Can you believe Tal is TEN YEARS OLD? Makes Travis and me feel horribly old. Reagan was under the weather and there were tornado watches, so we postponed our Disney adventure, and he was a great sport about it. Best of all, he requested a Mom cake instead of a bakery cake for our at-home celebration (since we were supposed to have a Mickey cake). He is very excited to have existed for a decade and is journalling his adventures in The Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself book.

More fun news nexrt week when we have our make-up Freaky Family Fun Day for his birthday.

And Tal, it has been the best (and somehow really fastest) ten years of my life. You are not only smart, but have a wonderful, kind, and good heart, and you are a great helper, fun sidekick, and worthy game opponent. Every day is a fun new adventure!

Well, I posted every day for 30 days in the NaBloPoMo effort. It wasn't so bad, and I got some technical things accomplished. I'm not sure it is completely worth it, but I did like posting more!!!

It's true. Travis says the planets must be out of alignment because I (the cat person) asked for a dog. Not one to throw outside, but a real, honest-to-goodness, trainable, inside, for-the-kids, let's make this one work this time D.O.G. I mentioned it on Friday, and he had researched, made phone calls, and had it arranged. We had our annual Bond Thanksgiving on Friday (FUN, and great to see Lois and Charles), and Travis & Tal camped out with the horses & donkeys, and we even roasted marshmallows. So Saturday morning, Travis, Cam, and I hopped into the family truckster and headed to Georgia. We got hit by tornado-level rainstorms, had to pass through Enigma (?), but got our dog. His dad is a Tanner look-alike, and he will be around 100 lbs like Tanner.

We opted for a four month-old--he is housebroken, calm, knows a couple commands already, etc. We can take him out without a leash--doesn't run away from us. He is laying calmly under my chair as I work. I still wonder if he was drugged to lure us to take him, and the drugs haven't worn off (I kid). He doesn't look quite like Tanner, but he has that good old dog look that every kid should know growing up. And he has a ferocious bark..

Of course we needed a 007 name. I leaned to Oddjob (Goldfinger's henchman). Travis liked Zukovsky (our favorite Russian who ended up saving Bond). We let the kids vote, though, and they unanimously chose Fleming, which is of course the name of the writer of the Bond series.

We went to check on the kids last night, and Riely was missing from his bed. All the bears, frog, and Mickey, were tucked in nicely. Riley was squished into the rocking chair and had given up his bed for them! A Kodak moment for sure.

The annual thankful meme:

- My wonderful family (are they not adorable?)
- Daily thankful prayers that we are healthy and safe, especially when Travis is traveling
- Financial security, especially in the midst of unsure times
- A strong marriage, and even time out this year for classes and a couple dates (don't laugh...it was more than the last few years combined)
- Travis is trying to make my life easier...hey, I even had time to make this silly turkey out of a cantelope (note to self: when bringing the appetizer, arrive on time)
- Parents who are involved with my kids and invested in our lives
- My house is less cluttered than it was last year...we made a lot of progress!!!
- We are going on vacations, using our Disney passes, and really enjoying our time together
- Friends who continue to stay in touch, encourage us, make us laugh, and put up with us in general
- My Web World...staying connected is fun and a lifesaver at times, as I've been a bit of a hermit with four little ones, home schooling, and working at home. And for those of you who read faithfully, thank you! (It is always a surprise when someone like The Crabby Daddy knows a story already!!!)
- As always, our salvation, Tal's big heart, Riley's tender heart, Reagan's neck, and Camden's head

Christy, Tyler, and Dylan picked out birthday jammies for the kids. Wii sleep pants with pockets that hold the Wii remotes! They were a huge hit, let me tell you. Christy has a gift for finding creative gifts. She found these warm, fuzzy, kid ones at Wally World, and I saw an adult knit version at Target (if you are looking for a geeky present).

Tal is in charge of the fireplace this year...we think he got his fabulous firestarter genes from Brenda ;).

