Early Thanksgiving meal

My in-laws arrived a week before Thanksgiving so we celebrated a week early this year. I had a really wonderful day preparing all of the food. In the past is seemed like such a challenge to face shopping, preparing and cooking all of Thanksgiving but this year was different. Everyone left the house to enjoy the beautiful day outdoors at the Arboretum and I had the house to myself. It was like heaven to be able to cook at a leisurely pace with no interruptions. I would prepare a casserole then watch a show or check e-mail then wash a few dishes then prepare another casserole. It was GREAT! I had everything ready by my set time of 5pm.

We had stuffing, sweet potato casserole, broccoli casserole, rolls, gravy, turkey, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. And chocolate creme pie, key lime pie, pumpkin pie and assorted ice creams for dessert. Some of the things were from scratch (potatoes, broccolli and sweet potatoe casserole, gravy) and others were not. I was not much of an over-achiever this year. I did pick herbs from my garden to surround the turkey on the platter though!

Logan enjoyed his chocolate creme pie but Lucas decided that Fruit Loops were a good dessert for him. Actually, he didn't eat the dinner so this was our compromise.

Saturday fun with Mom

E had a full day financial seminar to attend recently on a Saturday (this is what he does for fun...seriously he really loves that kind of stuff). There were so many fun things going on this day I decided to take the kids by myself. We packed our lunch and headed out the door to go to the Lowe's grow and build project. I have never taken Logan before. It has always been a Daddy/Son project but I think I was a suitable replacement. We only messed up once by putting the longer nails in the wrong spot. Thankfully, I was able to easily pull them out and the project was finished successfully and no black thumbnails were had.

Then we ran an errand and headed over to the Community Parade. We have gone for the past 2 years. We got our normal spot and set up camp. It was so much fun and such a beautiful day. We ate our picnic lunch while children threw candy to Logan and Lucas. It lasted for 1 1/2 hours. The kids favorite was the marching bands. They loved to name the different instruments as they passed by. Oh yeah, Lucas like the fire trucks as well. We saw Nastia (the Olympic gold medalist) in the parade.

As if that wasn't enough we headed to the mall to try to get the free $10 gift card from the stonebriar mall club e-mail I received. The line was ridiculously long by the time we got there so we had a snack in the food court. Santa was in line right in front of us getting his sandwich and then eating in the food court. I am not sure why he wouldn't want to go somewhere a little more quiet and private. It was just funny to see him all dressed up but acting like a regular person. We went into a few stores but the mall was crowded and all of our patience were growing thin.

I couldn't take trying to wait in the line so we headed to the Edible Arrangement store on Preston to get our free chocolate covered fruit. It was a beautiful box with 6 pieces of fruit covered in delicious chocolate. There were strawberries, banana, apples and orange. I don't know what the retail value was but it was a really nice freebie. (I got the coupon by becoming a fan of them on facebook) They even gave the boys balloons and they had a free large calendar with coupon codes for each month of 2010.

We headed home, Logan went next door to play and by the time he came home Daddy was getting back. We had a fun day together!

The Diaper game?

Doesn't this look like a good time. Recently, I heard the boys giggling upstairs together. That is not too uncommon but then I heard "DIAPER" being screamed over and over again followed by giggles. This is what I found.

The boys were playing a really fun game where they screamed "DIAPER" and then threw a handful of diapers in the air and watched them scatter all over the room. Lucas was apparently going to change Logan's diaper but then they realized Logan couldn't get out of the buckle. It was a pretty hilarious scene to find. And yes, Lucas is naked. He is naked 80% of the day. I am not sure how to keep clothes on the child.

I don't even know why I even have a changing pad or this many diapers in Lucas' room. He has been potty trained for 6 months already but I have kept him in a diaper at night. Change is in order! Anyone need a changing table or size 4 diapers that haven't been used...just thrown around the room?

Some Halloween Pics

I know this is late but I am now in catch-up mode. E has just left for China and I have my evenings free for the week. I will be putting my kids in bed at 6:30 every night!

Halloween day at the Arboretum. The boys were trick or treating at the storybook houses on this beautiful day.
Best attempt at a group shot

Me handing out pretzels to my own kids at the Trunk or Treat

Lucas riding his first pony. Logan was too cranky that evening to try it.

Dr. Logan at the CR Fall Festival

The boys with a group of kids at the Trunk or Treat hosted by our neighborhood mom's group.

Batman Lucas

Pumpkin cake pop at a friend's neighborhood Halloween party.

Thanks for the invite!

We had too many opportunities for candy and treats in the month of October! We went to the Trunk or Treat in our neighborhood (no candy for that one) We took the kids to Scare in the Square to trick or treat, also at the Arboretum and then the real Halloween night. I think Lucas was so over trick or treating when the night finally came. He walked up to a few houses and wanted to ride in the stroller the rest of the time. Logan got to wear four different costumes. He was Batman, a doctor, a monkey and what he calls "Star Wars". Lucas was Elmo, a mailman and Batman. We even have a few costumes left over to use next year that I found after Halloween. We have a full dress up trunk now.