Tailbone update

My dear friend Kritta wants to know about the tailbone. Jack (my seven year old) was a pretty large first baby. He was 9lbs. even but he also had the largest head born at that hospital. It was a pretty new hospital so I'm sure someone else has surpassed him but it sounds cool to say that right. Beastly child. Labor was long like all firsts are and his huge head busted my poor tail bone. I've never been the same since. Church used to be hard but not so much anymore. They did tell me that my tail bone would probably break with each subsequent pregnancy. It's been lovely. It's not much of a problem anymore unless I'm traveling and can't really move.

Ward Christmas Party

Sam made a very cute shepherd. The primary kids were instructed to either dress up as a shepherd, wise man, or an animal. Any kind of animal that is. It was pretty cute.

I think this was waiting for Santa to come in. Our friend Brother Hulet played Santa and my Jack knew it was him and kept telling everyone.

Here's the only shot they stood still for all together. Jack has a very strange look on his face. He doesn't even look like himself but since it's all I have that's what I'll post. Sorry about that flash in the picture. They were very cute. Those old military shirts come in handy. Actually they were brand new but they changed the uniform so Mike didn't need them anymore. :)

long posts

So my last post was really long. Do you enjoy long posts or is it easier to read when they are broken up into little ones? I'm curious. I think little bits are easier. I can be quite long winded though. :) Happy New Year's EVE. :) Soon I'll have a 6 year old.

Home again

So my kids had a BLAST at their friends house and in fact have been asking for said friends since I've been home. I'm just not as much fun.

* My plane ride was soooo long. My tail bone started hurting a lot on the way home. To the point I thought I might have to ask permission to stand around in the back or something. I sure am glad that my child who broke that tail bone is very smart since his huge head has caused so much fun. :) Jack is totally worth it, I just didn't think it'd still hurt 7 years later. :)

*Sleep didn't come easily and my family was a bit stressed out with 5 million people in their house and trying to accommodate everyone and prepare for a wedding. I got to share a room with my brother who apparently talks and makes strange noises in his sleep. He's also the only one who reads this blog (I love ya anyways and you really weren't too loud but that first night). I also shared with my niece Scarlet. The first night she woke up from a night mare and crawled in bed with me. She didn't squirm much so I told her she could sleep with me again the next night. Wow! That kid is a bed hog and a blanket snatcher. But she's so much fun though.

*I got to hold my sweet little nephew baby Mort and he was soooo adorable. He made the most wonderful baby noises. I loved all my turns holding him. I also loved counting his big 2 year old brothers piggies. We had quite the time with those piggies, so much fun!

*My favorite moment from my nephew Gabe was when the night before I left I held him a little longer and smothered him as any good Aunt would with kisses. He said oh so politely "Aunt Mary, you'll see me tomorrow" As if to say "Hey lady lay off the kisses and let me go, I'll be around". He is growing up so fast and is so sweet and helpful.

*I had Scarlet come and try to do some line dance with me at the reception. For those who don't know me too well, I used to go dancing all the time in college but never really caught on to the line dancing thing too much. I'm not very coordinated. So while trying to dance Scarlet left. I went to get her and she said "Aunt Mary, I don't want you to explode" To which I said "Why would I explode?" Her reply "your face is really red" Ha ha many of you know that I can turn red faced at just about anything say, being taken by surprise, put on the spot, embarrassment, because I'm hot, because I'm confused, because of a billion reasons. I thought it was kinda funny.

*I loved chatting and playing games with my siblings. It was fun to see them all grown up and think, "wow, I'm grown up too".

* I must say that the absolute best part was seeing my brother Ed get married. Before the wedding while waiting for the Limo (yes that's right a limo, it was my first ride ever) Ed paced the floor. It was priceless to see him all done up in a tux, long hair straightened and a bit giddy from being in love. The wedding was beautiful and definitely worth the trip. A fine moment of history to be witnessed and I'm so glad I could be there.

A Mouse a mouse a mouse is in the house!

Tips on getting rid of these creatures are welcome. I've trapped two so far and thought we were done but I'm getting a little worried that we may be housing hoards of them. I saw one run across the room today. So I've been pulling all my furniture out (again) and vacuuming (with my horrible vacuum that works better with the attachments). I've set traps under my couch and along the heaters. In this old military housing the heaters are a bit different. They run along the base boards but from what I understand they send hot water through pipes to heat up the house. I believe these small creatures are crawling along this nicely heated base board and leaving little droppings in random places. I know, now you're all dying to come to my house. We may not be the most organized family but we aren't filthy. I guess it's pretty common in this older housing to have mice or I think they are actually shrews. I've been watching my cupboards pretty closely worried that there would be droppings there but the funny thing is I don't find any there. I find them under the kitchen sink, in my a few closets, and along base boards and under the couch oh and in my husbands drum room. That's where we caught one of them . Now that I've got two, I think they've wised up. I need some tips cause my kids are scared to go anywhere, as if a mouse will eat them. Plus I'm sick of them. So I've waged war. I've been thinking of poison but am worried that they will go crawl in the wall and die and then my house will stink. So if any of you have already won this war before please give me your tips. In the beginning Jack was worried we'd kill Despereuax now they are ready to wage the ward with me.