Today is extra-special because I finished the decorations...on schedule! Okay, everything but the tree. The big tree (14' monster) still has three ginormous pieces in storage. But all the rest--the laborious, boring, time-intensive stuff--is done, two days before Thanksgiving! I usually clean up the turkey dinner with dread, knowing how much work is ahead. Now I just have to dread that awful tree.

Tal looks so handsome. He had to wear his holiday clothes to church for program approval. And just when you think you have everything together, Christmas falls on an odd week this year, we lose a whole weekend in December, and we are triple-booked already. How does this happen--we're not even in school? I refuse to get stressed...we're only going to have fun, and we are definitely going to play our Christmas family trivia game.

Okay...I didn't get to go, so this isn't a very exciting post for me. Travis did a hospital workflow analysis (sounds quite exciting, but not so much) in Anchorage. This was the view from his hotel room...wow! Since we're from Florida, we are easily impressed with snow. Right now, they have about eight hours of sunlight per day, and I suspect that we Southerners would burn out on that after about a week. Travis rented a car so he could go tour a bit and visit Sarah P. Um...guess what--over two days to drive from Anchorage to Wasilla! Can you imagine how big it must be? He brought back a book of stories on the Iditarod for Tal, who is now full of interesting trivia ( the race was dormant for years, and to resurrect it, they did enormous amounts of research, because no one knew the rules anymore). Now Tals Senior and Junior are planning a father-son team (but will have to run the Junior race in four years, as we now know the age rules, too). Stunning view!!!

Looking forward to visiting during our 50-State Adventure. If we could just get started...

Am I short on blog posts or what? Actually, I just found this picture and had to share it. Tal was four here. I had stripped the sheets upstairs, and told him to go throw them in the washer. Of course I meant the washing machine, not the dishwasher. I am so glad I took these goofy pictures--they already mean so much to me. I can't believe he'll be ten in a few days (or, as he keeps reminding me--"a decade, Mommy").

On a side note, you can't go back. I loved this house so very much, and the people who bought it love it, but have different taste. They've destroyed what I feel is the real feel of that precious house. We put our souls into it, foregoing sometimes what we really wanted and instead putting what we felt the house needed. And now we're in another house--and I know the original owners would have heart attacks if they knew our dreams of replacing their floors and gutting the kitchen. I suppose times and families and lifestyles just change...and you just can't look back.

Okay, not perfectly organized, but I'll take it. I was happily surprised to start decorating and find that last March when I took down Christmas, I took the time to sort things in a way that made sense. Some boxes had to be mixed--Dining Room can't be all plates or it will weigh fifty pounds. However, most boxes are sorted by project, so everything for the theater--the garland, the candles, the little ornament things that go in the greenery--everything was in the tub. Best of all, the timer and extension cord were ready to go, right there! Same with the little village--all the extension cords were in place, so all I had to do was plug in. Everything is on timers, so I don't have to run around turning things on & off.

I copied the pie recipe here from Family Fun. I made the original recipe, but it was VERY tart. I am remaking it as I've modified it here, as more of an apple pie with a cranberry accent. It had way too many cranberries in it. I really liked having a fruit pie along with the pumpkin at Thanksgiving.

I forgot how fun and silly it is to make these things. They only have room for five faces, so my boys are dancing. I went to snag pictures for the Elf Yourself thing and realized that we all looked great with tans. We live in Florida, for crying out loud! So we are going outdoors today. It is 46 and beautiful this morning--it will be 60's all day. The thing about Florida is that it gets very cold (wind chill was 25 last night), but then it will be 80 again in a few days.

On another note, the Christmas decorations are s-l-o-w-l-y going up. I realized that all the ladies in the magazines who say they spend a whole week decorating for Christmas REALLY mean that they spend a whole week directing a staff of twenty, and the minions are the ones standing precariously on scaffolding, not the nice lady perched on the sofa in the cover story. Seriously!

