Jack is thankful for...

a lunch of pancakes (with lots of syrup and powdered sugar!) and hot chocolate

after a morning of doing this:

He also got to play with Ava and her friend. Look at his happy face! Ava said he could come do art with them and he was so excited, he said, "I won't even talk!" but I heard his little voice jabbering away!

Some Jack

We have had some really great sunny November days (for which we are all very thankful!). I went to find Jack and he was hard at work cleaning up the backyard and parking all his cars for the winter.

This morning, after singing a sweet round of Amazing Grace, he pauses for a minute and says, "that girl, Amazing Grace, must have been naughty and ran away from her parents to get lost like that."

Then later in the day he says, "did God give me to you so that when Ava was at school you would have somebody to play with?"

So I'm thankful for my playmate, it would be very lonely without him!

Thankful

One out.

Two down.

Five minutes till apple cider martini.

Ed is out to (a very nice) dinner with some Very Important Persons so we are on our own again tonight. Which means a couple things: early bed for Jem, popcorn and movie for kids, yummy drink for me. We made cider martinis a couple weeks ago for friends but we used a pre-made mix and it was a little good but mostly a little weird. But I knew the idea had potential so we tried it again and it is good. It's a little something like this (but made to taste of course):

1 part cider (I like to float some oranges and cloves in it for a bit first)

1 part vodka

1 part cranberry vodka (because we ran out of the regular!)

Shaken super cold.

Enjoy.

On the mend.

The puking has ended, the house has been sanitized, the sun is out and the windows are open (with the heater cranked up...it is November!) and Jack is back to this:

(Ava took this shot)

After not being allowed to touch each other for days, they were both so happy to play together this morning--Jemma was literally squealing!

And I found this sweet note on my pillow last night:

Mom, I know we all miss dad but tomoro he is coming back

And that is what I am most thankful for today! Ed has been gone six full days and he is getting home in the wee hours of tomorrow morning after missing (yet again!) another bout of the misery that is the flu!

Thankful

After a long night with much puking and very little sleeping, the kiddies are back in bed and I am Christmas shopping (or really just making my own Christmas list!). I found a little pick-me-up in the Christmas video at http://www.gap.com/ (it even got a smile out of limp little Jack) and I've made hotel reservations for the night I take Ava to the Nutcracker. So on this grey, germy day, I am thankful that Christmas is not only coming, the fun is already starting!

Mirror, mirror....

whose the cutest of them all?

Thankful

So my bubba hasn't really eaten in two days and after requiring lots of sister cuddles tonight, he finally wandered into the bathroom, threw up, flushed the toilet and came out with a big smile and said, "I think I threw up." I have a very serious problem with the flu but I gotta say, today I'm thankful that my little buddy is not only a cheerful sick-ey, he is also a neat and tidy one.

Whoa.

Anyone else see the resemblance?

Jem.

Me.
(with a few more pounds of chub than her. but hello pug nose!...and forehead, ears, and smile.)

Thankful

Today, I'm thankful for this goofball, cause really, who wouldn't be?

Thankful

So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I meant to do a daily post through November of all the things I am thankful for. But, in case you missed it, we are already well into November and I haven't even started! So here's to good intentions and the rest of the month....

I am thankful for this little pudge, who a year ago was just days old and making me bleary-eyed and exhausted but who today is funny and brave and independent and sleeps like a dream!

I am a more than a bit addicted to the story of Stellan, a little boy with a major heart problem, and while I know there are many many sad stories like his, I am sucked into this one because he is exactly the same age as my Jem and while he is right now undergoing a massive surgery that is potentially fatal, my Jem is doing this:
So today I am most grateful for my healthy baby girl and the fact that she thinks it is hilarious to crawl away when I pull out the camera!
(if this picture had sound, you would hear some seriously sweet giggles!)

Did you?

Trick or Treat!

Our little pink pig is showing off her new trick...blowing kisses.

At the Fall Carnival.

Lovin' on our froggy cousin.

Ava headed straight for the craft booth.

For some reason when Jack wears an eye patch, he closes the other eye too--which does not make for much fun so we took it off:

Yay!

Time to hit the streets:

First stop was Dave and Ann's for some awesome treats--popcorn, homemade caramel, glow sticks, and a box of cupcakes to-go!

We headed out with ten little trick-or-treaters this year...makes for a pretty cute bunch!

The loot! (and this is only about half of it!)

the last of October.

watching football with daddy and her new baby.

Acorn hunting

This goofball looks like some variation of this on a regular basis!

Homecoming Parade.

Faithful blog readers will recall that we love a good parade! I was a little worried about the weather this weekend but it ended up being great--we even saw some sun!

Picked up one of my favorite pumpkins at the Farmer's Market.

Jem's learning to love parades too!

The Homecoming Parade is always good for a stash of candy--Jessa even brought paper bags to collect the loot!

Jack didn't have a bag but he's a resourceful guy and used his hat instead!

Jemma was most excited to get a football rattle.

Happy Halloween!

My little cuties last year with our sweet new pumpkin!

**********************

Caramel Corn

(a recipe for Carissa, that must be made for Halloween!)

6 qt. popped corn

2 1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c white Karo syup

1 tsp salt

1 c butter

Melt butter, add syrup, brown sugar, salt in saucepan. Boil 5 minutes, stirring. Add 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Pour over popped corn, stir well.

Bake 30 min on cookie sheet in 250 oven, stir often. (line pan with foil!)

Eat while warm and gooey!

We make a half batch when it's just us eating it. Also, I like to take about half the popcorn out of the bowl before adding the caramel and mixing it, then add more popcorn, then more caramel--I'm always afraid of too much popcorn, not enought carmel. :)

Enjoy!