Thanksgiving festivities

With both sets of parents out of town, we opted to decline other invitations and do our own Thanksgiving for the first time. I had never roasted a turkey before, and I was pretty nervous. Michael and I don't love turkey because it always seems so dry. However, thanks to encouragement from another blog, I decided to brine the turkey to make it more moist (that was for you, Becca).

It looked like this, and I was worried that all my efforts would be for naught. (not?)

Then it looked like this. I think, in retrospect, the brining was worth it. Because now I don't mind eating the leftovers.

We invited the Thompson family over--they're such great people, and they brought some delicious food. I love sharing meals because then I don't have to work so hard. It's great to be lazy.

The kids' table.

Playing outside--Javin loved those sticks, I mean, swords.

Daddy raked up a pile of leaves for the kids (and the adults). Woohoo!

Aww.

Clara loved the leaves. Thanks to Aunt Amie for making her this adorable dress. Wish I could take the credit.

Hope your Thanksgiving was marvelous!

My fabulous parents

I failed to mention in the last post that this weekend, in addition to Michael's birthday, was also special in that my parents came to visit. It was so great to have them, and not just for the free babysitting we enjoyed to celebrate Michael's big day. We had fun watching Indiana Jones with them as well as going on a walk by the river on Saturday.

They were so patient and sweet with Clara and her antics. I feel so grateful for both of our parents.

This year my parents celebrate their fortieth wedding anniversary. Can you believe it?!

A noogie . . . just because.

Every time they come, my mom and dad fix something(s) around the house. When we got back on Saturday night, we found that the light over the stove on (there hadn't been a bulb in there for ages). My dad also fixed a screwy light in the dining room chandelier. Michael and I had both been electrocuted by it when we tried to remove the dead bulb (which had come apart while still in socket), so I was anxious as I watched he and my mom fix it. Fortunately no heart attacks occurred.

Thanks for coming, Mom and Dad. We love you!

The big 3-0

My dearest husband is now 30 years old--yikes! It's hard to believe he's that old. :-) I have to wax sappy for a minute and express my immense gratitude, love, and admiration for Michael. He is the most considerate, thoughtful husband, always concerned about my feelings and willing to listen. He is intelligent and hard working and eager to prepare us for a secure future (out of student debts . . . someday). He magnifies his calling, does his home teaching, and has a sincere desire to become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. I feel truly blessed that he was born thirty years ago and decided he wanted to marry me!

We started the day off with his requested breakfast--sausage biscuits and yogurt parfaits. Michael looks cute even with a bedhead.


A delightsome, dandy, dynamic, doo-woppin', dangerous, daddy-daughter duo. (I just had to flex my weakening brain muscles and practice some alliteration there for a minute.)

Playing chase.



For those of you who have never seen a gorilla running in the wild, this footage will be a rare treat for you.

Michael got his favorite for dessert--apple pie! Happy birthday, Sweetheart.

You know you're potty training when . . .

1. You spend more time in the bathroom than anywhere else.
   
2. You find yourself using the bathroom more than usual.
   
3. You worry about returning library books with water (or worse) stains on them.
4. You walk around saying, "Are you dry now?" "Still dry?" "Yea, you're dry!"
5. You carry a potty seat wherever you go and an entire wardrobe of your child's clothing in your car.
6. Your AP English teacher would be shocked at the degradation of your vocabulary.
   
7. You find yourself thinking of household items to pawn so you can afford massive amounts of toilet paper.
8. You snap at the old men at church who give out candy--"I've got to save candy for potty treats!" you tell them.
9. You eat a potty treat every time you use the toilet yourself (just to set a good example, of course).
10. You wonder when kids learn to say, "Excuse me, I need to use the restroom," instead of "I need to go pee-pee in the potty!!!"

Yes, we're in the throes of potty training. Clara is doing pretty well, but she can't go unless she has her feet/hands in warm water. Aaack!


And I have just one question: Do you say, "pee pee," "tee tee," "#1," "urinate," or "tinkle"?

I'm, like, famous!

Okay, not really.

But I do have a guest post on Safely Gathered In, a blog about food storage that two talented girls in my stake here began just a few months ago. It already has significant traffic, and it's a great resource for the novice (or expert) food storage-er (store-er? hoarder?). I posted about one of our favorite desserts: chocolate snack cake. Hooray!

