Thanksgiving on a smaller scale

Well our Thanksgiving this year was less of an ordeal than the major US celebrations loaded with family, friends, food, and football. We did most of those things- minus the football (which of course is not available here) but on a much smaller scale than we usually do in America. You may notice the absence of the fancy centerpiece complete with pumpkins and autumn leaves. Good thing the decorations and football aren't what Thanksgiving is really about...although some may beg to differ about the football part.

We started by convincing Trey to take the day off from his studies so that we spent the whole day as a family. We invited our friends Ryan and Adrian Weimer and their adorable daughter Annabel (notice those amazing ringlets) to share in our feast. It can be challenging to cook a Thanksgiving dinner in a miniature oven....I honestly think the Pottery Barn kids pretend ovens are the same size as mine. That being said, Adrian and I divided up the cooking and she brought several delicious dishes. Don't think I felt a little bit guilty about this considering that she is 8 months pregnant, has a two year old, that her husband had been out of the country for a week, and oh yeah... just happens to be finishing her PhD dissertation from Harvard!!! Some of you know that Ryan was my sister Tina's Inner Varsity co-leader at Wake Forest so it has been fun to connect with them here.

I have also included a couple of pics of our preparation. Emerson made a very fancy Thanksgiving picture with her markers, glue, scissors and special Thanksgiving stickers that Nana sent her in the mail. She also had a great time making her first pumpkin pie. Ward just joined us for the photo op, and tried to sneak a taste real food whenever he could. We hope all of your celebrations were as fun and laid back as ours!

Growing Boy

In the last week Ward has gone from swaying like a little weeble-wobble to sitting well. He can now reach in about any direction to grab a toy and pull himself back up without toppling over. These milestones are so much fun. He is enjoying a different vantage point. Since his excersaucer has been stuck on a ship for the past few months, he has spent most of his time on a playmat and doing tummy time. He is definitely loving sitting up so he can look around the room.

I am not sure if you can tell from the picture or not, but most of the shelves behind Emerson and Ward are still empty. That is because we still don't have our boxes. We did finally talk to the UK moving company yesterday and they are scheduled to deliver them next Monday. Just in the nick of time since it will be much easier to prepare Thanksgiving dinner with a few mixing bowls and measuring spoons.

I am also including a pic of Emerson's beloved sparkly "high heels" which she calls "clonky shoes" because of the delightful sound that they make. She had been wearing my shoes pretty much on a daily basis until Trey and I decided for the good of our downstairs neighbors, she needed a smaller pair. Thus the very exciting purchase of Emerson's own high heels. So here they are in all of their sparkling glory, which Em thinks is very much like the glass slippers worn by Cinderella! While I am on the topic of our little lady- a quick update on our school situation. We have now interviewed at 3 schools (2 public, 1 private). We are expecting to hear back by the end of the week from St. Leonards, which is our 1st choice. Because it is not the start of a term and most students would have added their name to the waiting list on their 2nd birthdays for a 3 year old spot, we are not entirely hopeful. Nevertheless, we feel this would be a great place for Emerson so we are praying that she will get a place.

Trick or Treat

Halloween was incredibly fun this year. Emerson loves to play dress up so it was extra special for her to be able to wear her dress up clothes out and about. She chose to be Tinker Bell. Ward was a Georgia Bulldog football player. (Following family tradition since Emerson was a Bulldog cheerleader last year). As you can see from the pictures Emerson and I made her treat bag this year since we didn't exactly pack her plush pumpkin treat bag that she has used in previous years. She loves to cut and paste so it made a great craft project and helped to spread the celebration through the day. She also got to wear makeup which was just the ultimate for our girly-girl!

Trick or Treating is a little different when you are going door to door instead of house to house. A few of the costumes worn by older kids were a little scary for her so she was very glad to have Daddy along for "protection". I think that the candy made it all worthwhile for her. She is now happily brushing her teeth several times a day in an attempt to negotiate extra treats from her bag.

Time to Play

Well, as expected life is certainly a lot less hectic here in Edinburgh. I honestly think that just the absence of a car has given us more time on our hands. Needless to say, we do not miss the Atlanta traffic. When our internet went down a week ago, it really multiplied our time since I was completely unable to work. While this was a tremendous problem and now I am totally backlogged, it gave me some great family time. We have enjoyed playing in the garden outside of our flat. Emerson wants to go out at every waking minute. When she is not outside, she is perched on her stool at our kitchen window, watching the other children play.

It has also given us time to start Ward's first foods. You can see in the photo that his first day eating rice he was looking a little unsure. By day two, he was full throttle and now he has successfully moved onto peas, carrots, and will start sweet potatoes tonight. Emerson has enjoyed helping me make his food and is always wanting to help hold the spoon. This makes me a little nervous. Ward is such an eager eater, he dives for the spoon each time he sees it. I am afraid she is going to jab him in the back of the throat and gag him- probably not the best. Now that Ward is getting a little bit older and more active, Emerson is all the more willing to jump in and play with him. He is totally enamoured with his big sister. He gives a huge grin whenever he sees her and watches her constantly.

Of course, now that we have regained access to the outside world after what felt like an eternity (8 whole days!!!!) it is back to work for me. Trey of course never stopped working since they didn't shut down the library in honor of my internet crisis. Even so, we are both workng joyfully as we are very grateful for our current tasks and our higher quality family time that life on Blacket Avenue has provided.