thanksgiving

I Spy

A couple of months ago I asked my friend Amy "what's up with your orange bucket by the garage? it's been there for a few days and it's really annoying." (I like to let her know that I'm paying attention to what she's doing/not doing since we have a running joke that she's stalking me/I'm stalking her.)

Somehow, not really sure how, it evolved into a game where she hides her bucket somewhere in the yard and I'm supposed to find it when I drive by. I might mention that I also honk every time I drive by as a quick "hi", so honking and searching for a bucket while driving isn't really a safe combination for me..... but I like to live on the edge.

The kids are totally into it now, too. Looking for the bucket, seeing if Mom is going to honk... yeah, Amy set up some "pumpkin decoys" in an effort to throw me off. She doesn't realize what she's up against...

It's a gift. Spotting orange buckets in a pinch. Comes from years of I Spy bedtime stories.

(The bonus of doing this blog was that I took pictures of her house from my car.... rather like a real spy don't you think?)

Magically Delicious!

Do you ever make something so yummy you surprise even yourself? I made some buttermilk syrup (thanks Nana for the recipe!) the other night for our breakfast for dinner and since we had syrup left over we simply had to have it AGAIN the next night! I'm going to give you the secret family recipe, one time only....

Buttermilk Syrup

2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 tsp baking soda

Slowly bring the first three ingredients to a boil for 5 minutes. Let it cool for 5 minutes. Stir in the baking soda (this makes it frothy). SWEET NELLIE that is goood stuff!

OK, so it's not super healthy, but TOTALLY WORTH the admiration children and adults alike will adorn you with. I mean, if you make your own syrup you MUST be capable of many more magically obscure creations...

Dress-up is So MUCH FUN!

Within 24 hours of each other, the Rice family was dressed to impress TWICE.... that would be Halloween and the Annual Family Portrait. Yes, totally different "costumes" of course. Here is a little of how that went down:
Halloween-- the kids went easy on me this year and designed/re-made their own costumes for the most part (I couldn't help myself but get involved a little). The highlights:
1) Jackson wore Josh's old Buzz Lightyear costume.... yes, the VERY costume that Josh at the same age wore daily for 3 solid years! This brought back memories and I had to look twice more than once to double check that it wasn't Josh after all. (no, YOU do the math)
2) Aubrey wanted a bone for her hair since she wanted to be an authentic cave girl. It wouldn't have been Halloween if I didn't sew something. (I learn all my sewing techniques, trial by error, on costumes... thank you, please hold your applause.)
3) Jessica wanted to be a face card, the Queen of Hearts to be exact. This does not go to show that we have facecards in our home, but we made the exception and held back our carnal nature to play poker with her. We took a photo of her face, printed it up life-sized, and turned it upside down on the card opposite of where her face would show through. Wahlah! The Queen of Hearts!
4) Josh came up with the clever idea to keep his candy container looking empty by hiding the majority of his loot in a backpack under his cape. "People feel sorry for me, mom, and I get more candy that way." ....Only a 12 year old boy.
5) Benson went to a party as a truck driver. I made him a mustache that had long, droopy handlebars and a nametag that said "Mack". It actually scared me, since he looked a little too real and comfortable in the role...
6) Michael looked as dashing as possible as "Dwight Schrute" from the Office. Enough said.
7) This was the first year EVER that I did not dress up. All I could think of was how much my stomach looked like a pumpkin, and I wasn't in the mood to have everyone else think the same.
I have to say, I really would have loved wearing some long sparkly fake eyelashes if I had had the fore-thought.
8) With our new home and new yard we had all kinds of new possibilities... so we started our own spooky graveyard, complete with floating ghosts and a funny epitaph that has reference to a practical joke played on me a few years ago. Long story short, I was coaxed into calling a funeral home 3 times asking for "Myra Maines".... I realized I had been played when the director hung up on me and I finally figured out why... thanks, mom and dad. VERY funny.

We had our Halloween Jollies Friday night, but dressing up wasn't over until we had our family photo shoot the next day. This came with it's usual mishaps and stress, but overall it worked out just fine. Highlights:
1) Benson's hair. I believe I have discussed his hairstyle in another post. His "pinecone" was in FULL glory, let me tell you.
2) Very first picture, we all knelt/sat in the grass on squishy cherries. Mmmm. Yeah.
3) Everyone was so cooperative, I didn't even have to bribe or threaten. Total miracle.
4) With the photos in raw form still, there are opportunities to play I SPY until Photoshop gets a crack at it. Here is the list: a man sitting on his porch in the background, a car driving along (how dare they use roads), a letter V on Michael's shirt, etc.
5) I didn't think about the fact that a RED shirt on me might accentuate things, so now forever I shall have to point out that I was 6 months pregnant in that portrait, just to be clear. I don't mind capturing this moment in time for us, we are thrilled and love my bump, but you know how it is...

So, dressing up "had it's day" in the 24 hour period this weekend for us Rices. I'm calling it good for the year. Phew!