Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in Maine. It was chilly but beautiful.

Got to catch up with summer friends and when our two families get together, it's an instant party with all nine kids!

Super Squimish #1 had no qualms about handling our turkey's heart and liver. Aunt Hez fried 'em up in some butter and three of the five kids devoured both the heart and the liver (The Spark & Zippy politely declined) while I ran out of the room shrieking in disgust. :)

Cupcake had a difficult time adjusting to the fact that the beach can also be wintery and there would be absolutely no swimming this visit.

If you can't see the placecard that The Spark made, it says "Ant Hether."

The meal is served!

Birthday season begins!

Princess Eee is FIVE! And thus begins birthday season at our house. One bday per month til the snow melts. Princess Eee had a horse themed b-day. Banana cupcakes with chocolate frosting (which she kept calling sweet cream- must be a hold out from translating in her head) with a little plastic horse on each one for all 28 of her classmates. Horse themed helium balloons for each of our kids along with a riding lesson/pony ride after school with our friend Cate. The highlight for Princess Eee would have to be her new bike & sparkly helmet. It's very cute and will hopefully last for her size-wise for a couple years.

The highlight for me was when she walked in the door at her school and all the other preschoolers called out "Happy birthdays!" to her as she made her way to her cubby. So cute. She was glowing.


A new fairy house nightlight...

The blue & purple & white bike with princess helmet...

After a very timid start, she did get up on the horse and walked it around. It was a simple case of "I love horses. From afar."

Cupcake showed no fear as usual and asked to "Go five times and run."

One of real riders. Zippy and The Spark have spent the most time of all the kids (and me) on a horse. Zippy took lessons last winter and The Spark and her pal at school had a bake sale at the local food Co-op to raise $ for a couple lessons with Cate. So she already knew this horse, Starbuck. We jokingly call him Cardboard b/c The Spark could not remember his name the first time she rode him and Cardboard was what she came up with. Then Cate confirmed that it would be a good name for him since he is a horse who will keep walking if the rider forgets to tell him to stop. Right into a wall. Smart as cardboard. Starbuck, not the rider.

Today will be ski/snowboard gear fitting day with a trip to the board shop and hopefully the season pass office as well. But we have to wait for J who went into the office to work on the paperwork for his first, very own listing! His first Exclusive Right to Sell. Not a mansion by any stretch of the imagination, but he can at least get his feet wet as the saying goes.

playground day

Beautiful weekend with lots of playground time while we can get it. We're hoping for snow this weekend like the luckies in the Colorado mountains!

A First for The Spark

Ta Da! The Spark is so excited that she's almost coming out of her skin. Her first tooth to come out (at school yesterday afternoon) is the most perfectly formed, little, white baby tooth I have ever held in my hand. The tooth fairy, of course, has it now, and The Spark has a tidy little space for her first grown up tooth to grow into.

Yippie!

Woo-Hoo and phew. J passed his real estate license exam today! He is so relieved to be finished with all the coursework and the big test. The kids were actually on pins and needles this morning as I drove them to school knowing that J was almost about to start taking the test. We discussed the number of questions on the test (140) and what percentage Daddy would have to answer correctly to pass (only 70% needed). They all weighed in with their guesses and hopes. He is on his way home now with a solid B on the exam ready to start his "floor time" at Coldwell Banker a.s.a.p. We are very proud of him for putting in all the effort he has to get to every class on time (which involved three hours of driving every Friday night all fall) and for all the studying he did and for being open to new adventures with such a positive attitude. Way to go, J!

29 degrees and snow flurries for our romp through downtown trick-or-treating last night. We stopped and grabbed something out of our backpack of winter gear at each of the first five houses 'til everyone had enough warm stuff on. The taffy sticks that Princess Eee and Cupcake chose to eat at the bonfire when our block and a half of trick-or-treating was all done, were frozen. That slowed them down. One cannot eat frozen candy as quickly. Here are a few photos from the festivities. I didn't realize until I downloaded the pics that we did not get a single picture of J as a pirate, but he did look great! And the only man eating shark shot is of #1 in the back of the group photo. He looked great too and was definitely the warmest of the bunch.

So here we are, creatures from the sea...

Ahhhhh...November. No after school soccer. No more real estate class. No snowboarding commitments quite yet. A few mellow-er weeks ahead.