Happy Birthday! It's November, Nov 05 mamas and kids!

[MelW]

Can you believe we're in the childhood years!

I have a three year old today! We're making some vegan cupcakes and having a couple of friends and neighbours over to celebrate this afternoon, then a big spaghetti dinner with some other friends. :

And Neela slept until six this morning. AND learned how to "make her own breakfast" which we practiced this morning, and she'll try "without waking mum & dad" tomorrow. We'll see...

October thread is here

[Gunter]

Happy Birthday, Neela! And, happy becoming a mama day, Mel!

I cannot really accept that we're in the childhood thread! already? can i press the slow motion button, please?

last night, ez was falling asleep in my arms. as i often say, i said, "thank you for making me a mama." and she replied in a sleep voice, "thank you for making me an eza." i cried. "oh, your welcome sweet babe." DH just looked at me with a huge smile. later he said that is one of the most precious things he's heard her say.

she'll be 3 in 5 short days. 3 whole years. all i can say is wow.

[spughy]

Mel, you need to update your sig!

Just subbing for now, not much to say, brain fuzzy.

[HoneyTree]

You know what, I am totally seeing and feeling the childhood years, despite my heartstrings' protestations. My big little boy has a barrel chest, meaty limbs, and a strange, not-quite-toddler-anymore structure to his face. I saw his profile yesterday and was struck--struck--by how much his nose is looking like MY nose, not a little button baby nose. The list of daily activities that he can do for himself is far longer than the one that he still asks for assistance with. He doesn't look back when he runs off on the playground, not even whilst climbing the big stuff. He even holds my hand at night in bed instead of snuggling close or asking for me to put my arm around him. The beauty and nostalgia are often too much.

Nonetheless, here we are, mamas, ready or not.

Lydia, I am sending loving and healing thoughts to you and your family.

Today is All Souls Day. I've set up an altar with family photos of those passed away, most of whom I've never met, all of whom are strangers to Woody. I put up a picture of Joshua and I when we were all of 24 and first married, too, as that seems like a version of me that here on the edge of having two children is also gone or passed. Did I tell y'all that my grandmother passed away about a month ago? I have really wanted to ask for a picture of her in her WWII nursing uniform, but the family dynamics, as I guess is not atypical, are a little dicey at the moment, so I'm going to wait a few more weeks.

Our celebrations, both spiritual and secular, were subdued last night. A friend who brews her own seasonal beers and wines had given us some cranberry brew, which Joshua and I split, and we used the last of the farmers market's tomatoes to make a scratch marinara with zucchini. Other than that, we set up our altar and lit the beeswax candles; carved and set out our jack-o-lantern; and waited for the trick-or-treaters. Did many of y'all go out? We dressed up, but stayed home. Woody so does not get the moderation bit with candy yet.

Helen, it was nice to read about how your family celebrates Halloween.

Gunter, I totally hear you about the meat and dog food. We've been supplementing meals with big soup bones from the local grass-fed, antibiotic-free ranchers up the way in Georgia, and I do think it's showing up in my one dog's joint health, but it's hard to go up there and see those cows and then stop in the shop on the way out and buy their bones. For other real-food protein, we stick with eggs, which I guess to some vegetarians isn't much different, but still. And I am so glad Sherpa's doing so much better.

And HAPPY, HAPPY 3rd Birthday, Neela!!!!

[Phoenix_Rising]

Happy birthday, Neela (and happy birthingday, Mel)!

Gunter, that is so sweet what Ezra said :

We have had an altar before with pictures of loved ones who are no longer with us too HoneyTree, and it is a good feeling - at times it has helped me feel that they really are *there*. And if it were me, I'd totally ask for a picture of grandma in the next couple of weeks.

[flapjack]

We're here! Skye is still my baby, though, she told me so today

Have a very happy birthday, Neela, and happy birthing day, Mel I can't believe that it's three years ago.

[Kavita]

Happy Birthday Neela! I always remember her being born, as it seemed to me that she was the first "real" November baby. As in, Mel was the first core member of us to kick off our month of birthing. (I am excluding any earlier losses and preemies, I'm mostly referring here to expected outcomes.) In addition to the fact that our babies have turned three, this also makes it almost four years that some of us have been together as online friends!!!! I am pretty sure that we've "known" each other for about that long, Mel, as I started TTC in November 2004 and we were on the TTC forums together and both landed up pregnant in the same month!

