turkey cookies

i love cooking for the holidays. all the thanksgiving-type food is my favorite to cook. but i'm not a big fan of the baking. however i came across this idea and thought the boys might enjoy making some turkey cookies. how hard can it be?

i'm not too experienced with "holiday baking" or icing dispensers or anything of the like. is that right, "icing dispensers?" i don't even know what those little tubes are called. anyway, it was something fun and different. 

mac and bode took the photos for this post...

today is thanksgiving day! so a happy one to all of you out there. i'm thankful you read my blog.

ok, gotta go make sweet potatoes...

halloween '08

when i was a kid, halloween was one night. a couple days before, my dad carved a pumpkin but that was it. on halloween night, we trick-or-treated all over the neighborhood and then it was done. nowadays it's become more like a "season" than a day. i've even heard folks talk about getting into the "halloween spirit." no thank you. however, it is fun with all the activities around town your family can attend. (of course, all of these said activities could have been happening when i was a kid and i just didn't know it. very possible.)

i do think halloween is tricky. it's not a holiday i'm interested in "swallowing whole." there's a lot of bizarre stuff that hides behind the mask of this "fun and harmless holiday." (oh, i just noticed i said halloween is "tricky." wow. i am hilarious.) stuff i'm not interested in inviting into my home or my kids' heads. like vampires, for example. i will not invite a vampire into my home. that's just basic 101, right? (ok, i'll stop. i really am being serious, but then i have jokes so what am i supposed to do?)

here's what i'm saying - i love pumpkin-carving, cute little decorations, and handing out candy in the neighborhood. we always have at least 400 kids and hanging out with our neighbors is always fun. there's a lot of fun stuff that goes with halloween. but there's also stuff that happens to get a lot of attention around the halloween season that isn't good, isn't harmless and shouldn't be entertained. if there's interest, i could talk more about this in another post, but i don't want to get too off track here. i'll cap this with saying halloween is certainly a time that requires some discernment and good judgement in how one participates.

ok, on to the fun!

hall-zoo-ween happens every weekend in october at the cincinnati zoo. we went when it was 85 degrees. so the boys went as surfers and were quite comfortable. those dressed like Chewbacca were not so happy.

next on our list was carving the pumpkins we brought home from huber's. auntie joined us for this event as well. 

this year, the chief pumpkin carver broke out the power tools.

apprentice pumpkin carvers had their first taste of power tools. 

mac started slow and went full-throttle. UP YERS, PUMPKIN!!

seed separators.

seed-separating shenanigans. 

i was in charge of baking and eating the pumpkin seeds.

next in halloween events was creating mac's costume for his school's vocabulary parade. they don't have costume parties at his school. instead the students receive a homework assignment in which they must choose from a list of compound words and make a costume that reflects their choice. then they all put on their costumes and parade around the school, hence "vocabulary parade." 

mac chose "jellyfish." (of course.)

finally, halloween night. are we the only ones that find the time slot 4-6 pm to be a chaotic comedy of errors. the city decrees trick-or-treating begins at 6 pm. it seems like as soon as 4 pm hits, we all loose our marbles and just run around yelling "get the candy, get the costumes, get the aaahh!!!" and the doorbell rings at 6 pm on the dot. we're all screaming "we're not ready!!" it's crazy. anyway, here's the costume photo taken probably around 6:15 pm while the doorbell was ringing.

behold, Indiana Jones and Luke Skywalker Jedi (as in "Return of the Jedi," the film in which Luke Skywalker has earned the title "Jedi." this is a big deal in our house and yes, there's a difference.)

while we participated in the halloween festivities, the pumpkins worked hard at their new roles: family jack o' lanterns. we find it works best if we all put in a request to the chief and then he carves. 

bode requested "happy."

mommy requested polka dots.

mac requested "scary."

and superman wanted a superman jack o'lantern.

and that concludes halloween '08.

road trip to huber's farm

huber's farm is the mother of all things pumpkin patch. it's right outside of louisville so i'd been there a few times as a kid and have such fond memories. i've been wanting to take us all there, but just never got it together. plus, doing something like this in a day used to be really tough for us with naps and tiny kids, etc. now the kids are old enough that a 2 hour road trip is an adventure and fun for all of us. i really hate crowds in my old age and knew the weekends would be packed. but mac ended up having some inservice days and davidrussell took the day off and it all just came together. on the eve of the road trip, i called up auntie erin:

me - "hey, i know this is a long shot but we're going to huber's tomorrow. do you want to come?"

erin - "what? tomorrow?! i have to work! we're so busy!" pause. "let me call my boss." click.

she called back like 15 minutes later - "what time are we leaving?" 

i was so excited b/c the only thing i wanted to eat was gravy... gravy streaming over a variety of greasy foods. (some pregos are too sick to eat, i'm the opposite. eating is the only thing that brings relief. i mean, you could bottle up mashed potatoes and gravy and put it behind the counter at the pharmacy and i'd get a prescription and pay a co-pay for it. "does humana cover gravy?" "why, yes, it does." "thank you. what a country." ok, back to story.)

