Decorating the Tree

The Feast

Our great friends, Uncle Nathan and Aunt Lauren hosted Thanksgiving dinner in their beautiful home. Along with their friends from Manhattan, their new dining room table was christened in style! And even though seven 20-26 year olds were not very good at judging when the turkey was "done," it ended up being delicious! We are very thankful for good friends!

Ashton and the Pear

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving around our house






Really missing my fam about now. I can picture it in my mind: Gigi's guacamole dip and Fritos are all gone by now and Fred is making last minute preps on the kitchen counter before "The Bird" makes its appearance. He is dressed in his best and smells faintly of expensive musk. Gigi is sporting a new, flashy outfit and shoes (don't forget her natural, beautiful, red hair!) and they are squabbling over who-knows-what; my Dad is sacked out in an over-sized leather recliner; my mom is willingly helping with anything, chatting and laughing and looking timelessly beautiful; the cocker spaniels are underfoot; and my siblings are watching tv or playing out back or causing general mischief that for one day out of the year is going unnoticed by Dad.

Well, many of those details are changed this year and many family members are absent. But I still miss the warmth and happiness. Miss you all!

Not Me Monday

I did NOT eat a sweet potato/butternut squash souffle with marshmallows on top for breakfast (two mornings in a row).

I did NOT forget (3 days in a row) to pour myself a cup of coffee that I had prepared because I was too tired to remember. Who wastes perfectly good Dunkin medium roast?!

I did NOT entice my 2 year old into a better mood by having him watch a Thanksgiving special on the Food Network with me while we partook of a year old Boston Market frozen tv dinner of turkey medallions and mashed potatoes in a savory gravy. (Who knew the Food Network could look so good in HiDef?!)

I did NOT fall prey to my son's ploy of "hold me, Mommy. Somfing is scaring me." at nap time and fell asleep next to him for the duration of nap time ... 2 days in a row!

I did NOT spill white sugar on the floor in my haste to prepare some coffee for myself on the way out the door and I did NOT leave it there ... all day. It is NOT still there. I am a clean freak! (Most of the time.)


Don't have a blog or too chicken to leave your Not Me's there? Just leave your Not Me's in the comments of this post so we can all enjoy them.

Tuesday Morning

We're doin good. Andy had 6 days off and it was glorious! Well, at least for me! Poor guy was battling a cold the whole time, but I still put him to work, and he willingly helped paint the living room and dining room. (He also took the time to order his flatscreen tv - coming tomorrow!). Being the pro, Sass became the painting project manager, and under her direction, the walls look fantastic! Stone brown with accent walls in fudge bar are shaping up this little townhouse into a home!

In other news, Ashton has a little cold which just makes him cranky and clingy, much unlike him. But he still conjures up plenty of smiles for his favorite people. (Ok, so he smiles at anyone, but we like think we are special!) Sass is boxing and packing, in preparation for her departure back to Arizona in December. Andy has to go back to work today: it'll be an intense time until Christmas for him. Booo! Oh, and I gotta go order the Thanksgiving pies from the local farm: Thanksgiving is going to be at Lauren and Nathan's house this year! Yay!

Aiden's Quips

In reply to whomever left the comment on the "Nite on the Deck" post:

Aiden, Ashton and I were driving down the road yesterday. I commented on a vehicle coming toward us. "Aiden! Look at this tractor ... er ... uh ... digger coming toward us." 5 seconds of silence. "Mom, it's a backhoe. It's a backhoe, Mom." Thanks Little Boy. Obviously you are the smarty pants of my children. I have no idea where you get it from.

Aiden: "My Cheerios are spicy!" I really have no comment except that he will complain about ANY food.

Aiden: "I did a bless-you-cough one, Mom. And I sneezed, Mom. Did I, Mom? Did I?" Oh, the repetitiveness that is such a part of our lives right now!

Nite on the Deck

I promised Aiden I would wake him up from his nap before the sun went down. I kept my end of the bargain but didn't take into account getting both boys up from naps and dressed for outside. It ended up being dark, so we scrapped the lawn work idea and just hung out on the deck. Daddy joined us after work!



Up close and personal! Ashton was screeching in happiness around the deck in his walker.


Checkin' out under the hood

Brave Boy

I have been putting off having Aiden's 2 year old blood work done since, well, he was 2 (that was back in February!). But with the Pediatrician's office calling every week to remind me, I finally caved. It was just Aiden and I. He was very brave and only let a couple of tears squeeze out (and that was only when he watched the needle go in!). A cool bandaid, a sucker and a trip to the park (without little brother!) was exactly what he needed.

