happy thanksgiving

We are leaving town for Thanksgiving tomorrow morning so I wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday weekend before we left. In honor of the occasion, here is a picture of our hand turkey wall:

This wall represents about six years of hand turkeys and comprises a mini-family history (who needs scrapbooking? I have hand turkeys!) For example, the year I was grateful for ginger ale was the year I was morning sick with Eleanor. And the year Eve was two, she was grateful for eyebrows and Elmo. It's fun to look back and remember, and especially watch the kids' turkeys get bigger and bigger.

(In the picture you can also see the bubble-wrap corn that Eleanor made in the preschool I'm doing with her. More about that later, but I loved how her corn turned out.)

The award for my favorite turkey goes to Eve this year. This is the first year she traced, cut, designed, and wrote her turkey all by herself. And it really captures her personality.

I love that the turkey is saying, "Last year the turkeys were all wrong!" Whatever that means. But it really captures her know-it-all, big sister personality.

Hope everyone has a super Thanksgiving. Enjoy your turkey or your pie or your green bean casserole, or whatever is your favorite part. For me, I will eat heaps of cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes (not together) and pumpkin pie. I can't wait!

it's not easy being green...it's terrifying!

Eleanor is scared of this bear. She came out of her nap yesterday to ask me to remove it from her room. I obliged. I put it in Sam's room instead because it is actually one of my favorite of their stuffed animals, it having sat happily on my bed all through high school and most of college. It's from IKEA!


So this morning, Sam woke up from his nap and was fussing a bit. Eleanor went in to check on him. Seconds later, she comes thundering down the hall, clutching the despised bear. She hurls it in to the guest room, slams the door, and says, "Mommy, don't put that bear in Sam's room! It was frightening him!" I thought it was very sweet that, for the sake of her baby brother, Nora was willing to face her fears and make a valiant rescue effort to remove the purple bear.


So I go into Sam's room to get him out of his crib, where he has been patiently waiting. Eleanor won't come in. She tells me is actually more scared of this guy


who has been sitting (sprawling) happily in the corner of Sam's room for ages. Kermit was a thoughtful gift my brother and his wife gave Eve years ago and she adored him.

"Hermit the Frog. I'm scared of Hermit," she whispers.

"Kermit the Frog?"

"You mean Hermit the Frog, Mommy."

I made him sing "It's Not Easy Being Green" while Eleanor cringed in the corner. So that tactic didn't work. We come out to the living room to continue our discussion away from Hermit's prying (and googly) eyes.

"You need to put him in a box and put him away in a closet," she tells me.

So I tell her that Kermit is a very nice frog and he's friends with Ernie and Bert. She's not buying it. "Hermit is a mean frog."

During the conversation, Eleanor keeps glancing nervously over her shoulder and saying things like "I thought I saw something green..." and "Was that Hermit?"

So I show her we have this movie.

Eleanor matter of factly instructs me to smash it up. And, because it's in her genetic makeup, she proceeds to quote a movie, "You need to put it in a box, put that box in another box, and mail it to yourself, and then smash it with a hammer!" At least she's thorough. I guess that's one less Christmas movie we are watching this year.

I can kind of relate. I was terrified of the E.T. doll that lived in my bedroom when I was four until I decided to bury it in the bottom of the stuffy pile. So farewell Kermit/Hermit. Into my closet you go for the next little while. Hopefully Eleanor won't discover your googly eyes leering at her from some dark shadow of my closet while playing hide and seek - that wouldn't really be helpful at all.

all about sam

It's been brought to my attention that I have not posted a whole lot about Sam lately and some pictures of him would be appreciated. And I think I owe it to Sam's grandparents to be more diligent, particularly to my parents who are on the other side of the world from their newest little grandbaby. Mostly his hobbies include playing on the floor, rolling over, and being held, so a lot of the pictures are remarkably similar. But I do not have the discerning eye of the deprived grandparent! So, without further ado, some pictures of Sam:

Playing with his favorite toy, the Jingly Cube. Thanks, Alison - he loves it!

You can really see the family resemblance here. Especially in the intelligent expressions.

Or, based on the size of his ginormous forehead, perhaps we should point the finger at my family. Hi, Mom!

