treats

Here is our Thanksgiving in color also.  Can't help but record the thanksgiving dinner that we hosted for my folks, my sister, and J's brother and his family... Here is the food lineup for Cameron, the little Cutie's first citrusy turkey lurkey day: citrus herb turkey, orange candied sweet potatoes,  lemon garlic green beans, cornbread sausage stuffing, balsamic tropical roasted vegetables, smoked gouda mashed potatoes, parmesan bread twists, pumpkin loaf, gingerbread molassas cookies, double chocolate cookies, pecan pie, brownies, and cranberry toffee cookies (thx to Jess for the last three treats!)  We also can't forget the holiday snickerdoodle milk mixed with spiced rum and the cranberry margaritas!  Then the next day I made some butternet squash apple ginger soup (with my sister's casual challenge and inspiring help ;)  I think I pulled it off since my husband doesn't usually like thanksgiving dinners and he had to loosen his belt.

thanksgiving day

It's all in black in white... There is so much to be thankful for... Cousin love, grandparent love, turkey bums x2, cuddles during the parade, foot wrestles, flying turkeys, mamas who know how to chop, little Indians, piggie back rides, veggies that everyone likes, citrus turkey and treats, desserts a plenty, holiday snicker doodle milk with spiced rum, and especially a family willing to travel to the fun.  I am so grateful!  

Thx for the fun pics Jess - there are more fun shots on the big camera coming soon...

turkey trot

Our neighborhood kicked off what I hope will be a fun new tradition with a Turkey Trot race.  The big finish was the hill in front of our house.  I wasn't up to run it this year (brrr, chilly and I had a big meal to make, babies to cuddle... Ya, blah, blah, excuses...) but it was fun to cheer on my friend along with her family.  They came over for some quick sign making and hot cocoa after the race started.  It was really fun to cheer from our driveway despite the cold.

turkey pokey

Presenting the turkey pokey with some bonus spanish dancing at the end:
Turkey pokey from LB on Vimeo.

gingerbread man

I love this A-frame TJ's gingerbread kit.  It actually stands up when worked on by a six year old and his 'helpful' two year old brother.  He only tried to gnaw on the gingerbread tree once, that's pretty helpful, eh?!  Both kids were sorta tired and a little grumpy, but it seemed to help them turn a corner... At least after the frosting started flowing better and the head that broke off one of the sugar figurines was fixed with a frosting scarf.  The favorite part was the blue frosting pond with sprinkle fish.

double thumbs up

It's a double thumbs up kinda Monday!  Let's get this fun week rolling...

we are in a play!

There are a few things that are signature classic parts of my boys' childhood and many kids growing up in this decade: Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie series.  These books exploded in our house and we own all but a few of them somehow.  They were some of the first books Aiden read and some of the all time favorites.  Daddy does some great voices.  When I heard through Mo Willems' blog that they were staging a play I nearly lost my mind.  I was probably just as excited as the boys to gobble up first row tickets the day they went on sale.  The Kennedy Center hosted his last play all about his Knuffle Bunny book, and they asked him to do this one which is actually based on a few of the books in the series.  We cruised down there for the early show and even had a chance to gobble up some delicious chocolate mousse in the cafe ahead of the show.  Such a treat!  It was so well done, and the familiarity of the characters acting was really spot on and really reminded you of the stories without repeating the stories.  They had kids and parents entertained with a sorta vaudeville like feel with a trio called the Squirrelles kicking the music up a knotch.  The band, Dr. Cat and the Bear-i-tones was housed on stage.  They were rocking from our exceptionally close seats.  A somewhat sleepy Keaton actually said that right after the show - "They were loud!"  Aiden was charmed by the ice cream sharing scene the most. It really grabbed their attention and everyone enjoyed it.  I wish I could get a recording of the music.

tidbits

So many scattered bits this time of year, I have a camera roll full of random shots of things I'd like to remember when I look back over this blog years from now.  Keaton being such a big boy at school on his own and hamming at his first school photo... The activity he couldn't stop talking about where they got to wear party hats and cut up party ribbons, wrapping paper, crepe paper...

Aiden scooting around in the brisk weather with his borrowed scarf flapping... Keaton excited about the kiddie pogo stick...

A Lego chima eagle set for the big little brother for #2 on the potty... Daddy in NYC to be on tv... A good day getting my loom a bit more ready for its first warp slowly but steadily... A stare down with a feisty snake and an equally feisty two year old...

A birthday bounce house right next door to the giant trampoline because, of course, necessary... I declare the Hoberman sphere should be renamed the smile generator... Storytime face painting (brilliant green eggs and ham!), magic shows, jugglers and other treats at BN school fundraising night.

grateful

Our grateful tree is scattered on a grateful vine this year.  Aiden added in the mini puzzle hats and turkeys he made with his friends at school.

lights

I told the boys that we were going to eat dinner and then go on a mystery trip while daddy was out of town. It was the perfect balmy 50 degree evening to visit the light show at the botanical gardens in Vienna. Keaton took a power nap and woke up surrounded by blue trees. His eyes widened and he kicked up his heels to check it all out. Aiden picked up a scavenger hunt and was on it. The path snakes around through a lighted animal kingdom, a cool animated light show set to music over the lake, and a candy land complete with an animated field of gumdrops. The path ended at a bonfire with s'mores! We wrote some notes to Santa, turned in our completed hunt for a prize, and checked out the nature center snakes and nests. Keaton said he loves that 'craft show' (which might be a good commentary on his craft show experiences) and he wanted to go back around the whole path. Aiden said it right, "Mom, what a great way to spend a night!"

Here is a favorite part:

F O X

The popularity of this song has infiltrated our house - along with the matching tshirt ;)
Included are some dancing lessons from Aiden:

F O X from LB on Vimeo.

good list

Indian summer days where a trip to the playground after school seems mandatory.  This long legs guy makes this tunnel look like it shrunk.

New wood floor with a grey stain in our kitchen.  This transformation was huge and it's hard to remember what it used to be like.  Our new fridge is a nice addition too (our old fridge was slowly losing its cool and while we waited to get it fixed with our homeowner's warranty we just got a new one)

A whole collection of Perplexus maze spheres that someday I bet the boys will be really good at... gotta love toys that will grow with them.  Thx Lulu for the really cool blue and white one - it even has jumps!

I'm determined not to skip over this late Thanksgiving right to the Christmas decorations.  So I pulled out this burlap I had as a table runner at Aiden's party and made it into a banner over the fireplace.

New ornaments for our xmas tree, coming soon!  We are planning to cut down our own tree this year and have a nice smelling real fresh tree in our new house.  So that called for some new ornaments - These served double duty by decorating the table at Aiden's birthday bash.  They are made out of phone books and I wish I knew how to make them!

Cookbook for Keaton's school auction - I was inordinately excited to layout a cookbook with all sorts of recipes the class contributed. 

These pumpkin guys were greeting us at the door all season long.

santa 2013

This weekend we bounced around... I had another photo shoot (thought it would be the last of the season, but another one popped up for December), and the boys snuck away to see the Planes movie while I got my editing done.  Then after looking at the calendar (which is crazy!) we decided to go out to eat and visit Santa!  His Winter Wonderland was set up again with fun wildlife (polar bears are the favorite) and the dome where snow falls.  (There was also inexplicably a hat tree to take photos in the hats?! - I renamed it the lice tree and didn't see anyone touch it despite the box of hair nets offered)

These boys were pumped to visit Santa.  As we made out way through the line, they were peeking around the corner at Santa and spontaneously hugging each other with excitement.  We made it up for our turn and as KC jumped into Santa's lap, he was giddy.  His scrunchy smile was revealed after he put his excited hands down in his lap.  The picture captured that funny smiley face (and all that blondey hair).  

Keaton told Santa that he wants Superman toys (who knows where that came from) and Aiden said that he wants Imaginext and Legos.  This Santa was very warm and calm.  They got a little story book from him and hopped on their way.  The last spot was a visit with the Ice Princess on her ice throne, which neither of the boys were too sure what to think.

I think this description from the mall website should be preserved ;)
Beginning November 7, visitors to Fair Oaks are transported to a winter wonderland when they step inside the spectacular holiday Ice Palace. Featuring a 30-foot ice dome with falling snow, a light show and interactive fun for all ages, this year the free exhibit also delights with a 360-degree arctic immersion, via breathtaking video footage from BBC Earth and its award-winning program, Frozen Planet. Visitors can also marvel at the larger-than-life snow globes, leave an icy handprint and sit on the chilly Ice Throne. The icy adventure culminates with a visit to Santa and a special gift. 

