Ten on Tuesday-Wednesday.

1. This Thanksgiving I discovered my favorite way to enjoy stuffing is to nearly dehydrate it. Spread the leftovers on a baking sheet in a thin layer in a 300 degree oven until it is nicely toasted. Amazing. Kinda wishing we had more.

2. Speaking of leftovers, what did we eat before them? I literally had to ask my kids what they wanted me to put on the menu for the next couple weeks because I could not remember anything prior to turkey.

3. One more thing about leftovers, and then we can move on. Alla told me, "I'm only interested in eating Thanksgiving dinner ONCE."

4. Over the nice week-long Thanksgiving break, Alla and I started The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. We are two-thirds into it and it is such a remarkable story.

5. Only 16 more days of school til the long holiday break! Perhaps we will get some snow before then so there can be sledding?

6. Tomorrow is December 1st, and around here that means the number boxes adorn our mantel. The countdown to Santa begins!

7. On Sunday morning at 9:45 we took the kids to see the new Muppet (or Muffet, if you're Fisher) movie, and I think it was the nicest Sunday I've spent in awhile.

8. This weekend is the awesome craft fair I attend every year with my friend Nicole!

9. I thought I could wait until we remodeled our upstairs bathroom to get new towels, but it turns out 9+ years is the upper limit on ours and I had to break down and make a decision on new ones. I won't tell you how long that decision took me. How often do you buy towels?

10. Alla has some harder words on her spelling list this week: trumpet, trapeze, branches! 0.

Thanksgiving memories.

Thanksgiving is really about the food and the people with whom you share all that richness. Most of my memories of this holiday growing up are just a bunch of tastes and smells all rolled up into recipes that I re-create now in my own kitchen for turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce and the rest of the trimmings, as Alla likes to call them.

But today, before the day had even gotten under way, I knew immediately that I had my favorite Thanksgiving memory of Fisher, when we said we had 5 minutes until the parade started and he rushed downstairs to the window to peek behind the shade. Oh yes, our very own parade on our very own street! We all realized at the same time in those innocent little three-year-old eyes, how terribly adorable and sweet and once in a lifetime. There would never be another mistake like that, because from this Thanksgiving, he will remember that we watch the parade on TV with sweet potato biscuits and sausages and coffee.

Happy Thanksgiving, littlest love. I am so thankful for you.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Today I am thankful for having a little boy who is still on my hip lots during the day.

2. Today I did what I think is my last holiday session for the season. Today I am thankful for warm-enough weather to be outside.

3. Today I am thankful that Alla is home all week from school.

4. Today I am thankful for the one pair of stripey SmartWools I have left that do not have holes.

5. Today I am thankful that we started on our Thanksgiving feast. Cranberry sauce is in the fridge, flavors melding.

6. Today I am so so thankful to be staying put this holiday week.

7. My children will be thankful to see pomegranates on the table this Thanksgiving.

8. Everyday I am thankful for books. Yesterday Alla read Moose Crossing, and we've promised to take her to see the puppet show this weekend. I am in the middle of In Zanesville. Fisher discovered a wonderful lift-the-flap question and answer book at the library about Things That Go. And Ron is reading a 1000-pager he says is wonderful.

9. I was thankful this evening that Fisher asked me for blueberry yogurt, and that I could give it to him.

10. I am thankful for my husband, my partner. We've been cooking Thanksgiving dinners for over a decade and there isn't anyone I'd rather stick my arms in a turkey cavity with than him.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Been eating a good deal of popcorn here. Our "recipe" is 3 tablespoons coconut oil + 1/2 cup kernels. Think we'll make some for afternoon snack today, yum!

2. Woke up to find a light on our dishwasher strangely flickering and were sure it was broken there for a bit, but it seems to be fine now. Hopefully it doesn't decide to die on, say, Thanksgiving or something.

3. Just the four of us for Thanksgiving this year, and Ron is very much looking forward to his sweet potato pie. Alla keeps telling me I need to make the turkey and the carrot souffle, and I keep telling her it is much too soon and not to worry, I promise I'll make it.

4. A little random advice for parents of kids under 5: start a change jar, separate from piggy banks, before they start learning about money in school, so when your kid's teacher sends homework that requires them to grab a handful of just pennies and nickels and see what they come up with, you aren't frantically tearing apart every top drawer in the house. Trust me.

5. Hate to jinx us, but I daresay my son has grown out of his dairy allergy. We've given him butter, cow's milk, and cheese, and so far so good. Can it be? After three years of either substituting or going without, we can add some old favorites back into our dinner rotation?

6. Too bad I don't have the stuff for the lumberjack hash on hand, because I have no other plan for dinner tonight. Things usually fall apart right before and after Thanksgiving - something about knowing I'm going to spend the better part of three days cooking sort of makes me stop doing it altogether the week before and after - ha!

7. After pulling out all of the winter stuff we have come to the following conclusions: Fisher needs a bigger coat. Alla needs a bigger coat, and unfortunately hers (blue, I am so smart) is just too big for Fisher this year. Alla also needs bigger snowpants and boots. Fisher, luckily will inherit her two pairs of grown-out-of snowpants. I better get on this while we're still snow-free.

8. November 15th and still snow-free. Crazy.

9. One night last week we did our Candy Buy Back night, whereby the kids "purchase" coupons with the Halloween candy they have left. It is their choice to participate or not, but since we wait about a week, the newness of the treat bag has worn off and they were eager. They lightened their loads considerably and came away with coupons for cool stuff like Stay Up 15 Minutes Past Bedtime, Watch an Extra Show Today, 20 Minutes Computer Time, Ice Cream Party for the Whole Family, Have a Treat After Breakfast, etc. Coupons are big in this house.

10. This morning Fisher and I drove down to the Mall of America for an Okee Dokee Brothers concert, and ended up staying for both shows. We had to go without Miss Alla, but don't worry, honey, we bought you a t-shirt!

I love you, too.

On the Wednesdays and Fridays that I drop off Fisher at school, we sign to each other I Love You, as I have with Alla since we started teaching her to sign as a baby. Fisher's I Love You has been just holding up some fingers and shaking his hand. Not today. Today he held up all five fingers, put down the third and fourth, and looked oh so proud of himself. So, Buddy, I love you, too. But then again I've always loved you.

Halloween.

It's November, and I haven't shared pictures of the all-important October event! My Cinderella and my firefighter. Sometimes he likes to call himself the "def-ity," or, as some people pronounce it, deputy. It was my year to go out with the kids, a situation of which I quickly lost control and had to call in reinforcement, aka Nana. In case it isn't clear why I, a very capable mother myself, could not handle my two delightful children for an evening of trick or treating, let me explain how my daughter is a trick or treating animal. Once I realized that Fisher was a slow trick or treater (well, a perfect pace for a three-year-old), and Alla was a crazy one, I had to get my mom out there and somehow (thank you, Mom!) she ended up traipsing all over the neighborhood with Alla while I peacefully strolled the block with "Defity" Fisher.

After trick or treating their hearts out, I took them to another neighborhood with some friends to see a seriously spooky house, and they both held my hand for dear life. It was a truly delightful year for tricks and treats.