Happy Thanksgiving to all the US noders out there, and happy November to the rest!
I got up extra early today. For some unknown reason I was all slept out. It turned out to be a good thing, too, because there was no time in the schedule to bake the pumpkin pies. I got them made and out of the oven by 10, and the schedule proceeded from there unaffected. All I do with pumpkin pie is follow the directions on the can, add lots of extra spice, and make sure it cooks long enough; and everyone says my pumpkin pies are the greatest thing. Go figure.
Walked down to the park with Amelia. The plan was to tire her out before her nap. The reality was that she fell asleep in my arms before we got there. So I sat on the bench while she slept for a while (half an hour? I had no way to tell) and then let her tire herself out on the play things afterward. I saw one thing there that was new to me : a swing for the wheelchair-bound. It's a roughly four foot square platform connected to something overhead. Just wheel the chair on, fold the ramp up into the fourth wall and poof - there is swinging. Amelia was enjoying the balance beam, which she could very nearly walk without assistance.
Liz and John and Julian (Julian is roughly two years old) arrived late last night, so Ruth Anne's whole family is here. That also makes a total of seven adults and four children total, so things were rather hectic.
Much cooking all day, including some new things such as "triangular spinach and cheese things wrapped up in Filo". Dinner was wonderful and the kids were calm enough to let us all enjoy it. I got second shift dish duty, meaning I washed all the dishes that were left over after the dishwasher was full.
Right now the older kids are watching Ice Age again so I'm looking for other things to do.