Thanksgiving.

Saturday November 24, 2012

            Happy two days after Thanksgiving and one day after Black Friday (or Brave Friday, whichever you choose)! If you were to ask me how long it had been since my last blog entry I would have guessed four or five days, but, alas, it’s been nine! Time flies . . .

Thanksgiving week started with my dear friend, Myca Blue, getting married. I was deeply touched to be there for her special day. Ridiculously classy wedding, beautiful bride, tears, food, dancing; can't get much better. Hudson definitely snagged the communion bread on the way out too. 

We had an excellent Thanksgiving! I helped my mom with the Turkey, starting the evening before Thanksgiving. It was actually quite fun, made more fun by the boys running around and a great bottle of white wine. This is only the second time I have voluntarily been involved in the cooking process of Thanksgiving and I will say, cooking a Turkey is disgusting. The huge blob of raw, fleshy poultry, pulling out the bagged organs placed in the orifices like accessories, re-stuffing said orifices with something edible. . . Good thing I know it ends well.

The morning of Thanksgiving started with our First Annual Flag Football Game. Hudson and Harper thought the playground was much better than the game. Luckily my mom showed up to watch the boys and two of the Uncles showed up to play the game with David and me. Wonderful time (even with the unnaturally sore muscles)!

Thanksgiving (hosted at The Parent’s house) was exactly as it should be! Excellent food and drink, full bellies, full house, lots of family, loud talking, and us all saying what we’re thankful for (which, of course, involves crying). Parents, Brothers, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, David’s mom Jennifer . . . The night ended with pie, clean up (so many dishes), and more loud talking. We were so tired we ended up spending the night. 

The next day was a pretty big deal as well; Harper received his first haircut! Even though emotionally I was not ready for this event, I felt guilty that his hair kept ratting, getting pulled, and tickling his neck and ear. It was time. With the help of a Youtube video playing on a laptop and some cranberry jello, we got it done (meaning my mom got it done. Just one of her many talents, along with Turkey cooking). He didn’t love the cut hair falling on his arms and back and he needed a nap break. My mom did the cut in two sessions. He boasted a serious mullet for a while there! I was tempted to leave it. Ha.

Hudson and David got haircuts too (thanks mom!). My three handsome men! Great Thanksgiving, great over-night stay, and so great to come home (even if said home was/is a disaster, made more of a disaster by boys getting sick, throw up in our bed, etc). Ah.

Earlier in the week: Harper deciding "Slim Wranglers" are not his jean.

Series of photos I like.

Thanksgiving prep.

The After Thanksgiving Feast Lull.

Pre-haircut.

First snip.

The mullet and wiping his arms of hair.

Beautiful face.

The end result.

The Rest of the Day in Photos.

The day continued with some coloring time which turned into tattoo time (thanks Uncle Daniel (Nani)).

"See mom!"

Yesterday's post inspired an evening Aquarium visit.

The sharks and rays!

The octopus was out.

Harper pointing at the sharks and keeping his distance.

He was so excited though, "Arr (gasp), Arr (gasp)."

Touch pool. Soaked shirts of course.

Harper wouldn't stop drinking the salt water.

Some late night play-dough time then bed.

Ah. A day well spent. I love my boys.

Shark love.

Wednesday November 14, 2012

            My boys love sharks. Uncle Jesse (my younger brother) bought Hudson a much-advanced 'Ocean and Sea' book (Scholastic) for his birthday. We have looked at it everyday since, numerous times a day. We used to look at it page by page, not stopping long enough to read the descriptions, of course. Now Hudson wants to see only the page with the “juicy” fish on it, which is a terrifying, deep sea fish that glistens, (ironically, this is the only page he’ll let me read the descriptions, which further solidifies my fear of the ocean), and the “ew” page which shows animals covered in oil (must be a boy thing). Oh. And, of course, the shark page. The book came with a 91 page digital companion book that we finally got around to downloading. It’s called “Shark Spotter”. That’s when the shark love began and when Harper jumped on board with this whole ocean thing.

