Hey, Y'all!

So Thankful

Dean had a rough night last night. He has some itchy eczema patches that woke him up, but not quite all the way awake. He was ANGRY, which set the kitty to meowing. I was downstairs bumping around with all the lights on for Benadryl and Marcus was upstairs trying to get Dean to stop screaming, or at least wake up enough to tell us what was wrong.

That was at 1:30am.

Dean got up at 7:23.

After a quick cup of coffee, I got to work in the kitchen.  All day long, I cooked and cleaned, cooked and cleaned.  Our guest, Frank arrived a little after 9am and we had a lovely braekfast of cinnamon rolls and bacon before I kicked everyone out of the kitchen so I could work on my side dishes.  I browned sausage for my stuffing, fried bacon to garnish our brussels sprouts, reminded Marcus to baste the bird, and put together our meal, all while trying to keep Dean out of the oven.  It was such fun to cook and organize the day, then to sit and enjoy it with my little family plus one.  Once the initial food coma wore off, Dean pulled us outside for a mock campout in the driveway, complete with sleeping bags and marshmallows on sticks. He then found himself a "Sword" (locally known as a stick) and reinacted the Power Rangers' performance on the Macy's parade.

When it got dark, we headed in and I put together a chocolate pecan pie that'll knock your socks off.

I am so thankful to have had the energy and means to produce this ridiculously large meal, complete with splurges like fresh OJ, Dunkin Donuts coffee and our family's favorite appetizer (Celery with secret ingredient cream cheese spread).   I'm thrilled to have been able to open our home to a friend and to have finally shared a real Thanksgiving meal with my son. (He ate SIX BITES of turkey, people! We're calling that a win.)

It was exactly the Thanksgiving we wanted.

I hope yours was just as perfect.  Thanks for reading, y'all.

On The table

We are having Thanksgiving at home this year and we'll be doing a lot of cooking.  Our menu currently includes:

• Roast Turkey Breast
• Mashed potatoes
• Sweet Potato casserole
• Cranberry sauce
• Cornbread and sausage dressing
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Asparagus with Bacon
• Pie

Help me out-- what kind of pie should I do? Pumpkin or  pecan? Or should we ditch the pie and do cake or cobbler?  Dessert has me stumped. Years ago, Marcus and I enjoyed a great Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant in NYC and they served a pumpkin pecan pie. It was delicious. Something like that might work, or I may do pecan pie with chocolate on top.

I should mention that we are hosting a guest, so there are 3 1/2 of us who will be eating. Dean may eat some or all of what we serve, or he may ask for broccoli. Or a waffle.  He seems to be living off apple juice and air this week, so who knows.

What are you serving/eating for Thanksgiving?  What would the holiday not be complete without?  For me, it's sweet potatoes.

Remember To Be Thankful

We went to our town's Christmas parade tonight.  At several points throughout the evening, we mentioned how early it was this year and how we felt like we were violating some kind of holiday rule (even in the south) about celebrating Christmas this early.  2 houses in our neighborhood are already covered in lights.  We have already done our Santa pictures and are planning to have family photos done over the weekend so we can make cards.

Am I the only one who feels like we're glazing right over Thanksgiving?

 I love Thanksgiving. It's a nice, quite holiday most of the time, a calm before the storm that Christmas can turn into, especially when you have kids.  I like to stay close to home on Thanksgiving, to cook in my own kitchen.  This year, we're hosting a young friend who isn't able to make it home.  We will wear "fat pants," bake pies, watch football, eat til we pop and, most importantly, reflect on how very blessed we are.

Tis Better To Give

I'm worried I've created a monster of sorts. You see, the Target toy catalog showed up in our mailbox last week, complete with boxes next to each item so that you can check off the ones you want Santa to bring you.  Dean has not put it down in 4 days.  He walks around with the catalog and a ball-point pen, then sits down and makes check marks next to the items he wants.

And he wants EVERYTHING.

I'm excited to buy him Christmas gifts and Santa presents.  I'm THRILLED that he's finally old enough to ask for what he wants, rather than leaving us guessing.  His birthday is ten days after Christmas, so it feels like a full month of Dean around here with a party every day. 

This year, something else needs to take center stage for a while.

At my mom and dad's church this weekend, I was reminded of Operation Christmas Child, which collects shoeboxes full of toys, prizes and necessities (think soap, socks, and undergarments) to send to kids who might not get any gifts otherwise.  This year, the boxes go to Haiti. There is a drop-off location less than five miles from our house.  Dean and I will be shopping tomorrow for items to fill a shoebox or two.  It is vital that he learn now that the holidays are about lots more than shiny decorations, gingerbread houses and presents.

We've already been planning what to give friends and family as gifts. Dean has said he would like to make something for one of his teachers and bake cookies for the other one.  Mommy and Daddy will likely throw in a gift card for them, since they are so dreamy.  I'd like to do some personalized ornaments for his little friends, mostly because some of the ones I got when I was his age still hang on my mom's tree and I like the idea of them having something that will remind them of this time in their lives.

How do you teach your kids the true meaning of Christmas? 

Back to the Blog

WELL. I took myself a little hiatus, didn't I?  I was in production and then it was Halloween and well, you know. Life just gets busy sometimes. Also? I GOT AN iPHONE, PEOPLE! And I'm playing Words With Friends like a crazy person.

Tomorrow I'll embark on my favorite month of blogging, NABLOPOMO! (That's national blog posting month, or as it's called in my house, NaNaBloPop.)  I intend to do 30 posts in 30 days. I can't wait. Alissa will also be participating, so stop by and show her some comment love. Anyone else doing it? I hope so!

Here are a few pictures of our Halloween.

It all started early in the day when we took ourselves to the driveway for some pumpkin carving.

Dean kept saying, "Pumpkin guts are GROSS."  Our pumpkin is a stegasaurus, but its legs sort of fell off, so it looks weird.

Dean doesn't go to school on Mondays, but we went to the school Halloween party anyway. We got there early to help set up, then he got to make a cool Haunted House craft with his class and have a whole bunch of icing snack before going outside for fun and games.  After that, we picked up Marcus from work, then headed downtown for Trick or Treating.  We ended up at our favorite coffee shop with some good friends. It was a fun, fun day.

And now he's passed out on the couch from too many lollipops.

Happy Halloween, y'all.

Easter

 Admit it.  It's my catchy titles that keep you coming back.

It's been a while since my little family of three had (more or less) an entire weekend with just the three of us.  We had originally planned to go out of town for Easter, but those plans fell through, so I got to work filling our Saturday and Sunday with fun activities to do as a famiy.

Saturday morning, we headed to our favorite park for our town's Easter Egg Hunt.  Dean had a great time hunting eggs, seeing the extremely creepy life-sized Easter Bunny and playing on the playground.

 

 
After the egg hunt, we stopped by Panera to grab a quick lunch.  Dean was in kids' meal Heaven. He ordered macaroni and cheese (which is GREAT there), a fruit cup and juice and they threw in a yogurt as part of his meal. He ate and ate and ate.  After lunch, we headed to the movies to see HOP. This was only Dean's second time at the movies and he did pretty well.

 
Our movie theatre provides these dreamy booster seats. Dean tolerated it during the previews while he was enjoying his gummi bears, then stood up (on my foot) the second the movie started. He only tried to escape once, which I counted as Success!  The movie was cute, but had a bit too much live action and not enough bunny rabbit for Dean's liking.

Saturday night, Marcus grilled some amazingly good ribs and we played outside until the sun went down.

Sunday morning, Dean woke up and we went down to check out his loot from the Easter Bunny.

 
Kid racked up!  Not all that is from the bunny, though.  Some of it was sent by his Nana and Pop Pop, some by his GG. He also got a pre-Easter basket from my mom and dad last weekend when we visited them.  (Forgive the clutter behind the table.  It's our old pack n play and a Huggies box full of baby stuff for a friend who's having a little boy next month.)