My Jack

This picture was from our trip to Valdez in June but this post is to let my Jack shine.

Last Friday I had a free night of babysitting provided by the military. It was from 7-11pm. Obviously later then my kids usually go to bed. I did some Christmas shopping. I even got home in time before I had to pick them up and hid the stuff. I bought some new blankets for them too and put them on their beds so they'd have a little surprise.

On the way home from picking them up I was explaining to my very tired boys why I really wanted to go to my brother's wedding. I told them that my brother Ed is a very loyal family member and has made sacrifices to come to all of his siblings weddings even though he couldn't come inside the temple. This made a huge impact on me and about how important we all are in our family. I told my boys that my brother isn't the kind of person who worries about having stuff. That he's very kind and would give what he has to help other people out especially his family. Somewhere in there I told them I had a little surprise on their beds. David says "A Christmas gift?" I said "no, not really but just something from mom and dad for you to use". Before we get out of the car Jack tells me. "Mom, when you were telling us that stuff about Uncle Ed, it almost made me want to cry" I told him "You know it almost made me want to cry too". My side of the family isn't known for communication skills but it's amazing how much love we do feel for each other. I gotta work on those skills.

We get inside and David looks at his new blanket on his bed and yells at me" Mom ! I wanted a toy, this isn't a toy, this is stupid" Which got Sam saying "mom, I wanted a toy too" Jack looked at me with the sweetest look on his face and tears starting in his eyes and said to his brothers "Stop treating Mom like that! This is a gift" Then to me "Mom, I love the blanket, thank you". Wow! This is one of those moments we all dream about. This is my child, my son who wrote at school about things he likes to taste- fingernails. He could actually reach full maturity one day. I was so proud of him. They went straight to bed after I hugged and kissed Jack a little extra. I didn't hear much from their room but the next morning David comes into my bed and says in the nicest apology voice I've ever heard from him, "Mom, I'm sorry I yelled at you last night, I like the blanket, thank you ". Another Wow! Now I have some kinda light at the end of the tunnel for those rougher days. They can be kind and considerate. These are the moments to remember forever.

FYI

I really am okay. I just read my post and thought people who may not know me very well might think I've lost. I have but I'm okay. :) Just struck my fancy today, probably because I'm a little hormonal. :)

Chances are . . .

if your craving chocolate so much that you seek out the hidden halloween candy you bought on sale and are saving for christmas, that's inside a suitcase in your closet, you might be a little hormonal.

or every little insignificant thing your kids do like BREATH is about to drive you to insanity, you might be a little hormonal.

or every stinking song on the radio makes you think of your far away husband and how your life would be devastated without him so you start to get teary eyed struggling to not bawl your head off blurring your vision praying you won't wreck, you might be a little hormonal.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M PMSing! Oh yeah, I think I am.

The Goat!

Grouchy Goat Boy


My sweet little David. The middle child. The one who is so eager to please that he'd knock over two brothers just to try and beat them to the trash cans and win my approval. This 5 year old wonder is actually a goat. That's probably why he likes to go for those trash cans. :) No really, I've found that he is constantly chewing his clothing. Now most of you are well aware of my frugal ways, that said these clothes are mostly hand-me-downs. But regardless I don't want him eating them and I don't want to replace them. Any suggestions on how to get your child to stop eating their clothing is welcome.

Another problem we have is that now that the boys all share a room the amount of clothing in there is insane. Their closet looks like it's throwing up all the time. They also like to play with their clothes or if Sam spills a drop of anything on his shirt he thinks he needs to change. That or Sam declares he's hot and strips at which point I remind him that our family rule is "Every one needs to where clothes" and then he gets a new outfit on and leaves the old one on the floor. This happens a few times a day. So this weekend I took all but 6 shirts away. Yup they only have the long sleeve option. We'll see how long it lasts. It's only been a day and I think they are getting pretty low.

Halloween

Yes, I'm late with these pictures but here they are. Jack was a scientist, not a mad one, just a regular one, so don't ask him if he was a mad one, cause he's not. Just wanted to make that clear. :) He felt strongly about that. I actually never got a picture of him in his outfit. He didn't wear it long. It was a lab coat with a few tubes of experiments strapped on . At the ward party he shoved his face into a bowl of jello. Tasty eh?

My little Man with the Yellow hat. Sam loves yellow, it's his favorite color and he loves Curious George but not as much as he loves yellow. So I made this little costume. I got really lazy when it came to the hat, I know it's the most important part since it's his name but I ran out of yellow and couldn't buy more as it would have been a different color of yellow. Ooops.

Don't I look purty? You ever used tooth wax? It's kinda fun.

David was a ninja again for the the church party but since we trick or treat in cold weather and have to bundle up he wanted his face painted for the door to door stuff. I think it's scary.

Sublinda

I have a wonderful neighbor, Belinda. Sam calls her Sublinda. She is always willing to help out in so many ways. She's a busy mom of 4 going back to school full time for nursing and soon to be homeschooling her teenage daughter. She amazes me. She gives her friendship so easily even when I was really weird when we first moved here. I realized later that I probably seemed like a freak but I chalk it up to being off kilter from loosing the baby.

