The Perfect Thanksgiving Dinner??

Hey, I need your help!  What are some of your 'secrets' to the best dishes for the Thanksgiving dinner?  The radio show next week is on how to make the Perfect Thanksgiving dinner, from start to finish (and some healthy tips in any of the categories...).  So, ladies and gentlemen - what are your tips??  

And the Halloween prize goes to...

We had a fun Halloween party at the Y last night...

The kids had a good trial run of their costumes... 

and....

      Jerry.....

                Well......

                      He truly gets husband of the year award for jumping on board with my, "Hey honey, let's go as each other!!"  Suggestion.....

... winning him the overall prize for Halloween Man/zumba instructor  of the year...
... topped only by the "role reversal" Halloween of 5 years ago when he posed as a pregnant woman. (Yes, I do have pictures of that one also!).

... All I can say is, "Look FAST" - I don't know how long he will let me keep these pictures on the blog!

I Want a Tubby NOW!!!.......

... is what prompted my 14 month old to follow me into the shower... literally... head first... pj's and all...

   You know you are neck deep into mommy hood when even your shower is not a place of refuge :).   Well, at least we saved some water - I just put in the plug, stripped him down, and let him have his tubby... which would have been ideal had he not had a poopy diaper...  :)   Ahhh, the joys of the fine print of motherhood (I swear the job description didn't mention this much poop would be involved in every facet of daily life!).

   ... but how can you not love life with a smile like that beaming up at you, wet, poopy pj's and all??!

The "Mommy Dearest" award goes to...

    Yours truly.   (... If you are not familiar with the movie "Mommy Dearest," just know that this is NOT a compliment to win this award!)...

    

   Yes, within the past 48 hours, I have succeeded in:  getting in a fight with my hubby, and making all four children cry - at separate times, for separate issues.  Yep, all in 48 hours.  Now THAT'S some creative time management!!

    Okay, in my defense - the younger two cry at some point over random issues pretty much every day (especially if they are past their nap schedule), so that doesn't take much on my part :).  The older two, well I do take full credit for that...

     Yesterday it was Sarah, and it was over one word.  a  r  e.  That's it.  Three letters.  A sight word from Kindergarten.  She knows this word.  I know that she knows this word.  It was on EVERY page of her take home book to read.  We reviewed it when she forgot...(on every page!).  Then, when I had her re-read it, just to be sure, the melt down occurred, and not from her.  I'll spare you the details, but it ended with me just sending her to her room to clean it up and take a break before we tried again.  A few minutes later when I walked by her room, she was curled up in her bed, almost crying.  After some snuggle time, she was back to normal, but I felt like a buck ninety nine...

    Then this morning, we had a tight schedule to make, including an extra violin group practice for an upcoming concert, then shoot off to drop the twins at school, then off to get the kids into the kids gym, and set up to teach a 9:15 muscletone class... (but no time pressures there!)

   ... when we pulled up at the school (just a few minutes behind schedule, but still doable), we discovered that Seth's backpack was missing and he informed me that he had taken it off... at the violin teachers house... completely in the opposite direction of the gym... 

    When I tried to reason with him that he could just go in and I would get retrieve the backpack and get it to school right after my class, he became the 'statue'... his completely immobile, won't talk, won't move, won't respond defense mechanism... and then promptly broke down in tears, saying that we HAD to go back and get his backpack, and he had to go with me (he couldn't possibly bare the humiliation of showing up on the playground without the backback).  

     Again, my patience fled like the dukes of hazard (okay, so I totally just dated myself!), and I pretty much forced him out of the car, only to have him stand on the curb and start crying.  I tried to drive away a little, hoping that he would see some friends and get perked up, to no avail - he just stared after me with those hurt puppy dog eyes.  So I flip around, trying to get him back into the car while he is again doing his 'statue' pose, but this time surrounded by about 4 friends who are all trying to help out.  I finally get around and get him back into the car, only to tell him that he will then have to go to kids care and come to school late if he wants to come with me to pick up the backpack.  Then I add, "and you will feel silly, because there won't be any big kids at kids care, they will all be at school."  Really, truly, did I HAVE to throw that out??!  Why didn't I just give him a paper cut and pour in some lemon juice?!  He, of course, starts crying more, saying, "Mommy, PLEASE just take me back to school!"  (we are now 1/2 way to the gym and way behind schedule...  

