Thankful 2012

We had a glorious Thanksgiving Day.

It began with a Turkey Trot with friends and some pre-trot victory dances.  David and I were on competing relay teams--  I am pretty sure David won the dance competition simply because of the subtle moves he was daring to pull in his stretchy pants (which may be difficult to see on this low-quality, cell phone recording).

At least you can hear the featured song..."Do the gobble."

Time to eat!  We like to mix up the traditional menu a bit as an excuse to try out new recipes.  This year's huge hit: Gma K's Corn Bread Stuffing.  It had turkey sausage, apricots, cranberries, lots of crunchy veggies, and fresh herbs.  I probably ate five pounds.

More removal from norm...no pie here...just Gingerbread Trifle and Pumpkin Brule.  

And after three rounds of food, the day was complete with some board games to burn it off.  Mia's fave?  Pretty, Pretty Princess with her aunts.

We are richly blessed!

June's Top 10

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As June gets more solid, Dad gets more and more daring with acrobatics.

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June has graduated from the Bjorn to the cart for shopping trips.

Her little legs and arms flap with excitement over the sheer joy perceived freedom.

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We discovered one morning that June likes to shout (or sweetly declare, rather) "hooray!"

Here she is celebrating her 8 month birthday. 

She will be 9 months on Thursday, so I'm a little behind in documenting.

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Over the last month, June's hair has become more and more curly.  

Here it is as it began to curl earlier in October. 

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June does not care to be spoon-fed baby food, so lunch-time is often a chore.  

This day, however, was the first the whole jar was finished in <30 minutes.="minutes." p="p" whew="whew">

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Puffy early-morning eyes and debut of June's first two teeth!

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Here is a sampling of June's pass-times.  Note the fact that June has never produced a traditional laugh...only a Pterodactyl-like squeal :

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Further evidence of June's best tricks:

Happy Honkin'

The words "haunted" and "haunting" are not a part of Mia's vocabulary.  

Instead she refers to scary displays as "honkin" houses."  

One such display at Home Depot had a life-size goblin or something.  Mia spotted it the instant we entered the store and Mia had been dead-set against venturing within a 50 yard radius.  David figured by the end of the trip that it was time for Mia to face her fears...get up-close-and-personal with the display in order to realize that it isn't real.  Mom tried in vain to convince determined Dad that "she will have nightmares!  she is only three!," but a whimpering Mia was wheeled deliberately toward the goblin.  

Upon arrival the previously stagnant goblin leaned forward, reached out a hand, and cackled.  

Mia did a full fledged backflip out of the cart onto the concrete floor and proceeded to SCREAM her heart out until we had made it to the car.  Needless to say, we provided a good show for the onlookers. 

Here is a much less spooked-out pair (well, June is a little spooked by her new, rounder shape), pausing on our way to the local library's Halloween activities.

Our flapper girl's elementary rendition of the Charleston:

Well, trick-or-treating last night was a failure.  Mia spent a day full of practicing her "TRICKOTWEET"s and "thank you's" and "I'm a flapper" phrases, but horror set in as we neared the "honkin'" neighborhood (we have to travel into town for Halloween-participating neighborhoods);  Mia became mute and rigid.  Her friends were sweet to try and include her,  but as far as she was concerned,
those bodies in the masks and hoods were NOT any friends of hers!
And apparently there is something terrifying about receiving free hand-outs:

June, however, had a fabulous time.

She even had an encouraging ring of cheering audience around her as she wiggled her body with all her might to Cotton-Eyed Joe at the church party.

This photo is for sentimentality.  We took one three years ago in the same spot with a different pumpkin:

P.S.

David and I got into it too.  David even wore eyeliner (after some feigned hesitation).

Aaand, SURPRISE! 

We each won our respective gender's doughnut-eating contest at our friend's Halloween Party.