            Every time I am on my computer Harper comes over saying, “arrr!” which is his (and Hudson’s) word for shark (also their word for lion. I guess they know fierce animals when they see them). I pull Harper up on my lap to look at the digital shark book. Hudson soon follows. It’s already happened three times since sitting here.

            The other day Harper was sitting alone on our bed while the rest of us were in the living room. For 10-15 minutes he was beside himself with excitement for finding the shark page, “ARRR! ARRR!” and then a giggle/scream.

            Boise has an awesome aquarium! It has small sharks and even shark eggs you can touch. We are all super impressed by the aquarium and especially the sharks, although I still can’t bring myself to touch them (No. I wasn't bribed to give the aquarium a good review, although I think I should be. I better get on that.)

            The other day I cooked up some “shark” in my crock-pot. The boys gobbled it down, not thinking it at all odd that we were eating shark, which incidentally tasted a lot like pork. Mmm. Delicious.

            I better sign off now, as Hudson is bored of eating peanut butter right from the container whilst sitting on the counter, and Harper is done/cold from locking and unlocking our open sliding glass door. Never mind, make that four times Harper has come over to see the sharks. And here comes Huddo. Maybe naptime would have been a better time to write . . . .

Shark petting at the Idaho Aquarium (last winter).

 "Nemo" - Hudson's former favorite attraction and the current name for the aquarium.

Hudson opening Uncle Jesse's (aka "Sess" or "Hesse") gift at this 3rd birthday.

 Harper and the touch tanks (which he tries to dive into).

Best buds now (thanks to the book and also some serious time spent playing with Jesse's climbing gear)

The page with the "juicy" fish.

- By the time I actually posted this, complete with photos, the boys had already taken a bath with their sharks and cars (Don’t worry. I can see them from my perch. And Yes. I did put them into the bath not to wash them but to contain them), and escaped from said bath (that’s a new trick), to run naked around the house. I know I’ll be finding pee somewhere from Harper.

Harpo's Hair.

Thursday November 8, 2012

            My second born son’s (Harper, Harpster, Harpo, Baby) hair. Is. Awesome. It’s long and wispy and blonde, complete with a semi-permanent rats nest in the back. All three boys are due for haircuts soon which may be a good time for Harper to receive his first haircut. Harper has been swiping at his neck, ears, and forehead because his wispy hair tickles him. While I find this pretty funny I should probably relieve him of this annoyance in his life. I don’t know if I’m ready for him to get his first haircut though. It will make his recent entrance into toddlerhood that much more official.

            Harper was born with quite a bit of dark hair (especially compared to Hudson’s bald-until-1½ head). Harper’s hair quickly grew and lightened (it even had a red stage). It now boasts a second layer that’s coming in. So here’s a tribute to Harper’s awesome head of hair. You will see why.

Hudson 3 days old

Above photo courtesy of Daniel Rosenthal: yellowlinephoto.com

 Hudson 9 months old

 Above photo courtesy of Daniel Rosenthal: yellowlinephoto.com

Hudson 16 months old

Harper 2 days old

Above photo courtesy of Daniel Rosenthal: yellowlinephoto.com

Harper 8 months old

Photos of Harper today (15 months old)

Our Week, thus far.

Wednesday November 7, 2012

I guess I’m sorta at a loss as to where to go from here. It turns out all my mornings start with the boys waking up, coffee, and then chaos ensuing. I wanted to avoid being repetitious and well . . . ordinary, but that seems just funny now. Of course my days are repetitious and ordinary. I’m a mom.

We had some great events this week so far. Grandma Jennifer (David’s mom) came over for a lovely visit Monday morning. Hudson got lots of playtime with her since Harper decided he was tired and went down for an early nap. I got a shower during that time, which is always a great bonus to any day, and also a chance to fold a huge mound of clean laundry (now that our washer is fixed).

