Thanksgiving 2011!!!!!

So.... it's Black Friday... the day after Thanksgiving.... and I'm usually very busy putting up Christmas decorations and setting up the tree.... but guess what.... I just don't feel like doing it this year!  The kids have been asking all day... and have even gotten Steve to bring up some boxes on his lunch break before heading back to work... I'm just not feeling the Christmas excitement.  Hopefully by later in the week this will change... It is a lot of work.... the kids do all the fun stuff.... and I'm left with a mess to clean up while everyone is wondering what is for dinner.... not heart warming memories.... I digress....

As for Thanksgiving... Bradley and Laura hosted their first Thanksgiving dinner and it was Great!  I was asked to bring dessert of course.... I kept myself pretty busy on Wed. and Thursday morning making 3 pies and a cheesecake.  (See the plastic wrap Mom... the greatest tip for rolling out pie crust!)

There is Bradley carving the turkey.  I always seem to get a picture of Dad carving.... this year he was handing out all kinds of advice as Brad sliced the turkey like a Ninja.  Dad told him the proper turkey placement.... white meat on the one platter, dark meat on the other...years of experience talking.... it was quite an operation.

My attempt to get the cousins before they dashed off to play...  Amanda was so excited for the turkey... Cameron... not so much.... look at that face....he was just hoping there would be salad with ranch.  

 Me and Mo.....

Tyler was fascinated by my camera.  He kept coming up to me wanting to push the button and take a picture.  Then the flash would blind him, he would come out of his daze, and then he would want to do it again. 

Grammie hanging out with the grand kids....

Everyone is always laughing and smiling..... until you pull out the camera....

Nicholas was very excited to make a wish on the wishbone... He and Uncle Brad gave it a try...

They were pulling and pulling..... but nothing happened.  Before we knew what was happening.... Amanda swooped in and grabbed it from both of them and broke it in half.... saying it was greasy... then she proceeded to give Nicholas the bigger half and told him his wish would come true!  Amanda really took charge in a matter-of-fact fashion... it was pretty funny.

As usual it was great to see Uncle Leon.  This is a great picture except for the fact that Crystal is not in it.  I didn't take one photo of my soon to be new-sister-in-law.  Oops.... just wait until the next event.... Crystal will have to dodge my camera.... I'm going to have a trigger finger like Tyler....

It was great that Steve and Gabby were feeling better and able to share in the day.... This is such a cute photo!

After dinner everyone headed down into the basement to play on the kinect... Brad just bought the game Fruit Ninja where you have to slice pieces of fruit in half.  He was really good at it... he was making kabobs and triple kabobs and multiple slices.... now I know why he was so good at the turkey... it was all the slicing practice from fruit ninja.... Hi-YA!

Mom and Uncle Leon even gave it a try.  Uncle Leon began with a deep, cleansing breath and some very zen-like poses......

Mom on the other hand.... went all out with the karate-ninja-chop-chop method!!!

When Mo stepped up... she was all smooth... and grooving... and fluid... she would not make a very good ninja in real life! (But she might make a very good music conductor.)

Laura and Tyler watched all the ninja excitement... Most of the time you could find Tyler doing his own karate moves.  I have no doubt that one day there will be a major throw down between Ty and his dad.

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun this year.  The food was great, seeing everyone was fun, the video games were hilarious, and those pies...... so Good!  Until later.....

Halloween Hoopla 2011!!!!

I thought I should post a little bit about Halloween before we are celebrating the new year.  I've been really slow with the blogging lately so here we go.....

Maureen, Cameron, and Emmersyn decided to join us for Halloween again this year.  We had a great cast of characters... a glamorous vampire, a scary alien (a little too scary for Emmersyn... she would cry everytime Nicholas put on his mask), Super Mario, Minnie Mouse, and a cute lady bug.  I got all of the kids to pose on the stairs while we were waiting for Steve to get home from work.  We were going to venture out while Steve passed out candy....

