so thankful for friends

Thanksgiving has got to be near the top of my "favorite holidays" list. I love being allowed to eat as much as I want of the most divine food in one day! Unfortunately, that mentality often finds a way to stretch across my entire weekend, which is probably why I thought it was okay to have pumpkin pie for breakfast today. (Christian started it!) But I really don't care. Eating until you're so full you just want to lay down and die is what the American way of life is all about.

Christian was on call this Thanksgiving, so we felt so blessed to have an invitation to the Myrup's for dinner. I just knew that if I cooked all that food by myself that he'd get called in just before it was ready and the boys and I would be sitting there eating without him. And since the boys hardly eat anything, it would be me eating all that food alone. And that is just sad.

As luck would have it, he did get called in, about an hour before we were supposed to be there, to take care of a kid who had a TV land on him. So I was especially grateful to be at the Myrup's (not to mention not having a TV on top of my kid!). He joined us a few hours later, just in time for said-pumpkin pie and first hit of the leftovers.

The food was de-lish. Jess outdid herself with a p-e-r-f-e-c-t turkey (despite all her worrying), and Christian and the boys and I were happy to gorge on my famous Thanksgiving yams (you've never tasted a vegetable like this before). We're still mind-boggled that Jess and "Tevin" didn't try them--you're crazy! I was basically offering you dessert in the middle of the meal! Maybe next year. I made Aunt Paige's homemade rolls (and ate way too many), and we also made homemade cranberries (no canned stuff for us!). But the piece de la resistance was the made-from-scratch pumpkin pie by Jessica. Oh. My. Gosh. Who knew the pumpkin pie had ginger in it? It made Costco's yummy version seem blah. I could taste each individual spice, though they blended in a perfect melody in my mouth. Yum. And the crust was tender and flaky. Now you understand why I couldn't resist a slice this morning. She's going to teach me how to make it some day in exchange for a roll-making lesson. Aren't friends great?

We spent the rest of the evening talking and browsing the Black Friday ads. No, I didn't make it out this year (first year in a long time!), but it's all good. Nothing we "had" to have. I was just a relaxing, fun evening. Thanks for hosting, Jess--next year at my house!

I am thankful for "my three boys!"

Another reason I am very thankful for Jessica is that she very patiently taught me how to cut the monkeys' hair. I *LOVE* the way my friend Chandra cuts it, using the scissors on top. It always turns out so handsome. I am less of a fan of the all-clipper look on my boys. Their hair needs texture. But like everyone else, we're really trying to save our pennies, and this could be an easy $15 a month to save. And if Christian will let me try it on him, that's another $20 a month! Hopefully Lind and Code will give me a lesson with the scissors when we're there for Christmas. (wink, wink!)

So here is my first attempt with the clippers. The hardest part was getting the boys to sit still and turn their heads the way I wanted them to (another thing Chandra is a genius at doing). But they were pretty patient with me, too, and they turned out all right. Thanks again, J-My!

"Hi, Haircut!"

We missed all our family this year, especially my parents' perfect meal and seeing Bond with the Sybrowskys! We hope you know how thankful we are for all of you. We can't wait to see you in 18 days (the countdown to Grandma's has begun)!

It's flood season in Western Washington again. Luckily we live in pretty good spot--no huge rivers nearby to overflow like these poor people have to deal with. But it has been so wet! Most of the year the rain is just a mist or drizzle, but in November and December we get the deluge. It rains buckets for hours on end. I kinda like it. But I'm glad it's only a few weeks out of the year.

©seattletimes.nwsource.com

Before the storms came, we were able to go apple picking at a local orchard. We must have been a week or two late, because most of the really good varieties were completely picked over (pun intended), but we did get some delicious Jonagolds. And the boys couldn't believe I was letting them pick them themselves. I did have to slow them down a little--I was paying by the pound and they weren't very discriminating. But it was an experience!






Cool! There's a slug on my apple!


Goofball 1.

Goofball 2.


We caught a ride with the Myrups--thanks for including us in your family outing!

No posing for mom today (as per usual).

Me and my boys. No Daddy today (also as per usual)! :(

The gorgeous sunflower field at the orchard.

can halloween please be over now?

Halloween is the biggest day of the year at our house. The only thing that could make it better, according to James, is this:

"Mom, what if we could have Halloween, my birthday, Christmas, fly to Utah, and go to St. George, all on the same day?"

