Great Uncles and Leaves.

One thing about living in the desert, people LOVE to come visit you when their region of the planet is frigid and yours is still ... well ... WARM! They tell you it's because they haven't seen in forever but I beg to differ. You see ... these same folk have never "popped in" in say ... August ... when it's 110 and humid as all get out. Nope. They miss you from December to March. We won't hold it against them though ... it's probably the same reason why we love to go to them in the summer :)

Our littlest Audrey had never met her Great Uncle Dave before ... or her Great Great Uncle Eben. Eben is my Grandma Audrey's brother ... I hadn't seen him since I swam across a lake in Canada about 20 years ago. When he saw me this time, he recalled that was one of the dumbest things he'd ever witnessed. Three kids swimming across Lake Restoule. I thought it was fun. Except my drivers ... (I swam next to a boat as my guide) led me about 1/2 mile down the shore from where I was supposed to end up. The deal was you had to swim from the beach on one side of the lake to the dock of the cabin. It didn't count unless you reached the dock. Lucky for you ... I can't find the picture of me ... breathless ... walking to the shore in my ever so cute 1980's pink and white striped bathing suit. Just like I have seemingly misplaced all of my huge hair pictures from 1985-1994. Crazy how things like that happen.

Uncle Eben now knows three Audreys ... but this one ... he promises in the cutest.

Three generations of nieces ...

Back on the block ... the boys participated in a little leaf pile jumping.

I suggested perhaps the grass would be a better location for one's tush to land ... but as you can see ... I was assured there were plenty of leaves to protect the rear.

But after a few landings on the ever so soft concrete, the boys called in the leaf pile expert ...

And then they got their bikes and pretended they were off-roading ...

Even the girl child got in on the fun ...

Until Joshua got bit by an ant and ran to the porch SCREAMING his head off. Eli got bit too. But he just took off his shoes and kept playing.

Until the bite got a bit too itchy and he had to take a break.

A fun day. Ending in this child falling asleep in her highchair ... while I was feeding her. I have yet to produce a child who sleeps in the car, in a stroller, in a shopping cart ... so this was a triumphant moment for me. I finally did it ... one can only pray she'll stay this mellow for YEARS to come. But I kind of think she'll be jumping in her own leaf pile this time next year!

Freezing. It's All Relative.

This week ... it's like 85 degrees outside. Total December weather ... but last week (or was it the week before?) ... it was FREEZING. Like 50 something for a high freezing.

So ... I bundled up the Charmings and decided to hit the cul-de-sac for a bit of "Get Your Wiggles Out Because You're Driving My Nutty" fun. Besides ... AEB was in great need of wearing this killer jacket from her Auntie Jenn and Uncle Robert. Who knew they made Patagonia jackets for a six month old??

See how freezing it was? E was warming his hands by the dryer vent. We're definitely not used to such harsh conditions :)

A quick pic of all three ...

Interrupted by E spotting some goo on AEB's noggin ...

A lovely closeup ...

And her "post goo removal" face ... I'm pretty sure that nothing much bugs her. Not even a 3 year old sticking his grimy hands in her face to remove caked on goo. Impressive. Either that ... or she's frozen?

Then once in the cul-de-sac ... Eli busts these puppies (er ... hamsters) out of his bike. Apparently he thought they needed to get their wiggles out too.

And then the event that topped all other suggestions of mine to de-wiggle themselves ... the discovery of AEB's stroller. Well. Former stroller. This was its last showing at our house. Thanks to Marshall's and their clearance section. And a brand new Maclaren stroller that just happened to show up there. I'm in love.

This scene might look different once the girl gains a few more pounds ... but for now ... she is a captive audience.

And she takes the "happenings" in a very upbeat manner ...

This one. Not so much. He had a meltdown. Just yards from our house. Told me I needed to carry him. He was done walking. That walking is tough work.

So he protested. On his tush. Until it started to freeze. And then he joined us inside.

So glad it's 80 degrees again because that freezing stuff is a lot of work!

Gobble.

