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.)