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| Album cover style design and editorial courtesy of Juan Mario Agudelo...a true graphic genius! :) |
It has been a busy but truly fun Fall/early Winter for the royals. King Tony took the boys to see a multitude of their favorite superheroes and movie stars at a recent ComicCon event in Massachusetts--and the twins were absolutely THRILLED beyond belief. They hung out with Spiderman, a Ghostbuster and Jack Sparrow, and got to sit in Bumble Bee (Transformers), the Back to the Future Delorean and the Batmobile too! One of their favorite moments however was meeting the infamous Jon Heder (a twin himself, no less)..otherwise known as Napolean Dynamite! :)
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| Jon Heder--a handsome fella without his perm... :) |
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| Friend Colleen spends the night and makes her first-ever Mickey Mouse pancake for Alec! :) |
And then came the turkeys...a day before Thanksgiving. They were walking around our front yard and were even bold enough to practically walk in the front door! Can you believe these guys???
And just like that ('snap fingers'), multiple turkeys ended up in serving trays at Auntie Wendy's and Uncle Ed's abode where we enjoyed a FABULOUS Thanksgiving spread of competing turkeys (fried versus traditional baked). It was a toss up as to which one was better as the food was absolutely yummy, but we learned a very important tip to turkey dinners--BRINE the turkey, baby, brine it! :)
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| Wendy and Ed duel it out, with tons of love and affection...good humans. |
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| Uncle Ed diligently (and expertly) carves the birds in a matter of seconds. Give that guy a gun and a forest and he'd be able to feed an army for a week with precision, skill and absolute comfort! |
And then, we waited patiently for the arrival of Blue Fred...our favorite adopted Elf. Terrifyingly, he did not arrive this year. In his place when we awoke was a note and three bags of coal! Our children were devastated (well, maybe not devastated, but bummed) to read that should their behavior not improve, Blue Fred would NOT return this year. :( Boo-hoo, boo-hoo....
To keep them focused and to stop the tears, we put up 5, yep, count 'em 5, Christmas trees. The kids had to decorate 2 all by themselves, and together, they helped decorate 2 more. Mom and Dad handled the last one...as they seemed to be getting tired... heee...hee.....
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| Kitchen Tree |
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| Living Room Tree |
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| Foyer Tree |
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| And, we couldn't forget the house exterior, so Tony hung numerous lights and we crafted some cool decorations, a lollipop garden and some other treats so that our home was akin to Candyland! It all looked so good until 2 feet of snow landed..... :( |
When the snow begins to fly, we know it is time to 'eat and be merry' so Wendy rolled some sushi and the kids and their friends got down to making some gingerbread houses after school.
Fortunately, after all of this effort, Santa must have felt things improved as one morning the kids awoke, and Blue Fred had in fact, returned. He turned the bags of coal into delicious chocolate treats, and welcomed the kids to a breakfast of hot cocoa and yumminess before school one day.
And of course THEN, the hijinx began. Blue Fred has notoriously been a wild card-style elf...getting into all sorts of stuff and leaving Tony and Wendy to wonder exactly how he ranks back at the North Pole. We're thinking a step above delinquent...but who knows! :)
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| Hands caught in the blender, with PopTarts, and goodie basket coupons...the thief! |
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| He 'modified' the kids' gingerbread house by making marshmallow/pretzel snowmen! |
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| He hangs with Batman and moves toys with ease.... |
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| And attempts to give Mom a break by WRITING on our washer and dryer. What the heck was he thinking???? AHHHHHH!! |
The snow, of course, arrived in New England with all the drama that it typically brings with it! First major storm dropped nearly a foot, and then two days later, another 8.5 inches fell. The kids absolutely LOVE playing in the snowbanks and are starting to get keen on the whole idea of 'playing' in the snow, regardless of how many times Daddy whines, "it's too cold" and "I don't like the snow." They'll be up on skis this year...it's just gotta happen!
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| Driving in a winter wonderland... |
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| Our view on December 17, 2013. Woo-hooo! :) |
