Happy Early Thanksgiving!

It's November, and that means it's Thanksgiving time. My friend and co-worker Nathalie, who is also one of Anastasia's favorite babysitters, throws a Thanksgiving dinner for her friends. This year, in order to fit in to Nathalie's super busy schedule, she ended up doing it on Veterans Day.

The dinner is sort of potluck, where each person is assigned a particular dish to bring. My assignment, a vegetable side dish, was actually pretty open ended, which I liked. I decided to do creamed spinach, which is super easy to make, and rich enough in flavor that I felt like it wouldn't get lost on plates laden with turkey, stuffing and gravy. The spinach made, Anastasia and I headed out.

She was very nervous when we arrived because she didn't recognize many faces. It didn't take her long to notice the cheese and crackers, which she at in abundance. She also enjoyed looking at Baby Colin, who was attending his first Thanksgiving. By the time we sat down for dinner, though, she was doing great.



Anastasia really enjoyed the turkey, the cranberry sauce, and the stuffing. Not so much with the mashed potatoes, or the creamed spinach. Well, vegetables were worth a shot.

Before we said goodnight, we managed to get one picture with Abby (Miss Photogenic) and Anastasia (who was happier than she looks):

Falling Leaves

The trees are really dropping their leaves now, so Orlando pulled out the leaf blower to clear the front yard and sidewalks. After a little while of blowing, he had a pretty good pile built up. Anastasia and I decided to take the opportunity for a bit of fun. In seconds, she was up to her knees.



She really thought throwing the leaves was fun.



But, when Orlando laid down and started to bury himself in the leaves, she got a little upset and told him that she didn't like it.



Then we decided that Daddy needed to get back to work, but not before one more toss of the leaves.

Annie's new coat

Daddy bought Anastasia a new winter coat. She was pretty excited to get to try it out. And, this week she learned how to put it on all by herself.



It was a pretty proud accomplishment. Now, if it would only get cold enough for a lime green puffer jacket to be needed.

Happy Halloween!

Anastasia was not terribly excited to get dressed up for Halloween. When we tried on her costume on Monday, she cried and said she didn't want to be a bumblebee. I was a little concerned that we would have a problem on Friday, but as soon as she realized there was candy, I was able to convince her to put on the costume in order to get a piece of candy.



She made a very cute bee, and with her friend Lily as a butterfly, we were well on the way to a super cute bug parade. Lily's baby brother Noah was a caterpillar, and their dog George was a super cute lady bug.



Our little bugs were very happy to be walking out in the neighborhood. We went to about a dozen houses, mostly friends and people we know. The girls were very excited to get started.



Initially, the two girls wanted to go inside, especially when they saw a kitty cat inside one of the first houses.



It didn't take long for them to get the gist of trick or treating. At our neighbor Kathleen's down the street, the girls knocked and her dog Hoover was very excited to meet the trick or treaters.



We went down the block and met up with some more of the neighborhood crew. Anastasia was very patient while all of the other kids got their candy, but she made sure she got hers, too.





After a while, the girls started to run out of steam, so we decided to head back. Anastasia was ready to be carried as we headed back to the house.



She was very good about waiting until we got home before trying to get into the candy. But, as soon as we got home, she was ready to dive in! Grandma Myney opened a sucker for her and she went to town while we continued to serve the neighborhood children their Halloween treats.



As you might have guessed, bedtime was pretty well delayed, but when it finally came to going to bed, she pretty much crashed. Unfortunately for me, it was only a few minutes after she went to bed that my stomach started to react to the virus that would keep me down all weekend.