a Thanksgiving first

I just made my very first cheesecake! I said Thanksgiving first above but really, it is an overall first. It took me awhile to work up the nerve to add this pumpkin cheesecake to the menu for tomorrow, but after a close friend gave a most compelling pep talk (surprisingly, pretty close to the pep talk I gave her about having a third child...you can do this), I took the plunge. I have to say that even though I found out that the spring loaded pan and I are, as Sam would say, not best friends anymore (is it supposed to leak melted butter all over the inside of the oven the night before I have to cook a holiday feast?) and even though I ended up with a pretty sizable crack on the top when I removed it from the pan, I'm still pretty proud of myself. Although, no one has tasted it yet...I'll post with comments from the crowd after the big meal tomorrow! Happy Thanksgiving!

sorry, Squanto...it's all over

In case you haven’t heard, we’re apparently skipping Thanksgiving this year.

I had a feeling this was coming. I felt the beginnings of it several years ago when I worked retail and was forced to start displaying the Christmas ornaments in late August. For me, it became most evident this past Friday evening, though.

Since we had a Christmas party to attend on Saturday (I know, don’t get me started), I decided to run out and purchase Christmas-y outfits for the kids on Friday night. Much to my dismay, the store I frequent most often for children’s clothing had nothing even remotely Christmas season stocked. When I inquired as to when they would be putting those items out, I was told by the clerk that I had missed them. It seems they had them out sometime in October and that past week had packed everything up to be shipped to their outlet store. That made a little more sense to me, since I used to live near one of the outlets, so I was always able to purchase the Christmas outfits there after Thanksgiving.

But, really? What happened to the harvest season? What happened to the holiday between Halloween and Christmas? Little twinkling lights are going up all over my neighborhood, but I am holding out. I am determined to keep my pumpkins, scarecrow and turkey out until this coming weekend. And I will continue to fight the urge to set up the artificial cashmere pine tree I bought the other day...oh, don’t ridicule me...the sale was crying out to me louder than crushed spirit of Squanto.

a cold day in...Cincinnati

A couple of weekends ago, we decided that the best thing to do coming off of a mid-70° week was head to the Cincinnati Zoo on a 41° day. We had plans to meet friends from college, the Skinners, who now reside in central Ohio. Sam and Grace were pumped to see their little pals, Wes and Riley, again, and the kids all seemed to pick up right where they left off the last time we met up in July. And their parents couldn't be more thrilled that they all get along so well :) Here is our day at the zoo in pictures...

All four kids were excited to happen upon the most sought-out animal at the zoo...the pig!

It was this moment that Grace fell in love. A few moments later, she was let down gently when Wes politely explained to her that he couldn't ride in the wagon with her because "I'm just not used to being around girls."


Sam and Wes...new best buds.
The fact that the day was chilly was actually pretty nice...it made for a relatively empty zoo which meant we were able to let these two run all around without worrying about them getting lost in a crowd.


Posing for fall pics...one of the few photos I have with Riley in it. He was the sensible one who actually kept his hat on and spent the better part of his day at the zoo in the stroller under a blanket.

Apparently at this zoo, the peacocks don't have their own exhibit. Instead, they just roam freely all over the zoo. I was lucky enough to catch one who had a touch of anxiety and refused to let his guard down (okay, he was actually completely freaking out and probably could have used a little something to calm him down)...made for a nice pic, though...

And then there was this guy who couldn't decide whether he wanted a hot apple cider or a hot chocolate to warm him up.

Grace can be seen here posing where the boys had wanted to get their picture taken but just couldn't seem to stay still long enough for me to get it...

Kris checking his wingspan...too bad none of us thought to make a note of whose wingspan measured up with his! This was inside the eagle exhibit which was a little frightening with small children as you are standing right inside the pen with the eagles. Of course, they have branches strategically positioned between the observation area and the habitat, but it all felt just a bit too open for this mama.

Playing with Mark...burning off a little energy before we get back in the car...
And the ride home...nice and peaceful :)

Sam and Wes hit it off so well, that we decided to get them together again this past weekend, since I was heading to Columbus to meet up with some Cleveland friends for a shopping day. I woke Sam up bright and early on Saturday. We packed breakfast and three toy garbage trucks and snuck out of the house before Kris and Grace woke up.

Mark and Brook were kind enough to come get him from the mall and take him to a movie (have I ever mentioned that Sam freaks out at any remotely scary character in any movie...no?...I forgot to mention that to Brook, too...) then back to their house while I got some quality time walking around in the rainy, cold outdoor mall with Holly and Sheila. We didn't get much shopping done, but, to be honest, I was just using shopping as an excuse...I really needed Cleveland friend time...feeling a little "home"sick lately.

