Sledding

It just wouldn't be a mommy blog without some sledding pics.  Today was the first measurable snowfall here in our region of the great state of Minnesota, and we had to go out and SLED!The Roses enjoyed their outing.  It was a bit of a struggle to get them out the door, especially Rose #2 (VERY picky about her coat, her snowpants, etc. etc.) but worth it!

I am still learning how to work my new camera.  Here is Rose #2, rather closer than I meant to shoot, but it is cute anyway.

Back in the SADDLE!

I happy ya.

We got a replacement for our really, really nice digital camera that fell from the top shelf of a tall bookcase.   The camera is for me - a smaller, MUCH less fancy digital camera, but it WORKS, and now I don't have to say, wistfully, "I wish I had our camera."

Last night we had friends over for dinner, and we made rollout cookies.  Decorating the cookies was one of the activities.  Here are Roses #3 and 1 in the throes of decorating.
And here is Rose #2 and her buddy Nadia working hard on decorating.  Putting sprinkles on is serious business.
Here is a panorama shot of the full decorating extravaganza.  (If you look carefully you can see one of our grownup dinner guests!)
I couldn't resist this picture of Rose #3.  I am just smitten with her.  All the Roses, actually.

A Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Menu:  Turkey, fried rice, mashed potatoes, Chinese broccoli, gravy (yes, from a packet), egg rolls, and squid.  And homemade french silk pie (take THAT, Baker's Square, with peanuts and tree nuts in your pie!).

We were at my in-laws' house.  Guess who loved the squid?  Rose #2, that's who.  She immediately asked for a helping of squid, and then seconds, and thirds.  Guess who couldn't even bring herself to eat squid?  Yours truly.  Guess who is getting used to the fact that squid would be on the menu?  Also yours truly.  (Seems like about time after 10+ years, but I can be a slow learner that way.)

I don't want to seem like I am not an adventurous eater, but in truth I guess I am not.  I am not opposed to other people eating things like squid, though.  I do think it is funny that a 4-year-old would want to eat it!

Other cute things about Thanksgiving:  

• The girls, with their Ahgong, watching PBS kids on the new flatscreen TV that Ahma and Ahgong got for their kitchen.  They were sitting on the floor and Rose #3 was lounging on her Ahgong's lap.  
  
• Rose #3 coming over to the dinner table after she was done but the grownups were not, and jumping while holding the side of the table as if she was on a trampoline.  But she wasn't.  
  
• Ahma was cute because she loves the Roses so much.  She volunteers at Rose #1's school and Rose #2's school, and it continues to amaze me how much she loves the girls.  She watches them, and she knows about them, and I think they are the first thing she thinks of when she gets up and the last thing she thinks of before she goes to sleep.  That's ONE thing we have in common.  (Well, two, I guess - we both love her son!)
  

Wishlists

The Roses and their cousins draw names for Christmas presents (spending limit = $25).  Tonight we worked on our wishlists.  Rose #1 wants all Pokemon items, Star Wars, and several items WAY out of the price range (D-rex anyone?).  Rose #2 also wants Pokemon items, a Christmas shirt (how cute is that) and several things that are indecipherable to me (a HSM tent with musical things - what?).  Rose #3 wants "Dora, Boots, Momo toy, and Purplicious.  Please."

My siblings and I also draw names.  My wishlist is pretty simple - although I have heard it is not the most well-written book of all time, I still really want to read Twilight.  So, I put it on my wishlist.  I also asked my husband to take me to the movie - he said he would take me, and drop me off, and go see the James Bond movie, and pick me up after.  Not exactly what I had in mind.

Tomorrow we are off to Ahma and Ahgong's house for turkey dinner.  I am looking forward to it.  We are bringing mashed potatoes and a homemade chocolate mousse pie (Rose #1 can't eat Baker's Square french silk pie - peanuts and tree nuts).

Rose #3 and My Curious George

Rose #3 is playing with my Curious George doll, which I have had for a long, long time.  Curious George accompanied me to Russia, among other places, and to each apartment I ever lived in, and to our first house, and now to this (hopefully our last) house.  Here is a direct quote from Rose #3:  "Monkey Poopy.  Change Diaper."  I don't know where she gets these ideas!

