Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent Thanksgiving by ourselves this year.  I guess we're not cool enough to be invited anywhere, haha!  That's okay, more leftovers for us!

We made the typical food we make every year: Sausage and prune stuffing, sweet potato casserole,and mashed potatoes.  We didn't bother with a full turkey since it was just us this year, so Erik just picked up a smoked turkey breast at Kroger.  I also bought some rolls (no thank you to making homemade rolls!) and some cranberry jelly (Erik didn't tell me he hates it until I set it out on the table).  I also made two pies!  I made pecan pie and a chocolate pudding pie for the kids. I almost never make pies and they both (the pecan in particular) turned out great! Although, I did mess up on the stuffing--I put way too much broth in it so it turned out quite soggy.  The turkey was served cold (not purposely), but other than that, everything tasted delicious!  The kids actually sat and ate since there was nobody and nothing else to distract them from eating, like there is every time we have dinner with somebody else.

The pie recipe.  

The spread

Ian enjoying his first taste of Thanksgiving

Carving the turkey 

This girl.  Such a goofball.

I know I'm an abomination, but I did some Thanksgiving shopping at Toy's R Us after our meal. There was quite a long line, but I didn't wait for long and once I was inside, it wasn't too bad.  Everyone was civil and courteous, for the most part.  I only went because I had 4 little girl birthday parties coming up, and I wanted to get them all something decent without spending hoards of money.  So I picked out some $5 princess dolls (regular $15), and a LalaLoopsy dolly for Elisa for Christmas.   I came home just in time to eat pie, so I did not miss out on much, other than a movie that Erik watched with the kids.

Gabe really enjoyed his chocolate pudding pie!

So did Elisa!

I can't say the same for Ian.  He was done with the day, by the time pie came around. 

Random November Happenings

Here are a bunch of random pictures that I took in November:


First, my birthday! Not as exciting after 30, but at least I still get stuff.  My favorite present was my iPhone 5!  From now on, no more crappy iPod pictures!  Yay! I got spoiled on my birthday this year!

A saw this hoodie at Kohls and couldn't resist buying it for Gabe:

Gabe had his school "holiday" (I think the mean Thanksgiving) lunch. Gabe and I had a good time in those mere 15 minutes:

 I'm not sure why, but Gabe insisted I take these pictures of him with a basketball.  I'm not sure he can even dribble a basketball, but at least the pictures turned out cute:

 The kids' bikes have basically sat in the garage for almost a year, but since November, these two have been riding bikes almost non-stop!

Family trip to the temple.  Erik went in while I watched the kids in the waiting room.

 Dance!  Dance has been even better this year.  It helps that Elisa is older, and also she has another wonderful teacher!

 Playing at Chick-fil-A after dance.  They made up their own "boogie" (as in boogers) dance

A sweet sleeping Ian.  No reason to take this, other than he is adorable:

Not sure why I took this picture either, other than to confirm Elisa's silliness:

Ian's 9-month checkup at the Pediatricians. He's doing just perfectly! He's average for height and 75th of weight.  All of his weight is in his chest and belly!

Sometimes Erik will get off early from work, and we will try out a new restaurant.  This time we tried Pollo Tropical.  It was okay.  Elisa really enjoys eating at restaurants.  She's always begging to go out to a restaurant after I pick her up from preschool.  It is hard to say NO because I like going to restaurants too!  Sometimes we will go to Cracker Barrel and share a Coca Cola Cake.

 Ian, my sweet Ian.  Here are two pictures of Ian holding his very favorite things to hold:  Elisa's de-tangler spray, and the TV remote.

 I don't actually remember doing this, but as the pictures affirm, I had an episode of the crazies and took ALL THREE kids to Chuck-E-Cheese.  Although, I do remember that this was Ian's very first time on a slide! He enjoyed it.  I have absolutely no recollection of the rest of our time spent at this place:

Let's Give This Thing Called Eating Food a Try...

I'm also a horrible mother because I cannot remember exactly when I officially started Ian on solid foods.  Heck, I don't even remember how old he was or what month.  I'm guessing he was 5, almost 6 months old.  So the month had to be end of July?  Okay, we'll go with that.

Here are some cute pictures of the little man, trying something new!  I know Ian doesn't look like he enjoyed his very first taste of rice cereal in the photos, but I can promise you food is his life's love, second only to me!

  I love those funny faces he makes!

And another eating session, taken a month or so later: