Thanksgiving 2010

We spent Thanksgiving with Clarence's Family.

It was VERY nice to get to see everyone.

There were some family members we had not seen in a VERY long time.

Uncle Mark hanging with the kiddos :)

Granny, Daniel, Dona, & Clarence:


Dona, Janis, Joan, me, & Anne

On the way home...

only in Austin!!

Such a sweet time :)

Thanksgiving Tasting and Poetry Slam

4th grade put on a "Poetry Slam". It was AWESOME!

The kids dressed up like "Beatniks" and dressed all in black.

Notice Lexi's beret!!

We all had to snap instead of clap...

SO CUTE!!

We had SUCH a FUN day!!

In the mean time... Kindergarten put on a Thanksgiving Singing Play.

Cooper was a pilgrim an stood with Pilgrim Women, Native Americans, and Turkeys... it was SOOOOO cute!

Afterwards, the kids got to have a traditional Thanksgiving Meal - similar to the very FIRST Thanksgiving.

That morning, the kids shelled green beans, shucked corn, and made butter.

They all brought in a piece of cut up fruit and put it all together for a "Friendship Salad"! How cute!!

Here's a scoop of the butter that the kids made in class:

Cooper put the ENTIRE thing in his mouth... with nothing else.

Here, he is contemplating the taste.

"Mommmmm... I don't like it"!!

ha ha ha...

Cooper and one of his friends.

Picture with Mom :)

We LOVE our school!!

Thanksgiving with a Spork

Our school had a wonderful Thanksgiving Lunch.

I went and enjoyed hanging with Cooper and his friends.

And... I DID eat with Lexi and her friends,...

but she didn't want me to take pictures :(

I am going to have to think of a way to bribe her so I can capture some pictures.

The Story of the Ham

First, let me start this with:

I *do* like meat... I just do not like to *see* it in it's natural form.

Which is why I cannot eat meat on the bone...

give me a chicken nugget ANY day!

So,... my in-laws go to Virginia to visit my brother-in-law and family (including the new baby - Isabella -

which we are SO excited to get to meet over Christmas!!)

They call on their way back to Texas and let us know they have a ham for us.

WOO HOO!

We are a "ham" family and we are very excited.

When they arrive, only Clarence & Lexi are here, and to their surprise, it is not a nicely wrapped, spiral cut, ham. Oh no.... it has literally just been taken off of the meat hook and brought to our house. Cured for 100 days!

Quite a site, let me tell you.

Needless to say, I was at first mortified by the site. Seriously questioning if I would EVER be able to eat it. I did a little on-line researching,

and in fact, it is QUITE normal and even FAMOUS!

So,... onward we go.

More research later, in order to prepare the ham,

we will need to first scrub it with a wire brush.

Well, that definitely did make it *look* a little bit better!

Then, we are to soak it in ice water over night.

So,.. we go to Home Depot, buy a fresh, new, clean

bucket just for this huge chunk of meat.

We fill it with ice water and in goes the ham.

We cover it with a towel, as to keep the

newly-scrubbed meat free from dust, flies, etc...

In the morning (which is a Wednesday), Clarence gets the ham out and starts to cook it - yes... 45 minutes PER POUND! And,... in case you are wondering, I do a lot of cooking around here,... it does seem that I always record everyone else always cooking. :)

Wednesday night, the neighbor men come over to try this specimen -

the kids and I are at church and we miss out.

Thursday morning,... I gently remind Clarence that he needs to dump the "ham water" (the bucket that is in the garage,

in which the ham had soaked over night).

Thursday night, I tell Clarence he needs to dump the ham water...

Friday, I think about dumping the ham water.

Even have a conversation with my neighbor about it, but decide that I may not be able to stomach a bucketful of ham water.

Friday, Clarence comes home from work... and I corner him and with a pointed finger say, "You need to go RIGHT NOW, and DUMP that Ham Water!"

Side note: the weather was beautiful, so the windows are open.

I am folding laundry and hear a scream... a scream from Clarence and unlike any noise that I have ever heard come out of his mouth before... EVER...

I do not jump up right away...

I think maybe, because I was confused at the scream.

Then, Clarence yells, "LORI!!!"

I jump up and run outside... and find...

the a possum had taken a drink from our ham water, fell in, and DROWNED!

That's right... we had a DEAD possum IN our HAM WATER!

I was SOOOO grossed out, Clarence was laughing hysterically!

Please note - the ham and the opossom were never in the bucket together.

Lesson Learned:

"This is WHY we do not leave ham water in the garage!!"

Inter Vs. THE COLD!

Right before Cooper's last soccer game, the first "Arctic Blast" blew in.

As usual,... we were not prepared, and the 8:30am soccer game was miserable.

Especially for Cooper!!

He still made some good plays :)

Uh oh... man down.

This is pretty much WHY Cooper doesn't like soccer.

"Are we almost done?"

They ended the season with a loss,... but I think they just wanted to get in out of the cold.

Their fingers were red and noses were runny.

GREAT season Inter!!

Halloween Night

We had SO much fun on Halloween Night.

The kids did SO much - they were WORE out for school the next day.

We started out going to Cooper's teachers' house... our friend, Cami, had her last year,...

so it was SO fun to go trick-or-treating there.

Lexi was an "Unknown Superstar" and

Cooper was "Janga Fett" from Star Wars.

Part of "The Divas"

Such an odd surprise...

a man coming down the street playing bag pipes!

HA!

The kids (minus Lucas) getting ready to go Trick-or-Treating.

One of the neighbors.

An amazing Pumpkin Display at someone else's house...

I am a little jealous!

One of the Divas, Joyce.

Stopped by to see Ashlyn.

Last stop - the Faust's.

Haunted House

Someone in our neighborhood transforms their house and garage

into a Haunted House.

It is PERFECT for our age children... well...

Cooper still doesn't want to go.

We went with our neighbors, the Heads.

Halloween Party

My neighbor always has an awesome Halloween Party.

This year, I dressed up as the "Orbit Gum Girl".

Halloween Food

Over the course of the week before Halloween & the Halloween parties and festivities, here is all of the fun & yummy dishes we made:

Mummy Dogs:

Snake Bite Sandwich:

(A Tradition from my mom... and it taste SOOOOO good!)

The remnants of an apple to make...

Mini Chocolate Covered Apples on a stick:

These were a HUGE hit!

And... Spider Web Pizza :)

COOK-OUT!

Our school had a hamburger cook-out.

It was SO fun... some of the dads grilled the burgers and we all got to eat outside.

Here is Lexi and some of her classmates & friends:

Me & Coop:

Cooper and one of his friends.

Carving Pumpkins!

Carving Pumpkins is my FAVORITE thing to do at Halloween!

I LOVE it!!

Lexi has gotten SO good at it, she doesn't even need my help anymore!

First year EVER that Cooper has wanted to participate!

He still wouldn't reach in and get the pumpkin seeds out, but he picked out his pattern and carved out the big pieces!

YIPPEE!!

Clarence roasted up all of our pumpkin seeds - they were DELICIOUS!

And.... here is our fabulous pumpkins:

Lexi's skelteon -->

Clarence's Spooky Face -->


My owl -->
(On a side note - it was a REALLY good thing I took a picture, the owl fell the very first night! I was SO bummed!)

Cooper's Star Wars character, Jenga Fett -->

SUCH a great night!