Trytophan Hangover

The turkey turned out wonderfully! Grandpa carved...

Mama G.G. and Aunt Tonie relaxed & visited..

The table was set beautifully by Yaya...



And we feasted...on prosciutto wrapped asparagus, Aunt Patsy's broccoli casserole...


Gravy, red chile, sweet potato casserole...

Turkey and mashed potatoes...

Grandpa's cranberry mold, dressing...

Yaya's peas and pancetta...

We tried for a group photo -- the only cousin missing was Simone...

We bonded...

And we had a good time...

Sweet memories, good food, sparkling grape juice, vermouth, wine, and lots of desserts... I am thankful for all of these things...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! There is so much to be thankful for this year, and in the spirit of having elected a new President this month, the posting below is the first Thanksgiving Proclamation given by our nation's first president, George Washington.

Faith & Family Live! - The daily blog of Catholic living

Yesterday Uncle Jaime, Auntie Jeanne, Daniela, and Anthony arrived from Dallas. Today we're going to Yaya and Grandpa's for the big feast, and Jeanne's sister Susan and her husband Jimmy are also going to join us, as well as Mama G.G., Aunt Patsy, and Aunt Tonie. I'll post some pictures soon.

Gabie with Daniela's dog, Francis.

Look at how big Anthony is -- he's 1.5 years old and is almost as big as his 4-year-old sister.

Here's Daniela posing with my brother Jaime. She like's art -- she commented to Christian about one of Yaya's framed artworks: "Look Christian, isn't this the most amazing painting?"

I volunteered to prepare the turkey this year. It's only the second one I have ever attempted, but this year's turkey is the biggest one by far. I can't even use Grandma's old turkey pan. Here are a few pictures Christian took as we prepared it:

First, we all gagged after pulling out the giblets and neck. Then I washed the turkey, patted it dry, and then stuffed it with a quartered lemon, apple, orange, and onion.

I placed the turkey on a "rack" of carrots and celery -- another tip from Tanya.

Then I attempted to rub the paste recipe that Tanya gave me, but it kept sticking to my hands. So then I used a rubber spatula to spread it on the bird.

Here I am calling the Butterball Turkey Hotline because I am not sure if it is ok to cut the skin to put the mixture on the meat. Won't the turkey dry out, I ponder as I dial the number. They are closed at 9:30 PM Thanksgiving-Eve.

We're hoping we don't have to break this out.

People who Need People

Children are innocent in their curiosity. They also blurt out unexpected comments.

Last week we stopped by the children's great-great Aunt Tonie's to say hello. Aunt Tonie is Mama G.G.'s sister and is a retired nun. As we were leaving Christian asked her, "Don't you have any people?" Aunt Tonie was also a teacher and aunt to many nieces and nephews, so she is used to such direct, innocent questions. She explained that she lives alone, and although he was still concerned about it, Christian was finally satisfied with her answer.

Even birds need people.

Gabriel's latest question is, "What's that smell?" He usually plugs his nose when he asks. It is embarrassing, as you can imagine, when it is asked loudly in public around strangers because sometimes it is a stranger who smells. Maybe they don't realize it and think Gabriel's directing the comment at me. Simply embarrassing. Gabriel also says, "Stop talking." It's an updated version of what Christian used to say at that age: "Don't talk to me."

This evening Christian innocently pointed out one of my physical flaws concerning a weighty issue, and we talked about how it is impolite to point out any one's faults. I told him that he could tell me that I am perfect or, I boldly added, even pretty. You have to begin training boys early to give compliments. He got quiet and said, "There is only one perfect person." I asked, "Who is that?" And he solemnly replied, "Jesus." We're getting our money's worth at preschool!

At his school's Thanksgiving feast this afternoon, we listened to some songs the kids performed before we ate. We received a lovely turkey cookbook to help us with our Thanksgiving turkey this week. Each child explained how to fix it, the ingredients needed, and it includes a drawing along with the recipe. Here's Christian's version:

"She puts dressing salad on the turkey and cooks it with a spatula for 7 minutes and then she eats it and then she feeds it to me. I like to eat salads and dressing and turkey and meatballs."

First of all, Christian eats none of those things. Secondly, I like how he included the word 'spatula' in his instructions. Third, I do not plan on putting dressing salad on the turkey; I've got a fabulous recipe from a friend, and we are hoping for the best since I am making the turkey this year.

I'm thankful for many things, but most of all for being a mother to these three little boys: The picture-taking, question-asking thinker; the comment-blabbing giggler; the sweet baby tot.

Random photos by our extremely talented 5-year-old.

Quantum of Confusion

Mike and I just returned from watching the latest James Bond movie called 'Quantum of Solace'. Spoiler alert: Please do not read further if you do not want to know what happened in the movie as I try to describe what occurred. You will have to excuse me, though, because I get a little confused by all the dialogue and action in any such movie.