Our Thanksgiving started with a bit of backyard demolition. We've been in our house for almost a year and while we LOVE almost everything about this place ... we have a bit of un-LOVE for the backyard. Okay. A LOT OF UN-LOVE. But ... 'tis the season for making it look better and Thanksgiving seemed like a good day to bust out a sledge hammer and make a bit of progress!
Even the Charmings got in on the action. Give a boy a hammer and some mud and he'll be happy for HOURS!
Well. Except these three ... who did a lot of posing ... and working on their "moves" ...
This one in particular. Spent a LOT OF TIME ...
... perfecting the look.
A. LOT. OF. TIME.
Until ... Ben discovered the vacation spot for a family of geckos. They must have called in all their relatives to party in our backyard because we spotted thirty or forty of them. I must confess that not all survived the experience. The chisel and sledge hammer might have given a few of them a run for their money. But all was not a complete loss. Take, for instance, the gecko in the above shot. He spent his last moments on the earth atop a surfboard. Cruising the yard with the Charmings. What better way to go out??
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After the morning fun, it was DINNER TIME.
The Audreys waited patiently for the turkey to be carved ...
The bird ... which I cooked ... was edible. It was almost delicious ... if you smothered it with gravy and the REALLY tart cranberry sauce I concocted. But I'm preparing myself now that I may be delegated to "table decorations" from here on out.
Our table ...
And a quick 3/5 family shot before our clothes got covered with drool and more drool!
And after dinner, the boys busted out the clay and created turkeys of their very own.
Space turkeys. Who fought off evil villains to save the universe.
And my favorite moment of the day ... when Eli was playing a game on Ben's iPhone and it stopped working ... and he took the phone to my 86 year old grandfather to help him. And I loved even more that Howie tried to figure out what heck E was talking about :)
And the final shot of Turkey Day. A recreation of a picture that I have of my grandpa and me when I was six months old. My next goal is to find the original ... after I hang the Christmas wreaths outside ... put dinner in the oven ... water the front plants ... beat Joshua in a game of SNAP ... watch The Polar Express for the millionth time ... and work on an idea for hosting Bunco next week. In other words ... it might take me a bit to find it but at least I have it down as a goal.

A Turkey Feast.

Last week, we all piled into the car to join J. How at his pre-K "feast." As soon as we buckled our seat belts, Ben says, "Is this the thing where they feed you fake turkey and instant mashed potatoes?" Totally.
When we arrived, Joshua was extremely proud to show off his "caveman" hat. I tried to convince him otherwise ... like it perhaps was a replica of say something a pilgrim once wore and threw in the "We're paying good money for this education of yours" speech ... but How was adamant that it was a caveman hat. So I just agreed. I'm sure his fourth grade American history teacher will thank me.
Oh. And the feast. I told Ben not to eat anything because I wanted to take a picture. He told me his instant potatoes were getting cold. I told him not to eat too much ... it would spoil his dinner.
Eli's question of the feast: "Why day take dat real turkey and roll it up into fake stuff?" He wasn't interested in eating it ... but he did create a lovely cross.
And then there was a little turkey nuzzling ... Man these two adore each other!
And the highlight of my morning ... seeing J. How bust out his dance moves.
Miles wasn't too interested ...
But ... our child.
Well.
He was more than willing to bless the room with his talent ...
I can't wait until next year's feast ... I know Ben's stomach can't wait either.

We've Decided to Keep You.

Friday night was Fort Night over at our house. Ben was out of town and since I was running low on creative options to entertain the Charmings ... a fort and a picnic dinner sounded like a good idea. I'm always game for making a low key dinner (pretty sure it was the third meal of PB and J sandwiches ... IN A ROW!!) and snuggling in our sleeping bags.
The boys were super THRILLED to eat somewhere other than the kitchen table ...
What could be better than soy yogurt, gluten free bread and apples ... YUMMY! So yummy, I asked Eli to give me a thumbs up. Wish I could have captured J's expression when he saw Eli. "Eli. That is not your thumb. That is your pointer finger. Mom said, THUMBS UP!"
Is it strange that it appears as though he's never seen his thumb before?
My favorite conversation of the night ....
J: "Remember when Audrey was in your tummy. It really has been quite a journey."
Me: "Yep. She's been in our family for five months. What do you think we should do with her now?"
J: Thinks about it for a minute ..."We should keep her as our baby."
Me: "Did you hear that Audrey?"
J: Walks over to her, "Aren't you happy? We've decided to keep you! We should have a party. A celebration that we're keeping her as our baby!"

So ... you can see where this is going .... Joshua called my mom and asked her to come over ... and bring the donut maker ... and candles! Then Joshua and I made Audrey a "We're Keeping You" surprise ....
And we sang her a "Happy We're Keeping You" song ... (sounds a lot like Happy Birthday) ...
And we let her munch on her surprise! (Joshua painted the A ... ) After the donuts, Joshua said, "See. She's so happy we're keeping her!"
And since Joshua was getting so good at projects ... I convinced him to help me with the decorations for the Thanksgiving table. We made turkeys. Seven of them. And after naps, the boys gave them names. Gobbler. Runaway. Purple Guy. Sundown. Run Fast. Speed and Lasso.
And then it was onto the place mats ... I saw the idea in Parents magazine ... and they used sponges to make the "leaves" ... but I had pom-poms on the table and we dipped those in paint ... and they worked great!
And yes. I'm in charge of the bird this year. That's why I'm so focused on the table decorations. It will give everyone something to look at ... in case they're choking on their dinner :)