The Feast(s)

The first Thanksgiving meal was actually on Tuesday at C's preschool:

Then yesterday, Eric, Christy, and Olive came over for a late afternoon eating fest:

The little girls:

The big girls:

The guys (in navy):

And...some turkeys:

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

From these turkeys...

(and the ones in the frame, too!)

On This Day

Today would be my daddy's 67th birthday.  In memory of him, and of his presence here in this electronic space, I thought I'd highlight a few milestones:

HIS FINAL COMMENT:
Opa G said...

Is the love of bubble-tea a Grammie DNA-origin thing? 

What flavor is "pink" bubble-tea?

April 3, 2014 at 8:35 AM (from "Pinkalicious")

HIS FIRST COMMENT:

Opa G said...

Gee, I would have thought that your being named a high school all-american swimmer--sort of, after a fashion, more or less--would have removed your early years from the "dull" category. That is quite an accomplishment for someone who originally only "gump in" the pool in Kermit The Frog-like fashion!

March 6, 2008 at 10:05 AM (from "Ten Tidbits")

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY:

Opa G said...

Thanks for the shout-out!

Fooled 'em again!!

But--it's too clammy/cold to take off a sock right now. Rain in Texas plus cold equals clammy/cold. (But we're very glad to get the rain!)

I will just leave that fashion statement to the cool kids.

November 26, 2013 at 8:31 AM  (from "Sally One-Sock")

FROM RANDOM MONTH/YEAR I PICKED, fittingly with his classic "verification word pondering":

Opa G said...

Whether with kids or not--it is always a good thing to note upon entering if the terminal has designations like "East" terminal and "West" terminal. Such designations can sure help with finding one's auto when exiting.

What a great week!!

My verification word is "nestses"--which reminds me of what GGM said that all kids needed to make and have when they went somewhere. Having a regular raffie or a pink raffie helps in establishing one's nest, I think.

August 23, 2011 at 8:39 AM (from "Thoughts on Traveling with Tykes")

-------

His first photo on the blog, from January 28, 2008:

And his last, from February 14, 2014:

3 of C

I have this weird thing where, if there's not some other point to a blog post, I need to have three pictures.   I was only planning to include the first two but just couldn't handle that this morning and had to find a third!   :-)

Our younger child still has naptime but probably only sleeps about 60% of the time these days.  If I'm being honest, the best scenario for my day's schedule is for her, like on this day, to play for the first hour, hour and a half...and then fall asleep for a 2-hour nap!  Her playtime this day had clearly involved some dress-up!

She came with me Friday night to order/pick-up some dinner from a local Pakistani restaurant that we tried for the first time.  It was really hot in there and she entertained herself with my phone while we waited!  (Spoiler alert:  the dinner was very tasty!)

I snapped this pic over the weekend to send to her Uncle Geoff and Aunt Nicki to show them the cute Hello Kitty pajamas they had gotten her.  I truly do not understand how the child does such a straight-line smile but so it goes!!  

On the Mend

Even though I kept B home on Friday, two things quickly became evident:  1) he was feeling better and 2) we needed more kleenex (excuse me-- tissues)!  Since I also needed a grocery item or two and am always looking for a good deal, that translated into a trip to Target.   Obviously.

Do you think they had fun?

Then, at some point over the weekend, I took something into B's room and turned to see his trash pile.  I'm almost embarrassed to show you this devastation of our forest:

Guess I know why all the tissue boxes were empty.   Sigh.

(Cough or not, off he goes back to 1st grade today.  Unlike many of you in Texas, we still have school through Wednesday half-day....!)

Made it to Friday

First of all, apologies to the two grandparents who are probably wondering why this post wasn't up by 7:30 ET like it generally is.   I was busy trying to determine whether the B-man could go back to school after staying home yesterday with a bad cold/cough.  Poor kid really wants to go back--the winter session of after-school basketball is starting!--but he's just still in a yucky state.  Alas, he will stay home again and I just sent emails to his teacher, the school librarian since I volunteer in there on Friday mornings and obviously won't today, and the company that runs the basketball program.  Next up is the family who was supposed to come over for dinner tonight and, oh yes, I should probably update his daddy, too!

Deciding about kids needing to miss things is one of the hardest things about parenthood, I've found--especially when it's things like colds.  Fevers and throwing up just make a decision so much easier, you know?! 

