Thanksgiving evening

Dave and I agreed that we must have done something a little bit different this year because both of us got to do a LOT of socializing with all of our guests, something that we feel we lack the ability to do many years. Whatever the reason it worked out, we were so happy to have time to have a drink, chat with friends, students, children, and then eat dinner with everyone. Thanks to everyone who came, ate, drank, played, and helped clean up!!

The party is always in the kitchen, right? Just getting candid shots around the house, here are a lot of poli sci faculty chattin' it up!!!

Even if I do say so myself, this was a gorgeous table of appetizers and crudites with beautiful miniature roses (thanks Meg!!!)
Dave is (gasp, is it true?) out of the kitchen and socializing.

Some of our friends at dinner.

Serving up a wonderful dinner, buffet style. There was so much food to be had. How thankful we should be, when 1 out of 6 people in the US don't have enough food daily........

Greg, Molly and Crash

Me and Caleb, caught relaxing while watching the Wii

Our traveling minstrels were at it in the basement

Laura and Alex, a self portrait
Potter and Alex in a Wii Sports Resort hug of joy!!!
The lone strummer
Our Thanksgiving craft this year. We did what we were 'thankful four' (like the play on words?) and then put those on cut out 4s and hung them on the window. Sweet and thoughtful words were penned by many who came. How fortunate we are.

Thanksgiving afternoon

Dave and Ben were in the kitchen crafting up some gourmet chutneys and sides to round out the Thanksgiving menu. One was an apricot chutney, another included apple, and my favorite (I mean, who wouldn't love this?) was a red onion and bacon chutney. This will be going on the next steak that Dave grills for me. I am salivating just typing this.

My attempt at an artful, quiet moment enjoyed by Greg, with his bourbon.
Dave and Kate get into the beet chopping. I love how it turned her hands red :)

Thanksgiving morning

Laura surprised Wendy and I with aprons that she made by hand for us. They are so adorable. Sadly, I don't have enough to fill the top part, but using those butternut squashes didn't look so hot either.

Kate and Caleb spend some quality time chillin' out
Alex made a beautiful Thanksgiving sign for the front of the house at my request. She did an amazing job and even got our three kids to make turkey handprints at the bottom. I think this is a keeper!!!
Kate and Rob always bring the kids something that spoils them...........
..........and this year it was Wii Sports Resort. It was played for hours and hours and hours!!!!

Coudersport girls visit us

Kate (Wright), me, Emma, Potter and Molly

Molly, Crash, me, Emma, Potter
Kate, me, Caleb, Wendy, Emma, Crash and Molly. This was taken around 7 am on Thanksgiving morning before they girls left to visit their mom in PA. Notice how finally Emma isn't trying to abscond with my dog???

Wednesday - 24 hours and counting down

My apologies for some of the blurriness. I can't tell if it is the camera or the fact that I might have had a wee bit to drink the night before :)

Dave gets the first turkey in the oven on Wednesday morning. He might be looking a bit rough too!

Dave is either trying to get into the liquor cabinet for some Kahlua for the coffee or he is sneaking up on those pie pumpkins.
Jeff re-enacts his head shot photo he did for J. Crew.
Kate and Emma babysit Crash.
Emma. Still. Wants. My. Dog. No.

Let the Thanksgiving week madness begin!!

First, I have to preface this by saying that we had the BEST ever Thanksgiving this year. We are so blessed to have a fantastic number of wonderful, loving and giving friends. Our Thanksgiving week started on Monday when Wendy arrived from Arlington to get the festivities started. On Tuesday, our friend Emma (a BU alum) came to visit us for an afternoon and then ended up staying Tuesday and Wednesday night!! Her sister Kate, also from NYC, came late on Wednesday night (the reason that Emma ended up staying with us, actually) and they left on Thursday, Turkey morning. Jeff, Laura and Alex, our friends from Maine, came late on Tuesday night after being at school all day. Wednesday around lunchtime, our friends Kate and Rob, formerly of NYC but now of Arlington VA (very near Wendy) came to join in the crazy as well. Whew, now that roll call is done I can get to some of the pics.

Alex, Molly and Caleb enjoy watching some PBS kids!!

Laura and Wendy, they needed a big cup of joe (WITH caffeine!!)
Caleb, always my shy guy.

Laura apparently got hearted by someone. I think she might have been oblivious :)

Emma is plotting a way to steal my puppy. Must. Stop. Her.