It was an enjoyable two weekends and actually really impressive that we got Skinner time in two weekends in a row (and just 4 months after our last rendezvous) considering we have been pretty lax at coordinating our schedules for a visit the last few years. Now that we have these visits behind us, I am really feeling the crunch of the fast-approaching holiday season...we're all getting excited to have family down for Thanksgiving in just a week and a half!

recent work

I've been in a painting mood, lately, so any child's gift we've needed as of late, has been painted. Below are three recent pieces. I have a couple more to post sometime in the next week after I know they have been received.

the shiner...

Last week, Sam had a run in with a big, mean, nasty...slide.
Kids get black eyes all the time from their fearless shinanigans,
right? Could someone please explain that to the countless
people I caught staring at me all week with that I-know-you-beat-your-kid-and-I've-just-called-social-services look on their face. This shot really doesn't do the injury justice. I wish I would've taken a picture each day of this...it got way more impressive and colorful as the week rolled on. Thankfully, there was no damage beyond the surface and he was back to his usual playground-equipment-climbing self the next day.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Claire!

We miss you! (And those silly boys, too!)

holiday shopping...



FYI...I've added this button to the right for anyone who wants to check out the Safer Toy Guide 2008 on Cool Mom Picks.

Happy Birthday, dear Papa...

Happy Birthday, Dad! Hope it was a great day!

These were taken in March 2007 and, even though Sam wasn't cooperating, they are still a couple of my favorite photos of Dad with the kids. (And the facts that they are in our old house *sniff, sigh* and that Grace is wearing her J-Lo sweatsuit are just bonuses.) :)

in case you've been living under a rock...

Tomorrow is November 4. Election day. Go vote. Please.

what a week!

Today, the Halloween decorations came down...it was a sad, sad day in our house. (Although, a piece of Halloween candy quickly cured the heartache.) This was the first year that the kids were really pumped about Halloween. They really got in to it which made Kris and I even more excited about it. Thought I'd share a few highlights from the last week.

The weekend before Halloween, I received an email from Old Navy informing customers of their Freaky Fun Day (sorry for not passing along the info through the blog...didn't even cross my mind to do so at the time). Sam and I headed out bright and early that Saturday morning because this mama can't resist a deal. We scored four, long-sleeved Halloween t-shirts, two Old Navy logo t-shirts and a football for $6.63! One of my best shopping trips to date! The Halloween shirts added to the two I posted last weekend had the kids festively outfitted for the entire week with minimal laundry.
On the big day, I was able to catch Sam's Halloween party at school. I also caught a little bit of Grace's, but quickly realized that she's a basket case at school if I am there. She basically went into some sort of trance, mumbling over and over again, "go bye-bye with mama". It was pretty ridiculous, so I finally decided it would just be best if I cut her off and went back to Sam's room.

Sam lined up with his class to head out trick-or-treating at the office building across the parking lot.

After they got back from trick-or-treating, one of the other moms took on the task of giving all the kids fake tatoos. Each child lined up and received one on his or her hand. When it was Sam's turn, though, he pulled up his pant leg. When I asked him what he was doing, he said that he wanted his tatoo where Uncle Gavin had his! :)

On Halloween night, our friends, Tim and Liz, came over for chili and trick-or-treating. Liz and I took the kids out to a few houses in the neighborhood while Tim and Kris passed out candy (and Play-doh!). Sam happened upon a boy dressed as a Tennessee football player at the first house we went to. He rushed right over to him to announce to the kid, "You are so awesome!" We were pleasantly surprised to run into one of Sam's classmates and her parents while touring the neighborhood...turns out they live just around the corner from us.

We're thinking of grilling out next year and making a little more of a driveway party out of it. Kentucky has great Halloween weather...a far cry from what we were used to in Ohio and Michigan. Check out Grace in the next two pics...our little ladybug thief stealing the goodies that were out for the other trick-or-treaters! And she looked so cute and innocent!

And in the midst of it all (well, Tuesday, to be exact), Grace decided she was old enough to wear underwear. And she went to school with her big girl pants and had no accidents that day! She's had a few since, but is (for the most part) doing really well! I can't believe we are almost out of the diaper stage...after going so long with double diapers in our house, it feels a little surreal!

Now begins our countdown to Thanksgiving...I'm not sure I'll be able to take three weeks of being asked every day whether that day is the day Aunt Sarah, Uncle Nate, Caleb, Grandma and Papa are coming...