Math Wizard

Lily came home with a big red paper apple that reads, "Great job in math!" She got this from her math teacher today because she got everything right. It isn't her regular teacher because they're trying something new where her teacher is working with the remedial kids and the other kids go to other classrooms. Her math teacher was thoroughly impressed with her today.

Lily explained that she has been playing blackjack with her daddy and that is why she is doing so well. She told me that the teacher was amazed. I suspect she was amazed at several levels, for better or worse.

All I know is that I remember learning about blackjack from my grandfather (the same one who taught me Rummy) and it was part of my ongoing fascination with numbers. Lily is enjoying it now and it's helping her in math. Plus, I hope that in the long run it will help her to understand probability a little bit better than the average Jane.

Putting up Christmas

With Thanksgiving being a bit later than usual this year we decided to get a quick jump on putting up Christmas. This will end up saving us from a little bit of the hectic pace that December tends to bring anyway. Besides, I like having the tree up before my birthday on the 11th.

Lily and I went down the street to the Christmas Tree lot that we usually patronize. We are officially in charge of picking out the tree. Last year we got a little crazy (I keep thinking of the old man in "Christmas Story" asking, "Don't you have a big tree?"). This year's edition fits better in the corner. Lily is getting the hang of putting on the ornaments, though she still tends to bunch them up a bit. Nevertheless, she is getting pretty good at it. She also had some very creative ideas for using bows and ribbons around the house.

I got the outside lights up too. While it may have felt a bit strange, there is something to be said for weather in the high 60s when putting up lights. It doesn't feel particularly Christmasy, but we'll take it for now.

Noah likes the decorations too. I think he is slowly getting trained about not playing with them. We're also working on him not throwing balls near the tree too. It's a process. I think that things will go better than they did last year anyway.

Going Out

Lily had the day off yesterday, but fortunately the weather was nice, albeit a bit blustery. Amanda took the kids out on a picnic, which of course they really enjoyed. It turns out that Noah really likes a Wendy's jr. cheeseburger. I think the boy has Ohio in his blood.

As I type this the kids are at Uncle Bill & Aunt Tiff's house. I took Amanda out to dinner last night and then we headed to Target to nearly complete our Christmas shopping. It feels good to have things mostly done for everyone on our lists, though there will be some small things for teachers at school and Sunday school teachers.

In a couple of hours we're going to get our kids and then take Brenna for the day and night. I'm planning on doing a little bit more shopping for Amanda so that Amanda's morning is mostly child-free. These child-free mornings are nice to have once in a while. I enjoyed not going out running until 6:40 after sleeping in until 6:00. And now I can get some reading done for school without worrying about getting breakfast together.

I do enjoy hanging out with our kids, but the breaks make the heart grow fonder.

A Few More Pics

This is Noah in his rain gear.


Our sun fairy.


Noah sporting his puppy jammies.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving from the Chamberlain household. As this blog chronicles the ups and downs of our household it is sometimes easy to lose sight of the big picture. We have much to be thankful for including, but not limited to:

• A roof over our head
• Clothes on our backs
• Food on our table
• Good health
• The freedom to worship as we choose
• The security that comes from living where we do
• Most of all, salvation purchased for us by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross

I hope that you take time today to consider all that you have to be thankful for.

Big Game

I took Noah and Lily to the Cary High men's basketball game on Tuesday evening. We got there partway through the first quarter of the JV game. Noah sat in rapt attention through the whole first half. Then the Cary High dance team performed at halftime and Lily was thrilled. Noah started to get a little squirmy as the second half went on and was downright antsy by the end of the game. I found out that the dancers were going to perform during halftime of the varsity game too, so per Lily's request we stuck around. We sat on the bottom row and I had to put Noah on my shoulders for the whole varsity game.

Noah really wanted to get out on the floor with the players. He also wanted to play with the ball. He didn't understand why that couldn't happen. Despite the squirminess and complaining, he clearly had a really good time. He spent the better part of yesterday evening asking me about going to another game.

Lily wants to go to another women's game. If we're going to see women's basketball I'm going to look into going to a college game. I think that might be more fun for both of us as I think it would be a better product. Plus, the cheerleaders should be more talented and Lily will enjoy that.

Gapes of Wrath

Noah is officially 2. He has been for 5 months now, but he is becoming a bit more terrible each day. He kind of woke up with a chip on his shoulder this morning and it hasn't quite gone away. For example, at lunch today Amanda gave him some grapes (or "gapes" as he calls them). She wanted him to thank her for giving them to her and he wouldn't do it. She took them away and he still wouldn't do it. We coaxed him for a good 5 minutes and he just wouldn't give in. He kept using his new favorite phrase which is, "I don't think so." I'll try to get that recorded so you can enjoy it.

I wish that this was an isolated incident, but it's not. He is becoming more wild and vocal about things. Last night he bumped his head in his crib because of his thrashing when I put him down. Yes, raising a boy is a lot different than raising a girl. On the bright side, I think it's good that he isn't too docile. Boys should have a little bit of fire in them.