Thankfully

We made it through Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful get-together at my mom's house, with all of the trimmings. She forgot to put the deviled eggs out on the table, which I'm sure will have her lying awake all night. Seriously. She'll lie awake all night. Love you , Mom. Here are a few images from the day, as I'm still in a bit of a tryptophan haze.

Dad's Thanksgiving Day refrigerator art.

My mom cures her own olives. You can't have any. They're MINE!

We arrived a little early so that my dad could take our Christmas card photo. I think I may be most thankful for digital cameras. It just ain't gonna happen on the first try. Or the second.




We also made it out to our great grandma Leatha's house for bit. I didn't realize until I got home that Charlotte's eyes were closed. Darnit!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

"Sinta Pulls"

We went to see Santa today, and it went very well! Last year, the girls chickened out. I suppose that's the difference between a mere 2 year-old and a worldly 3 year-old. They let him know that they'd like blue fairies for Christmas, and had a little chat about candy canes and dollies. Charlotte can say Santa Claus, but for some reason prefers to call him "Sinta Pulls." Our hair is in a flyaway state, but YOU try keeping up with a preschooler's hair!

Feast!

The girls had their feast at preschool today, so we got to visit. Everyone in class had to bring ingredients for Stone Soup--our contribution was a potato and a cup of dry beans. I must say, it was delicious.

Digging in to their feast. Space was at a premium, so we settled for lap dining.

Behold, the cupcake of DOOM! Seriously, this had to be the most labor-intensive cupcake I've seen in a long time. They promptly ate the frosting turkey off the top, thrust the cupcake part up to us and proclaimed, "Done!"

Walking through the leaves to Grammy's car.

Leaf Fight II: This Time It's Personal

Now that the leaves are starting to fall from Papa's liquid amber tree, it's time for leaf fights! Last year's fights were pretty intense, but now that we're big girls of three and a half, it's ON! Of course, after the fight, Papa comes out with either the leaf blower or vacuum (yes, he has both) and makes his lawn pretty again. As Rachel might say: "Oh brudder!"

Thank You.

In honor of Veterans' Day

CCBR

My dad and I took the girls to the Central California Band Review today. They just love their marching bands, so we had a great time.

I wanted this to be much cooler--you can barely see our reflection, as this kid was on the move. Perhaps next year I'll find an obliging tuba player and make him stand really still while I get my shot!Rachel, enjoying the percussion competition with Papa.

Pittman Percussion. They were awesome.

See Patricia--you could have had someone carry your marimba for you! Those poor guys looked miserable.

Buhach Colony's drum major.

These girls were having fun.

This girl was having fun too.

The hosts of the parade...the always impressive Cardinal Regime. We got to meet Mr. C., their band director and my former band director. The girls thought it was a pretty big deal.

Good times.

Back when he was a good boy with short hair...

After seeing the girls' preschool picture, my mother-in-law sent me a picture of Adrian's preschool graduation.

How the heck...

...did we go from this

to THIS???

The girls had their first day of preschool today. Excuse me while I go cry...

Save Pushing Daisies!

I love this wonderfully original show. It's such a breath of fresh air from the usual fare. It fell victim to the writer's strike last season, and now it's in danger of being canceled. If you love me and want me to be happily entertained, go here to sign the petition!

A witch and a bat!

We had a busy Halloween, but it was a fun one. Grammy spent the morning shuttling the girls here and there in their costumes. They got to trick or treat at Grammy's salon, as well as our workplaces. They were a hit! After some good naptime, it was time to dress up again and make the rounds to friends and family. We topped it off with some light trick or treating in Grammy and Papa's neighborhood, then settled in to celebrate Papa's birthday. Pizza, cake, candy, and Wii Fit (Papa's new gift)! Fun.

Being "scary."

Getting treats at Aunt Vera and Unlce Mo's.


We had a special treat--we finally got to meet our cute cousins, Mallary and Avery (the newest set of twins!). This is Mallary--no it's Avery--or is it Mallary? This is one of the twins and her grandpa. Man, I'm starting to see what all the fuss is about, trying to tell other folks' twins apart is rough! They were flying monkeys. Hehe.

Taking a moment to play with Charlie and Terri's well-behaved dog. Very well-behaved.

Heavy duty candle-blowing.

Rachel helping Papa sort through his gifts.

Ever the lady, Charlotte devours her cake.



I love Halloween. Now will someone please come and pull my head out of the leftover candy bowl? Please?