kids update

i am always amazed at how brilliant my son is, its almost scary. he just gets stuff. i was complaining about what blake was watching on television the other day i.e. mma for a week in a row and he didn't want to watch "bones" (can you believe that?), so avery said that we could just both watch his show and that would be fair i.e. back at the barnyard. he was particular about which one he wanted to watch and there were 10 recorded. he was explaining to his dad how to get to the 8th one so he says, "go to the last one and then go back 3." what 6-year-old explains how to get to 8 in a sequence of 10 like that? it always makes us laugh too when we hear anna from the other room say, "avery we've watched this show 100 times." i don't think she's figured out that she's the oldest yet and that she should essentially have the remote and not him. avery's been reading "the magic tree house" books. we started in order and he is on the 9th one. after the first 2 he asked, "are they all about the magic tree house?" i explained that they were and he has been so excited about each new story that he wants to read a whole one every night, this takes at least an hour, and sometimes i try to talk him into cutting it short (what mother does that?). i was talking to megan on the phone the other day when he came in and wanted to read, i told him that he had read an hour the night before, so he was good. he then continued to whine that he wanted to read. i didn't think much about it until megan said, "your kids are so weird." i of course got defensive immediately until i realized that she meant most kids are whining because they don't want to read and avery was whining because he wanted to. they are a little weird i guess, but i wouldn't change them for the world.

anna has been obsessed with the baby, asking constantly if she's moving. i don't know why but i have a hard time sharing those little moments with anyone. its something i really have to work at. it has gotten a little easier with each pregnancy to share little things with blake that i am thinking or feeling and the changes happening to my body. it has been kind of weird to me to have a 10-year-old that wants in on the intimacy of it all. i think it has brought us closer together because i am not always able to connect with her. she is so different than me and has always been comfortable in her own skin that it is almost feels like she doesn't need me most of the time and i have to take a step back and realize that she does and its my responsibility to be there when i'm needed.

pomegranate salad

i have been a little worried about thanksgiving this year because since being pregnant i have had to avoid any sort of high fat dairy products and most other dairy products too (thank goodness i can still eat frozen yogurt). i really won't miss the pies too much, but the pomegranate salad is one of my favorites. we don't make it in our family with raisins and nuts, its just fruit, pomegranates, and heavy whipping cream with sugar. anyway, i found on the simply, healthy, tasty blog a recipe for whipping cream made out of coconut milk. i know i have seen this before but was a little leary because i can be a little picky when it comes to alternatives to what i'm used to, but after trying this whipping cream today on my peeled pomegranates, bananas, and apples, i'm sold. thanksgiving will not be ruined!!

on a lighter note....two new additions

we finally got something to put our tv in. i hate shopping for furniture and worst yet is actually having to spend money on it. our tv has been sitting on our coffee table for over ayear now and i decided that i wanted to get something up a little higher so i started shopping craigslist (because i can do this at home and find great deals). i finally found something that i liked that wasn't too big for the spot i had. anna had the best time organizing all the movies alphabetically into the dvd holders (she has a little ocd). it has been nice to have the tv up out of the reach of all the toddlers that toddle through our living room and the kids have to sit back a little farther from it because if they lay down too close they can't see it. hopefully, this will save their eyes. you would think with a 52" tv that they would be able to sit back a little bit, nope!!

blake got sick of having our shoes strung all over by the back door and so he had ben learned build us this handy dandy shoe rack. the kids made a quick habit of putting their shoes in it while their mother's were still thrown in the laundry room. just a funny little story: the other day i looked high and low for my shoes in the usual places first i.e. the bathroom, on the treadmill, in the laundry room, by my side of the bed, wherever is the most convenient. determining that they were lost for good and that the dogs must have taken off with them, i walked by this handy dandy little shoe rack on my way to look outside and guess what was in it, my shoes. someone had put them away for me in the most inconvenient of places.