Santa 2013 from LB on Vimeo.

tidbits

Life is full of tidbits lately... Lotsa bits and pieces thrown together in between our regular weekly routine.  It was a busy week in between a trip to NYC for J to film a tv show, along with some evening case competitions, and a reception for me at Aiden's school.  Keaton started going to school without me and he didn't blink the first day I left.  He gave me a hug and said bye, love you and went to nab his favorite mini plastic teddies.  His class (actually a job of the coop parent) does such a great job of capturing photos of the day so you get a good feel for what they were up to throughout the day.  It happened to be a day that Aiden had off, so I got a rare chance to be with him alone.  We played at home, went to get a haircut and then took a little hike around Keaton's school.

We are P B Jack super fans especially on face paint day and really any cool weather day.  This mini smudgey batman really loves drawing.  There was another nice weather pocket for the Mantua Made fair and we were so excited to meet more fun neighbors (found a really nice piano teacher!) and eat their delicious homemade molasses cookies on a stick ;). Aiden and his dad got really into these new dice role playing games that must be good for the imagination.  We celebrated our little buddies' birthday with some jam sessions on the Elmo guitar.  Since I didn't get good shots (without other kiddos) I also don't want to forget my friends' fun playdoh play date and the other fun meet ups at the library. 

cousins

Last weekend it was fun to get together with the cousins from two different generations.  The littles played while the bigs caught up and enjoyed a fun fajita lunch.  

brothers

A little TGIF edition of the brothers snapshots...  love looking back over the last month at all these snaps ;)

guest dj aiden

This was pretty fun!   Although we waited for over an hour and I even had to call back to see if they were actually going to play it.... turns out they thought they'd already played his...  So here is the most patient DJ of the day:

P.S. Sorry that KC is whining over most of my recording, but he'd just woken up from an epic car nap. At least he was asleep when they recorded Aiden. Here is the transcript: "Hi everyone this is Aiden, I'm six years old and I'm calling from Fairfax, Virginia, and I'm in kindergarten and my favorite thing is math work and maybe I can use math when I have my job as a zookeeper, and this song you are going to hear is Indiana Jones, thanks for listening to Kids Place Live!"

around the sun

Aiden's walk around the sun is a Montessori tradition I think is really sweet.   The kids all get a chance to light the sun in the middle of all the seasons.  Then they hold the globe and walk around for each year of their life.  They stop in between each year to ask the parents what he did that year and then they say, "but did Aiden stay 2 years old, noooo, he went around the sun again..."  They sing a little tune as the birthday boy marches around the sun circle.  I remember the first time he did this on his third birthday in WeeThrees in RI and I nearly cried.  This year I just couldn't believe how many times he went around! 

family

A few extra family shots from our visit!  It is so great to visit family in such a sunny place...makes it even sunnier! ;)  Thanks for joining us on so many fun adventures and knowing what makes the boys smile!  I think this is the last of the Tucson photos to share... until next time!

born to segway

A very belated birthday present to J to take a tour on a Segway finally happened - is over three months from the actual day still a valid present?  My Segway was named Ms. Beazley.  Our guide had me give it a try first.  I hopped on without any trouble and shimmied forward and backward, then he dubbed me "born to segway" and went about getting everyone else geared up.  It is really fun and surprising workout on your ankles and feet after 2.5 hours touring from one end of the mall to the other.

Thanks to my folks for taking care of our under 16 year olds that would've loved to segway too... 

bells

Our very last stop was a perfectly timed trip to Ben's Bells right on University.  They had a table of clay waiting for us to make a bunch of beads that are added to their bells.  They have expanded so much from the days when we would sculpt and glaze in the courtyard.  It's really a wonderful organization. Kindness is their mission, doesn't get better than that?!

life tidbits

Extra teacher conference days off from school meant extra time with Gran and Pop... Storytime (with kids telling stories - which is a good idea in theory), music class with a step board pretend boat, a trip to Ikea, crafting some new presents (painted treasure chest is a hit - thx S fam - and a stitched pirate hat - thx G/P - fun perplexus - thx Lulu - and lotsa Imaginext - thx Family and Legos!) check out that giant ceramic Lego Aiden handmade by Auntie Lizzy!