Here's a little more of a close-up... the kids were very anxious.... they couldn't wait to start begging for candy.... where was Daddy???

Of all days to forget her camera..... Mo forgot her camera.  Here was my attempt at catching Cam and Emmersyn....

Nicholas in his I-can-make-Emmersyn-have-a-nervous-breakdown mask..... He was so excited he didn't have to smile anymore for the pictures.... the kids were getting very annoyed with me..... but in my defense.... one day the kids will want to see pictures of themselves when they were young...and their children (my grandkids....) will want to know what they were for Halloween.  Amanda asked me what I was for Halloween when I was younger, and I only remember dressing up as Barbie, a baby, and a 50s girl.... what was I all the other years?.... I need to see some pictures!!!

Gabby at rest.... she was in constant motion... it was impossible to get a good shot...

Did I mention.... I think Cameron was a little terrified of the mask too.... not the crying, running to Mom terrified.... the... I'm not so sure that really is Nicholas...terrified!!! He could have been abducted by this guy!!!

 

The girls.... Emmersyn is keeping a watchful eye on the Alien....

A picture of pumpkin goop.... and the reason I show you this....... is because of the ice cream scoop.  After watching a pumpkin carving expert on Martha Stewart he supplied this handy tip.  Do you know what amazing tool they use to scoop out pumpkins??? Duh!!! An ice cream scoop... I already told you the answer.  I have to attest that is was the easiest way I have ever cleaned a pumpkin.  Each pumpkin took less than 5 minutes to clean out, and you don't even get your hands slimy pulling out the goop.  You start at the top and work your way to the bottom.  It was totally genius!  (And this is exciting because I have kids and we carve lots of pumpkins!) 

I thought Nicholas and Cameron would like my Mario carved pumpkin.  Pretty cool!  Wouldn't you agree... Nintendo fans???

The absolute last shot the kids would let me take on the porch before the mayhem began....  Uncle Steve was pulling in the driveway.....

Off they went.... Amanda in her winter jacket... Nick with a fleece jacket under his costume.. and Gabby sans any jacket...she refused to have the jacket clash with the costume! (Actually she just hates to wear jackets!)

Gabby and Emmersyn came back early while the bigger kids went out for round two.... and I might add it was getting pretty chilly without a jacket.... Miss Gabriella.  Here Gabby is checking out Emmersyn's candy stash. 

Oh yeah... here is the cute kitty I carved for Amanda.....  We weren't going to carve pumpkins this year, but at the last minute on Monday afternoon when Gabby went down for a nap, I thought I would surprise the kids and carved 2 pumpkins.  Amanda and Nic were thrilled to see the pumpkins on the porch when they came home from school. 

Nicholas had a huge pile of candy!!!

Amanda had a decent size stash too!!!

And then there was Cameron......  He checked out his bag... and Uncle Steve asked him if he was going to eat some candy.  No.... my memory is failing me... Uncle Steve asked Cameron would he rather eat candy or lettuce?  Cameron's response was LETTUCE of Course!!!  Are you kidding me?  What kid of Maureen's (sugar-addicted-Maureen) would ask for lettuce over candy?

So I got out the leftover salad from dinner and made Cameron a plate.  But then I thought... maybe he just collected disgusting candy like those orange and black wrapped candies that you are never quite sure what they are... or a bunch of good n plenty... or those fake candy cigarettes...

So I looked in his bag.... there was a lot of chocolate and Skittles and Twix... I just don't get it.... can some of that rub off on my kids!

 

The last shot of the night... everyone enjoying their goodies... Amanda, Nick, and Steve eating Halloween candy, and Cameron enjoying some salad with ranch dressing! 

So that wraps up Halloween 2011... I can't wait to see what will happen next year.  Everyone have a great Monday..... Until later...

What the HECK has been happening around here?????

Sooo..... its November already.... and 2 weeks from today is Thanksgiving... and in 2 more weeks it is Nicholas' Birthday and in 2 more weeks it is Christmas.... Wow does time fly?  So what the heck has been happening around here......  I'll just explain in photos.....

