Things that make me smile

Alison was studying Greece in history, so we had a Greek dinner one night.  She helped me plan and cook the meal and it was so fun having her in the kitchen with us, really truly involved and helping.  Ben added baklava to the menu and she helped him make that too.

Since it gets dark so early now, instead of playing outside after dinner, we've had to play games inside.  This week, we broke out the dominoes and playing as a family was the most fun I've had in a long time.

Colin wanted to be just like daddy and insisted on using his protein shake cup for his milk.  Why does he have to be so stinkin cute?!

Ok, not the greatest picture, but we met one of Eli's friends at the park this week and seeing him play with a good friend and hearing his giggles always makes me smile.  They were pretending the slides were their houses and I am always so amazed by his imagination.

Alison's writing assignment this week was to write a 2 point paragraph about Christmas.  This was her rough draft:

 This moment of happiness brought tears to my eyes:

Alison asked if she could run a race...her desire was completely unprompted or forced by us.  Ben had just signed up for a local half marathon and asked if she was interested in running the kid run (it was the day before the marathon).  She was excited to commit and asked us to take her for runs over the next month to train.  So, we took turns taking her on short runs and teaching her about running and working with her.  Maybe she just liked the individual time with us, but she never once complained or grumbled about running.  Race day came and I had this "mom moment"; my little girl with a race bib on, set a goal and worked hard to accomplish it.  She ran with all her might and even though it was hard, never stopped.

Almost to the finish line!  Finished 1 mile in 11:04

I just can't get enough of her smile!

That evening, I found her like this:

 Reading in front of the fire with a cup of hot cocoa.  Isn't it crazy that she's old enough to make her own hot cocoa (thank you keurig)?  AND she's reading a Little House book all on her own.  This momma was a puddle of mush by the end of the day.

I love how Colin says 'sandwich'. Alison recorded him making lunch the other day: