-Isms

Random thoughts, random pictures. 

L- scraping a pile of mustard off of her Cuban sandwich- I am fine with this.  I am not a victim of this sandwich. 
*****
M- Should we have some apples with our lunch? 
N- Yes!  With the chunky peanut butter, the best in the land! 
*****
N, frantically running into the kitchen - Oh!  There's the puddy (as in pudding, without the -ng)!  I thought lost it. 
M- The what? 
N- The puddy! 
M- That word is pronounced putty. 
*****

Tis the season for mice in the house.  We've caught four so far, all from a random unfinished space in our basement that is nowhere close to the food, thankfully. 
M- Did you catch another mouse this morning? 
J- No. 
M- You set a trap last night, but you didn't get one?
J- Yes I did.  I set two traps and I caught one. 
M- What? You just said you didn't catch one. 
J- No I didn't. 
L and M in unison- Yes you did! 
*****
Noah’s having one of those mornings. He just said ‘don’t slap my nipples! Would you want me to do that to you?!! Of course not!!’
Of course not. 
*****
E- Can we buy tickets for the rifle?! They're selling a Wizard of Oz blanket! 
M- Rifle? Do you mean raffle? 
(We didn't win)
*****

N- looking at a picture that Adam sent from the backyard - Is that the moose that ate our pumpkin? 

Dang it moose. (everyone's favorite saying this fall)

*****

N-, trying to guess how they say hello in Hawaii - Hello!  Hola? A-hola!??

Thanksgiving Break

 We were all so ready for Thanksgiving break, especially since Auntie Allison was joining us this year! 

We immediately set to the important task of watching the final Twilight movies. 

And eating amazing pastries - imported from Salt Lake City!

The weather got progressively colder as the weekend went on, so Al and I made sure to take a lap around Raccoon River on the only above-freezing day we had together!

We spent a whole junk of time in the kitchen. 

Emma's crumbled pie crust turned into a delicious chocolate pot de crème.

Hungry helpers must be fed!

The ladies spent the afternoon in shops in East Village!

At some point these handy boys put up the Christmas lights! 

We officially had our latest-ever Final Family Fall Fling this year on November 27th.  The weather has been up and down quite a bit this fall, and we were happy to have one last fire before the coldest cold of winter sets in. 

Auntie Al composed a new song for us - "The Fall Family Fling is Finaaaaaal!" 

Laney was a great little watchdog. 

Why is fire so magical? 

The kids learned how to use an axe (kind of). 

The boys will be mortified that I took this picture before running away with the girls, but it has become a time-honored tradition that they put out the fire with... natural resources.  Boys will be boys (and girls will never understand)! 

We woke up on Thanksgiving morning to the very faintest of snowflakes whirling around the air. 

And chocolate turkeys, of course! Also imported from Utah - thank you Grandma Cathy!

Laney was very curious about the fowl smells in the kitchen. 

The kids convinced Auntie Al to play "The Nerf Game" in the basement-

I'm not sure she or Noah liked being hunted. 

Jason did a great job with the turkey - the roasted one was ready right on time, and thank goodness because the more highly anticipated smoked turkey wasn't don't until 7:30 that night. 

Auntie Al did an amazing job with the centerpiece flowers- 

and Noah's personalized place cards were my favorite touch of the table- 

I love these drawings!

Finally it was time to FEAST! 

And feast we all did. 

Followed by a quick and overdue great pumpkin roll. 

Some time in the basement with MarioKart, Beat Saber, 

 

Knee hockey- 

Laney was a great goalie- 

and the boys won!

42 seconds of spikeball- 

and a whole lot of blind karaoke - my favorite part was Laney flying during Defying Gravity.

By the time we tucked in for turkey sandwiches and White Christmas, I was done taking pictures for the day.  But they were all amazing and delicious and I'm pretty sure both Daddy and I slept from the first dress rehearsal in Vermont all the way to the closing number. I love sleeping through movies that I've seen before!

And I love Thanksgiving.  There is nothing so sweet as spending an entire month pausing and noting the many, many blessings that we are surrounded by every single day. 

Since Thanksgiving came so late in November this year, we dove straight into Christmas the next day.  I always forget that Jason likes to have Christmas up and ready to go immediately following Thanksgiving because it also signals that his birthday is just around the corner!

It took the rest of the weekend to get the house fully decked out, 

(Noah was despairing every time we said that he couldn't have eggnog until the Christmas tree was set up, and thrilled when the big moment finally came!)

but there were too many other fun things to do while Auntie Al was here, like watching Wicked!

And checking out this Christmas wonderland!

And swinging by the no-longer-the-Grinch-house house in Ankeny, and marveling at all the changes that have happened there since we've been gone. 

Not pictured but worth mentioning, Hot Frosty! 

These cinnamon rolls have changed my life. 

Allison is Laney's very favorite visitor. 

Clearly they are very comfortable with each other. 

There were late night chats and clay crafts 

and games around the table 

and a bit of shopping that resulted in the cutest lil bird friends ever

and lots of singing and laughing all around. 

And no one was ready on Monday morning when it was time to go back to school and take Al to the airport (after a good mall walk and a brunch date!).  Noah sent her off with an upgraded Yoda that he smoothly pulled out of his pocket last minute. 

But Auntie Al kept the fun going after she left with an explosion of ducks all over the house!  They are still making us laugh every day!

This was a happy Thanksgiving to remember!