     ... so we whip around to go back to school, drop him off, probably even more shaken up then he was before, but he ran to play with some friends this time, so I gunned it off to the gym.

     ... of course my karma came right back at me, as I run into class and start the music, the cd player chokes on me.  We did the warm up literally to 'air music' as I tried frantically to play with the cd player, count beats into the mic, and give movement cues all at the same time.  When the 3rd cd started and stopped on me, I so wanted to turn to everyone and say, "Okay, I'm done, let's just all go home now!"

   ... Please can I just push 'delete' button on the past 48 hours??!  

Tagged... Again! 5 questions...

Okay, Jogus - this one's for you!

5 most important qualities in a person:

unconditional love

hard-working

fun

nice

honest

5 things I cannot live without

family

internet

evening de-compress mode

snuggles (especially from the kiddos!)

in-depth talks

5 foods I love

CHOCOLATE

is there anything else that matters??...

Potatoes In ANY form!

truffle dessert

perfectly sweet orange/peach/fruit of any kind

Belgian waffles

5 places I want to go:

(It would be easier to name 5 places I wouldn't want to go!)

Disneyland (for the kiddos!)

Jerusalem

Hawaii

Argentina (at least for the next 17 months!)

Egypt

5 random things

I love to listen to my kids talk to each other

I love getting a great deal on something

I really wish wyoming and nebraska could be sucked out of the US (sorry, Stewart and Shannon - not at all because you live there! - I just hate driving through those states to get close to family!) - it would make staying here for work so much easier!

Deep inside of me, there is an organized person just waiting to come out!... if I could just sift through the piles of papers I have on top of her to actually let her out...

I crave having people come and visit - I love having people stay at our house - even with all of it's craziness!

5 people to do the same...

Robin (there- I tagged you first for once :)  )

Stew and Shan

Mom

Janie

Anna :)

I have finally caught up with the season...

Yes, it is Fall...

But in my mind, I am still somewhere mid May (don't let the Christmas music fool you into thinking I am actually ahead of the season... Christmas music is usually a standard around our house year round!) and keep waking up to frosty weather wondering what is happening before I get my bearings and realize that yes, the summer HAS come, and it IS gone...  and I will see a boat load of SNOW and ICE before my beloved summer re-appears!

In fact, I was driving a couple of weeks ago and saw a 10k race with a sign that said, "Harvest Classic" and thought, 'Now, why are they doing a Harvest Race this time of year??'  before I remembered, 'Oh yea, because it IS Harvest Classic time of year, duh!'

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE FALL - it is one of my favorite times of year.

I even LOVE snow (did I just say that??!)...

From the first snow fall, clear up until Christmas - I love everything (okay, Almost everything) about snowy days.

... But come December 26, BRING ON THE SUN!!

So for now - we will suck every last minute out of the crisp, crunchy leaves stomping, autumn days...

The kids had a blast running through the 'Hay maze'

Joshy thought he struck gold with all of these 'orange balls' and tried in vain to pick every one up he could get his hands on.

Tagged... 7 Random things

So here goes - my 7...

1.  I must know the end of every book I read, right when I start reading it. Dare I say it... I am a last page first reader.  Yes, I knew that Dumbledor died in Harry Potter, yes, I knew how Twilight ended.  I fully admit it, in fact I embrace it... I am a 'happily ever after' girl, and if something doesn't have a happy ending, most likely I won't read it.

2.  I am a horrible singer (okay, that is not so random - if you have ever had the 'pleasure' of sitting anywhere close to me during singing time, you unfortunately know this fact - it speaks to true friendship that you still included me in karaoke tonight, Ann!).  What is random about this is that when I am driving, I will sing at the top of my lungs to any song that I remotely know (and some that I don't know at all), and sing as if I am the best singer in the world.  Yes, my kids have been known to say, "mommy, may can you please stop singing?!"

