MILESTONES

I'm happy and mommy is happy because I slept from 8pm to 7am last night!! I'm such a good girl...and cute too!

Thanksgiving

Andy and Davina brought their family to us this year to celebrate Thanksgiving. We had a great 3 full days together. The boys had a great time too, although Ethan and Luke were VERY under the weather and VERY crabby which made things a little frustrating at times. Someday we will get together and everyone will be healthy, and even better,...happy!

This is our smoked Turkey that Davina brought. I must say this was the yummiest turkey I have ever eaten...sorry mom! We went out and bought another one to stick in my freezer. It sure was pretty too!!

Our feast! I love Thanksgiving!

Trouble!!

A little crowded??

Our family picture

This was our first official photo shoot for our Christmas card this year. Every year we have another child in the picture and it becomes increasingly more difficult to get a picture worthy to send out to the world. It usually takes a good 3-4 attempts and panic because the holiday season is going so fast. This year I am determined to get our cards out before the week of Christmas, so we asked Andy to be our first photographer. They turned out very well for our first attempt! Thank you Andy! We got a few different shots, but this was the favorite - Kate crying and Luke looking very cute, but confused. I did a little adjusting to the picture and got an even better shot!

A little "warm up"

shot #1 - pretty good

#2 - Even better! Hee-Hee!!

Family Life

These are the best things ever. They are little foam figures that keep Ethan occupied for a VERY long time. I found this holiday pack at the dollar store and he has already peeled off the backs and stuck every one of them on different pieces of construction paper. As Martha says: "It's a Good Thing!"



DISTURBING FOOD PICTURES - BUT WORTHY OF A BLOG POST!

You know how some people see the Virgin Mary in their toast? Well Ethan sees... DaDaDaDaDaDaDaDa...Batman!

These pictures I have Andy to thank for. He ate the big turkey leg on Thanksgiving and Davina took a picture of it. The other night I grilled some chicken legs and Ethan said "mommy, take a camera." Then he went on to pose just like Andy did. Ethan said "that's what Andy do!" Again, thank you Andy!

One last and totally random picture, but I could not leave out the little princess! This looks so uncomfortable!

WELCOME DECEMBER Is there not a more perfect way to welcome the Christmas season than to make the very first batch of holiday cookies?? I had the most wonderful plan for the boys and I this morning. Gingerbread men!! But as you can see I don't have a gingerbread man cookie cutter. I really thought I did, but my collection of cookie cutters came up dry this morning. That's ok, right? My plan of the perfect, warm, cozy morning with my little boys was still possible. I turned on Christmas music and began. I have a thing about Christmas cookies: they have to be BEAUTIFUL! I was so excited to find a few tips in my newest cook book, "America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook". I followed the tried, tested, and true recipe and method knowing that our cookies would indeed be beautiful...not so much! The dough was WAY too sticky and we could not get them up without our snowmen becoming headless or looking a little like that scary "Scream" mask. I also was having trouble with my boys gouging the perfectly rolled out dough with their fat little fingers trying to eat it. After all, they really did not care what the cookies looked like. All they knew was that we were making cookies and that means dough...as much as they can and as quickly as they can - shove it into their mouths before mommy stops them. As soon as I would get a "nearly" perfect cookie, Luke would grab the closest cookie cutter and chop off my angel's wing or head. I soon realized that my warm and cozy feeling was getting a little chilly. After a couple of deep breaths, I sat back and watched them, knowing that THEY were enjoying our morning. I smooched all the cookies together, kneaded in a BUNCH of flour, and put our dough balls back into the fridge determined to start afresh. How did it all turn out??? Perfect. Crooked trees, headless angles, and frightening snowmen...we had a wonderful morning together, and I did manage to get a few "perfect" cookies out of it.