Thanksgiving Week!!

This week has been so awesome!! Dana only worked on Monday, Tuesday we went to the kids class parties which was a lot of fun! Wednesday we went for a walk in the desert and just enjoyed spending quality time with each other, I did a lot of pre-cooking so that I could enjoy Thanksgiving the next day. I decided to start a new Thanksgiving tradition, cinnamon rolls for breakfast! I did all the prep on Wednesday so that all I had to do was throw them in the oven Thursday morning, I got up at 5 so the kids could have fresh cinnamon rolls when they woke up, it was totally worth it, it was a great way to start the day and the kids LOVED it!!

I got to watch most of the Macy's Thanksgiving day Parade with the kids, while Dana went and played football(Turkey Bowl) at the church, he had a blast and so did the kids they really enjoyed all the cool things they saw in the parade.

I decided to make homemade crescent rolls this year, I thought they turned out pretty good what do you think!?

Everyone really enjoyed dinner, Kaleb only had turkey but he loved it, even Ellie got try a little bit of everything!! She loved the turkey and carrots :)Not the best picture, but this was the best pie EVER!!! It was a pumpkin pecan pie, I decided not to make a crust for it since Dane isn't doing a lot of carbs and it was wonderful!!!The kids got to break the wishbone and this was the result.......We figured either they both got their wish or neither one got their wish. Dane had never seen one brake like this, I think the kids might have pulled a little too hard.:)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and so much to be thankful for. Another tradition for us is to put up the tree on Thanksgiving, I didn't think we would manage it this year but to my surprise we did, the kids had a blast and Ellie was intrigued!

We don't go shopping on Friday so we took the kids to the park, when we got home we made homemade noodles for our traditional Turkey Noodle soup, the kids really loved cranking out the noodles.

Tomorrow is our 6th year wedding anniversary and what better way to celebrate then the got to the wards Turkey shoot (I'll post pictures later when I get them). It was a lot of fun and I was the only girl there and I beat 4 guys and YES Dana was among them!! YAHOO it was a blast and I realized how much I truly miss going shooting. We also enjoyed the time away from our kids, so our anniversary will end what was a really perfect week!!

Dane's Birthday

Yesterday was Dana's birthday and the kids were SO excited!! We decorated the house while he was at work and when he got home the kids jumped out and yelled "Souprise!" it's was totally their idea:) The second Dane got home the kids wanted him to open his presents, lucky for me I had dinner all ready, so we had dinner and then it was time for cake and presents!

Even Ellie joined in on the fun!!Doesn't she just look thrilled!?

The kids had a blast, and Dana loved his presents and special (1 a.m.) cheesecake, even though Kaleb told him what they were before he opened them!:)

Special Cheese Cake and 1 a.m.

Yes that's right it's after 1 a.m. and I am still awake not by choice though, no it's not because of the kiddos, it's because of the hubby, I will get back to that in a minute but first I will go through the kind of day I had yesterday!

First I woke up late and was rushed to get Kaleb on the bus on time (what a shocker right!?). After that I had tons of energy so I cleaned the kitchen(cause I didn't have the energy to do it last night!), and the living rooms, fed the girls did Ryne's hair. Once Ryne was gone ,Kaleb was home and Ellie was asleep I decided to cook up the 2 pumpkins that we never carved for Halloween, since they were starting to get a little soft, instead of baking bread and rolls, and zucchini bread. I spent my whole afternoon turning this......

into this, 26 cups of pureed pumpkin, I know your jealous right!?!Kaleb was helping but he got a little tired and decided to take a nap...

Yup! he's laying on the arm of the couch and he covered himself with the couch cushions!

During each batch of pumpkin, I was on-line researching, and comparing car top carriers for our trip to Idaho for Christmas, then I ordered one. After all the pumpkin was done, I started the preparations for dinner, part of it had to cook for 30 mins in the oven so I figured if I timed everything right, I could put it in the oven then take the kids to go get the rest of Dana's birthday presents and then be back by the time it was done and then finish it up. Well that didn't go as planned, Dane got home later than I expected so I decided to go ahead and get started on dinner, we could eat then go do the shopping. Well that didn't go as planned either, I made Roasted Cauliflower soup today, so the first step is to roast the cauliflower, onion and garlic, once that's done ya add your liquid cook on the stove for 20 mins then your suppose to puree the soup (in small batches) in the blender, well all was goin well until the second batch this little guy decided he wanted to be apart of the soup.... this goes into.........this and this is the lid to the blender, well some how that little thing above fell into the blender while I was blending the soup!!Needless to say we had to eat our soup VERY carefully!! We did sift out most of it, but yea that's all I'm gonna say.

