Happy Thanksgiving!

 This year we are super grateful for our three little gobblers.  Especially our newest addition who is celebrating her first Thanksgiving.  She is already looking forward to next year when she will actually be able to eat some of the feast.

 I am also thankful for all the family that we didn't get to see today and for the friends that we did.  I'll post about the food later.  I'm too full to think about it right now.

Just to make sure that this post doesn't get sentimental I'll include the note that Rocky wrote to me.
Don't feel bad if you can't read it.  She translated it for me.

Dear Mom, even though you are sometimes mean, I still love you.

R.I.P. Hostess

 Here in Hippie Town there are quite a few people celebrating the downfall of the preservative laced snack cake empire that we know as Hostess.  There are also a few fans apparently, judging by the fact that there isn't a crumb to be found in any of the stores around.  The lady that was standing behind me in line said she had personally checked and all of the Safeways and Dari Marts around have been stripped clean.  I want to believe that it was the Sundance Food crew that desperately bought up the Twinkies but I'm pretty sure it was the other personality of this town, the U of O students.
I'm sad about the news for two reasons.

The first is that without Hostess nobody will ever have another amazing wedding cake like this one.

The second reason has to do with childhood memories that I have of my Grandma Ike.  I was really young when she died but there are a few things I haven't forgotten.  When we visited her house she let us go down into the basement into the room with the food storage.  The walls were lined with mason jars full of everything from grape juice, to chili sauce but we didn't care about that.  We went straight to the big freezer.  I can remember the handle that you pulled up on to open the door and inside were Ding Dongs that had been individually wrapped in tin foil.

I don't think she ever ate Ding Dongs, but I can picture her happily stocking her freezer for when her grandkids would visit.  Now that I think about it, I am pretty sure that I've never even eaten a Ding Dong that wasn't frozen.

Sometimes she took me with her to replenish her supply at the "day old bread store" which was the Wonder Bread outlet in downtown Ogden.  It was right by 25th Street which is beautiful now, but was pretty scary back then.  Grandma would face the risk to get discounted deliciousness.   
She let me choose one of the two-packs for myself.  I would always pick the pink Snowballs.  I know that the Sno Balls are considered by many to be the ugly stepchild in the Hostess lineup but they were my favorite.  Whenever I see them in the store I remember my cute little grandma and how special she made me feel.

While Hostess may be part of the obesity epidemic and represent all that is wrong with America, it is also one of my very favorite memories.  So if you nabbed one of those Sno Balls before they were all eaten up, take a bite for me and think of the coolest grandma ever.

Compromise

 I'm finally starting to learn my lesson about negotiating with a 2 year old.  While she may not wear her dragon costume to church, it is probably okay if she wants to wear her swimsuit in the bathtub.

 The three amigas show the growth progression from 2 to 5 months.  Rosy, Ivy and Caroline are bound to be BFFS...or frenemies.  Time will tell.

 

Now I'm going to show you something really cute and something really nasty.  You can guess which is which.

 

This spider is still kickin' it outside of our front door.  It is huge and has great colors striping its body.  I thought it would be a good idea to take a photo so I could identify it later, but I'm a little bit hesitant to know what it is.  Rocky has named it "Blue" and now I can't kill it so if it is dangerous we had better just remain in ignorance.  

And now to make up for the spider picture I've got a video of Rosy doing what she does best, and that is being adorable.  Once again, nothing special happens, but I feel like I need to give her fans a glimpse of what she is like because the still shots just don't do her justice. 

Bath Time

 Just for full disclosure, this isn't Rosy's first bath.  It was the first one that there was a parent to do the bathing and another parent to take photos. 

It was awesome.

More Rosy

I have been getting a lot of requests for more Rosy and I guess it is only fair that we don't hog her all to ourselves.  She is growing super fast and is exceptionally strong.  She already rolls over and can wiggle herself off her blankets. 

Spa night:  Rocky and Daisy enjoy the mineral bath while their baby sister gets a manicure.

 Even though she has grown a lot she is still so small.

 She loves to be on her tummy.

 

I'm sorry for those of you who only get to see her through the lens because it just doesn't capture how loveable she is.  

Video:  Notice- Nothing happens in this video.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Ghostbusters

 We tried to continue taking advantage of picking out costumes for our kids while they are still young enough to not realize that they should have a say in these things.  We did show them a few minutes of Ghostbusters so they could research their characters and really delve into the roles they were assigned.  We skipped all the scary and/or "mature" content which made it much shorter (I have already learned my lesson about that) but they did get a big kick out of Slimer and the Stay Puffed Marshmallow Man. 

 We saved a month's worth of garbage so Brandon could work his magic and make these awesome Proton Packs.  The only problem now is that we've got to really cool pieces of creatively organized junk that I feel bad about throwing away.  Is there anyone whose kids need a costume for next year?

We had a great time at the Trunk or Treat at the church.  Talk about a sweet deal.  My kids ended up with tons of candy in about 5 minutes and they didn't even have to climb a single stair.

 In the past I have been less than enthusiastic about the whole idea of a Trunk-or-Treat because I think that my children should have to work their buns off running from house to house to earn their candy like I did.  But, as a mom, I have to admit that it really hit the spot for a school night holiday.
It left us with a little time to do some hard core Trick-or-Treating in our apartment complex with some good friends.  I really wanted to knock on the door of our old apartment and see how the new occupants were treating it, but they had a sign that they were out of candy.  I still considered knocking and pretending I was a vacuum salesman out on my rounds but I was worried that after seeing the Proton Pack they might actually want me to turn it on.
Besides, anyone who knows anything would assume that we were exterminators. 

 Of course my daughters, who take after their mother, know that Halloween is the best day of the year because of the CANDY!  They raked in a bunch and now I remember why we thought it was a good idea to have kids.  With two of them going at a steady pace they (and what I mean by that is we) ended up with quite the stash.  I'm already looking forward to next year when Rosy can start pulling her load.  Speaking of our little Slimer, she spent most of the evening this year snuggled up in her daddy's arms, snoozing.  I tried to get a decent photo but it was a lost cause.  This is only half of her costume, but it is the better part.

 

It was a fantastic Halloween and was followed by another favorite, dia de los muertos.  It was kind of a long day of me being sick so we didn't accomplish my lifelong dream of being in Mexico to celebrate the Day of the Dead, but I did pull it together enough in the evening to make it to the campus party, which was a pleasant consolation prize.

 What could be more interesting than a couple of living calaveras?  Nothing.

 While Rocky was busy checking out the altar, Daisy was doing this...whatever it is.

 Now there is nothing left to do but start brainstorming about next year's costume and daydreaming about the feasting that is just around the corner. 

Bonus: We are going to have to take all our pictures in the bathroom because it is the only room with decent lighting...and because it is the most popular room in our place.