I caught Santa!! (kinda)

The kids are never going to believe me...
We were watching Santa's progress all day long. After they went to bed, I had work to do wrapping their gifts. (nothing was wrapped) John, Grand and I were quite busy until Grand was about to leave and Daddy had already gone to bed. (he's under the weather) I double checked on Santa's progress and sure enough.... HE was HERE! Well, in Charlotte anyway. I had to check on Jack after Grand had left, and Santa apparently didn't want to see me either since he dropped by while I was upstairs.
So, I caught him on the satellite, but not in person. Drat. I'll just have to try again next year.

;)

Leaf Piles

Over Thanksgiving, 'Uncle' Andy came to visit. He stayed over at the IL's and spent one of his days raking the front yard into piles 'o fun for the kids - who then had a BLAST. Thanks Uncle Andy!
Follow photo to Flickr for more of leaves...

Christmas Knitting

Wow, I ever understood why knitters started their Christmas Knitting (yes, uppercase 'K') months in advance. Mainly because I had never thought about it in any real sense. I didn't really intend to knit for people this year, but then, well, money was tight and I figured handcrafted goods would be well, good!
So far, it's coming along nicely, but I have no real drive to get it all completely finished right now, which is NOT GOOD. Especially with only a few days remaining. I know I am over half way here though. So, I truck on. Of course, there will be pics here after the gifts are given, but if you are on Ravelry, feel free to click through the links as I am adding pics as I go behind the pretty wrapping.
<3 Jen

Halloween 2008!

Jack as Bam-Bam Rubble... and he would not leave the costume on.


Dory as a Monarch Butterfly, she would barely hold still. She is keeping a look out for Ba and the kids so we can head out!


Off we go, Dory flapping in the wind.


Bam-Bam and a hatless cowboy.


The men are organizing the attack. They did a great job!


Patiently waiting for the door to open. All night Jack refused to say 'Thank you.' Dory did well, but Jack got off with it being cute due to his age. The boy will have to learn.


Jack's very first lollipop. :)

All in all, a really good night. Dory traded her candy out for a knitting kit. She was pleased and is doing well with it. I think it is just a great tradition that Ba and family come with us, it makes it so much more fun. I also love that we have such a great neighborhood for going door to door. Dory's costume stank though, who knew the smell of a magnum sharpie wouldn't air out in a day? It gave us all a headache once back at the house, so she was stripped of her wings. By the end of the nigh Jack was *finally* saying 'bam-bam' and bopping the bat on the floor. He had earlier been quite determined that is was indeed a baseball bat and needed to be swung. Apparently he's a natural at that, John should be thrilled. Maybe he'll go as a Yankee player next year.
:) Yeah, it was good.

UPDATE: Ba posted some more of the kiddos here. :)

AAACCCKKKK!!!!

I am SO BEHIND!

Halloween costumes to make... Dory wants to be a Monarch Butterfly and Jack is going to be BamBam Rubbles.
Food to pick up... UNFI was delivered Saturday when I was at SAFF, and it's still taking up room at Lisa's house.
One last second design to enter and write up... Chiodna, a cabled cowl demanded last second attention.
Jack's 2nd birthday is tomorrow... *nothing* is done. Nothing.
Bills to pay... Um, yeah.
Blog entries to catch up on... EEK! I'll never remember it all. At least I have pics of some of it to remember what all happened this month. And the Tweets might help fill in a few gaps.

Okay, a to do list makes me feel a *little* better. (But not much)

The weather has turned cold for the moment, and I didn't prepare in time so the kids are not ready for it. Nothing from last year fits now, of course.

Can I go back to bed?

Shiver me timbers!

It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Here be my Ravatar on Ravelry. Arrr....

Christmas, finally...

Jack knows just what to do with a box of blocks! Conquer them by sitting on them.

The wheely bug from his birthday came in just a week before Christmas, Thank you Auntie!!!

Ohhhh, a noise maker.

Daddy said it was one of the best Christmas' ever!  I think Abby agreed due to all of the hair on the floor I had to vacuum up.

Towers with Grand, until Godzilla Jack comes along...

Santa brought a 'purple helmet'! Just what she had asked EVERY Santa she saw for... it's just like Kipper's. (other than it has pink fairies... Kipper's has a yellow lightning bolt... but Dory's does light up!)

OH, my... MORE new toys. Grandma's prerogative I guess.