ok, let's see... oh yeah, huber's farm has a restaurant. a delicious, everything is homemade, just like grandma makes, restaurant. 

we arrived just in time for lunch. every table starts out with deep-fried biscuits and homemade apple butter. david ordered the all-you-can-eat ham and fried chicken. erin picked up one of the huber's recipe books for sale in the lobby and read to us the recipes of what we were eating. i didn't take any pictures of this part. i guess i had a one-track mind. 

after we were stuffed, we were off for some good 'ole fun on the farm. apple launching, corncob cannons, the cow train...

we took a wagon ride and fed the animals...

bode was a natural goat-feeder.

erin made a friend.

next, we were off to the pumpkin patch...

we could have stayed out here all day. it was beautiful.

mac the scarecrow.

everyone found the perfect pumpkin. auntie erin and bode picked some apples in the orchard, too!

right down the road from huber's farm is the winery. another super fun place. 

the winery has a nice farmer's market and a lovely cafe. above the cafe is the wine loft where they offer free tastings. i could not partake, of course, but that's ok. i had gravy.

fall and the first trimester

september was a blur. i don't remember much after the wedding, other than sleeping a lot and eating a lot of carbs. my due date is april 23, only a month earlier than bode's due date. so i was in my first trimester in the fall of '04 as well. i remember being at parky's farm, surrounded by a zillion little cookie monsters and fairies, thinking i was going to puke any minute. i gained weight quickly and, of course, my chest was larger, so i had 2 shirts i could wear and i wore them all through october. that next october, bode was 4 months old and my weight had come full circle so that those 2 shirts were the only ones, once again, that fit me. but every time i tried to put one of them on, i felt nauseous. not kidding. especially, the green one. just looking at it made me sick. i gave them to good will and got new shirts. isn't that crazy? i hope that doesn't happen to me again b/c i like my fall shirts.

so i've been pretty useless. davidrussell, on the other hand, is amazing. he's been practically flying solo for 2 months. 

i'm feeling a lot better now - although i'm not sure i'm at 100%. i can't remember what that feels like. i also am wondering just how much of my energy used to come from caffeine. i know i love coffee entirely too much. (i mean, the kind with caffeine.) i've been drinking it for 20 years! i love having it first thing in the morning and how it gets me going. i love sharing some over good conversation. i love having a to-go cup in the car as i'm headed to some destination. and i know that caffeine gives me energy. and i have depended on that. i don't think that's good. so i'm considering staying off caffeine indefinitely. so then where will my morning energy come from? a glass of water? a healthy diet? God? i have no idea how people get moving in the morning without coffee. really. where does energy come from? 

i'm certainly asking Him about all this and asking for energy. but i'm not sure i'll get any of these answers for another year, as i'll be in no-sleep-newborn land for a while. so the question will be - will i be able to hold out til baby is sleeping through the night and all things are equal? "all things through Christ," right? we'll see what He says. 

a wedding!

the update continues...

when we returned from vacation, it was time to prepare for a wedding - ours! davidrussell and i had a very very very small ceremony when we married 11 1/2 years ago. we were married on a saturday morning with david's parents present and david's bf from college, todd. after the ceremony, todd, david and i ate subway and then davidrussell and i drove to hilton head in a rented convertible. why hilton head? b/c at the time, david was a loan officer and he won a weekend getaway to hilton head over memorial day weekend. we saw an opportunity.

anyway, through a number of casual conversations over the past year, our friends discovered they all shared a dream to give us a big formal shindig. they pooled money, resources and brain power and made it happen. we were floored to say the least. it was an overwhelming lesson in receiving and love. a picture of God's love - He just wants us to receive all that he has for us. and there's no tit for tat. just. receive. from. God. stop trying to pay Him back. it's impossible, you'll never afford it and it's not what He's asking. 

so august slipped into a blur, especially when i started feeling sick. 4 weeks to the day (i suspect) i conceived, my girls started hurting, i felt super tired and my relationship with food became strained. i was fitted for my dress 3 weeks before the wedding. 3 days before the wedding the alterations had to be completely re-done as i had "grown" 2 inches in my chest and 2 inches in my waist. we were keeping the pregnancy a secret until the wedding so only the ladies at david's bridal knew. i'm hoping the pictures come back soon. i'll share them and more when they come. here's some snapshot highlights...

zoolander, davidrussell, and mac

my dad walking me down the aisle. alli is pleased.

edible flower.

bridal luncheon.

pants-pooping photo. this is the part where i'd like to remind you i'm pregnant during this whole event so things like this were happening to me and i couldn't even drink! 

this photo speaks volumes...

dora, where did you get that hot orange bag?

the surprises just kept coming.