She had a birthday recently and so I made her this flower pot cake. I baked it in the clean, new pot. I poked holes in it after it was cooked and poured sweetened condensed milk mixed with a little evaporated milk over it. I put icing on the top and crushed oreos to look like dirt. I used fat straws and cut them to size and then put the real flowers into them so they wouldn't be in the actual cake. Sam put the gummi worms on.

Belinda is an avid gardener and has her own batch of mail order worms in her garage. Did I tell you she was cool? Well she is. How many people do you know who keep their composting mail order worms in their garage. She lets the boys peek in on them and will even give them a few from time to time. It's too cold to keep the outside here except in the summer.

Sweet little Sam

Sam is so fun to listen to when playing with his little friends. Today we had pre-school at our house. Sam was in heaven. Especially since his buddy Eli was back and he was no longer the only boy. He does love playing with the girls too but there's something to be said for that male bonding thing.

When all left but Emma, I was watching them play. They play SO well together. They are hilarious to listen to as well. I saw them kneel down together and pretend to pray. It was very sweet. Then Emma would go over to the fort chair and do something and sing and I realized she was playing the piano. She'd come back and say "otay dam its your turn" I love that she can't say her "s"very good. Makes me chuckle. Then Sam said "Oh, Okay, it's my turn to play the companio" I guess he got computer and piano mixed up. You'd think he'd know his instruments a bit better being the son of a musician. Just fun!

Sam usually says our lunch prayer and it's usually very short but today he said the sweetest prayer. It went something like this,

"Heavenly Father, thank you my Daddy doesn't die in Iraq, bless the kids there that don't have mom's or dad's or shoes or schools or only healthy foods and not junk" It was one of those moments when I feel a bit of pride because he can actually think of someone else besides himself. Good kid. We just bought a brand new pair of girls shoes size 6 1/2 for a whopping $3.75. I know it's busting the budget all to pieces but I couldn't help it as I noticed a box at church collecting shoes for Afghan children. I guess maybe this made a bit of an impact on my little Sam. He also knows that his Dad has played at a few orphanages over there and I had to explain what an orphanage was.

During this month of Thanks, it helps me to realize how much I am grateful for. So many little things that so many other people in the world do without. So many big things that come so easily too. We are all worried with the economy today but I can't help but feel like my world is okay. I'm grateful for that.

Follower

I have one follower ah ah ah aaah. (said like the count on Sesame ST.) I'm not too fancy with this here computer stuff but my wonderful sister in law must know a thing or two as she signed up as a follower, even if she is the only one I feel special. Thanks Tammy. :)

Sledding in October

Mike wanted to take the boys sledding before he left. So we drove about an hour away and came to this place (I can't remember now what it was called). Everything else in the towns we passed seemed to have closed down in Sept. so I guess the only thing left to do is sled.

We went a bit unprepared. I thought Mike had the kids pile up their stuff to load and he thought I had checked it. We got there and realized that Jack had no coat or snow pants. Jack was so tough though because he still wanted to play. I did have an extra change of clothes for everyone so I figured we'd be okay. He kept trying to dig snow tunnels.

If David's feet look large it's because he's wearing my boots. In our mix up we found that we didn't have boots for David. Ooops. He said his feet were fine in mine. I just stayed in the car and watched as I hate having cold feet. They were making snow chairs.

They hiked up this hill to sled down. I thought I'd get a chance when they got back and I could steal my boots back but I guess we were done by then. Next time.

My main man. I love him I do. I tried taking a few of us just sticking my arm out and snapping. This was the best one.

Happiness

Last night my Jack did his homework willingly. Now this isn't the normal two pages he has. It was about 8-10 pages. When this happens it's overwhelming for him. I promised myself I wouldn't ask him to do homework all week. I kept my promise for the most part. I would make general announcements like, "only those who have homework done will get to do ____" This worked a little bit so he had a lot of leftovers by last night. So I decided to tell him that if he finished ALL his homework I'd let him sleep in my bed with me. WOW, did that kid get going. I guess it was Mommy time he needed. Something comes to mind, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease", there's been a bit of squeaking lately. I had decided it was pretty much what kids do at 7 and I still think it is to some degree but I also think that he needed Mommy time. So it was about 10pm and we hopped into bed. I usually don't go to bed until later but thought that I needed to talk a bit with him to see if anything was bugging him. He was talking a million miles a minute but none of it about bullies, or mean kids or anything but BIONICLES. The kid has a one track mind with these things. He loves them. I don't follow the story so well. He's always telling me stuff and gets a bit frustrated when I don't remember this Toa or who Gali is etc. GI JOE's were much easier. But I must say that I was purely happy to have my Jack who hates school so much do his homework with such ease last night. Makes a mom want to smile. :)

Nose bodies business

Adventure is never too far to find in my neck of the woods. Friday last week my Sam decided to put a purple bead up his nose at preschool. So my lovely friend called me and let me know. I felt so bad as I busted a gut in the middle of target. I don't know why I thought it was so funny but I did. When I talked to him on the phone he was so sad my laughter dwindled quickly and I decided I had better go pick him up. The day before he tried shoving cheese up his nose at which point I reminded him of another friend who had also put a bead up his nose and had to go to the ER. I thought that would be helpful but apparently it only sparks the imagination.