Anyway, here's what he looked like last night (coughing soundtrack not included):

Someone else wanted a photo taken, of course!

Between my two part-time "consulting" jobs, I have worked 20 hours this week.   That's a LOT of hours amidst my full-time, real job of keeping everyone afloat around here.   While I'm certainly thankful for the opportunity, I was also in bed last night at 8:30 and didn't get out until after 7am.   Hooray for the weekend almost being here-- now let's just hope everyone is healthy!

StARTled

I met some friends for a late dinner last night and had to park all the way around the back of a retail complex.  My parking spot was near a bank and, as I walked on the sidewalk to get around to (and from) the restaurant, I was startled both times by what I saw behind the glass doors:

I don't get art.  Why is there a statue of a man kicking the ATM????

Fall 2014

Well, that's a big bow right on top.

That's the risk run when the preschool class starts the day on the playground.  I asked the teachers if they could make sure her bow was in place and, it wasn't until I saw this, that I realized we had different ideas of proper placement.  (As in, mine would have been a few oonches lower and looked less like a gigantic crowning topper! Ha!)  In any case, there's Miss C at 3.5 years old!

 And here was her brother at exactly the same age.  Do they look alike?

He's grown up a bit in the last 3 years!

Monday's Accomplishments

I spent most of yesterday (and Sunday night) sitting in front of my computer cleaning up more than 11,000 rows (!!!) of data in an Excel spreadsheet to help with some data analysis for one of my part-time gigs.  I thought it might never end but, after staying up until midnight and getting up at 5:30 this morning, I am happy to report that it just now has been sent off and (hopefully) well-received.  Between all that and the yucky, dreary rain we had all day, I am feeling pretty good that we still managed to get not one but TWO other things accomplished!

One:  a haircut for Miss C.   She's been scraggly for awhile but I really didn't want to take her while she still had that adhesive stuff on her scalp.  So hooray for being free to get a snip!

 (She sure looks a lot different than the first time she sat in that chair!  Crazy that it was not even a full year ago.)

Then, after B got home, we headed to the grocery store.  Against my better judgment, I let them each have one of those little shopping carts but they actually behaved quite nicely.  We're putting together a box of food for a donated Thanksgiving meal and it was fun for B to be in charge of the list and fill his cart with all the donations.    And they got to pick some new ice cream (only because it was on sale, obvs) and sniff some shampoo, so they were happy!  

I'm glad the rain has ended but it's 25 degrees so now we'll just freeze.  But hey-- no more spreadsheet!!!! 

Sugar Shock

Months ago, I saw a Living Social deal for a Cupcake and Macaron Tour.  I sent the link to Christy on somewhat of a lark, but the next thing I knew, she had generously purchased two vouchers!  We finally pinned down yesterday as the adventure day and trekked down to the most fashionable part of the city to learn why it also might be the tastiest.

Bottom line: Yum and Fun!!  It was a 2-hr tour and I think they said it would be about a 2-mile walk. We had pretty good -sized samples everywhere and I brought the last 2 home.  Neither of us had eaten a proper lunch so we were maybe slightly shaky by the end of all the sweetness!!

First up: little cuppies!  Red velvet was the only option offered but they were pretty good!

Then we had a "bonus" stop at a local ice cream and chocolate shop where we were given giant slabs of dark chocolate fudge:

Next were 3 (!!!) macaron shops in a row, although--to be fair--one was actually a larger market with a macaron counter.  (Note that this is macaron and not macaroon.  Macarons are French "sandwich" pastries made of almond flour, egg white, and sugar with some sort of filling.)

The first shop had about 10 flavor options and I chose Milk Chocolate Earl Grey which was delightful!

The second place had a way larger selection, although I don't think they were made on site.

Christy's Neopolitan on the top and my Sweet Potato Pecan on the bottom:

The display case at the third shop (although we had only a choice of 3 flavors).  We both got raspberry to take home:

Our final stop was the famous local place that even has (had?) its own TV show.  Check out the line!!

No waiting in lines on the tour, though!  Here's the box our tour guide picked up for us-- and there were extras so some of us got to take more than one (also red velvet):

After that, we made a beeline for some delicious proper food:

...and I allowed these to be eaten in my presence:

And then....MORE CUPCAKES!!   Christy's fave place was not on the tour so we walked over there to end our day with some take-home tastiness:

What an afternoon!

