Hanukkah and Menorah

Hanukkah and Menorah

by Lauren

Lauren loves her menorah with birthday candles. There are 8 candles on the menorah, one for each night of Hanukkah. The shamash makes 9.

Hanukkah, oh Hanukkah, come light the menorah.
Let's have a party, we'll all dance the horah.
Gather round the table, we'll give you a treat.
With dreidels to play with and latkes to eat.
And while we are playing, the candles are burning low.
One for each night, we ***** the sweet light to remind us of days long ago.

The Colors of the Christmas Tree

The Colors of the Christmas Tree

by Andrew

Santa paints colors for you and me on the Christmas tree. The red bows are for the love we feel for our family. The gold is for the gold gifts that baby Jesus got from the Wise Men. White lights are for the glow of nature. The green pine tree is for family standing around it singing Christmas carols. Silver is for the sparkling snowflakes falling from the sky.

The Apple Orchard

One Sunday we went to the apple orchard -- Andrew, Lauren and Mom. We left right after church and drove all the way to Illinois and Edwards' Apple Orchard.














The first thing we did when we got there was play on the playground. There was a playhouse, a big pirate ship, tractors, and a train. There was a maze. It was really hard to figure out. We had to go back a lot of times.

Then we went in the store and bought doughnuts. They were apple cider and they were great.












Andrew thought they were too messy and too hot!









Then Andrew stopped to ring the bell. It was way tricky because Andrew just tried pushing the bell, and you really have to turn the wheel.

We were going to the apple-picking spot next. We had to ride the awesome tractor. It was a John Deere.







Then we got to our spot to pick apples. They were golden delicious. Andrew went into the trees and got them. It was hard to get in there, but he figured out a way. Mom lifted Lauren up so she could get a high one. Andrew liked the low ones.

We had an apple snack on the way back to the car.

Time to go home now!

The End.

Thursday morning milk

This morning Andrew came into my bathroom to tell me that there had been a little milk spill in the kitchen, but not to worry because he and Lauren had fixed it already and it wasn't that bad. It was a completely full gallon, so it was pretty heavy and it had fallen when they were getting it out of the refrigerator. Oh, and there was a hole in the milk gallon, so I should probably come take a look.

This is the "little" mess I found on my kitchen floor (along with Lauren trying to mop it up with a tiny kitchen towel).

What a catastrophe! I guess it was time to wash the floor!

Grandpa's Chickens

By Andrew

Once upon a time, there was a grandpa and he had chickens. He loved his chickens. Every morning he let the chickens out, every evening he fed the chickens before dinner, and he put the chickens to bed when the grandchildren had a bath. The grandma loved to help the kids with their bath.

Grandpa has lots of chickens and four roosters, but he has to get rid of the roosters. Why does he have to get rid of the roosters? I wonder. The roosters say, "cock-a-doodle-do."

The end.

Lauren the firefighter

Lauren: Hey Mommy, I want to be a firefighter when I grow up.

Mom: What does a firefighter do?

Lauren: I will stand way back from the house when I put out the fire. I'm gonna wear my mask when I'm still squirting the fire.

Andrew: Hey Lauren, I thought you wanted to be a garbage girl!

Lauren: No!

I guess we need to start Sunday School now . . .

Lauren: Where does God live?

Mom: In Heaven, but God is everywhere.

Lauren: Why is she everywhere?

Andrew: It's a HE, not a SHE!!

Mom: Some people think God is a she, but most people say, "he."

Andrew: What do you say, Mom?

Mom: I usually say "he" because that's what I learned.

Lauren: Can we go to the God church?

Oh my, it's time for these children to start learning about religion. Do they have Sunday school that meets every other Sunday for divorced kids?

Author: Andrew

Once upon a time, there was a bear named Grizzly. That bear lived deep in the woods. One day, Grizzly woke up from a nap. He was really tired and he was ready for dinner.

"Hmmm," Grizzly said, "what should I have for dinner? I should have some fish. What should I have for a drink? How about lake water?"

Then his grandma came over for dinner and brought a dessert, Grizzly's favorite dessert.

"Sorry, Grandma, I already had dinner," said Grizzly, "but we can have dessert together. That honey nut cake with honey nut frosting looks delicious!"

So Grizzly and Grandma munched on cake, read some books together, and went to bed. Then Grandma left.

The End

Things that come from Andrew's mouth . . .

Sunday at lunch time

Mom: Did you have a big breakfast at Grandma and Grandpa's house?

Andrew: We ate pancakes that tasted like chewy rocks. Trust me.


Monday evening, riding in the car

Andrew: Mom, you need two more kids.

Mom: Why?

Andrew: And someone to marry.

Mom: Why?

Andrew: So this whole car can always be filled up with people in every seat.

Andrew: Do you know what you should do tonight, Mom?

Mom: No, what?

Andrew: You should get a grown-up book, a glass of wine and go in the bathtub with a tealight candle on the side of the bathtub.

Mom: That sounds like a good idea. Where did you get this idea?

Andrew: It was on the radio on the way to dad's house. It's a good way to relax after your kids go to bed.

:-)

Andrew's lunch

Andrew: Andrew had garbage pizza with real garbage for lunch. We had lasagna with spaghetti noodles, 2 cups of sauce, and one cup of pepper. We had applesauce with worms. It was gross! That's hilarious, right?

Idea for a story later

Andrew quote: "We should make our own traffic jam this summer."

This traffic jam should be about Lauren driving my Gator and I will be making lights for the stoplights with balls. Lauren will get into a traffic jam on the driveway.

A Christmas Story

Andrew: Once upon a time, the whole family was laying on the couch because it was a cold night.

Lauren: It was Christmas night.

Andrew: It was Christmas Eve. And then they went to bed and then they heard Santa coming. They were so excited taht they couldn't wait to get up in the morning. Taht morning they opened their presents and looked in their stockings.

Lauren: And they had candy canes and when they were done opening presents Andrew wanted to watch PBS kids and Lauren wanted to watch Howdini.

Andrew: Andrew didn't like PBS kids on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, so they went to Jungle Grandma's house. Then they put some snacks out and helped get ready for the Christmas party. Then more people came and then they were ready to open their presents that were at Jungle Grandma's house. When the finished opening their presents, the kids went to play and the grown-ups went to get some wine. When it was dinner time, they went to eat dinner and then the kids went to play and the grown-ups had some more wine. The kids played and played and played until it was dessert time. They had some delicious dessert like chocolate peppermint candy and lots of Christmas cookies too. Then everybody went home and went to bed and the grown-ups went to their beds too. The end.