Rose #1 is sitting at her homework desk.  It is actually a desk that H bought for me, a small secretary, and we made the mistake of putting it in the TV room.  It became a repository for random cords and wires, a bunch of unused flashcards, and old Netflix wrappers.  We thought better of this and brought it downstairs over the weekend, and I swiped it off with pledge wipes.  Now it looks quite nice, and we finally organized our art supplies so the Roses have easy access to crayons, markers, etc. for their crafting needs.

Rose #2  is just at loose ends.  She is on a 2.5-week long break from school, and while pre-kindergarteners arguably need downtime, I think she could stand to get back to class.  Mrs. S's class reconvenes on December 1.  Thank goodness.

Mellow (?!) MND

After yesterday's Thanksgivingpalooza, there was a smaller crowd at MND.   It was still quite loud!  The cousins - Roses and Sam and Maddie - were whooping it up all over the house.  They are not used to having the run of my mom's house because of the B&B, but there were no guests tonight.

We had a very good hamburger dinner (I had turkey sandwich) with thanksgiving leftovers.  Rose #1 tried the cherry pie tonight (and loved it, duh).  Rose #3 also tried the cherry pie and scarfed it down.  Rose #2, who is completely and utterly anti-fruit, would not even eat cherry pie.  Is cherry pie even fruit?

One downside to MND is that it makes our Mondays go really late.  I could hardly get in a word even with Rose #1 to hear about her school day.  I did hear that Roses #2 and 3 had a bath today - thanks to their nanny - who also introduced us to the wonders of baby oil for very, very dry skin.  All three of the Roses have heartbreakingly dry skin.  Rose #3 even has chapped cheeks.

I wish you could hear Rose #3 talking.  She can just talk up a storm.  And Rose #2, you can see the wheels turning behind her eyes.  And Rose #1, with her two rows of sharklike teeth (I kid you not, she has her two adult teeth in behind her two baby teeth on the bottom, and yes, we did have her checked at the dentist, and no they do not extract the baby teeth in that scenario).

A wonderful pre-Thanksgiving

We always celebrate Thanksgiving on the Sunday before with my family, and we had a great time today.  We gathered at 2:00 so we could bring the kids to the grocery store to shp for the food shelf.  Guppy, Poppy, Tonya, Jay and I brought the Roses, Sam and Maddie, and Beatrice and Gus to Rainbow to shop for kids who don't have enough money to get all the yummy kinds of foods our kids take for granted.  Let's just say - the kids were more interested in playing with each other, taking junk food and throwing in the cart, and getting in the way of other shoppers than meditating on how we were helping some families that run into this food on their next food shelf visit.

Oh well.  I thought it was a great idea.  As time goes on the kids will hopefully get into the concept more.

Dinner was fabulous.  Turkey, of course, and mashed potatoes (our contribution!) and stuffing, and wild rice and mushrooms, and corn casserole, and green bean casserole, and bread, and cranberry sauce.  It was all so good, and I only sort of stuffed myself.  We had cherry pie, pumpkin pie and french silk pie for dessert.

And, the kids were good.  They sat at their kid table for the most part, and let the grownups eat.  Baby Kate sat in a high chair and ate sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and cranberry jelly.  She was SO GOOD!  She had a long nap and a good dinner, and Rose #3 played peek-a-boo with her all evening.

The funniest part of the evening was a joke Uncle Andy told while I was recounting the usual fascinatiing topic:  where did the Roses sleep last night?  I was telling about how Rose #3 came into our bed and was turning over and over like a rotisserie chicken.  And how H put her into the hall and locked the door, and how she cried for a couple of minutes, and then stopped crying.  Then, a second later, a small knock came on the door.  Uncle Andy said, "Land Shark."  Maybe it is a sign of how stressed out I am, or how much I needed a laugh, but I just laughed my head off.

We are so thankful for our family and all the good food we are blessed with.