Thanksgiving 2010

We celebrated our Thanksgiving this year with half of Ryan's family at a house on the water that our brother and sister-in-law are housesitting for. There were only five adults (Pops, Ty, Jenna, Ryan and myself) and two kids, one of our smaller holiday dinners. And since my mom-in-law is out of the country visiting Ryan's sister and her family in northern Iraq (Curdistan region), Jenna and I were in charge of the menu.

Our traditional menu included:

Fried turkey, compliments of my bro-in-law, Ty

All compliments of my sis-in-law, Jenna:
Homemade Rolls
Roasted Veggies
Sweet Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Festive Punch

Cranberry Salad, Ryan's contribution
What I busied myself doing all Thanksgiving morning:
Pioneer Woman's Mashed Potatoes
PW's Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie *both pies I used Ina's pie crust, and the recipe makes two crusts!
Homemade Whipped Cream  (minus the rum used in the recipe)
Turkey Gravy straight from the packet!

Here's some shots of our Thanksgiving table:

It was a wonderful meal, and the boys and the little girls jumped in the hot tub as an after-turkey dinner activity. Alexia had been talking about going in the "bath tub" since the last time she was there last weekend. All Thanksgiving morning she kept talking about getting her "swimsuit-underwear" on (that's what she wore the last time) and going in the "bath tub". I'm pretty sure this picture says it all:

Isn't the waterfront view amazing in the background?

After we all had taken a little break and cleaned up, hot tubbed, and caught some of the football game, we had regained our appetite in time for dessert and coffee! Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of my first pumpkin and pecan pie. But those recipes are keepers!

Alexia even warmed up to the dog there at the house, who's name is Buckwheat. (I'm pretty sure I can't say that without giggling). Buckwheat even got close enough to lick her on the lips. Gross, but funny. Alexia just wiped her mouth and said "ach!" in disgust. And later that night Naiya puked on Ryan, I believe because she ate her weight in whipped cream.

But our Thanksgiving was enjoyed, and there are so many things we are thankful for this year.

Hope your family had a cozy Thanksgiving!

October 2010.

We went to our first real pumpkin patch this year. Alexia's first October we went to a small local nursery and took pictures.

I was just happy to not be pregnant anymore.

And last year was a complete failure. I convinced Ryan to drive out to a pumpkin farm on the eastern shore on a really rainy day, about an hour's drive mind you, all to find out once we got there that they were closed due to the rain. Lesson learned. Call ahead. 2009 would be pumpkins from Safeway. 

Eagerly anticipating Fall, we kicked off our October going to a fall fest pumpkin patch at Homestead Gardens. Besides the un-fallish warm weather, it was a great time.

They had all types of pumpkins, although I was hoping for the girls to actually get to see pumpkins still on the vine. Oh well. But Alexia got to feed animals for 25 cents (came out of a candy machine, cute idea). 

We came home with a big pumpkin for carving and a baby pumpkin (I learned is called a pie pumpkin because they are sweeter and used for baking.) 

And the winner is......this pumpkin!

October is one of my favorite months! Bring on the pumpkin bread, chilly and humid-free weather, and brightly colored trees. This is the beginning of entering into the holiday season! 

I was ecstatic to get our fall decor out of the storage closet. There was no way I was putting that in storage. I also pulled out our boots and sweaters, and switched out the girls' spring/summer clothes. One of my favorite organizing activities. 

Last year is the first real fall decor shopping I had ever done. And I deemed it necessary to win back the fall spirit that had been stolen from two straight years of nausea. Here's last year's fall preparation.

It is so fun to pull out seasonal decor as tradition. It's one of the things that make me feel like being a mom. Since growing up there really wasn't a woman's touch in our home when it came to decor. (My dad was an amazing single dad. I can't even begin to tell you how he did it.) 

Here's some of our festive goodies around our home this year. 

Last year's purchases, twig pumpkins:

Leaf dish w/ mini pumpkins (Alexia picked the pumpkins out at Trader Joe's):

Table runner and berry twigs made a comeback. This year I put the twigs in a brown pitcher I had, since last year's acorn vase was a bust. It was so fun to pick acorns with Alexia, but little tiny white worms ended up crawling around in the vase. And if there's anything that can make me puke on demand, it's maggots or anything that resemble them. And the other wild foliage I used ended up being such a mess. Was so cute in the Pottery Barn magazine, and even in my home for the first week. I'll stick to the unnatural this year though.  

And this year I splurged and bought this wall decor for $7 at Target:

With this trip to Target I also bought my very own pumpkin shaped peppermint patties. They have been a fun treat for myself with my coffee during the girls' afternoon nap. I also picked up Reeses peanut butter cups just for fun. For Halloween of course. 'Tis the season to start eating comforting goodies. 

I put a few ghords on a cake stand on our bookshelf:

And Ryan's mom gives me mums every fall. So Ryan planted those for me, since he's got the green thumb, and I have been very unfaithful to water them. But here they are in their dehydrated glory, with our pumpkins, on our patio. 

