Angel Brenna

Brenna is at that age when she is always saying funny things. Here are some recent ones:

Me: Brenna, what's wrong?
Brenna: (crying) Mom, I feel my heart breaking inside me.

Me: Brenna, when was the last time you went potty?
Brenna (thinking) Um . . . Thursday.

Brenna: Mom, Blake made stinky in his diaper. It smells dangerous.

*I realize that a lot of these have to do with potty stuff. When you have a baby and a toddler, that's what happens. It's funny anyway, right?

Brenna: Santa didn't come.
Me: Yes he did. He brought you all of these fun toys.
Brenna: Well I didn't see him.
Me: He came while you were sleeping.
Brenna: That's stupid.

Me: You're my sweet precious girl.
Brenna: I'm not your girl. I'm daddy's girl.

Brenna: My tummy doesn't need dinner. My tummy needs ice cream.

Brenna: I want to go outside with Ethan.
Me: No. Every time you play in the snow you come in crying because it's cold.
Brenna: You make it not be cold. Then I can play outside.

*nice that she has that much faith in me, I guess.
That's enough for now. Everyone suddenly needs me.

Laughing Video

Blake is just like any other stinker baby in that he will laugh and laugh until the video camera appears; then he turns into a total stoic. I did finally manage to capture this little clip. The best laugh is at the very end. The strange noises in the background are Ethan and Taylie's efforts to make Blake happy. When he laughs, it's usually because they are doing something hilarious. I've discovered that, at least to a baby, I'm not all that amusing.

Thanksgiving

Well, I can't say that Thanksgiving went totally according to plan, but it was really good. Actually, considering that it was my first time hosting a gathering of that size and scope, I'd say it was awesome. Here's what went wrong: I forgot to boil the water for the mashed potatoes. (Remembered just in time.) I forgot to spray the plastic wrap before I put it over the rolls, so it stuck and they fell. They were still edible, just not very pretty. (How does a person make lovely homemade croissants and then screw up the Rhodes rolls?) I forgot to get the high chair out of the basement for my nephew to sit in. I had bought all new silverware but forgot to wash it beforehand, so my Sister-in-law was doing it while I was trying to cook and we kept stepping on each other. I should have made everyone leave the pies in their cars or something so that they weren't taking up all of the counter space. I could think of a few more things, and I'm sure the people who were there could think of a few more. But here's what went right: Nobody got food poisoning. All of the food was really good, actually. We had turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, 2 kinds of rolls, spinach salad, green salad, pineapple-marshmallow salad, carrots, green beans, and 2 kinds of cranberry sauce. The table looked pretty. We put all of the kids at my kitchen table. The grownups sat at portable tables in the family room (we moved the furniture out of the way). It worked out just fine. And I'm pretty sure almost everyone had a great time. If they were miserably unhappy, they were too polite to mention it.

After the meal we made gingerbread sleighs. It's a Mayfield family tradition. We ate about as much candy as we put on the sleighs. And then we ate pie. Pumpkin, Apple, Pecan, and Chocolate. Yum! Then the girls all went to see Twilight while Uncle Tom took 6 small kids to see Bolt. Yay, Tom! The best part? My family is all healthy. It's practically a tradition for us to get sick after Thanksgiving. Everyone getting together means everyone's germs getting together too. But I guess we took care of all of that in the first part of November. Hooray!!!