Gobble gobble, y’all. The clan is up in the mountains, spending Turkey Day with Granny, Grumps and family, and giving thanks to God for our bountiful blessings.

The 3 Amigos jam out 3-part harmonies … nah, not really … but they are having fun!

We have been bustling about this November. Here’s a lowdown of happenings and activities:

• We got another beta fish, who Houston named “Yoda-fish II.” He is red and seems to be much healthier from the get go … although I forgot to feed him before we left for Granny’s. Considering that I probably overfed the first Yoda-fish, which caused his untimely demise, I think our current aquatic buddy should fare pretty well.

• The twins are doing great at combining words to convey more complex thoughts, as well as becoming much more adventurous with new words and confident with old ones. “Gabriel and Zeke make me look good,” says Miss Pat when explaining the quick progress of their language skills. They are also learning their ABCs, numbers and colors with the help of their beloved magnetic letters.

Houston listens intently as Papa reads a Star Wars book to him before bedtime.

• A nasty cold has been working its way through our house over the past month. Zeke is the only one still fighting a cough, so we took him to see his pediatrician last week. The doc said his lungs, sinuses and ears looked fine, but prescribed him an antihistamine to help curtail the cough. It took a while, but the meds finally seem to be doing their job.

• Houston is playing basketball at the Y. Stephen took him to meet his coach and teammates two weekends ago, and I took him to his first practice last Saturday. He was extremely shy at first and did not want to participate, but once he saw how much fun the other 3 and 4 year olds were having — not to mention a little urging from Mommy – Houston joined in and had a ball (pun intended).

• Stephen and I are doing better at giving the twins one-on-one time whenever the opportunity arises, usually taking one on errands while the other stays home. Although sometimes initially confused or concerned as to where his brothers are, Gabriel and Zeke seem to fully enjoy the individualized attention.

• I came up with an awesome timesaving trick. I cut a bunch of old sheets into tablecloths that I shake outside and then flip over after meals in an effort to cut down on clean up, as well as promote the life of my beat-up kitchen table. Pure genius … why didn’t I think of it sooner?

Gabriel thinks his magnetic letters & numbers are ultra cool.

• Granny and Grumps watched the kids so Stephen and I could go out to a fancy dinner at one of our favorite restaurants (a Brazilian Churrascaria steakhouse) for a belated anniversary celebration. That was one of the best food highs of my life!

• I gave Gabe and Zeke their first buzz cut with Daddy’s trimmers. I think the new styles make them look incredibly handsome, but a sentimental Granny says the short cuts make them look too old.

• And speaking of haircuts, I finally got a sassy haircut (a cute, layered bob) and then dyed my increasingly gray hair jet black. I don’t look like such an old fogey anymore!

• Some other things the boys have been into lately include:

◊ busting out the mat (formerly used when they were learning to crawl) for raucous wrestling matches and perfecting forward rolls;

â—Š making music on the piano, with their percussive and wind instruments, and through pure a capella talent;

And Zeke thinks finger paints are way cool.

◊ Houston playing his first board game (Candyland) and 4-game cards set (Spit, Go Fish, Rummy and Crazy 8s);

◊ constructing cities with their wooden blocks and subsequently destroying the talls buildings via screeching, high-speed car;

â—Š Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels!;

â—Š the twins especially enjoying Mr. Potato Head and sidewalk chalk;

â—Š everyone making art with finger paints, water colors, crayons, magic markers and stickers, and Houston creating “crafts” (a loose term considering how lame our pinecone turkey turned out) with scissors and glue;

â—Š going on many walks/wagon rides;

Gramsey laughs when she sees how excited Gabe (left) and Zeke get when hearing their favorite lift-and-peek book.

â—Š spending lots of time outside in the awesome autumn weather, swinging, solo sliding and scaling the side of the play tower (gotta mimmick big bro), crawling on fallen trees in Liberty Loop and climbing up Miss Shawn’s big, steep jungle gym — quite impressive;

◊ helping Daddy rake up leaves and spread them out on our raised-bed garden, and assisting Mommy in gathering wood for nighttime cookouts and campfires;

â—Š Houston expertly riding his outgrown trike (Santa will be bringing him a 16″ bike with training wheels) and Gabe diligently trying to follow suit.

Check out all the photos in the October – Part 2 gallery and some more recent shots in November.