Thanksgiving 2012

We were expecting to have close to 20 people come over for Thanksgiving this year.  I love when we have a full house, and this year especially since it’s the first one without my dad.  We decided that we should probably cook a ham in addition to the turkey so that we had enough food to feed everyone, plus enough leftovers.

I got up at 7:30 so that I could start prepping the Turkey by 8 and then put it in the oven by 9.  I start by browning the sausage and making the stuffing.  I stuff the turkey and wrap it in foil.  At 8:30 Chris went upstairs to take a shower and I turn the oven on.  We have touch screen dual convection ovens made by LG.  It sings to us when it’s done pre-heating and when the timer goes off.  I LOVE our ovens.

About 2 min later after turning the oven on it makes a not-so-singing beeping sound and says ‘Error F-9.  Call the serviceman.’  ON THANKSGIVING.  WITH A RAW STUFFED TURKEY SITTING ON MY COUNTER.

I frantically start touching the touch screen everywhere and it doesn’t respond at all.  I open the top oven and look inside – nice cold oven.  I open the bottom oven and look inside – nice cold oven.  You know because surely looking inside will make the error go away? I look from the turkey back to the death error screen and back to the turkey.  I can feel the panic rising inside.  I HAVE 20 PEOPLE COMING OVER TO EAT DINNER IN 7 HOURS!!!  I have to cook a turkey and a ham and my ovens aren’t working.  How does this happen ON THANKSGIVING??!!?  There is no way a serviceman will get here in time to fix my ovens.

I race upstairs and stand in the master bathroom.  I attempt to stay calm and tell Chris “I am really, really trying to not panic, but the oven says error F-9 and I don’t know what to do.  It’s Thanksgiving and we have 20 people coming over and I already stuffed the turkey.”  He just says “It’s okay.  I’ll be right down.”

As I’m going back downstairs I realize I have the internet!!  And Google answers all of my questions, so surely it can fix my oven.  I Google F-9 error dual ovens LG and Google tells me that it’s an error with the door latch system, which may need to be reset or replaced.  Same issue though – call the serviceman.  However the second hit is from an owner that said they flipped the breaker to reset the power and their oven worked again.  I finally start to breathe normally – maybe we can fix this after all.

Chris comes downstairs and I tell him what I read and he immediately goes out to flip the switch.  And we attempt to turn the lower oven on again.  It preheats just fine and sings to us at the end.  I am so, so relieved to hear my oven sing again and I put the turkey in at 9, right on time.

But remember the whole 20 people are coming over so we’re cooking a ham too?  Around 1:30 I turn the upper oven on and a couple minutes later the error comes back and shuts both ovens off.  MY TURKEY STILL HAS ANOTHER 1.5 HOURS TO COOK.  And I need to cook the ham too.

So I go flip the breaker and try again.  Same error.  Flip the breaker again and decide to try the basic oven setting instead of the convection setting thinking maybe that will help.  It doesn’t give me an error F-9, but it won’t heat the oven either.  I call Chris (he’s on his way to get his grandma).  He tells me to call my friend (who is on her way over to my house for dinner) to ask to borrow her oven.  I cannot fathom how I’m going to cook in two different places so I’m thinking we will skip the ham just won’t have leftover turkey.

Then I realize that the ham is already cooked and just needs to be reheated.  AND GUESS WHAT WE HAVE THAT IS MADE EXACTLY FOR REHEATING THINGS??  A MICROWAVE.  So I cut the ham up and microwaved it, which worked just fine.

So Google and a microwave saved us from having takeout on Thanksgiving.  Technology.  It’s awesome.

And we had an incredibly delicious dinner, everything turned out so well and tasted so good.  I accepted help when it was offered and despite going for a run that morning and cooking all day I wasn’t nearly as exhausted as I have been in prior years.  I credit all of that to being truly in shape. 

I am so happy to have spent the holidays with my inlaws, my siblings, and my friends.  It was a really awesome holiday.

Coyotes

We had dinner with the Faris family tonight.  After dinner Maile started telling Cooper and Charlotte about the coyotes that howl at night.  Cooper proceeded to force us to have the longest monologue/conversation about coyotes I’ve ever heard:

Cooper:  There are coyotes.  I’m scared.  They see me through the glass.  I don’t like their black hair and yellow eyes.

