Thanksgiving 2012

So...I clearly failed at the "post-every-day-for-a-month" challenge. I actually could have predicted it myself. Lesson learned...don't announce that you are going to post every day for a month and then the pressure won't do you in. As my last few posts will show, I was posting just about anything to throw a post up there, and that isn't fun for me. I have to remember that I started this blog, oh so long ago, to kind of journal what was going on in our lives that I wanted to remember. I don't know if I have simply fallen out of habit of doing that regularly, or if I have just grown tired of it, or if I just don't feel like I am blogging for myself and my family anymore...I can't quite put my finger on it, but it has been a struggle for me over the last year or so. Whether I find my mojo again remains to be seen.

At the moment, it is early Thanksgiving morning and I am sitting here with Smokey, sipping a cup of coffee. Next stop will be the treadmill for my daily dose of soul-cleansing exercise to get my day started off on the right foot. I took yesterday afternoon to prepare my side dishes of mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green bean casserole ahead of time. All I have left is a pumpkin pie, some biscuits, and the turkey itself.  It is just the four of us this year...no grand production to put on at all, so we have some fire wood piled up next to the fire place and will settle in for a relaxing day together. I have to say, I am looking forward to pretty much zero stress. I even used disposable pans for the turkey and sides so I didn't have a lot of cleaning up to do. Brilliant!

I love to cook but the thing I am most looking forward to is setting the table today. I love choosing place mats, plates, napkins, etc., and then decorating the table. I have an idea of what I will be using today and I hope it all comes together like I am imagining in my head.

I am thankful for many things in my life. I truly am a very lucky person. I am happy to be spending the day with the three boys who make my life complete. I love them more than words can say.

Halloween Recap

Halloween snuck up on me a little faster than I would have liked, but the whole school year has been like that so far...time zipping by and before I know it I am nearly a day late and a dollar short. Ha! In all honesty, I am not really sure what happened to the month of October. I blinked and it was over. Anyway, we had a very busy week of Halloween activity, and I am pretty sure we squeezed every last ounce of fun out of it that we could.

First up was Downtown Trick-or-Treating. This happened the Saturday before Halloween. Local merchants post signs in their windows if they want to participate (just about everyone did), and kids can go trick-or-treating. A certain merchant made a stink about it last year so it was cancelled (didn't like all the kids milling about her business) but I guess she was the odd man out this year, because it was back on. There was a great turn-out and we had fun. I think it is a great idea for promoting community, and the whole point is to get people out an about, and in the downtown area.

Next came class parties. I snuck into both Cam and Griff's classrooms so I could snap a few pictures. Griffin's class cracked me up - - they were ultra-obedient and quiet as little mice. They ate their snacks, cleaned up after themselves, and barely said a word. Mrs. Buck has them well-trained.

Camden's class was more in the partying mood, but then again, they are fourth graders. He was a little disappointed with his costume (Indiana Jones), because he wasn't allowed to wear any of the "good stuff" from his costume to school (bull whip, gun, machete) per the school's 'no weapons' policy. I'm pretty sure he told me it was a 'total bummer'. I think he still looked extremely Indiana Jones-ish.

Before we set out for trick-or-treating, I made some Jack-o-lantern pizzas and the boys invited their best buddies from the next street over to play and eat pizza.

Kasey and I managed to take our annual costume photo. I loved her pirate costume! I'm afraid I ran out of time with my costume (it required some mending), so around 5:30 p.m. I settled on the standard witch get-up from my costume stash. I'll have to save the fancy costume for next year.

Our neighbor Lorie decorates her front porch very elaborately every year, and scares the dickens out of the neighborhood kids. This year, our dear Margaret got in on the fun with her (that's Margaret on the left, Lorie on the right).

Not to far from our house, there are a couple of houses that seem to be locked in an epic battle of out-doing each other. It is hysterical. The both have the most elaborate set-ups, complete with fog machines, spooky decor, and special effects. This house won hands-down though this year - - if you look closely, you can see that there are actual humans scattered about the yard, doing fire dancing. No joke. They even had a crazy stereo system hooked up to go with the fire dancing spectacular. It will be hard for their neighbors across the street to top that next year.

 

Approximately 24 hours after trick-or-treating had ended, Camden and Griffin each suffered an all-out post-Halloween meltdown. I believe it was the mass-quantities of sugar leaving their blood streams. I'm happy to report that they are back to normal now.

Uniforms and Leprechauns

It is the weekend I am very happy about that. This week kind of sped by in a big blur. Lots going on and lots to catch up on, so I am declaring today a "low-key" kind of day so that I can get caught up on a few things. Steve has a big meeting to go to on base today (thus, the class b's in the picture above) so we are on our own. Would like to get all of my big chores done today so that we can just have some fun tomorrow.