Swine flu clinic

Yesterday afternoon we took the kids to the high school for the swine flu clinic. The line was not hideously long and the entire process, waiting in line, checking in, filling out paperwork, and getting the innoculation all took about 75 minutes. Not too bad. Now, if they will only do the follow up clinic in 4 weeks, we'll be all set!!!

Now the right way!

Not how it is supposed to be done....

Molly at open gym night!!

Once again, open gym night for Molly. I caught them doing warm ups, which included making the bridge. OMG, it makes me sore just watching them bend like that, but Molly does it without any effort at all!! Like her on the beam with her undies showing?? Very classy, but she has the best balance in her class, she never falls off. Her athletic ability skipped my generation.

Citizen of the Month - November

Potter was chosen as citizen of the month for November and was recognized at Tiger Time yesterday for his award. What a great kid he is!!!! Love you Potter!!!!

Ding, dong, the swine is gone!!

The excellent news is that our entire family is back to health once again, I have not been to a doctor's office or lab in almost a week, and the kids have all been back to school, giving me a wee bit of free time. Whew!!! I managed to meet a friend at Barnes and Noble one morning for coffee and catching up, then today I spent about an hour in Potter's class during their math hour, doing, ummmm, a craft!!! I found this idea in a magazine and slightly altered it. I don't think I am the only one who wonders why our nation, for reasons unknown, totally skips over Thanksgiving and goes straight from Halloween to Christmas. Anyone have thoughts on that?? While you are mulling it over, you can see what the kids and I did for our craft. Potter and I painted a 'tree' (yes I know it looks more like a teepee) one day when he was home last week. Then, the kids all cut out a big number 4, wrote all the things that they are thankful for in their lives, and then we hung them on our 'Thankful for (four) tree'. They loved this!!! We don't give kids enough credit for what they think, and maybe we just don't ask them enough what they think. Some of the things that these kids were thankful for included books, family, imagination, freedom, and siblings. They then took my lead and made other decorations to go on our tree. It looks so awesome!! Then, feeling a little guilty about doing crafts during math time, I did 'assign' some math problems (related to the number 4 of course) and gave them a word puzzle to work on too. This was one of the best hours that I have spent anywhere in a long time. I can't wait to get back in there and do some fun December projects!!

Swine flu

The blog continues to be on hiatus because of swine flu. When we actually do something other than go to the doctor, take a temperature, or have chest xrays, I'll be back to posting.

Another blog-ka???

Because I have so much spare time in my life, I have been considering starting another blog where I would post a lot of my painting, stenciling, and other crafts that I like to work on. Then, I started looking at other crafty blogs to get some ideas and see what other people are sharing. That is when I realized I will NOT be starting a new blog. These crafters out there are HARD CORE!!! I mean, their personal statement says they have kids that they actually spend time with, but given how much effort they put into their blog(s), I doubt that they are nearly as good of a parent as me. (insert laugh track.....here.......) What this means for you is that you'll now be subject to periodic posts I make of things that I am creating. One day, you know, in 10 years when the kids are in school and I have uninterrupted time, I might reconsider doing a crafting blog. For now, I am happy planning it in my head.

Birthday party!

Molly and I went to her friend Carson's birthday party Sunday afternoon at the Waterman Center in Apalachin. In the 9+ years we've lived here, I am ashamed to say we've never been out there, but it turned out to be such a find!! I know that they have summer camps, so we'll be looking into that for next summer. But, meanwhile, we enjoyed two hours of a nature hike, playing inside, looking at a variety of animals, playing games, having treats, all hosted by the woman who worked the party, who turned out to be one of the teachers in Molly's UPK class!! The kids were so excited to see her there!! She works there in the summertime and does weekends when they need the help, like with parties. So double bonus for the kids!!

Molly in the beaver dam

Molly sliding out of the beaver dam

Good shot of the beaver dam. This is very cool!!
Molly with two friends, Carson (birthday boy) and Dante, both in her class at school.

Looking at the Barn Owl in the, well, barn.

Out on our nature walk, looking for frogs in the pond.
Playing fishy in the water outside. Gorgeous day for November!!!
Petting some very small turtles.
Ted the Tortoise.

Eating his lettuce right in front of us.

Playing a game where the kids are birds, finding worms, taking them back to the nest.
Molly and Karen with the Buggo Bingo cards. They thought this was funny that I couldn't see their faces.
Intently looking for the next bug called.
Gummy worm cupcakes!!