Woah, I look really tired and haggard here. But I sure love my baby!

His usual grinning self.

A few funfacts about Sam (in bullet form, because I love them so:)

• In my head, I think of Sam as my best baby. Always, always happy. Never, never fussy.
• It's funny that I think of him this way, however, because I don't think he is my best sleeper. Mostly, he is just really unpredictable. Maybe he'll take a three hour nap or maybe a 35 minute one. Maybe he'll sleep from 8 to 8 and wake up once to eat or maybe he'll get up every three hours and need snacks and cuddles.
• But I shouldn't complain. He does just fine and has a very nice daily routine that I can rely on. Maybe he's my best baby in part because I've learned to embrace all the unpredictability.
• He still sleeps swaddled up tight. When he wakes up, he flails his arms and usually gouges huge chunks out of his face, so he's usually sporting a few good scratches.
• He likes to suck on his hands when he's awake, but hasn't figured out how to use them to soothe himself back to sleep. He refused a binky, despite my valiant attempts. I've never had a kid like this!
• He loves to roll. And roll and roll. Sam figured this out about a month ago and will now roll all over the living room. Eve is often telling me that Sam has wedged himself under the couch or, yesterday, rolled himself head first into the wall. Where is he going? I don't know, but he loves getting there.
• His favorite toys are the squishy type, like the Jingly Cube (see above), the teddy bear from my Aunt Julie, and his lion rattle. He loves to squeeze them tight and lick them. Yum!
• Poor Sam has a bit of a problem with eczema that can make red rashy spots on his face and scalp. Because of it, he tends to be on the flaky side. I always regret when I wear black! We treat it with hydrocortisone and by rubbing his head with a brush and liberal amounts of lotion. Also, Head and Shoulders! Poor kid. It's sad to see that soft, perfect baby skin all red and irritated so we try our best to keep it treated.
• Sam is our drooliest baby ever. The front of his shirt is usually soaked and he is often blowing big juicy raspberries.
• He is super smiley and often tries to smile while he is crying. Confused boy!
• He doesn't seem to prefer one parent over the other - he generously aknowledges our efforts to keep him warm and well fed. He adores his sisters, however.

I just tried to post a movie of Sam rolling but I seem to be having technical difficulties. Hopefully, the pics will keep the grandparents satisfied for the time being!

so much more than pie

I know canned pumpkin sits on the grocery store shelves the other nine months of the year, but for some reason I only notice it from October to December. And isn't it wonderful? We ate no less than three delicious foods filled with pumpkinny goodness this last week and enjoyed every minute. Thank you, Libby's!

• Pumpkin Pancakes, a recipe passed on by my sister-in-law last fall. Thanks, Mindy! Not too sweet and so fluffy.


• Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars. These are very very good. Try them. Now.

• Pumpkin Cookies, the world's easiest recipe, shared with me by my good friend Lynette. Just a small can of pureed pumpkin and a spice cake mix. Nothing else! Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes and enjoy!

And we didn't eat this last week, but here is a recipe my mom made for Christmas one year and I fell in love with it. It's high maintenance, so I usually just save it for the big Christmas dinner:

Chocolate Pumpkin Marble Cake

How much more pumpkin can I enjoy before it loses it's magic in January? How do you like your pumpkin? Please share!

rainy days and wednesdays

The winter rains moved into the Rogue Valley today and I don't think they'll be going anywhere for about...oh, five months. So we're ready to settle in and hibernate.

Sam really knows how to spend a chilly rainy day. He stayed in his jammies all day, had several delicious meals, and took two long luxurious naps.

Eleanor, on the other hand, insisted that we put on rain coats and blow bubbles in the pouring rain. A true Oregonian! She could take a page out of Sam's book.

In other news, who loved voting yesterday? Voting is great! Oregon uses only mail-in ballots, which is extremely convenient but does take some of the ceremony out of it. I kind of like going to my local library, chatting with the friendly oldster volunteers, and getting my awesome "I Voted!" sticker. And it's fun for the kids to get to see democracy in action! But being able to drive up to a drop box and vote is pretty darn convenient, I must say. Maybe they should give out stickers at the drop box...

Either way, it was exciting and a privilege to be a part of yesterday's momentous election.