You Know, Stuff

Let me begin by saying that I had a birthday a couple of weeks ago, and on the official card as well as several auxiliary cards, drawings, and signs, Naomi saw fit to refer to me by my first name. Happy Birthday, Jenny! Love, Naomi and Muriel. Hmm.

And speaking of stories that are now way out of date, I bring you, the Turkey Twilight Zone. Long ago now, Naomi's teacher sent home a big black and white turkey drawing with the words "Family Turkey Project" on it. The idea was that we were supposed to work together to decorate it and bring it in by a certain date. Naturally, on the night before the certain date, I scrambled around to put my oh-so-creative plans into action. I had them tear up red, brown, and yellow construction paper, I had them glue craft feathers on the tail. We found a googly eye to affix to the turkey head. We added a necklace of macaroni.

Naomi returned the turkey, and the next day we noticed that the turkeys were decorating the windows of the office. Neat! I went to find our masterpiece (which was totally janky compared to some of the super fly turkeys the other K families cooked up), and I found it. But then I wondered, who is this Timothy, and why is his name on our turkey?!


Oh wait, here's our turkey.


Holy crap! Timothy's mom, call me!! We are separated at birth! That, or you need to get those cameras you hid in our house out RIGHT NOW!

What other out of date stories can I come up with? In early November, I took Muriel to visit our friends in Chicago. So fun! It was great to remember what having a littler little was all about, as well as to spend some QT with Muriel. She did great on the trip, except for some inexplicable and very heartbreaking homesickness when we first got there. I believe, too, that it was good for her to be the big kid for a while. And really, it was wonderful to see our friends. Yea, friends!

We went to the Oregon coast for Thanksgiving. The Oregon coast is totally rad, I recommend it to anyone who likes stuff that is scenic and amazing. We even saw the Goonies house, whilst in Astoria, and it was, well, a bit anticlimactic. But yeah, the rest of it was pretty fantastic.

My parents came at the beginning of this month, and I over-scheduled the poor things. There was lots and lots of rushing from this awesome holiday experience to that. Sorry, Parents! But the kids were genuinely delighted to have their grandparents around, as was I.

OK, let's see. That big project that kicked me around from the end of summer and all through fall is FINISHED! At least, finished in the first part, version one is released kind of way. Woo to the hoo. Jim has now taken over as the harried, overworked one, but it's all good, because he is a. employed, b. working at a company that is on the upswing, and c. challenged like never before. Naomi is working hard at her job, which is being in Kindergarten, and Muriel is a productive citizen of preschool, like always.

Oh, Christmas Open House! These are the before pictures. No afters.







Yes, this is how they dressed for the party.

I am excited, enthused, delighted, gleeful, and jolly at the approach of Christmas. Jim's sister and brother-in-law are coming this weekend, and we can't wait to see them. Things, people, are good. Happy Holidays to everyone. Now I have to go find a replacement for the NY Jets Mr. Potatohead that I bought for my nephew but that is, alas, after all, out of stock. Wish me luck!