Happy Thanksgiving!

So, this year we had our own little family Thanksgiving at home here in New York, just by ourselves. And since the only person who would eat much turkey is Mark, we thought cooking a turkey was kinda silly. So, we decided to make each of our favorite foods and share with each other.

We began our Thanksgiving feast by reviewing the Thanksgiving story, and explained to the kids about it being a holiday that celebrated the bountiful harvest from the land that the pilgrims and Indians shared. Here's our idea of a bountiful harvest....

Connor with his favorite food - Fettucine alfredo and an Edible Arrangement (and the ever-present-sixth-family-member-Spongebob):


Shelby with her favorite food - homemade French fries:



Noah with Spiderman macaroni:

Mark and his favorite food - pie:

And if you think I'm posting a pic of myself chowing down on my favorite food (Angie's wings) you have GOT to be kidding...you should be thanking me for NOT posting that lovely sight with wing sauce all over my face and hands.

As you can see, the closest thing to a bountiful harvest food were the potatoes used for Shelby's french fries, BEFORE they were french-fried.

We also did the common tradition of going around the table and sharing what we were all thankful for:

• Connor: Was thankful for Shelby
• Noah: Was thankful for his imaginary friend of about a year now, Yana (we don't know much about Yana except that she's a girl, she has black hair, and she was sick last week)
• Shelby: Connor & Noah decided Shelby was most likely thankful for her amazing brothers
• Mark: Was thankful for his wife (good answer, that might just get you another Christmas present, Markli!)
• Estelle: Thankful for our warm, clean, spacious, gorgeous home in which to spend the holidays - we've had a lot of house issues lately, but a remark from a friend recently reminded me of how terrific our home really is and I've seen it in a whole new light and was reminded of how blessed we are to have this beautiful home - thank you, friend. However, IF it would EVER snow here, I would have been thankful for the snow, darnit!
  

And yes, you probably noticed that we're all still in our pajamas...we were all grateful to have no plans and therefore no need to get dressed, and we love our pajamas! We even went to Lights on the Lake on Thanksgiving evening, all of us in our pajamas and happy as can be.

Oh, and just a little funny photo to share...my pumpkins "helping" clean up our Halloween decorations a few weeks ago. Yes, in pajamas again. Do we ever get dressed, you wonder? Only if we have to! Oh, the boys thought they were SOOOOO funny (and truth be told, they were!)!:

Need a unique Christmas gift idea? Allow me...

Did YOU know my husband's book is published?

The book he's been working on for about a decade?

Did YOU know? Because I did NOT. I...me...Estelle...his loving, gorgeous, supportive, thoughtful wife, did NOT know this rather important piece of information. So, how did measely insignificant ME find out it was published and out? I just overheard him talk about it in a phone conversation. "bla bla bla oh yeah, you should check out my new book...it's on Amazon now. bla bla bla"

NICE, huh?

So, I just found it on Amazon. It took me a few spelling errors but I finally got it right and found it (17 years later and I still really truly honestly have no idea what my husband does for a living, much less be able to spell it). Interestingly (or not), along the way, I found a book by Mark A. Ritchie called "God is the Pits." Anyway, here's Mark E. Ritchie's new book:

So yeah, if you're having trouble with your Christmas shopping, especially finding a unique gift for that person in your life who has everything, I guarantee you that they do NOT have this book (and I can also guarantee it will be more potent than Ambien in treating their insomnia problems - bwa ha ha!). Problem solved! Merry Christmas and peace to all!

(Oh, and all I can say for that husband of mine is that this is grounds for me DOUBLING the dollar amount that my new Christmas handbag had better be.)

Halloween greetings from the little-known but very ferocious Pirate Clan of central New York

We love Halloween! While the little cherubs are still small and malleable (and bribeable) I try to get our family to do a theme every year (we were bats 2 years ago, last year we did Star Wars), and this year we were a Pirate clan. Mostly, anyway. Noah has developed a very annoying stubborn streak and insisted on being a bat (fortunately I still had Connor's bat costume from 2 years ago that barely fit Noah). I insisted that he at least needed to be a pirate bat. Noah refused. Little booger!

To move this tale along (I'm wordy, I know), one of our favorite family Halloween traditions is attending our church's Trunk or Treat (where you decorate the trunk of your car and everyone trick or treats in the parking lot - typing it out makes it sound really lame, but it's actually kinda fun!). So, in keeping with our Pirate theme, I also transformed our SUV into a fearsome Pirate vessel, complete with sail on top and treasure chest inside, along with fun Pirate music blaring from the stereo. Pirate Mark ( I had envisioned the Johnny Depp/Jack Sparrow character for Mark, but the old Michael Jackson wig and my black eyeliner didn't quite get the job done, eh?) handed out the candy and regaled the kids with his HILARIOUS pirate-speak, though it appears here that he's actually sneaking a Snickers for himself:

Okay, now back to my dilemma with Noah - it turns out that not even the promise of wielding a sword could convince him to be a Pirate bat. However, by happy accident I discovered that he LOVED the Pirate music I downloaded, so I sneakily told him that he could NOT listen to Pirate music unless he was a Pirate bat. Convincing done! Noah became a Pirate bat with the aid of a sword, a gold hoop earring on his bat ears and a skull/crossbones eye patch.



