Fall

Well, since SOMEone (me) forgot to put the memory card back in the camera, we don't have any actual pictures. (I took video)  But it was good. Here is a picture of the pie crusts I made the day before. (before baking, obviously, but they all turned out!)  It was my first time making pie crust, but between a good recipe (from my great Aunt "Nano") and helpful tips from my mom, they didn't die! Next time (like next Thanksgiving... making pies is not good for my weightloss attempts... surprise, surprise) I need to work on making them a touch thinner and of a more uniform thickness. :)

We went to a friend's house (they don't have any family anywhere near either) and had a nice Thanksgiving dinner together.  They only have an (almost crawling) baby, so our three kids are a little bit loud and crazy for their house, but they were good sports. :)  EDIT: I forgot Jeremy took some pictures on his phone. Here are a few. :)

The "kids' table"

Katy with her OWN piece of pumpkin pie. She wanted nothing to do with
this "bites" thing...

Jeremy had some of his usual Black Friday shopping fun, though he did most of it online (actually on Thanksgiving) and slept in this year. We are almost completely done with our Christmas shopping! The day after Thanksgiving we also put the rest of our lights and decorations up, and put the ornaments on the tree. Our house is so very festive and I LOVE it! I adore Christmas lights. :)

Last weekend (backtracking) we went over to another friend's house and helped them rake their leaves. We don't have a yard, so we don't really have any leaves. The kids had an absolute blast playing "Fox & Geese" and jumping in one of the huge piles. Their yard is about the size of my parents, but more horizontal than vertical. There are a LOT of leaves. Plenty to share. :)

Yesterday we were looking for something to do, and I saw online that the "Chesapeake Arboretum" wasn't THAT far from our house, and it was completely free, so we decided to check it out. It's a cute little patch of wilderness with trails zigzagging all through it and lots of local flora labeled. We could see surrounding houses much of the time, and it's probably prettier during other seasons, but in late fall the trails were all carpeted with crunchy brown leaves, and there were still lots to see. The kids said "Thanks for taking us on this fun adventure!" They enjoyed it a lot more than I thought they would, and we'll definitely have to go back. Maybe with our backpack carrier next time. It would be a much more logical choice than the double jogger we threw Katy in. She's way to heavy to carry through all that, and though we let her walk some, she didn't want to hold hands or press forward. She was much more interested in stopping and seeing what she could find to put in her mouth... One other funny thing: Reilly commented on how he hadn't seen any animals and I told him they were probably mostly sleeping.  Reilly asked, "What kinds of animals sleep during the day?" I said, "Um, maybe racoons?" Reilly: "That's right, because they're nocturnal." I guess at least the TV he watches is mostly educational, because we certainly haven't discusses what nocturnal means. Crazy kid. He's a little too smart for his own good sometimes.

After the arboretum we ran to Wal-mart for a few things. Jeremy had a random craving for a donut, so he took the kids over with him to pick out one to share. I guess we're doing something right nutritionally, (or maybe we're just mean parents) because neither of them knew what they were called. Jaina called them "bagels with frosting!"

That evening we actually got to go out on a date, because Jeremy had set up a babysitter. We don't get to do that often enough (it's just too expensive!) but it's so nice to get away from these sweet little "bedlamites" and enjoy each other's company without the constant directions, questions, and opinions!