Thanksgiving weekends

Our Thanksgiving weekends consisted of 3 very different, but enjoyable events. We truly are blessed to have our family close by so we can spend time with them not only regularly, but also during the holidays.

The first round was the weekend before Thanksgiving with the Boyers.  It was at Nanny's old place, which I have affectionately nicknamed the Pedro Party Pad, and it started out with some sweet wheels.  Uncle R brought a dunebuggy for us to play with for the weekend.

The boys were heartbroken.  NOT.

Even the big boys were heartbroken. NOT. Again.

 

  

  

 

Trying to keep mom half-way in the cool status.

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Then, that evening was when I was introduced to a foreign language.  Commonly referred to 'Cooking by the Campfire.'  Wow, talk about throwing a wrench in the spokes of my learning-how-to-cook tricycle.  It was very cool, don't get me wrong.  Just a little much for my non-cooking brain to process all at once.  Cooking a turkey in the oven is something I'm still venturing out to try all by my big girl self, then this: cooking a turkey in a dutch oven over hot coals.  Don't hold your breath.

Turkey deliciousness.

Some cute Thanksgiving decorations.

 

Nathan and J enjoying the hammock that was hung a little low.  Twas a great opportunity to raz Papa.

Ample opportunity and space to run.

 

 Aunt Kelle heard a neat decorating tip on the radio while driving out there, so all the kids got involved.  Their first assignment was to collect as many acorns as they could stand.

And boy were they good at it.

Their next assignment was to collect interesting branches, leaves, fruits from around the yard.  Then, assemble them all together for one-of-a-kind table centerpieces for our outdoor Thanksgiving meal.

Some of the handiwork and the marvelous artists.

 

 

Somebody was pouting because of no nap and the only way I got him to look up was to claim I saw a bulldozer.  Turkey.

Did I happen to mention this was a camping trip also?  Well, it was.  Kind of.  For some of us.  The 2 moms and the 2 youngest Boyers, 6 month old Brandon and 17 month old H, got the luxury of "camping out" inside Nanny's old house.  With beds.

Here are the experts at work.  They don't even need daylight to erect an 8-person tent.

Bamah asked me to take pictures of this so we had documentation of her sleeping in a tent.  Well, it doesn't quite show that, but she was helping to assemble their sleeping quarters and from what I hear, she did make it the whole night in the tent and according to her, "slept like a log."  Good stuff.

The next day was fun to wake up and hear the stories from the tent-sleepers and the tent-gigglers and the bathroom-frequenters and the slept-like-a-loggers.

 

 

  

Our next outing was on Thanksgiving day.  We drove to my parent's former homeland and went to go visit my Aunt N with Mom, G-ma and G-pa.  Aunt N's two kids are in California and Colorado.  Major bummer, I say.  Major bummer.  But never fear, we brought enough children and high-maintenance demands to make sure Aunt N got a good dose of children to hold her over for a while.

The next outing was with my Dad, brother M and his family the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  We ventured over to the coast for some R&R on the water.  Dad brought his boat and we hung out with the crew for a good Thanksgiving feast at the local pub.  Ha!  Just kidding!  It was a restaurant.

Dad took the serious fishermen out the next morning and by the time he came back, the high-maintenance crew was able to take a short ride.  It had to be short because within 5 minutes of being on the boat and having to wear a life vest, Nathan was asking when we would be there and he was hungry and he wanted to go fast and where's daddy and M was hungry and Katherine's hair kept sticking in her eyes and she was thirsty and little M was tired of wearing her life vest and OH MY!  No, CowPapa, I'm pretty sure we're not going to make it all the way out of the river to get to the open water (1-hr round trip) before someone has a coronary.  And it looks like it's going to be me.

We did manage to get some pictures of the crew on our really quick trip. :)

M, a very good and die-hard fisherman.

Behold the crew of the S.S. High Maintenance.

This guy wasn't too happy with his life vest either.

(My oh my, who is that ruggedly handsome man in the background?  Oh that's right, he's my husband.  Lucky me. :)

So there you go.  Pictures and documentation from our 3 Thanksgiving festivities in 7 days.

A little late, I know.  I just hope I get Christmas pictures posted before Valentine's day.

The Phantom Phood Phanatic

This life of raising boys is REALLY different.  One area I've had a hard time adjusting to is the insatiable desire to constantly be eating.  We've done a fairly good job of exposing our kids to different foods, expecting them to try new things, (even if it's just one bite) and encouraging them to sit their wiggly little toddler behinds in the chair when it is eating time.  So when I put food in front of the oldest son, watch him eat a descent amount, but not finish off what I put in front of him, and then hear him ask for more food within 5 minutes, I get a little frustrated.