Kaleb decided he wasn't going to eat dinner cause it wasn't "green or purple soup" like he wanted, so the decision was made that "if ya don't eat your dinner then you can't got shopping with mommy" which was fine by me cause it wouldn't take me as long with just 1 child(that listens) instead of 2 that don't! Kaleb was very upset with this decision!! Ryne and I left to do the birthday shopping at 6 and got home around 7:30 ish (after we went to 2 Wal-Marts to find what we were looking for!!)Once home, the kids and I wrapped the birthday present (which was a chore in and of it's self). Once that was done it was bedtime, after the kids were in bed I thought I would be able to relax! I was wrong, Dane reminded me of the low carb cheese cake that I needed to make for his birthday tonight so it had time to set and what not. I thought no big deal, until I read the directions and found out it's one you have to bake for an 1 1/2 then let cool in the oven for an hr then let finish cooling on the counter for another 20 to 25 mins!! By the time I got the kitchen cleaned up it was 9:30 and then we began making the cake. Dane was helping at first but then he got tired....HMM now I know where Kaleb gets it from!!

All I have to say is that he better be pretty thankful that I love him enough that I stayed up past 1 a.m. making this.........

for him, knowing darn well I have a full day ahead of me which includes, laundry getting kids off to school, mopping the floors and decorating the house cause "it's not a birthday wif out, bawoons, and hats, and stuff hanging up!"and I still need to make that bread and stuff, I will let you know how things go hopefully better then yesterday! What I was thankful for yesterday was the privilege of being a wife and mother, even though it can really suck at times it is the most wonderful gift I can ever receive!!

Ruts and new chair!

I was proud of myself yesterday, I actually kind of got out of my rut! We had to be up early yesterday for an appointment, I had all the kids dressed, fed and ready to go by 8:00 a.m. and I looked pretty smokin too(meaning, I had regular clothes on and a little makeup). After we got home from the appointment, Ryne was off to school, while she was gone Kaleb and I cleaned the house, I made some hair bows, when Ryne and Dane got home we loaded everyone up and went grocery shopping(that was tons of fun!). Just as we were leaving to go food shoppin Sister Holyoak showed up with my little chair that she re-upholstered and it turned out so good I love it, I'll post a picture at the bottom. After shoppin we had dinner, and then I went and played volley ball so much fun although for some reason it really kicked my butt this week, I am all sore and everything! Any who after that I came home and chatted with a friend on-line till about 1, and YES I am exhausted this morning. I woke up at 7:30 this morning which is usually when Kaleb is suppose to be on the bus luckily for me it's Friday and the bus doesn't get here till nearly 8 so I hurried and got him dressed, and fed(he had a piece of toast with cinnamin and sugar on it) and then onto the bus. So my day yesterday was very productive and it felt nice to be busy, today I need to accomplish the laundry! We will see if I can stay out of my rut today! :)

Ok here is a pic of my chair isn't it loverly!!

Today's Thanks

So it's been a couple of days since I posted what I am thankful for, and it's not been cause I haven't been thankful I swear!! I have actually been in one of those BLECK moods, ya know what I am talkin about were ya just don't feel like doing ANYTHING. I haven't been sleeping well the last 2 nights and I am not sure why, I'm sure if I analyzed my feelings and stuff I would know why, but honestly I just don't want to! Have you ever felt like that!? Yeah I thought so :) Besides not sleeping well I have been waking up with terrible headaches and a stomach ache and although I know the cause it still doesn't make it any easier. I have so much to do before our trip to Idaho in like 5 weeks, like sewing, sewing and more sewing did I mention sewing? My kids have next to no winter clothes suitable for Idaho weather, and since every dime we have right now is going towards the trip and we literally have none to spare I am making the kids clothes which I love to do don't get me wrong it's just that I am not in the mood. I just don't seem to be able to or want to shake this rut, and I seem to be content with that for some reason.

As I have been pondering about all the headaches and other crap, it has made me more aware of the little things to be thankful like:

A lock on my bedroom door, so I can take a well deserved, much needed, long awaited hot bath!

Movies especially Toy Story 2 and Iron Giant they allowed me to take the hot bath!