More Clara-fication Needed

Some recent choice nuggets:

(Upon seeing me in a dress or skirt): "Are you a princess?" or "You look like a princess!"

(Upon cleaning her room): "I clean-upped!"

(Upon seeing a woman get emotional in church): "She's feeling the Holy Ghost." (from a previous situation where I told her I was feeling the Holy Ghost as I read a story from the Friend)

(Upon putting her hands on Mr. Bear's head): "I'm giving Mr. Bear a blessing."

(After Michael and I mentioned the new president-elect): "Barack Obama is my friend." (!!!)

Who needs a sensory clinic . . .

. . . when you can go to Nana and Bapa's house?

Clara sees an OT a few times a month, who has a fabulous sensory clinic. We've missed sessions for a whole month due to her leg as well as other conflicts, but we made do during a recent trip to see grandparents. My mom and dad put up two swings on their screened-in porch for grandkids. (Cool, I know.)

Clara learned about a month ago how to sit on a "big kid" swing. We'd tried several times in the past to have her sit on an open-backed swing, but because of her vestibular sensory issues, she would freak out and get upset. It's amazing--learning about sensory processing disorder, dyspraxia, etc. (things that Clara deals with) makes us appreciate how truly amazing the human body is when it is working properly. Balancing on a swing takes a considerable amount of muscle, brain, and balance, all working in harmony. Anyway, I tried again at the park a few weeks ago, on a whim, and she actually sat on the swing! Since then, she's swung many times and will even let me push her fairly high. We're so proud of her. (Psst--notice anything different in these pics? Clara has two shoes on--hooray!)

This is another skill she's never achieved until this visit (or tried, really) . . . flying like Superman!

Wow--I was impressed that she let me stand her up on the swing. Only for a short period of time, of course, but still.

I set up a chair for her to kick as she swung to work on coordination, control, and balance. It was tricky for her, but she enjoyed it.

We made a pine cone bird feeder to go along with a previous Teach Me Mommy lesson. Clara was more interested in playing in the peanut butter and bird seed (no surprise there), but that's all right. We had some good sensory fun.

An Interview Interlude

This past weekend we were treated by a quick visit from L'Anita (Michael's younger sister), her husband, Erik, and their daughter, Abigail. Despite feeling under the weather (once again, a weird saying--as opposed to "over the weather"?), Abby was seriously such a cutie pie! I couldn't get over her.

Playing play-doh together.

Does Clara seem monstrous in this picture, or is it just me? Abigail has such petite features, and Clara looks like a giant in comparison. (Like Will Ferrell in the movie Elf . . . too funny.)

Michael illuminating the two cousins on the amazing plasticity of homemade play-doh.

We all enjoyed just watching the girls' antics.

We hope that Erik gets in to the program that would be best for their family (so of course we'll be rooting for them to move here). Thanks for the visit, guys! We love you.

Camping in the great outdoors

Last night we went camping. The last time we went camping with Clara, she looked like this:

She was four months old and slept blissfully the entire night. Needless to say, we were somewhat anxious about taking a three-year-old.

Preparing the campsite as darkness falls (isn't that always the way it goes?!).

First shot of the morning. Clara did reasonably well throughout the night, and our sleep, well, it certainly could have been worse. We could have been sleeping on a live volcano, for instance. (Okay, okay, it wasn't that bad.)

The morning reality. (Slept in my makeup 'cuz I forgot to pack face soap--yuck.)

The lake before sunrise.

Thank you for rising, sun. Please warm us. Quickly.

We Mormons don't drink coffee, tea, or alcohol. But we love hot chocolate! This was probably Clara's favorite part of the camp out.

Mr. Bear couldn't stay away from the hard stuff, either.

Mother and daughter freezing our heinies (sp?) off.

Clara roasting a marshmallow. She definitely preferred them un-roasted, though. Craziness!

Michael, demonstrating the sign of the perfectly roasted marshmallow. . . the crispy marshmallow sleeve.

Ahh, the days of being young and crazy . . . and being able to smile after a night of sleeping on the hard ground.

On our hike, we came across a huge fallen tree. It was pretty amazing. Michael and Clara are sitting on the root system.

We had a wonderful time on our camping trip, and Clara was a real trooper. But don't be surprised if you don't hear about any camp outs in the near future--I think this one satisfied us for quite some time.