The true Thanksgiving Treat

Happy Turkey Day to all!

We had planned a trip to San Angelo to see Dewey's brother and family, but Mallory got sick. So we stayed here. I defrosted a turkey breast and we were on our way - coupla boxes of Stove Top, some good Dewey mashed potatoes, and you would never know that we hadn't planned this.

Truthfully, we enjoy the carb-filled Thanksgiving meal, but not the traditional Thanksgiving desserts. So although we do get our points for turkey and stuffing, we completely lose on any kind of pie ('cause we don't eat it) or other traditional Thanksgiving dessert.

Completely Unamerican, I know. And when we tell people that we don't like pie, they go through a litany of questions:

"You mean you don't eat apple pie?"
"Nope."
"Pecan Pie?"
"No."
"Pumpkin pie?"
"Last time we checked, that was still a pie, and no, we don't eat it."
"Come on, everyone eats pie."
"No they don't, unless we don't count in 'everyone'."

You get the picture.

But, my favorite part of staying home for Thanksgiving is this right here:


Those of you who knew us prior to kids, you know that these clowns are our first children, and continue to be a vital part of our family. The Crossland dachshunds know that as soon as we are done eating on Thanksgiving, they too get to partake in traditional Thanksgiving fare. Each dog dish gets a reduced amount of plain ol' dog food, and the rest is filled with a touch of every part of our meal that won't hurt them to eat. A little potatoes, a little stuffing, a little turkey - and they LOVE it.


So I took this picture today while I had one hand cutting up the delicacies to feed them. Waffles is in the middle with her bat ears, and yes, she is standing on her hind legs. Shelby is to the left of Waffles, and Fable (a.k.a. Sushi) is on the right. I knew today would be the perfect day to get these gals into the blog.


So, hope your Thanksgiving was just how you wanted it, and you get to enjoy the rest of the weekend doing what you love best, whatever that might be.

New background & Santa Pics

I changed the background on the blog just for fun - kinda like rearranging your furniture - makes the old stuff look new. I am really striving for a good pink and brown background, but that may require more work. This is at least a step in the right direction.

I spent today at the mall with the kids - getting Christopher's hair cut at Snip-its (a kid friendly salon), eating Sonic for lunch (mmmmm) and, yes, the picture with Santa. I did it today because there was no line, and Christmas is coming much too fast this year. So, although the kids were not festively dressed, I decided to do it anyway.

A quick review of the Crossland pictures-with-Santa:

• 2005 - Christopher (11 months) looks terrified.
• 2006 - Christopher (23 months) is screaming, Mom is pregnant with Mallory
• 2007 - Mallory (5 months) is sitting in Santa's lap, puzzled, and Christopher (almost 3) is nowhere to be seen. He would not go near Santa.
• 2008 - Christopher (almost 4) is sitting in Santa's lap, trying to smile, but seemingly uncomfortable, as his sister (16 months) is screaming bloody murder. Shirt wet, face red, the whole she-bang.

Poor Santa. I guess mine weren't the worst he had seen (or will see) but the man tried to make the most of the situation. And, I have the picture for my scrapbook. That's what matters anyway, right?

Struggling for ponytails

All right, I admit it. I want Mallory's hair to grow already!

A few friends have noticed that Mallory has ol' Ralphie's head, God rest his soul. It's a trait that I really like about her - she is a bit of a little Polish girl. And she does have quite the noggin on her. And, she is pretty hairless. :)

This morning, I put her hair in one ponytail on top of her head with a bow. It is growing, as I could get more hair into it than I had before, but it is still pretty pitiful.

When I picked her up from daycare, her teacher had made two ponytails. . I think she wants to froo-froo Mallory up as much as I do!

So here she is - smiles and all. For those of you who don't know her, she is a smiley, happy kid. She has this fantastic walk about her - she definitely shows assertiveness and confidence. And, she has the gift of lighting up the room with her smile. She is opinionated and fun loving, and a great companion for Christopher. They have really just started playing together, and they always end up laughing.

So here's to Mallory - let's grow some more hair!