Thanksgiving edition?

What I want to know is how in the GD hell (to quote Carol Burnett on Glee) do people have time to blog so much? I guess for some it really is their job, so they must schedule it into their day. I don't even have a full-time job, and I can't keep a simple family news blog afloat. Also, I think I will stop using the word "blog." It's getting on my nerves.

Anyway, I forgot to take the camera for Thanksgiving, so no pictures. It was a pleasant enough time, with the highlights being a visit to Tim and Mindy's and spending the night with Kristi, Craig and company on the way home. Why can't we live closer? I try not to dwell on the past, but I do miss our old friends. Waaaahhhh...

So now it's December, which means M4's birthday, swim meets, M3's band and choir concert, and oh yeah, Christmas and stuff. I won't forget the camera.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Because we are going to Indiana for Thanksgiving, we hosted three of our four international "kids" last Sunday for a Thanksgiving meal. I was pretty excited about cooking, despite the fact that I spent ALL WEEKEND IN THE KITCHEN!!!! It was worth it, though. Chinami (Japan) is only here for one year, and she had never had a Thanksgiving meal. Shirlie (China) hadn't had a Thanksgiving meal before either. (We didn't get to it before we went to KC last year, what with Chris's funeral. Last fall wasn't a good one.) And it was Inwook's (Korea) last Thanksgiving in the U.S. Next year he will return to South Korea to fulfill his two year military requirement. So as we went around the table to say what we were thankful for, they were all very happy to be experiencing this bit of American culture. It was nice to share what we were all thankful for...family, friends, the extreme good fortune of a stable job, the luxury of being able to put on a Thanksgiving feast, and of course, the cat. The turkey was a bit dry, in my opinion. But it's only my third-ish turkey.

No sweet potatoes, because I don't like the traditional Thanksgiving prep (marshmallows??!! more sugar? gross!!). One of these years, I will work up some good, spicy sweet potato dish. Mark's stuffing, of course...my personal favorite. The best part...we'll have leftovers!!!

The evidence...

Proud Mama

Got an email today that M3 is invited to an Honor Band for beginning band students in February! It's been so cool to hear her improve on the saxophone! And I still don't have a photo, because I only have a photo on my phone, and I really don't know how to get the pictures off my phone, which stinks because I also have a bunch of pictures from the Des Moines sculpture garden on there. Oh well...

This is Halloween...

We had our first freeze a few nights ago...it was in the 20s. But it was beautiful weekend for Halloween! M4's fever for all things ancient Egypt swept the house, so King Tut and Cleopatra it was! A friend just happened to have the pharaoh's topper for M4, and you can imagine how M3 was thrilled to wear a long, black wig. She wants to wear it to school. My sewing skills are exceedingly rusty, but I managed to craft some tunics and collars.

There was also much fun to be had playing with pumpkin guts.

The candy will last us 'til spring.

New endeavor...

M4 asked about violin lessons somewhat out of the blue. So of course I wanted to take advantage of his interest! He has only had two lessons so far, but he looks kinda cute with a quarter size violin:
The tae kwon do is not new, but I don't know if I've posted any pictures? And this was a good flying side kick I caught. Both Ms have been taking for a while. They have their yellow belts now. I'm tempted to join them!

Northern CA

I realized I never finished my California series! We had such a very, very good time visiting our old friends and drinking in the beauty of Northern California. As luck would have it, all our friends live in amazing spots, and I begin to understand how someone would brave the ridiculous cost of living to make their home amidst all that natural beauty. And did I mention how much I miss our friends? Of course, it gives us the opportunity to visit these amazing places, but it means we are too far away from each other. Drat. This applies to East Coast friends, too. :-)

Not far from Scott and Charis's at Muir Beach overlook...spectacular!! We hung out at the beach, and we all had a blast playing in the sand and climbing rocks. Scott and I went photo crazy, I think...I have the most pics from there.

With Scott and Charis and the kids (who all got along famously) in front of their favorite breakfast place in Fairfax. Scott and Charis live tucked away in a hill. We went to the top and had views for miles!
At the Gravenstein Apple Fair in Sebastopol with Tina and Adam's oldest. Tina and Adam live on a lovely little farm with chickens and gardens...including grapes, which is only fitting since they are in Sonoma County, I think!

At Steve and Lucy's, the twins and M and M put on a whole play in very short order, called "How to be a Nerd." This was the bow. Steve and Lucy live on top of a hill with spectacular views. They have put in a tremendous amount of work to make their house beautiful! And they have a pool! The kids were in heaven. By the way, Steve and Lucy look exactly the same...not fair!

One thing that was so lovely to me on this portion of our trip was how well all the kids got along. At home where the kids have lived their whole lives, they have certain established dynamics with their friends. On vacation, there is none of that. There are no preconceived notions...they all just had a fantastic time with each other. We all need to be free of our usual roles once in a while, no?