marbles, friends & food

yesterday the kids and i went to marbles kids museum in downtown raleigh. this was our first time there, and it was so much fun. we were invited to a birthday party, by my friend kitra, for her son dylan who just turned one. malcolm spent the entire time running (and me chasing), so we were both exhausted by the end of the trip. i took a bunch of photos:

malcolm and dylan (and alanna in the corner)

having snacks

dylan (in the middle) with his little cake

(kitra holding the cake)

after the party, we explored the museum and played for about 2 hours

i loved that they had this quote painted on the wall

he was yelling "nooo" at that little girl.

he did not want to share the register with her, haha

driving a boat

and a car

hula hoops!

he loved this drum

looking out over the main foyer

he also loved playing with the mr. potato heads

after the museum, we took malcolm home to danny so that he could take a nap, and then alanna and i went to a second thanxxxgiving dinner of sorts. a few of danny's friends throw an after thanksgiving feast every year, a couple days after the holiday. it was an all vegan pot-luck... or more like a smörgåsbord, haha! the food was delicious, and we had a nice time hanging out. thanks for inviting us lia!

a small sampling of the dessert options, yum!

(i stole this photo from chris jew's fb page)

the whole group, alanna and i are in the middle of the back row

(i also stole this photo from fb)

thanksgiving 2009

we had a great time yesterday. we ate way too much delicious food, and spent the day with people we love. i wish we could have spent the day with my family as well, we miss you guys. i hope you all had a happy thanksgiving too.

mashed potatoes, green beans, tofurky (cooked with carrots, potatoes, and onion), sweet potatoes, cranberry relish, crescent rolls, "chicken" pot pie, and gravy... a perfect vegan thanksgiving meal!

malcolm, ready to dig in

all done, and ready to get out of that damn chair, haha

dessert! vegan pumpkin "cheesecake", cookies n' cream cake (in honor of compton's upcoming birthday), chocolate pudding pie, and apple crisp, yum!


relaxing after eating too many sweet treats



playing out in the backyard

for the past two weeks, i've been posting things i am thankful for on my facebook page each day. i figured i should list them here too. of course there are many more things i could add to the list, if i had a lot more time...

i am thankful:

(in no particular order, kinda just what i was feeling from day to day)

• that i am vegan (12 awesome years)
• for my husband
• that i am a mother
• for the changing seasons, especially autumn!
• for the internerd (and this blog), so i can keep in touch with my family and friends
• for our healthy family, and for the good health of my parents
• that malcolm has become a good sleeper (finally!)
• that i didn't have to take alanna to see "new moon", haha
• that we have our our own washer & dryer (i seriously cannot imagine having to do our laundry at a laundromat, ugh!)
• that i've been able to stay at home with malcolm for the past 21 months
• for the top of a brand new jar of vegenaise (i love the start of a new bottle, haha)
• for the childhood that i had (i had the best parents, siblings and friends. my life as a child was so much fun!)
• for all the terrible relationships i endured over the years... because they made me stronger and more grateful (if it weren't for all the wrong guys, i wouldn't be who or where i am right now)
• for my mother-in-law, and the amazing (huge) vegan feast that she makes us each year!
• for my family and friends... here in nc, in salt lake city, and all over the country (i love and miss you guys!)

and i am adding this one today:

• that i am no longer working retail, and that i didn't have to work today (black friday), haha

i just finished...

...playing two games of banagrams with alanna. we are so glad it is finally the holiday weekend, and she is so stoked to have three days off of school (including today). our friend compton took her to see "new moon" this morning. they went to the 10:45 am showing, and there were only 6 other people in their theater. she loved the movie, and they both said that it was much better than the first one (he also took her to see it last year). i haven't read any of the books, or watched "twilight", and i don't ever plan to, haha. so a big thanks goes out to compton, for being such a good friend!

i also just finished making a couple things to take to thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. we will spend the holiday with danny's family at his mom and dad's house. my mother-in-law spoils us each year with a huge amazing vegan feast! she is so accommodating when it comes to our strictly limited diet, and i am very thankful for that. before i moved out here, i would usually have to make my own tofurky, and eat it by myself, while the rest of my extended family ate the traditional dairy and meat filled holiday meal. so it is really nice to have so many delicious options (thanks vicky)! can you tell i am very excited to eat, haha!?

i made my mothers famous cranberry relish. she has made it every year, for pretty much my entire life, and everyone in our family just loves it. i've brought the tradition out here, and now danny's family likes it too

and i also made a pumpkin "cheesecake". this is one thing that i am really good at baking, i've made it so many times, and it always turns out delicious. my brother-in-law billy (danny's sister's husband) is just about as opposite of vegan as anyone could be, (he is a real steak-and-potatoes kind of guy), and he love, love, loves it! he gets sad when i don't bring it to family get-togethers, haha. i even made him one as a gift, for his past two birthdays. he is going to be very excited tomorrow, haha

before it's goes in the oven


and after it comes out (it needs some soyatoo on top!)
our house smells sooo good right now!

we took our pitbull, lucky dog, to the vet today for his annual exam. we think he has a urinary tract infection, so he has to take an antibiotic. but they took a blood sample, and everything else looks great. he is 11 years old now, and he is starting to slow down a bit, but he is happy and healthy, and has many more years to go. we are thankful for his good health.

he is always so rowdy in there, that we have to put a muzzle on him. poor doggy, haha. danny took this photo with his phone

we love a parade

saturday morning alanna and i went down to the annual raleigh christmas parade. this is the third year that we have watched it. the whole thing is pretty long, like 2 hours, so i left malcolm home with danny. it was nice to have some baby-free time, and to not have to spend the whole time chasing him around. he can be pretty exhausting these days. here are some of the highlights:

the girl in the center front is alanna's friend sienna, from her last middle school. she is part of a competition jump-roping team

we liked the marching bands and their shiny instruments

this teeny-tiny bus was full of "little people" dressed as elves, haha

when i was little, i was super afraid of the hamburgler from the mcdonalds ads. at night, i would run past our dark living room as fast as i could, because i thought that he was gonna jump out and get me, haha. so this float pretty much creeped me out!


some cool old classic cars


star wars fans like christmas too (there were tons of them, way more than in this photo)


some old guys on little red tractors (i took this one for my father!)


the morning radio show that we like to listen to


the biggest shopping cart ever!

and last, but not least... santa!

raleigh has lots of beautiful old historic victorian-style homes. we parked between two of my favorite houses

and this is malcolm's new favorite thing to do... run around nude!

this was on saturday after i had given him his nightly bath. he cracks me up! he was also loving me taking his photo up-close. he usually turns away from the camera. here are the best shots, haha :)