So off to the ER we went. He wasn't sad by the time I had picked him up and I couldn't see the bead at all. I could see a trace of blood but that was it. We got to the ER and they saw us almost right away. I thought "Wow, this never happens". Well it didn't happen. 4 hours later we got to go home and the bead was still no where to be found.

Sam loved the 4 hours of all mom attention he got though. We laughed, we played, we made balloons out of the gloves. We tried procedures they suggested without them. They said that I could plug his good nostril and blow into his mouth, like CPR to try and blow the bead back out. This he was very willing to do. He would open his mouth so wide and ready that it would just crack me up. But I did try SEVERAL times to get this to work. Didn't work with or without the staff watching. Eventually they got an ENT to come and check him out. He numbed his "nose holes" and used a "nose opener" to look deeper in with his special lights. NADA! So he said that it probably went all the way back and he swallowed it. Nice, now Sam is excited to check his poop.

Problem, if he gets a really runny nose bring him in and we'll do surgery. Well today I noticed a runny nose. Predominately on the bead side. Hmmm. Will surgery be lurking around the corner? Who knows.

Have your kids stuck anything fun up their noses? Besides their fingers. Oh FYI organic matter is of more concern that plastic in case you were wondering. Oils from the foods etc. can really irritate apparently. Just thought I'd let you know.

SPARK

I love reading about our amazing human bodies. I just do. So I found another fun book as I whizzed past the new books at the library. It's called "SPARK The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain". Some of you may think I'm crazy but it really is quite interesting. So I'll share a little blurb from it with you.

"It was already known that exercise increases levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine--important neurotransmitters that traffic in thoughts and emotions. You've probably heard of serotonin, and maybe you know that a lack of it is associated with depression, but even many psychiatrists I meet don't know the rest. They don't know that toxic levels of stress erode the connections between the billions of nerve cells in the brain or that chronic depression shrinks certain areas of the brain. And thy don't know that, conversely, exercise unleashes a cascade of neurochemicals and growth factors that can reverse this process, physically bolstering the brain's infrastructure. In fact, the brain responds like muscles do, growing with use, withering with inactivity. The neurons in the brain connect to one another through "leaves" on treelike branches, and exercises causes those branches to grow and bloom with new buds, thus enhancing brain function at a fundamental level."

Isn't that just fascinating. Okay some of you already know this stuff and may be yawning but I just get excited reading this. Now I know that my lack of physical activity is why I feel dumb sometimes. My brain is weakening. Now I need to start working out and I'll get smarter, right?

Actually I recently read a book on brain exercises. They suggested doing things with your opposite hand. So I've been trying to vacuum left handed. Not quite physical enough to bring the growth and reconnection maybe but still a challenge. :)

Now I just need to work out a plan to get in that exercise. Hmmmm. The bathroom deals been off for a while. Suggestions are welcome. :)

An old family photo

I decided to stick this up here since I think it's the last one we've had taken. It was a few years ago. Can you tell I'm making up for lost time on the photo's stuff? :)

Jack

Last year Jack told me 5 minutes before school that it was picture day. I told him I wasn' t planning on buying any since I wasn't sure they'd turn out. He asked me to take some pictures of him anyway. He was so cute about it. Remember this was a 5 min. deal before getting on the bus. Regardless, I'm no professional but my kid is cute.

This last one cracks me up. I love this kid who gets angry when I can't read his mind, even though he hates school and seems to trick people into thinking he's not very smart when in reality I think he's just bored and that's why he hates school. Well maybe because he's a tad bit shy too but you can't tell that from the photos.

I'm on a roll right now

I like to make purses from time to time. Here are a couple I made for some friends. I should take pictures of my little projects more often.

Lazy blogger updates from March 2008

So my hubby got promoted to Staff Sgt. Note the stripes. Some of his work friends came to help us celebrate at a fun Thai restaurant.

Jack was at school but here we are. Me, Sam, David, Mike

I am not one to make pretty cakes but this one did taste good. Do you like my stripes? I tried.

When they presented him with this at the promotion ceremony I forgot to get the kids better outfits and barely picked them up from school in time. We had the option of coming up for a picture all together. Jack did not want to go if you can tell by his face. Mike was glad to share the moment with us. The audience all laughed at Jack's face which made him feel all the more shy and mad.

Smart

Mike is in love with these little tiny cars. He has been since 2001. We saw one in Anchorage and well Mike had to get a picture of it. David indulged his dad and let him take the picture. So now that I LOVE my HUGE GAS GUZZLING SUBURBAN, Mike's dreams would all come true if we sold it and got this. Our payments would be the same unfortunately. Look how tiny those rear wheels look. It's very cute and you could probably fit 5 of them into my suburban. For now the dream will have to wait but I'm sure it will come.

Birthday Boy!

Sam is now four in case you didn't know. He loves being four and will now say he is a "Big Boy". We had lots of kids at our house but it was lots of fun. Sam loved being the center of attention and getting some fun stuff. You can see he was surrounded while opening presents.