My nephew is SEVEN years old! Can you believe it? Christy made turkey cookies for his class...funny, because he came home from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day. Again...wow. Just wait until his mom sees what Tal picked out for him...it's ALIVE :).

I found this really old picture of Tal & Tyler playing when Tyler was a baby...it will make them giggle when they see it online.

So last night we had a Chuck Theme. Chuck roast for dinner, The Chuck Show for entertainment (best show on TV), and no up-chucking allowed. Low expectations make for a wonderful evening.

Tip of the Day: Not everything has to be completely homemade this season! I used to feel so guilty about this, but I got over it. There used to be a feeling that during the holidays, everything had to be homemade. Well, with the piano recitals and programs and dinners and traveling and birthdays and decorating and everything else, something has to give! So having these meals we put together at Dinner Done in the freezer is a lifesaver. And it beats takeout.

Tal and I have a good time when we go...it has turned into a fun project for the two of us. And we get to count it as math because we split the meals (so the kids can have their normal chicken nugget dinners) and Tal gets to do fractions (go math teacher) here. Today, toward the end, he asked if he could do an entire meal by himself. So the Tuscan Beef Filets are all Tal.

I had several nice things happen to me today, especially for Sharon's help in getting my Christmas stuff out of storage. It GREW...all by itself! So I stopped by Michael's, looking for an artsy present for my nephew's birthday, and was kicking myself for forgetting my coupon (40%!), when the woman in front of me turned around and asked to see what I was getting. She had just received a coupon with her receipt and very discreetly slipped it into my hand when she was looking at my box. It was one of those thoughtful pay-it-forward things. I could have lived without a silly coupon, but isn't it nice to have someone be thoughtful and share?

Camden's latest shenanigan is to say he is stuck. It works, because Mommy comes running every time. I happened to get it on video this time, and I plan to use it with a vengeance in the years to come. He was NOT ready to go to bed here, so he pulled out the stuck routine, going so far as to sticking his leg in between the crib slats. NICE.

His first words were Look At That. He has the funniest little vocabulary.

...and then some. My Grandma used to cook for three days before Thanksgiving, Christmas, July 4th, and every other meal. There were what seemed like thirty dishes on the table. Pimento sandwiches, olive and pickle trays, potato salad, fruit salad, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes...the list goes ON. Before you turn your nose at the pimento sandwiches--they were GOOD. I'm not sure how she did it in that little kitchen (in fact, I'm not sure I want to know).

I do know that I have learned to appreciate some things about her. She was always in a complete dither--completely unapproachable. Now I know why. I understand why Southern women throw pecans in just about everything. They're great. My Grandma made her life a search for the perfect pecan pie. It seemed like she made about one per week, asked us if we liked it better (than what?), and then she would mysteriously announce that she did something a little different. And none of us were really interested in what she did, nor did we ever, ever notice a difference in any of those pies. Except the time she ran out of flour and made the shell out of crushed-up Christmas cookies, and we could see the little red and green sprinkles.

I guess we don't realize until we start doing it ourselves how hard our moms and grandmas worked to make holidays special. And I don't think the men in our families every quite get it, do you?

The kids were under the weather. WAY under. Tal and Riley do a great job of finding pillows and checking out until they are better. But mostly everyone is still in throw-up mode, and not quite figuring out how to make it out of bed in time. So the laundry has piled up worse than usual--thank goodness Travis did a bunch. The kids got cleaned up, and we took a quick pic of everyone looking & feeling better. I think Cam had a bunch of Cheeze-Its in his mouth.

Saturday started with music mania. We had a mini-recital right in our neighborhood (thank goodness for small miracles). The teacher said it was mega-casual...what did that mean? And bring food? I didn't understand. It turned out to be strange, but in kind of a good way. She is building a community with her students, and it was pretty cool. So we had kind of a brunchy meet & greet while the kids played the piano, listened to each other, and her husband, a jazz pianist, goofed around with them and played really fun songs. I think it was very encouraging to hear that kind of music. We also played a music note game--guess who volunteered to go first and picked his mother to get up in front of everyone--and broke the ice a bit. She's planning to do this a couple times a semester, and although it was a surprise to me, I really like the idea.

