Happy Thanksgiving, one and all

We had such a nice one this year even though we didn't travel and no one came to visit. We are certainly grateful for good friends who feel like family.

We started out with the Folsom Turkey Trot. I trotted the 5k and Mike and kids surprised me by cheering me on from a corner of the course. It was a beautiful morning and going running made me feel like I could eat whatever I wanted for the rest of the day.

It was a timed race and I finished in 28 minutes-ish, which for me, a decidedly non-runner type of person is pretty decent. There were lots of families participating which made me think maybe next year we will all do the race together.

Then we cleaned up the house and finished food preparations.

Then Laura came over, then JP and Natalie, and we all wandered over to the Harrisons where we ate like kings and felt very thankful and blessed. We put together a pretty good spread--everything was delicious. After eating more than is really good for any one person, we came back to our house and were joined by the Littles and Sophia's sister and family and ate cakes and pies and played games while the kids watched a movie upstairs. There were an excessive amount of desserts and they were all delicious. Sophia made a divine cheesecake, Michelle made a really light and flavorful lemon pie, and JP thrilled everyone with his lemonade frozen pie. The kids especially loved that one. And of course, there were the standard pumpkin and apple.

We have lots of leftovers (hooray!).

Today I got out Christmas decorations and we are going to pick out a tree tonight. I am not sure how we are going to keep Sylvie away from it, but I guess we will have to figure it out.

In other news, Mike took Wednesday off and took Jens bowling. You have never seen a happier boy. He came home just glowing, feeling so special to have gotten to do something so fun with his dad.

Sylvie seems to have a never ending runny nose and we have determined that she is allergic to milk, but she is still so charming and happy that we are okay with those things, although I do not want to nurse forever. Her one year doctor appointment is next Friday, so we will find out our options then, I guess. It is hard to believe she is going to be one next week!

Don't you just want to squeeze her? She delights us on a regular basis.

She finds throwing the dishes on the floor HILARIOUS. Every time. The orange on her pjs is from the delicious, fresh, local mandarin oranges that Michelle picked up for us. Sylvie can't get enough of them.

Sylvie in Action

Sylvie is busy as ever.

Sylvie finds putting things into shoes hilarious, especially when she puts her hand in one.

Sylvie is starting to dance a little--it is pretty funny.

Be warned--she is mad in this one, so be prepared for crying.

November 22

I guess it has been a little while.

We have been our usual selves around here. This week started out pretty rocky, but it has ended on a good note. It was rocky due to some typical Jens behavior that was driving me crazy. On Thursday I made him a smiley face/frowny face chart. It has been working wonders. When we notice that he is speaking nicely, we draw a smiley face on the smiley side. When he is whining or not following directions, he gets a frowny. For every three frownies he has to go to his room for a time out. If he can ever go through a day with no frownies, we will do something special to celebrate, but I am not holding my breath on that one.

Some fun things just for me this week: making hair bows with my friends, going out to dinner with Natalie, and going to dinner and the opera ("The Elixir of Love") with Laura and Jennifer. I have also enjoyed playing my piano this week.

Mike's knee still hurts. He is hoping to someday get an MRI, but so far it is taking a really long time to even schedule. He is not running his marathon in December.

Jens has been drawing a lot. He wrote a book:

Snowman (not sure what the other thing says)

Christmas morning presents Santa Claus

Saturday we got up early, pulled on some clothes, and headed up to Apple Hill. It was cold and very beautiful, the cider was delicious, and the fritter was great. We all smelled like camp fire for the rest of the day.

When we got home we made a project for Jens's friend Sarah. He had an idea that she needed a pink fluffy pillow and a princess. I talked him into combining those things into one project.

He was very pleased with the result.

The rest of our weekend was very laid back and quiet, just what we needed.

One more picture of Jens looking rebellious this morning.

Coming Down!

The Girls

All dressed up.

Happy November 14th

We are enjoying the fall. The cooler weather has been beautiful and our persimmon tree is quite a sight--it has the most beautiful fall foliage.

This week has been a good one. We especially enjoyed visiting our good friend Wendie on Monday night for family night. She is such a wonderful person, and she is so nice to our kids. I always enjoy spending time with her. Also on Monday night I looked at what is now our piano. I have been keeping my eye on Craig's List for a while and was thrilled to find this one. We have really been enjoying it and it looks so pretty in our front room--it really makes it look like a real room. I am hoping that what I once knew will come back to me, and Jens is pretty excited about playing. He is especially good at the elephant song, which is exactly what it sounds like.

Wednesday night was slacker book club, which means only one faithful, dedicated person read the whole book. The rest of us were lame and didn't. We still enjoyed talking, eating dessert, and doing Mary Kay Satin Hands.

Thursday was playgroup here and I decorated a cake for YW in Excellence, which was that night. It was fun to do--I don't get a chance to decorate a cake very often!

Last night our friend Laura came over and made us dinner, which was so good. I ate the leftovers for lunch today. Then we made and canned applesauce and watched a movie. The applesauce also turned out well--a new combination of apples this year--Jonagold, Braeburn, Gala, and Pink Lady. I wanted a sweeter sauce, and it turned out delicious.