3.  I am a 'topping person'  i.e.  Frosting - required... cake - optional.  Hot fudge-required... ice cream-optional.  Pie 'guts'-required... crust- optional (not even optional - yuck!!  Unless it's graham cracker crust - then it's crust required, guts optional).  Oreo filling-required... wafer cookies-optional.  Crunch berries-required... regular cap'n crunch pieces-optional.  ... I think you get the jist...

4.  I hate dirty feet.  But I also hate shoes.  I will go barefoot outside, and then come in and wash my feet in the sink.

5.  I could do aerobics (in a one square foot parameter) for hours on end, without blinking an eye, but I would rather clean toilets then have to run a single mile.

6.  I fall asleep in almost every movie we watch at night.  Then I wake up when we go up to bed and make Jerry tell me the story line of the whole thing that I missed.

7.  I hate putting clothes away from the laundry room.   I will wash, I will dry, I will fold.  The actual taking of the folded clothes and putting them away drives me crazy.  I will seriously let clean, folded clothes pile up forever before I actually put them away!  One of the first chores I have the kids learn is how to put their own clothes away, using their own baskets (thanks for that trick, mom!)

... so there you have it, more things then you ever wanted to know about me :).  I tag:

1. Michelle

2. Marissa

3. Jolene

4.  Summer

5.  Sarah

6.  Heather

7.  Shannon

My Tom Sawyer Moment...

Hey, kids, look, worms!!!

... it was beautiful, really, to see it all unfold...  I finally decided that this was the day to pull all of those crazy weeds that grow in between the blocks of cement all along our driveway and sidewalk (the ones that look ugly all summer and then drive you crazy when you are trying to shovel snow from the cement all winter).  The problem - we had a bunch - EVERYWHERE.

When I pulled up the first few, I noticed worms coming out with them.  The kids have been in a 'creepy crawly craze' lately, reading books, having daddy show them crazy pictures in his textbooks (yep, that was actually their favorite FHE lesson - looking through pictures of crazy bugs that cause crazy skin diseases... which had what to do with the gospel, exactly?  Well, very little, but hey, we were a family, we were at home, and it was evening - it fit into every aspect of F H E!... but I digress...).  

     When the kids came by to help a bit, they noticed that worms lived in the dirt UNDER the weeds,  ("Hey guess what, if you up pull up these weeds, you can find worms!!").  Who knew it would be such a hit - even the neighbor kids got in on it - they were running everywhere, getting screw drivers to dig through the cracks and 'get the weeds out of the way' so they could find their worms.

   I actually started laughing right out loud seeing it all unfold, as the kids told their friends, "Hey, if you pull these up, you can find lots of worms!"   "Hey, look, there are more over there... lets go get 'em!" (it was when they got to digging in the grass that I had to reign them in...)

   It was a win for everyone... 

The kids got their worms 

(sarah even tried to give hers a 'bath'... before she put them in their home... of dirt and mud...)...

I got my weeds pulled...

And daddy got some clear sidewalks and driveway to shovel all winter.  (Okay, who am I kidding - I know I'm going to be the one out there most of the time... but those shovelings are going to be SMOOTH!!).

... Tom Sawyer, meet your match!!  (wanna whitewash a fence, anyone?!)

P A R T Y ! ! ! ... at 5:30 in the morning??!

Yep - bright and early - Party time in these parts :)

The kids and I 'daddy-napped' Jerry at 5:30 to go light his "Boards Firework" - the ONE firework that he has been saving for the BIG news of passing the boards. (If you have known Jerry through his 'pyro' days, you will know how completely perfect this little celebration is for him!)  

The plan was to drive to some random, remote location (since it was a little on the 'not-so-legal' end of the firework spectum...), but decided instead to light it off right in the street... in front of our house... at 5:30 in the morning... (so now you know where that random 'gun-shot' you heard came from!)

