The Halls Are Decked

The two little ones in the house (human and furry) are doing well with the tree. Natalie is learning to resist the urge to remove as many ornaments as possible before getting caught. Non-fragiles are at the bottom! Lily is a fan of hiding under the tree skirt. Can't do anything but laugh at a clumsy 15-pound cat trying to shimmy underneath a piece of fabric.

Sesame Place

This weekend was Sesame Place's annual Holiday Party. Sesame Place is in Langhorne PA, only about 15-20 minutes from our house. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to check out the park and kick off the Christmas season with the Muppets!

Welcome to Sesame Street!
We went on Grover's Teacups.
Mommy and Natalie eagerly waiting for the ride to start.
Natalie loved the spinning! I was the color of Kermit the Frog at this point.
Next we went on Big Bird's Hot Air Balloons.
Up we go!
In the sky!
Daddy and Natalie went on Elmo's Flying Fish.

And Elmo's Peek-A-Bug. I didn't get a good picture of the entire ride. It's basically just like a train (that looks like a bug) on a U-shaped track, and it swings back and forth and rotates around too.
The Monster Maze may have been Natalie's favorite attraction.

Check out the laughter!



We saw a live Elmo's World show!
Here's Elmo and Mr. Noodle's nephew Mr. Noodle.
We were sitting at the very top of the theater right by the aisle, so Elmo made his entrance and exit right next to us! At the beginning he sort of jumped in and startled Natalie.

We also saw Big Bird's Christmas show.
And all his friends were there! Abby, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, The Count, Zoe, Elmo and Big Bird all danced and sang Christmas carols.
And then the snow came out!
The third and final show was Abby's Treasure Hunt. Cookie, Grover, Abby, Elmo, Rosita and Oscar had to use clues to figure out how to open that trunk.
Natalie was so tired at the end of the busy day that all she had the energy to do was sit in Daddy's lap and say "oooh!"
As we were heading out, we saw a few characters mingling for pictures. Rosita and Grover:
And Bert and Ernie.
We had such a fun day! I can't wait to take Natalie back during the summer when the water rides are open. I think she'll love it!

A Year of Pies -- Month 6

Along came lemon meringue pie this month. Brad had previously proclaimed blueberry and key lime as his favorites so far, but it is possible that they have been dethroned by lemon meringue! This month got the better of me, and my promised monthly pie came later in the month than I'd planned. So since Thanksgiving was just a couple days ago, we have pie up to our ears. Pumpkin, pecan and lemon meringue. Problem or not?

Thankful

We are thankful for our new life in New Jersey. It has been a big adjustment (and it still is), but we like it here.

We are thankful for a comfortable place to live.

We are thankful for our beautiful, healthy, happy Natalie.

We are thankful for our families, who we missed so much yesterday.

We are thankful for friends, especially the Massengills who so graciously invited us to join them for Thanksgiving yesterday. Even though we were missing our families and traditions, we had a great time with new friends and creating new memories.

We are thankful that we are headed to Houston three weeks from today for the Christmas season!

Home Sweet Home

By popular demand, I have finally gotten around to doing a tour of our house. Enjoy!

Ho Ho Ho

I took Natalie to get her picture taken with Santa at the mall this afternoon. Let's just say she's not a fan. After she screamed bloody murder for a couple minutes, I went and sat next to Santa and put Natalie on my lap. She settled down (only because The Big Guy was out of her line of vision) and the photographer managed to snap this shot. My shoulder and hands made it into the picture...oh well. I wish I could have bought two different pictures, but you could only choose one. I would love to have had one of her screaming. There's just something about a picture of a screaming toddler on Santa's lap that is morbidly cute.

Here's a look back at last year's Santa pics:

Thinking about it...thinking about it...

NOT OK!

Pre-Thanksgiving Feast

Tonight we hosted Brad's cohort (the group of first year sociology PhD students) for Thanksgiving dinner. There were 10 of us in all...a few people couldn't make it. I didn't take any before pictures of the feast, or any action shots of it being enjoyed, but I did manage to snap a shot of the aftermath. Sink piled high with plates...small amounts of leftovers in various serving dishes...glasses half full (or half empty, however you want to look at it)...and a dishwasher packed to the gills. Natalie made lots of new friends, especially the ones who let her play with their iPhones. We had a great time stuffing ourselves silly with all the traditional Turkey Day fare -- turkey and gravy, cornbread dressing, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls and cranberry sauce. And, of course, lots of dessert!

Happy Pre-Thanksgiving!