Adults:  Coyotes are afraid of people and they are far away.  The fence is too big, they can’t get in the backyard.  No need to be afraid.

Cooper:  But I’m afraid.  They are scary and big.  They will scratch me.  Do coyotes like people?  Do they like kids?  Are coyotes in Colorado?  Have you ever seen a coyote?

Adults:  No need to worry about coyotes, you are safe.  I’ve never seen a coyote because they are scare of people, but they do live in Colorado.

Cooper:  The coyotes will get me when we go to the car.  Will you carry me?  They are fast!

Adults:  Coyotes don’t like dogs or people or cars.  They stay away from our houses.  You will be just fine walking to the car.

Cooper:  [Rather, rinse, repeat all the way home and all night until he fell asleep.]

So over the coyotes.

Congrats to the Faris Family!

Che isn’t blogging much anymore, but they have a new addition to their family!  We have been able to spend some quality time with them over the last few weeks cuddling their new little one, Paige Darby.  She was born on October 26th and is super adorable.  Cooper in particular pays a lot of attention to her, wanting to hold her and asking a lot of questions.  Congratulations Mikael, Che and Maile!!

Wet, Moist, Dry

Chris and I went to Dallas for a wedding this past weekend.  We stayed at a really fun hotel that was like a loft, Nylo.  While we were there we were going to buy some alcohol to have a drink in the room.  However after driving around in a few strip malls and seeing NO liquor stores we thought maybe we should look up the alcohol laws.  Come to find out the city we were staying in was a ‘moist’ city and only sold beer and wine at grocery stores and convenience stores.  Other nearby cities were wet, and sold liquor at liquor stores, but only between the hours of 10 am and 9 pm.  Other cities were completely dry.  We both thought it was absolutely crazy in post-prohibition times that it was so difficult to obtain alcohol.

And what we couldn’t understand was the reasoning since bars and clubs were open and served until 1 am.  It’s safer to consume in public than in private?  And what exactly is the difference between drinking a six pack of beer or a few cranberry vodka cocktails?  Bizarre I tell you.

Anyhow, you can see pictures of us at the photoblog.

Synopsis of Brave-by Cooper

There are two bears. The queen bear is nice and the mean bear is mean. The frog puppet makes a good bear shadow and the pot makes a good bear roar.

Pesky zippers

Cooper: I zipped up my pee-pee this morning.

Me: Well that doesn't sound very good. I bet it hurt.

Cooper: Yep. I screamed but you didn't even hear me.

Me: Probably because I wasn't home. You should be careful.

Cooper: Yeah daddy told me I have to wear underwear.

Me: I think that's probably a good idea.

Parent Teacher Conferences

The kids have a new teacher this year and she is really awesome.  She pushes the kids to do the things she knows they can do and the kids seem to really love her.  Both kids are doing very well.  They know all their letters and numbers, can count to 20 and are starting to know most of their sounds.  They can also write many of their letters and numbers.  So amazing!

Cooper is able to follow rules well, engages in conversation, and can sort and group objects.  Sometimes when he runs he falls, which is likely due to his quick growing (hello size 7 & 8 clothes!).  Cooper needs to spend more time working on his fine motor skills, including holding a writing utensil properly and cutting with scissors.  He hasn’t yet decided which hand he will use and switches between both hands for just about everything – eating, writing, cutting, throwing.  It always seems awkward for him to write with his right hand, and he also writes in mirror image when he writes with his right hand.  I’m thinking he may turn out to be a lefty.

Charlotte does well with rules and transitions, holds a writing utensil properly, runs smoothly, engages in conversation, and can group/re-group objects.  She needs to spend more time focusing on the task at hand, especially when counting, writing her name, and being independent at snack time and getting dressed.

New Family Member

We have wanted a second dog for a couple of years now, but we’ve just been too lazy and limited on time to search for a new pet.  So when Josh moved to a high rise apartment and found he didn’t have time to be a proper pet parent to his Boston terrier, we quickly agreed we were happy to take her. 