After Grandma Jennifer left we spent the afternoon in the kitchen. We pulled the seeds from our pumpkins and baked them using an excellent recipe from the Art of Manliness website, which is an excellent website by the way even if you’re not a man (No, they didn’t pay me to say that although that’s an idea . . . .). We went with the cinnamon and sugar seasonings. I was really hoping it would make the seeds taste like a big, juicy cinnamon roll, but they just tasted like slightly sweet pumpkin seeds. Dang. The boys showed interest in the seed baking only at the beginning when I used a huge knife to cut open the tops of the pumpkins.

We also baked some sweet potatoes (Washed. Slathered in butter. Wrapped in foil (poke holes). Baked for an hour at 350 degrees), which I originally decided to try for Baby (that’s what Hudson calls Harper). I have been trying to feed Harper foods from the 25 most nutritious foods (hence the avocado on his tray in picture below), foods Hudson realized at a young age were not for him. It turns out neither boy likes sweet potatoes (or avocados, although the avocado pit is Hudson's new favorite ball). (Unfortunately, sausage did not make the 25 most nutritious foods list. That is something my boys will eat!) Luckily, I love sweet potatoes and it coincided with lunch-time, so bam. Done fed. I won’t lie. I don’t remember what the boys had for lunch, but something healthy and nutritious I’m sure. We also made David homemade chocolate syrup for his chocolate milk he likes (aka Daddy Juice). That is quite a bit of time in the kitchen for us. So, yeah, maybe a traditional meal wasn’t made . . .

Before a late nap, we went for a quick visit to see Grammy (my mom) at work and get some ice cream. The boys were sort of melting down as was, well, the ice cream, but it was fun. After we left I drove until both boys were sound asleep. Ah. Always so quiet when they are sleeping.

Tuesday we had a typical wild morning. Then we cleaned up, loaded up, and met Mimi and Poppy (my grandparents) at Bobby’s house (which is The Parent’s House). Hudson calls my dad Bobby because he couldn’t say Grandpa or Papa when he was younger and it just sort of evolved. So now his grandpa is Bobby, Bob for short, and BOB! when Hudson wants to get his attention.

I don’t think I mentioned before that we live in a cozy little condo, which we love dearly (all 714 sqft. of it)! Clearly it doesn’t have a yard though, just a much-used patio, so we head to The Parent’s house often to employ the extra space and the outdoors. Tuesday was probably the last warm day of the season. The boys and the grandparents played ball in the leaf-covered yard. I love Fall by the way. It’s such a beautiful time of year in Idaho.

While the boys played with Mimi and Poppy yesterday, I got a chance to shower there and even a chance to go somewhere alone: to pick up a book hold and to vote. I was relieved to get the voting over with, although I did feel oddly patriotic and emotional in the voting booth. Now I don’t have to lie if people ask if I voted. (I’m joking, Mom, of course.)

After the boys’ afternoon naps Tuesday, I had a few errands at the mall. Harper stayed with The Parents, while Hudson and I had a chance for a date. I forgot how fun it is to take just Hudson (not that I don’t love chasing a one-year old around; trying to keep him out of the road, off the escalator, and from diving under the dressing room doors). We brought quarters for the gum-ball machine which Hudson insisted on transporting in the back of a small toy container truck that has been his choice of toy for days now.

Hudson has recently realized how delicious all things chocolate are, so instead of him being ok with "Daddy’s Juice" being only Daddy’s, he has really been wanting some chocolate milk. Hudson is definitely on the small side for his age and struggles to consume a lot of calories. Instead of fighting this losing battle with glorious chocolate I decided to mix a little syrup with the half and half we use for our coffee. He drank the whole glass in about a minute. Maybe I should switch to mixing the chocolate syrup with heavy whipping cream or even straight butter!

After sacrificing the house to the boys this morning for a chance to write I think it is time to be done. Harpo (how Hudson pronounces Harper) won't stop hitting Hudson with a small wooden bat.