Little Chef, Thank you Grandma Patty! New kitchen set and the apron Mommy made! (Grandma also got her one, very cute in denim - she wears it also, or both at once.)

New Table Crawler, the best presents are always the wrappers/packaging anyway...

Thanksgiving Pie

So, what do you do with a tiny bit of turkey, carrots, celery, some left over bread and a ton of mashed potatoes? You make the Thanksgiving version of Shepherd's/Cottage Pie. John and I picked the turkey clean, added shallots, carrots, celery, rosemary, sage and thyme... toasted some bread cubes and giblets then layered it all in a pan with gravy over the top. Sealed with the purple mashed potatoes and piped on white mashed potatoes and covered in shredded cheddar cheese we do believe we have lit upon the perfect after Thanksgiving meal.



I know it doesn't LOOK like much, but neither does Cottage pie... but it's super comfort food, and the side of cranberry chutney was perfect.
Let me just say... we have a winner. This will become a yearly dish now.

An 'Art Show'

Dory misunderstood 'art project', meaning 'holiday craft' for leaving to go to an 'Art Show'. But that said, once Grand started poking holes in the orange for her, those cloves went in easy. Her cloved orange was a wonderful centerpiece along with Patty's leaf placemat and we didn't even go anywhere. She recovered from the sad fact that art project did not involve a gallery.

Thanksgiving Day

On the menu:
the wonderful Turkey that John cooks outside on his Dad's grill
NC Blue Potatoes, mashed
Carrots Vichy
Supersweet Corn done simple with butter
Cranberry Chutney
Gluten Free 'Stuffing' cooked in the oven
Lentil Artichoke Soup
Fresh, homemade Butter

For desert:
Gluten Free Bread...  since John forgot to bake it and let it rise for an hour too long.
Apple 'Crisp' with Vanilla Ice Cream



Jack just ate an apple slice, he was very pleased.



This is what John had to say for himself about forgetting the bread.

Andy didn't make it, we missed you... John and Patty seemed to have a great time and my family held off until tomorrow. We get to have Thanksgiving twice this year; because, of course, we are doubly thankful.

Halloween 2007

A Gardener and her Gnome



LJ (aka Monkey ), Jack and Dory out for a ride.

We were the first ones out and about I think, but we had a blast. Uncle John, Ba, Baby Bailey and Monkey along with Monkeys MawMaw came to join us we walked up and down the street until it started to get dark and headed back. The kids did so very well. Bailey slept all the way through her first Halloween... she went out as a newborn! What a good costume it was, so very believable.
After dropping Daddy and the guests back off at the house we 3 headed back out for a few more houses. We ended up with the majority of the neighborhood. But come on, it's only once a year and the poor kid missed it last year. We met some new neighbors and even a few CharoltteMommies! We might just have some new playmates.
Originally Dory was going to be a Midwife/Doctor, but I never did manage to get her costume made. We have just been too busy. It wasn't hard to convince her to dress up as a ballerina instead. I even pulled out her skirt from her first ever Halloween when she was a fairy. She had not seen it since we don't play with it. She was really happy about it and I was glad it got a bit more use.
Once back out, Dory had a few issues with understanding the 'it's rude to take more than 2' thing, but she was so excited. She would yell at everyone "Trick or Treating!" At Kim's house she decided she wanted one of the pita breads with hummus rather than candy. (Poor kid didn't get dinner! We were in a hurry to get out the door.) I wanted to ToT for the wine she and her guests were drinking. We traded out most of Dory's candy for money (Daddy took the candy to the office to gorge on), she earned 10$, and tonight she gets to go spend her Halloween spoils on a new toy of her choosing at Target or Toys'R'Us on a special trip with just Mommy. She did get several pieces of candy last night and a few Yummy Earth lollypops.
Jack also had a great time. By the time we had made it one way down the sidewalk he had learned to toddle up to the door... by the end of the next street he was diving into the bowls. No "Trick or Treat!" of course, but it was cute. He even did the appropriate tantrum for a piece of candy when we would drop them in his watering can 'basket'. He had a great time pruning dead mums for people too, really played the part of a garden gnome great. Pulled up weeds, collected leaves and pruned flowers. We let him chew on a package of starburst. LOL
All in all, a great night. Bed time was a bit difficult, but hey, it's Halloween- it's supposed to be.