Thanksgiving Things

We had a long Thanksgiving weekend together as a family with very loose plans. That is highly unusual, and it was really nice. Matt was off the entire school break, and kicked off the weekend for us by scheduling a financial meeting for the two of us. Only a man would think it was OK to schedule appointments like that the day before Thanksgiving. So, I arrived in the kitchen at last in the late afternoon. Thankfully, the Tauntons invited us over to their Thanksgiving feast, so my work was small in comparison (read I didn't have to make the turkey! Wahoo!). After a lazy morning watching the parade (and laughing at my kids for being frustrated they couldn't fast forward through parade commercials!), we headed over around 11 to spend the day with our dear friends. I should have taken pictures and documented our togetherness, but alas, I did not. I did take a couple funny shots, however. First, Matt proudly displaying his required disgusting jellied cranberry sauce. Blech. There's always homemade cranberry sauce around, but he NEEDS this gross stuff. Too funny.

And this one--late in the day the boys started discussing a Thanksgiving night shopping trip to Best Buy. We thought they were nuts, but we told them to go if they so desired. I guess electronics are worth waiting in ridiculous lines for if you are a guy...either that or they were just eager to escape the women and children. You decide.

Lastly, I had to laugh at the children who decided 2 hours after dessert (which was two hours after a HUGE meal) that they were so starving they needed some dinner! Ha!

On Friday we had a lazy day at home.  The girls would not rest until we had the tree up and decorated in its entirety.

Side effect of putting children in charge of ornament placement....we had to do a bit of follow-up work.

On Saturday we surprised the girls with tickets to the Polar Express ballet the local dance studio was putting on at the Civic Center. We hit Chester's for lunch beforehand and the girls asked to stand outside and take a couple pics by the big tree in Peace Plaza.

Saturday evening included the big Harry Potter finale. Matt has been reading the first book to the girls most nights before bed. Jillian has been so into it she can hardly sleep, coming downstairs long after we put her to bed to ask questions and speculate about plots. Adrienne did surprisingly well at listening, too.

The reward for finishing the book was that we watched the first Harry Potter movie on Sunday evening. Adrienne, who usually gets antsy after the first hour of a movie, was riveted for the entire 2 hours and 45 minutes.  They are excited to start the first book after Christmas...bedtime reading during Advent consists of all Christmas books.

Life With A 7 Year Old: A Room Tour

I think I need to start a blog post series titled "Life With A 7 Year Old".  I have many reasons for this. 1--Drama. We have lots of it
2--Sass. Also no shortage.
3--Intense desire for independence. Will stop at nothing. I mean nothing.
4--Knowledge of the world. All time high, people. All time high. She knows it all.
5--Ability to boss people around.
6--Messy Room. Lord, have mercy. It is a holy hot mess. So, let's start there, shall we?

Exhibit A: This is a desk.

Yes, really, it is. I know it's hard to believe that work might actually get done here. I'm sure it was possible at some point. Purchasing this cute little desk and chair at IKEA just might have been one of our biggest parenting fails, because what we really did is give our 7 year old permission to hoard and trash yet another surface. Do you see that little purple bit of powder on the desk? Well, she decided to dump out a sand-filled cross she made at church because she "just wanted to play in the sand".

Exhibit B--Fall Hazards Abound

Yes, there is a child in the bed. She's shrouded under the covers, sleeping blissfully away while I toil and fret about the state of her room. People, this kid is going to break her ankle getting up in the night. If she doesn't, I certainly will. I have crunched and stepped on too many cd cases, toys, what have you to count (Grandparents, are you rethinking your Christmas gift ideas??). Drawers are left open, desk chair in the middle of the room, book bin on the floor by the bed. I just can't even.

Exhibit C--Floor as dresser and hamper.

Despite the constant reminder, clothes never make the hamper, the dresser, and heaven forbid a towel should be hung in the adjacent bathroom right after a shower. And that blue thing on the floor? Well, that's a fabulous little stuffed animal bag that doubles as a bean bag chair...but do you think stuffed animals ever live in there? Nope. Instead, it's used for trapping willing little sisters (relax, the whole top is mesh).

Jillian, I try so hard to view this reckless abandon for messiness as another manifestation of your amazing and boundless creativity....but some days, child, it just about drives me to the brink of insanity. 

What Are You Afraid Of?

Tonight, while waiting for Matt to meet us at Newt's, Adrienne slurped down some apple juice while gazing at me from across the table with those big blue eyes and suddenly asked, "Mom, what were you afraid of when you were a kid?"

Lots of things. A lot. My two biggest fears were being kidnapped and having our house burn down while we were asleep, but in case this hadn't yet occurred to my wee ones, I censored the super scary stuff and replied, "Um....heights, snakes, dogs, and the dark."  Jillian piped up without prompting--"Well, I'm afraid of heights, roller coasters, and bees." So then I asked Adrienne if she is afraid of anything. "Monsters, the dark, scary dreams.....and broken worms." Huh?

James

I had the pleasure of meeting my new nephew a couple weeks ago. It was not without some schedule finagling, but I managed to hop a flight to Kansas City mid-day on Thursday the 5th, and return Sunday afternoon. Matt promised he could get the girls from school on Thursday afternoon, and was magically given Friday off last minute. So off I went...all by myself!
I arrived early afternoon, just before a thunderstorm, and promptly hopped in the backseat to feast my eyes on some baby perfection.

