It Was A.....

Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

But a great day to get shots of the kids.

Saturday we took the kids to the Nashville Children's Theatre to see the play (you guessed it) - Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. With two dressed up young 'uns we decided to break out the camera and take some pictures. Here are some of my favorites.

Little Scientist

When you here horror stories about kids and the toilet you always hear about 2 year olds destroying the plumbing so I figured that with a 3 year old and a 4 year old I had passed that stage. I was wrong.

Last week after Greyson seemed to be taking forever in the bathroom I went to check on him and found the majority of his hand down in the toilet. When I asked him what he was doing he told me he wanted to know where his poop went. I explained where it went and then attempted to emphasize the importance of not putting body parts into the toilet. And I think I got through to him - sort of. I guess I forgot to mention the part about not putting anything in the toilet except poop and pee. Fast forward to Thanksgiving night...

About an hour before dinner we heard a blood curdling cry from Greyson. Apparently he decided to put the remote to his plane down the toilet and flush it. We don't know whether this was on accident or on purpose but whatever the intent the result was the same. Adios remote. Greyson was hysterical; Raif was furious. So for the next hour Raif juggled fixing Thanksgiving dinner and attempting to take a toilet apart. He continued that fun project after dinner and well into the night. After a couple hours of manual labor and a whole lot of cursing he didn't find a trace of that remote. Gone, gone gone.

We have a septic system in our house and so are a wee bit terrified that this thing has gotten caught somewhere in the system and that pretty soon it is going to start backing up. The remote was actually a sizeable chunk of plastic and neither of us quite understand how it actually got out of the toilet. I guess only time will tell whether we will need a visit from the plumber. Here's hoping for a little Christmas miracle....

Turkeys, Turkeys Everywhere

but not a one to eat....

For Thanksgiving we had....


Turkeys hanging from lights


Turkeys covering the windows


Handmade Turkey placemats


And of course the required handprint turkeys

Ironically, the only place we didn't have turkey was on our dinner plate.

We had a scrumptious dinner consisting of lobster stuffed cucumber cups, 5 powder roasted guinea fowl, potato gratin, glazed carrots, prosciutto wrapped asparagus bundles, and homemade bread. Greyson and Quinn were in charge of dessert and made us sugar cookies and from scratch chocolate pudding with real whipped cream. I am so happy that they love to cook with us and am excited that as they get older they will continue to have more involvement in our holiday feasts. And I couldn't have been happier when Greyson said his favorite part of Thanksgiving was the lobster. That's my boy.

Hope everyone else had as wonderful a Thanksgiving as we did.

Fall Fun

A sunny, brisk autumn morning where the mercury has barely hit 50 degrees - whatever should we do?

Ah yes, the obvious - bring out the hose and pour some freezing water into our trikes mix with mud and leaves (using our hands of course) to make 'apple pie' for Thanksgiving dinner.


The spirit and hardiness of youth...

Giving Thanks

As Thanksgiving is upon us it is time to reflect on what we are thankful for and one of the things I am most thankful for are my friends so this one is for all of you.....

Friendship is like wetting your pants - everyone can see it but only YOU can feel its true warmth.

Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

I know it is a bit early to be writing you, seeing as how Thanksgiving is two days away, but considering we saw you at the mall this last weekend I guess you are getting a head start on the holidays so I thought I would too.

Speaking of seeing you at the mall, I first want to apologize for the fact that my children are still terrified of you. They really do like you - just as long as you stay at the North Pole or don't come within 100 feet of them. Don't worry they will be asleep when you come Christmas Eve as I am sure you don't want to hear those ear piercing shrieks of terror again.

But on to my list. I have only a couple of things I want this year and this long notice surely will give you plenty of time to put them under my tree.

I am sure (since you are Santa Claus after all) remember how for Christmas in 2004 I splurged on those really expensive jeans that made my ass look like a super model's. Then remember two short months later I got pregnant? Well I have worked so hard to lose all that baby weight but somewhere between giving birth to 2 kids within 15 months of each other and 4 years of motherhood my hips seemed to have widened a bit. The hip widening was a bit unneccesary considering I never actually used said birthing hips to actually give birth so I was hoping that you could find a way to sort of move them back to their original state. I wore those jeans like 5 times (I really don't want to do the math on the per wear use) and I REALLY want to wear them again. I can't bare to actually get rid of them and they are taking up valuable drawer space so if you could just fit me in them again that would be wonderful.

In a similar vein I would like you to make pizza and ice cream fat free.

I would also like one, just one, night where I sleep 8 consecutive hours in a row without being woken up by a snoring husband, a child's nightmare or insanely loud trip to the bathroom, a dog deciding my head makes a good pillow or a personal trip to the bathroom (a remnant of pregnancy that really needs to go away now).

Finally, I would like my memory back. I seem to have misplaced it and can't remember (ha) where I put it. I don't need to have a Rain Man memory but just enough so I avoid spending 4 hours tearing my house apart looking for my son's mittens only to discover that I sent them with him to school in his backpack. I want to remember where I put my cell phone and my keys on a daily basis. (I am embarrassed each month to look at my phone bill and see how many times I have actually called my cell to find it.) And I want to remember, someone's anyone's, name at school instead of constantly referring to people as "Anna's Mom" or "Finn's Dad" - it sort of makes me look like a tool.

