Happy Thanksgiving

It's a balmy 9.2 degrees as I type this.  Well, it's not 9.1 degrees inside the house but the cold air is seeping through anyway.  We had a nice, if not chilly, Thanksgiving.  We had an awesome feast with family and spent the rest of the day watching football, movies, playing Sorry and eating pecan pie.  I got a wild hair last night around 7 and decided to add pecan pie to our menu.  It was delicious if I do say so myself.  Pictures in reverse order.  

Will and I on what felt like a long walk but was actually just a brisk 20 minutes.  My legs are still cold.  

Two members of the family who didn't mind the cold?  These two could've kept going and going and going.  

This is what happens these days when I say, "smile for the camera."  

You too, sister?  

Reina has declared that she dislikes pumpkin pie but she decided to try my version again this year.  You'll have to wait for the verdict.  

Baby Cousin was a big fan of the Star Wars jello jigglers that I made in lieu of jello salad.  

Those eyes, that hair!  

Thumbs up for the pumpkin pie!  Although as we were cleaning up the plates a little later, I discovered that she just ate the whipped cream off of the top and maybe skimmed a minute layer of pumpkin off with it.  More for me!  

Well look at this!  Baby Cousin and Uncle Glenn sitting side-by-side.  It's a Thanksgiving miracle!  

Reina's Thanksgiving Speech

Reina had to prepare a poster and give a speech yesterday on her family's Thanksgiving traditions.  It was funny to see the day from her perspective. 

The final product.  The stickers anchoring the pictures were her idea.  Well the whole thing was her idea because any suggestion I made was quickly shot down.  

 Reina's traditions include having dinner with the family, eating turkey and cranberry sauce, playing with Pop-pop, making crafts with Mom and this:  

Mom forgetting the sugar in the pumpkin pie.  I made pies today and made a point to REMEMBER the sugar.  

Reina and Pop-Pop playing.  Is Pop-pop wearing shortsleeves in November?  

Reina's favorite Thanksgiving dish is cranberry sauce although she was calling it raspberries for a while.
That wasn't at all confusing.  

Off to make some crafts and put sugar in stuff.  Until tomorrow.

Dinner out ... on a Tuesday

When Glenn came home from his hunting trip yesterday, I told him that we were going out to dinner tonight.  Between all of the cooking this past weekend and all of the holiday cooking coming up, I'm plum out of ideas and frankly a little tired of the kitchen. So after work, we picked up the kids and headed to a local steakhouse.  Reina was delighted to be out on the town.  Will was tired and would've rather had a sandwich on the couch but he got on board.  We had a nice time together and a good meal and it's a heck of a way to kick off the holiday weekend.

Reina treated the steakhouse like it was The Ritz.  She was delighted with the door knobs, the scent of the soap in the bathroom, the kid's appetizer that was apple slices and yogurt dip, the fact that you could write on the table with crayons, her sprite, etc. etc. etc.  

Will's meal.  He ate almost the whole thing.  This kid is going through a growth spurt.  

The Weekend

Well this weekend flew by in a flash!  The wind was howling yesterday and we had a few inches of snow on the ground but that didn't stop us from getting out and about and doing some pre-Thanksgiving shopping.  I had a grand plan to get everything I needed for my portion of our Thanksgiving feast but let's be honest, that didn't happen and it really was never even close to happening.  I left my grocery list in the car and it was all downhill from there.  

The kids and I also did some shopping and I had them point out some things they'd like on their Christmas list.  For Reina, that was basically the entire toy section of Target with special emphasis on animals, Barbies with animals and dolls that are basically Barbies but are instead either animals or monsters who go to a very glamorous high school.  Will's list was a little smaller but did include the Lego aisle, plus a bunch of Lego's that Target doesn't sell and Star Wars, Star Wars, Star Wars.   Glenn's already ordered his Christmas present and as for the Broncos Baby Mom, I think I'd enjoy a Broncos win that doesn't feel like it takes years off of my life and the opportunity to sleep in longer than 7:30 without the check in from certain small people every five minutes to see if I'm getting up yet.  

Thanks in advance, Santa.  

Coco.com

It's been a while since I posted pictures of Coco, and by 'a while' I mean a little over a week.  But look at this face. How can you not want to feature it on the blog every single day?  Insert all sorts of obnoxious kissing noises here that Coco doesn't even like or appreciate.  I'm a cat Lucy, not your third baby.  

Coco certainly has her own view on life, as cats are wont to do.  Yesterday morning as we were getting ready for school and work, I realized that I hadn't seen or heard Coco in a few minutes.  Just like with toddlers, quiet is usually a bad sign.  I looked around and found her in Reina's room right next to the fish tank.  Rest assured, Goldie was swimming around in her tank safe and sound but the fish food was knocked over into Reina's sock drawer and also making a nice little pile on the carpet. Did I mention it was a full jar of fish food?  And that Coco was eating it?  Kitten brains, as my aunt says.  

Last night, I was cleaning up the kitchen and noticed Coco snoozing on Will's backpack that was lying in the middle of the floor, because of course it was and why wouldn't it be a nice to place to nap?  

Say cheese, Coco! 

 Tootsie wandered over and well, let's just let the pictures do the talking.

These two are good friends.  Lots of wrestling and chasing and Coco even gets up the nerve to eat out of Tootsie's food dish while Tootsie is eating, although I usually remove her from that situation just for her safety.  Tootsie also thinks it's important to bathe the cat from time to time.  

Kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss, although Coco now appears to be over this little interruption. 

Time to clean off all of the dog germs.  

Thanksgiving Feast at school

Today, Glenn and I had lunch with the kids at school for their annual Thanksgiving feast.  Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, applesauce, rolls, salad and a pumpkin pie thing that I raved about last year.  Reina carefully opened up her bowl of turkey and mashed potatoes and in a quiet voice asked me, "is this cat food?"  Coco would've answered with a resounding "YES!" but I told Reina it was turkey and she ended up taking several bites.  Reina also discovered that she likes pumpkin pie, even though she didn't think she liked it last year.  She's also a big fan of the cranberries.  Will inhaled everything on his tray - which didn't include pumpkin dessert because he staunchly dislikes pumpkin pie, actually any pie really.  Switched at birth?  Possibly.  Glenn was a good boy and cleaned his plate too.  

Great facial expressions guys, really.  Glenn looks like he's being held hostage.  Will's just hungry and distinctly aware of how much time he has left to eat as to not miss even a minute of recess.  

Thanksgiving feast selfie.  Reina would prefer that we hang out there all afternoon.  

As lunch was winding down, recess was announced with the caveat that kids should stay off of the top of the monkey bars because the wind is howling so hard today that they might be blown off.  Oh Wyoming.

Reina's Thanksgiving Speech - a Preview

Sitting at the Thanksgiving table (from left to right):  Pop-pop, Grandma, Will, me, Reina, Daddy, Aunt Vicky with Baby Cousin in the carseat and Uncle Matt.  I love our strapless formal Thanksgiving Day dresses and Reina's long blonde hair.  And Will's shirtless or wearing a white shirt?  Will is rarely shirtless, especially for such an important and cold celebration.  And where are all of the cats?!