When the weather was nice these last couple months we were enjoying the outdoors.  I'm really making an effort to get Gabby outside so she can work on climbing, jumping, running, and balance.  Her motor skills have improved, and I'm encouraged that her speech might improve too.  The therapists at school remind me that the sequencing of her large muscle groups will occur before the fine motor muscles of her mouth.  In my head I realize that, because after all I am a physical therapist.... but it is so darn hard to have patience.... 

Nicholas being goofy on the big wheel....  I never had to worry about this guy's motor skills.....

Amanda loves to roller blade.... look how tall she is getting?

Soccer finally has finished for the fall season.  Number 26 had a phenomenal season.  He ran his butt off and loved to be in every play....

I think Nicholas averaged about 3 or 4 goals a game.  Steve would like him to play up in the next division.... but I think... give the kid a break... let him enjoy his success...he is only 6 years old! 

Amanda was much happier watching from the sidelines.  She opted out of soccer this season.  She helped take care of Gabby and shout coaching advice to her brother.

Everyone is fully into school mode.  Here is a photo before class one Monday morning.  Don't let looks fool you....no one likes homework, pulling teeth might be easier than studying in this household.....

Nicholas and Amanda are still playing piano.  Nicholas finished his first book and moved onto the second level.  Amanda has about 6 books so she will not finish anytime soon.  Last week we purchased 2 new books of Christmas carols and the kids have been practicing non-stop.  We should have quite a concert by Christmas Eve!  Now if I could only get them to stop fighting over who gets to use the piano!!!

I've done a lot of house projects over the last couple months... so I'm happy I've achieved that goal.  The house is beginning to look nice and feel welcoming, however  I think my decorating budget is at its max for the year.  So as a small side project I was thinking about painting the outside door and window frames.  Any suggestions?  Maybe black or red... or something crazy????  I better make up my mind before it gets too cold! 

Gabby and I baked an apple pie one afternoon.  This is what I used to do with Nicholas and Amanda when they were bored and thought it was cool to hang out with Mom.  They were outside playing with friends... so Gabby got her first lesson in apple peeling.

Of course she loved helping me.... but she really loved eating all the apples slices... her mouth is filled with cinnamon-goodness!!!

Grammie Herdoiza came and stayed for a week in early October.  It was great having such a wonderful houseguest.  She was able to spend time with the kids, watch them play tennis, hear them play piano, and see how Gabby and I practice speech all day long.  Here we were working on fine motor skills and speech while playing Pla-doh.

She loves to roll out dough and cut out shapes.  Perhaps I will have a baker in my future....

I made these cute Oreo Mummy pops for Mo's annual Halloween party.  They were so simple and cute and chocolaty!  I think I gained a lot of experience from the last time I made Valentine treats for Amanda and Nic's classes and they were a pain.  This time around they were so much easier!

And speaking of the Halloween party.... check out the party guests.... I have more photos I'll post later...

The kids were busy doing yard work one afternoon to fill pumpkin bags in the hopes of making our front porch festive for Halloween.

I have lots of Halloween photos to share but that will be another day.... Here is my glamorous Vampire!  I think she may still have some of that red in her hair after 2 weeks and numerous showers!!!

Amanda was Student-of-the-week 2 weeks ago... of course she was sick... and missed the end of the week.  She caught Gabby's virus and then passed it on to Nicholas.  We are going for a recheck this afternoon to make sure all this crazy coughing and lung wheezing is over.  UGH!  It has been a crazy 2 weeks of coughing and no sleeping and crankiness.  Anyway.... Amanda needed a treat to bring in for  Student-of-the-Week and because it happened to be the day of the Halloween parade we made these Reese's Smore Owls.  They came out pretty cute and are Halloweenish too.

Well... It is amazing I found the energy to post... I just haven't felt like doing much blogging lately.  I hope this starts a new trend and I'm back shortly with all the Halloween pictures.  Sooooo... that is what we have been up to lately... anything new with you????   Until later....