Not Me Monday ... A Bit Late

I know, it's Tuesday (and late to boot!). But better late than never!




I did NOT go into my son's room and bribe him with a cookie in return for him going back to bed for another hour. I did NOT fail to plan for the ending of Daylight Savings Time and the fact that the boys would wake up earlier. And I did NOT just go back to my bed for an hour and leave my 2 year old in his bed with the aforementioned sugar cookie. And this is NOT a picture of my son's bottom sheet full of cookie crumbs!

Broncos Fans

Denver might not have won, but there are still loyal fans in this house!

Fort Hood

Anyone watching the Fort Hood memorial service? Do any of you care? Well let me tell you, I do. In fact, I am having a hard time holding it together while I watch. I lived at Fort Hood for 5 out of my 18 tender childhood years. It was from there that my dad was sent to combat Saddam Hussein in Iraq during the Persian Gulf War for 7 months: all while my mom had a high-risk pregnancy. My brother was born 2 weeks after his return. My dad is a humble, decorated veteran, whose birthday happens to be tomorrow, Veterans Day. God knew His plans for my father even from the day he was born. Whatever "thing" you are into: may it be going green, climbing the corporate ladder, having a good time, just hanging in there until something good happens - might I remind you that is only possible due to the men and women who have, are, and will valiantly serve our country. Their lives have given you your freedoms. And while you are pondering, may you also think upon Jesus, who was nailed to a cross, completely guilt-free, to take away YOUR sins. Be thankful. Take action. Change your priorities and get them straight. It's not that hard. Be proud to be an American. I praise the Lord that I am a forgiven soul proud to call myself an American. May you be able to say the same. God Bless America.

Dexterity Lesson

I was at the Toyota dealership having the Yota serviced for an hour and a half with the boys last week. We must have played 50 different imaginary games, broken up by 3 visits to their lovely restroom. At one moment when Aiden was occupied playing with some little semi trucks, Ashton somehow got a hold of Aiden's newest car. I caught him spinning the wheel, which is an excellent feat for a 7 month old! And today, on his 7 month birthday (yay!), he was intent on rolling a solitary pea around the dining table with his pointer finger. Adorable!

Rough Days for Aiden

My precious firstborn has been having some attitude issues as of late. I believe they are partly due to being almost 3 years old and the other half due to his younger brother on the move, getting into his "things" and receiving praise for his baby efforts. Please keep Aiden in your prayers as he battles through this rough patch. Please also keep Andy and I lifted up to the Lord in our efforts to correctly responding to Aiden's acting out.

Happy as we "play cars."


Little Brother on the toy prowl


Deep in thought on which toy to share with his brother. (I am also assuming pondering where to shove said toy!)

Chaos!

Ashton is clean and freshly lotion-ed, his hair combed in baby toe-head perfection. He is garbed in soft fleece pajamas and is nursing himself to sleep as only the sweetest babies do. That is the only thing going smoothly in this house. Half my left leg is soaked from Aiden dumping a cup full of water from Ashton's bath onto himself (and half of me!). Hence, Aiden is running around the house, in what I thought was just his underwear and socks, but as I found out later, was nothing but his birthday suit, as he stripped while Daddy was on the phone with his mom. At least he is happy. I can hear him squealing and serenading himself with his own version of ""Frosty the Snowman." Like I mentioned, Andy is deep in conversation with his mom, while simultaneously running a homeopathic experiment on our downstairs toilet in an effort to get it unclogged. Did I mention this experiment took over an hour and included things like large boiling pots of water and all of my dish soap?! And I hear Sara running out the door to catch her ride to College and Careers at church. I missed her. I had meant to apologize to her for her having to witness me yelling at Andy while I dealing with Ashton choking on a cracker. (Men ask the craziest questions in times of crisis!). Plus, Ashton's choking occurred just as Sara had asked me about our plans to go to town tomorrow and get pizza at our favorite place. We never had a chance to finish that conversation. That, my friend, is what I consider chaos in my house. I always thought the mom of the house could control how the household ran. I was misinformed!


All this makes me think of our first "baby." She was a crazy dog, but she did have her sweet moments. She was a good precursor to kids!

Captive Audience

I don't talk about this Big Boy enough. A neighbor had a tree felled this morning, so we camped out on the back deck and watched the entire process. Yes, it was cold, but the sun was shining! The man in the crane saw Aiden and got so excited that he had an audience. He talked to us in his booming logger-man voice and prompted us on what he would be doing. Aiden was so captivated!




Happy face after the tree went "crash"!!