Officially old?

Ethan just texted me from the other room with "Merry Christmas. Goodnight."

Yes, I said ETHAN JUST TEXTED ME.

My oldest son now owns a cell phone, given to him for Christmas by his dad.

Does this make me old, officially?

I Love You So...

One of the gifts I gave to Brenden this year is a book called "I Love You So..." by Marianne Richmond.

I'm a big fat dork, and I started crying when I read it to Brenden tonight.

Here it is.

"I love you.

How much?

SO much.

How much is 'so'?

WAY, WAY MORE than you know...

I love you as BRILLIANT as each sparkling star,

and as WAY OUT as space, I love you THAT far.

I love you as GIGANTIC as a great lion's roar,

and as DEEP as the ocean, I love you MUCH more.

'That IS a lot,' you say, 'but HOW did it start?

WHERE did love come from to be in your heart?'

YOU put it there, really, when you and I met.

And I knew for certain WITHOUT you I'd fret.

From MY HEAD to my TOES, I was feeling inside

a devotion for you SO DEEP and SO WIDE.

And now it's ENORMOUS and wonderfully real

and hard to describe HOW MUCH I feel!

I love you as AWESOME as a thundery sky, and as SOARING as mountains,

I love you THAT high.

I love you as SILLY as a puppy dog's kiss,

and as QUIET as midnight, I love you like THIS.

'Do you love me EVERY day?' you ask with doubting awe,

'or does love go UP 'N DOWN like a teetering see-saw?'

I love you as STEADY as the earth rounds the sun,

though SOME days of life are the FARTHEST from fun.

'Like when you feel MAD?' you ask with distress,

'cause I've BROKEN the rules or made a BIG mess?

Or, when I'm UNKIND, and your feelings are BLUE,

do you love me ALTHOUGH I do what I do?'

I love you being NICE, and when you're CRANKY, too.

I love you without liking the NAUGHTY things you do.

My 'love you' DOESN'T change like the temper of the days.

It's a CERTAIN kind of thing in many DIFFERENT ways.

You're my SWEETIE, my dear, my SMILE and laughter.

You're my PLAYMATE for always, and my JOY ever after.

Hanging out WITH YOU is where I want to be...

eating ice cream sundaes or watching the TV.

UNDER your umbrella, behind you on a bike.

BY you and BESIDE you is what I REALLY like.

'Do you love me just AS MUCH when I'm FAR away from home?

Is your loving still THE SAME in distant lands I roam?'

I love you NEAR or FAR. I love you HIGH or LOW.

My love is there with you WHEREVER you may go.

'Even when I'm SICK...and I can't get out of bed?

Do you love me better HEALTHY than with fever in my head?'

I love you sick or able.

You're ALWAYS you to me, the ONE I LOVE forevermore.

Undeniably.

I CAN'T IMAGINE life before YOU came along...

me there singing senseless, no MEANING to my song.

Call it MEANT TO BE or simply blessed fate, you fill my heart WITH LOVE...

and for THAT I celebrate.

'I love you.

How much?

SO much.

How much is 'so'?

WAY, WAY MORE than you know..."

When I first read it, I thought of how much I love Ethan and Brenden and how my love for them never ends, despite all the tough tumbles and stumbles we go through together.

But this unconditional love she talks about also sounds like the love I have for my sister, for my best friends, for my mom and dad, the love my best friend Brooke feels for her husband Ryan and her puppies, and the love that God has for all of us.

Nathaniel, Benjamin and Avery

The kids and I were talking a couple days ago and the subject of names came up. I told Ethan that I wanted to name him Nathaniel and I told Brenden that I wanted to name him Benjamin. To my dismay, their dad nixed both names, so we ended up with Ethan and Brenden. Sometimes I still think that I should have pushed harder for the name Ben. Anyway, Ethan told me that he doesn't like the name Nathaniel (or the name Ethan for that matter...he wants his name to be Jordan), but Brenden did like the name Ben. :)

I also told the boys that if either one of them would have been a girl, they would have been named Avery. They thought that was weird. hehe.
Maybe someday I'll have a girl and name her Avery...

No, just kidding, GOTCHYA! ;)

Thankful

My sister and I have officially "hosted" Thanksgiving for the past 7 or 8 years. Back then, our mom passed down a special family tradition. Each year we cook the basics, but we always find new and exciting recipes to try. Some things are staples, of course, like mom's pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes (yum!) and I do believe the clam dip is becoming one as well. Other than that, we experiment. We always have at least two appetizers, then soup follows, then the main course, and finally dessert. We make EVERYTHING from scratch...even the caramel (ok ok this year we didn't make the ice cream or the whipped cream). But there is no skimping here. And we don't try to make our food low fat or with less calories - no way. On Thanksgiving we're all about fresh, fattening and full of flavor. This year's menu looked like:

Appetizers
Crab Cakes with Red Chili Mayonnaise
Clam Dip with Sourdough

Soup
Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Mushrooms and Chives (I couldn't find any pumpkins however, so this ended up being squash soup - not your everyday squash but some that looked sorta like pumpkins so I figured what the heck)

Salad
Romaine with Cranberries, Oranges and Goat Cheese

Main Course
Porcini-Rubbed Turkey with Shitake-Madeira Gravy
Artichoke, Sausage and Parmesan Cheese Stuffing
Chive and Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Haricots Verts with Herb Butter
Maple Glazed Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
Cranberry Sauce

Dessert
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Tart with Caramel Sauce
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

This year, the food was truly a group effort. Kellie, Richie (my bro) and I along with our sous chef Ethan really knocked it out. We listened to music and cooked pretty much all day Wednesday and then most of Thursday. Kellie and Richie made the crab cakes. I wasn't happy with that selection as an appetizer because we made them a few years back and they weren't that good. This year though, this recipe, these cooks, these crab cakes were AMAZING. They were so damn good. Really, everything was delicious!

So of course I was extremely thankful for the fabulous fare, but on top of it, I was and am so extremely thankful for the beautiful family and wonderful friends I am blessed with. Ethan said it best when he read a Thanksgiving prayer:

Heavenly Father, on Thanksgiving Day
We bow our hearts to You and pray.
We give You thanks for all You've done
Especially for the gift of Jesus, Your Son.
For beauty in nature, Your glory we see
For joy and health, friends and family,
For daily provision, Your mercy and care
These are the blessings You graciously share.
So today we offer this response of praise
With a promise to follow You all of our days.
We pray in Jesus name, Amen.

A couple pics to follow - my flash drive is currently MIA.