The opening sequence begins with a fantastic car chase between black, expensive cars crashing into each other on a narrow, winding Italian roadway. Bond ends up under some horse track and we see him open up the trunk and someone who is supposed to be familiar to us comes out. His hostage is questioned, but then the hostage gets away because one of the Bond MI6 secret service agents helps the hostage to get away.

Bond ends up getting the traitor agent in a fight among church bells and they somehow end up chasing and shooting each other on the horse track. Bond gets the guy, much to his boss 'M's' anger, because he was not supposed to kill him. But Bond proceeds to anger M many, many times throughout the movie by killing people he shouldn't. So it turns out that the traitor agent was carrying some strange $100 bill (maybe it was a $5 or a $20 bill) and through technical wizardry and out-of-this-world computer screen holograms, they somehow trace the bill to somebody in Haiti.

Off Bond goes to Haiti to track down another guy who has the same kind of dollars, and he ends up killing him, but then he intercepts this now dead guy's briefcase and decides to walk on the street outside the hotel and see what happens. Out of nowhere a gal pulls up and tells Bond to get in. He does so, but she thinks he's really the dead guy (a geologist). And then Bond realizes he (or the dead guy) was going to kill this gal because of what is in the briefcase, and of course she finds out and gets understandably mad. But then she goes to her boyfriend while Bond waits on the other side of a fishing dock. Through some other technical sleight of hand and a GPS phone he is able to trace where he is.

Then the gal goes on a boat because her boyfriend send her off with some military bigwig from South America, but then Bond rescues her. We find out the boyfriend is some environmental guy trying to take over the world or something.

Then Bond leaves the gal behind and flies off to somewhere in Europe to a fancy black tie opera affair (I believe it was 'Tosca'), and somehow he retrieves this super secret headset and overhears the onlookers, including Mr. Environmental and some talking to each other from various spots in the audience (they have high levels of concentration) about the top secret plot while they watch the opera. Bond breaks their conversation, and as the men panic, Bond takes their pictures as they rise from their seats. Again, through the magic of technical stuff, sha-zam!, the MI6 get all the photos and discover who the men are.

Lots of flying back and forth between the two continents occurs and then Bond meets up with the girlfriend from Haiti, only this time they meet up Mr. Environmental in South America.

This is where I got really lost. It seems that Mr. Environmental wants seemingly barren desert lands in exchange for helping to prop up powerful men, and in those desert lands we find he and his cohorts are sucking up all the water. That's right, he's trapping the water like a beaver! And so all the poor will prop up the dictator that somehow Mr. Environmental is helping to prop up- what does it mean to 'prop up' anyway?- but I don't really think they know why he wants that desert land to himself. Bond finds out during an airplane chase with the bad guys when he crash lands near a huge dammed up lake. And then at some point there are two American CIA agents in the mix, but I am not sure what they are doing -- it seems it was implied that the Americans were there to prop up somebody like what usually happens. But the bad guys no longer want dollars, and they want everything in Euros! Then the mean military junta guy we met in Haiti is made to sign a contract with Mr. Environmental stating that 60% of the utilities of the country will come from Mr. Environmental's company.

In the meantime, 'M' is mad at Bond because he keeps killing guys (he calls them 'dead ends') and she thinks he is trying to get revenge (something having to do with the previous movie and a love interest, I think). So at one point she cuts off his credit card and passport, and somehow the consulate is notified. It seems M does not trust Bond at this point. Then Bond has an old enemy-buddy help him back to South America to get to Mr. Environmental.

I hate it when I lose my concentration in such a movie...you miss one line in an action movie and you've missed a crucial part. I knew not to ask Mike what was going on as I noticed his confused pondering slouch in his seat. I do not even know if I could have better understood this movie if there had been English subtitles. I do not know if I could have understood this movie if there had been English subtitles and American accents. The action and music were really fine, though. I'll take the movie and action of a Bond film any day.

My confusion was the same in such movies as 'Pirates of the Carribean' and 'Mission Impossible'. I walked out of the movie knowing that I had been entertained, but not understanding the plot. It's sort of like taking a roller coaster ride, I guess. I think I've been entertained, but then I wonder why the heck I was when all I wanted to do was vomit over the side of the car and squeeze my eyes shut the whole time.

Yaya and Grandpa stayed with the boys and they ate pizza.