Alexia and I finally baked our first batch of pumpkin bread this year. Stealing an idea from another blog I follow, we made mini-loaves to deliver to our new-ish neighbors. 

My hope is that it will create a sense of community amidst our apartment living friends. I've realized how much people protect their privacy in apartments. Which is one of the things I am craving right now too. 

But the reality of the lack of relationship was made apparent to me when a knock came at my door the first month we were here. It was our neighbor that lives diagonally from us (there's four apartments to each floor) and her father who was visiting, and they were looking for a tool to borrow. They introduced themselves and the father explained that he had asked his daughter if she could simply "ask one of her neighbors" for the tool, and she said she didn't know any of her neighbors. 

This was wild to me, coming from a neighborhood where we were able to experience such a community in our last house with the families on our street. Ryan pioneered that one, because my natural bent is to want to stick to myself. But Ryan pushed me out of my comfort zone enough times that I was able to experience a relationship with our former neighbors where eggs and sugar were borrowed a lot from one another. 

All that to say, it's been my desire to get to know my neighbors. At least to where I know their first names and maybe get to the level where I feel comfortable asking to borrow an egg. Maybe it won't happen. Maybe I'll come across as a really needy and intrusive neighbor. Even if they don't enjoy me stalking them at their doors, I know they will enjoy the pumpkin bread!

Wish you all a Happy Fall!

September Shots.

Here are some of our September faves.

Have I mentioned that the condo we're renting right now is handicapped accessible? So with that, comes a really open layout of the apartment (which makes it feel really big!), wider hallways, doors, and groundfloor access. We're really content in our home. But we also don't have a bathtub, so the girls have their evening "shower" instead. Thankfully, the shower nozzle detaches and the girls can have an automatic sprinkler at their hands. I've been meaning to post photos of our humble abode, so those are to come too.

So a few things about shower time.

One. Ryan has always joyfully taken this duty. I can't begin to explain how much I appreciate this fifteen minutes of service. To our girls and to me. I know for sure at the end of the day, I could not make the girls laugh as hard and as often as he does during bath time. So many squeels, splashing and a few "Alexia, not in her face sweetie"s are heard. I usually take this "alone" time to clean up the dishes from dinner, when I'm feeling really motivated. Other times, I check my favorite blogs.

Two. Alexia hates water being poured over her head. Ryan has convinced her a few times that pouring water over her head herself is really cool. But most of the time, it's the one downside of taking a bath.

Naiya? Completely different story. Doesn't mind a bit. Why not read a book while water is rushing down your face?

Occasionally, she'll get this bright eyed look when the water takes her by surprise. But no tears. And no fear of more water to come.

And since many of you have asked for photos of my washer/dryer, here they are. Just kidding. No one has asked. But I was doing laundry, and went to put the clean clothes in our bedroom, heard some giggling and came back to this:

My guess is that was Naiya's idea. Since she's the queen of climbing onto and into things. 

September was also the month Naiya decided to start taking her first steps. Maybe four at the most. Alexia started walking at around 14 months, but Naiya took her sweet old time and waited until 16 months. Ryan was convinced Naiya would be an early walker, because she has such a go-getter spirit. But the girl has got a mean speed crawl, and I think that was most efficient for her. 

Cruisin' the coffee table:

Still cruisin':

There she goes!

And....we're done.

Happy girl. "Side" and "Bubbles" are a fave for this girl. I swear she dreams about being outside and blowing bubbles, because it's the first thing she says when she wakes up. 

Not so happy about the photo shoot with her feet in the grass. Although, I will say that this girl rarely cries. Usually only when she gets hurt (it takes a lot) or it's waaaaaaay past her bedtime. But mostly, she has short outbursts of frustration, instead of crying. World of a difference with our older, more sensitive daughter. 

Her preference of transportation.

Inquisitive little one too.

And she never. Ever.

Keeps.

Her.

Bow in.

For Alexia's letter of the week, "D", we finally made homemade glazed donuts. Which I just realized, why is donuts sometimes spelled doughnuts? Random. Anyway. We made the dough in the afternoon. And then I fried them the next morning. And got to use my new, handy-dandy candy thermometer. I was quite surprised they turned out. I was fully preparing myself mentally and emotionally for them to be a (as Ryan would call it) boondoggle. I was nervous about the whole rising process. But they came out beautifully airy and warm and glazed and yummy! Although I did catch my husband whispering to his sister something along the lines of not comparing to The Amish Market's glazed donuts. But I don't take it personally, considering most of the amish bakers have probably been making them since before they were potty trained. Just sayin'. Have I mentioned my husband has a donut fettish? He denies it every time I call attention to it. But I'm pretty sure he's on a first name basis with the Amish Market donut guy.

Here are the lovely golden goodies:

Some rainy day September fun, sparked the idea to make a tradition of letting the girls get sopping wet on a rainy day, and then warming up with a cup of homemade cocoa. The thought just breeds warmth, home and nostalgia in my heart.