Friday Randoms

• I've recently stumbled on my first podcast and I am captivated by it.  Have you heard about Serial?  From the creators of This American Life (which, admittedly, I am completely unfamiliar with, although I've certainly heard of it), the series of podcasts is telling the "true crime" story of a murder that took place in 1999.  I am only 5 episodes in--and there are still new ones being released each week--so I have no idea what the rest of the ride will look like.  Between the fact that the people involved were high-schoolers in 1999 (roughly my era) and that the setting is a place with which I'm reasonably familiar-- I just can't get enough of hearing the story unfold.

• Speaking of media, the BG and I have just this week restarted an age-old tradition of watching a Netflix'd TV show together.  In this case, it's Season Two of The Newsroom which was just released.   We've watched 1 episode each of the last 2 nights-- except that I will have to put "watched" in quotes because I have been asleep within the first 10 minutes both times.   I think I might be too old/tired to watch television at night!   (Or maybe it's the show....?)  ;-)

• This morning on my FB News Feed, I saw two different posts from Texans attending high school playoff games last night.   Both friends were seriously bundled up and one mentioned that the wind chill was in the 30s.  Kinda made me laugh that the Southerners are having to face the same wintry football-watching conditions that I am happy not to be dealing with in post-season play! 

• I think I mentioned on here back in late August that Miss C fell and hit her head on a chair, resulting in getting glue (instead of stitches) at urgent care.  The doctor told me that the glue would fall off/disappear within 7-10 days.     Um, we just managed to get it out on Wednesday of this week.  Why yes, that is about 70 days later.

• All my pants feel tight but I can't stop thinking about warm, gooey sandwiches on yummy, thick bread.  Oh, cold temperatures and early darkness-- you are so bad for my figure!   ;-)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Family Food Fun

With there being a bit of a break between football season and the start of daily off-season workouts, the BG has been able to get home a little earlier this week.  I decided we should have a Family Adventure and, obviously, it should involve food.  So yesterday afternoon, we took off to our previous land for an early dinner at Jason's Deli and a slow walk through every aisle at Wegmans.  Magical?  But of course!  (Except that they were out of the coconut macaroon cookies which made the BG very sad.)

After we loaded our cart with critical items like holiday mugs for the kiddies to use for their "warm chocolate" this winter, we headed back up the escalator toward our car.  (Why yes, this grocery store wonderland does have a two-story parking garage.)  That route took us by the little bench tableau where Miss C requested a photo and then Mr. B requested that we compare it with the one we took earlier this year.

So here you go:

NOVEMBER 2014

MAY 2014

Since we're talking about food and it's Thursday, which has heretofore been recipe day for the last several weeks, here's a tasty recipe for you to try if you love avocados as much we do!    I know it might seem weird but what do you think about warm avocados?  Warm because they've been broiled with cheese on top??   Check 'em out!!!  This was a perfect way to use up some of our Costco avocado haul from last week!

From This View

Miss C likes to "make a tent" when she "reads" in her bed so this is not an unfamiliar sight for me when walking by her door:

This view was a little more unexpected:

And this one was just bizarre!

Skills Practice

As you may remember, the B-man became quite an aficionado of the diving board this summer.   He may have to wait until next June to hurl himself into the water....but he's getting in some good autumnal practice:

 

Weekend Recap

Well, the final game came.....and then went with a bit of a whimper.  It was a very entertaining affair if by "entertaining," one means a close score (27-24...*edited to clarify that we were the 24).   If, however, "entertaining" requires a general sense of comfort, then it was very much NOT.   I think it was 41 degrees with a windchill in the 30s.  The concession stand ran out of hot chocolate and coffee before halftime.  By the end, Camille was crying from being so cold.  All in all, we're not sad there's no post-season play because we might have turned into icicles.

When there are 25 (!!!) high schools in the school district, we all get used to playing games nearby.   This final opponent, however, is the farthest away school located way, way out in the country amidst housing development signs advertising lots "ranging from 2 - 53 acres"!    The 25-mile journey home took us by at least two different herds of deer on/near the road-- ah, country living right in the middle of this giant metropolitan area.   Someone had no problem taking advantage of the long ride:

(Note that we just this past weekend converted his 5-point harness car seat into a booster.  Since it's legal at 4 years old and 40 pounds, I figured we did pretty well making it to almost 7 years old.)