We came home and played with our EX-neighbors. They are so special not only because they were the kids' first playmates (and didn't hate us when the Rs ran into their house uninvited and dug into the toys), but because we had implicit, mutual trust and a shared view of free play. This was my wish for my kids from day one, and I pray we find another great situation again soon. The run-outside-and-play kind, not the Organize a Playdate for Next Tuesday at 4:00 kind.

And for my holiday thought of the day, a quote pulled from Real Simple:
"A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return." --Bhagavad Gita

What a great day. First, it was our regular Book Club in the Park day, which is always a fun favorite. Then we had an impromptu lunch out with my parents. Then we came home and were just getting some things done and the doorbell rang--figured it was mail. OMG it was our old neighbor kids, in their bathing suits, asking if the kids could come swim (in their old pool). It took about two minutes to register. What a GREAT surprise.

The evening was fantastic--this was our SIXTH Bond movie out--we've had this routine since the first Brosnan film. The first time was when we were dating and I was at Peter Lowe and couldn't leave work to see it during the daytime. When I realized Travis was seeing it without me (the not-too-discreetly-whispered invitation from inside the movie, perhaps?), I wrote out his pager and cell numbers on an entire pad of sticky notes and passed them out through the office and had everyone keep calling until he finally figured it out and shut them off.

So Quantum of Solace was fantastic, even if Daniel Craig isn't cute, and of course my in-laws (the other Bonds!) and a fun group from the (Bond) office came and saw it together. Kim and Shane have their own new tradition, since they met at the last movie, had a sweet new baby last week, and made it out. We waited for Travis to bring out his dead camera, then Morgan took about 20 grainy cell camera pictures, then Ahbi whipped out his good camera...funny.

Does anyone else remember the short-lived show "Please Stand By" from the 70's? A family was running a TV show from their living room, as I remember. Well, I've been attempting to post daily for this NaBloPoMo thing this month, but at the same time moved my site to a new server and had some technical (read:user) difficulties. I learned a lot and am now ready to launch some other projects I've wanted to do.

So I've been wanting to do this for a long time, and we actually did this before Thanksgiving! We got the idea from Family Fun. We picked a dead branch from the yard, cut it down to fit in a pot, sprayed it copper, cut out leaves, and hung them with yarn.

The copper part wasn't in the magazine. The one in the magazine was a little kitschy, and I had seen a beautiful, large, and simple branch as a centerpiece in a Pottery Barn catalog. It was painted silver. I'd recommend going all out and getting the shiniest paint possible to get the best effect--my paint is more antiqued and isn't quite as shiny as I'd like. It actually looks pretty neat without the leaves, but that would be missing the point of the thanking part, so we're going with it. I know it would be Thanksgiving-ish to do brown and yellow and orange leaves, but I kind of got into the pretty cream leaves and light blue yarn with the copper. Very unexpected. And un-kitschy. Sort of.

- Kid pictures
- Christmas cards
- Annual photo album (So. Much. Work.)
- Office party planning
- Tree & decorations...after all my talking, not only did I not get it out of storage, but apparently the ginormous tree that I can't lift is blocking the decorations that I want to get to
- Laundry--How is one supposed to keep up with laundry for six people??? I have no answers.

I did order some fun winter clothes for the kids that came today, which got me thinking about the Christmas photos and cards, which got me thinking about one of my favorite things about Christmas--the Annual Bad Photo. It happens every year. I started printing them up and sticking them in a little flip photo holder that comes out every year and sets proudly in the kitchen, enjoyed by all. Here is the 2005 Bond Bad Christmas Photo...do they not look miserable? You can click it to see the final product...things turned out okay that year. Fingers crossed for 2008.

And lots to do for all the moms out there!

Tal started back at tennis today...fun! We now have an activity EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK. Except Thursdays, which I treasure with my life. I suppose those have to be dreaded laundry days.