Breakfast for dinner, and a hubby who stayed up late to help clean up the mess

Sweet kids that actually listened to me (without having to yell) and were quiet cause my head hurt and they actually cleaned up the house without being asked!(this was yesterday, it was the opposite today)

Long distance! So can talk to my mother, sister in-law, sisters, brothers anyone who will listen to me and put up with me! I really don't know what I would do without it, really my daily phone calls keep me sane!

Mac and cheese with hot dogs! Really if I can't think of or don't have the stuff for a recipe that I really want to and don't feel like cooking something else, mac and cheese never fails!

For kids that are easily satisfied

Time with my kids, Ryne and Kaleb didn't have school today because of Veterans Day and even though we really didn't do anything special, we laughed and goofed around and went to the park were I took pictures of the kids (cause I needed some updated group shots.). I had a great day with them even though I didn't feel that good!

To all the those past and present that serve our country and give us our freedoms, and also to the families and their sacrifices. I am truly thankful to you all.

A husband who didn't mind fending for himself for dinner after a long day of work.

Ellie! Yesterday I really felt like crap all I wanted to do was lock myself in my room and hide under the blankets, but one look at her and her smiling face and that all changed all I wanted to do was be around her and soak in her happiness and laughter. She really boosted my spirits.

Memories. Dana remembers his mom singing " You are my Sunshine" to him and his brothers growing up. He started singing it to the kids and it kinda stuck. Every morning Ryne, Kaleb and I all go into the girl's room to get Ellie up and we sing "You are my Sunshine" to Ellie and she loves it and so do the kids and I love the memories and feelings we are creating, the ones that will be with us forever.

Even though the last few days haven't been going as planned, I am more thankful than ever for the little things that don't go as planned but matter the most.:)

Giving Thanks

Since November is the "Give Thanks Month" I have really enjoyed reading the different things people are thankful/grateful for and it got me to thinking, why is it that (and I know I am totally guilty of this) that most of us ONLY give thanks during this month!? Although last month I decided to notice more of my blessings and to be thankful for them, I have been guilty in the past for not really being thankful. So I am going to join in and be write down something everyday that I am thankful for and I am really going to try hard and continue it indefinably, I am not going to end with just this month.

There are many things for me to be thankful for everyday, but it would be impossible for me to write them all down, but I will do my best.

The last week I have been really frustrated with the kids and their rooms, they pull out every single toy, or piece of clothing until they find their "favorite one" leaving the room a complete war zone! I have tried many methods to get them to clean up the latest one was "If you don't keep your rooms clean I will get rid of every single toy you own! I will give it to someone who doesn't have any, cause they would be very grateful I am sure to have just one toy!!", Marryne stopped cold in her tracks and I thought "good I am getting through to her" and then she looked at me and asked "Mom? Other kids don't have toys or t.vs like we do?" I was very surprised at the concern and soberness in her little voice, I told her that was right and I talked to her a little bit about how some people don't have jobs and have families and that they can't afford luxuries like toys and t.v.'s. After we were done cleaning her room she asked me if we could go through her toys and give some of them to the kids that don't have them "so that they can be happy", this brought tears to my eyes she is even willing to give up her favorite stuffed animal so that someone else can be happy. Marryne has always been a nurturer if she sees someone that is sad, or hurt she is always wanting to help them feel better. I am so thankful for Marryne and her sweet, gentle and caring little spirit, I learn so much from her I am thankful to have the privilege of being her mom I love her with all my heart.

Today I felt a little short changed by my hubby, while I worked really hard today and had the house clean and some much needed laundry done, all I heard was the complaint that I hadn't hung up his pants that he needed for work tomorrow. Now the first thing I did with my "I'm annoyed" voice was retort with "THANKS HUNNY FOR WASHING MY PANTS,I REALLY APPRECIATE IT" and he spouted back "THANKS HUNNY FOR PICKING A FIGHT WITH MY WHILE I AM REALLY TIRED" and of course I very loudly said "AND I"M NOT?I AM JUST AS TIRED AS YOU,BUT IF YOU THINK I AM GOING TO LET YOU TREAT ME LIKE THAT WAY YOU ARE CRAZY!" and to that he went to the bedroom and slammed the door. I did stew about it for a few minutes and even shed a few tears, but just as I feel under appreciated I realized he probably does too. I mean he works all day to support our family, on Mondays and Wednesdays he donates plasma just so we can make ends meet, and tonight after he donated he had to run some errands before finally coming home. He didn't get home till after 6 and the kids and I had already eaten, I figured he could fend for himself, and then I reminded him that there was something wrong with the computer mouse cause the curer wouldn't move and he needed to check it out, WOW!! How selfish was eye to see only what I wasn't given credit for instead of realizing him that I never really told him thank you for everything he does or did today! I am truly thankful for my husband and EVERYTHING he does little or big. And tomorrow after he is rested, I will make sure to tell him and yes I will apologize cause sometimes we ( mean us women) can be wrong and this is one of the "special" times that I am willing to admit it and truly mean it ;)

I am also very thankful for the new neighbors that moved in across the street about a month ago, their older kids love playing with my kids and it helps me get much needed work done. They come over and entertain the kids while I am cleaning or just trying to relax, they are so wonderful. We have also stepped out of our over protective box and made new friends and so I am very thankful for that as well.

