Zoe&Caleb: Thanksgiving 2010

We always enjoy making the trip to Connecticut for Thanksgiving...mom's cooking is unparalleled and it is always mellow at home, usually with a fire going in the wood-burning stove, lemon squares on the counter, and a glass of wine on hand. Unfortunately Caleb came down with another cold right before the holiday and at the last minute we stayed home and made the most of our little stay-cation. We made gingerbread men, pumpkin pie, and an apple/pear gallette to share at my Tita Cel's Thanksgiving feast. Caleb napped for 4 and a half hours on Turkey Day, 3 the following day, 4 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday...and pretty much woke up healthy, rested, and happy for school on Monday.

It's hard to believe that Christmas is around the corner. Like so many others we are going low-key for the holiday festivities and gift-giving. Z&C are still in the "see how it works/break everything" stage and are most interested in things like digging in the dirt, throwing around a nerf football, and reading "big kid" books anyway. The pre-lit insta-tree is up in the front room, the decorations are ready to go up, and I'm searching around for the perfect mix of different cookies to make. We have a lot to be thankful for!

Gingerbread men! Zoe and Caleb are great little "helpers" in the kitchen. Okay...let's be honest. It's not exactly "help" per se and inevitably there is an additional enormous mess to tend to and I have my heart in my throat as they reach for a hot pan lid/oven door/carving knife...but I am so happy that they are interested and really do want to get in on the action. I've learned that (1) letting them crack the eggs in a bowl is NOT recommended, (2) stirring the batter works best with a small spoon rather than a tsunami-making large wooden spoon and (3) it really doesn't make a difference if you let them turn the Kitchenaid mixer on and off on every speed, as long as they both get a turn.

Keeping the mess-makers away from the shower spray fun of the faucet...

All worn out from a tough day of baking and eating cookies

We got a lot done around the house including raking about 5,000 pounds of leaves (!!!) Oh poplar and oak trees, you make me weep. Hubby fixed the fence, mowed probably for the last time before we get bad weather (2" of rain expected overnight tonight) and picked up super high speed shovels at Home Depot. They say it's going to be another record-breaking tough winter this year.

Dance party! They pick up the lyrics amazingly quickly...and repeat them back in the darndest iterations. "Why did mommy kiss Santa?" And they've managed to pick up that without snow, there is no Christmas.