Thanksgiving Break is Officially Over....

(Don't ask....Remmy hurt his paw and I was cleaning it out....Kaiden brought me one of his socks and then I had the silly idea to put antibiotic cream on it and cover it with the sock....Remmy looks really happy, doesn't he??!!?)

(What a look.....part devil, part angel....)

(In this picture he's trying to show me his belly.)

-

Well......after 11 days of vacation and spending my days with my little man and his 'sidekick', Remmy, tonight is my last night, and I can't help but feel a little sad. It's not that I don't like my job.....I really don't dread going back at all.....I guess I just like my job as a mom a little better. (I'm sure most of you working mom's out there know exactly what I mean.)

I certainly didn't accomplish half of what I wanted to get done during this time off because I found myself often distracted by reading books, playing with matchbox cars, throwing balls for Remmy or dancing to Christmas Music (and for that matter, chasing after Kaiden who just pulled off ornaments from the tree, and snatching presents away from him that he started unwrapping).

I'm already counting the days until Christmas Break, which starts 12/19!

Throwing Ball for 'Rem-Rem'

It's been really cold lately, so I haven't been taking Kaiden outside as much as I used to (not to mention, it's typically dark until I get home from work). Today I decided we'd go out for a little and throw some ball with Remmy. Kaiden loved my idea....at least at first....then he wanted to wonder off into the woods (that's definitely a Kenny trait). So, I decided to take him up to see our pond, which was frozen and not all that interesting, because you couldn't even see the fish. He did take interest in the fuzzy ends of the ornamental grasses though, so I cut him off a piece to carry around. It seemed to get dark quick tonight, so we didn't get a whole lot of time outside, but that's probably good because that little bugger refuses to keep gloves on....they're even camo gloves!!!!

Gingerbread Houses....Gone All Wrong

(Out of five houses.....two of them are still standing....)

(The kids take a break to read Curious George.)

(Richy's Chapel.)

(Nikka's gumdrop chalet.)

(The one and only time Kaiden was not getting into the icing, the cookies, the gumdrops, etc.)

(Kaiden, snatching the pizza gingerbread I designed....hey, at least I didn't have to worry about it falling apart!)

(Poor Carree....she never did get hers to stick together....she told me it tasted good though....)

This morning my brother, Rick, dropped off my two nieces (Carree/Nikka) and nephew (Richy)on his way to work so that we could put together gingerbread houses. The houses were in a kit, and we were all excited to see how they would turn out....after all, the box shows them looking so tasty and perfectly decorated in gum drops and sugar plums! Huh.....some joke that turned out to be!!! Just about the only thing we made was one big giant mess in my Kitchen! We finally got two out of the five houses to actually stay together at the end, but you could not believe what a task it was. I think some of the $40 Million dollar projects my company has worked on went up faster than these houses! I guess we'll have to find a good recipe and bake some of our own designs next year. I think I'll be stepping on those little candy dots until next Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

(Uncle Brad trying to steal Kaiden's sippy cup)

(Kaiden dancing to the Christmas music)

(As you can see, Remmy was the "step" they used to climb up on the fireplace.)

(Gosh....I think Bryar and Kaiden could pass for brothers!)

(Caught red-handed with my berries....again!)

(Whip creme.....Kaiden's favorite.....Paw Paw Bouchette always knows what Kaiden likes!)

(Kaiden...coming back for more of grandma's punch!)

(Paw Paw Echternach....no, this isn't an Echternach Thanksgiving tradition...the girls were playing dress up....Paw Paw is always the sucker!!!!)

(Kaiden & Nan Echternach)

Well.....another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I'm stuffed as usual. We did our typical thing this year.....2:00 at mom and dad's house and 5:00 at Kenny's mom and dad's house.

On a bit of a sad note, it wasn't quite the same this year. This year we lost my Grandma Bouchette and my Uncle Barry, so it just felt like a part of Thanksgiving was missing somehow. I can't help but wonder if they celebrated Thanksgiving in Heaven together today, and what that must've been like.

Before we left this afternoon, Kenny's brother, Brad, and his little boy, Bryar, stopped up. Bryar and Kaiden played for about an hour. I think they'll probably be good buddies....they don't really have a choice though, do they??? Kenny and Brad are connected at the hip, so I guess they'll have to be too!