Thanks Santa - can't wait for all my wonderful presents and I will leave you some cookies and liquor by the chimney - that is, if I remember.

Sincerely,

me

You know Dasher...

And Dancer and all of the rest of them but I bet you haven't heard of these two...


Yesterday afternoon Greyson found an old stick in the yard - well at least to me it was, to him it was a pair of reindeer antlers. As the sun set I tried to herd these reindeer in the house with little success. They both danced around the deck taking turns being the reindeer.

It is Thanksgiving time and what am I thankful for....that no one poked their eye out last night.

Playing the Field

At dinner last night we were discussing our days and Greyson was telling us how he was chosen as Teacher's Assistant for the week (a very big deal). He also, with a sly smile, was telling us that Frances was Teacher's Assistant with him. I asked Greyson is Frances was his new girlfriend (if you remember last year Olivia was the love of his life). He said yes then he said "I am going to tell Frances that, but not Olivia." That's my boy - always keeping several pokers in the fire.

Quinn's 3 Year Portraits

Here are some of my favorites from the day.


To see all of them head on over to Raif's smug-mug account.

Queen of the One Liners...

Ever since last year's soccer fiasco (as noted here, here and here) Raif and I have been debating if and when to try organized sports again. While we were at dinner tonight I got an e-mail from the soccer league that spring soccer registration was upon us. I decided to gauge Greyson's interest and so I asked "Hey Greyson do you want to play soccer again this spring?" Before Greyson could reply Quinn piped in with "Are you actually going to kick the ball this time?" (Actually - that was my question too.)

Workin' At the Carwash...

Workin' at the carwash, girl....

Top Chef: Nashville

Spend any amount of time with Raif and I and you will soon learn that we love good food (and wine). We love to eat good food and we love to cook it as well. I dare say it is one of our passions.

So you can imagine our delight that our children have come to appreciate good food as well. They eat fish, shellfish, all manners of meats, pastas and veggies. While most 3 and 4 year olds tend to stick to plain flavors our children enjoy complex dishes like Beef Wellington and stuffed chicken wrapped in prosciutto.

And recently, along with their interest in eating well they have also taken in interest in cooking. Over the last couple of weeks they have started helping me cook every night. Though sometimes I will say it is a challenge to find something for them to help with I do enjoy their enthusiasm. They help make the salads almost every night and make pancakes now every weekend morning. They have also made pesto and helped to stuff and wrap those above mentioned chickens. They are learning simple cooking techniques and phrases and rapidly becoming budding chefs. Hmmm - I wonder if their college plan covers Le Cordon Bleu?

Loblolly Lane

A friend of mine from Atlanta, Eunice, has started her own girl's clothing line called Loblolly Lane. When I say started - I mean she quit her consulting job and is full time running a clothing company out of her basement and upstairs closet. I have so much respect for her for taking a chance like that. Mad props to you Eunice. Besides having tons of guts, Eunice also makes some adorable and affordable clothes. She has tons of fabrics that you can custom order or have her choose the combos for you. The last time we were in Atlanta Quinn got her custom fitting and got to choose her own fabrics (with a little direction from Eunice). We got her dress and she LOVES it. It is always the first thing out of the closet after laundry day. She put it on this morning and said "Mommy I just look gorgeous in this." As you can see, she does....


So for all you Moms out there with little girls check out Loblolly Lane...It is definitely worth it.

Homemade

Last year we put a bird feeder on the deck outside the kitchen window. The kids have enjoyed the past year eating breakfast with the birds and have even learned several different types (which is actually limited by the number of species Mommy knows, which is rather small).

A couple of weeks ago I found some pine cones and have been debating what to do with them. Last night we decided to make homemade bird feeders. Out came the peanut butter and birdseed and the kids had a blast. The dogs even got in on the act and thoroughly enjoyed licking peanut butter off the kids' hands. The traditional feeder came down and these went up.

I figured that was the end of it, man I was wrong. From the first sight of birds eating off of their bird feeders this morning the kids were in heaven. I had to pry them away from the window to eat breakfast. Every time a bird nibbled off a seed there were squeals of delight and rounds of applause. They have watched those birds eat every morning but something about the fact that they were eating something that the kids made made it magical and new.

It is amazing the difference when you get kids involved in something. Homemade really is best.

Beak 'Em Hawks

OK, it is that time of year again.... college basketball season. Tonight is KU's preseason opener and so we decided to get into the spirit today.

As everyone knows I am a somewhat KU fanatic and so am always excited for this time of the year. But considering that the Erim household's collective college football record is 15 and 19 and our collective pro football record is 4 and 17- I can safely say that even Raif is probably happy to begin to leave football behind for the year.

Rock chalk.

Lucky Number Seven

Seven years ago today I married my best friend. I could probably go on and on about how much I love him and everything that has transpired over the last seven years but that would take forever so instead I will just say the following:

Raif - there hasn't been a single day in the last seven years when I haven't been happy - even with some of the dark days we have had - and I owe that happiness to you. I love you with all that I am. Here is to the next seventy.

Happy Halloween

A weekend Halloween means a day filled with all things All Hallows' Eve....

Breakfast of pumpkin pancakes

An afternoon of candle, mummy and witch making....

Dinner of ghost pizzas....

Trick or treating - of course....

Bedtime filled with our homemade candles, popcorn and spooky stories....

Here's hoping your Halloween was just as magical and fun.