Today we had a family trip to the farmer's market and I painted the front room while Mike and Jens went to "Father's Day" at his school. It is basically an open house for the dads. "Mother's Day" was last Saturday, so I know it is really fun to go and see Jens do his thing and show you the jobs he loves most. We are so happy with the experience he is having there.

Then we went to the tile place and looked at the huge granite and marble slabs. It was so neat--the slabs of rock are so beautiful. We walked up and down the huge rows and picked out 3 that we loved for our bathroom. Then we had someone come and price them for us, and guess what? We picked out the same kind of stone 3 times. So we think we know what we are going to put in our bathroom. We need to go back without children and look again with a sample of our carpet just to make sure, but hopefully we will some day have a functioning bathroom again. I am getting a little tired of washing my hands in the shower.

Now we are watching football. Go Gators!

Sylvie

is just too adorable for words. Don't you just want to squeeze her in her little mini jumper? This outfit really plays up her fabulous figure.

Sylvie has been recovering from her ear infection just in time to get a horrible stuffy nose and tooth #6! She has been so fun lately. She loves to dance and will start boogieing to anything that has a beat. She loves sharing food, reading books, and chasing things with Jens. Her two favorite games are fetch, which is when Jens throws a little ball and they both crawl to it as fast as they can and "Here" where she hands you things and you hand them back to her.

She took a "step" a few days ago, if it can be called that. It was more of a lunging fall into my arms from Mike. Also, I swear she tried to say book today. "Booggggggg" she said.

Some Things about Jens

I could write a lot about Jens, and in fact, I usually do. Today I am going to show a few things about him.

He knows how to get his own breakfast.

He loves art and anything to do with art. Lately that has been sharpening pencils. He has sharpened our pencils so much they are rapidly shrinking and might soon be extinct.

In fact, he likes sharpening so much that he sharpens both ends.

He is very good at folding paper into all sorts of things, but especially airplanes.

He is learning to write and sound out words on his own.

("pigs" and "reindeer")
He is pretty handsome and awesome in between getting into trouble.

$20.15 at the Farmer's Market

Something New

There is something new at our house! We are all very excited. I found it on Craig's List, so while it isn't concert quality, it is certainly nice enough for our little family and little fingers. The piano tuner just left and said that we got an excellent deal. Hurray!

$17.75 at the Farmers' Market

Here Comes Trouble

Someone has figured out that stairs are fun. She has known how to go up them for a while, but they weren't interesting until about two days ago. Now we have to be on full time alert! Luckily Jens is a pretty good alarm. I hope you are appreciating what a good view these pictures give of her chubby little legs.

It has been a regular old week around here, except that Jens was super cranky from all of his candy on Sunday. Luckily we had a lovely potluck in the park with friends, so he was happily distracted and we didn't have to deal with him. The weather here is so perfect--this is what I love about California! We were a little sad when it was pitch dark out and we realized it was only 6:30.

There was a baby shower at our house on Wednesday, which was a good excuse to get the house really clean and get some new curtains for our family room. I was so happy to take down the horrible vertical blinds! They were so dirty and have not been improved by Sylvie, who had pulled down a couple of the slats. The curtains are pretty and make everything look a little nicer.

Jens has been excited about making paper airplanes--last night Mike and I picked up and threw away at least 40 of them.

He folds them, gives them one toss, and immediately sits down to make another one. He was pretending to be Curious George learning to make airplanes. He also played the Man in the Yellow Hat, giving instructions and encouragement. It was pretty funny to listen to. I am wondering, though, what to do about his obsession with paper. He uses so much of it so quickly--he seriously goes through 50 to 60 sheets a day. I don't want to dampen his creativity, but at the same time, he is single-handedly responsible for the deaths of many trees! If anyone has suggestions on how to curb his excessive usage without curbing his creativity, I would love to hear from you!

Yesterday I went to the dentist. It was peaceful and quiet and my teeth now feel very clean. I also got allergy shots, so my arm is swollen and hot and itchy. I also took both kids to the doctor. Jens got his stitches out. The doctor says things look good and he glued it, at my request, to keep it clean and from splitting back open. Jens will have a lovely scar and it will stay red/pink for at least a year. I am still feeling really sad about this, but I guess it is the way life works. I also found out that Sylvie has an ear infection, which might be why she has been such a grouch. She also has a terrible cough, which the doctor cheerfully said will last for two weeks. Argh!

That's it from us. Hope you all have a happy week!

A few Jens comments

(To his friend Cassie as he came running up a hill) "I'm a super hero! There's fire coming out of my blasters!"

"I want to be a tennis ball for next Halloween. We need to get some green fuzzy fabric." When I asked him how we would make the fabric round like a ball, he calmly explained that we would glue it.

"Uncle Peter saw a Ford GT on the road one day." I thought this was funny because it came out of nowhere.

Talking on the phone

Poor little Sylvie has been feeling so miserable--I am waiting very impatiently for tooth 6 to show up and stop torturing us all! That doesn't stop her from being cute, though. It is just that in between being cute she cries and sneezes a lot. Uh oh. Got to go--she is climbing the stairs.