Mater, Thanksgiving, and Snow Days

After a lot, lot, lot of begging I agreed to let Lia bring home her class pet Mater (a guinea pig) for a weekend. Thankfully the weather was good so he was able to spend all day outside and slept in the laundry room at night. I told the kids they could hold him as much as they wanted outside, and they did. I'm surprised Mater made it through the weekend with as much bouncing around as he got. I even cleaned out the cage while he was here (that was part of the deal). As much as I was a nervous wreck all weekend about washing hands and not touching Mater in the house, I have to say it was totally worth it. I now see why parents give their kids pets. Everyone loved Mater, especially Josh. He cried and cried when we took him back. That doesn't mean I'm ready for one though... my kids will just have to enjoy other people's pets, like Mater.

I'm afraid I don't have any pictures of our Thanksgiving or the Christmas wagon ride we went on with my family the day after, you'll have to look on my sisters' blogs for those. But we had a great weekend. It was so nice to have Nate home for so many days in a row and to spend lots of time with the kids and our families. We are so grateful for them and everything they do for us. The kids had a great time playing in the snow over the weekend too, even Megan... for a few minutes. Do you remember that snow outfit Kathie? We've put it to good use for years now. It's kind of an ordeal to get the kids ready to play everyday and get cleaned up when they come in, but I love watching them outside. And I'm always up for a cup of hot chocolate after.