And I will leave you with how truly grateful I am to have a nice warm bed to crawl into cause as Marryne reminded me "Some people don't have beds. NOPE they don't". I may not have everything I WANT but I do have everything I NEED.

Kaleb

Here are some pic's of Kaleb's first day to school from back in September:) He was so excited and he had such a great day! He LOVES school now especially the bus rides to and from school.

These last 2 were when he got home from school, cause I forgot to take the camera when we dropped him off!!

Better late than NEVER!

I am finally able to download pictures!!! HOORAY!!! Here are some of the kids on Halloween night, they were taken after we got back from Trick or Treating Ellie was already asleep so I didn't get any of her that night, but I have some from the ward party with her and I will post those when I can.

Dane and I carved our pumpkins the on the 30th, this is Dana's Monster!

I decided to do something a little different this year and stacked 3 pumpkins on top of each other and it turned out pretty cute. The bottom pumpkin says Trick or Treat sorry it's a little blurry due to the night time camera setting.
I love how Ryne is posed in this one!!She is showin off her muscles and her "pretty skirt" LOL.Home from Trick or Treating. They got so much candy, but they were so tired by the end of the night they just wanted to go to bed. :)

Superman and Super Girl to the RESCUE!!

Ellie

Ellie officially turned 9 months on the 30th 0f October, we didn't have her well check until today. She is 15lbs 14oz, 27 inch's long. She is in the 5% for her weight and 25% for her height yeah she is a SMALL FRY!!! Even though she is small the doctor gave her a clean bill of health, and said that it looks like she is getting 3 teeth on the bottom and that could be why she was fevering so much this week, let's hope so! I was told to feed her whenever she is hungry and feed her till she won't eat anymore which I already do, she knows when her tummy is full so when it comes to eating I follow her lead.

Some of the things she is doing:

Crawling EVERYWHERE, she is so darn fast I have tripped on her more than once not realizing that she was behind me.

She babbles, giggles says "mamma" and "dadda"

She's starting to pull herself up on things at least things that she can reach.

She loves toast, banana's and juice

Her new fascination is Hershey, she follows her all over the house and we she catches up with her she pulls on her ears and tail and pats her back, THANK GOODNESS Hershey is such a good dog she doesn't seem to mind it one bit!

We are so thankful that Ellie came to our family, she brings so much joy and love to us through her laughter and smiles.

Unexpected

Yesterday we got an unexpected much needed and very much appreciated piece of mail! It was in an envelope with no return address and the card wasn't signed, when I read the card and looked at I cried. How did this person know that what they sent us was desperately needed? I was speech less, and so very grateful. Now since I have no idea who sent it, I am hoping that they might be reading this, we want to say THANK YOU so much, not just for what you sent but for caring, in a world like this we tend to think that no one else cares or would be willing to help, even if all you sent was a card and nothing else it would have meant just as much, we really and truly appreciate it, THANKS again. If any one who is reading this happens to know did such a kind thing for us please tell them how truly grateful we are.

Ward Party.

I realized I never posted about the Ward Halloween party that I was in charge of (mainly cause I didn't have my Internet back yet.). Well it went great!! We had an awesome turn out, more than I was expecting in fact we had to set up more tables!! We ended up not even worrying about the different contests, everyone was having so much fun they didn't even notice! I was worried about having everything cleaned up by 8:30 p.m. for a dance that was to follow our party, but there was nothing to worry about EVERYONE helped clean up, we were out of the cultural hall by 8 p.m. and the trunk or treat ended around 8:30, everything went really smoothly! I really want to thank all those who helped me make it happen and all those who were willing to help at the last minute I really appreciate it THANKS SO MUCH!!