His little friend Eli whom we call "Eli Mcfly" gave him this bionicle. He must really be a big kid now that he gets the same toys as his big brothers. Look at that face!

FYI Sam loves Mustaches. I decided that most people wouldn't want me to draw them on their children with my black eye liner. I made little mustaches from some card stock and pictures of hair in magazines and that elastic jewelry stuff. They thought they were amazing. Even our little female friend Sabrina sported one. So cute.

Up- David, Jack and Kenny Down- David and part of Jack

We have a tradition to put candles in every meal on birthdays and sometimes we relight 3 or 4 times and sing again. Sam wanted pizza for his dinner and here he is doing his job. He changed his mind 5 million times on the cake so I ended up making a smiley face cake. We often ask Sam where his happy face is when he's sad, smileys are his thing. He also loves yellow so that worked great. I didn't get a picture though. It wasn't so spectacular-not like the Storm Shadow cake my friend once made for David. Every birthday we have my kids remind me of that awesome cake. Thanks Lelu.

oops

I guess my pictures showed up differently then I thought they would.

Chickalicious

This was a fun little dessert bar that Amber took us too. It was so cool that we had to wait outside for about 45 min. to get into the place. We got in, in the nick of time. I had never been to a dessert bar before but it was really fun. I think it was $15 per person. You get this sorbet stuff to start with and then you order your dessert. Now you can see that for $15 it's not a big dessert. You are paying for the experience. After you get your dessert they give you little petite fores (sp?). Teeny tiny too but very yummy.

So this first one is mine. It was like a fig cake with fresh fig and sauce. All three bites were pretty good. The middle is Danielle's, I can't remember what it was called now but it was pretty good too. We all shared one of our three bites with each other. I think it was like a caramel pudding with pistachios and some kind of sorbet again. I think liked it the best. The last was Amber's and it was Asian pear, and a poached pear and sorbet.

What was really fun was watching these people create such pretty little edible artworks in a tight work space. The chef washed everything and put it away after each use even though she would have to get it out again two minutes later. I'm too lazy to do that kind of stuff. That's why I have "mommy's messy room". A whole room dedicated to leaving my projects and stuff out.

If you notice in this lovely picture of Me and Amber, I have a nice triangle of sunburn. My skin has been deprived of sunlight I suppose because my little exposed triangle sure pinked up nicely. It was so much fun.

Apology

So this new look is a little chaotic. I know but I promise when it's not 1am I'll try and fix it. Now you should all be cheering that I managed to change it without any assistance! Yeah for me! I must force myself to bed now, so that I can rise early to take three tired children to the doctor so they can tell me if they'll help Sam with his poor little, or rather HUGE, wart on his foot. Poor kid. Why do they think 8:00 am and be 15 min. prior is okay? I mean really! I opted for that time over the 7:30am. I know quit crying free medical, what's to complain about. Isn't that why we joined the military anyway? It's a good life, I'm just no longer an early riser. Adios mis amigos.

Finally! First installment

Yes, It's true I have no ability to use my computer. I just found out that all this time of not putting pictures on my computer that there was a problem with my usb port. My husband fixed it and put the pictures on for his lazy wife. He does love me so. So now IF all goes well I will indulge you all in my trip to the Big Apple. I must caution you that I am an extremely lazy picture taker. I would say photographer but I'm not even close to that. Which I think is so funny because in 7th grade I wanted to be a photographer. My Dad even bought me a 35mm camera. My sister, who actually knows how to take pictures, now uses it. :)

Let us begin with our tour bus. A great idea. Make sure you get the right one though. Eager to get going on our journey we thought we'd snagged a better deal but missed out on actually stopping at the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn etc. We still loved it cause we were suffering from lack of sleep and the shock of no one to feed or clean up after so we road around and at least for me soaked up the warm sun. So this is my fantastic picture of people I don't know on the bus we road around in. Our guides mic didn't really work so I can't recall much of the history. Sorry.

This here is a picture of my best friend from a younger day. She was all too eager to drop everything and come play with me in NYC. It was so fun to be together again. We were waiting to get on our bus after buying our passes.

My wonderfully fun Sister-in-law, Ains. She lives in the Big Apple and was lots of fun to play with after a long day of PR work. This is her fancy work environment. Ahh I miss my cubicle days, a little.

Danielle once again, showing her true colors while we wait for Ainsy at work. Do you like the Pashmina? It was a bargain on Canal street.

I am shamed to say that while I was with my wonderful friend from younger years we seemed to revert back to said years in behavior. Poor Ains had two 13 year olds to watch over. Fortunately no one got hurt and we all managed to have a few laughs. :)

Feasting

So we decided to have our Thanksgiving dinner early this year due to Mike being gone during the normal Thanksgiving time. I love Thanksgiving. I love food. We chose a Sunday to have our feast and well I think that detracted from the feel of Thanksgiving. I think it's on a Thursday for a good reason and we should keep it that way forever. I tried to prepare as much of it before Sunday as I could but regardless it's a bit of work to do. My husband's ignorance on this shows when he commented to me "It's just dinner". Alas it is not just dinner. Not for me anyway.

