Thanksgiving 2010

We hosted Thanksgiving this year.



No trip to Disney this week so we stayed home and cooked. Since three of my sisters are scattered across the world, just my mom & dad came for dinner. S#5 stopped by to help whisk the gravy, eat a plate of stuffing & roast turkey and left to meet the fiance, his family & their friends.

I got up early to get the 20lb turkey in the oven. The last time I made Thanksgiving turkey (when I was pregnant w/ J) it wasn't cooked all the way through. We carved off what we could and microwaved the rest. I was fearful of repeating that performance. Luckily, it turned out perfectly fine. But I was too nervous to think about taking pictures.

I was called outside to document the "Frying of the Turkey".







The men stood outside in the cold weather keeping warm by the propane fryer. Both roast and fried were delicious. I couldn't decide which one I liked more. We definitely have an excess of turkey leftovers. Since we were in charge of the birds, everyone else brought the sides. That made for a relatively easy Turkey Day for me.





I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving too!

tomato harvest

Winter is coming to Texas. Yes, it was 70 degrees when I got up this morning but the cold is on its way. It is suppose to freeze tomorrow night. DH & I took advantage of the good weather. He hung Christmas lights on the house (but not they are not lit because that can't happen before Thanksgiving) and I started clearing the beds for winter. I pulled up my tomato plants and found these:



The sum total of my tomatoes this year. How disappointing again!

I had lots of flowers but they would drop off before the fruit formed. I googled to figure out my problem. It wasn't blossom end rot. I had enough pollinators around, bees & butterflies were plenty. I think it was just too hot. Darn living in Texas. I think my watering method might have something to do with it. I'm going to have to try something new next year.

Nutcracker!

This afternoon A danced the part of the Russian Sentinel in the Moscow Ballet's Nutcracker.

I had to drop her off at the Music Hall at Fair Park at 10am. There was a slight bit of panic before hand because I didn't have all the stuff for her hair. I made a quick stop at CVS for hair net and hair pins and drove downtown. We got there just in time. I walked in with her to check in. I asked someone about helping her with her bun since I am pretty useless with hair. I turned around to see a total look of panic on her face. We went out to the hall and found a water fountain. She had a drink of water and got out the tic-tacs I also bought at CVS. I figured sucking on some mints would help distract her. We headed back to the waiting room and I stayed until the stage mom took them up to their dressing room.

I prayed all morning long that she was okay. I know that 'panic, what have I gotten myself into, I'm not sure if I can breathe' feeling well.

Luckily she did beautifully. She smiled so big and danced her part perfectly. The best part was when she walked out the stage door at the end and said she could wait to do it again next year!








P.S. My pictures are awful because I followed the rules and didn't use flash! But you get the idea.

Harry!

For years I suggested that A read the Harry Potter books. She always said no. Finally this August she started the series and read all seven books, twice. She has been obsessed with Harry ever since. She and her friend have been counting down to the movie since September.

On Tuesday her lucky dreams came true when a friend of J's mom called. Her husband's company rented out two movie theaters to show the movie on Thursday night at 7pm. She invited me & A and a friend to go see the movie. In exchange, DH watched her son for the evening. It was a great trade.

You should have heard the squeals from A & her friend when they heard that they were going on Thursday night!! They dressed up for the occasion.



I enjoyed the movie. It's been years since I've read the books and didn't remember much, but I was disappointed when it was over. I don't want to wait until July to see the end!

I like Big Bundts!

Today is National Bundt Day!



It's just a chocolate cake in a Nordic Ware Star Bundt pan. Maybe next year I'll take some inspiration from The Food Librarian and make something fancy!

Learning to ride a bike, Take 3

Earlier this year we ordered a balance bike for B. It was suppose to arrive in April, then May, then sometime soon. Eventually it arrived in September. It not only arrived once, it arrived twice. B really liked both his little blue and his little red balance bike. After a few afternoons on the balance bikes, he was asking for a bike with pedals. DH obliged and it has been difficult to get him off the bike ever since. In fact he's decided his little bike is too little and he's taken over J's bike.





I can't believe he's riding a two wheeler before 5 years old. John was over 5. Poor A was almost seven. I blame that on our old house that was on a busy street. She only had the length of our drive to attempt to learn and it was not long enough. I waited until the spring after we moved into this house to force her to do it. Poor A, too, because she learned pre-blog. I don't have pictures of her first ride immortalized on the internet. She's probably happy about that!

Camping

Last weekend J & DH went on a Y-Guides campout.

It involved so many activities they had trouble remembering them all. From the pictures DH sent to me, there were lots of weapons involved. I think they had a ton of fun!

Photos

I haven't had professional pictures taken of the kids since B was a baby. They've had annual school photos. A had her First Communion pictures. I kept meaning to do it, but its one of those things that is easily forgotten.

A girl I know from high school posted on Facebook about her photographer doing a Christmas special, $50 sitting fee & $30 for a cd of photos. I decided to take her up on it.

On Tuesday life seemed to be against me. It was pouring down rain. I had to make a dash through target with only 20 minutes until time to pick up the kids because B's only jeans had a hole in them. I was rear-ended on the way there. Luckily, once we got there the photo session went really well.

We got the preview today. I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures!

Do you know who I married?

Today, DH bought some new furnace filters from the a/c guy. He left the receipt and checkbook on my desk. I sat down tonight and looked at it.

I knew I was married to a great guy, but who knew he was the son of God?

The Big Haul!

A's bag, 2 lbs 10 oz



J's bag, 5 lbs 7 oz



And B won the prize, 5 lbs 11 oz!



I took these pictures 2 days after halloween, I wonder home much they've eaten so far? A went trick or treating with a friend. I think she might stay home next year seeing after how much candy her brothers got. I told them we should mail the candy to their cousins in Iowa. They only got 11 pieces of candy! Poor boys should come to Dallas next year.

Saturday

We had typical saturday, very busy. First soccer game at 9am, Two soccer games at 1pm, dance rehearsal at 1:30, preschool fall fling at 4:00, World Series game #3 at 5:30, Halloween party at 6:00 and one halloween costume to make. With a little help from FIL who took B to his game, we got everything done.

DH took A to ballet and they headed straight to the baseball game. Lucky ducks got to see a fabulous win.

I took the boys to Fall Fling and the Atiles/Mendez Halloween party. I didn't remember to take photos but I was lucky to have friends with cameras. J spent his whole time at Fall Fling at the petting zoo. He is now dying for a snake. (Sorry Kristin!)



B got his face painted at Fall Fling & took his werewolf hat off quickly at the party so his costume confused a few people. He wasn't too happy when they couldn't figure out what he was. Spiderman? Wolfman?