Happy Thanksgiving!

(more pics to follow)

So Sweet!!

"Hailey, I'll read the book to you."Kenny has such a kind heart and he loves the babies so much. He takes great care of his baby brother and he enjoys playing with his cousins. Such a sweet and wonderful little guy!

Cook, Cook, Cook

My sister, mom, sister-in-laws, Ken, and myself have been cooking and baking.

The menu...

grilled turkey
gravy
ham potatoes
green bean casserole
crescent rolls
orange rolls
cauliflower casserole
cornbread casserole
homemade cranberry sauce
spinach toss salad with poppy seed dressing
stuffing

For dessert...

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
chocolate pecan pies
apple pies
homemade vanilla ice cream

YUM!!!

Mama...Guess What I Found!

Kenny- 4 years old

Nathan- 4 1/2 years old
As you can see Nathan was thrilled to have his picture taken.

Preparations

In preparation for hosting my first Thanksgiving at my house, my husband spent several hours working on our oven and stove. By cleaning I mean he got out the steam cleaner and used a razor blade to get the grease out of EVERY line and crack on the whole thing. It is now gleaming like brand-new! My parents will get here Monday night and everyone else will arrive on Wednesday (except for my Phoenix family-we'll miss them). I'm working on shopping lists and menus to feed everyone while they are here. So we are keeping busy, busy, busy around here.

New Diet...Again

So...we are heading to Utah where they have real winters, not Texas-style winters. I got out my winter clothes and realized- they don't fit! I refuse to buy a bigger size so that leaves me two choices- get skinny or go naked.

It was an agozing decision, but I decided to get skinny. Therefore we started a new diet- 16 days before Thanksgiving. Perfect timing. I doing pretty well. I've lost 7 pounds so far.

Then tonight. I am HUNGRY tonight! I don't know why tonight but there you go. And I will just have to stay hungry until morning because I have eaten all I allowed for today. I was about to give up, but I needed to find some pictures for Ashlyn and I came across pictures of me when I was younger and thinner. I sure looked better in those pictures than I do now. Since I can't get any younger, I'll have to settle for skinny. Long and short of it...no food for me. I'll have to go to bed hungry and hope it pays off in a few weeks.

Primary Program Day

Nathan had his first primary program a few weeks ago. Normally he loves to sing but this Sunday he got nervous being up on the stage and would not stand up or sing. He did say his line in to the microphone clear as a bell. His line was "clean" and Kenny's was as excerpt from the Proclamation to the family which he memorized and delivered beautifully. It was a good program. And Kenny only mildly embarassed us with his behavior in front of everyone, which is a definite improvement. Hopefully next year will be totally smooth sailing.

Halloween Pics

I didn't take these. My sister-in-law Cassie did. But seeing as I did not have a camera at home (I had left it at school) over Halloween weekend, I borrowed the pictures off her blog. Thanks Cassie, I hope you don't mind. We had a little party at my house. The kids painted pumpkins, the big boys all went to the air show, and the estrogen and babies stayed behind to decorate a cupcake pumpkin patch (if anyone has a picture, please send it to me). The night finished off with trick-or-treating. Fun day!!

James is almost 10 months old now and he is so active! He loves to pull himself up wherever he is to practice standing. One of his favorite spots is our living room window. He loves to stand at it and bang on the glass while he looks outside (He also likes it because frequently he can find Regi lounging there and is able to torture her until pain of fur-pulling outweighs the pleasure of sun-bathing.) He also likes to pull himself up to our laser printer. At least fifty times a day he pulls himself up to it, and while precariously teetering on just his feet, he will lunge forward for the paper cover. Once he has it in his hands, he will proudly wave his prize around (knocking himself in the face a few times while doing so), until he loses his balance and plops to the ground on his padded little bum!

He is a master at getting into everything he shouldn't. He weighs 19 lbs. and is 26 inches. I've always had skinny kids with average heights. James is a short baby with average weight. Go figure! His favorite foods are cinnamon raisin granola, yogurt parfaits, apples, carrots, hot dogs, and anything else he can get his hands on! He loves "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and Tell Me The Story of Jesus." He is so cute and sweet and the big boys absolutely adore him!

Happy 50s Day!

Kenny: "Are people really going to be wearing this kind of stuff?"

Daddy: "Yes, Kenny, it's fifties day."

Kenny: "Can't I just wear my normal clothes?"

Mommy: "No, Kenny. You look really cute, and it's one of the very few days out the year in which you don't have to wear your school uniform."

Kenny: "Ugh... I look like a freak!"

Daddy: (Trying not to laugh) "You look handsome, Kenny, and I promise that you won't be the only one at school that looks like this. At the very LEAST, Mommy will look funny too."

Kenny: (Correcting) "You mean she'll look like a freak..."

Red Ribbon Week Parade

There are a few perks to having your kid at school with you! I was able to get this picture of Kenny during the parade through the school. And yes, he lost another tooth last week.

Vent...

Let me just say this girls clothes thing is getting out of hand! I have always been fairly okay with the fact that there are more girls clothing choices than boy. There are many more styles and color choices for girls than boys. But the current way the stores are stocked is ridiculous!!

This is absolutely not an exaggeration. We went to Wal-mart to get some blue jeans for Nathan. There were 3...only 3 racks of boys clothes in the entire section. There were about 20 girl racks. And there were 2 racks of jeans for girls...not A SINGLE rack for boys jeans ANYWHERE.

Target...same story.

And at least half of the shirts you do find have some rude-ish comment or a picture of a dump truck throwing up dirt or some other stupid picture.

Really people. Little boys deserve to have clothes too.

(I realize only people with sons can truly appreciate the frustration of trying to dress them in more than cargo pants and t-shirts with weird sayings and pictures on it. If you have girls, count your blessings next time you go clothes shopping.)

Nathan's Personal Zoo

Nathan is, and always has been, a HUGE animal lover. This love extends to his stuffed animals. He names each one and treats them with so much care. At night he has a zoo-full of animals by his side.


There is Tahoe the giraffe, Baby Snake, "Titty Tat" the fox, Rocket, "Glue" from Blue's Clue's, Arf the dog (to those who knew me in collage, Arf was formally known as Chicken), Caterpillar, his Baby James, blankie, and the list goes on...

Sometimes we find his things in interesting arrangements, such as below. He was supposed to be asleep, but at some point during the night this appeared on his floor.

Here is Arff, ready for the day!

Of course the outfit wouldn't be complete without a pair of training underpants!
Here is "Titty Tat" going for a walk with his toy blood pressure cuff leash.
Nathan, we love your sweet spirit!