The menu-
27 pound turkey with stuffing ( I stuff my bird with my own homemade stuffing)
Mashed Potatoes (Homemade)
Gravy (Homemade)
Fresh green beans with garlic and olive oil
Sweet potato casserole (pretty much it's like dessert)
French bread (Homemade)
Whole Cranberry sauce (Homemade I like to make it with blueberry nectar but didn't have any so I added some frozen blue berries)
Black olives
Green olives
Bubbly drink
Pumpkin Pie (Homemade crust and I even used a real pumpkin-you know not from can)
Pecan Pie ( Homemade)

So did you notice a few Homemade's there? Well that's what makes it a little more work to make all that stuff. It was good but it wasn't just any other dinner. Not in my book. Not to mention that we actually use a table cloth and center piece and china. Yes, it was a FEAST. Now we have tons of leftovers that are just as delicious.

So here's my husband's favorite Sweet Potato recipe. Here in AK they label the pale ones as Sweet Potatoes but I buy the ones they label Yams that are orange in color.

Potatoes:
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup sugar (I half this)
3 TBSP butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla (I used the real stuff this year and man did it taste good)
2 eggs beaten

Topping:
3 TBSP melted butter
1 cup brown sugar (I wanted to use less but didn't, you could and it would still be good)
1/3 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans

Combine potatoes, sugar, butter, salt, vanilla, and eggs. Put in oven casserole dish. Mix butter, sugar, flour, and nuts. Put on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Happy feasting

Does the world fall apart when you leave home?

Somehow I guess I thought it would, but it didn't. I came home from a wonderful trip to NYC totally exhausted and ready to be loved, assuming everyone would have missed me since the world would have fallen apart when my presence left the state. Oh how wrong I was.

First of all let me tell you that I am so glad that my wonderful husband chose to be bumped on a very long flight from Asia to get me a free ticket. That was very nice of him. Second of all how cool it was that I got to stay with my sister-in-law, whom I love dearly and miss since she had lived with us (briefly) or near us for a few years. Thirdly, the icing on the cake, my best friend from high school got to come too. Amazing! Ains ( my sister-in-law) said we acted like 13 year old and well I must admit that it's probably true but it was so fun!

On to the world falling apart or not falling apart without me. Apparently my husband has secret powers to make kids do homework without kicking and screaming. He seemed to say "I don't know what the big deal is" I told the boys to be really good and help Dad but I didn't mean that good. :) I really am glad that my husband is totally capable of caring for our family. He does it differently then I do but that's okay. He's a great Dad, maybe a little too great.

As I tucked David in that first night back he said "Mom, I didn't miss you that much, Dad was really fun" sniff sniff, I'm feeling a little sad now. Sam fell asleep before I could tuck him in so I went on to Jack. He said "Mom, are you my real mom?"
Me- "yes, of course I am, why?"
Jack "I don't think you are, I don't think I can trust you"
Me- "Why? Jack I am your real Mom"
Jack "I think you're a robot with skin stretched over your face, I can't trust you"
Me-"Okay, check my face, it's real"
He tugs and pulls
Me- "ouch, see I'm real, now let's say prayers"
Jack- "I don't think I can trust you, you're not my real mom, I need to check your feet"
Me-"Jack I am you're real mom, okay you can check my feet" pull pull- ooh that tickles
Me- "now can we say prayers?"
Jack- "I can't trust you"
Me- "I'll go get Dad" End of story.

See how they didn't need me! The house was so clean and organized. Seemed like everything was 'CAKE. Darn it. I wanted them to need me a little more. I guess they have got to grow up sometime. At least when we ate dinner they said thanks for Mom's cooking. Maybe they missed me a little. :)

I really did have a great time and will have to post pictures of my trip later since, you know I never have my camera handy. I actually took a few. I really am glad to be home and my boys really do love me. I just thought they'd never survive without me. I'm glad they can though. :) Maybe I should get away more often.

Things that make you go Hmmmm.

Do you remember that song? Ha ha been a while eh? Well tonight when I went to kiss my kids goodnight I noticed quite the collection of dirty socks on my David's shelf. I thought "Hmmmm why does he have some of his Dad's dirty socks up there too?" He didn't explain but when I asked for them he had to retrieve things from the inside. Must be a bigger sock for stashing stuff. Gotta love that David.

I also noticed the outline of a very large abstract painting on the wall. Hmmm I think that was orchestrated by the one and only Sam man. Tomorrow there may be much wailing and gnashing of teeth when he has to clean it.

Then as I bent over to kiss my Jack while he's reading his favorite Bionicle book and telling me about it I think "Hmmmm, what's he chewing? We don't have any gum" He's been eating his mini- For the Strength of Youth pamphlet Mike gave him a while back. Guess it went to good use.

Anything making you go"Hmmmm" lately?

Habla Espanol?

Hoy los misioneros de mi iglesia comieran con migo y mis vecinos por almuerzo. Okay enough of that. My spanish stinks.

