10 years!

Thanksgiving 1997 was the day that I realized that Kirsten was the ONE for me. Kirsten and I met in October 1997 through mutual friends she was visiting in Tucson. When I found out that she had no plans for Thanksgiving, I insisted that she attend Thanksgiving dinner with me at my parents house. She was reluctant, considering she hadn't met anyone in my family and really hadn't spent much time with me either. But I was my pushy, insistent self and left her no choice ;)

We had a GREAT day. Kirsten fit right in with my family, helping with the cooking, helping with my parent's godchildren that were visiting, joking around... I vividly remember watching her playing with the kids in the living room while I did some cooking thing in the kitchen. My mom said something like "she's pretty special". I said something like "I know" and I knew right then that I loved Kirsten and that we could and should spend the rest of our lives together. Thanksgiving is always a wonderful reminder of that for me. I can't believe it, but this Thanksgiving marks an amazing 10 years that we have been together!

In those 10 years we have gone through a lot of things, both good and bad, but we have always had each other and our love for each other. Now our family has grown to include two wonderful boys, a few more cousins, and lots of new experiences. I love you baby and I love the life we have created together, here's to a few more decades together and lots more Thanksgivings...

Emmett the Cook

This Thanksgiving, I helped Emmett make his first pie! Granted it was made with canned pumpkin and a frozen pie crust... but it was so fun to make with him and it turned out so well.He was so excited about it, he started asking about it when we bought our Halloween pumpkins then didn't drop it until the night before Thanksgiving. He was a little flummoxed by the canned pumpkin and wanted to know where the real pumpkin was, but he got over that. We made a recipe from Bon Appetit this month's issue, check http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/240423 for the exact recipe. We skipped the whipped topping, because I didn't have enough whipping cream and we frankly didn't need the extra calories!

Emmett measured and poured all the spices, did the grinder for the cloves, helped with the mixer (which he loved!), measured and scraped the mascarpone and the brown sugar. Then he helped put the mixture into the pie crust and was so excited to taste it the next morning. It was very cute and a good experience for some very rare one on one, Emmett mommy time. Kirsten took Harrison for a ride and picked up salads for dinner from a near-by chain restaurant.

On Wednesday, we also received the movie Ratatouille from Netflix in the mail. We must have watched it about 6 times over the holiday weekend. Emmett had tears in his eyes when he put it in the mail this morning... the DVD is now on his Santa Christmas letter and I think Granny or Grandma and Papa will come through! The other item that made E's Christmas list was a chef's knife, so he can "chop it up". He really does like cooking and he is very attentive, and remembers what we teach him. Does anyone make a chef's knife for children? Off to google that...

Emmett the Turkey

Emmett had a Thanksgiving party at preschool yesterday. They had a great time, with lots of good food. Kirsten made these great sandwiches with turkey, stuffing and cranberries. She wrapped and cut them so nicely that the other parents were asking where we bought them :) She got some dirty looks when she reported that she had quickly made them herself, just that morning... Martha Stewart watch out (although, thankfully, Kirsten is not in danger of being arrested for insider trading!)

When Kirsten arrived to pick Emmett up from school, he was wearing his Thanksgiving craft and looked quite cute dressed as a turkey. He is doing great at school, the teachers love him. They say he is absolutely the kindest, most thoughtful child in their class and others. He's also very smart, the teachers have mentioned that we need to work hard to make sure that he is in a stimulating environment as he gets older. Just this week, he started writing letters and numbers with relative accuracy. He also is doing a lot of pre-reading by telling us "what" signs say, and identifying letters and themes anywhere there is anything written. He has also memorized a number of his books and likes to help us read them to him. What a big boy!

Oh and Emmett has become quite confident on his 2-wheel bike, with training wheels. He would ride off into the sunset if we weren't yelling behind him to turn around ;)

Harrison at the Park

Emmett's preschool is an affiliate of our local parks and recreation, and is located in a building that shares a campus with a great neighborhood park, Four Freedoms. When Kirsten takes Emmett to school, the boys usually have some park time before school.

Here's a picture of Harrison from yesterday. He really is starting to look like a little boy rather than a baby... I can't believe he is 18 months old now! He is a happy guy who loves to do exactly what his brother does. He waves at everybody, including passing cars and pets :) He loves watching birds, getting very exciting when he sees them.

The lump on his head is a result of his misplaced bravery on our swingset at home. He jumped for the monkey bars, missed, and fell about 5 feet to the ground, hitting his head on a piece of wood at the bottom of the swingset. Poor baby... unfortunately it didn't deter him from other climbing and jumping forays!

Who needs expensive toys?

When a cardboard box, a hill, crazy cousins, and a sunny afternoon will do the trick?

Dominic came up with the idea to get inside the cardboard box and ride it down the hill, while rolling... he loved it and then convinced his sister and his cousin Emmett to do it also. Harrison was happy to hang out on my hip and watch.

Hilarity ensued!

Never enough time...

This vacation reminded me yet again that I just don't get enough time with the boys. We had a such a good time, with no obligations, no schedules, no restrictions. Nothing like sitting in the sun in a beautiful park nursiing your baby while he takes a break from playing with his older cousins. And holding both boys while we chugged along on a hayride, pulled by a real farmer on a real tractor around a corn field. We are so fortunate to have these experiences together, but I always want more!

Eating on Vacation is Fun :)

Sydnie, Harrison and Emmett enjoying cupcakes at a Fall Festival on Beck Mountain in Tennessee. I thought it was quite funny that Emmett ate all the frosting on his and then nicely offered to "trade" with Sydnie for hers (which still had frosting on it!)

Campfire weinie roasts are yummy and smokey! Kudos to Kirsten for somehow allowing all the kids to roast their own hot dogs without anyone falling into the fire or getting poked by a skewer.