Thanksgiving

Not a clever title, I know, and unfortunately, I have no time for anything clever to say either. Like the rest of you, it seems that I have something on my calendar every night between now and, say, January 1st. 'Tis the season, hey? But it's all fun, festive stuff, and this is the only time of year that I don't mind being super busy. I think it's fitting, however, that the holiday season begins with a holiday devoted entirely to giving thanks. It's a chance for us to orient ourselves most importantly around the One to whom we give thanks and also to just take some time to focus on all that we do have before embarking on a holiday that has tragically morphed into primarily want's and gimmie's. This year's Thanksgiving was just great for us. We spent the day with Kurt's family at his parents' house and then drove to Sun River, Oregon to join my family (including my Aunt Sue and Uncle John!) for the rest of the weekend. We are so grateful to have a big family that loves us and supports us and spoils us and makes us laugh. And, of course, our cups runneth over for our dear Maddiecakes :) Here are a few of the highlights:

Over the Rhine

Kurt and I had the absolute listening delight of attending an Over the Rhine concert Friday night at the Doug Fir here in Portland. I was introduced to Over the Rhine my freshman year of college by the cool sophomores on my dorm floor. At that time, they were a relatively unknown husband-and-wife duo who toured midwest liberal arts colleges and small venues in their homestate of Ohio. While they've remained small and have more of a "cult" following than throngs of international fans, they now tour all over the country (thank goodness!) and have continued to write and produce music. In fact, they're celebrating their 20th year this year. I love all types of music and have incorporated scores of songs (ha ha..."scores" :) into my emotional psyche over the years. Most musicians, however, were profoundly important to me during a certain era in my life, and while I have loads of nostalgia and affection for their music during that time, I can't quite get behind their new stuff (Dave Matthews is like that for me...dare I speak it out loud). Not so with Over the Rhine. Not only does their older stuff continue to evolve emotionally for me, but I truly love their newer songs. In fact, I think they just get better and better. Or rather, more fine-tuned and more confident in their musical style. At any rate, they are extremely talented musicians, and if you've never heard them or never given them a true listen, here are a few clips for you. The sound quality is poor 'cause most of them are concert clips, but I'll gladly lend you their albums if you'd like a thorough listen. Or just go buy an album for yourself and support Karin and Lynford!

How We Fill Our Days

No theme for the following photos. Just some fun ones we've taken in the last week or so and wanted to share with you.

Kurt says this could be Maddie's Abercrombie and Fitch add. You know...jaded PO'd stare with an awkwardly off-balance stance. And the obvious lack of clothing even though A&F is, in fact, a clothing retailer. Go figure. In reality, we just caught her between smiles in the bath while it was raining bubbles. She begged me for these bubbles in an ice-cream cone shaped bottle at the Dollar Store the other day and I caved. And I'm so glad I did! They're the best bubbles ever! They smell like sugar cookies (Kurt says Smarties) and they consistently produce tons of bubbles that make this fantastic little popping sound every time they hit the floor. Awesome. I may actually buy them out the next time I go.

Maddie the Mummy wrapped up in her TWO BeeBee's, which is always just thrilling for her.

Not too sure about the size of this "Ants on a Log" specimen. Daddy was in charge of dinner, and doesn't "bigger faster louder MORE FUN!" always mean Daddy's in charge? :) He assures me she ended up eating nearly all of it, once it was cut up in smaller pieces, so my hat is off to him. Whatever works!

Madelyn's first lollipop after getting her H1N1 vaccine today. Perhaps needles aren't so bad after all.

A little experimentation with the fly's eye toy that we found in the bottom of Maddie's toy box. Kind of fun, I think!

Halloween and Oceanside

Halloween this year brought an adorable, sprightly little "Maddie Cadaby" to our house. For those of you who don't get to watch Sesame Street on a regular basis (LOVE Sesame Street!), Abby Cadaby is a regular fixture, and Maddie loves her (purple, pink, wings, a wand...what's not to love?). We trick-or-treated at adidas' annual Halloween party and then left for a weekend at the coast. This was our first little vacation just the three of us. We've vacationed with family and friends but never just the three of us, so that was fun! We stayed at a house in Oceanside which is a tiny little town near Tillamook (aside: What constitutes a "town" as opposed to a "village?" Oceanside kind of felt more like a village, but we weren't in the country in France...). The house was adorable, and the beach was absolutely gorgeous. We had to keep reminding ourselves that it was, in fact, November rather than July; the sky was bright blue with hardly any clouds and it was so warm we could be outside without any jackets by the afternoon. All in all a fantastic Halloween weekend!