She was house trained already, same age as Scout, and Boston Terriers are well known to be great family pets, very sociable with kids and other dogs.  Josh had named her Miley, but since Mikael and Che’s daughter is named Maile as well, we knew we had to change her name.  However, we thought it was cruel to rename her at age 6, so we modified her name slightly to Smiley, cause her little face always looks like she is smiling.

She is such a fun little dog.  She is OBSESSED with fetching her ball and can play fetch for hours.  She can jump so high she can clear Charlotte.  She is just generally super smart and super loving.  She bonded to Chris and Charlotte immediately, while Scout remains at mine and Cooper’s side.  She and Scout are still learning to live with each other, mostly it seems like they tolerate each other.  We are so happy to finally have a second dog and such a great one that fits right in with us.

Nanny gone

I forgot to post yesterday. Sorry about that.

Ali's last day was yesterday and since she had an appointment late afternoon she was already gone by the time I got home. I didn't get to hug her goodbye and say thank you. I am so, so sad to lose her as our nanny. She will be missed very much.

For now Chris is home with the kids until we find a replacement.

Drinking and watching election results

No time to blog anything important…I’m busy drinking wine and watching election results!!  I am glued to this site:

http://election2012.npr.org/bigboard/president.html

Adoption discussions

I really love when I get the opportunity to discuss adoption with the kiddos (here was the last time they asked).  The conversations seem to happen more frequently lately, I think because they are understanding more and can ask the right questions.

Tonight Cooper said to me, “When Charlotte grows up and has a baby in her belly.”  And I immediately thought, well that’s not necessarily what will happen, so I told him “Unless she decides to bring a baby home like how she came home to our family.  She didn’t grow in my tummy, she grew in another woman’s tummy.”

Cooper said, “Yeah, in your sister’s tummy!”, and I confirmed that yes that was true.  Then he asks, “Mommy, did Charlotte crawl all the way home?”  I smiled and said, “No she didn’t crawl home, she flew on an airplane.”  He asked why and I told him that sometimes when you adopt the baby is flown on a plane with a very nice person called a social worker.

Charlotte finally piped up and asked, “What’s a social worker?”  I told her that social workers help children find their way to the right families.  She then asked, “And your sister couldn’t come on the plane?  How come your sister couldn’t come?”  I explained that she was busy taking care of other important things, but that Charlotte didn’t live with my sister before she came home to us.  Cooper immediately asked, “Where was Charlotte before?”

I asked if they remembered seeing our friend Tiffany at Target.  I told Charlotte that she lived with Tiffany and Michelle before she came to live with us and that’s how we met them and also Josh, Ambyr and all of their kids.  They seemed to be content with all of those answers and so just like that the conversation was over. 

Alexander sleep over

Tonight I babysat my nephew, Alexander, for a sleepover. He is so adorable. He had lots of fun with the kids. They jumped on the beds, tickled each other and 'booped' noses. They also all fell asleep in Cooper's room. I love that they will grow up together!

Nanny

We found a nanny a few months ago, Ali.  We really, really love her and so do the kids.  She is incredibly responsible, helps make our lives easier and adores Charlotte and Cooper.  The first few weeks the kids would cry when we would come home because it meant that Ali was going home.  They would ask about her all weekend and when she was coming back.

We are so very, very sad.  Ali has a sudden personal situation that requires her to move home to Chicago.  This means we are starting the nanny search again.  We also need to figure out how to transition the kids because we know this will be very hard on them.

Blogging everyday in November

I plan to blog everyday in November!  Between here and the photoblog (which I need to catch up on badly—I still have Cooper’s bday photos to post!!!) you’ll see me around at least once a day.

Also going on November?  Chris is doing Movember and growing out the rest of his facial hair.  I’ll be sure to take pics!!

Not much to post today except that it’s been over a week and I’m still sick.  Went to the doctor yesterday and I have a mild case of bronchitis.  I’m so over feeling exhausted and the coughing.  I haven’t been able to work out for a week and half and I’m feeling so anxious because of it.  So, yeah, mentally I’m not up for writing much tonight.

Oh and the kids are obsessed with sleep overs so tonight I moved Charlotte’s mattress into Cooper’s room.  Let’s see how the night goes!