Gobble, Gobble!

I love Thanksgiving. I love Christmas, too, but there's something special about Thanksgiving, because there's not a lot of preparation--other than cooking. Just hanging out with family and friends, enjoying the company and the food. Sitting around playing board games, watching & playing sports, playing hide-and-go-seek, eating too much pie. There are no presents to unwrap, but that's a good thing--because we are reminded to be thankful for what we ALREADY have. God has been more than generous with us this year--health, happiness, security. Friendships overflowing. Laughter and hugs. Family we can count on, near and far. The challenges we have faced have been met with the strength and faith that comes from Above. God is good all the time.

We woke up and watched the Macy's parade in our PJs, started the food prep, worked on building the treehouse (which resulted on one traumatic sliver incident with Rebecca, resolved with nurse Mommy and her tweezers & Granna-and-Papa-lovin'), rode bikes.

Granna and Papa and Aunt Jo joined us for dinner. Amelia's turkey hit her right away, and she was asleep in her high chair before dessert! Aunt Laurie, Uncle Matt, Caroline, Hallie and Annsley came over later for leftovers, basketball and cousin playtime. To close out the day, we watched Miracle on 34th Street--the original, in black-and-white--and kicked off the Christmas season officially. Thank you, God, for your many blessings!

Trick-or-Treat, Smell My Feet...

Friday night, while Peter had a guys' night out, I took the ladies to my parent's church for their Halloween party. It was our first opportunity to don the costumes. Peter made Rebecca's "Annie" dress--sewed that bad boy from scratch, pleats and all--and the rest of us had store-bought costumes. This was our first year NOT to have a family theme, but we just couldn't get one together this year. Anyway, the party was a blast, cake walk and haunted house, costume contest, hot dogs, and the first of what would be a great deal of candy.



It was a perfect Saturday. Sunny skies; clean, crisp air; moderate temperature. I took Molly and Rebecca to their school book fair (which, I am pleased to report, they were almost as excited about as they were about Halloween itself). Then we all loaded up and went to our church's Fall Fest. Pony rides, rock wall, giant inflatables, decorated tables and games for the kids, more candy.




After a restful afternoon, we suited up for Trick-or-Treating. We love our neighborhood on Halloween night. The laughter and squeals of gazillions of children fills the air. In fact, it was 2 years ago on Halloween, when we were living in our apartment in Memphis, waiting for just the right house, that we peeked inside the house that would become ours! We were T/Ting with Uncle Matt and Aunt Laurie and the cousins--Amelia was 3 weeks old, and Annsley was 7 months old. The house we now live in was one Peter and I had admired for several years on visits to Memphis, but we'd never seen the inside. On Halloween night of 2007, the house was for sale, we peeked in as the girls T/Ted there, and fell in love. Three months later, we moved in. Anyway, back to the present. My parents came over to be part of the fun. Papa came along on the walk, and Granna graciously passed our candy to our guests. So we combed the neighborhood, filled up the pumpkin buckets, and made a quick-but-fun stop at our friends' party (kids played, grown-ups had a little big people conversation) before calling it a night. Watched the end of the World Series game to top off a perfect Halloween.

It's Fall Y'all!

October is quite possibly my favorite month of the year. Mild weather, playoff/World Series baseball, so many colors! We've enjoyed our newly-fenced-in backyard, full of colorful, crunchy leaves. The girls like to have snacks on the deck and play in the tent (which is set up until the treehouse is built) and around the trees. Here are a few pictures leading up to Halloween...

Midweek Getaway

Acknowledging the fact that our lives are insanely busy, Peter and I decided to escape the madness sans kids, for a little R&R. On a Wednesday. My fabulous parents stepped in to provide overnight childcare, and we hopped over to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Famed for its mineral water baths and natural springs, this town is actually built around a small National Park which features these steamy creeks and waterfalls. Some of the hotels in the area capitalize on this water by offering thermal baths, spa treatments and the like. We checked into the Arlington Hotel, which has one such bath inside and an expansive porch overlooking the park entrance and the town's main drag. Within an hour, we were basking in mud mineral baths, followed by sauna, hot towel wraps ("human burrito treatment," we called it) and a full-body massage. Perfect. After our pampering, we shopped the main streets, landed in a lovely restaurant for dinner, drank some rich wine (which goes straight to one's head after a spa treatment, perhaps due to some level of dehydration or detoxification?), played some pool and listened to live acoustic music. The next morning, we explored the National Park, which was painted bright yellow and orange with autumn leaves at their peak. It was a rainy, foggy morning, so our plans for a hike were overtaken by a leisurely drive on the scenic loop. We stopped at a couple of antiques shops & a winery on our way out of town and made it back in time to welcome the big girls off the bus from school. Short but oh-so-sweet.

Midwestern Adventures!

I'm not sure if we're just determined to make sure our kids love multi-hour road trips or what, but last weekend, we took advantage of Molly & Rebecca's Fall Break to drive 10 hours (each way) to Iowa. Our old stompin' ground! We lived there for 4 years before moving back to Memphis. Rebecca was born there, and Molly lived half of her life there. Our wonderful friends, the Lawandes, live there still. So off we went, minivan well-stocked with DVDs, MadLibs, trivia questions, random kid toys, books and music. Amelia spent her time like this:



We arrived late Friday evening, and Molly, Rebecca, Sakshi and Eesha, hit the ground running with squeals and sharing. When we woke up Saturday, it was snowing. A lot. Not quite warm enough to accumulate, but everyone was oohing and aahing to such an early frost. Didn't deter us, though--we headed straight to the Pride of the Wapsi pumpkin patch. Pony rides, goats to feed, gigantic pumpkin-shaped moonbounce, fun treats, hay rides, train rides, face painting, farm kitties, and, of course, choose-your-own pumpkins right off the vines. All smack dab in the middle of the corn fields. Ya just don't get more Iowa than that!













We played a little basketball, watched the Red Sox lose the division championship, had a few drinks and a lot of great meals, swam in the hotel pool. We even went ice skating--a first for our girls, and for me, the first time in about 20 years. Once I get Pankaj's pictures, I'll download some from that (couldn't take my camera out on the ice, y'know!). The girls played board games & computer games. I had dinner with some of the midwives from the area, and the clinic where I worked ordered in pizza so I could see a bunch of them all in one place.







We drove past our old house, which looks great, with new siding and pretty landscaping. I was amazed how little the kids remembered from our time in Davenport. As one of my friends joked, "I guess you could have just sat around and watched TV for four years, if they aren't gonna remember all the stuff you did with them!" Ha! But I guess the bottom line is that they will remember a happy childhood overall, regardless of which parks they played in or which ice cream stores they frequented. Our little trip back to Iowa reinforced how we are making memories together, one day at a time!