Giving Thanks

It's not officially even November yet, so it's not really Thanksgiving. But we have so much to be thankful for. One thing recently has been how much the girls are starting to identify with one another. They talk directly to each other more often, and want more togetherness than they have in the past. One day this week, they told Christina that they wanted to "go sleepy in bed" together! We just pretended at it, since it was morning time, but it was delightful to see, especially when Elena started patting Clara:

Another thing we're thankful for this week is the fact that GRANDMA came for a visit! The girls can't quite get over Christina's mom, and constantly say "Gama, look a me!," "Gama, come!!" It's so much fun. Since we won't see each other for "real" Thanksgiving we decided to celebrate together today. We've been cooking since yesterday, and the girls were in the thick of it all the time. Here they are first thing this morning, rolling out the roll dough we made last night:

Here they help Grandma tear up the sourdough bread to use in our mushroom and leek stuffing:

Elena's "smile for the camera" face is getting a little out of control!!

It's not exactly like we shy away from bragging about the girls here, but we're going to be unabashed at it right now. THEY ARE TERRIFIC COOKS. Seriously. They have not only the enthusiasm, but also the skill, even at their young age. They really get involved. And both of them can crack an egg into a bowl by themselves - Clara even does it without a bit of shell!

Grandma was endlessly entertaining to the girls - here they figured out that her sweatshirt pocket was open on each side, and they could put their hands through and touch in the middle, or put their arm all the way through!

Here we are putting the finishing touches on Thanksgiving dinner. We went with a chicken instead of turkey, roasted with oranges and rosemary. We had mashed potatoes and broccoli gratin and the mushroom and leek stuffing, and cranberry sauce and rolls and (of course) pumpkin pie.

It was great!

The girls were unexpectedly very enthralled with the chicken wings - they ate them right up. Such little carnivores here:

After eating all that food, we definitely needed to get moving. We went out to play in the leaves, and had a great time together in the twilight, chasing each other and jumping in the leaf piles.

Gosh, life is good! We have so much to be thankful for.