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Little Gobblers

I made these cookies for a Thanksgiving "feast" at Owen's school using Alton Brown's sugar cookie recipe and royal icing (using meringue powder and adding vanilla). I added the feathers while the frosting was still wet and used a toothpick to swirl the colors. After trial and error, I found the easiest way to use all of the different colors at once was to put a small Ziploc bag into a glass with one corner down, fill it up with frosting and snip the end for drawing.

They were a hit with the kids. I intended to go to the feast to help out, but shortly after taking off my coat, AJ decided he was not in the mood and began to scream - not your garden variety "I'm hungry/I need my diaper changed scream". No, it was more like "this evil woman is trying to take my arm off" wail. I was glad I was coatless because suddenly the room became very hot and my face red and tingly. He screamed so loud that the children could not hear the Thanksgiving movie they were watching, so the teacher had to turn up the volume. I tried to console him by nursing him, walking with him and giggling him, but nothing would work. As I was walking him in the hall, teachers were closing their doors and I had 1st graders offering their thoughtful suggestions of diapers and food. One little boy just looked at me and said, "wow, can that baby scream loud". Anyway, after about 5 minutes we left which just created 2 crying children instead of 1 because Laney had really been looking forward to the feast I had been talking up all week. It is probably for the best because had I seen this at school, I might have burst into tears too.

Apparently Owen isn't thankful for anything. When I asked him about the turkey he said he started to write something, but he ran out of time. If you look closely, you can see he had started writing "RO" on the green feather. I asked what it was he was going to write and he said "rocks". Yep, rocks. Not family, friends, toys, but rocks.

Rocks?

What a little turkey.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Last weekend:

So cold, our baby stayed inside

while Spencer, Owen, Laney and Sam made the first snowman of the year.

You Get What You Get

Well, here it is. No, not the mess, although it is something isn't it? It is the last big project on this house - at least on the inside anyway. We are putting in bookcases and a fireplace. Here's the thing, we bought this house and it was 75% finished and there are lots of things that I wouldn't have done if given the choice. One of those things is the direct vent fireplace. I would have preferred a wood burning fireplace. But, the gaping hole is there, so we are putting it in, so as Owen says, "you git what you git and don't throw a fit". On the other hand, there are a lot of things in this house that I never would have considered and really like. One of the things I disliked most about this house was the windows in the living room, but I love being able to watch the clouds roll by.

Anyway, the chaos continues here as the carpenter finishes up the living room. It is all okay with Laney though because she loves "Miter Speers" aka Mister Spears. He told her yesterday that he wanted to put her in his pocket and take her home. So today as we were walking back to the car after dropping off the boys she says to me, "Mama, Miter Speers wants to put me in his pocket, but I fink I'm too big, but I'm going to grow so I can go to school". After a brief discussion about expressions I asked what she wanted to be when she grew up and to my surprise she said "a mama". I thought for sure she would have said a princess, but maybe that's because she is one already. Check out her regal pose (she wouldn't smile for anything):

They See They See What You Can't See

You may think that you are looking at pictures of our new deck and the fall color.

But, to them it is really a Jedi Master Training Platform/Balcony To Address Her People.

The 3rd And Final

Shoot! Time got away from me again, but I thought you might want to see what went on for Spencer's 7th birthday.

There were cupcakes at school:

Presents:

A chocolate Bionicle cake (he's a purist):

One happy kid: