Perspective (an Ode to Thankful-ish-ness)

I am not a creative mom.  (maybe creative in thought but not in deed)

That being said, holidays are somewhat threatening to me.  I wish to provide a warm, cozy, tradition-filled time for my children, full of laughter and memories.  The perfect Norman Rockwell-esque scene, right down to the rosy cheeks and fleck of shine off our beautiful pearly whites, the boys dressed in their Sunday finest- shirts tucked and hair coiffed (sp?) just so...

 And so with those goals in mind, may I present to you Thanksgiving Dinner 2011.....

No ill words towards Arby's (the roast beef truly is buttery-delicious) but this wasn't exactly the scene I envisioned in my head.  Although Finley seems quite pleased, and Liam did ask if we could take some sandwiches home for leftovers in his school lunch.  I think perhaps its Elijah's expression that sort of sums up the weekend.



I definitely slacked in Thanksgiving preparations.  Around Tuesday, I realized I hadn't bought a turkey yet (and in our grocery store, you buy a whole turkey-- there's no Turkey burger, or Turkey breast) so thaw time was not on my side.  So then I got it in my head "hey, we eat a meal together every night, who needs a traditional Thanksgiving dinner anyway?"  Turns out, I do.

Turns out also, (as my friend reminded me a few days later) Thanksgiving is actually "kind of a major holiday".  The plan of just cruising out of Meeker to find some restaurant in the next big city, where we can eat to our button-busting delight is not as easy as one would imagine.  Our original thought was to go to Fruita, do a little biking since the weather was pretty mild, have a little eats and then skip the light fandango in the big city.  Didn't happen- hence, Arby's.  And not just Arby's mind you- the drive thru as the lobby was "Enjoy your Holiday"-closed.  Even City Market, which was my turkey-cold-cut-sandwich-Plan-B was closed.  (to reopen promptly at midnight for grocery store black Friday madness...)

But, the weekend was not a total loss.  In true holiday spirit, we watched "Pussss           IN BOOTS!"  (its funnier when you say it that way) and had popcorn instead of pumpkin pie, sour patch kids instead of stuffing, and swam at the hotel instead of stringing lights for the next holiday.

And so, here are some more images (less depressing than the first of the rest of the weekend)- as we were bound and determined to do something spiritual and meaningful. 

This Thanksgiving maybe will provide just as many memories (aka hindsight), and might have even encouraged a few traditions of its own.

 

Colorado National Monument- Grand Junction, CO.  A truly glorious place if you can get over the fact that there are absolutely no guardrails on the very winding road through the canyon  (and I wasn't especially confident of the cliff-edge fencing or my kids footing either, but I tried really really hard to keep my mouth shut)  Then on Friday, we did (as is tradition) skip the Black Friday madness and head to a Mesa State basketball game and some well-deserved Thai Chicken pizza. 

And so, again in Deming tradition (see we really are imparting some memory making events here), I'll leave you with my good, bad and awesome of the Thanksgiving Holiday:

My Good: Making Lemonade out of Lemons, not what we had planned but we lived to tell the tale

My Bad: PPP (piss poor planning)

My Awesome:  heading to the grocery store a couple days later and buying a turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie filling-- and loving the fact that I can have a do-over!

Boo!

 This Halloween was pretty chill- the weather was great- didn't need to cover everyone up with heavy coats (in previous years we all end up strolling town as ski school kids...regardless of what the boys actually intended to be) and everyone was back home and in bed by 9:00.


Finley quit a little earlier and happily handed out candy at home- although he was more interested in playing with his play-dough (what a great Halloween treat!) and almost shut the door on one kid when he wasn't hustling off the porch quick enough and Finley said his play-dough pancakes were burning.


So we ate candy, and the neighborhood deer feasted on our pumpkins.  It made a couple of them look even creepier (like their faces were melting).  The boys, as always, knew exactly what they wanted to be- and I, as always, try to convince them to be something I want them to be- and they, as always, win.

Mummy, Buzz, & Meeker Cowboy  (can't you just picture Elijah as a High Schooler? -sigh)

Mummy/Zombie, Zagar the Nerd, and Porter the Mummy/Zombie

 Finley had his own ideas about how Buzz should accessorize.  He really wanted to use the fish bowl turned upside down on his head for his space helmet.  When we squashed that idea, he figured ski goggles and a camo painted face would suffice. (?)

with his good buddy, Sam aka Robin

Lovely, Lovely Fall

Fall is so beautiful around here- makes you really appreciate the little time left without snow on the ground.  The days have been warm, the evenings cool enough for a fire, and the colors are just lovely.  So here is just a collection of days throughout October.  Most were taken with Elijah's new camera- which he is so excited about   (and Finley seemed to be excited about as well- as some are from his perspective)

10 at last!

Goalie 

Thanks Grammy & Grampy!

3 big pumpkins and the little gourds from OUR garden!! So exciting!

We had such a fun weekend at the annual "Brown Birthday Bash" celebrating Matilda, Zagar, Vivian and Wagners birthdays.  Thank goodness for good weather, good spirits, and great friends.

Finley's view of Elijah being a tourist (Obie thought he was supposed to be Grampy)

Finley as Spidey

The mass of children lining up for the costume parade

SuperFriends: Montey, Sam and Finley

This month has been so fun, with flag football, birthday parties, garden harvest, HS football, and plenty of outdoor friend time.  We are getting set for Halloween, Elijah wants to be a football player, Liam a mummy, and Finley hasn't quite decided yet.  I have a couple more days though to get my costuming on- so they'll be ready to go on Monday.


Parting shots:  Otis, sweet Otis.  Every year about this time I get a little worried about Otis.  He keeps plugging along- slower than usual- but still gets excited to take a little hike with us.  Such a good friend to all of us...

14 years of loyalty (keep them coming Otis...)

How we probably look at Finley most of the time.

10!!!!

October 6, 2001:  The day that seemed like it would never come.

October 6, 2011:  The day we cannot believe came so quickly.

Happy Birthday Elijah!!!  The BIG 10- double digits baby!!!

You love:  Legos, soccer, basketball, football, music, bike riding, skiing, zip-lining, building forts, camping, shooting your bb gun, archery, rootbeer floats, ramen noodles, oatmeal with syrup for breakfast, swimming, science, exploring, movies, school 

You sort of dislike:  chores & the chickens  (otherwise you are pretty darn agreeable)

Your buddies:  Porter, Cole, Brandon, Matilda and of course Liam & Finley most of the time

Love you more than ever!  

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?

This weekend was Meeker's Homecoming, complete with Parade, BBQ, Kings and Queens, and Football.  Finley and the MHS class of 2025 made their float entry.  He did say afterward though, "Mom, we never did make it to the water."  Maybe we'll start calling them parade trailers instead of parade floats.                                                                (Thanks Mandi for all the pictures below)

Liam and Elijah participated in the Punt, Pass and Kick contest too, and Liam got second place.  His good buddy John Hampton got first- and they did a great belly bump when they got called up to the front of the pep assembly  (no shy boys here).

They made mention of Coach Obie too, although he was a little more reluctant to go to the front of the crowd-- used Finley as his human shield. 

      We were so excited for the night's game, the team's first league game, and first home game of the season.  And yes, they lost- a bummer for fans, coaches and players alike.  And aside from the phone call from a community member at 8:00am the following morning with some tips on fumble control- everyone took it in stride.  Elijah is the team's helper on the sidelines- here he is during a break from duty  (so he was still in good spirits and in full Meeker regalia) and Liam had a great time with his buddies- didn't watch any of the game but he did bother to ask me who won the game (3 days later)