So happy November-versary to us, too, everybody!! I know some folks found us later after the babies were long-earthside (barcelona, kaspirant) but have become such integral members of this little online coterie that it feels like you've been here all along, so of course I'm meaning this to include you as well!

Ella's birthday is next Saturday. Now having survived Diwali and Halloween, I have to get ready for her party! I am still a bit sick, with some seriously scary day-glo snot and bronchial stuff. (sorry TMI). Although I felt better yesterday, I am apparently in a bit of a pattern of feel better-overexert myself-feel worse-repeat. Thursday we did our pumpkin carving. Then Halloween was pretty fun actually--Ella got all dressed up for their preschool halloween party, and they had a little parade in the gym. Then I took her to Daddy's work to visit and so the coworkers could see her in her costume (which we did last year, so it's sort of a nascent tradition.) We went to lunch with DH, went home, she napped and I relaxed and watched a few episodes of "How Clean is your house?" which was the first time I've seen it--I got it on DVD from netflix and OMG, it was seriously both revolting, hilarious, and inspiring. If I'd felt better I would have gone and scrubbed my house top to bottom after seeing some of those people's houses! Then Ella woke up, DH arrived home from work and the store (he stopped to get candy to hand out) and we got all reathe weather was perfect for trick or treating and there were a good number of kids and parents outside and there are a lot of older folks on our block/neighborhood who really seem to enjoy seeing the kids, so it's really nice. We also met some new folks among our neighbors, and then went to a halloween party thrown by some other neighbors (the ones with 4 kids who homeschool.)

[HoneyTree]

So here's the picture of our family Halloween costumes. Woody is wearing the skeleton-that-will-be-passed-down-because-it-took-so-long-to-paint costume. Mine and Joshua's are rather more spontaneous. Though I must say, I am TOTALLY wearing all or mostly black more often. I must have had four people ask me if I'd lost 10 lbs. Hello!! I'm 7 months pregnant!!! And a woman at the store didn't even notice I was pregnant until talking to me for five minutes. Black is wicked flattering, and I can't believe I didn't take advantage of that before!!

[MamaFern]

: happiest 3rd birthday neela! and mel too! i remember how small she was that day you came over in east van..and now..

[Kavita]

Okay, I am very excited so I just have to share . . . I just bought a kitchen aid stand mixer!!! ::

I'm feeling guilty about spending the $ when we're trying to pay off debt, but OTOH, I make so much from scratch using my hand mixer--pizza dough, bread, muffins, etc. I use my hand mixer a lot but have to stand there stirring with the darn thing, and I while I've really been coveting a stand mixer for the past few years I just couldn't justify buying a new mixer when I have a perfectly good one that works. Then last night I was making dinner (butternut squash enchiladas) and was trying to whip up the squash and mix in some cream cheese and the beater fell out. I put it back. It fell out again. I put it back again in the other spot--it kept falling out, and I realized that somehow the housing is just shot. I started freaking out a bit because I have sooooo much cooking and baking to do in the coming weeks--we've cut down on eating out to once a week and I'm making everything at home. Then I am making everything from scratch for Ella's birthday this coming Saturday. It's a tea party, so I'm making mini cupcakes and frosting, mini quiches, mini tartlets, breads, tea sandwiches, etc. Then my entire family (parents, sister, BIL, niece, nephew, and my parents' dog) are coming for Thanksgiving later this month and I'm cooking the whole Thanksgiving dinner. DH and I talked about it a little bit and then abandoned further attempts at dinner prep, threw on our shoes and Ella's shoes, and ran out to linens n things (which is about two blocks away btw) and bought the mixer. I do know that there was life before small kitchen appliances and people did actually cook and bake things without them, but I also know that if I have to spend lots of time and make a lot of mess with stirring and kneading, I tend to blow it off. I guess I'd rather spend the money on a good appliance to cook real good food myself, rather than spend money eating out or on processed/prepared food products. So that's how I'm justifying it!

Anyway, I loooove it!! As soon as we got home and got it out of the box and washed the bowl and beaters, I finished making the enchilada filling in it, then since I was in the groove while the enchiladas were baking I made a batch of pizza dough. Then while the pizza dough was rising I figured that as long as the bowl and the dough hook had yeast-dough stuff on them, I'd just go ahead and make a loaf of bread. So I'm in hard-core cooking mode now! Also rather than leave leftovers of the enchilada filling, tortillas, and sauce, I just went ahead and rolled the rest of them up and put them in a casserole and froze it, so now we have a meal that can be popped in the fridge on short notice on nights when we would otherwise eat out just because I don't have time to cook. I also made two pizza crusts and froze them, and now I have another two meals set up that can be made fast--I can just add sauce and cheese and a few toppings and have pizza quick. I would have frozen with the sauce and cheese but I sort of ran out of steam--I'm still actually sick.