I just watched Palin's speech from tonight. I thought she did a good job. It'll be really interesting to see how things turn out. With elections close by it causes one to reflect on life in America. I must say that we don't usually understand the great things we have until they are taken from us. My grandma is 96 and really liked the idea of a female president and was disappointed that Hillary Clinton was no longer an option. She told me that she remembers women getting the opportunity to vote. This has caused a bit of reflection on how that all came to be. I am amazed and awed at what strong women they were to fight for this right that so many take for granted. It's given me that extra boost to really look at the options and decide who I think will be the best person to lead our Nation. I hope you all do too.

Funny how these thoughts are in correlation to a degree with my recent readings. I picked up a book called Amish Society by John A. Hostetler. I just thought it would be interesting since I remember seeing many Amish people from my childhood in PA. Asking my mom why they don't drive etc. Reading about how the religion came to be and the difficulty they had with the governments where they lived. I haven't gotten too far into the book. I'm grateful to live in this country where I am free to believe as I wish.

Adios Mis Amigos :)

New fangled things

I thought I'd put a picture of our favorite place to be on my blog and thought I should change the colors and such to go with it. I'm not sure how to change that bright blue background but that's because I'm not really educated on these here new fangled computer thangs. So there you have it.

If you're wondering though the picture is Nantahala Lake in NC. Nantahala means Land of the Noon Day Sun. It's a wonderful place to be. Sam asks me frequently if we can go there or for me to tell him Chogi stories. We do miss it just a bit. When we first got here every Sunday on our way to church Sam would get so excited and say "I see Chogi! Look Chogi! We're going to Chogi" We were sad to tell him we didn't know when the next time we'd be able to go but he now knows we are not at Chogi and that just because there are mountains it doesn't mean it's our mountain. Can't wait to visit again though.

Daily activities

My friend recently asked on her blog what our days are like. I'll attempt that now, though it differs greatly in summer time an school time.

Summer-
Wake up to Sam coming into my room and snuggling me around 9am, then David and then Jack.
We eat some breakfast-usually cold cereal but sometimes waffles or oatmeal.
I then clean up the kitchen and think about taking a shower. While I shower the kids want to watch a movie so I put on a 30min. one.
Then they play all day and make huge messes that they never want to clean up.
We eat lunch-usually peanut butter sandwiches and apples but it varies a little quesadillas are quite popular too.
Then it's either playing, or a bike ride or a trip to the library.
Then we eat dinner- something the kids all declare "DISGUSTING" and I clean up again.
Through out this time I find SAM sneaking into granola bars about 5 times throughout the day.
We play with Dad or go fly airplanes or fishing or watch movies.
Really I guess it's pretty boring. I should have written this when I was feeling a little more creative so I could give it to you all spiced up.
We read and read and read some more before bed and then we read in bed and then they get up and we put them back in bed and then we threaten to make them sleep in the basement and then they go to sleep.

School time has changed things up since I have to wake everyone up. Jack never wants to get up and he usually hasn't finished his homework the night before so I am trying to get him dressed, fed and doing homework in less then an hour. He is working at molasses speed at this point and I am trying to not go to the bus stop in PJ's again but usually I do. I think the other mom's must think I'm so lazy but oh well. I always wait with Jack and David at the bust stop and I always wave good bye until I can't see them anymore.

Then Sam and I go in to clean up the house. Sometimes I get the kids to make beds before school but if not sometimes I make them now.
Sam is bored and wants to "play a game mommy" This turns into a million games. It's fun but then I realize I've got to get stuff done and then I think "Oh Mike will be home for lunch soon" You never know if he's bringing someone home either so I try to be showered by this time. I hurry and shower while Sam watches a movie at which point he is sneaking into granola bars again. Then Mike comes home and we eat left overs and then goes back to work. Sam and I are back to Mommy needing to play with him and me trying to squeeze in some laundry or something.

Lately I've taken to calling up people and asking if their kids can come over so that Sam will be able to play. This will hopefully become better when we do a twice a week preschool coop starting next week. I'm looking forward to it.

Then we wait for everyone to come home, eat a snack, play eat dinner, attempt homework and then read books and go to bed. That's it. Not too much excitement.

You probably didn't even make it to this point so I really should quit writing by now but just seem to be stuck because I don't really want to go to bed but I'm totally exhausted. How long do you think I can drag this out. You know I always think of these great things I want to post but by the time I do my brain is drained and it sounds so hum hum cause I can't remember my wondrously fabulous things to write.
Hasta Luego- hey next post I'll try to write in Spanish. I'm sure that'll get me some readers. :) J/k. Can you tell I really need to stop now. :)
Okay okay already I know you quit reading so I'll stop.
Bye Bye

Something Deep and Meaningful

That's what I'd like to write today but it probably won't happen. My mind is tired and I've been wasting time looking at Good reads trying to find some new books to occupy more of my time. I do this so that I can rightly avoid the things I should be doing like finishing projects and organizing. I always tell myself that I'm going to do some really good organizing when Mike's gone but then I take all this time to selfishly watch chic flicks at night or read or waste it on the computer. Well I did write a three page journal entry. I realized it's been over a year since I've done that.