Di-'sep-shun

Oh, the trick I played on the boys last night. Such cunning shenanigans! Were it not for this book, I never would have thought of it:

I desperately hate to cook dinner for the boys anymore. They don't eat, they whine, it's a huge headache. But they do eat spaghetti, and this is where the plot thickens. According to the author of the book above, Jessica Seinfeld, I can mash, puree, and then hide vegetables & fruits in anything imaginable. The trick is to buy the produce and spend a little time doing the prep work early in the week. Lately I haven't been a good meal planner, and I'm just too lazy to pull out my never-used wedding gift rice cooker (it's 9 yrs old) and brand new food processor that Mom got for me -- I'll use it soon, I promise. But I found these recently:

I found them at Wal-Mart, and they're better than the canned variety since it's in a smaller container. I admit, I'm a Wal-mart snob. Please forgive me, but that store is annoying from the carts to the layout. During these tough economic times I am trying my hardest to shop for groceries in a smarter way and I have discovered that Wal-mart saves me money. I have heard that they'll even honor other store coupons or ads, you just have to ask. I have tried using coupons, but then it's a pain comparing prices to the generic store items, which are usually cheaper anyway, and the added pain in the rumpus of trying to entertain these kiddos while I'm shopping, keeping Gabriel in his cart, constantly pulling him down before he jumps out, it's just too much. Please Wal-mart, get those fancy carts with the cars attached to them so people who shop at your store with more than two tots can shop with toddlers in peace. Your company made gazillions of dollars last quarter, surely you can purchase some of those carts!

But I digress, as usual. I found these microwaveable veggies (remember, do not microwave anything in plastic containers) and I had a brainstorm, thanks to my cookbook. I smashed the peas in the mini food chopper and threw them into the spaghetti sauce, and the boys ate it up. Gabie had two bowls. And Mike, my extra persnickety husband, ate a bowl himself and was none the wiser.

Another way in which I have used trickery to my advantage is the way Christian is finally sleeping in his own bed. Since last June, it has been a struggle to get him to sleep alone. We got him that sweet bird for his birthday hoping that Christian would sleep in his room with his friend, but that didn't entice him. I would let him sleep in our room on the floor, but inevitably he'd sneak into the bed in the middle of the night. It was too much, and I finally out of desperation I got him to sleep on the floor in his room. For three nights, he came crying into my room, but I stuck to my guns and took him back into his room. On the third night he asked if he could sleep in our bed, and I said if he slept through the night in his own room - in his bed - then he could. Since then, he's been sleeping in his bed. Why didn't I think of bribing him with what he had already been doing? Live and learn.

Here he is snoozing last night after that big bowl of pea-infused spaghetti.

Soggy Pretzels

I grew up on some pretty great music thanks to my dad -- The 5th Dimension, Simon & Garfunkel -- and I owe my obsession with Abba music to my mom. But probably one of my all-time favorite memories from childhood is dancing to Neil Diamond's 'Hot August Night' album. A few years ago I got his latest Rick Rubin-produced CD from my in-laws for Christmas.

What Gabriel did today brought to mind Neil Diamond's song, 'Soggy Pretzels'. No, Gabriel wasn't crying in his beer sitting in a bar at a corner table, but he was pretty upset that Christian took the very pretzel that he wanted to eat. Nevermind that there were ten other pretzels staring at him waiting to be eaten.

Some of the lyrics:
You were washing
All the salt away from the dough
You were cryin' in your pretzels
And I'll never forget you
But, baby, just why, I'll ever know

Gabie did not wash all the salt away from the dough with his tears, but Christian had licked off all the salt on the very pretzel he wanted. I tried to cajole, console, redirect, and finally I demanded that Christian hand over that soggy pretzel so Gabriel could see that it was no longer what he thought it would be and then he'd get a fresh, crisp pretzel.

Gabriel ate every soggy piece to our disgust. Baby, just why, I'll never know.

Add Some Pizzaz

Last night was another fan-tabulous evening of 'Dancing with the Stars' -- even Jojo was engrossed. Wasn't the performance by John Legend simply awesome? But then I went here (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20241324,00.html?iid=top25-20081119-'Dancing+With+the+Stars'+recap%3A+With+all+due+respect) -- I still don't know how to somehow link the website to the word 'here' as I see on other fancy blogs -- and it seems that the performances by both he and Aretha Franklin (Miss R-E-S-P-E-C-T) were pre-recorded. No matter! I still loved the razzly dazzly performances, whether or not they were lip synched or pre-recorded. And the cute kid couples performed in the Junior DWTS contest, and we shall find out next week who wins the title.

It was at this point that I allowed Christian to take my most coveted possession -- my camera -- and let him take the rest of the photos. Are my eyes really spaced that far apart, or is it just the glasses?
No, it's my eyes. Last year I began using glasses more often because as I age gracefully my eyes can't take the dryness of contact lenses anymore. So the nice lady at the optician shop, seeing that I was pregnant and needed to have some glasses to add to the overall gloomy third-pregnant-belly effect that I was not so thrilled by at that point, told me that I needed new glasses to add some "pizzaz" and that this very pair would, as she so delicately pointed out, be a wonderful pair to offset my "strong nose".

