Bits

I have lots of thoughts to share today.

This feller is new to our house. 

Everybody, meet Henry. Henry, everybody. When you come over you should lift Henry's lid, that's where he keeps the good stuff. I'd love him to have a buddy. This buddy, in fact. I'd name her Maude. Alas, Maude has a pricetag that I just cannot justify, so unless Maude goes on crazy sale, Henry will be living solo.

Look at the cool things twins can do!  

Christmas shopping is almost half-done, but I cannot bring myself to wrap the gifts until after Thanksgiving. It's just not right, you know? I need some Christmas music to play and I need some eggnog, preferrably spiked, to sip.

This past weekend Keith and I divided and conquered. I took Grady for a few errands and he took Cole. Grady and I ended our morning out at a large swedish store, where Grady had his first sip of lemonade. I think he liked it, because G hugged that cup like it was the best thing he's ever held. Thankfully I only filled the cup about a quarter of the way, or he'd probably still be holding onto the cup. 

Keith and I have declared butternut squash to be our new favorite fall vegetable. DE-licious! We've made this delicious pasta dish, roasted butternut & chorizo quesadillas, and this Sunday we'll be eating this. You should come over, I always make too much food, I am my mother's daughter, after all.

Next week is Thanksgiving, as you know. The first 12 years of my life were spent on another continent, so obviously no Thanksgiving there. (much to the confusion of the good people of Shreveport, LA). It wasn't really until after college that I started to feel affection for Thanksgiving. I don't care about the turkey, though I am partial to a good casserole. What gets me excited are the desserts! WHOOOOOOO! This year Keith's sister is hosting and amongst my assignments are desserts. I was told to make two, but I'm really making three. Yes, I know, that's a bit much given that Grammie is being told to make her pecan pie, but if you don't make too much there's not left-overs. And how does one make it through the Black Friday shopping without leftovers to fuel you?

Last week at work someone guessed my age as being 2 years older than I really am. Naturally I gave her a dirty look. YOU take care of twins and see if that doesn't kick-start the aging process. And, after an appropriate amount of whining and sulking, I went in search of new lotions and moisturizers. I am now loving this for the hands and this for the face. A little pricey, yes, but the stuff lasts forever. Or so I told Keith.

Remember Amy? She's had the baby! Pictures of him soon. I got the call from Matt today a few hours after Aidan was born, and was so excited that I knew I'd forget the stats and Keith was sure to ask. So I took some notes on the chalkboard door.

I need to travel and I need to do it soon. We have two weekend trips to see the bellymomma coming up, and that'll satisfy me for a little while, but I'm really starting to look forward to 2011's Boys' Birthday Weekend trip and the Parents-Only Vacation. Planning for both trips have begun. The latter is to Portland, Oregon and I am SOOOOOO excited. It's been on my must-go list for a while. Not sure why, but I think we'll like it. There's lots of microbreweries and nature, and ...hmm...those two things are reasons enough, now that I think about it. The boys birthday trip's destination is a secret for now, I'd hate to ruin the surprise when they pull up the blog on their iPhones to read it, you know how advanced kids are nowadays, but I can tell you that its a place where the main guy is know for his ears. And for the outrageous prices he charges to let you in, but that rant could fill a whole blog. The 2011 Ellerman Family Vacation is still far away, seeing that we take that in August, but if you're wondering, Boston, the Ozarks, or Maine are all contenders. 

Daylight savings time had our sleeping all out of whack for a few days. But, on the flipside since it's getting darker I've had a reason to mention the moon and stars and sun and the earth's rotation and tilt to the boys. They seem enthralled when I speak of these things. Here Cole is pointing out that the moon is indeed up while the sun is up when I just said "when the sun goes down, the moon comes up". 

When the boys were (are) going through tough periods, The BellyMomma would always told me that she used to tell herself that this too, shall pass when her three kids had rough stages. Now I'm wondering if THIS is what she really meant. 

There. Those are all the bits I wanted to share for today.