Today we're cleaning the house, doing the yard, and I'm going to attempt to get the cupcakes started and get a bunch of prep-cooking for the week done. I made my meal plan yesterday and I went shopping last night/today to get what we need. Yay!!

[flapjack]

Sniff. I'm totally one-upped, once again- I was going to get all excited about our new computer, but a kitchen-aid is way cooler : It's on my Xmas list.

[Gunter]

teresa, susannah and helen~ i like hearing about what you do to honor your loved ones who have passed. i never thought to do that but want to now. such a great idea. we don't have a lot of family members who have passed but i would like the girls to know about my great grandfather. buxton was born on his birthday, like i hoped even! he and his wife raised my mom and we lived with him when i was born b/c she was a single mom. so, he was a huge part of my life. His wife died before i was born.

teresa- love the costumes. you are gorgeous, btw. i think i have told you i think that. just wanted to remind you. we celebrated diwali in india once! then, we celebrated it here in NC a few years ago. this year, we just went to an indian restaurant a few days before it started and talked about it all. we missed out on any real celebration. but it does have me longing for a trip to india, again. oh, be still you biting travel bug!

kavita~ you are totally going to save money with that mixer! smart thinkin, mama! ella's party sounds so fun! are there going to be garden party hats involved?

ez will be three on thursday! we're going to the zoo on saturday for ezra's birthday. we e-vited all her friends. my BFF is making her a copperhead cake, per ez's request. she's been talking about this cake for months! on friday, she wants to go see Madagascar 2 at the theater with two families. she actually said the names of everyone in the two families that she wanted to go with her. i was surprised that she chose only those two but am trying to honor her request. it's hard not to invite her other friends for me. why is that? they will all be at the zoo hopefully!

[HoneyTree]

Originally Posted by Kavita

...we've cut down on eating out to once a week and I'm making everything at home. Then I am making everything from scratch for Ella's birthday this coming Saturday. It's a tea party, so I'm making mini cupcakes and frosting, mini quiches, mini tartlets, breads, tea sandwiches, etc. Then my entire family (parents, sister, BIL, niece, nephew, and my parents' dog) are coming for Thanksgiving later this month and I'm cooking the whole Thanksgiving dinner.

Good Lord, mama! Say no more! 'Twas a right smart purchase. And I can't believe how many dishes you busted out on its first night in a new home! The freezer meal is a good idea. I never think of these things while I already have the appliances out and dirty... So let me ask you, when you freeze your pizza dough, do you freeze it already rolled out? Otherwise how do you thaw it quick when you need it?

Originally Posted by Gunter

teresa- love the costumes. you are gorgeous, btw. i think i have told you i think that. just wanted to remind you.

: You're the best, G. : Thank you.

And a zoo party sounds way fun. You have GOT to post pictures of that copperhead cake. I am beyond tickled at your funny girl, and also totally intrigued by this idea.

Helen, a new computer!! Yay!!! Mine is horribly on the fritz. Every five minutes I get a pop-up telling me that I'm critically low on space. I can't even open more than one picture at a time! And there's not enough space to run the disk clean-up . I'm sure it's an easy enough fix/upgrade, but I just haven't been able to pull the plug and get it in the shop yet.

[Kavita]

Originally Posted by HoneyTree

The freezer meal is a good idea. I never think of these things while I already have the appliances out and dirty... So let me ask you, when you freeze your pizza dough, do you freeze it already rolled out? Otherwise how do you thaw it quick when you need it?

The freezer enchiladas is a change from my previous MO, in which I would have shoved all the things into the fridge until they spoiled and then dumped them out. I'm trying to just get real about how many leftovers we'll really eat--we get bored eating the same thing over and over again, so it's a lot better to freeze things than just leave them in the fridge to turn into science projects.

As far as the pizza dough, I patted it down into the pizza pans, let them rise a bit longer rolled out, and then covered the whole thing with press and seal wrap and put the pans in the freezer. That's how I did it last time, and I just took the dough out to thaw and then added the sauce/cheese/toppings then. But the toppings could also go on before freezing, then you'd have you own homemade frozen pizza ready to just throw in the oven.