"Strong" is better than "protuberance", or "nasiliferous", or even "honker". Look at this nice photo with me and Gabie -- I don't have very many photos with my kids.

Christian took Daddy's lead and took an up close picture of a flower. He's learning how to use the W and T button on the camera. I've almost mastered it myself.

Who is that scrunching up the blinds?!



It is none other than weasel tot #2! He's feeling much better, although his tonsillitis is still a bother. He tested negative for strep!

Hey - who let Lucas out? Get that pooping bird back into the cage, quick!

If you're not at eye level, your head is going to get cut off.

Daddy hammed it up for Christian. Somewhere there is an upcoming Vogue America's Most Ineligible Married Man contest. This striking pose with the high chair table will make those moms melt. I know I do.

Mouths Agape

For the past several days the boys have been running fevers off and on, and they've also had runny noses. Mocos here, mocos everywhere. Last night Gabie slept with me as he had a high fever and seemed pretty sick. Jojo was also up with us a few times because he'd hear Gabie crying, and Mike stayed with Christian. I gave Gabie Motrin and that broke his fever, but I decided to take him to the pediatrician because I suspected he may have strep throat. Christian and Jojo seemed ok, although they were running low fevers and still had runny noses.

So off we went to the doctor's and we waited with a group of kids in the 'sick area'. I looked at those cute siblings - there were five of them - and noticed they were all staring at the tv. They each had the same expression with mouths halfway open, a look of wonder on their faces. I looked at Christian and Gabie and their mouths were open, too! By gosh, I'd never noticed how kids look like that when they are sick. Like poor little birds waiting for some food. Innocent sweethearts waiting to be fixed. Jojo was dozing so I didn't notice his mouth was open.

No surprise, Gabie has tonsillitis and the pediatrician thinks his test will come back positive for strep anyway, so she gave us a prescription and off we went. At some point he may have to have his tonsils removed, but we'll wait to see what the ENT specialist tells us at the next visit in March. It's strange how he can have strep but the other two boys are negative, just as it happened last spring. As we were leaving we ran into an old friend with two of her five children, and what a coincidence I'd just seen her and her family yesterday! She has a newborn, and holding little Tristan yesterday almost made me wish I had another one....then all the kids were sick last night and I got over my fantasy.

I wish I could've seen those siblings again with their mouths agape, eyes glazed over watching tv.

The Aliens have Landed

Yesterday Christian went to another great birthday party, and the theme was aliens! My friend Beth did a wonderful job for Nik's party -- there was the alien mask craft, 'Pin the Tail on the UFO', a game of Bakugan (we are both still fuzzy on what this latest craze is about), a huge eyeball pinata that seemed pretty indestructible after four or five rounds, and the cake was right out of Roswell with the green aliens lying on the cake and UFO's made out of mini cupcakes. Terrific!

I better start planning Christian's party for next year because we've had rather lame-o parties up to now. Another reminder of how boring we are: our next door neighbors have already put up their Christmas lights and decked out the yard with reindeer. Maybe they're preparing for the extra early holiday shopping season expected this year due to our economy. This shall be a constant reminder for Christian to complain about how boring our yard is for the next two months. Simply booooorrrriinnnngggg...

Angie's Big 4-0!

Last night we celebrated my friend Angie's big 40th birthday at Tucancos Brazilian Grill! There's the birthday girl between Michelle and I.

We met up with Jan and Coco, and what a fun visit we had!

We were filled with churrascos -- go meat! I think my iron levels are sky high.

And a glass of wine or two... look that that picalho, peru, and other delectable delights I cannot pronounce nor spell. I missed photographing the grilled pineapple and fried bananas.




They sang 'Happy Birthday' with the bongos, much yelling, and singing. Yay! Yay! Yay! -- Jan sang along. My kind of place with the great atmosphere, music, and lots of good eats.

To 40 more birthdays and 26 more years of friendship, Angie! Lots 'o love.

Oh Poop!

I was upstairs changing Jojo's diaper when Christian ran up the stairs.

"Did your friends go inside because it's time for dinner?" I asked.

"No, they're hiding from me because I have doggy doo on my shoe," Christian replied.

Crap.

Four States in Four Minutes

Shiprock

Extinct volcano

Grasping wings reach towards the sky

Once flowing magma

They left at 10:00 on Saturday and drove west towards Arizona then north towards the Four Corners to stand on each of the four states:

Mike enjoys day trips with the boys, and the boys always have fun with their daddy. And I am grateful for time alone when I can get it.