He is a grazer.  I've been known to set his unfinished plate on the counter for another hour or so and sneak forkfuls of food in his mouth as he's passing.  He barely even knows I'm doing it, really.  He's usually in mid-sentence or asking a question and I'll say, "Take this bite and I'll answer you." :)  Sly Mom trick #34.

So when I am out of commission for about 10 minutes (I must shower every now and then), and Nathan is left free roaming, it's a crap shoot as to what could possibly happen in or to the house.  One fine day, I cautiously stepped out of the shower, listened intently, and there was          S i l e n c e

A quick survey of his favorite and safe spots yielded no 3 year olds.  I finally tracked him down, playing nicely with his Monster trucks in his room.  Whoo!  That was a close one.

But not so fast there, el mommo.  Mommy-radar still wasn't clicking a good signal so I went to go investigate and found this...

After close inspection, this is the report of his well-thought-out actions.  The box of Nilla wafers was unopened.  He must have had trouble opening the bag inside so he found the scissors, which were in the pencil box, which was in the top drawer of the bar/cabinet shown in the top left of the picture.  He carefully cut open the bag, helped himself, and left the evidence for his mother to find.

How can I get mad at this?  Seriously!  He was eager to pick up the cookies and put it all away, with my gentle encouragement.  I remember him eating a good breakfast, though.  So that's why this boys-constantly-eating thing is tough for me.

Oh well.  I'll do my best to not stunt his growth by withholding junk food for him to snack on.  Will he ever notice the bananas on the counter that are easy to open?

Imprinting: the Nathan way

So one day this week, it got real quiet in the house, which ALWAYS means that something not-so-good is up.  Mommy intuition/radar kicked in and I started searching for the 3-year-old.

Like a homing device, my internal beeping radar got faster the closer I got to him.  Make a turn for the office, the beeper slowed down as to signify Colder, Colder.  Make a turn for the hallway, the beeper would speed up to signify Warmer, Warmer.  I started zeroing in on his room.  The internal beeper had almost turned into a continuous sound, rather than an intermittent beep.  I'm HOT, HOT, HOT!

Still quiet.  Could be good.  Maybe.

I cautiously, slowly and quietly open the door.  Heart beating out of my chest.  Eyes are wide and bulging.  They're trying desperately to jump out of my head to view around the corner of the door to see what's going on.

My parents used to say, "Nothing good happens after midnight."  About 95% of the time, my mother-of-a-3-year-old boy mantra "Nothing good is happening when The Boy's been quiet for too long," could be true.

But today was a little different.

In many ways.

It wasn't Bad.  Just a little ... uh ... different.

I'm afraid the best way I can describe what was going on is this:


Nathan is the leader of a miniature Monster Truck cult.  He is The One ALL of his Monster Trucks answer to, report to, salute and trust with their lives.

I apparently interrupted one of their "sessions" and found this

Nathan, thankfully, was sitting in his bed, reading some dinosaur books.  But he had carefully set up his portrait in front of his Monster Trucks so they may pay their respects.

No really, when I walked in and saw this, it was all I could do to not burst out in laughter.  I nonchalantly left the room, got the camera and started taking pictures.  He wasn't too happy with that, so these were the only 2 I got.

When I asked why he had set up the trucks to look at his picture, his reply was, "Cause dey wanted to see me better."

This was soon after he used his Birthday $ to buy 4 new Monster Trucks.  Maybe he was putting the newbies through the imprinting process.

Pure & simple comfort

Is there anything more comforting than falling asleep next to your baby?  Feeling the slight rise and fall of his breathing, the warmth of his body, the smell of his head and listening to his shorter breaths coupled with intermittent whimpers.  It's one thing I will miss, terribly, when my babies grow up.

Sleeping down under

I'm convinced that this kid's main goal, some days, is to surprise me every chance he gets.  He's never slept half under the bed before, and he hasn't done it since.

The Share Chair

Break time while Mommy is putting some supper together.  It was a good day for sharing the chair.

A visit with the pumpkin yard ornaments once again...

October 2008

October 2009

 (Notice the difference in the grass/temperatures between 2008 & 2009?)

October 2011

I just love reminiscing and seeing how our family is changing and growing. :)