Thanksgiving 2011

I keep saying that last week was one of my favorite weeks of the year. I love planning the menu, writing the shopping list, making a to-do list to get ready, and then doing it all with the kids! This year was even more special because for the first time in years, we had guests to share our Thanksgiving with. The kids were lots of help with the shopping and pre-Thanksgiving Day cooking. They worked very hard to make turkey-hand print place cards and were so excited for the day. 

Lina looking at the turkey before heading to the airport to pick up Grandma Gi Gi and Pa Pa. 

 After Grandma GiGi and Pa Pa arrived, the kids got busy playing and I got busy cooking. After hours in the kitchen, it was meal time! Our menu this year: Cajun-spiced turkey and gravy, collard greens, butter beans, mashed potatoes, Mana's sweet potatoes, balsamic-glazed beets, brussel sprout hash, clover-leaf rolls, cranberry-apple cider relish, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie and pecan pie. Caleb made an Indian head-dress at school and we made Lina a pilgrim hat to complete the scene. Everyone ate a huge meal and really enjoyed all the food. We thought Caleb would never stop eating! It was awesome. Levi enjoyed his first turkey and devoured the beets and butter beans.

Several hours after we finished eating, we finally had room for dessert. Levi loved the pumpkin pie and whipped cream. He was literally saying "Mmmm" with every bite. Unfortunately, a case of hives after dessert  took us to the Emergency Room. We are still awaiting the results of blood-work to see in a milk allergy is to blame.

Caleb and Lina were overjoyed to have their grandparents visiting. Lina spent lots of girl-time with Grandma Gi Gi and got a full manicure and pedicure.

Caleb and Pa Pa (or Pops as Lina has re-named him) had a blast working just about every puzzle in the house. The weather was fantastic, so we all spent lots of time soaking in the warm temperatures. Caleb got into the habit of enjoying a slice of pumpkin pie outside every afternoon.

The leftovers lasted us all through the weekend. Caleb always wanted an exact repeat of the Thanksgiving feast and he never tired of it. Finally on Sunday we were down to the drumsticks and the kids were in heaven. You'd never know that have a vegetarian mother! It was a wonderful holiday as a family!

El Salvadoran Night

It's been a while since we had an "ethnic night" and we decided it was time to revive the tradition. Caleb chose El Salvador as our country of interest. We did some research and found that the most traditional food item are pupusas, which are kind of like stuffed tortillas. The pupusas and always served with curtido (a cabbage salad like coleslaw) and salsa roja. The kids had fun rolling masa harina into balls that we then flattened and filled with beans, peppers, and cheese. After a quick fry, we were ready for dinner. Randy and Caleb spent some time reading a book about El Salvador from the library. It was a great night!

Super sick kids

Caleb started with a runny nose last Thursday morning and by very early morning on Friday, he was one sick kid. He was coughing and complaining of having trouble breathing. He then started vomiting and was extremely weak and lethargic. When we got to the pediatrician Friday morning his oxygen saturation level was 94% (which is quite low) and he had a raging double ear infection. They gave him a breathing treatment in the office and sent us home with a nebulizer to continue treatments at home. 

With the breathing treatments and antibiotics in his system, it wasn't long before Caleb was back to his old self. We tried to keep him limited to quiet activities to give his lungs a chance to heal, so he (and Lina) did puzzles all weekend. 

Some of Caleb's puzzles

It wasn't long before Levi and Lina got the virus. Thankfully, they weren't as severely affected as Caleb; however, Levi ended up with his first ear infection. Our weekend was filled with sleepless nights and lots of crying....as illustrated here. 

All the trips to the doctor have led to lots of playing doctor at home. Here is one of our happier moments this week of Levi and Caleb playing with stuff from the doctor kit. 

Like most kids, Levi is crazy over his antibiotic. He cracks me up when I bring out the bottle....smacking his lips and crying until he gets his dropper full. 

Jupiter

The planet Jupiter is very obvious in the night sky during the month of November. We learned this because Caleb asked us about what a particularly bright object in the sky....thank goodness for the internet. We have been looking at Jupiter a lot over the past week or so. We brought out our spotting scope and were able to see the colored bands on the surface and four of Jupiter's moons: Io, Europa, Callista, and Ganymede. I was also able to glimpse at the giant red spot on Saturday night. It's been a very fun and awe-inspiring event for us all. 

I attempted to take a picture of Jupiter through our scope. It's not really in focus, but you can see Jupiter and three of it's moons!

Family Photo Shoot

Now that the Christmas cards are in the mail, I can finally reveal the results of our family photo shoot! Enjoy!

A Crawling Milestone!

Our day started with Levi doing his typical army-crawl to get around. Caleb was laughing at how Levi kept coming after the puzzle he was working on, so I took a quick video. 

This afternoon, almost like magic, Levi started doing the classic crawl. We were all so excited and in shock that he made such a seamless transition. Way to go Levi!!!

A What??

Lina really made me laugh the other day when she told me that she wanted me to put Levi in his "Bimbo" (aka Bumbo) seat. I couldn't resist getting this on video. 

Fall Beach Day

It was a beautiful, warm day on Tuesday so I decided to take the kids to the beach to play in the sand. It will likely be a long time until we have another such warm day. The kids had a blast playing in the sand, collecting seashells, and having a picnic lunch in the back of the car while looking out at the salt marsh.  I somehow managed to only take pictures of the kids looking away from the camera...but it was a wonderful day!

Mother's Helper

Lina seems to be at her happiest these days when she is helping me complete a task. One of her favorite "chores" is to help me feed Levi. She was overjoyed when I told her that she could help me give Levi some yogurt. It made a big mess, but they were both so happy that I couldn't intervene.