Thanksgiving Weekend 'Now Edited with Pics!'

Perhaps the caption for this first pic should read "Siblings that pee together stick together" or "We really need a second bathroom". They thought this was a great joke and giggled for about 5 min about sharing the toilet.

On Friday morning, after Ryan only managed to get about 90 min of sleep, we headed to the airport to send him on a conference in Nashville TN. He went into school after I got home from work, and the kids were in bed and stayed there until his sub plans were done. I think he got to bed about 4:30 am!

After dropping him off, I took the kids to Ikea for lunch and 'Smalville'. Ethan is pretty much potty trained during the day, so this was a reward for him. (Kids must be potty trained to go in the playroom) The kids had fun for the 30 min they could play before we had to head BACK to the airport.



As we were going to be in the area at the same time she arrived, I offered to pick up a travel nurse named Pamela at the airport and drive her to Boyle, rather than her having to take the Greyhound. Her flight arrived literally 2 min before Ryan's flight to Nashville took off. After, we went to Sears to look for a winter coat for Evelyn.

Evelyn fell in love with the first jacket she tried on. It's long and styled like the parka jackets worn in the north. I think it will work well. It came with a hat, scarf, and mittens to match too. The jacket and snow pants were on 25% off, so the total was **$90!**. I SO wish I'd been able to find something at a thrift store! I looked at a few thrift stores, and they had absolutely nothing! We tried on jackets in Wal-Mart and Fields, but they were all too big in the torso. With the -5 - -10 temps and snow we're getting, I needed something for her now! At least she really likes the jacket she chose and it should serve her well.

Ethan has been pushing boundaries and getting into things he knows not to. He put his Buzz Lightyear doll (his favorite toy right now) into the bath with Evelyn this morning. It no longer makes sound. I must say, I'm not that upset by this consequence to his actions. He, however, does not feel the same way!

Ethan has continued to push against the rules for the rest of today too. Grrr! He peed on our bedspread while he was supposed to be watching a movie with Evelyn. I was installing new window shades in our kitchen at the time. He spread apple sauce all over the railing and couch while I went downstairs to change over the laundry. He almost flooded the bathroom while he 'washed' his hands while I was changing into PJ's. Whenever I specifically tell him NOT to touch something, he is touching it a few seconds later. When we were doing errands today, he refused to hold my hand when I told him to while we were crossing the road and in the parking lots. Most of his disobedience is little things, but he's doing so much of it, it's getting extremely frustrating.

Evelyn just watches him do these things she knows he shouldn't do, then, when he's done, yells out "Mommy, Ethan just...peed on your bed, ...put apple sauce everywhere, ...got water all over me and all over the bathroom..."

Last night, despite my best efforts, I fell asleep before Ethan did. He went into the bathroom and took my jar of Vit E oil (I had been putting it on a scratch he had on his face) and the foaming soap dispenser and dumped them all over his carpet. I woke up a little later, heard him still awake, and found the sticky, gooey mess all over his carpet. Evelyn had been sound asleep for at least an hour at this point. I have no idea why he was still awake.

I am tired of having to watch him directly all the time. Even a couple minutes without me looking at him, and he's getting into trouble and making huge messes. This stage of his development can not pass too soon in my opinion!

Anyway, at this time, the cheesecake I'm making for tomorrow has 30 min left in the oven. Our Duvet has about 50 min left in the dryer before I can possibly head to bed. I'm going to fold some laundry, and figure out the timing of all the food for tomorrow. I set the table today. It looks good! I took some pictures with the old digital camera. The last of the window stuff came in today too. I like how it's turned out. It makes me want to get the kitchen finished.

I put Evelyn to work writing out some place cards for the table. I lightly wrote the names in pencil, and she traced it in Crayon. She thought that her card "Miss. Evelyn" was hilarious, and decided that mine "Mrs. Mommy" was the silliest thing ever. We also set a place for Teddy and gave him a place card too. His dishes are Evelyn's china tea cup and saucer from the set we bought her and his cutlery is drawn on paper by Evelyn and cut out by her too.

Here's an excerpt from an e-mail from Ryan. This is from his first night in Nashville.


"It was a long day but the city has lots of personality from the one small stretch we walked down looking for dinner. Every spot seemed to have live music. We stopped in a pub and I'm 99% sure one of the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica (the mechanic) was with a group of guys who were whistling at their male waiter. Kind of odd. Dinner was good. That's been about it so far."

He also saw a guy that looked just like Santa, and country music singer Teri Clark. Nashville is full of celebs!

That's all for now!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!