious.  She is such a ham.

She wasn't even nervous.  I was more nervous for her.  The only thing she said was that the lights were too bright on the stage.

I think her favorite part was all of the flowers she received afterwards.  My sister bought her some and then Bobby & I gave her some as well.  

She is a little diva for sure.

b.u.s.y.

This is going to be a busy season for the Clark Clan.  We started this past week and won't stop until spring ... the first week of March to be exact.

Hannah is going to be in a junior production of Annie (tomorrow!) and has been attending weekly play practices since the first week of November.  She began practices right as her Music Makers class was wrapping up.  

Hannah & Samuel will both be participating in Upward sports this year - basketball for Sammy and cheerleading for Hannah.  This program is through our church which is nice and it offers us some wonderful opportunities to reach out to our community.  Bobby & I were asked to be on the committee for Upward and we agreed.  This means that we are responsible for opening and locking the gym for practices one night a week.  Thankfully Hannah & Sam's practices fall on our night to open/close so we won't be running up and down the mountain every day.  Bobby is also coaching two b-ball teams as well (one of them is Sammy's team, the Cheetahs). 

This week was unbelievably busy (and it's not over yet!)  Monday was our first night of Upward, Tuesday Hannah had play practice, Wednesday was Awana at church and tonight was the full dress rehearsal for Hannah.  Sweet little Amos just goes with the flow, sleeps wherever he lands and lets the ladies at church hold him & snuggle him while I work. 

We're going to be busy but it's going to be so much fun.  Sam has been wanting to play basketball and we're thankful that we're not only able to be there to support him but be a part of the program as well.  And we're also thankful that Ms. Dory (the pastor's wife) has provided many outlets for Hannah's creative/musical interests.  We have so much fun with our brothers and sisters at Bountyland so I know that it's going to be a pleasure serving with them over the next several weeks.

Here are just a few pics from the past few weeks...

--Sammy's version of planking--

 --Amos thoroughly enjoys his sweet potatoes (from my Dad's garden)--

 --Sammy's first night of Upward practice.  Here he's working on dribbling--

 --And here he's just goofing off--

--Dress Rehearsal for Annie.  "Make her drink a mickey finn!" --

 --"You're never fully dressed without a smile!"--

 --End scene--

Thankful?

Today we were not thankful for...

Poor Sammy started throwing up at 8am and didn't stop until after 5pm.  He couldn't even keep water down.  He did start feeling better towards the evening and was able to eat some "mashed tatoes" and cranberry sauce before bedtime. 

******

Amos' first Thanksgiving was spent snuggling with Hannah while watching the Macy's parade and taking naps.

 ******

I saved some turkey and stuffing but sent the rest of the food to my parents (since they were expecting to eat Thanksgiving dinner at our house and had only planned to bring sides.)  There are no pictures of food or decorations since I spent the majority of my day tending to Sammy & Amos.  Poor Hannah was left to entertain herself.  She & I were both so disappointed that no one would be joining us for dinner...we were super excited about Thanksgiving and the crafts we had made for decorations.

  ******

Now Hannah & Bobby are at the Black Friday sale at Walmart (why oh why do we ever bother with Walmart Black Friday sales?!)  Both of my boys are asleep and I'm trying to catch up on photo editing.

Mount Leaveus

We have a lot of leaves in our yard.  A lot.  

So every year my dear Mr. Clark rakes them all into a huge pile for the kids to play in.  Hannah & Samuel spent all day jumping in the leaves, making tunnels, and tumbling through them.  I seriously need to sign Sammy up for gymnastics...he is a natural at tumbling!

I spent the day preparing Pumpkin Sausage Stuffing and Pumpkin Cheesecakes for Turkey Day tomorrow.  I'm so excited!  I love Thanksgiving - the turkey, the stuffing, the pies, the Macy's parade.  Every bit of it.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll take some pictures of the fun Thanksgiving crafts the kids have worked on this week.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Hannah called the huge pile of leaves Mount E. Normus

How Cute are We...

...in our matching PJ's?

Poor Amos, it was his bed time and he had had enough!

{ Four }

Fresh from a bath...if only you could blogs would allow you to smell yummy baby smells!

Amos:

• still sleeps through the night.
• loves his bouncer.
• laughs at his big brother & sister.
• loves to be thrown into the air.
• reaches for and grabs objects.
• rolls from his back onto his side.
• hates torture time...I mean tummy time.
• closes his eyes right before he squeals.  He is cooing and "talking" more each day.
• just started eating solid foods yesterday.  I made sweet potatoes in the Baby Bullet and he is gobbling them up!
• has the cutest mohawk.  I spike it up after his bath, then Hannah or Bobby will come along and flatten it.  
• is so laid back and just goes with the flow...which is good considering we are pretty busy people at the moment!

...In Honor of Connor...

My dear friend Rebecca hosted a baby shower for me over the summer in honor of sweet little Amos.  It was my delight and pleasure to have a turn hosting a shower for her, in honor of Connor who is due to arrive mid January.

The shower was Saturday.  Her mother offered her house so all I had to do was prepare food & decorations.  I had a little help from another dear friend, Jennifer.  Between the two of us everything came together perfectly!

I only have pictures of the food.  I had planned to take more pictures of Becky and of her opening presents but Amos was hungry and tired so....I spent much of my time nursing him!  Such is the life of a nursing mother.

 Thanks to Jennifer for the adorable diaper cake!!

 Red Velvet cupcakes made by a lady at our church.  She owns a small bakery and let me just say that I would eat anything she bakes!  She made us the most delicious chocolate cake when Amos was born.  Yum-O!!

 Ducky punch made by Ms. Jennifer...

What Home School Looks Like...

...in general this is what schooling at home looks like for the Clark kids. 

We often venture outdoors or to local parks for Hannah's exploration day.  But we normally gather together in the kitchen with all of our supplies and books.  Water & snacks are never far away.

A sweet lady at our church gave Hannah & Samuel this cute little table and they've really been wanting to use it so I brought it inside for school today.  Sammy even wanted to eat supper on it this evening!

WARNING:  PHOTO OVERLOAD

It takes us about two hours at the most to do both kids work.  This leaves plenty of time for playing.  Hannah & Samuel recently received Slinky Dogs (think Toy Story) and that's all they've wanted to play lately.  I heard Hannah quoting the entire opening scene from Toy Story {1}.

I couldn't do a post without a picture of my sweet little guy.  I told you he's grabbing and hanging on to those butterflies!