Baby Voice

I have a boy who struggles with doing the right thing. ALL the time. ALL ALL the time. We'll call him J.

Today, another boy (A), came up and said, "Mrs. Sawyer, J hit me."

"Okay, J, please come here. Did you touch A?"

"Yes, but I MEANT to pat his back."

"Okay but you did hit him. So go pull a stick."

"But I MEANT to pat his back."

"I understand what you meant to do, but it's not what you did. If I went to a grocery store and filled up a cart of food, and walked out into the parking lot. They would stop me and say I stole the food. And I could tell them, I MEANT to pay, I just forgot. But they would still say I stole the food. So go pull a stick and tell A you are sorry for hitting him and ask for forgiveness."

So, he pulls a stick, sits down, and then very very quietly says, "sorry."

A immediately turns to me and says, "I didn't hear him."

So I say, "J, please look at A and tell him you are sorry for hitting him and ask for his forgiveness."

Now J is very frustrated, so he turns to A and in a very whiny, angry, loud voice says, "SORRY, WILL YOU FORGIVE ME?"

A again turns to me and says, "I really don't want to hear baby talk."

Vietnamese Coffee

A treat we enjoyed over Thanksgiving Break.

First start off with ever delicious sweetened condensed milk.

Pour in about 2 tablespoons of the delectable goodness. Don't be shy.
Add a few ice cubes on top. Crushed might work better, but it wasn't an option for us.

Add 6 ounces of VERY strong coffee!

Stir together your beautiful layers of goodness.

Until you are left with a creamy yummy color.

Add a bit more ice if it's not cold enough and then enjoy! You will be amazed by the goodness!

Very simple, yet very delicious.

Outtakes

My camera was full of awful pictures from Thanksgiving, so I thought I'd share those as well. More fun that way. Sometimes I take the bad photo, other times my brother steals my camera and goes crazy. So... enjoy.

clearly my best angle

Eric through the napkin ring.
dad not too sure about turning a year older

eric through the wine glasses

Dayna. Darling Dayna

Ty-- avoiding a picture

Joey asleep on the couch under a blanket of pillows

Ty avoiding another photo (seeing a theme here?)

Dad through the wine glass

Eric close up

Thanksgiving in St. Louis

We flew to STL the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. We immediately started eating....

This kind of spread was on the counter daily. We each gained 10 pounds. (please ignore my husband's face. He hates having his picture taken and thinks if he makes bad faces I won't use it. He is wrong)

Wednesday night we went to hear my Uncle Brian sing. He is awesome and super fun!

That's him front and center.

Even Dayna and her boyfriend joined us.
Joey and I bonding. He also loves having his picture taken.

Thanksgiving Day... tradition is to get up and go to the zoo. It's free, it's fun, and you get to walk around a lot before eating 3,000 calories in one meal.

Dad and daughter.

Ty clearly loved the cold weather.

In case you didn't get the full effect of his lovely ensemble.

Eric, Joey, Me, and Ty with the Penquins.

TURKEY's DONE

Dad trying to carve the turkey, save the juice, important things.

The table all set and lovely (I set the table, thank you)

Dinner is served!

Joey opted for a different angle.

YUM!

Thanksgiving was also Dad's birthday- so we sang Happy Birthday, blew out candles, and ate chocolate pie. YUM.

Favorite Cousin Alison came over! I miss her so much! I don't get to see her enough!!

She, her mom and dad, and boyfriend- all came over to go see A Christmas Carol- 3D. So fun!

Oh, back at the table... another meal. Friday morning brunch. French toast casserole, egg casserole, lots of food. we ate a lot, can you tell?

Breakfast is served. Wow.

Then we walked outside to see my brother Eric had nicely parked the car sideways. Thank you Eric. That is very nice of you. Why is it that no matter how smart or successful you are, you always revert back to being a kid when you go home for the Holidays?

Friday night .... PCH class of 1999- 10 year reunion!

These were the cheerleaders.

And that's the end of our pictures.

We also went to the mall, worked out, watched football, ate some more, and talked a lot.

Then we went back to Dallas and went on a strict diet.

The end.

Friends Thanksgiving 2009

It began as a tradition in college... we would get together the Sunday before Thanksgiving and make our very own Friends Thanksgiving! Back then, we were all eager to try family favorite recipes and share with our friends.

Now... it's even better! We've changed the day to the Saturday before Thanksgiving... but it's still- Friends Only. Thanksgiving Favorites. Come HUNGRY! And now we not only share family favs- but we are practicing cooking them. So when we have to go to the "in-laws" and bring a dish, we're not so nervous!

Also there was a discussion at the main table about how this will be the best holiday meal they eat because it's just friends and not family. And not that there is anything wrong with family, but families tend to fight at holidays. and friends do not. at least not at dinner parties. And now with everyone getting married, they have to chose where to go, or go to 2 places in 6 hours. and there can be some tension. and sometimes inlaws are weird or do things "differently." so everyone was excited about our party. and it was fun.

And this is our 3rd annual as the Sawyer Family! It's a blast! I even break out our good china!! This year the invite list got so big, we had to borrow some of Ty's mom's china. It was great! Here's the set up....

the mantle

lots of white flowers (borrowed from a fancy church dinner the night before)
the main dining room table

a close up of the centerpiece and place settings. (those are mini pumpkins in the hurricane glasses)

The "card table" - this was set up where we have our "library" and two big leather chairs. So we just pulled the leather chairs up and added a table! It was fit for a king!

I loved that each table was kinda different. All were fancy. But each had its own centerpiece, napkins, etc. I love the napkins on this table! Wish I had bought more when they were out!

And the Round Table

added a gold table runner (borrowed from my Christmas collection) added vintage napkins (from MIL) and voila!

the TURKEY! (yes I should have taken the picture NOT in the bag- but I was a bit chaotic- and this is what you get)

Covered the Washer and Dryer with a table cloth and placemats- INSTANT Drink Area!

We had soda, sweet tea, water, hot apple cider, and fresh decaf coffee. I was smart and set the coffee timer to start brewing during dinner, so it was just perfect for dessert! of course, I did forget to put out the creamer- how embarrassing! didn't realize until I was cleaning up- but did notice how everyone was drinking their coffee "black" and couldn't understand why nobody wanted creamer. duh!

close up. because I am a nerd. please notice my freshly cut lime and lemon slices in cute little glass jars. thank you.

More flowers. love my pumpkin plate! hobby Lobby 80% off last year! (does anybody buy full price at Hobby Lobby? Why do they even start at full price?)

The Feast Begins!!

Ben and Parris

Brittany and Jake

Thomas and Kendra

Aline and Elias

Cari, Kim, and Jason

Julia and Robert (he loves pictures)

Me and Ty

The Dessert Table!!

I should have gotten a picture of all the food before we devoured it. But I didn't. It was good. We ate A LOT!!

creamed corn

broccoli casserole

cheesy hashbrowns

green bean casserole

chicken and dressing

sweet potato and cranberry delight

broccoli and cauliflower salad

rolls

gravy

turkey

you get the picture

And then the games began!! Oh how I enjoyed this part!

Can you tell I'm into it?? I was. I was ruthless. When I started winning, people threatened to not come back. I stopped winning then. On purpose.

Not really on purpose. but I did lose and I don't want to admit that I wasn't good enough to win, so I"ll pretend it was on purpose.

And then the kitchen fairies came and cleaned up my kitchen and hand washed all the dishes! and I thank them forever and ever! And they are invited back next year! thanks Cari, Kim and Jason!