fifteenth

We just returned from a wonderful evening with friends – we had an early Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie (and great company).  We’re stuffed!  I was hoping to take a picture of something that would help me post tonight, and so I took a couple shots of our gorgeous and quite tasty turkey.  However, on the way home we saw a sight that only a fortunate few will see in person in their lifetime; one that deserves top billing:

 
Oh, and just for giggles, here’s the turkey:

(I’d much prefer seeing photos of TURKEY, if you all know what I mean!!!  Hurry up, little one!)

fourteenth

At 7:30 this morning I nudged Timon and said "It's your turn with the children." And so it was... I woke back up at 8:30 and enjoyed visits from both of our squirrely bananas really loud lively offspring, then finished a book (I think I may have been the first person to check out, it's so new looking), and generally laid around until 10:00 or so. Henry had been hanging around with me, but Maria was so quiet that I assumed Timon had put her in her crib for a short nap. I came out to the living room and she'd fallen asleep on a towel on the floor! Naturally she stirred before I could get a picture. However, the floor-to-crib transfer was successful and she enjoyed another 45 minutes of rest. It was so cute to see her laying there.

thirteenth

twelfth

We realized that today, Henry is now officially five-and-a-half.  This is very big in his world.  It was time for the bi-annual measurement against the wall.  My big boy has grown an inch and a half since May!

eleventh

Last night my family was given a gift. It's hard to put it into words, but I'll try.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you probably know that my cousin Greg died in 2006. This wasn't a guy with nothing going for him. He had plans - big ones. One of them was to do a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, all 2,175 miles of it, with his friend, Aggie (seen here holding Greg's photo). Last night I got to see a show on the National Geographic Channel on the AT, and at the end, the summit, was Aggie, known by her trail name Moon Shadow (given to her by Greg as they planned and dreamed about the journey). She carried some of Greg's ashes on her trip, sprinkling them along the trail as she walked.

I knew she might be on the show, but it was getting late and at 8:55 I had just about given up. But then I gasped, "That's Aggie!" and burst into tears - because she looked so healthy and happy and fulfilled. Because Greg should have been there with her. Because he WAS there with her. Because they made it, the whole way.

tenth

Yeah, I am 14 years old and read the Twilight books and saw the first movie and enjoyed them all. But this is still HILARIOUS. How adorable is Taylor Swift?

ninth

So, I came home for lunch today thinking I'd just find something to take a picture of for today's post and be done with it. When I found the memory card on Saturday I put it on the window-sill so that when I was ready to put it back in the camera I'd know where it was. And guess what, it wasn't there! I called Timon. He told me where it was. Then I ran out of time to photograph something and upload it on our slow computer. And now I'm too lazy.

I don't understand why I don't have thousands of readers, posting interesting tidbits like this.

eighth

I had a panic attack yesterday when I thought I'd lost my 16GB memory card for my camera... you see, it's been a while since I dumped onto our external hard drive and there were LOTS of photos on there I didn't want to lose.

But, good news! I found it!

seventh

Henry's recollection of his day, so far:

Today I went to Men's breakfast. I had breakfast casserole with cheese and meat. Then we went home. We went to the library playground, we played on it. I showed my daddy the rocking chairs that are in the library. Then we went home again and ate lunch and took at nap. And then I played Hi Ho Cherry-O, Chutes and Ladders, and we played Uno three times. And now we are watching college football. Maria can climb on the couch all by herself now and she can say Hi and bye-bye. Ok, that's it.

sixth/sickth

I AM SO OVER THE SICK. I got a call from Henry's school asking me to get him since his ear hurt. He doesn't have a fever but this should be a fun few days. Both Timon and I are coughing and congested. We're ready to be healthy, for real this time.