Thankful Follow-up

Daddy Steve: The boys spent Thanksgiving morning thinking about the things that they were thankful for.  They then wrote them down on leaves and hung the leaves on the tree.

Sasha: I'm thankful for Daddy Steve.

Stephen Orange: ...and Daddy John!

Miguel: And all of our internet friends.

Tyler: We're thankful for soccer.

Mikko: And adventure!

Charles: And frogs.

Kaveh: I'm thankful for my trains.

Luke: I'm thankful for my dog, Krakatoa, and he's thankful for me.  Isn't that right, boy?

Krakatoa: Yip! Yip!

Sebastian: I'm thankful for my music.  What are you thankful for, Rolf?

Rolf: My handsome nose!

Anthony and Robin: We're thankful for good books.

Blake: Especially Harry Potter!

Frank: I'm thankful it's almost dinner time!

Ravi: I'm thankful for you, Patrick.

Patrick: And I'm thankful for you, Ravi.

Bowie: I'm thankful for my sweetheart, Rebel.

Emile: I am zankful for my rich and beautiful French 'eritage that I can zhare wiz my brothers.

Giancarlo: Hmmph.  I'm thankful that your bedtime is earlier than mine.

Benjamin Roy: C'mon Pete, let's hang our leaves.  What are you thankful for?

Pete Dakota: Well, um, I'm thankful for you and Annabelle.  How about you?

BR: I'm thankful for Annabelle, too.  And my best friend.

Pete: Who's that?

BR: You, you goof!

Sasha: There's a lot to be thankful for!

Anthony: There certainly is.

Thankful

Daddy Steve:  Last Thanksgiving the boys had a lot of fun assembling the turkey craft kit I got for them (and it kept them out of my hair while I made dinner).  It was such a success that I decided I had to find another project for them to work on this year..but what?

Once again, Target came to the rescue--a 'Thankful' tree kit.

It's a heavy felt tree with acorns and paper leaves as decoration.  You can write down messages of what you're thankful for on the leaves and then hang them on the tree.  I thought it would be a nice way for the boys to reflect on the things that are important to them.  If they wanted to embellish their thoughts with a little artwork, that was fine too.  Creativity is always encouraged in Gregoropolis!

The only problem was that the kit came with only a dozen leaves.  >Ahem<   Now, I must admit that I have more than a dozen boys.  Exactly how many more I'm not going to divulge (here, or to Daddy John).  Let's just say that we needed quite a few more leaves.

So, I assembled my 'A-Team' and put them to work making extra leaves.  Some of the boys have short attention spans, but I can always count on these five to get the job done.

The A-Team at work

Sasha and Miguel used the leaves that came with the kit as patterns to trace out more, while Patrick and Ravi cut them out.

Meanwhile, Kaveh tied the strings to each leaf.

Ravi: Oops, I cut into one of the lines a little.

Miguel: That's fine.  It doesn't have to be perfect.

Patrick: Real leaves aren't perfect; that's how you know they're real.

Kaveh: These knots are tricky to tie.

Sasha: Would you like to switch jobs?  I'm good at knots--I get them in my shoelaces all the time!

With all of the leaves made, we were ready for Thanksgiving Day.  

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Gregoropolis!

Smoothing Ruffled Feathers

Daddy Steve:  Giancarlo is still a little miffed about Emile's 'help' during his Italian culture presentation.  The boys are trying to cheer him up while I wait for a package in the mail--a package I'm quite sure will improve his mood.

Kaveh: But Emile meant well.  He really thought he was helping.

Giancarlo: Hmmph.

Ravi: It was still a very nice presentation.  We all enjoyed it.

Luke: We sure did.  It was so funny to watch your face turn all red.

Kaveh & Ravi: LUKE!

Giancarlo: I was humiliated in front of tutto il mundo!

Luke: That's not true.  Hardly anyone reads our blog anyway.

Blake: Hey, Giancarlo!  You got a package in the mail.  It's from Marti Murphy.

Giancarlo: La donna who makes le belle scarpe?  Let me see!

Giancarlo: These shoes! They are amazing!

Kaveh: Try them on.

Giancarlo: Sì, sì!  Perfetto!  You know, we Italians have a great appreciation for fine footwear.