It was nice having it in the building this year, it was easier to keep an eye on the kids. Marryne loved seeing all the other kids in their costumes, there was one other girl there that was super girl, I heard Marryne talking to her about their costumes and then I heard Marryne say " Well my cape is longer!" what a funny kid. Kaleb was being a stinker there was always someone that had something with their costume like a mask, sword, light saber that Kaleb wanted and if he didn't get it then he would throw a fit I mean the whole 9 yards yelling, screaming, laying flat out on the floor kicking yeah I just chose to ignore it (that's what seems to work with him). Ellie didn't really have the funnest time the poor thing was ignored a lot that day, well not really ignored but she didn't have my attention for very long. When she woke up from her nap at 3 instead of feeding her like I normally do we loaded the kids in the car and headed to the church to set up, then we ran home to get ready for the party and then went back a little earlier to put the finishing touches on everything, then the party started and I was busy running all over Dane was keeping an eye on the Ryne and Kaleb while some friends watched Ellie, I finally sat down to feed her at 6:30 poor thing was so hungry and she just wanted her mommy. I only got to rest for the time it took Ellie to eat then I was off again mingling and making sure everything was running smoothly. Finally a little after 7 Ellie was screaming for her bottle so I took the time to relax and feed her, all she really wanted was me she fell asleep after a minute or so, I welcomed the break, she only slept for about 15 mins but she was much happier when she woke up.

The kids looked adorable, Kaleb was Superman, Ryne was Super Girl, Ellie was a lady bug, Dane was Obi Wan Kan obi and I was a Mid evil Chick, I was able to get the girls picture taken but Kaleb was too busy having fun, but we did get some of him on Halloween. I will post all of the pictures as soon as I am able to, my computer is currently not allowing me too but we are in the process of fixing the problem so hopefully soon I will have them up. By the end of the night I was exhausted, but it was worth it, there was even a gal that wasn't LDS that heard about the party and came, and now she wants to know more about the church! How awesome is that!!?

Just plain luck..or Blessings in disguise?

I have come to notice that instead of recognizing the blessings that I receive everyday,I chalk it all up to luck, there have been many times were we have not had an illness and I say "boy we were lucky we didn't get that." or there have been times when we have been sick or fallen down and gotten hurt and my response is " well it's lucky we have good insurance that will cover most of that.", or the times when the kids nearly fall and break their little heads open but just walk away with a bruise and a headache and we say " WOW! you sure were lucky, it could have been worse.", but in reality all these things that I have thought to just happen out of shear dumb luck were in fact well thought blessings that my Father in Heaven felt I needed at those times in my life, the life of my husband or the lives of our children.

We were without the Internet and phone for nearly 2 weeks, and all though I disliked not having my phone and feeling totally out of the loop with out my FB and Blog, I recognized it as a blessing, yes you heard me right! I know some of you are asking "How in the heck is being disconnected from the world a blessing!?" and my answer to you would be, although I was disconnected from the rest of the world I was able to reconnect with my family, I realized just how much time that I spend on the computer or the phone and not with my little ones, even though I only get on for 10 mins at a time, I get on at least 10 times a day and if you do the math that is quite a bit of time. I noticed how clean my house was too, instead of spending my time on the computer or on the phone the kids and I would make up cleaning games to help keep things tidy. I noticed that my kids behavior was so much better, they didn't have to whine and cry to get my attention, all my attention was on them and oh the fun we had together. I also got to spend more quality time with my hubby, usually at night we have our different shows we watch, if it's a show that one of us doesn't particularly like then that person would get on the computer, but without the distraction we spent more time together and had some really meaningful, and spiritual conversations. And most of all I was able to do some real soul searching and thinking, I was able to see my flaws, and come up with ways to over come those flaws, I was able to look deep into myself and see the person that I have always wanted to be but thought that it was impossible, or out of reach is closer that I ever thought possible and all I have to do is have faith in myself and my Father in Heaven. I have found that by stepping out of my comfort zone and doing things that I wouldn't normally do, I have strengthened that person inside and she is starting to service, questions that I have had are suddenly having answers, ones that make perfect sense. I fill so rejuvenated, and not only is that change that I have experienced these past weeks noticeable to my family and myself but I notice the change in my family as well.

Things don't just happen out of luck, we need to see the "luck" for what it really is blessings in disguise. There are even things that you wouldn't think are blessings, things that you think are bad luck but I can guarantee if you get past the "this really sucks", "I can't handle this", "Poor me" attitude and truly look at the situation you will find that you have indeed been blessed you just need to figure out what the blessing is, I know I have and I haven't been disappointed just knowing that there is a reason and a purpose for everything and blessings in disguise I know I can get through anything I just need to see it for what it really is and keep moving forward.