And doesn't Shelby make the cutest little Pirate princess?

Grandma Davis from Idaho came out to visit and of course was recruited into our Pirate clan, under threats of making her walk the plank.



Now we have the boys getting ready to start their trick or treating, squaring off on our front porch for rights to the coveted "ghostie" trick or treat bag, as opposed to the nerdy pumpkin one.



Oh, and every year we drive around our neighborhood at least every other night looking at Halloween lights (another favorite tradition), and about 2 years ago this crazy Halloween family moved in and they go ALL OUT. I mean ALL FREAKIN' SCARY out. They were our first stop for trick or treating and we had a blast visiting their crazy setup in person (instead of sitting in the car looking out the windows like sissies) - you know, moving stuff in the yard, creepy sounds, people hiding in bushes, etc. They are my Halloween IDOLS! Anyway, Noah was not quite as brave as he'd planned, and grabbed Mark's hand as we approached the house and whispered, "Daddy, please protect me!"



I know this next photo is blurry, but it's so cute with all the kiddos practicing to be Pirates by practicing sword fighting in the living room. And yes, I KNOW, two of the swords are actually light sabers (obtained from a birthday party 2 years ago and the boys still love them- BEST props ever, Capone family!). You'll notice that Noah, however, has the real costume sword, and yes, seconds after this happy little photo was taken he whacked Shelby in the ear with his sword. Pirate fight OVER.




We also decorate our house crazily every year, inside and out (and darnit, I should have taken photos, but watch for 'em next year) and this is Shelby's first Halloween that she's aware of (well, that she became aware she'd been born into a crazy Halloween-celebrating family). It took a while for her to get used to it all, but in the end, WE GOT HER! She loves the shrieking mummies and talking skeletons and screaming coffins. Here she is pushing her favorite "skeleton baby" around in her shopping cart. How stinkin' cute is that (especially in her frilly little girlie flower pajamas)!??!! (oh, I also just noticed that she has adorned herself with a glow-in-the-dark necklace. Shelby's such a girlie girl!)

And what holiday would be complete without us posting ourselves in premade JibJab videos? So here it is this year, with Grandma & Grandpa Davis with the grandkids. Honestly, we entertain ourselves endlessly for countless hours every year, inserting ourselves into these videos and shrieking with laughter, and I'll admit that maybe they're not as funny as we think they are. Savvy? Anyway, I'll shut up now and present, for your watching enjoyment:

Oh, and by the way, next year's Halloween theme choice belongs to Connor, who has informed me that he wants to be a Greek family...so....ummm.....look for us wearing togas and sandals next year??? Yikes. Now THAT will be really scary.

Just when you want to put 'em up for sale on eBay...

Connor had a seriously bad day (Which means I had a seriously bad day. Which also means Noah had a seriously bad day). I sent Connor screaming up to his room for 15 minutes. When he didn't come down (and the crying stopped unusually early) I figured I'd better check on him. *sigh* I found Connor and his beloved dolphin named Birthday taking a much-needed nap.


And now I want to wake Connor up to give him a big smoochy kiss and hug because he's so darn cute!

Mark & Estelle are delighted to announce the joyous occasion of their beloved daughter Shelby...

We'll be honest, we thought it wouldn't happen before she graduated college...

We feared that she'd turn into an old maid....

We were terrified this "problem" might have her living at home forever...


But that blessed event for which we've all hoped and prayed and wished has finally happened!
At the ripe old age of EIGHTEEN months...

Shelby is walking!!! (kind of)

Watch until the end of this next video and you can witness the famous Shelby Scoot for yourselves (one of the last times this freak-of-nature-event may ever occur and be documented). And as a bonus, you can also witness the even more miraculous event of Connor & Noah playing together without screaming or hitting each other:

So Long, Farewell

We're hitting the road for a few weeks on a last-minute summer trip to Idaho/Utah, or Udaho as Mark cleverly (or so he thinks) calls it. And where we're going may be the last place on earth (the mountains of Cache Valley) that doesn't have internet access, so here's a few updates to remember us by while we're gone (in case anyone misses us):

A fun day trip where we went to find windmills (FAIL) but found Chittenango Falls by happy accident:

NO, Shelby's still not walking, but we had to save her pants - I mean, seriously, I am so tired of sewing up holes in her pants tushies!! I'm about to just leave her in her diapers and let her scoot around and let bum-rug burn finally motivate her to walk. Anyway, here's Shelby's new form of transporting herself around. It works great until Noah decides he's too lazy to walk around and shoves Shelby off of it.


Noah likes to get himself dressed lately. This was one of his latest ensembles. He insisted he was as dressed as he needed to be and pronounced himself "handsome."


Connor earned his karate Yellow Belt! Bravo! Where soccer failed for Connor, karate has succeeded. He's already calculated the time it will take him to earn his Black Belt - right around his 8th birthday in less than 2 years. We're very proud of Connor! (Not to distract from Connor, but look at Shelby peeking around the corner and wearing one of the boys' discarded socks - she LOVES socks.)


