On Our Lawn

Mid-morning, looking through our window, I saw our side lawn COVERED in birds.  They were busily pecking the ground.  I tried to sneak outside for a picture, but they flew into our neighbors (across the street) yard.

They came back a while later, and I was able to get a few (*cough*) pictures.  I don't know what type of bird they are or what they were so busy eating.  But they were fun to see and fun to hear.  When I opened the door, they were quite loud.  Not individually, but as a whole.

Pasta

 I made PASTA!!!  It took longer than I anticipated, but it was YUMMY!  I'll definitely make it again.  I'll just plan better.  And probably, as I practice, I'll get faster.  I received the pasta  attachment for my kitchen-aid as a gift, and this was the first time I tried it.   First Quiche and now Pasta.  Maybe I should become a chef...

Winnie the Pooh Day

To celebrate this Winnie the Pooh Day, I planned well.  We had chicken nuggets with HONEY for lunch (N even caught on to the significance of that!).  J was dressed in a yellow, WINNIE THE POOH outfit.  I checked out a Winnie the Pooh movie from the library as a special afternoon surprise (movie watching is pretty scarce around these parts).  Turns out you have to UNLOCK the DVD while at the library.  Oops!  All great plans can go awry.  Luckily, Finding Nemo was on the shelf and is a favorite.  So there wasn't too much disappointment.  And N says that we can check out a Winnie the Pooh movie for Winnie the Pooh Day in February.  We'll see...

Today

While eating chicken nuggets and French fries, A got ketchup on is sock.  How?  I have no idea.  He had a shirt, pants and even his shoes on.  But he got ketchup on his sock.

While using a block as cheese and an old yogurt container as a grater, N was a "restauranter". She had a "restaurant tag" and everything.  The rest of us were lacking this most important accessory and so couldn't help to grate the cheese.

We finished making our Animal Cracker Cookies.  They are adorable but incredibly time consuming.  We'll use the cutters again, but with different dough.

Quiche

I've always been a little afraid to make a quiche.  They sound so fancy and french.  As it turns out, they're very easy!  And they do look fancy.  And they taste great!  This is a picture of my first ever quiche - Apple Cheese Quiche - and it definitely won't be my last!

H1N1

Swine flue sounds nasty.  Like I'm a pig.  An animal.  I have it.  The swine flu.  I prefer H1N1, though that sounds like I'm just a number.  I'm not positive that I do have it, but J does, and I've  had a lot of similar symptoms.  My fever just decided to stick around for a few hours instead of days.  We were in Urgent Care Sunday night for 4 hours, while they ran tests and looked at J.  Yesterday the test results came back and we found out what was bothering our sweet baby.  Then, A woke up from his nap with a fever.  Another one down.  DH took N to get the vaccine last night.  They wouldn't give N a shot; she was too young for their location.  We have to take her to a pediatrician.  DH got his though, so hopefully he won't be the next casualty.  N?  Um, there's a conundrum.  What's a mom supposed to do?  Take out 2 sick kiddos and herself to a dr.'s office, to get the well one a shot so she won't get sick, but the sick ones could make a lot of the well children sick, besides being cranky and uncooperative for the entire outing or stay home and the well one might get sick but the sickies won't pass on their sickness, and they can rest and hopefully get well soon.  I know she needs the shot, but the thought of leaving home in our current situation drives me crazy, let alone the actual doing of it.

Confession

I am a bibliophile.  I love books.  I love buying books.  I love holding books.  I love reading books.  I have my favorite authors: Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Brandon Mull, Nicholas Sparks, Elizabeth Gaskell, to name a few.  I could spend all day reading.  I have done that, on many occasions.  It's harder to do, with three little kiddos.  I've done it, it's just harder.  "Burning the midnight oil" is frequently done.  Books are my friends.

When I was first married, with no kiddos, DH humored me, letting me turn our dining room into a library (we had an eat in kitchen, so we never would have used the dining room).  It was fabulous!  3 moves and 3 kiddos later, a library just isn't feasible.  So, what am I going to do with all of my books?  As I go through the boxes, I'm re-aquainted with so many friends, that I just can't let any of them go.  But I don't have anywhere to put them.  I love my kiddos, but they're not always as careful around the printed word as I would like.  Don't get me wrong, I'm in the process of bibliophile training, and none of them would willfully tear a book (even N, and she's in a phase of tearing and cutting and folding like nobody ever told me about.  Is it normal 3 year old behavior?).  But accidents happen, so I'm not going to move my library into the family room.  Without a designated library, though, what am I to do with them?  I already know the answer.  Leave them packed in boxes.  Stored for the next time we move.  How sad!  My poor friends!

We've Moved!

Again.  Wow.  We've made a goal to be here for 3-5 years.  The wall of boxes is huge.  The painting we'd hoped to do probably won't be done for a while.  There is a lot more of the yellow paint than I remembered.  But we're here!  Kind of crazy that this city is where DH and I met.  We had definite plans to not move back here.  Just goes to show that you shouldn't make too many plans.  One perk is that we still have friends in the area.  Sometime in the future (no earlier than January) we'll have a party here.  But until then, don't be strangers!  

Here is our Thanksgiving turkey, Tom.  We met him a few days before he became dinner.  Some of our friends raised turkeys for Thanksgiving and they let us have one.  He was a very impressive sight.  It was fun to see him next to all of the hens.  He was huge!  When he was delivered to us, ready to cook, he weighed 17 pounds!.  And he tasted absolutely delicious!  

Owl Sighting

I was sitting by our front window and saw a big thing run into our neighbors tree branch.  I looked again and realized that it was this huge owl!  We called the neighbors and I started taking pictures through the window.  When all the neighbors had been notified, we carefully opened the front door and made our way outside.  After a few minutes of being carefully quiet, A got out.  And he's not quiet.  And the owl still sat.  So we let N move and make noise.  And still he sat.  The owl eventually flew to the peak of our roof, but still wasn't disturbed by us.  Very cool!

Shoe Shopping

Not for me.  For A.  He had outgrown his size 5 shoes, and we only had a hand-me-down pair of size 6 sandals.  So it was time.  Crazily, he had never had to go shoe shopping, having received hand-me-downs from the time that he started needing shoes.  Love hand-me-downs.  So we go into Shoe Store #1.  They measure his foot at a 5, and tell me to buy 5 1/2.  Ummm, okay.  You're the expert.  5 1/2's wouldn't go on his feet.  I tried the wide variety, they went on, but he was screaming.  Size 6, still screaming.  So we left the store.  He could wear sandals all winter.  Not really.  We went across the hall in the mall to Shoe Store #2.  They measured him at size 6.  The sales lady helped us find a pair of shoes and tried to put them on my boy.  When the wouldn't go on, she felt his foot and found that he has a high instep.  And his foot is wide.  So we go for a size 7.  And they go on.  And when he stands up, they have room to grow, but not too much.  And now when he walks, he doesn't trip (as often.  He's still a toddler).  My 1-year-old wears a size 7.  Crazy!  But he loves them. When I get him dressed in the morning, he usually finds his shoes and insists that they go on his feet.  And he wears them ALL day.  I love my boy!