Dean LOVED everything in his basket, with the dinosaurs taking a slight edge for first place in his heart.  We read all the books, stuck stickers all over ourselves and sorted through the edible things.  Then this happened:

 
This child done decided he LOVES the chocolate bunnies.  In fact, he talked about this one (which he devoured before breakfast) so much that Marcus bought him another one on Tuesday.

The rest of Easter Sunday was spent around the house painting, playing outside and eating a tasty brunch.  That evening, we went out on the boat. This was Dean's first trip out and he had an absolute blast!  He grabbed the little emergency paddle that you use if your motor gives out, declared it his Diego paddle and proceeded to sing the "rescue pack" song from Go Diego Go. Then he let the paddle go in the water and that was pretty much the end of that.

 
Marcus caught a couple of small bass while we were out and, as usual, Dean was stoked. He held the fish and told them they were cute.

 

All was dandy until we had to let the fish go back to his watery home.

 
Tears. GIANT SAD TEARS.  Marcus tried to gently explain how the fish couldn't breathe if he was out of the water and that he probably needed to get home for dinner anyway or his fish mom would worry about him, but still. Tears.  We had to go home shortly after this picture was taken.

Once everyone got home and calmed down, we spread out on the hood of my car, looked at the stars and talked about our favorite things we'd done over the weekend.  If it wasn't a perfect weekend, it was pretty darn close.

 

A new year

2010 was a great year.  I watched my son grow and change in ways that have blown my mind. I went back to work outside the walls of academia and settled into myself, proving I COULD be both a mom and a stage manager.  I've watched my husband work and  fish and smile and enjoy being a dad and it's made our marriage stronger.  Together, we made the sensible yet difficult decision not to expand our family and took care of things in a permanent way.  I almost lost my mom, and now I thank God every day for the "almost" part.  I cooked and baked and listened and laughed. I found a great new home online, an amazingly fun creative outlet, where I'm surrounded by some great, like-minded foodies.  I traveled "home" to NYC. I met so many friends who had previously just lived in images online. I finally lost the baby weight.

Most importantly, after three years of craziness, including a pregnancy, a child, some health issues, a major relocation and professional redefinition, I found myself again  in 2010.  I'm so ready to take 2011 by the horns. I can't wait to see what's in store for my little family.

Here's my top To Do's for 2011:

• Learn  to make killer guacamole
• Bake a Buzz and Woody cake for Dean's third birthday
• Come to grips with the fact that OMG my baby is THREE (but not til next Wednesday)
• Visit friends and/or host them in my home
• Go on more dates with my husband
• Meet more blog friends
• Nurture all my friendships
• Take a trip with my parents
• Spend one week eating nothing but fresh foods
• Quit drinking Coke Zero I totally changed my mind about that one. Already.
• Teach someone how to do something. (I'm not picky)
• Get my engagement ring repaired so I can wear it again
• Have a completely clean house, even if it's only for a day. Ok, an hour. (Baby steps, you know.)

What are  your goals for the new year?

Happy 2011, friends!

 

 

 

Very Merry Indeed

 
This Christmas kicked last Christmas's butt.  Aside from the cold Marcus sprouted yesterday, we all stayed relatively healthy. I had rehearsal until  2pm on Christmas Eve, so I drove home that afternoon and baked cookies with Dean. Then  we read Christmas books, enjoyed our tree and played with a couple of early gifts until time to read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and go to bed. Santa did a drive-by on the fire truck around dinner time and Dean was mesmerized.  I cannot even tell you how  many times I uttered the words, "Santa's watching, so you'd better be good!" that day, but they finally seemed to sink in. Just as Dean went to crush Play Doh into his hair, he caught himself and told me, "Nope, Santa's watching!" I wonder if that will work all year...

