Thanksgiving

Well with 7 posts, that about raps up November. We had a lovely Thanksgiving with Dan's dad and sister Teresa and Robert. My mom stayed the whole 5 days I had off from work so we could do some work on our bathroom. I'll post on that soon, I promise. Lea was a perfect little lady for Thanksgiving.






And after lunch and dinner, lunch and dinner and again lunch and dinner of turkey sandwiches and left overs Lea had to rest on her wagon and Octopus.


On one cold afternoon Lea had her first cup of hot chocolate while we sat around and watched Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving.


In the week after Thanksgiving we've compromised on Lea's "big girl chair." Lea doesn't want to be in the high chair, but we don't have a booster that really works for her. And if she sits in a regular dining room chair she has to kneel, but usually stands and we're not happy about that. So our compromise is that we took the tray off the high chair and pulled it up to the table, so Lea can reach the table and pretty much get in and out by herself. I think its a compromise that makes us all happy.

Wild days with Wilder

A week or so before Thanksgiving we went over for an evening with the Scotts — Kris, Jerry and Wilder. Lea loves playing with WIlder. Wilder had gotten a train table for his birthday and Kris and I decided to let them play on their own for a while, figuring what trouble could they get into in the kiddo safe room? Well leave it to two two year olds. We went in and they had climbed in the play table and were playing cars. Lea eventually fell out and bumped her ka-nogin, but she got right back in. They were adorably mischievous!

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

We tried really hard to get Lea excited about Thanksgiving. We watched Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving over and over and we would gobble together daily.

One day I came home from work to find Lea playing with all the plastic wear. She began to dole out hats for Daddy and I, so we took a pictures, to show how ready for left overs we were!


Lea also helped out at the store. Our turkey on our turkey. I don't actually know which weighed more. The turkey from the store weighed 23lb.


Now she says "Christmas is coming!" and we've moved on the Charlie Brown's Christmas and Shrek the Halls.

A day in the Canoe

Even in November were were having beautiful weather. We decided to take advantage of what we thought could be the last beautiful weekend (turned out we would have more warm weather here and there). So we took the canoe out on White Rock Lake. The view from the truck as we made our way down the road.

There was a duck who was very used to getting fed. The duck was not shy, but fortunately also not aggressive. He just kind of followed us around and we refused to feed him until we left.


Lea and I gathered acorns and rocks for her to throw from the bow of the boat.



The actual boat ride was very choppy. The wind had picked up and made for some rough rowing in some parts. Dan taught me where on the lake coast was protected so we stayed in calmer waters. We traveled along the bank where we saw numerous turtles and birds. We moored the boat and had a picnic — Lea's favorite part! And then paddled back to the truck. It was a very fun day.

However, that night we had some problems. Like I said the water was much more choppy than the first time we went out and I remember my first canoe ride with Dan oh so many years ago (10? 11?) I could feel the motion of the boat when I closed my eyes to sleep. We think Lea experienced this because that night she had what she described as a scary dream. It was not a run of the mill scary dream. She was hysterical and would not allow us to put her back the crib. Lea and I ended up sleeping on the couch from 5am to 7am when Daddy picked her up and was able to put the sleeping babe back to bed. She couldn't be specific, but something scared her. It was only that night, fortunately for all.

Where are we going?



Quack like a duck!

Pumpkins Washing the Car

On the weekend of Nov. 10 & 11 we were going to go canoeing (the next post will actually be about the boat ride), but we hit obstacles at every turn. We had loaned the paddles out, then we'd remembered we also loaned the life jackets out. So we didn't get to go canoeing on Saturday. We moved it to Friday and we persevered. Lea and I however, made the best of our unexpected day together with beautiful weather. We washed the car. Lea had a lot of fun sudsing up the car and rinsing it off. And I love this picture with the light hitting the water.

To help Lea understand that things don't always go the way you plan I told Lea a version of a story about "being the pumpkin." A phrase my mom came up with way back 10 years ago when she had cancer. The story, as told to Lea, has evolved into this:
Once upon a time there was a large truck of pumpkins going to the happy pumpkin place. But the monkey driving the truck, ran off a bridge and all the pumpkins fell into the water. SPLASH! Now some pumpkins knew that they were supposed to go the happy pumpkin place and did everything they could to keep their plans the same. They twisted this way and turned that. They fought the rivers current at every turn and crashed into rocks. SMASH! They were squashed unhappy pumpkins. But some pumpkins knew that things don't always go the way you plan, so they bob, bob, bobbed down the river, going with the flow. Those pumpkins floated peacefully down the river until they came to a river bank filled with boys and girls who loved pumpkins. Those boys and girls fished the pumpkins out of the river and gave the pumpkins very good pumpkin homes. Those pumpkins knew that even though they didn't end up where they planned to be, the ended up where they were meant to be. And that is why we must be the pumpkin in the river.

Tell the story again Mommy!

First Saturday (of November) at the Nasher

Oh so much to catch up with. Appologies all round.
I was reminded how long it had been since a post since the First Saturday at the Nasher for Dec. is this weekend, well we went in November — a whole month ago — and had a fantastic time. The Nasher sculpture garden opens its doors free of charge to families on the first saturday of the month.


They had a sculptor who spoke to the children and adults, art projects (which we missed because we were a bit late) and best of all a free stuffed puppy. You got the puppy by filling out a "scavenger hunt" form identifying sculptures. Mia and Leo knew all the answers already so while we visited all the art, it was a great help having two well versed helpers with us. Leo even helped Lea turn in her form and get her puppy. Puppy has become a staple at night and comes with us most places. I guess that means Lea had a good time at the sculpture garden!



We went with Becky and met Ann, Able, Mia and Leo there. Then we all went to lunch. It was a very fun day.
Mia and Ann and I discussed art. Like the meaning of this sculpture called "bronze crowd." We talked about how maybe they didn't have heads because they weren't thinking and then talked about "mob mentality" and peer pressure and how large groups often stop thinking for themselves. It was very fun to discuss art with Mia. I can't wait until Lea and I can talk about more than just "it looks like a woman."


Lea had her first single ponytail that day. She now has enough hair that I can pull it back. It didn't last all day, but she looked so pretty with the sun hitting her in the car.

Tricks or Treats

Our beautiful mermaid and the tail...




The Mer Family...






Getting ready...

Lea and I took turns putting eye shimmery makeup on each other. She's was a very good face painter.







Thanks to traffic we had a bit of a long car ride. But we entertained ourselves with our new sound... AhooGa.


We went over to the Harris household to trick or treat. The three wee ones chat like old friends as they prepare for their trick or treat outing. Anna (3) was a pink poodle, Lea (2) Mermaind and Anna's sister Molly (1) was a pink cat.


They were all very cute together and it was just perfect. They were all the same speed. Lea and Anna had more interest in jumping from the steps than going to the next house at times. They also both enjoyed knocking or ringing the doorbell so they both had fun.



Lea and Daddy walking from house to house.


And at the end of the night it was a big candy free for all. Here Lea and Anna enjoy lollipops.

Lea was a bit more excited by Anna & Molly's toys than candy.


But then we went home, shared our candy with grandma and watched "Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (We have watched that about 5 times a day for the past few days!






Look at the loot! We also got a super ball and a kazoo!