A weekend in Pictures

The weekend before Thanksgiving, Prince Charming, the boys and I headed up to Pinetop to spend a long weekend with Prince Charming's brother (M), his wife (JJ) and our niece (CeeGee) at my parent's cabin. We went up a day early to have some family time and M and JJ joined us a day later. Unfortunately our guests had to leave a day early because JJ came down with a nasty cold that rendered her unable to have good cabin fun. As sad as we were to see our family go, we still managed to have a fantastic weekend! I think this should become a tradition!

While we were there, we played at the park:

We played with the ice that was remaining from a previous snow:

We played with the many toys we found inside:

We cuddled. Oh BOY did we cuddle!

We played Dancing with the Stars on the Wii. Which is hilariously fun, by the way!

We went fishing. Unfortunately, we didn't even get a nibble on our line:

We found some discs and went sledding on the rock solid ice:

We had a fantastic weekend topped off with a lovely Thanksgiving back in Phoenix at my Mom's house. I was in charge of the desserts this year and I took a Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake, two Pecan Pies, and some Mint Brownies. All were homemade and all were a hit!

I just love the Holiday season!

I feel like a kid in a candy store!

I get to play with this all weekend!

We are headed to the cabin tomorrow for a long weekend with my Brother and sister in law and my niece. My Dad was very kind and said that I could take his new camera with us! I am so giddy I can't stand it. While this isn't the particular camera that is on my wish list, I can get some great practice with it!

Now, if you will excuse me, I have a HUGE User's Manual to read up on!

Lovely Apron

How do I love thee?

Let me count the ways...

You are oh so lovely

You make feel feel pretty when I wear you

I made you with my own hands

You keep my clothes clean when I make yummy things to eat

When I forget to take you off, you become part of my outfit

And best of all, the hubby thinks I look super sexy when I wear you

Thank you, dear apron, for being YOU!

Delish!

Thanks, Babe, for the MOST delicious pizza you made for us this evening! The combination of the ricotta, caramelized onions, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, and arugula just melted in my mouth! It was yummy in my tummy. Thank you for making it with LOVE!

Meet Sir Chatsalot

Sir Chatsalot is 2 and a half years old, has brown hair, brown eyes, weighs about 30 pounds and is about 3 feet tall. Ever since he found his voice he has used it. And used it. And used it. It really is a sweet voice. He seems to have inherited his mother's gift of gab, which is great because who better to talk to than someone who likes to talk to me! When in his company, silence should be a cause for concern. His location can be easily pinpointed, just listen for the constant chattering. Even alone, he finds comfort in his own voice. Then there are times when his silence is desired. Is there a sleeping baby nearby? Is there someone to sneak up on and surprise? Is there a game of hide-and-go-seek to be played? Are we in church surrounded by people who came to actually listen to and participate in the service? Such was the case this morning. Sir Chatsalot wanted to have conversations with us, ask us questions, play with B, argue with B, all in his normal speaking decibel. Which, if you have ever had the pleasure of being in Sir Chatsalot's company, you will know is louder than most people speak. Dad had to take him outside after a few dirty looks were cast in our direction. No, we were not the only family in there with young children. I heard crying and complaining and giggling. All of which never bother us, parents of noise producing children. After mass was complete, we gathered our belongings and munchkins, and began shuffling out into the aisle. A little tap on the shoulder got my attention and I hear, "You have quite an active bunch! Perhaps you should sit in the back next time." I did not respond to this woman, I only nodded politely and smiled. As we were walking out of the church, I did think about how blessed I am to have a 2 year old with such great language skills and his great need to talk won't keep us from the front of the church. Although, perhaps we could start practicing his church voice.

Close Call

While I didn't get any pictures of B riding his bike without his training wheels yesterday, I did get it on video. After tiring of video taping, I set the camcorder on top of my car in the garage because it was better than just setting it down on the concrete.

After a successful ride, B was rewarded with a trip to the bike shop to pick out a bell of his own to put on his bike. After they returned, I got to thinking about the camcorder. Where did Prince Charming put it? On a whim, I went out to look in the garage and there it was, sitting on top of the Volvo, right where I put it.

Prince Charming couldn't have possibly left it up there. He must have just put it back. So, when I asked him if he took the camcorder off of the roof of the car before he left for the bike shop, his face went blank. Our Sony went for a ride to the bike shop, patiently waited for them to shop, and then rode all the way back to our house. While it would have been nice to be forced to upgrade our camcorder, we would have lost the precious video.

Thank you Sony for holding on tight and coming safely back home to us!

Happy Halloween!

Yeah, I know it is November, but I had to write about our Halloween adventures! The anticipation of the evening's festivities was fun to watch. "Can I wear my costume, yet?" No, you have to wait until after dinner. "How much longer until we go to Amee's house?" In an hour or so. "When can I eat some more candy?" Right now! You have to prime the pump, you know!

This year we spent the evening at Amee's house. Halloween in my parent's neighborhood is quite an experience. They go through about 5 of those huge Costco bags of candy in about 2 hours. Hundreds and HUNDREDS of children are brought in by the truckload to trick or treat in their neighborhood. I am guessing the neighborhoods in South Phoenix aren't quite as safe.

After we gobbled up our pizza, put on our respective costumes, and patiently (B) and not so patiently (E) posed for pictures, we headed out with trick or treat bags, pumpkin flashlights, and glowy necklaces to collect our loot.

B is an experienced Trick or Treater and went right to it, saying the right phrases and even adding a Thank You when he remembered. E needed a little bit of training. "Say 'Trick or Treat' when they open the door, hold your bag out and then say 'Thank You' when they give you something." E understood that as "Say 'Hi!' then walk right into their house, hit the fridge for some leftovers and then plop on the couch for some good TV watchin'!" Okay, maybe it wasn't quite that bad, but he did like to enter the house and if the candy bowl was at his level, he preferred to help himself repeatedly. He got the hang of it by the end of the night.

After zig-zagging around the neighborhood, dodging all of the Halloween foot traffic, and filling our bags to the brim, we headed back to the house with B and E being carried. When we got back, the boys got to sample several items from their collection. With chocolate-y faces and tired eyes, I threw them in the shower, brushed their teeth, got drinks of water and then left them with Amee. You see, my mom was kind enough to let them spend the night at her house. I felt a little bad leaving two boys all hopped up on sugar, but mom was really excited to have them over for a sleep-over. That made me feel better.

It was a really fun evening and they looked so cute in their costumes. I decided to make B's costume this year and while it isn't perfect, I think it turned out great! He wanted to be a wizard and E was Woody from Toy Story.

What else has been going on? There are things that I have wanted to write about, but I always forget when I actually have time to sit down at the computer.

Oh, here's something funny! We had dinner at my parent's house last week and E wanted to sample Papa's wine. So, after a sip he made a sour face and said, "Yuck!" So, a little while later, while no one was looking, he took a second sip, just to be sure it was as bad as it was the first time.

Last week we toured the school where B will be starting next Fall. Needless to say, we were very impressed. I certainly didn't leave 8th grade typing 35 words per minute and able to test out of Spanish 1. I suppose things have changed a bit since 1991 when I graduated from 8th grade. We are really excited for him.

Prince Charming took the training wheels off of B's bike yesterday afternoon. After a little practice he rode by himself for a little ways before slamming the brakes and putting his foot down on the pavement. After his success, he wanted the training wheels put back on. Today, he has agreed to try again. In fact, he is ready to go out now! I will hopefully get a picture of the success today!