The highlights of today could be . . .
cleaning my house only to have a huge ship with every pillow and blanket in the house pulled out into the dining/living room area.
or it could be scrubbing my stove top and hand scrubbing my floor. It was pretty gross.
or it could be finding out David stood at the top of the pirate ship playground equipment and peed. Arrgh!!!! Big trouble. I'm thinking of making him go back tomorrow with a bucket of soapy water to scrub it.
or snuggling Sam as he coughs-he's getting sick
or video chatting with my husband
or hanging out with cool people from church at the park for some good food. Every one needs a little grown up time.

A few of my favorite things

My weaknesses. Mmmmm. Nothing like hiding from the kids to eat some of these yummy treats. I've never been a huge chip fan . . . until recently. I've fallen in love with Kettle chips, all the flavors are pretty good but I love the Sea Salt and Vinegar. So tangy and crispy. The bag's motto rings true " A Natural Obsession" Yes, they are.

On to my other obsession, Dark Chocolate. Yes, those Special Dark Hershey Bars will satisfy a craving but man do I like these fancy bars too. If you've never tried the Green and Black's it's a must and the Santander is also a lovely melody in the mouth. Just thought I'd share some of my favorite things.

Perhaps next time I manage to get on here I'll write something more meaningful but for now this is it.

Facade

Today my lovely neighbor stopped by to borrow dry mustard. I said "Sure, come on in" As we walked upstairs I realized how messy my house was. We'd been out all day and I let the kids go to town when we got home. So I said to my neighbor "Oh, sorry it's so messy" Then she said with honest to goodness relief in her voice that she was glad to know I wasn't perfect. I had to laugh out loud. I told her I'd better invite her over more often so she can see it messy more often. She said "well, you make so many things from scratch, you sew, and your house is always tidy, I'm glad to know your human" Aaah, little does she know how human I really am. So after she left I looked around pleased that I am human and then reminded my boys that if they keep their rooms clean every day for 2 weeks that I'll pay them 2 dollars. They hurried to clean. I smiled and pulled out the vacuum and decided I'd let the Facade continue and maybe I can fool a few more people.

I finished Stephenie Meyer's book "The Host" today. Man that thing is whopping! I am a person who has never really enjoyed much science fiction. I think it's funny that I love her books so much. Now I do think she's a little wordy and sometimes her characters are a bit annoying but something about her books draws me in and I turn into a bit of a neglectful mother. I think my kids watched a couple hours of "Thunder Cats" today. I'm not a big TV mom but we got it from the library and I was almost done with my book so they watched and watched and watched. THUNDER CATS HO! Sam is now "Lionel" If you call him Sam or just speak to him, he'll quickly say "Mom, I told you I'm Lionel!" It's cute and annoying at the same time.

It's funny the burst of engery I get after completing a book like that. It's over 600 pages and I started it Monday so I finished it just under a week. When I was done I decided to clean the kitchen and DUST! I never dust. I have a whole list of things I don't really do and one of them is dust. Others are base boards and toaster ovens. I don't know why I don't do them I just don't.

I then wrestled each kid individually and then collectively until someone got hurt. I read books, did laundry, cleaned the bathroom, vaccumed. A total burst of energy. Weird isn't it? Anyone else get like that after they complete a big book? Or do you suddenly think of life in an alien way, or feel like writing your own book or maybe your feel like one of the characters in the book? I think of so many random things.

Ways not to be frugal

#1 Having your husband cut your hair. I woke up one day about a week ago and said "Mike, I want you to cut my hair." then I showed him how much, about 1/2 to 1 inch. Not much just a trim. When it was all said and done about 4-5 inches were gone. He did a great job though-straight across. I didn't realize how much I really like my long hair until it was taken from me. My boys, including my husband always tell me to leave my hair long. I sometimes feel like the family pet as my kids pet me from time to time. Really almost daily, it's very annoying.

Tip # 2 Leave well enough alone
I decided that I didn't like the fact that because he did what I said and cut straight across that my hair looked angled a little longer in the front. That brought back my memories of the years of bobs that were angled to be longer in the front and trying to not relive my high school days I decided to layer my own hair. This might be okay for someone who knows how to layer hair but not a great idea of someone like me who does not know how to layer hair. I have yet to fix my hair and had hopes of having my mother-in-law help me do that.

This leads to tip #3 Flying Military Hops is very frustrating and may not work out.
Yes free is a great way to be frugal but man is it hard. I know I'm a whiner and shouldn't be, it's been a full week of waking up every morning waiting to see if our plane is fixed and ready to go. Nope. I doubt it will be tomorrow so my dreams of having my mother-in-law fix my hair may be out the window but I did just find out my friend that lives down a few doors went to school for such things and may be willing to help me out.

Life is good and I wish you all happy frugal times.

Old Cell phone pictures

I thought I'd share some old random cell phone pictures since I never take new ones. :) David peaking out of a slide in GA.
How could you not love that little sad face. He looks so small there. My babies are not babies anymore.
The Force is strong with this one. I didn't even buy the mask. I know I should have but that meant three masks and well we just didn't need them.
There is a Grammy under all those balloons. I'm not sure what this was for but I'm assuming it was a birthday.
Jack is a man of many emotions and boy is he just cute through them all too. I love that kid.