I am thankful for this weather.

It is nearly December and it was sunny and in the 50s today. It was not warm, but it isn't snowing either - and I am thankful for that.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family. We started out with a Turkey Trot for me and football for Scott, then spent a good chunk of the day cooking. Scott made his famous candied sweet potatoes and a pumpkin pie. I made my grandma's almond cheesecake, an apple pie, a brown rice-butternut squash-pomegranate salad, and homemade peppermint patties. We spent the afternoon stuffing ourselves.
Scott and his dad got up early (12:30 a.m.) for some Black Friday craziness. They went to Best Buy and scored a big TV. As I type, they are watching Lord of the Rings after hooking it up.
As for me, I prefer to avoid Black Friday; I even stocked up on diapers and wipes so I don't have to set foot in Target for the rest of the year (if I can help it).
We chose to relax a little more on Black Friday.
We spent the morning at the Museum of Fine Art and followed that with lunch at Bruce's most favorite restaurant.
We headed to the beach for the rest of the day. Phoebe loved the special treatment from Grandpa.
There were a few people walking their dogs and some were taking photos for their Christmas cards (maybe we should have done that to avoid this), but for the most part it was a quiet day at the beach.
Bruce insisted on wearing his bathing suit and even went in the water up to his knees. He said he was not cold.
He looks a little cold though.
Phoebe also shed her coat, tights, and shoes and waded around in the shallow pools. She eventually admitted that she was cold and put her shoes back on. We ended the day eating Phineas and Ferb-shaped macaroni and cheese while watching Phineas and Ferb.

Autumn in New England

Phoebe, Baby J, and I made a huge pile of leaves at the park last week. We played in it until it was time to pick Bruce up from school, and then had to go straight home because it was already getting dark. We decided to get out the door early the next morning and go jump in the leaf-pile before school.

Family of 4

My mom called me up tonight. My dad makes an awesome family calendar that has everyone's birthday and photo on it, which is super-important since there are zillions of us now. Anyway, my mom needed a photo with our family together - stat. Thankfully, Scott's dad is in town and grabbed the camera for us. We had been at the Museum of Fine Art all morning and Wingaersheek Beach all afternoon, so none of us were looking photo-ready and the kids were tired. Perfect combo for a family photo!
After Bruce's grouch-face, Scott told him he'd better smile or he would have a really long time-out. Nothing makes you smile like the promise of a long time-out. I'm pretty sure I started laughing first.Too bad Phoebe didn't want to put her seashells down.
Sorry mom, we tried. Better luck next year.

Out with Halloween, In with Thanksgiving

Since I have neglected to put photos up for more than a week (maybe 2?), here are a few recent ones. While Phoebe didn't want to wear her Halloween costume, she liked to steal parts from Bruce's. Doesn't she look like a doting mother with her little baby? And lightsaber?
These photos are from the school Halloween party. Bruce raced this girl on the hippity hop......and won when she totally ate it. Ouch.

Scott is now on his tour of the Midwest, hoping to impress more residency programs. In 10 days, he is checking out U of Pittsburgh, U of Michigan, Cleveland Clinic, and Mayo Clinic. In between all the interviewing, he is getting pampered by my parents and Grandma Tompkins. I am not the only one who is jealous: Bruce and Phoebe are wishing they were in Ohio too. But alas, we are here and making the best of it:We headed to Plymouth last weekend. Bruce and I have had several conversations about pilgrims and freedom with Thanksgiving coming up, so we went to the place where it all began. In the above columned cage is where The Plymouth Rock lies. It sits down in a pit in the ground and isn't all that big. I'll admit I was a little disappointed the first time I saw it, which was at the end of the Run to the Rock 10K that I did a few months ago. The kids were stoked though. We hiked around and checked out statues of pilgrims and native Americans before heading over to the Mayflower.We did not tour the Mayflower - we got there long before tours began because I wanted to beat the traffic and had other things to do that day - but we walked around the pier and the shore. Bruce decided we need to come back here with Scott and take the tour next time.He also decided that we should decorate the house for Thanksgiving. I have two mini pumpkins on the table that I count as my holiday decor, but I guess that is not enough for Bruce. I asked him how we should decorate and he said (completely seriously), "like the inside of a turkey." I asked him what that looked like and he said (still seriously), "Lots of blood vessels and eggs."

'Tis the season for blood vessels and eggs.

Not slowing down.

Someday I will get back in the habit of biweekly blogging. That will be the day I blow-dry my hair and run a lint roller over my nicely pressed blouse.

For the sake of keeping up with my relatives and fellow blog-stalkers, here is a quick update:

Scott had his first residency interview. He liked Philadelphia and the program at Penn. He called me while he was walking around the city and told me how great it was. I had read somewhere that Philly has one of the highest crime rates in the United States; it even has its own "Crime in Philadelphia" wiki page. While Scott was telling me how great the city was, an emergency vehicle went by with sirens on.

I am busy with the usual: finding a Turkey Trot to race, heckling Bruce to do his homework and resist the urge to write in all caps, taking care of Baby J and Phoebe during the day, and switching our condo's management company (this alone has taken at least a year off my life).

Bruce was Darth Vader for Halloween. He has worn his costume almost every day since purchasing it a few weeks ago. He loved trick-or-treating, but isn't big into candy. He eats one piece a day and will probably still have a pile until Easter replenishes his pile.

Phoebe, on the other hand, has already had two tantrums today (it's 11 a.m.) because she wanted a piece of candy from her bag. She loves candy and will do anything to get it. Phoebe had a cute Little Mermaid costume, but absolutely refused to wear it. She ended up wearing her pajamas and went as a very tired little girl. She pulled it off well.

Photos and updates to come someday...