Bracken's Circus

During Joy School this week we learned about goals.  We read about a little boy named Jason who had a goal to earn enough money to buy a circus ticket.  Bracken was so excited about the idea of a circus and wanted to have one of his own.  He had it all planned out from seeing a picture in the book..."I need a hat, a cape, a stick, and a mustache."  After setting up the tent and dressing up our Circus Master/Lion Tamer and our cute little ballerinas, Bracken announced all the fun things we'd have in our circus. "Ladies and Gentlemen, all you people and stuffed animals watching!  The circus is about to begin!  We're going to have juggling clowns! (That ended up being me), beautiful dancing ballerinas, and a very scary part. A LION!  The Lion will do tricks!"  He was cracking me up with his announcer voice and how thorough he was with the announcing.

Belly Laughs

First Piggy Bank

Bracken has been saving his money to buy Christmas presents this year.  He really wanted a piggy bank, so  I helped him make one by cutting a hole in the lid of an empty hot chocolate can.  He's been scouring sidewalks and store floors for pennies, and doing chores like helping me scrub down the bathroom, mop the floor, and do the dishes to earn nickels.

Today his Aunt and Uncles sent him a letter with pictures and stickers, and "oh boy!", Sarah sent a dollar.  She tripled his Christmas savings.  He was soo excited and hurried to pull out his piggy bank, pay his tithing, and count his money with Chandra to see if he has enough to go Christmas shopping yet.

Popcorn Popping

Such a fun morning with my kids!  We pop popcorn often...(much to Brian's chagrin as he's usually the one who vacuums out the couches) and today we made a LOT of it!  Bracken and Chandra's favorite part was when the lid to the popper fell off and popcorn flew everywhere. They started screaming and chasing after each piece.  Then they helped me sweep the floor.

Concentration...

   Bracken spent over an hour this morning working with newspaper, a paper bag, glue, spare buttons, ribbon, and LOTS of tape to make two swords.

   Tonight Bracken and Brian had an intense sword fight.  Bracken hit all the buttons off of Brian's sword, so Bracken won. :)  There was a lot of giggling.

   Yesterday Bracken found his "real" hammer.  He went outside with Brian in the dark and worked on chopping pieces off of a dead stump.  Tonight we started a mini fire with Bracken's wood, ate cookies, then came inside and drank hot chocolate.  The kids love playing with their Dad, and I love having him around more too!

Not enough waffles

We started out very happy at breakfast.  But when Bracken heard their was only one more waffle left he was very upset.  He wanted "lots and lots more" of them, not just one more. He got over it eventually. :)