Helen, a new computer is very awesome!! So be excited! But if you get the Kitchen Aid for xmas you'll enjoy it I think!

Gunter, I think we're sticking with straight birthday hats. Ella is very into the birthday hat concept these days, so I'm going to have to go buy some. But the fancy hats are a good idea! Especially here--since big foofy hats are a Kentucky Derby tradition there is no shortage of them in closets or consignment stores!

[flapjack]

If you part-bake your pizza bases then freeze them, you can have dinner in the offspring in 15 minutes flat. We do homemade pizza thin and skinny though (the only thing around here that is.)
I did actually have my mums old Kenwood Chef, but the motor died in the same week as the bowl broke I'm still regretting it now.
The puter is yummy. We splurged slightly (and even defrosted the credit card for it) but it's so nice. I'm going to need something for studying, and the kids use computers for homework, so it was a luxury but not ridiculously so.

[Queen of Cups]

Um... how did I miss the entire October thread?

I'm still trying to catch up on reading it!

[Gunter]

should we talk birthday parties?

on thursday, we're having friends to the same park we were at last year for her birthday. we'll have a copperhead cake this year! the park is a mile from our house and we go there all the time so it will be pretty low key.

friday, madagascar 2 comes out at IMAX so she wants to see that with a few friends and dad.

saturday, we are going to the zoo with some friends. (mil will be there which i am kinda dreading. she did send a big apology e-mail this week, at least.)

wow- does that seem like over-stimulation?

[flapjack]

Well, it sounds busy We watched Madagascar this morning, actually. I hope things go well with your MIL.

We're decorating the house properly for birthday week. On the night of the 23rd November, we're getting banners up, balloons (maybe) the works. They're staying up through Alex's birthday and on to Skye's. On her b'day, we have dramababes in the morning, I'm going to take her out for lunch and then some of her friends are coming round for a tea party in the afternoon. I'm going to do 'decorate your own fairy wings" as a craft activity (her friends are big on crafts) which will also serve instead of a goody bag- I'm looking at butterfly wings for the boys, I think, or maybe hats? Suggestions all gratefully received- as well as telling me what you'd give a 1yo boy as a goody bag for coming to a fairy-themed party. Would a felted ball be too cheap? Then tea, I'm doing cocktails and creamcakes for the mummies and finger sandwiches, cake and crisps for the littlies, and then send them home. Maybe some party games, I haven't decided yet.

Oh, I forgot. We're leaving the decorations up and going straight into Xmas tree season. I'm stretching a string of fairy lights over a frame and covering it all in muslin, stuff like that, as well, which will be for Xmas as well.

[barcelona]

Hi All!

It's been a crazy-intense week or so here, and things keep on staying intense, but not in a bad way. Just intense. Today, I became an aunt! : The intense/scary part is that she came quite early, at 33 weeks...so, it has been a bit tense the past 24 hours. Thankfully, everyone is healthy. She is in the NICU, but is breathing on her own. Now, we pray that she stays healthy and strong, and I am optimistic that she will. I wish I could be with my family during this time, but we can't afford to fly out there. We'll be joining them for Christmas, though, so that will be a joyful occasion. Anyway, just wanted to share with you all. And Finley has his first cousin, too! Her name is Virginia, and they are calling her Ginny. So sweet.

We are all recovering from a week of a visit from the MIL and a week of everyone but me having a really bad stomach flu. And DH and I are both doing a lot of healing, spiritual work, which is great, but intense. Basically I am just really grateful (and really emotional) these days.

I had another intense weekend of yoga this past weekend, loved it, and am also welcoming our month off, to be able to process and rest a bit.

Oh! And Great news! DH got a job! He stopped working on the Obama campaign a few weeks ago, and this job is perfect...he is working for a movie producer as her assistant, and she is a lovely older woman...it is not full time, so he has time to work on his projects and keep that going, and all is really coming into place. Again, I am grateful.

Sorry this is all me me me. I am reading along always and sending well wishes to everyone who needs them.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY belated to Neela and soon to Ez!

Finley turns three on the 10th. We are having a low key party with a few friends on Sunday. Not even sure what I am going to do, but I think we will have burgers and cake and some kind of simple game that they kids will enjoy. Guess I should start getting organized

What a fun and crazy time...
Can't believe how big they all are. Such little kids now.

Love to you all!!!

[flapjack]

Barcelona.

Thankyou to everyone who campaigned and voted in the election . You did good.