shiner

We're having an unlucky November in the Avery/Raab household. I sprained my ankle last week while trail running.  Steve's foot is still bothering him. Liesl has been sick for most of November (coughing, pneumonia, upset stomach). But the crowning glory: Sebastian got a shiner playing touch football after school.

At least one of us was proud and happy with our injury.

school photos

 Our beautiful, healthy, happy children. I am so thankful, and lucky.

ice skating

We kicked off the holiday season by going ice skating at the Winterhawks rink. Both kids did great - hardly any falls at all, and a whole lot more stamina and speed. We haven't skated since last January, so I was pretty amazed that they'd apparently retained previous skills and even improved in the interim. As always, I was delighted to get out there. I love ice skating.

Thanksgiving!

We had a delightful family celebration of Thanksgiving, marred only by some illness (Liesl got sick last night and needed urgent care today: pneumonia) and injury (Steve hurt his right foot a week ago and it's not improving). Despite that, it was good day together, with fun and (way too much) good food.

Sebastian and I started off the day by running in the Oregon Road Runners' Turkey Trot in Washington Park. It was a 4-mile out and back race, untimed, ending inside the zoo. The morning was clear and not too cold and we were excited/nervous to run in our first race together. At 8 am, Sebastian took off like a shot, weaving in and out of slower runners in front of him and basically running flat out for the first two (downhill) miles. I kept up with him - or he waited for me - but it was definitely faster than my usual pace. Then we hit the halfway mark and turned around to start back up the long hill; I was absolutely certain he would burn out and I would catch him. Instead, he kept going, steady and fast, all the way to the finish line. I couldn't catch him. My phone said that I averaged 8'34" miles, for 4.22 miles, and Sebastian finished 2-3 minutes ahead of me. It was a fantastic first race for him, and the first race in a really long time for me, and we both loved it.

After that we came home to rest, shower, take Liesl to the doctor (boo), play with Jasper, and get started on dinner preparations. Steve and I had considered going out to dinner (too expensive, no leftovers), picking up pre-made food from a grocery store or restaurant (quality of food for price?), or eating something different (but what about tradition?), and instead decided to make it all ourselves. Everything, because we're insane. So we had roast turkey (parts, not a whole), mashed potatoes, stuffing, homemade pretzel rolls, mashed sweet potatoes, wild rice stuffing, roasted carrots, green beans, green salad, gravy, cranberry sauce, apple pie, and cranberry pecan bread. We bought some mini-pumpkin pies. It was a feast; we considered putting the extra leaf in the table just to accommodate the food. It was delicious and delightful and we talked about what we were grateful for and ate far too much. The fridge groans with leftovers, and we are happy.

fall photos

A few photos from the last few weeks (not birthday related).

Soccer season came to an end for the Blunicorns: they didn't get to the championship game, but they played well and had so much fun together.

Sebastian's soccer season also ended, in a 1-1 tie against a really strong team. This photo is from the sidelines of his last game. :)

Sebastian's class makes birthday hats for each other as their way of celebrating and marking the occasion. This was Seb's creation for Elliot.

Liesl and I went to an open art studio and had an amazing time playing with clay. It was so fun.

Jasper and I have continued to enjoy the lack of rain, and have been running up a storm on the trails. He's such a good running companion.

 

Although it's been a dry fall, it's still been increasingly cold and dark out there, and so all four of us have been playing board games and pulling out the puzzles. Every summer, without fail, I start to think about jettisoning all the games, toys, and puzzles that take up so much space in our living room and the kids' bedrooms. No one plays them! And then sure enough, once November comes we dust off the games and find the floor pillows, and I'm so glad we have fun things lying around to play together. We've played Clue, Battleship, Ducks in a Row, Blokus, Magic Labyrinth, Ticket to Ride, and chess; we've done a few puzzles; Liesl has done more painting and drawing. We've been playing a lot of music on the Sonos and dancing around the living room. And of course reading reading, and more reading. Both Sebastian and I are making our way through all of the OBOB books.

Liesl's birthday party

We hosted Liesl's birthday party on Saturday - a few weeks late because of various soccer and other commitments - with three of her best friends coming over to play. Diya, Nora, and Campbell arrived at 2 and we piled into our rented minivan (the party bus!) to head over to the Southwest Community Center Pool.

The kids played Marco Polo and freeze tag, we tossed rings for them to dive and find, they went down the slide and off the rope swing, they piled on top of the floaties and up-ended each other off and under, they pretended to be mermaids. Sebastian joined in the games too and it was fun to see Nora treating him like a big brother (teasing him relentlessly, mostly). Swimming pools are SO MUCH MORE FUN w friends.

We came home and the girls piled into the showers, two in ours and two in Liesl's, and came out all clean and in pajamas.

Our first game was pass-the-parcel, a happy variation of musical chairs where four little toys are wrapped in a big present, and the girls pass it like hot-potato while the music plays, and then when the music stops, the girl who is holding it unwraps one present, and then they continue until everyone has a toy.

And then we had dinner - mac and cheese and chicken, peas and broccoli, carrots and cucumbers, apples and oranges.

After dinner we had a pinata stuffed with candy and the girls took turns swinging at it. We started with a cardboard stick but then when that broke, got a old wooden baseball bat.

Next up: one of Steve's famous scavenger hunts - this one puppy-themed. The girls were a team helping out the detective pups -- each clue was taped to a stuffed dog. (We have a lot of puppy friends in the house, apparently!)

And then on to presents! Always a big hit.

I made a confetti cake for the party - a white cake with sprinkles baked in the cake and then scattered on the frosting. It was perfect for the occasion.

The girls climbed into sleeping bags and snuggled in to tell stories - the swimming had clearly had its intended effect, and some of them were getting sleepy by 8:30. There was the usual whispering, but Steve went up and worked his magic (shhhhhh.... shhhhhh) and they all were asleep by 9:30 or so, super early by sleepover standards.

In the morning we set out mini canvases, acrylic paint, and brushes for an art project - a good distraction while we made breakfast.

And then we had challah French toast and berries (with sprinkles!) and the girls went home. Happiest of birthdays to Liesl.