Saturday was a welcome day o' relaxation.   For the first time in months, the BG didn't get up at 5am and we even enjoyed a tasty pancake breakfast.  He then took the kiddies with him to school to do the laundry (why, yes, I also wonder why the head coach has to do the laundry but, you know, #dedicated) and I went to an exercise class.  Apparently they had quite the time in the locker room:

I knew I needed to get a jump start in the calorie-burning department to counteract what would be front-and-center the rest of the day.....FOOD (and college football).

 Baylor played at noon so we settled in with our gourmet sandwiches and fuzzy slippers:

(GO BEARS)

We took a brief break to play/work outside for a little bit but, not gonna lie, I pretty much stayed in front of the TV all day.   I didn't take a picture of my mess o' nachos for dinner but I did send this shot to Linds during our TCU game chat.  I have bought this Uncle Woody's goodness twice now from HomeGoods/TJ Maxx and, um, it's pretty much impossible to stop eating:

 I told Linds that I felt a nap coming on during the TCU/K-State game and, sure enough, I woke up to see the cable box clock reading 11:40pm.  I wasn't sure when I had fallen asleep (the BG was also asleep on the other side of the big couch) but I later found a text with the timestamp 8:32 that I had definitely slept through.  So, yes, that's a 3-hour+ couch snooze.  Gotta love it.

We were quite well-rested yesterday morning, obviously.  While we normally attend the 9am service at our church, the Cherub Choir was singing at the 10:45 service and that now includes our own little cherubs:

They did a wonderful job and we celebrated with.....wait for it........MORE FOOD.  :-)

Hooray for a fun weekend!

The Final Game Cometh

Even though the Rams could end this season 8-2 after a win tonight, it is mathematically impossible for them to make the playoffs.   Nevermind that, in other parts of the state, teams are getting into the post-season with losing records-- we're in an incredibly competitive region where the journey ends this evening.   And that's a bummer.

What's NOT a bummer, however, is our newfound favorite inspirational speaker (er, singer?) from the great state of Texas.   Some of you might have seen his original post-game interview that made the viral rounds.   Geoff recently alerted me to the "Songify" version of his interview and that clip has become a Kentobean family favorite.  The kid is awesome....and so is the beat.

We couldn't help but record our own version of the motivational song at 7:08 this morning.  Yeah, we keep it real around here...


HAPPY FRIDAY!

Crazy Cauli

Are you familiar with Romanesco cauliflower?   Surely it's a mathematician's favorite vegetable, what with the repeating geometric patterns!  (or "natural fractals" as this entry describes)

 The farm-delivery service sends an email with a recipe for each item of produce and I decided to go ahead with the suggested Romanesco Cauliflower Mash.   It sorta looks like guacamole and was quite tasty!

Importance of veggies aside, however, few things are more fun than walking around holding a giant cupcake:

(It's "Sweet Treat" theme week at the gym where C is doing a few weeks of discounted gymnastics classes thanks to an online deal!)

I Mean, Where Else IS There?

Is This Sunday?

Awfully confusing around here this morning.  No, wait-- WONDERFULLY confusing.   Election Day is always a school holiday in these parts since school buildings are used as voting places so I'm typing this post at 6:49am with an actual BG over on the other side of the room!    He will indeed have practice this afternoon but, at least for now, it's a nice twist.  Kinda gets me excited about snow days!!!!

Although I think today and tomorrow might feature some strangely "warm" weather, we've definitely entered the cold portion of the year.  The heat is now turned on and I'm back to doing a load of laundry made up completely of fleece and flannel.   With all the veggies around, I decided soup was in order last night for dinner and, while I had the ingredients, I was sorely lacking in the crusty bread department so off we went to the grocery store after B got home.

Too bad they don't like each other at all:

This is Happiness

The head coach when praising his guys for a 56-14 victory over an opponent who beat them last year (look at that smile!):

Also, this crew:

We met up at the away site early with our favorite football friends and walked over to a nearby street to gather some tasty sweets before the game.  The weather was perfect and the children were thrilled...even when there were giant spiders looking down at them!