Everyone seems to think that homeschooled kids have no social lives, but these kids have bigger calendars than I ever expected. GEEZ! Coming up? Piano recital, book club Thanksgiving lunch at the park, rehearsals for special part in Christmas program, going up to the lake this weekend to see grandparents...and that is all THIS WEEK.

We hauled out to New Tampa to have dinner with the gang to see Krishan off. Ahbi took this great shot of Krishan. He isn't leaving the software, just Florida--he is going to be with his sweet, almost-new wife, Mona, in Michigan, but we are going to miss him SO MUCH.

When we first met Krishan, someone didn't know how to pronounce his name and said, "I'm just going to call you K.P." Well, he hated it, but didn't say anything for TWO YEARS! Also, Travis pronounces his name KriSHAWN, but Krishan never seems to mind--it is endearing. The last few months have been so hard on the team, and Krishan physically moving away feels like someone is punching us.

Mona is a pharmacist, and her company seems to have branches in every state except Florida. We expect to see you back in the South before the babies come!!! And start blogging about something besides healthcare IT...we want pictures and stories! We miss you already!

Hungry for Thanksgiving, I remembered two of my favorite recipes, both from my friend Marilyn. Why is it that all year the best cornbread ever is the 33-cent box of Jiffy? We always make it in the 9-inch pan to get the most "goodness."

Cornbread

I'm trying to think of a craft for Thanksgiving Day. I love that we do this day at my Mom's house. She gets to host it, and my house is usually torn up in a state of wanted-to-have-Christmas-up-by-now-ness. So I often try to do a craft with the kids while the finishing touches are going on the dinner. We did this funny felt turkey with lollipops a few years ago, a Ritz cracker/candy corn turkey place holder yummy one, the standard pine cone (why is it called that when it isn't a cone shape?) turkey, a fantastic Mayflower map with an egg carton ship, and this year I'm eyeing the Fruit Gobbler appetizer. Or maybe we'll take that to our home school lunch tomorrow. One great thing on the crafts is to have the hard parts completed in advance. For the goofy turkey at left, the kids were pretty little, so I had everything cut out and divided up into zip-lock bags, so the craft was basically glueing and jamming in the lollipops.

The Kit Kittredge: American Girl movie has a Thanksgiving scene in it, and is a cool movie for any gender, so I think we're going to bring it for an apres-dinner treat.

Because Thanksgiving is more fun when everyone is occupied. Especially when there are six boys.

I had to laugh when I pulled up camera pictures today. I often find the most random pictures on my camera. Today was a battery, a picture of the leftover Halloween candy, and some random toys. We get lots of pictures of the toys.

I am 90% finished with the kids' Christmas shopping...nearly everything was done online. I still need to shop for Travis, who you can imagine is I.M.P.O.S.S.I.B.L.E. to shop for. I vowed to only buy practical and CLUTTER-FREE gifts this year, and am gleefully announcing that I have found them! I cannot blog about them, because the kids will read about them here and ruin Christmas.

I can, however, share that I keep notes in a password-protected file (bwah-ha-ha, Tal) in my Outlook and jot down ideas throughout the year, with a category for each kid (hee hee--including Travis). I get a daily email from Surprise.com that I've gotten an amazing amount of super ideas from. Amazon does a great job of connecting previous purchases with things I may want to get--and often are great gift ideas.

Of course, I'm not finished with everyone and have some things left to do. But once I became a mom, I realized the very best part of Christmas is giving...maybe this was a reminder to remember the batteries!

November 5: Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Pumpkin!

Is there any flavor on God's green earth better than pumpkin (other than chocolate)? AND it counts as a vegetable! I think it is technically a fruit, since it grows on a vine above the ground, but I prefer to think of it as a veggie.

