Happy Thanksgiving! Happy November!

"Ascha Meadow Lark" helped make gfcf pumpkin pie and pudding for our Thanksgiving Feast. The boys had a cranberry contest: one made cranberry-pineapple sauce and one, cranberry-orange. Both dishes tasted fantastic and we had a lovely time as a family.

Just before Thanksgiving, we had a wonderful time hanging out with our Salem friends, getting family pictures taken, and then spending several days on a mini-vacation in Central Oregon, enjoying some time with friends and some time just as a family. We played a LOT of games, swam at least once each day, enjoyed great food and great company, and even saw shooting stars in a non-light-polluted sky! Ahhhhh! The day after Thanksgiving, it was back to reality as Jeremy headed out for a week of work. At least the kids and I had a weekend to transition back to normalcy. :-)

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Towards the end of November, I came home from several hours of shopping to find the dog mysteriously out of his kennel (my mistake - the gate was unsecured on one side). My heart sank as I wondered what damage I might find...chewed couch corners? torn curtains? dishes knocked off the counters? a potty present? Turns out, the only naughty thing he did was to nose open our game cabinet and snatch the bag of chess and checkers pieces. He carried them back to his bed and spread them out, then consumed the leather tie from the top of the bag, as well as one bishop. He also crunched one red and one black checker into multiple pieces. He's kinda like the "Martha Speaks" dog, I guess. I'm hoping he ingested some wisdom...and he must have, since he didn't destroy anything else. Smart dog!

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Some days, it's tough to be a middle child! Aric ran into a tree branch, scraping his left cheek right up to the eye. A few minutes later, he had a mishap while swinging his coat around with a pocket knife in the pocket. The screwdriver edge of the folded-up knife conked him in the head hard enough to leave a tiny but deep triangular wound in his head near his right temple (should be a cool scar). Then, when he came inside to take a bath and recover, he found out the hard way that the shower diverter had been left up by a previous showerer.

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Ascha came from the opposite end of the house to find me and ask me,  "Mama, was I born yet in the 1842's?" Haven't a clue where the inspiration for that thought came from.

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Aric: "Mom, since I was the one who did more chores and helped you all day, can I PLEASE be the one to mop the bigger part of the floor?" 
Taylor: "Oh, Man! Just leave some for me, OK?"
I haven't trusted them to be responsible for the wood (laminate) floor before, but they are more than ready for the challenge. How many moppings do you think this will last?

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Here are the results of our family picture shoot (courtesy of photos.adrielhenderson.com):