Eat, Eat, Eat, Full, Eat more anyway...

We had the kind of Thanksgiving that makes me feel full for days, but it doesn't matter because I still eat as much as possible anyway.


























We prepared two turkeys (one cooked in a Dutch Oven), one ham, rolls, pies, 5-sticks of butter stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans, fruit salad, and a cheesecake. It was enough to have at least 4 meals of leftovers. 

And on top of all that, June got an early Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa. As Alan would say, "Practicing for Black Friday": 

Thanks to my parents for letting us invade their house so we could have room to cook and eat. Thanks to William's parents for being generous and getting June some awesome gifts. Thanks to everyone else for the laughs and good times. Oh and we saw 'Lincoln', so thanks to Lincoln for being the best president ever.

Oh and speaking of Christmas, who's excited?

I guess I am.

Thankful Day 1... on Day 11.

Last year, I did a "Grateful" blog post everyday in November.

This year, I'm lacking in those posts. I'm not sure if it's because I haven't picked up my camera in a month, or if it's because we're painting our house, or if it's because June needs a little more attention lately. 

But I'm still very grateful....I just needed everyone to know that.

I guess June likes talking on the phone.

June has been all kinds of wonderful lately. I keep thinking, "this is the best age", and then it just gets better and better.

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Planning: my handmade Christmas. This is the first Christmas that I'm going to try to make most of my gifts (we'll see).  I've got about ten decorations and presents to make just in the next few weeks.
Also planning: our annual Christmas Song. I feel like we just got done writing this one... I guess this year flew by.
Eating: Homemade Blackberry Ice Cream. These Ice Cream recipes are blowing my mind (and my diet).
Hoping: to win these Christmas Cards (It's definitely a long shot).  But if not, I'm trying to design our own. It's kind of fun designing, but kind of (extremely, horrifyingly) difficult.
YEARNING: for Thanksgiving. Even though it seems like I'm already planning all things Christmas, my favorite holiday hands down is Turkey Day. (I'm crossing my fingers for a deep fried turkey.)

Tricky Treat

As much as I love the month of October, I'm always a little glad it's over. 

Last night we made two kinds of delicious soups, baked four batches of cornbread, drank ginger ale, cream soda and Yoohoo, and ate two chocolate pumpkin pies.

It turns out, June was born to Trick or Treat. After about the second house, she knew exactly what to do: knock on the door, hold out her bucket, followed by an "ooooOOOOOO" when candy was given, then on to the next house. (As a former teacher, I really do believe children learn quickly when candy is involved.)

When we dumped her candy on the floor, she only grabbed the suckers. She'd suck on one for about a minute, then find another one. We ended up with about six uneaten suckers, but at least my girl was happy.

October was amazing, but let's move on to more important holidays, shall we?

A useful list of "Last Minute Cat Puns Halloween Costumes"

So this year for Halloween, I chose to be a...

... because really, without the cat ears I'm just a plain old cat burglar.

But then I started brainstorming all of the other Halloween costumes you can do with a set of cat ears. My pals, Natalie and Daphne, gave some excellent ideas as well. We came up with the greatest "Last-Minute-Cat-Puns-Halloween-Costumes" collection you've ever seen.

I mean really, have you ever seen those articles for "Last Minute Halloween Costumes", only to find that their definition of "last minute" is 2-3 hours? In addition, you better have an entire craft store in your closet?

These seriously only take a couple of minutes... you just need a set of cat ears and one or two other supplies.

Oh and sorry but there are no sexy cat costumes here (I would probably break the internet posting such pictures of myself). 

This is just good ol' fashion cat puns. 

Cat ears + Trash =






































Cat ears + 'TOM' name tag =






































Cat ears + Pajamas + optional "Jazz Hands" or cool dance moves =






































Cat ears + Pajamas + Sleeping after partyin' =






































Cat ears + Looking like you're scared all the time =






































Cat Ears + "STEVENS" name tag + optional guitar =






































Cat ears + A friend who likes cat puns and is also wearing cat ears =

Other possible costumes:

Cat Ears + A scratch across your face + a thermometer = "Cat Scratch Fever".

Cat Ears + Walk around the party grabbing other people's tongues = Cat got your tongue.

Cat Ears + Bum clothes = Feral Cat

Cat Ears + Carry around a fish = Cat Fish

Cat Ears + Steal stuff from the party = A REAL Cat Burglar

There you have it. Have a happy and lazy Halloween.

Happy Trees

Greer, AZ

I've got a list of a thousand things to do, but I'm going to stop for one minute and share to everyone how much I love my family and friends right now.

Here's why:

· He loves to eat waffles at least twice a week, and plan fun outings, and drink soda late at night, and watch scary TV shows, and listen to music all the day long, and plant luscious green winter grass, and go for walks to look at holiday lawn decorations, and record an a m a z i n g album that I am so proud of.

· She has cute pigtails and curly hair, and loves "bubbus" and "doggies", and loves to chase around a ball, and give kisses with delayed 'smack' sounds, and obsess over new shoes, and push grocery carts, and eat an entire apple on a stick, and have dance parties.

· They invite us over for Sunday dinner every Sunday, and prepare us 72 hour kits so we don't have to, and take June to the carousel to ride at least 6 times, and they sew us curtains and blankets, and buy ten different kinds of cheeses, and challenge me to Tetris to which I win triumphantly or lose terribly.

· They throw parties at the last minute that look like it took weeks to prepare for, and serve soup in bread bowls, they recommend good music and TV because I'm so out of the loop, and they have pizza ovens in their backyard with every pizza topping you can dream of, and they are talented and help me to remember to push myself and, most importantly, they make me laugh.

This is terribly written, but it's true.

Oo-da-lolley golly what a day...

William's family came to town last week, so we spent the day at the fair. 

We rode the Ferris Wheel and ate plenty of fried foods.

While June seemed hypnotized by the color, lights, food, and noise, I was hypnotized by the inhabitants there. The fair makes for some fine people-watching.