I'm thankful for this video feature!

SNOW!!!

Somehow, from this group of pecan crackers, a meal was made...

All the good dishes are in Arizona, but we certainly have color in our plastic ware.

A close-up of our yummy pies. Emily made the lattice work on the apple pie and the boys cracked the pecans for the pumpkin pie!

Okay, so Sariah skipped the part about getting out of her wet clothes!

We woke up to a white Thanksgiving! There wasn't a whole lot of snow, but it was enough to have some fun. We stuck a cardboard box in a trash bag and gave the kids rides down the only incline we had in our yard. That's how the day started. While Terry and the kids braved the great outdoors, I came in and built a fire in the fireplace. Everyone came in and once they got out of their wet clothes and warmed up, they had some ice cream! We had all the traditional grub today: Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing and pie. I didn't make any vegetables since we had pumpkin in one pie and butternut squash in the muffins I made for breakfast. ;) I also forgot to make rolls and put out olives! I'm a failure! (Just Kidding!) I put caramelized pecans on top of the pumpkin pie and it was delicious. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Enjoy the video, but don't watch it too many times, after about twenty viewings your stomach will start to hurt from laughing so hard...

I'm trying the video function again. This is a snake we like to visit at the Living Desert Museum and Zoo. He really didn't like Travis this day. It was pretty scary! We are all settled in here. Emily's team finished 4th in her division. Travis has earned his astronomy belt loop in cub scouts. (He happens to have the world's greatest Den Mother, Moi!) A.J. really misses James, but he was able to talk to him on the phone today. Luke really misses Budge and keeps calling him at nap time! :( Sariah is talking like crazy! She told me that she saw the moon and Saturn on Friday! Terry is loving his work here, he wants to put in for a permanent assignment if they offer him one. I love our new house. It is very spacious, we even have a forbidden room and basement. The basement is forbidden because I don't want the kids going down there, but the room is forbidden because it is clean and there is nothing in there! I'm having a Veterans' Vegetable Brunch tomorrow. My friends and I are testing out Jessica Seinfeld's recipes on our unsuspecting families. :)

Farewell Fine Friend

After kissing this frog everyday for two and a half months, Sariah has finally given the farewell kiss. I guess it's just a frog. Someday her prince will come... Emily's basketball team lost today. :( The big fight for third place is on Thursday. I'm moving my computer tonight, so I'm hoping to have everything hooked up and updated by the end of the week. We have also started harvesting pecans. Our new house has nine mature trees. We already have about 25 lbs. drying. Emily has been picking them up everyday after school. The little guys are even helping out a bit. I'm thinking about selling some to raise money for Emily's trip to Australia next summer. Any brilliant ideas on the best way to do that?

The Video Feature works!

If you go back in time to my very first post, you will see the video of Luke jumping into our ball pit. Now, I'll have to take some more videos! :) We painted and colored on pumpkins today. A.J. has decided that he doesn't want to cut his pumpkin up until I'm ready to make pumpkin pie! :) Here's a cute shot of the turkey on his birthday.

Where Did Summer go?

Wow! How did it get to be October already? I was grocery shopping today and saw Christmas displays already! Isn't this a great picture? The boys were feeding their pizza crusts to the ducks. I shot some hoops with the tweenage girls today. It was fun, I knocked Emily over with my butt and scratched her arm, all on accident of coarse! Luke and Sariah are taking gymnastics lessons once a week. They absolutely love it and have fun practicing their trampoline moves on my bed. A.J. is playing basketball too. I haven't run him into the ground yet, but Emily can take it. :) Travis seems to have hit a developmental glass ceiling. He is doing fourth grade work, but he is having a hard time acting like a fourth grader. So far this week he has spent 6 hours in his classroom and 15 hours out. He is looking forward to another day of being suspended tomorrow and Friday is a Fall holiday. :( I don't know what to do with him, but we won't give up until something works. A.J. is starting to read and says he is the only smart kid in his class. Oh, Grandpa, he is doing just fine with his scissor skills. I guess he's been getting too much practice. His teacher says he cuts anything he can get his hands on. He's only cut Sariah's hair at home, so I'm trying to give him little projects to make with paper at home to get some of the cutting out of his system. :)

Everything is Just Peachy

I finally found the cord to download pictures from my camera. I would love to sit and catch up right now, but I'm afraid it is way past my bedtime. :( So until tomorrow, enjoy Sariah's lovely, long, curly locks of hair as she reaches for a peach.

New Superhero on the Loose!

Watch out! He's mean, he's serious, he's found new and exciting ways to use his mom's mascara... It's uni brow boy! Emily did eat frog legs in France! She said they tasted like old chicken. She couldn't bring herself to eat escargot, although she did have one on her plate. She still insists that the best chefs in the world work at the Dallas Airport. Emily says crossing the street in Europe was crazy. Not only were all the cars going the wrong directions, but you had to cross one half at a time. She said it was really scary standing in the middle of the street with cars whizzing by. She also shared another scary tale. At one of the hotels in France there was creepy red writing on some one's bathroom mirror. They were telling everyone about it and when Emily went to her room, she and her roommates screamed when they discovered creepy red writing on their mirror. Apparently, several other ambassadors were scared by the writing on their bathroom mirrors and began screaming as well. Emily said everyone was silenced by one of their leaders hollering, "Get a grip, it just says to enjoy breakfast in the hotel restaurant!"