The Whitelaws

Jenna is 8.5 today! She weighs 58.8 lbs and is 50.75 inches tall. That's 0.2 less in weight and she's grown 1.25 inches since turning 8. This is her 3rd grade picture. She wanted her hair curly for picture day. So, we put her hair in sponge rollers after her bath and she slept in them all night. Her favorite color is still green (since she was 2.5). She loves her stuffed dog "Scruffy," Calico Critters, rainbow loom, & legos. She loves to read and she loves history. She wants Santa to bring her a history book for Christmas!

She is doing well in school. Math is becoming a challenge, but definitely not a challenge she can't handle! We were recently stumped with how to approach a certain type of problem. So, I took a picture and sent it off to my friend, Sarah, who teaches college math. She sent us a brilliant idea of how to approach the problem! The next day when we tried it, Jenna was so excited to "get it." She said, "I sure am lucky that you have a friend who's a math teacher!"

She loves piano! She recently had an ear infection which caused her to miss one piano lesson. She cried when I told her she would have to miss! And, then she was still not well for a little recital at a nursing home the next day. More tears! What a sweetheart she is!
Mima, wearing her apron - one of her first sewing projects and the pattern for Jenna's. Jenna and her apron. And, Kellen because he wanted to be in the picture. Rumor has it, the next project is a surprise!
Jenna is a great big sister! She often puts what Kellen wants to do first and we have to remind her that she doesn't have to do that. She is kind and compassionate, she has a quick wit, and a bright personality! Over Thanksgiving break, I guess she was feeling a little stifled, so she made "The Declaration of Jennapendence." So clever! Happy half-birthday, Jenna! We sure do love you!

Jenna started Thanksgiving break with some sledding fun with friends. Then, Monday, Nov. 23rd, we made the drive to Wichita.
Uncle David and Aunt Katie had already arrived. We had fun doing puzzles and playing games. This one, The Merry Milkman was my Mom's game. First released around 1955. Amazingly, it's just missing a few pieces. I love this game!
By Tuesday morning, the natives were getting restless, so we took them out to the park. They were playing as if this tube was sucking them down and then Jenna would try to save Kellen and get sucked down too. She thought it was funny that they'd end up landing like this.
Inspired by Olaf's rearrangement of "Happy Birthday Anna" to "Dry Banana Hippy Hat" in the short film "Frozen Fever," Jenna used the letters Grandma gave them to change "Happy Turkey Day" into "Ye Urppy Yak Hat." The "D" is over on the left in two pieces, so it didn't make the cut.
My friend and I decided we couldn't keep all the fun to ourselves, so we decided to get all our kids together to play on Wednesday afternoon. Aren't they cute?

David and Katie made a yummy dinner for us Wednesday night. Kellen loves to help make guacamole, so he helped by cutting the tomatoes. Uncle Matt and Aunt Leslie arrived later Wednesday night.

Thursday, we had a great feast. Smoked turkey by Dad; stuffing, fixings, and pie made by Mom. And, as Kellen would say, "thanks for the cherry pie made by Mama and me." We all stayed in because we were iced in. We enjoyed football, puzzles, playing, chatting, a movie, and my favorite - dessert for dinner!
Friday morning, still rather iced in - we celebrated Christmas. So many nice gifts! Some are not pictured because there was so much excitement and blurriness.
Friday evening, we enjoyed a visit with the cousins and second cousins.
A rare visit with Travis - I can't remember the last time I saw him. Maybe when Jenna was about 6 months old?
After the cousins left, we squeezed in a little early birthday party for Kellen. He was so excited!

Saturday morning, David and Katie had to fly home. After lunch, Jenna and Kellen cashed in their "ice cream date" gift from Uncle Matt and Aunt Leslie. It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall!

After the ice cream was eaten and the Michigan was unfortunately lost, we started on the road for home. All the excitement and fun had caught up with this non-napper. We decided to stop for the night in Hays. And, we remembered the reason why we normally don't encourage him to nap anymore. He was wide awake at bedtime! Jenna and I were tired and both went to sleep around 8:30 and left the guys watching football. Then I woke to some rustling. It was 9:30 - Kevin wanted some snacks and Kellen was still wide awake. So the boys were getting dressed to go to the store. At 9:30. I sometimes wonder at people bringing small children out to stores so late. And now, we were that family. Now I understand. He finally went to sleep around 11 pm.
Home sweet home by Sunday afternoon. The new spy bomb game was quickly brought out - you zig zag the string across the room and then try to get through without setting of the alarm. Jenna went straight for her calico critters and dolls. It was a Merry Thanksmas!

What do you do when there's an impending blizzard and it's already starting to snow? You go to Bass Pro Shops and get a free picture with Santa and a free stuffed animal key chain - of course! I think the excitement of the snow falling added to the magic. Plus, we were the only ones there. Santa was waiting for them at the front door and led them by the hand to the picture area. So fun! (I know, I know - it's not even Thanksgiving yet.) Jenna asked for a history book and Kellen asked for a Darth Vader watch.
Snow day! It was blizzardy until around noon. Then the sun came out. A perfect day to play in the snow! If you know Kellen, he HATES to wear a coat. So, for him to put his coat on AND his snow bibs AND snow boots AND gloves is a BIG DEAL. I know it was really hard for him and I'm proud of him!
We get a lot of snow here, but it's rarely the kind for building snowmen. Jenna's been wanting to since we've lived here and this is the first snow that's worked. She and Kellen were playing inside and I knocked on her door and sang, "Jenna? Do you want to build a snowman?" Meet Timmy:
And then he was happy again. Especially happy to be throwing snow at sister!

Today was a gorgeous day! We didn't even need jackets in the sun. So, we had to get out to the zoo. This lion was roaring up a storm - gave us quite a show.

Today was possibly our last 70 degree day for a while. And a little snow may be coming by the end of the week. So, it was a perfect day to do a little raking. Jenna and Kellen were really excited to help!
Front and back yard combined produced about one and a half bags and took about 20 minutes. So much better than the 40-45 bags and HOURS spent one Easter weekend in Abilene!!

Update: First few snowflakes Thursday, Nov. 5. And the first big snow Wednesday, Nov. 11.