On a sad note, we had to put one of our dogs, Holly, to sleep. She was 14 years old and had developed more tumors and it was just time now. Noah was particularly attached to her, but he happily reminds us every day that Holly is in Heaven now and is playing and happy, along with our other recently deceased pets (4 pets in 18 months is tough to handle). We'll see you later, Holly. (And yes, Noah puts his own pajamas ensembles together, too - I take no responsibility whatsoever for his "handsomeness.")


Noah has made peace with his green birthday car and now loves it (see our April post about Noah's birthday for the whole story - it's worth reading!). He and Shelby can happily tool around for hours in the backyard now, although Mark is getting disturbed by the trails that are getting worn into our grass (since Noah drives the exact same path over and over and over and over again).



We've called Shelby our Bling Baby for several months now, as she LOVES shiny things. She got into my gift-wrapping box, got out the silver ribbon (the shiniest, of course), and proceeded to decorate herself with it and scooted all over the house, happy as a little bedazzled clam.



More of my failed attempts at the perfect children photo. Shelby looks like the perfect pretty princess that she is, but her brothers....UGH! Yeah, nice legs, Connor. And look at the second photo of Noah...we think this is EXACTLY what he's going to look like at 16 years old, Mr. Too Cool.



One of the most terrifying days of my life occured a few weeks ago when Noah came into my office and showed me that he'd painted his fingernails. OH. MY. GOSH. I swear I jumped over chairs, pets, pillows, playpens and anything else in my way and ultimately landed on Shelby's Happy Singing Bear to save my nail polish (and my couches, floors, tables, and everything else in the living room where Noah had conducted his operation). And of course, Noah didn't pick my clear or pale polishes, he went for the reds and the black vampies. His hands looked like they were dripping blood. While several bottles of polish were open and tipped over in my nail polish caddy (I'm serious about nail polish, okay?), it was NOWHERE else to be found. To this day, *all I know is that in my childhood I must have done something good*, in order not to have my beloved (and Limited Edition and no longer available for less than $50 on eBay) vamp Chanel Feu de Russie nail polish spread all over the living room furniture and floors.


As if that weren't enough, later that day Noah got his hands on some GooGone and sprayed it all over, around and actually INto the litter box. While I appreciate the thought that GooGone might miraculously make cat poo disappear (can you imagine how RICH I'd be???!!), messing with the cats litter box is very much akin to messing with my nail polish. Don't. DO. It. Indiana & Pequop protested by going the bathroom NEXT to the litterbox for the remainder of the day (until I discovered the Goo Gone problem late that night).

Fortunately (for him), later that evening in the car, Noah redeemed himself by asking to listen to Mamma Mia songs. There's nothing like Abba songs (and the sound of a cute little 4-year old voice singing Super Trouper) to make all the bad things go away!

A-ha! Here we have the perfect family children portrait: Yessssssssssssssss!


See ya in July with updates from Lava Hot Springs, Yellowstone, the fountains of the Gateway, and all other great things that Udaho has to offer!

Shelby's Long Lost Friend

Here are a few facts you should know about this story:

1) Shelby is not walking yet. Yes, she is nearly 16 months old. As her pediatrician tells us, Shelby is simply content. She has taken a few crawls, but still prefers to scoot on her tushie.

2) Because she's not walking yet, Shelby still gets carried a lot. Yes, I realize that this is probably why she isn't walking. Not only is she content, but she's a little bit lazy and knows her Mommy will carry her.

3) Most of you have been to our house and you know that our walls are covered with artwork. Bright, colorful artwork that's hard to ignore.

4) Shelby has been carried around in front of this artwork for the past year now and has never paid attention to it.

Well, a few weeks ago I was carrying her down the hallway between our master bedroom and master bath, and all of a sudden she swiveled around in my arms and starting pointing and making agitated noises. I turned around to see what was going on, and she was pointing and chattering away at the picture of Jesus Christ we have there.

This has happened several times now. So now, every time we go down this little hall, she loves to "visit" and say hello to Jesus. And when I'm getting ready with makeup or showering or whatever, I usually put Shelby in this hall and open the storage closet and let her play with the stuff in there. Her particular favorite is my box of...uh...feminine hygiene products.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there. The point is, that lately when she's playing there I put Jesus down to "watch and play" with her. And I discovered that she loves to hold this picture...as a matter of fact, she actually put her cheek next to His and was holding it and swaying back and forth smiling! Naturally I sprinted down the stairs as fast as I could to retrieve my camera (being sure to lock the baby gate, of course!), but when I came back upstairs she wasn't doing that pose anymore. HOWEVER, I got several other good shots:





I should mention that I have caught Shelby actually sitting on the picture a few times, and that she's not always hugging it or dancing with it or looking adoringly at it. But as I tell Shelby, "It's okay, Jesus doesn't mind. He just likes to be with you, sweetie." Even if she's sitting on Jesus and sorting tampons and maxipads. It's all good.

Oh my gosh, I just can't get over how cute and sweet this is!! Maybe there IS something to this religion stuff, huh?!?!