... and then we got out of dodge and went to breakfast at Denny's (hey, it was the only place open at insanely early hours of the morning!)  before daddy had to head off to work and the kids off to school.

... Let the party times begin!!!

NINE years, 2 months and 14 days all boil down to one sentence...

..."Hello, meet Jerry, 

BOARD CERTIFIED DERMATOLOGIST!"

Yes, the results are in, and he PASSED the BOARDS!!!  Can I hear a WOOT WOOT??!  Jerry, you truly are THE MAN!!!!  Love you!! 

Houston... we have connection!

... After days of cleaning up more pee than I even care to count, today we had our first real "Mom, I have pee"... run to the potty... and pee right off the bat.  No false alarm.  No 'forgetting' to tell mom, no standing for 20 minutes at the potty singing every known verse (and some unknown verses) to "Old McDonald" had a farm.  Just the beauty of body awareness starting to spin.  It's a simple thing.  It's a beautiful thing.  It's simply a beautiful thing!

A sure fire way to tell you will NOT be nominated for mother of the year award...

... you overhear your kids setting up the roles for their game...

   "Sarah, you'll be a puppy, I'll be a puppy, Mom will be the monster and Dad will be the good guy."

So when did I slip into "Monster" category??!

... yep, no nominations this year...

Quote of Conference...

"Don't let a problem to be solved be more important than a person to be loved." 

-- President Thomas S. Monson  (or S. Monson for short, as Seth keeps calling him!)

 Wow - that one really hit me on Sunday.  Great thought!  (although, I do have to say, cherishing the fingerprints may be a stretch for me right now - well finger prints I can handle... muddy foot prints on a newly mopped kitchen floor - that one will take some effort to put into the 'cherishing' category!  Muddy paw prints??  Not going to fit into cherishing category.  Ever.  Enough said!)  

What were some of your favorite thoughts from conference?

... oh, another talk I loved was "Christian Courage"  Great thoughts through this whole talk.

... oh yea, and I LOVED, "Mom, just want you to know, we had a HARD time!"  Very cute.  Very great talk.

... can you tell which session I paid the most attention to?  (and stayed awake through the whole thing while the baby slept the whole time, even.  The perfect mommy/conference combo!!)

Halloween Practice, Take 6: Attack of the killer pumpkins!

I made the mistake of getting a couple of costumes early this year, and the kids have been adamant about 'practicing' their trick or treat skills...

We also thought that since Halloween night is so dark for pictures, we would do some 'pre-Halloween shots'

We have a neighbor up the street who raises these MONSTER pumpkins every year.  They are so fun to play on, and make such a fun picture spot :).

Janie - this one's for you.  Seth in his traditional "Morphin-Time" Power Rangers pose.  Did you have any idea when Aimee was 6 and they just got into power rangers that the crazy Japanese-talk-over paper mache monster flick would last this long?  Oh, and Yes, I still break into a good, "It's MORPHIN time, POWER UP"  and yes, I have been told by my kids that I need to stop (ah, yes, it did take me back to the "Mom, you're emberresing me!" moment with Aimee in the grocery store in IL).

Sarah, ever ready to strike a pose as our little princess.  She wants to be Rapunzel this year... any ideas on making "Rapunzel" hair for our little long-hair-challenged daughter??!

"Batman" Benjamin climbed all the way up this pumpkin himself, and was quite proud of the effort :)  ... Side note:  you will probably see him in at least 3 different costumes before the big trick-or-treat moment... and maybe even 1 or 2 during the course of Halloween night :).  He can't quite make up his mind...

Our little "alligator" Josh.  No real rhyme or reason to this choice.  It was the one costume we had in his size... and he isn't old enough to complain about it, or care that his brother wore it a few years ago :).

One small Pee for Ben...

One GIANT relief for mommy-kind.

Funny how one little stream can cause so much joy in the life of a mother!!  I realize that we are no where near the home stretch, but hey, we actually made connection today - HUGE step forward!  We can do this... we can do this... we can do this!!!