no-shave november; airplane; thanksgiving; train and "piece;" broccoli and other solids

spencer was going to do a "no-shave november" just for the fun of it. he and his friend steve decided to make it a school-wide fundraiser.
here's how it ended up.
he's got such a great beard!



benny was sitting in this basket pretending it was an airplane. i decided to make some wings for him out of a huggies box we had around. of course that ends up not being enough. first he wanted the wheels (out of view). then he wanted a tail fin and cross fin (the way he explained those to me was adorable!).
he loved it for days.



we had a great thanksgiving this year! again, we did it on our own. there's something wonderful about having the whole day on your own schedule - cooking, eating, naps (unfortunately only for andy and lilia that day and every other...), etc.
because of spencer's study schedule i did almost the whole meal. he did get home in time to help me a little with the turkey the night before. we kept it pretty simple and it was wonderful.



the boys ready to eat!
oh, i've got to add the simply apple was a wonderful substitute for crandall's from orem!



benny came to me with a huggies box (our craft supply of choice) to make him a train. he certainly has a vision for how he wants things and sometimes it's pretty impossible. luckily i was able to convince him that this was still a pretty cool train.
andy is in the "piece" made from the smaller overnites box. a perfect fit!
if any of you have seen any thomas and friends shows, the "piece" is gordon's coal car. benny has a gordon toy with what he has always called the "piece."



completely their idea.
benny's reading green eggs and ham and andy's got go, dog. go!



i started feeding lilia solids a while ago. i always start my kids with peas because those are the easiest to make (i also make the food - not for some moral ground, i just think it's better; straight vegetables (cooked and pureed) with water if needed). lilia's reaction to the peas (shown below) was better than her reaction to the broccoli tonight.

that's not a pleasant face. she literally gagged them down.

tonight was worse. she gagged them down and then threw up - i'm pretty sure it was on purpose... i slowed down. she did it a second time. i slowed down even more and let her get used to the flavor. she ended up eating three cubes worth (i always freeze the food in ice trays and transfer it to ziplock bags in the freezer. easiest way i've found to store it).
so now we've got peas, yams, broccoli, and carrots for lilia. i think i'll start mixing the broccoli in with other vegetables. that should help it to be more palatable for her.
i wish i had made broccoli when andy was a baby. he will be done with his meal if we insist that he eat his broccoli before anything else.