What Do You Do Tip #47: You enter a room blind-folded, your favorite song is blaring and your blind fold is removed as you hear 100 people yell surprise! WHAT DO YOU DO? Answer: you receive it, which in this case looks a lot like dancing.  

family vaca 2008 Second Stop: Destin, FL

Second Stop - Destin, FL!

from henderson we drove to destin. no, not straight through. we usually stop in alabama on the way there and on the way back. yes, it takes a little longer to get there and costs a few hundred dollars more by the time you add up hotel and food both ways. but we feel like our kids' lives are worth an extra 300 dollars as we can't guarantee everyone would make it there alive if we drove straight through... for a number of reasons.

davidrussell and i agreed - this was by far the best family vacation we've ever been on. with kids, i mean. the boys are growing up and so we're not tied so much to a nap schedule and we can stay out later than 7 pm. 

it seems like we learn so much about our kids on vacation. and there seems to be this growth dynamic that happens right before our eyes. this thing, "the vacation," seems to not only offer opportunities to grow, but also opportunities to illustrate how they have grown. it's a unique opportunity to see their strengths and weaknesses, their gifts, what they love. (and that applies to mom and dad, too.)

it's also funny to see how much they remember from the previous year. so b/c these little guys have remembered some stuff, we've stumbled into some beach vacation traditions. such as,

daddy always gets mini cereal boxes at the grocery. i'm not sure the boys even know these are available at our local grocery store at home. 

another unexpected tradition is fishing... jellyfishing, that is. these are the only ones we've learned how to catch.  

the lifeguard explained the small blue ones are babies. (whatever.) these didn't seem to sting. but we also caught clear ones and pink ones the size of dinner plates. 

3rd tradition - being stung by jellyfish. one day mac was stung 8 times, 3 times in the same place as shown here. we were all stung once or twice through the week. mac made it into a sport. 

so we've become experts on jellyfish stings. here's what you need to know:  1. jellyfish are more present than ever. (see jellyfish story.) 2. take a spray bottle of vinegar with you to the beach. 3. if someone is stung, rub wet sand on the area as this removes any stingers. 4. spray with vinegar. 5. do not use fresh water as this makes pain worse. here's # 6...

yes, you can actually pee on your loved one as the ammonia also brings relief. last year, when mac was stung for the first time, i was unaware of steps 1-5 and only had "Friends" as a reference so i took him up to the house and said, "it's ok, honey. sit here and mommy will get some 'medicine.' i grabbed a cup and headed to the bathroom." what can i say? he stopped crying instantly. "WHAT? I WOULD HAVE DONE IT FOR ANYONE OF YOU! HE'S MY SON AND HE NEEDED MY HELP!"

the 4th tradition we seem to have developed on our summer vacation is my favorite - trying something new. everyone seems to be in the fullness of their adventurous spirits and excited about trying new things. (both of the boys were actually potty-trained on vacation!) we had a ton of "firsts." some on purpose, and some unexpected. 

here's a few...

we all drove go-carts for the first time. super fun.

we went out for a late dinner (i.e. 7ish) and stayed out, listening to a band, even did a little dancing.

mac tried his first meatball sandwich. "so, mac, how is it?"

we played on the beach at night.

mac walked all the way up to rick's crab trap and bought some candy all by himself. 

when he returned, he decided to share with some friends he made on the beach. later, it occurred to me this event marked another first - mac bought his first round (of skittles). i felt proud and alarmed all at the same time.

davidrussell and i had our first complete conversation on the beach with kids. now that the boys are old enough to play together without one of us doing the "hunched-over-follow-around-coverage" walk around the smallest, we could actually sit next to each other and chat. at first we didn't know what to do with ourselves. it was great. (perhaps it was this kind of "connecting" that lead us back to another 3 years of no conversations on the beach. haha.) 

mac and i rode bumper boats for the first time. 

we're pretty sure this is where the boys received their first bacterial infection. the tied had been rough all week, but had calmed significantly on our last day. it made me for these awesome sand bars that went 30 feet out. the boys (and lots of other kids) played in these all day. it was a bunch of little baby pools. 

sure, it made for lots of fun and cute pics. it also made for a vomiting fiesta all the way to nashville. the poor little guys were so sick, they just slept and puked for about 10 hours. while it sucked for them, it actually worked out pretty well for us as we made great time driving back. i mean, we couldn't feed them or anything so it cut down on stops significantly. we stopped in nashville for the night and by the next morning, everyone was ready for eggs and bacon. cracker barrel was right next to our hotel so there ya go. God is good. 

well, those are some of the highlights. i hope next year i'm able to say: here's my first time taking a baby to the beach. but we'll see. we like to call our beach trip "annual," but we want to be open. it sure is a blessing!

here's some more pics... 

we stopped for some cheap shoe shopping at the Zappos Outlet in Shepherdsville, KY.

bode is right. this place is disgusting. here's a brilliant review that says it all.

bode and his muscles.

mac and his daddy.

jellyfish, beware.

i love this guy.