It was a Happy Thanksgiving.

Practicing the drums in preparation for the Cousin Talent Show. The Alan Curtis family talents included: Doing a somersault (by Will) and Singing "Christmas in the West" (by Alex).

Will sat at the table, ate his turkey dinner off of china and silver, and was quite civilized. I was shocked and pleased. He really is growing up...

...but is also still our baby. (And don't you think the hair keeps him looking more babyish? I do.)

Fishing at the Curtis Family Fishpond.
This is a tradition put on every Thanksgiving at Nana and Papa's. Each grandchild fish's for prizes chosen out especially for them by Nana. The kids love it! There was also a rousing game of Pin-the-hat-on-the-turkey- it was quite hysterical. What a great day. The best part: Alan, Alex, Will and I were in bed by 7:30pm. Lovely.

Thanksgiving at Pre-K

Alex invited me into his classroom for a Thanksgiving treat (pumpkin bread) that he made with the help of his teachers, Mrs. Allison and Mrs. Farell. Will went to a friend's house so I could really focus on spending some one-on-one time with Alex- I treasure the few moments we have together. Alex is such a smart, inquisitive, caring little boy- he's been through so much this year and has really bounced back to being his cheerful little self. I just adore him.

9 years

I can hardly remember life before him.

There's no one I would rather have as my partner.

Happy Anniversary to us!

We've moved on to happier days.

Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

24 Hour Recap:
Nov. 7, 5:30 am- Alex wakes me up, begging for food and water and complaining that his stomach hurts. Not surprising, since he knows he is going to be having surgery for the FIFTH time this morning, and I'm sure there were some butterfly's going on. I calm him down and we talk for 45 minutes in bed before getting up to head to the hospital.
Nov. 7, 12 noon- Arrive home from the hospital (surgery went smoothly) and try to follow doctors orders of keeping cold compresses on the eyes. My 4-year old starts crying bloody tears in protest, I give up and we both go take a long nap.
Nov. 7, 4 pm- Beg my child to stop screaming, I absolutely must put the steroid drops in your eyes, I know it burns, I'm just so sorry. We both spend an hour on the couch together recovering from the trauma of it.
Nov. 7, 7 pm- Beg Alex to let me put a compress on the eyes, he's hysterical, begs for bed. He wins.
Nov. 8, 4 am- I hear crying. It's Will, begging for a drink. Fill sippy, give it to him and tell him to go back to sleep, please oh please.
Nov. 8, 4:30 am- Alan sits up straight in bed, there is a weird beeping going on in our house. It's our carbon monoxide alarm, he calls fire dept. while I get the kids out of the house. Are you kidding me? We hear the sirens. They are heading towards our house.
Nov. 8, 5 am- It's a false alarm, we can go back inside. Thank you firemen.
Nov. 8, 5:15- Will demands he must have his shoes to go back to bed, heads into the mudroom to collect them, comes out SCREAMING. He's yelling, crying and pointing to his foot. I pick him up, can't find anything on his foot. Alan appears from the mudroom, has just done battle with a scorpion. A scorpion who just stung my kid. Call poison control, it probably won't be fatal we are informed. Oh, good. Will calms down, we all gather in the family room on the couch. Alan thinks that it's almost funny. Not to me.

New Addition to the Family

Meet "Biggie," the tiniest little fish you've ever seen, who was gifted to us as a treat at last weeks ward Halloween party. Let's be honest, I thought there was no way this fish was going to stay alive in our home. On his second day here, Will poured a bottle of hand lotion into the pitcher he was living in, "for his bekfast, mommy!" On his fourth day here, the boys were still infatuated, so we went and bought some food for him. A week after his arrival, he received a luxurious new home: this Walmart-special fish bowl, complete with a playyard. They boys love him, and I find myself talking to him throughout my day, since he lives in the kitchen. I guess he's here to stay!