Our first series of selfies.....

Bathtime! Seriously, this baby is gorgeous...is he not?

I took the night duty the first night, and the little muffin sucked down his bottle like a champ and then slept in his crib (I snoozed in the chair) for almost 4 hours before I had to wake up his mama so she could nurse him.

On Friday, I had a lovely view as I drank my coffee.

We loaded up and met Uncle John for lunch at a BBQ joint. Oh my, this burnt-end loving girl was in total heaven with this BBQ bowl. Gobs of burnt ends, beans, cornbread, and topped crispy onion strings. Truly might be one of my top 5 things I've ever eaten. I heart KC BBQ!

James and I snuggled that afternoon, while Mal got a nice long nap. I made some soup Friday night, and then we enjoyed having Shannon visit for a couple hours. Oh how I miss my college roomie! She is the best! Sadly, we forgot to take a pic of Shannon and I. You'll just have to settle for more cute baby pics.

Meanwhile, back at the homestead, Matt was letting the girls do their own hair. He sent me this pic and I almost peed my pants. Have mercy, girls.

Saturday morning, Mal and John kindly catered to my desire to go to the River Market. I had some beignets, some Brazilian cheese bread, and a few bites of John's shrimp and grits. Had to pace myself that early in the day. James needed a little love from his mama while we ate.

Soon we loaded up and headed to Lawrence for the afternoon. I was so excited to go I could hardly stand it! It had been ten years since I had been to my alma mater. This is what James thought of the drive to Lawrence.

Hooray for lunch at Free State Brewery!

James was unimpressed with the beer, I guess.

After lunch we took a stroll down Mass Street. Rockin the baby beanie.

Adoring his mom, as well he should.

We took the scenic route through/out of Lawrence...so I could see my college dorm before it was later imploded that week (seriously, I am THAT old), and then we drove by Matt's townhouse that he lived in during his Jr/Sr years. Hello, Pin Oaks!

James loves me. Check out those cheeks!

As if we hadn't eaten enough that day, we ran to Brookside to grab some Foos frozen custard on Saturday night. Uncle John sat down at the table and exclaimed, "Look, I found a baby!"

Meanwhile, back at home, Matt was still letting the girls style their own hair.....

I got in a few more snuggles Sunday morning, then had to fly home to the tundra. Sure enjoyed meeting Sweet Baby James!

Celebrating Seven

We did lots of celebrating our seven year old. First, Jillian requested to have a party at Quarry Hill Nature Center. QH hosts great (and easy for parents!) birthday parties, and the kids get to pick a nature activity led by a naturalist. Jillian chose to have a cave tour as the educational part of her party, and we did this the Sunday afternoon before her birthday. We lucked out for some absolutely gorgeous 60 degree late October weather. In addition to J and A, William, Rachel, Lizzy, Caitlin, and Ella were in attendance.

The kids clowned around as we waited for the naturalist to arrive. Here they were pretending to be snakes slithering towards me.

Love the envelope that Rachel wrote on to attach to Jillian's present...these girls are growing up!

Matt couldn't take the snake slithering, so he decided to entertain the kids for a few minutes by spontaneously starting an animal charades game. They were ALL IN. Nice call, Dad.

 Jillian was being a bear here....

 Adrienne debuting as an elephant....

 Caitlin was doing her best giraffe impression...

Finally, it was time to head to the cave. Jill led us to it via a short hike.

Preparing to go in the cave, getting instructions from Jill.

Love the identical expressions here...

At the entrance of the cave, testing their flashlights.

At the back of the cave, looking out the tiny two windows.

The crew: Adrienne, Ella, Will, Rachel, Caitlin, Jillian, and Lizzy

After the cave tour, we had just enough time for some cupcakes. Jillian requested "chocolate chip cupcakes, with chocolate frosting, and dirt, and worms". So--thanks to oreo crumbs I had my dirt, and then I shaped the gummy worms into a "7" on each cupcake and called it good. Easy peasy. Oh, she also requested "blue Gatorade" as the official party beverage. OK...

On Jillian's actual birthday, she woke up to a nice surprise--her birthday shirt and a decorated room, and a gift from Adrienne waiting outside her door. 

Adrienne kindly gave her a "coronation Jane" doll from the Descendants. Jane completes the Howe girl female Descendants character collection. It's very exciting.

We've got some awesome bed head over here...

I love the card Adrienne drew--it's Adrienne (on the left with her signature "donkey ears" hairstyle), and Jillian in the middle, wearing her new Mal birthday shirt and holding the Jane doll.

Jillian wanted to take Dunkin Donuts for her school treat, so we quickly ate some yogurt to offset the donuts, then headed downtown to eat some donuts and pick up more for school. Jillian had a fun day at school, then chose a dinner out at Newt's as her birthday meal. The girl needed some cheese curds and a bacon cheeseburger. We opened her gifts when we returned.

 Daddy priming the Merida (from Brave) suction cup bow and arrow. Why did I buy her this???

 Lots of suction arrows are being shot at these windows every day

More proof of growing up: Requesting music for gifts. She was over the moon to finally have all the Descendants music at her fingertips!

Oh boy....excitement over the Mal Spell Book (I am telling you, the Descendants obsession is just out of control!)

Jillian asked me for ice cream cake on her birthday, so I made an easy layered ice cream dessert with crushed oreos and sugar cones, and ganache on top. Fa-bu-lous.

Cheers to being seven!