Talk about fun overload. I feel like we've been celebrating Halloween all month long with the Halloween birthday party and all the Halloween ideas I posted on my other blog. So when the actual day finally arrived, I was kind of done. We didn't even carve our pumpkins! We did enjoy a Halloween party with the ortho gals on Monday, the carnival at the church on Tuesday, plus trick-or-treating and a party at a friend's house on Halloween, so the kids got plenty of fun (and candy) in. I don't even think they noticed the lack of pumpkin carving.

We got to meet up with our friends the Pierces at the carnival while they were in town getting ready to move to Japan. We're going to miss you Jared and Ethan!

James was very specific about the costume he wanted: a black ghost with his skeleton showing and blood dripping down his face. I was actually ready to try and create this costume myself (sans blood) to save money. But when I saw this glow-in-the-dark skeleton on sale at JoAnn for $7, I convinced him it was exactly what he wanted. And boy does he love it! He's been wearing it for a week straight.

James has been telling me everyday I can have whatever candy of his I want. Luckily he doesn't like any of my faves, like Almond Joy and Baby Ruth.

Addy had been telling people the week before that he was going to be Iron Man for Halloween, but I reminded him how much he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear (a costume we already had). Wow, I sure wish this power of persuasion stuff was going to last with them!

Halloween was also James' first day of soccer! Grandma Holly gave us money for soccer lessons for James' birthday this year to go along with his new soccer ball and shin guards from Mom and Dad. We found a cool indoor soccer league for kids called Scott's Soccer Tots. Scott is amazing--he is so good with the kids. I think James was the only kid who hadn't played before, so he was a little shy about the whole thing. But Scott worked with him individually and he ended up doing great! He even blocked a couple of goals while playing goalie. He asks me everyday if it's soccer lessons today. He isn't the most athletic kid, so I think this is going to really help him learn some coordination and other skills he needs.


They were moving so quickly I could hardly get a shot!

Taking a water break.

I've got lots more pics and updates to post, so don't give up on me! I'm still here!

farewell to summer, only two months late!

Sadly, I've let another month go by un-blogged! James started his second year of preschool in September, and we decided to cram in as much fun as possible before we were tied to a schedule again. So here's a short chronicle of our farewell to summer!

James and his teacher, Mrs. B.

First day of school! James and Aidan are t-r-o-u-b-l-e. They often get separated in class for being silly, but how great to be in the same class as your best friend!


Bleu Cheese burgers, blackberry buttermilk pie, and great company made our Labor Day BBQ a perfect send off for our beloved summer (which was tragically too short this year!).


But it gets better. How about 500 water balloons and Mom's okay to get soaked? Stacy hosted a water balloon fight for the kids in the street and they LOVED it!

The funny thing is that they didn't really throw them at each other. They mostly tossed them into the street or tried stepping or squeezing them until they popped. Not that I'm complaining.

Now you see the water balloon. . .

Now you don't. Too much fun!


But wait, you can't really say goodbye to your favorite season without a giant inflatable castle, can you? Well, we couldn't. All the boys could say was, "AWESOME!"



We let them jump for about 2 hours straight before shutting down the fun. We had a blog meeting and got SO MUCH done! It was pretty easy to set up and take down, too. Maybe this Costco special would be a wise investment in the future. Although I suspect it's toys like this that keep my husband in business. . .

Speaking of Christian, he was actually able to take a few days off to go camping near Lake Wenatchee before the snow hit. Gor-geous. We had a great campsite on the river with tons of room for the boys to run and get really dirty.


Future Boy Scout.

Our personal chef.

This is the exact moment James' love affair with Lil' Smokes began.

What happens when you're too far outside civilization for sippy cups.

James is pointing out the "dinosaur fossil" he found in the rock. He was pretty intent on coming back later with shovels and brushes to dig it out.

Hey Cody, how's James' form? He told me he wanted you to take him rock climbing when he gets a little bigger and "not so afraid."

The river water was FREEZING! (Check out the expression on Christian's face!) But of course, the boys wouldn't let it rest until they took a dip. Crazies!

Holy Underoos, Batman!

Christian took such good care of us the entire trip. I hardly lifted a finger. He set up the tent, tended the fire, cooked the food, and played with the boys. In fact, one afternoon he took the boys exploring so I could curl up with The Agony and the Ecstasy (it was crunch time, just a few days before book club!). I knew when I married him that Eagle Scout status would come in handy someday (and I am not referring to the Eagle Charge, Cree--that has proved pretty worthless).




We are actually enjoying fall here in the Pacific Northwest, but I think I still have a few more summer pics to post. So you'll just have to be patient--I'll get there!