Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving at the White House! We attempted to cook a turkey for the very first time and, despite circling cats and lots of nervousness, Mr. Turkey came out looking beautifully browned and delicious! I'm thankful to say that Tom didn't split open and dry out like the bird in Christmas Vacation. Thank goodness for the digital thermometer! What a great day - hope yours was equally full of food and family! Did he think we would just set an extra place for him? Check out Emily's excellent turkey centerpiece in the background. That thing had about a million little pieces.
Hooray!

Emily gets roll duty now. I had to do it when I was her age, so I've passed the buck along to her.

A thousand yums for the homemade cranberry sauce!

Time to eat!

We watched a YouTube video to figure out how to carve it! Honebaked has always done it for us in the past.

Trying to figure out Granddady's new iPad.

My contribution - an orange marmalade cake. I dirtied every dish in the place to make this cake but it was worth it!

Yummy cupcakes

Emily's getting the tired eyes.

Again with the iPad

Trying to beat Uncle David at the Wii

Turkey Jam 2010

We started hosting Turkey Jam a few years ago as an alternative to the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Don't misunderstand me - we still have the traditional Thanksgiving dinner all the way down to the cranberry sauce (thankfully homemade instead of the shivery kind from the can - although that's still yummy, too) but we like to have friends over around Thanksgiving and eat an entirely different kind of meal and Mexican-themed foods have been the go-to choice for the last few years. We had an excellent group of folks this year from all over the place - some that we see all the time and some that we hardly ever see at all! Lots of friends brought their guitars and Emily was in hog heaven by the end of the night as she listened to everyone put the "jam" in Turkey Jam. It was great fun to see all the little ones running around in their PJs by the end of the night. I think more than a few adults were sad that they hadn't brought their PJs, as well! Hope to see you all again next year!

Skinner and Adrian get the party started

Emily is trying to figure out all of Skinner's moves

And now Baby Kimber is getting her groove on

Modeling her new dress-up duds. Thanks, Amy W!

Sadie picks up some fresh produce. I don't always have a centerpiece of yams and oranges. I just didn't have any other place to store the stuff for the "real" Thanksgiving dinner! Plus, it looked kind of pretty!

Emily and Ethan have some fun in the girly purple play room. Ethan may be scarred for life! Not a truck in sight.

My lovely girl brought her own guitar to join the music.

All the ladies...well, some of us, anyway.

Merry Christmas!

Amy was poking around in some files on their computer today and found these two cute videos of Emily singing along with her new piano from Christmas two years ago. So sweet! I can't believe how much she's grown. Just a little pre-Christmas post to get you in the mood. Wait....we've gotta make it through Thanksgiving first! Enjoy, anyway!

Emily Sings: Part I (PS - The 2nd song is a beautiful Enya Christmas song that she loved that year. Not familiar to everyone!)

Emily Sings: Part II (I love when she gives Abby the smackdown for touching her piano!)

Happy Halloween!

The whole family converged on the White House for our annual dinner and trick or treating ritual. We were glad that David and Aunt Liz could join us. Nice to have David living in Atlanta now so that he come for stuff like hauling the kids around the subdivision, dodging teenagers dressed as skanky genies, and handing out truckloads of candy to everyone in Newnan who stops by our subdivision to see the pirate house down the street. In case you haven't visited, you should definitely look us up for next year! The hippie and the rock star had a great time trick or treating and were overjoyed when people guessed who they were. We saw one Dad out with his son - he was dressed as Robin to his son's Batman. If Donald and I were better parents, we would have dressed as Slash and Britney Spears to match Emily's costume. Oh well, there's always next year...

Check out the rotten pumpkin. I tried to reach in and turn on the flashing light and a swarm of gnats came out to attack me. He's going down the hill into the creek tonight to be dinner for Rocky the Raccoon!

She insisted that the rubber boots were the perfect shoes to complement her outfit.

Watch out, Yoko. Abby's got flower power!

Masquerade Ball

My school hosts a Masquerade Ball (NOT a Halloween party!) each year to benefit Relay for Life. Donald and I took both girls this year and had a fun time doing the Macarena, failing miserably at the cake walk, and marveling at the crazy (and sometimes scandalous) costumes of the other students. I stayed up the night before decorating a jack-o-lantern cake courtesy of one of Mim's vintage Wilton pans and was overjoyed to see that someone chose it as their prize from the cake walk! Hooray! After a visit to Mellow Mushroom for dinner and a ride around to look at Halloween lights, we headed back home to crash out for the evening with two very tired little goblins.

Mommy, Guinevere, and Rock Star

Emily does the Macarena with her tongue sticking out - that means she's concentrating!

We're finally getting it!

One of us is facing the wrong direction. She couldn't get down the moves AND the turning all at once. Next stop, electric slide!

Chitlin Hoedown

This weekend marked our annual visit to Yatesville with the Blounts for the Chitlin Hoedown. We took Emily along for the ride this year because she hasn't been since she was a tiny baby. She had a great time chowing down on ribs and MawMaw's fried pies with the rest of us and even ran across a group of boys playing scrimmage football that were intensely interesting, as you can tell from the photos below. She stood off to the side swinging her sequined scarf and striking various poses as they played on - seemingly without noticing her at all, if that's even possible. Fun for everyone!

Lucky for her, they offered a peace sign at the face painting booth!

Scary clown - had to take his picture
Rib time!

MawMaw's pies - yum!

Funky pose with Daddy

Checking out the football players

Funky pose with Mommy

Rocking the iPod on the drive home. She has a mixture of Johnny Cash and Backyardigans on that thing. Very eclectic.

Pumpkin Carving

Last weekend marked the annual Westbrook Pumpkin Carving Party - always a great big load of fun! Emily was glad to meet up with her friends from swim class this summer and had a great time scooping pumpkin guts, eating cupcakes, and running around wearing plastic vampire teeth with the other kids. We now have a fabulous peace sign pumpkin complete with rock star flashing strobe light to decorate our front porch. In fact, it was so fabulous that I had to carve a matching one for Emily's friend! Thanks to the Westbrooks for hosting!

Lighting of the Great Pumpkins!

Homecoming

Northgate celebrated Homecoming a few weekends ago and we took both girls to see the game. They had a great time listening to the band, watching the halftime show, and sampling the various fried foods that the Boosters were offering. Emily even made a sign to bring with her to cheer on the team. Go Vikings!

First Hair Cut!

I finally decided that we'd waited that we'd waited long enough and made an appointment with Auntie Shin to have Emily's hair cut for the first time. You can't really tell that much is missing, but it sure did make it easier to comb that mess out every night! There's a great picture book called Franny B. Kranny, There's a Bird in Your Hair! that I always think of when Emily's hair is especially tangled. There could be anything hiding in there! Auntie Yam was on hand to take pictures during the process. She really felt like a rock star once she was finished and had to pose for some shots while she swung her hair all around. Fabulous!