LAST DECADE's fall recap

Really, could I be any more behind on this blog?

Family Day at Discovery Kingdom with the dental school. Mid-October

Halloween costume contest (still at Discovery Kingdom) for the kids:

Thank you Annie for winning us a gift card! Woo-hoo!

COLE turned 4 with an Army party and decorated his own cake (Whitney helped too).

Church Halloween party (the weekend before Halloween and a few days before Annie's surgery) - we were easily the ugliest couple ever to attend. Don't ask what Tyler is... because we still don't know.

He and I threw together our costumes about 10 minutes before we left. You can do anything with black clothes, green face paint, a Joker Costume, wizard/witch hats and a leprechaun beard!

Whitney was our Halloween decor specialist. The girl made a new Halloween decoration every day, I think. After this picture was taken, I let Whitney choose one decoration to put in the Halloween box and all the rest went in the trash. Bad mommy throwing away art. But really, we have limited place to store these things! I figured taking a picture would be a nice way to remember the artwork.

As I mentioned before, most of November was spent dealing with Annie's post-surgery ordeal. However, the major highlight of November for us was having Tyler's brother and his family come in town (all the way from DC!!) the week of Thanksgiving. What a treat to have them in town with us!

Jenny is a GEM. She's such an example to me of how to be a wonderfully "hands-on" type of aunt. She was so great at getting down on the kids' levels to entertain them and getting into their little heads to know and understand what makes them tick.

She was so sweet talking with Annie about "Wee Wee Woz" things all the time, and on her last night in town, she curled Whitney's hair and dolled her up with a manicure and pedicure. Whitney was in HEAVEN! Jenny is a wonderful mother who just oozes love and generosity.

Steve (Tyler's brother) is a Nelson through and through. Think energizer bunny. Steve is a little bean pole that eats heartier than a horse. I LOVED having him around in the kitchen and having his positive attitude about any and all food that I was cooking. Like many moms, I am used to the jeers of children when I cook, but having Steve around was a different story.

I told him multiple times that I wish I could have a little toy doll of him that talks when you squeeze its tummy. I would have it play audio clips of his phrases like:  "MMM! I LOVE brussel sprouts!"   "Yes! You have lentils in your cupboard?!?!" or "That smells great, Nats!!"  But the doll would have to do Steve's little eyebrow raises that he does with his sincere smile. Really, everyone needs an Uncle Steve in their kitchen. :)

Since my oldest kid is only five, I wasn't exactly sure how to entertain 8 & 9 year old boys, but the boys never acted bored at our place. Phew! We took them over to the Jelly Belly Factory (never a let-down) and to the air force base (nearly a let-down b/c of the eternal wait for security screening to get into the base from the recent Ft Hood attack). The boys played plenty of Wii, went on lots of walks on a trail by our house, and also spent some time helping Whitney learn how to ride without training wheels.

Our kids ADORE their older cousins. We are so grateful for their good examples of sweetness and kindness to our kids.

Thanksgiving Day was our final "Hoorah" with the Nelsons because they were leaving super early on Friday to head back home. We started out the morning doing the turkey trot. (Tyler & Steve ran the 10k, and I did the 5k). I finished with my personal record of 24:09, but that hardly held a candle to the way the boys BURNED through their races: Steve finished at 39:42 and Tyler came in at 44:18.

Sweet Jenny stayed in the car with the kids with her DVD player (we had intended on having the kids play on the playground while we ran, but it was colder than expected that morning). After the adult races, the kids participated in some fun runs too.

 

So let's talk turkey:

After everyone got home from the races, we had appetizers while the turkey cooked. I cooked a great turkey last thanksgiving, but this year I tried something new. I watched two different gourmet chefs [you're gourmet if you have a great accent and a youtube video, right?] explain the wonderful benefits of adding citrus to the bird's cavity. Supposedly the juices from lemons and oranges will make the bird juicier, tender, and blah blah blah.

Well, I fell for it, stuffed the bird with citrus, onions, celery, and herbs and was sincerely disappointed with the result. :( Tyler and our guests claimed that the turkey tasted fine, but I couldn't hardly stomach the almost sour taste to the meat. Steve was making the gravy for me and we both nearly barfed with the over-powering citrus flavor. Thank goodness for a back-up packet of gravy in the cupboard.

One thing we did while the turkey was cooking was make these little turkey table decorations. I got the idea from The Idea Room but I forgot to get Whoppers. I think the little turkeys still looked pretty cute though! It ended up being a fun activity for all ages.

Some funny things that I don't want to forget about Thanksgiving:

 * Putting Annie down for a nap and after about 30 minutes later hearing her yell, "Poo poo, Mommy, Poo poo!!" The girl hasn't pooped in her diaper for months and not only had she done some damage to her diaper, she had taken it off and smeared it all over the crib and bedding. SICK!!!!!!!!! It was awful. I can't remember if Whitney or Cole had ever done anything like it, but I was shocked, ticked, and sickened all in one. Thankfully I can laugh about it now.

* Burning myself on the iron as I remembered (LAST MINUTE) to iron our make-shift table cloth.

* Remembering as I ironed with my burnt arm that I hadn't even thought to start the homemade rolls yet. Thankfully I remembered in the nick of time and if I had waited any longer, I wouldn't have had enough time.

* Realizing as the turkey was being carved that the turkey had not been stuffed with stuffing. Thank you, 5 minute stove top for literally saving me!

Here is Whitney Vanna White-ing our food table.

And don't worry, the treadmill was temporarily in the front room, but is gone now so it is no longer such an eye-sore!

After our eventful Thanksgiving day, is it any wonder why I am still in my 5K outfit at 5pm? No wonder I was sent to the kids' table! :) The adults couldn't take my stench any longer!!

So there you have it... our fall update. My new year's resolution is to post our Christmas update before Whitney starts 1st grade. Now that should be attainable!! :)