We can thank Mom for ours. "She's a Wonder Woman," as one of her in-laws said today.
Last night, she made the pumpkin pie (from farm-fresh pie pumpkins) and got the dressing and yeast rolls started.
This morning, she ran the Turkey Trot 8K and finished the five miles in approximately 51:45 (official results are not available yet). Unfortunately, we don't have any photos or videos of that. To make a long story short, Mom was so fast that she beat Dad and the kids to the finish line.
When she got home (before the rest of us!), she cooked the dressing, cooked the rolls, made and cooked corn pudding, and made banana pudding.
And this is what it all looked like when she was done. Look at those rolls, Grandy!
It's all very yellow-orange, we know. And there was no bird, as you can see. We had planned to have a squash and potato gratin, but we decided that we had enough food for our small family (not to mention enough yellow and orange!).
Levynn set the table.
And we ate.
Now Mom is working, the first of her two straight late shifts that will keep her in the office until the wee hours.
At least it is here in Chicago, starting tonight with the 18th annual Magnificent Mile Lights Festival.
But this was quite a day for families overall, actually. Before the lights festival, the main branch of the Chicago Public Library system held the 16th annual Bookamania. And it had Dad wondering, "How did we miss this last year?"
Bookamania was four hours long. Dad and Levynn were there only for the last two, after lunch, and we realized that we could have been there the entire time and not run out of things to do. It is, hands down, one of the very best family events we've attended.
There were more than 25 activities, all inspired by specific children's books; two professional musical theater performances of the book "Click, Clack, Moo" in the auditorium; another stage with constant entertainment; a third area for more quiet performances, like readings; author and illustrator appearances; and wandering storybook characters. And any kid who completed seven activities (they got a stamp in a "passport" for each one) was able to pick a free book to take home. (Thanks again, Target.)
The book "Duck! Rabbit!" prompted this activity. Levynn cut out the figure, guessed whether it was a duck or a rabbit, and then got a better look.
Duck?
Rabbit?
She signed the Fairytale Guest Book for the King and Queen.
She high-fived a Wild Thing.
But TheatreworksUSA's "Click, Clack, Moo" was the coup de grace.
Dad and Levynn met Mom and Lincoln at the Tribune. We all had to fight crowds to get there, with people waiting for the lights festival parade or listening to a popular band performing in the Trib's courtyard. But Dad and the kids joined Mom in the building, where we were allowed a privileged view of the parade.
Mickey Mouse was the grand marshal, and the holiday lights along Michigan Ave. were lit for the first time as he made his way down the street.
The kids lost patience in our perch in the Trib newsroom's kitchen; we weren't in the cold, but we also weren't close to the action. So Dad, Levynn and Lincoln started for home before the parade ended, and we actually were able to see some things as we walked.
When Dad left the apartment to do some grocery shopping one afternoon, Levynn was reading on the couch, Mom was sleeping in a chair, and Lincoln was sleeping in his bed.
When Dad returned, Levynn was reading on the floor and...
Awwwwww...
Anyway, Mom's still running, folks! And she just registered for two more races: the Turkey Trot 8K, a five-miler Thanksgiving morning, and the Soldier Field 10 Mile next May 29. Go, Mom!
And Levynn's still reading - of course! - and doing it like a machine. To think that she comes home from school with assignments about teaching kids how to turn pages in the right direction, where to begin reading on a page, etc. Parent-teacher conferences are Wednesday, so that should be interesting.
Dad spent some time with Levynn's class Friday, joining them on a little walking field trip to the local fire station.
Psst... Can you see that she's holding hands with the boy wearing the stars and stripes hat?
Granted, the teacher told all the kids to hold hands with their buddies. But no others did once at the fire station. And - get this - he once said to her, "You're the best girl ever," to which she replied, "You're the best boy ever."
The weather has been wacky this year, to say the least. The temperature hit 70 degrees both yesterday and today, making this an extraordinarily beautiful November weekend.
So how funny is this photo?
The Lincoln Park Zoo, which we thought would be a good place to enjoy the sunshine yesterday, obviously is getting an early start on its Christmas look. The kids got a kick out of it.
It was so unusually warm that the kangaroos and the gorillas were roaming outside.
The kangaroos have been out of sight most of the times we've visited the zoo, and we had seen the gorillas only in their indoor home.
First we welcomed Granddaddy, Susan, Mammy and Pap to Chicago. Then we welcomed Grandy. Then came Saturday, which not only was Halloween but also Levynn's last soccer class.
Oh, and it was Mom's birthday, too.
Whew!
Believe it or not, we have no photos of Levynn in full Halloween dress. (And Lincoln didn't want to get in costume at all!) So you'll have to cobble her royal ballerina look together in your mind with the shots below.
Here you can see part of the pink, long-sleeved leotard and the poofy pink skirt.
Here you can get a better look at the braid in her hair, as she gets a bite of a treat at the Green City Market's Halloween fest. Below, also at the market, you can see her crown as she shows her mini pumpkin.
You may gather that we had a non-traditional Halloween. After soccer - see her trophy? - we went downstairs to the "breakfast room" for our building's Halloween party, where we had pizza, cupcakes, candy, bingo, a costume contest (all the kids won!) and a pinata.
And that was that for our Halloween. So you might be surprised that, despite no door-to-door trick-or-treating, the kids stockpiled more candy than we're willing to let them eat. So what we did was good enough!
Anyway, thanks for visiting, everyone. We'll see you again soon, down your way.
The results of the Trick or Treat Trot 5K - also known as Mom's Road Running Debut - have been posted online, and we're proud to say that she was even faster than we thought. You can see the results for yourself here.
Mom finished the race in 31:58.8, a pace of 10:18 per mile; she placed 215th out of 550 women; and she was 42nd out of 106 in her age group (30-34), of which she's near the back end. The winner is in her age group, too, so Mom's competition wasn't half bad.
5K race for mom this morning - officially known as the Trick or Treat Trot. There was a lot of nervousness yesterday and this morning, but she's feeling pretty good now. Immediately after she finished, she was about overcome with emotion at the sight of jumping up and down kids holding a sign and cheering, and a Nathan who was so proud. She was very happy finishing with a time of just about 33 minutes. Oh, and watch the video of her finish - and listen all the way to the end!
Dad and the kids went to The Art Institute today for Costume Creations, which, when we arrived, we discovered was mask-making with assorted art materials.
So Levynn went to work, and Dad and Lincoln went to work, and what we created was, well, we can't really say just yet. One or both could be used for Halloween, the kids say, so we don't want to spoil any surprises.
Last night was the perfect time for us to go to our building's rooftop deck. Mom was home, it was dark before bedtime, and the temperature was in the upper 60s at the end of a beautiful October day.
It's all very yellow-orange, we know. And there was no bird, as you can see. We had planned to have a squash and potato gratin, but we decided that we had enough food for our small family (not to mention enough yellow and orange!). 
