Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for... the blessing of Drew's first Thanksgiving, Evan being a wonderful big brother, great friends and family, and so much more.  Mommy cooked this year - a "kidfriendly" meal in the hopes that Evan would dive right in, but alas, despite the crockpot turkey, muffin and apple turkeys, apple stuffing cups, and chocolate ice cream potatoes, the only things he ate were the apples off the turkey and a Pillsbury crescent roll.  Sigh... maybe next year.  Drew thoroughly enjoyed his Gerber peaches and sweet potatoes though - at least he was somewhat in the Thanksgiving meal theme!  We hope you had a great Thanksgiving too! 

Below:
Drew's first Thanksgiving!
Ice cream potatoes?  Chocolate flavored?  Definitely! 
Muffin turkeys for everyone.
Drew looks longingly at a table filled with good food.
Evan can't wait to dig in.

Song Time

There's lots of singing going on lately!  Evan and his class sing daily, and on Fridays Ms. Garry comes in with her guitars and drums and other fun instruments and spends half an hour in each class singing.  The result is Evan loves to sing and is constantly teaching us new songs.  Below:

1. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
2. Sunrise, Sunset (by the Imagination Movers)
3. Circle Time
   It's Circle Time today, it's Circle Time today!
   Time to learn and have some fun, it's Circle Time today.
4. Miss Hannah Had the Hiccups
   Miss Hannah had the hiccups, hic-hic-hic-hic-hic-hic!
   And all those hic-hic-hiccups made Hannah feel quite ick.
   Her daddy did not worry, he knew just what to do:
   To scare away the hiccups, he simply hollered, "BOO!"

Halloween

I know, I know.  Those of you who read this blog regularly have been sorely disappointed in my lack of participation for the past few months!  I apologize, and promise to renew my blogging fervor... next week.  I'll be posting from throughout the summer, so be sure to check the table of contents for what's new since... ahem... June.  But instead of a long drawn out boring explanation on why I've been so derelict, let me offer you our Halloween photos in the hopes that two very cute little trick or treaters will provide a good distraction from your disappointment. 

We've been anxiously awaiting Halloween for weeks. Decorations were up, school parties were planned, we talked about pumpkins and dressing up and candy - lots of candy.  School had a Halloween Carnival on Friday, and everyone wore their costumes and trick or treated each class.  Mommy even got to go help with the festivities!  We carved pumpkins at home on Sunday night, and Evan was right in the thick of it.  He hesitated, but braved the goop to dig out the insides of his pumpkin (with an ice cream scoop), and picked out the design he wanted ("a monster face").  Evan was dead set on dressing up as a fireman (except for the two weeks when he insisted on returning his costume to be a police man instead...sigh), and Drew of course wanted in on the fun. So--what better sidekick to a fireman than a fire dog?  On Halloween itself, Evan wasn't feeling well and was home most of the day with a fever.  But none of us wanted to miss trick or treating, so we got Drew from school early anyway and went out for just a little bit.  It was perfect weather - crisp and chilly, but not too cold.  Down we went to the Lawn to trick or treat at the UVA dorms with hundreds of others.  It took Evan a while to warm up to the idea, but once he realized that you just had to go up to a college girl and smile, and you'd get candy, then simply walk 10 feet to another door and repeat?  Heaven.  His bucket was filled in no time!  We got home in time to do a little neighborhood trick or treating too, and try to fit a little bit of actual food on top of all the candy he'd eaten.  By the end of the night, Evan was feeling much better, mommy and daddy got to take out all the peanut-based candy from his bucket (oh, darn), and we were all exhausted from a great Halloween.