A First Thanksgiving

This year's Thanksgiving holiday was filled with firsts.  Evelyn Ann celebrated her first Thanksgiving, Tori made her first Thanksgiving dinner, the men folk fried their first turkey, and I also tried my hand at home made pie crust.

Evelyn is a big fan of mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, green beans and dumplings.  She really enjoyed the feast.  Lane is a bit more picky, and didn't touch anything on his plate.  Although the next day he did sample the pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and ate the whipped cream and left most of the pie on his plate.  Both babies enjoyed the company of family and each other.

Tori's dinner was delicious and we all enjoyed making a contribution.  I personally enjoyed working so close with her and learned a lot about what goes into making such a feast.  Tori taught me the secrets to making a pie crust, which isn't as easy as she makes it look.  Also, she didn't spare any creativity on her table setting, or tablescape as we like to call it.  It was stunning with fall colors, candles, pine co

nes (chosen by Lane), specially folded napkins and completed with fall accessories l

ike baby corn, apples and even a small pumpkin.  It was beautifully created, but not over the top.  A perfect setting for a Thanksgiving feast.

The men folk (John, Justin, Brolin, Lane and Bowzer) contributed to

 this Thanksgiving of firsts by frying a turkey.  There was s

ome major male bonding going on during this activity including beer and cigars.  The turkey turned out to be very juicy and delicious.  A successful first attempt at frying a turkey.

There is so much to be thankful for

, not just on Thanksgiving bu

t everyday.  Over the past several days I've had this overwhelming feeling of gratitude for life.  Life is full of infinite possibilities.  Life gives you the opportunity to love and be loved.  Life is truly beautiful. I am so grateful to be alive!  

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is enjoying the start of the holiday season!

Enjoying The Outdoors

Lane and I had so much fun outdoors today.  It was a little warmer than it's been and the sun was shining and keeping us warm.  Lane rode his tricycle and his power wheels.  He also made some sidewalk art with chalk and found a toy car that he had forgotten about.  We played in the leaves and trees and I couldn't help but take photos, especially when I discovered the leaf that is growing hearts.  Lane had fun and I found a little peace in the nature that surrounded us.

A Birthday Celebration!

This weekend we celebrated Tori's 50th birthday!  The celebration included lunch, cake, presents and Clue. We all went out to lunch and then came home to continue the celebration. One of Tori's favorite cakes is German Chocolate, which I had never tasted or made. But I found the cake to be enjoyable to make and very delicious! We concluded the celebration with a game of Clue. We all had not played Clue in many years and found there are a lot of changes from the old version. Once we were refreshed with the rules we began.  The game continued on for quite awhile and finally, I am proud to say that it was my accusation of Mrs. Peacock, in the Guest House with the Knife that won the game!  We all had a wonderful time celebrating Tori's birthday.

In other news...

On Saturday Tori took Lane to his very first movie.  They saw Bolt and Lane enjoyed the whole movie going experience.  Also, Lane got a new bed.  He is no longer sleeping in his toddler bed, he has moved up to a twin size bed.  He loves it!

I hope everyone had a great weekend.

A Few Things I'm Loving Right Now

One of the things I'm loving right now is that my children are still young enough to have that baby smell and have those super sweet dimply chubby hands.  My babies are just oozing sweetness.  I'm very lucky that Lane loves to hold my hand, just today he asked to hold my hand as we were going down the stairs.  I love holding his hand.  I'm also lucky that Evelyn lets me hold her often and I get to smell that sweet baby smell as I cuddle her up.  I'm loving that my children are still babies.

Another thing that I'm loving now is flickr.  I'm addicted to looking at pictures.  There are so many wonderful photographs out there and I just don't have the time to see them all.  I've gotten sucked in to looking at pictures several nights this week after the kids have gone to bed.  If it wasn't for Justin reminding me that I've been looking at pictures for awhile, who knows how long I'd be looking.

One last thing that I'm loving now are oatmeal raisin cookies from Costco.  Yesterday the kids and I went to Costco to get a few things.  While we were there we just happened to pass the cookies.  Of course Lane noticed all the cookies and baked goods and would not stop asking for a cookie.  So we went back to the baked goods and I let Lane choose some cookies to buy.  He really knows his cookies because he picked the world's most delicious store bought cookies. 

 

Just a few things I'm loving right now. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Colors, Counting and Stacking

This week Lane has been playing with things that are similar in shape but vary in color. Frisbees, plates, bowls, and blocks are some examples of what he's been playing with.  He loves to count the items, identify the color and stack them.  He gets creative too.  Yesterday he made up a jumping game with the frisbees and today he made a castle with his blocks.  He can count up to 10 and can identify multiple colors.  Today at lunch I gave him a blue spoon and he said "orange spoon" then went to the drawer and got out the orange spoon to eat with.  Who would have thought that everyday objects could be such great learning tools.  It's amazing how much Lane is learning at such a rapid speed.  Being two comes with challenges, but it's truly a fascinating time.

9 Month Check Up

Evelyn Ann had her nine month check up last week.  She is just as healthy and bright as can be.  She is topping the charts at 21 pounds and over 30 inches tall!  Her doctor predicts she will be 5'10" or 5'11" as an adult.  It's hard to imagine our little babies growing to be taller than us. 

Developmentally she is right on track, maybe even a little ahead of the game.  She crawls like a champion and is pulling herself up to a standing position.  She is also insistent on feeding herself and is really starting to talk.  We have conversations everyday.  She is the happiest baby I've ever met and a pure joy.  Her next well baby check up will be when she is one year old.  The months have really gone by so quickly and I continue to cherish every day spent with our beautiful, happy and healthy babies.

Lunch Time Fun

Just before lunch was served, Lane found some birthday cake candles. He decided to make his peanut butter and jelly sandwich into a birthday cake. When Lane was finished putting the candles on his sandwich we sang "Happy Birthday" and Lane pretended to blow out the candles. I hope his wish comes true.  

He made both halves of his sandwich into cakes and he said one was for Evie. Although Evelyn is still too young to eat peanut butter, she enjoyed her meal. She has been wanting to feed herself now at every meal which is great, but makes a big mess. She is getting better at getting the food in her mouth and less on the floor, she even used a baby fork today.  I hope everyone is having a great day!

Lane, The Artist

One of Lane's favorite things to do is "make" which means making marks on paper with crayons, markers or paint.  His making skills have really evolved over the past several months. At first it was about the medium.  He used all his senses to learn about the materials, including tasting.  He then began using the materials on paper just making random marks.  He now can hold the crayon correctly (he's a lefty) and draws circles, he also makes scribbles, has learned several colors and is fascinated by others drawing.  He often asks me to "make" a car or elephant or monster truck and while I'm drawing he is watching every line and he gets so excited with the final drawing.  He also gets excited when he draws objects, even though the drawing is a bunch of scribbles, he is so proud at his accomplishment and I am too.  Today I documented some of Lane's artwork.  He has tons of drawings and they are all so special. I'll be sure to save some of these early masterpieces to treasure for years to come.