I had a fantastic, memorable pumpkin-squash soup last year and was dying for it again this year. The Williams-Sonoma recipe looks fantastic, but I haven't had time to make it--travel and kid schedules have made it impossible to be anything but impulsive lately. So I found an interesting, sneaky recipe called Bachelor's Pumpkin Soup, and it was quite good, and one can keep the ingredients on hand and throw together for a quick Sunday night dinner with grilled cheese.

My friend Courtney found the Pumpkin Custard recipe at left...a great way to get the pumpkin pie without the fattening crust. I've tried the Hungry Girl crust six ways to Monday--either go for the regular crust or try this custard-style dessert with no crust. Anything is better than the mushiness of the healthy crust I tried to make out of cereal.

On a fun note, it is just the kids and me tonight, so all five of us are having a slumber party in my room, and Tal and I snuck out to make milkshakes (low-fat recipes be darned) and read. FUN!

No, my tree isn't up yet. This is a picture of my nightmare tree from last year. I vowed to do better with getting decorations up for each holiday, and this year has been much better. I actually put the decorating on the calendar in my Outlook and it helped. Maybe because we are in Florida, it just doesn't feel like each season until later, then it is too late. I hang onto summer until it is nearly Halloween, then am suddenly sad that I didn't have time for autumn/Thanksgiving decorations. And I usually completely miss July 4th. We went through a rough time at Christmas last year because of the first merger, so we agreed to keep the decorations up through January. That darn tree didn't come down until March! So no wonder I got so crazy about getting on a schedule.

This year's calendar:
March 1 - Easter, May 1 - Summer, June 15 - Independence Day
September 1 - Fall, October 1 - Halloween, November 1 - Thanksgiving
November 3 - Start the Christmas stuff (goal is to have it finished by Thanksgiving)

It appears that we'll lose a weekend between Thanksgiving & Christmas this year--YUCK!

Most mornings Reagan gets up and asks if we can go to Disney World. So for his birthday, we asked him what he wanted to do (having already planned the day), and when he said, "Go to Disney Wohld," we said OKAY!

We got there early because of the time change and headed straight for the Toy Story Mania Fast Pass at Hollywood Studios (nee MGM). So the ride time was EIGHT HOURS LATER! How?

We had dinner at EPCOT's Mexico, because Reagan loves tostado chips more than any other food. He was not so excited that the cake wasn't chocolate. We'll have a do-over cake (I never complain about cake).

The birthday boy was extremely brave and went on the Tower of Terror! Even more shocking, Travis offered to wait with Camden and let me ride. I haven't been on a ride in years, although I never mind hanging out with the kids. So we went, and of course I wedged my sweatshirt under the bar so I could have a better ride...it was great!

EPCOT's Food & Wine Festival is going on. Looks like it would be a fun no-kid day to walk around and try different foods. Scattered throughout the World Showcase are a ton of little kiosks, each themed for a specific city--from New Orleans to Kenya. Each had two bite-sized items, plus a bite-sized dessert to try.

Finally, we hauled back to Hollywood for the Toy Story Mania ride. Totally worth the wait. LOVE the decor in this ride--it is really amazing. Got some fun pics and headed home...great day!!!

Cam had a blast. Got zero points.

Do you love this picture? It is a humongous Little Red Book, open, and when I saw the words I had to stop all the traffic flow of people getting off the ride so I could get the shot. There was no way I could try for two sanps, so I am very happy that Cam was congenial for this.

So today is Day 1 of November and also the big blogger month known as NaBloPoMo. I am going to attempt to do an entry each day. Last year I bailed early--November is our birthday season, busy work season (when isn't it), and the annual goal of getting Christmas decorations up by Thanksgiving is in full swing.

I've pondered whether to do a theme, or just try to do an entry a day. I am going to make a desperate attempt to pass along a holiday idea or recipe every day. First up is the pumpkin dip. I've already made and shared some...it is so yummy that my junk-food-only kids are dipping apples and pears. Yahoo!

This and other recipes are on stinkerpot.com/kitchen, and my site is organized by month, so you can access previous posts (such as last night's adorable costumes) from the back to photos link above. Happy Posting!