Christmas morning came and we went downstairs to see what the man in the red suit had left. We put Dean's Santa gifts in his new toy box with a note instructing him to look inside. At first, he was so fascinated by the fact that Santa had eaten the cookies we'd left that he barely noticed the gifts. He wanted to open his gifts from his Nana, Pop Pop and cousins first and he was SOOOOO excited to find these Woody and Jessie dolls inside!

 
Once we'd wrecked our own living room sufficiently finished with Santa gifts and had breakfast, we hit the road for my parents' house.  Dean watched Toy Story (big surprise) and napped on the way, so when we arrived, he was ready for round 2.  Mom had a wonderful feast of turkey and all the fixings ready for us. We chowed down on the traditional fare while Dean enjoyed a big plate of lasagna (I've told you of his aversion to poultry,  yes?). Once our bellies were full to the point of near-explosion, we  opened more gifts. Dean received every Buzz and Woody product manufactured, but his favorite was these guys:

Last night, he slept with little Buzz and Woody, big Jessie and Woody and Stu the monkey. The bed, it was full.

We all had a wonderful time watching Dean enjoy his new toys and ooh-ing and aah-ing  over my mom's new Kindle. On the 26th, Marcus and I set out for our first movie date in TWO YEARS. We had lunch at a cute place called Irie, where we enjoyed BBQ shrimp poboys, did some shopping and saw How Do You Know, which was pretty  cute.

Overall, it was a wonderful holiday. I even got a bonus day off today, due to the fact that my director  and half my cast are snowed into the east coast. Hope your holidays were merry and bright, too!

I have about  40 more Christmas pictures on my Facebook page, should you  need to see more!

 

Merry Christmas To All

Here's wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas. 

 

Tangible

In case you couldn't tell by  my absence, I'm back at work, which doesn't leave much free time for blogging. I'm commuting each day an hour each way, so by the time I get home, I want to eat everything in sight, snuggle with Dean and watch Criminal Minds with Marcus until time to pass out. I have the morning off today, so we're curled up with a big pot of coffee watching "Horton Hears A Who," which Dean refers to as "Horton Hears A Poot." Yeah.

ANYWAY. I love Christmas and one of the things I love most is recieving Christmas cards. I used to take great pride in signing each card  and addressing the  envelopes. These days, companies  make  it easy on us--we upload a picture, type in some text and they make a beautiful holiday greeting just for us.  We got some cute photo  cards this  year (which took 9 forevers to arrive, by the way) and I must admit--I took the easy way  out and just shoved them into envelopes and sent them. I'd have liked to include a little note to a lot of folks, but time was just not on my side.

I've enjoyed receiving cards a lot this  year, though. In this day of instant gratification-type communitcation (thank you, email and Facebook), it was great to get something not electronic from my friends and family, something tangible. I always get excited when I see an old friend's handwriting on the envelope, noticing it hasn't changed that much since we were 12 years old. It's fun knowing my friends spent time stuffing envelopes and sticking stamps just like I did.

I was most happy to get a card in the mail yesterday from Christy, addressed to "The Lanes,  Masters of the Universe." The front was a printed photo card with great pictures of her family, and on the back, they had all signed it. I know I go on and 0n about how much I love my blog friends, and I  have to  tell you--it's cool and a little surreal when they become tangible. At BlogHer, I got to hug  some folks I've been friends with for years, but hadn't  had the pleasure of meeting in real life until the conference.  It was surreal to see them walking toward me, not just living in the still images I see on my laptop day after day. On the back of Christy's card, her daughter signed her name and her son drew X's and O's. I immediately sent her and email  telling her, "It's like you're real people or something!" She knows what I mean. A lot of you do.

This Christmas, touch things. Smell things. Really look at your family and friends.  Run  your fingers over the ornaments your great-grandma made. Inhale the sweet smells of cinnamon and tangerines. Breathe in the fresh,  cold air.  Hug your kids a little tighter. Savor the tangible treasures of the season.