the thanksgiving that was not to be

This was going to be a great Thanksgiving. Jamie and Taylor were flying in and we were all headed down to St. George. Ryan was taking the week off and we were going to head down early, on Tuesday. But Tuesday came and Ryan came down with a cold. So we held off until Wednesday. But Wednesday came and Anna developed an ear infection. So we held off until Thursday (when everyone else was heading down--we were celebrating on Friday). But Thursday came and I was up all night throwing up and Ryan was up all night coughing. So we sent Ella with Grandma Sue and had a non-Thanksgiving lying on the couch and watching bad HGTV. I'm still holding out hope that tomorrow will be the day and Ryan and I will head down south and join the gang. Ella is really excited about the "feast with the whole family" that she learned about in preschool. When I told her that Daddy and I weren't going to be there she said, "Well, we will just have a feast with the rest of the family."

i (chart) you

Last year for Christmas my sister created a Family Tree chart. I loved it, and for the past 9 months I've been trying to talk her into making them for others. She finally caved and started a little etsy shop.  Since I was the one who talked her into it (because really, I love mine) I thought I'd try and help her spread the word. So check it out, put it on your blog, facebook, pass it on to your friends. It might just be the perfect Christmas present for those hard to shop for in-laws of yours...

i (chart) you

uncanny

Ryan and I have a knack for picking the same foods for lunch and dinner. If he goes to Cafe Rio for lunch it is inevitable that I will make enchiladas. If he goes to Five Guys we are having burgers. But tonight topped the charts.  For dinner my nanny made a pene pasta salad with peppers, spinach and sausage, seasoned with fennel. Guess what Ryan had for lunch? A sausage and pepper pizza (seasoned with fennel) and a side of pene pasta.

I guess we should be happy we are on the same wavelength.

11.11.11

For someone who's favorite number is 11, last Friday was kind of a big day. The kind that only comes around once a lifetime. Grandma Sue celebrated with 11 little presents, each containing 11 items. 11 skittles, m&ms, stamps, stickers, goldfish crackers, die cuts, blueberries, erasers, clips  and crayons.

sisters

mr. sun

This one cracks us up. No performance jitters here.

Room Tour

 Kimmy asked me to put up some pictures of my new furniture. I had visions of a really great post, with close-up pictures that make everything look all artsy (but are probably just hiding the peeling paint or the junk on the floor). You know, Design Mom style.  But I finally realized that wasn't going to happen and I'd better just take some shots and throw it out there. I'm still looking for a few final pieces, but here's our almost finished family room.

On the wall are the vintage postcards Jamie and I found in Rome. They are really cool and were $1 each.

This is a knock-off of this. I was really pleased with how it turned out (it's better in person). I bought sea urchins on eBay and took it to Brushworks where they put it together for a fraction of the cost of the original.

Kimmy & Chris made this for me for Christmas. I love it.

Halloween, 2011

Ella and Bea trick or treating (not a great video, but you get the idea).
Best line of the night:
"Sorry tids. We might not have enough tandy for you." (Ella to trick or treaters while holding a huge bowl of candy)

Tuckered out

On the move

Today Anna started crawling. Grandpa Paul noticed it. We gathered around, oohed and awed for a bit, then moved on. Grandpa didn't think Anna was getting her fair due. "When Ella started crawling it got more attention than a Constitutional amendment." 

The second child. 

Loved. 

Without the accolades. 

A star is born

Ella had her preschool Halloween program today. She didn't want to upstage the other kids. You know, she's humble like that.

{excuse the poor video handling. Anna was on my lap and grabbing for the phone}


Mom found out that "bring nine wrapped treats" does not mean let Ella pick out 9 pieces of candy from the Halloween stash. It means make something like this with a chocolate dipped pretzel for the handle, filled with goodies. Even the moms who only gave a single piece of candy gave cool things, like save the forests chocolates, or DIY candy necklaces. Good thing El's not old enough to be embarrassed by her lame offering.

France, 2010

Jamie is a little slow (like, a year late) with her pictures, but they are always great. You can see photos from last year's trip here.

Cousin Camp, part 3

With Ryan gone for 12 days I knew we would need a little distraction to stay sane. So we hopped on a plane and spent the weekend in Texas with Lauren and gang. We had a fantastic time. Never mind that 7/8 people were sick. That mosquitos were in full force. That we had to fit 5 carseats and 3 adults in the Honda Odyssey. We cooked, ate, crafted, movied, zooed, farmed, parked, beached, laughed, played, played and played. The kids got along amazingly well, and the adults didn't do half bad either. 

{Ella's first step into the ocean}

Thanks, Lauren, for making it a great trip.

guy on a buffalo

Don't worry, there are 4 of these little gems. Episode 2 might be my favorite.

And t-shirts.

Love it.

Private/Public Blog

The worst thing about a private blog (in my opinion) is not being able to use your reader. I've tried to get around this by making a duplicate public blog, that only has the title of new posts, with a link to see the full post. You can put the public blog in your reader.


http://ryanandalissapackerpublic.blogspot.com/

Sunday night pics

The girls and I (Ryan is in China for 10 days) went to my parents for Sunday dinner. The fall colors are gorgeous in PC so we took a few pictures.