Outtakes

Here are a few outtakes from our family picture attempt:

Trying to get the kids to smile-

Emme begging for a break-

Binky break and an airplane overhead-

Deciding we're done with group shots after Emme scratches Jane on the face-

Some intense face-gazing. Nice. I think I was trying to be funny and I love that Caleb is like, "Ok. This is what we're doing." He is a good sport.

Katie did such a great job manning the camera, and we got some we really love (which will be forthcoming), but MAN, what a process. The only thing we've found that helps is serious bribery. How about you? Any secrets to taking a good family picture?

Tree Hunt

The day after Thanksgiving is the day for our annual Christmas tree hunt. One of my favorite days of the year! We coerced Katie and Joey into getting a live tree with us, and Juli also came along. I know we could save money by just investing in a fake tree to put up every year, but I just love this tradition so much.  I would love to have a Christmas tree farm of our own, wherever we end up.

After getting our tree home, we turned on the Christmas tunes and got 'er all lit up and purdy.

 'Tis the season! I hope it's a merry one for you.

Old tree hunts here and here.

Thanksgiving 2012

What a wonderful week! It made me so happy to have my girls home from school with me for almost a whole week, to have Caleb around a ridiculous amount (as far as residency goes) and to just spend serious amounts of time with family and good friends. Here are a handful of pictures from our Thanksgiving.

A couple of pilgrims, sharing a costume for their school celebrations. Olivia was pretty excited to let me dress her up, and then got super shy and embarrassed suddenly when her preschool friends saw her and had a really sad little meltdown. I think it's because she didn't know what a pilgrim was and she felt confused and out of place in a weird costume in front of her friends. She felt better when Aunt Katie read a book to the class about pilgrims and she recognized herself in the pictures. Oops. It was a moment for me. I feel like so many of my tough parenting moments could be avoided if I took a the time to prepare my kids a little better.

My sweet sister Juli joined us for Thanksgiving, along with Katie and Joey and our friends the Bates and the Woods. Juli is a chef by trade and I just felt all sorts of relaxed all day while preparing the meal because I could just ask her every time I had a question about anything. Juli also coached Malan through making the rolls, which were perfect, and Malan also helped with Caleb's banana cream pie. It all went so smoothly, and every dish brought by the other guests was lovely. It was just a happy day with great people.

I'm grateful for so much. Wonderful friends and family, freedom, love, health, and happiness top that list. Missed you, Pittsburgh friends and scattered family. Hope that all of you out there had a happy Thanksgiving week.

Pulling it Together

I spent last week poring over paint samples and painting and moving furniture and rifling through old boxes of thrifted picture frames, trying to quickly force my house into some sort of presentable state. This is because I was in charge of hosting book club this week and I wanted to fake like I'm all put together and stuff. Nothing like a deadline and a bunch of people you want to impress to get you to wrap up the projects you've been dragging your feet on. But probably you're more self-motivated than I am.

On the day of book club, Olivia and Emme gave their best efforts to following me around re-making messes I'd just cleaned up. Sweet little things.

 The kitchen help. I may have slapped his behind thirty times in passing, I was so happy to have him around more this week. (Audiology rotation=happy wife)  I know I'm a little (lot) crazy at times like these. So good game, Hon. Thanks for your hard work.

It was a bit of a frantic week, and we are seriously lacking in the clean laundry department, but pulling things together for a special occasion like this is the manna in the wilderness of my everyday mothering. It feeds my hungry, wandering, creative soul.

Book club recipes:

Chicken and white bean stew recipe here. This stew is so good you will cry culinary tears of joy. Another of my sister juli's creations. I use chicken breasts not thighs, add cooked potato chunks, use jar alfredo instead of refrigerated, and heat it through in a pot on the stove rather than in a crockpot because I rarely manage to plan that far ahead.

Strawberry salad recipe here

Apple cider float recipe here

stART October

A few pictures from our stART group last month, all based around the book The Dot.
Lindsay had the kids make a dot collage, do bubble wrap printing, use heavy little metal balls to roll-paint, and paint a (dot shaped) pumpkin. Amazing stuff, and so neat for me to see my kids exploring all these mediums. Thank you Lindsay, for being awesome.

 Also up for sharing today: a gift we made for a little friend's birthday, mostly from leftover supplies we had on hand. (Now Olivia badly wants one, too. i haven't made it yet. Please tell me I'm not the only one out there who can only get things done with a deadline staring me in the face.)

The Pirate Hideaway Kit: with canvas treasure map, treasure box, and a decorated sheet with binder clips (a fort-building necessity) in a little bag for making a pirate fort-

I love the feeling of using up leftovers. Leftover fajitas from last night=lunch, leftover Halloween candy pilfered from the kids candy bags=breakfast. Leftover canvas=pirate kit. Makes me happy. 

Hope you have some good leftovers of some sort to make you happy today.

All Things Halloween

Well, I am just THROWING this post together today. This time of year always moves in fast forward. So much going on. Wonderful, fun, exciting things. But I'm just running on to the next of these, so please pardon a bit of a haphazard report on our Halloween:

New additions to our usual decor, by Wilson children-

Last minute running out the door pics of costumes (low-maintenance-rummaged-through-the-costume-bin-and-did-a-little-altering kind of costumes. Thus I was happy and well-rested all month)

Malan the gypsy/genie (she went back and forth)

 Jane as Little Orphan Annie (vintage)

Olivia The Bride 

 Kate the cheerleader and Caleb the good-looking guy who made it home in time (joy!), with munchkins, and the Skywalker family who joined us for trick or treating.

 

And it was also my birthday. I was sufficiently spoiled! Caleb stashed my favorite autumny candles all over the house and found me a copy of my favorite old movie, Random Harvest.

Sheri made me the most awesome cupcakes, Marie and Alicia brought me yummy smelling autumn soap, Katie cooked me crepes for lunch and baked such a delicious golden birthday (31 on the 31st) cake. (Plus Katie just kept buying me my favorite foods all month and pretending they were for my birthday.)

Joey made me golden birthday ginger ale and, wait for it...a hand-dyed "Fashion Carol" golden birthday disc golf disc! What?!!!!! So awesome.

Oh, Fashion Carol, why are you so funny on a disc golf disc?
Really, family and friends, you outdid yourselves and it was a wonderful day. 

What a fun holiday. And even more fun this year, letting go of some of my "needs" to have costumes and decorations and parties and menus just so, and just winging it a little and spending more time relaxing with family. Ahhh. Let that be a lesson to me.

Here are some spooky pictures to leave you with from our trip to the Elmwood Cemetery:

Former Halloweens here, here, here, here  and here