Blake: Nice!

Kaveh: Very stylish!

Ravi: Hello Gorgeous!

Giancarlo:  I feel just like one of the fashionable giovane that you see in Milano.

Luke: Mill-on-o?  Where's that?  Is it near Stockport?

Chasing Away The Blues

Daddy Steve:  November can be a gloomy time in our part of the world.  All of the color has left our yard, and the skies always seem to be gray and overcast.  We were all quite happy when Daddy John brought home a lovely bouquet of flowers.  The bright and cheerful colors helped chase away our November blues.

Miguel, Charles, and Sasha admire the brilliant blooms.

Remembrance Day

On behalf of everyone at Gregoropolis, Benjamin, Pete, and Stephen thank our active duty and veteran military personnel for their service and especially those who have given their lives in defense of their country.

Viva Italia

Daddy Steve: The mystery behind Giancarlo's wine room adventure has been solved.  Giancarlo is very proud of his Italian heritage.  For ages now, he has been bugging us to let him do a blog post on Cultura Italiana.  He's spent the past couple of weeks writing and gathering all of the necessary props and visual aids.

So, without further ado, we're turning the blog over to him...

Giancarlo: Saluti!  Today I'm going to talk to you about the rich and beautiful culture of Italy.  Although I was born in England (and I love that dear country), I have the heart of an Italian.  The culture of Italy goes back thousands of years to the ancient Roman Empire.  

Giancarlo: Oh, hello Emile.  Did you want something?

Emile: Don't let me interrupt.  I'm just listening.

Giancarlo:  >Ahem<  Yes, well, this probably won't be very interesting to you.

Emile: No, probably not, but that's also why I am here--to help you!

Giancarlo: Hmm.  Okay.  Where was I?  Ah yes, the Italians have always been great architects and builders.  Some very famous Italian buildings include the Pantheon in Rome, the Duomo in Florence, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa...

Emile:  Ze Eiffel Tower is in Paris, and it does not lean.

Giancarlo:  Um, yes, well, moving on!  Italy has also produced much of the world's greatest art.  Michaelangelo's David, for example.  Or the famous Mona Lisa by Leonardo DaVinci.

Emile: Oui, and you can see ze Mona Lisa in ze Louvre, which is in Paris.

Giancarlo: But Emile, that's not what we are talking about!

Emile: I'm merely trying to make zis more interesting.

Giancarlo: >sigh<  

Giancarlo:  Of course, who can forget that Italy produces the world's finest wines...

Emile:  Hee-hee!  Oh mon ami, you make me laugh.  Everyone knows zat ze best wine comes from France.

Giancarlo: Emile!  You are making a big mess of this!

Emile:  I am assisting you!  Be more grateful.

Giancarlo:  If you don't stop, I'm going to tell Antonio!

Giancarlo: Antonio!  You must do something with this...this buffone!  Antonio?!  TONNNEEEEE!

Anthony: >sigh<  Now what?

A Halloween Vanishing Act

Daddy Steve:  Once again Anthony was stationed at the front door on Halloween, giving out candy to trick-or-treaters.  Since we don't have many little kids in our neighborhood, it was a rather quiet evening.

Anthony:  I'm having a hard time staying awake.

Frank: Hey Tony, can I help you pass out candy?

Anthony: Sure, pull up a chair.  I don't know how much candy you'll get to pass out, though.  We've had only two kids all evening.

Anthony:  Ho-hum.

A few minutes later...

Anthony: I have to make sure the boys have taken Annabelle and Krakatoa out.  Will you be okay here by yourself?

Frank: Sure, I can handle it.

About 20 minutes later...

Anthony: Sorry for taking so long.  Sasha and Miguel insisted that Bigfoot was hiding in the pantry.  Apparently, Bigfoot looks a lot like a dust mop.

Anthony: Wow!  A lot of the candy is gone!  You must have had a lot of trick-or-treaters.

Frank:  Oh, yeah. Lots and lots of them!  A tiger, a couple of Harry Potters, some vampires and witches.  And a...and a...a...a Mariachi band!

Frank: >burp<

Anthony: Well, looks like I missed all the action.

The next morning...

Tyler: Who put all of these candy wrappers under the rug?

Mikko: Ghosts?