Thanksgiving.

Jimmy, Alex and Uncle Pete.

So thankful to be able to spend Thanksgiving with my family. The six of us traveled to Miami to spend the holidays with Yiayia and Papouli. We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and almost immediately the kids wanted to go swimming. The water was a little cold, but none of them seemed to mind.









After dinner Yiayia and Helen got started on the preparations for Thursday's meal. Here they are making the corn bread casserole.

Will just had to help so they gave him his own mixing cup to play with. Why do the kids love eating sour cream so much?

After a quick trip to Starbucks Thursday morning for Papouli, Jimmy and Alex we continued cooking for the big feast. Yiayia and Papouli worked together to get the stuffing just right. Aren't they cute? (By the way, their 41st wedding anniversary is on Sunday, the 29th) Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Last year Papouli tried deep frying a turkey and thought it turned out so good he decided to do it again this year. In fact, he loved his fryer so much he kept rummaging in the fridge to see what else he could put in there. We ended up having fried shrimp, frog legs, spinach pies and leftover ham. There was some talk of deep fried ice cream, but we were able to dissuade him.

Yiayia made another turkey the "traditional" way. We also had mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, yams with marshmallows, green beans, Grandma's squash casserole and cranberry sauce. Everything was delicious. Hard to believe, but we all still had room for dessert: pumpkin pie, apple pie, cookies and even ice-cream.

The best part of the meal was when Alex read some poems he wrote in school for the occasion.
My favorite one was titled "When Daddy Carves the Turkey."

When Daddy carves the turkey,

it is really quite a sight,

I know he tries his hardest,

but he never does it right.

He makes a fancy show of it

before he starts to carve,

and stabs in all directions

while we're certain that we'll starve.

He seems to take forever

as we sit and shake our heads,

by the time he's finished slicing

he's reduced the bird to shreds.

He yells as loud as thunder

just before he's finally through

for when Daddy carves the turkey,

Daddy carves his finger too.

-Alex Land

November 2009

Volcano.

Alex made this volcano in class. They put baking soda and vinegar in the middle and watched them "erupt." This is right up Alex's alley...he loves anything science. On Wednesdays after school he attends Mad Science class. This is his second year taking the class...he really enjoys it, especially all of the take home projects. This week they gave him a water bottle. Or as they called it a "hydration station."

Today the 4th grade was having an Awards Program. Of course I planned to attend...I even set my alarm clock earlier so I would be sure to get a parking spot. But then yesterday Will got sick. It started at the park when he wanted me to hold him and even said, "Want sleep." This kid never wants sleep. He slept at the park, woke up, fell asleep again after we got home, woke up, fell asleep after dinner and only woke up twice during the night to ask for juice. His temperature got up to 101.6.

So I made the call to let Will sleep in and not go to the Awards Program.

Poor Alex was crushed. I didn't think he would mind, but when I told him in the car on the way to school he put his head down and stuck out his bottom lip. Then he said, "Why is my day starting out so terrible?" Talk about heartbreak. I apologized and apologized. I will make it up to you, Alex. I promise.

So Thankful.

So Thankful that these two still get along and that all it takes to bring a smile to their faces is an afternoon at the park.

Awesome Alex.

Halloween.

We had a great time trick-or-treating this year. Yiayia and Papouli came up from Miami for a few days. Yiayia decided to dress as a french maid while Papouli decided to forgo a costume...he said his idea was too risque. Some of the neighbors thought Yiayia's outfit was a little risque!

Alex decided on a silver skeleton mask, last year's Grim Reaper outfit and the requisite bloody knife. Helen naturally chose to be a Princess. Depending on when you asked her, she was either Cinderella or Snow White. Originally, Will was going to wear last year's monkey outfit but it was so hot on Halloween we got him a glow-in-the-dark skeleton shirt instead.

Yiayia and I took the kids all around the neighborhood, while the men stayed home to hand out candy. Jimmy wanted to go off on his own this year, which we let him...for a little while. Eventually, we caught up with him. After about an hour and a half the kids came home to dump their loot and grab a drink. (I can't believe someone made these coffins filled with candy. Cute, but way too time consuming.)

Will and Helen were too tired to go back out so they stayed home and started digging into their stash. Alex and Jimmy decided to go out for another round. All in all it was a great night and we ended up with way too much candy. I guess we'll just have to help the kids eat it!