I have to say, I love uniforms. It sure is a good thing I married an Army soldier. I get my very own man in uniform every day! I especially like the dressy uniforms though. Steve isn't required to wear a uniform like this hardly EVER...as a matter of fact I have only seen him "dressed up" for our wedding, and for the Army balls we have been to in the past...sure hope they have one planned for this year, it has been a while! This is the first time I have ever seen him in this particular uniform - - in the past you may recall seeing Army soldiers in a green coat/shirt/tie - - well now it has been changed to a white shirt with blue pants/black tie. If he has to be super-dressy, he adds a blue jacket to it, but for today, no jacket. I think he looks pretty snazzy.

The boys aren't up yet, so I made sure to tip over some chairs, put some green food coloring in various places (the toilet bowl being their favorite) and scatter some gold coins around the house. They would not be pleased if there weren't any signs of leprechaun mischief when they got up. I think we will bake a St. Patty's dessert of some sort today, and I am definitely making a boiled dinner for this evening...I look forward to corned beef brisket every year for St. Patrick's Day.

Blogging: Smartphone Edition

This post comes to you via my Smartphone. I am beginning to realize that my computer problem isn't going to be solved anytime soon, so I figured I had better see if I could blog from this thing. I can't believe I even figured out how to upload photos...it is crazy! Anyway, the above picture is of Camden and one of his classmates, reading instructions to their class on how to make a Christmas Cracker. The third grade classes are doing 'Christmas Around the World' this year, and his class is studying Australia. He has had a lot of fun with it. I have Pavlova baking in the oven as I type, for the feast at his school today. Then, at 3:30 p.m., we can all breath a big sigh of relief and I will probably have to sit and stare off onto space for a couple of hours! After that, the boys and I will get down to the fun stuff...getting our own family traditions in order, and get ready for the Big Day.

*Post edit: It turns out I had a crazy spelling error in the above post, thanks to Auto-correct. Unfortunately, editing is not something that is easy to do via Smartphone, and it took me about 45 minutes to finally erase that one word. So, I'm thinking that Smartphone blogging may not be for me after all! Ha!

Computerless

Well I have been without my computer for a week now. The battery has not died (yet), but unfortunately we are having a modem problem, that, oddly enough, only affects my laptop. Right now I am on Steve's work laptop, which is leaving with him to go to work for the week in about 5 minutes. Boo! So, if I am not responding to email very quickly, or blogging, or any of that fun stuff, it is because I am really bad at typing on my Smartphone. I miss my computer! I may even try to get the archaic desktop working.

This week is going to be busy. I will be working at the library this morning, followed by volunteering in Camden's class. Will be doing that again tomorrow, and then he is on Christmas vacation, yay! Griffin's vacation already began last week, so he is busy chomping at the bit, waiting for Santa to hurry up and get here already. Steve has five days off starting on Friday, so we are all looking forward to a nice, long holiday weekend. Hope you all are busy with Christmas preparations and enjoying this time!

Easter Weekend

The boys and I had a fun-filled Easter weekend, even if we were derailed slightly by a little fever. Luckily, Camden recovered enough to participate in all the festivities on Easter Sunday. We had fun decorating Easter eggs, drawing pictures for the Easter Bunny, and getting all decked out in our finery for dinner at Rod and Candy's house. Both boys were tuckered out and slept on the drive back from Weiser, which was proof to me that they'd eaten their weight in sugar (as it should be) and had a ton of fun. A wonderful weekend, indeed!

St. Patrick's Day

I'm so mad at myself! My sweet boys were dressed to the hilt for St. Patrick's Day - - green shirts, green hats, and even green hair...and I didn't take a single picture! I even remembered it after Camden went to school and vowed to take a picture of them together as soon as Cam came home...and I forgot a second time. Drats. As you can see, I did remember to take a picture of my brisket. Nowhere near as interesting as my boys, but delicious none-the-less. I usually boil brisket on the stove top, but this year I decided to try a slow cooker recipe. I'm happy to say that it turned out great! The only change I made to the recipe is that I used low sodium beef broth instead of beer (because that's what I had on hand) and the flavor was great. Also, I cooked it on low for 8 hours, rather than high as the recipe stated. I'm glad I did this, because the internal temperature registered as done after only 7 hours on low. I think if I'd cooked it on high, it would have turned out like an old leather shoe! This is definitely a recipe I will use again.

Matchy-Matchy

I love buying Christmas jammies for the boys each year. I'm sure in the not-too-distant future, I won't be able to get away with holiday-themed jammies anymore, so I'm enjoying it while I can! I just love the children's Nick & Nora jammies that Target carries. I wasn't able to get matching sets in the right sizes this year, but they are cute, just the same.

I like a good set of pajamas myself, so my mom and I bought each other these cute Croft & Barrow flannel pajamas at Kohl's this year. I just love them!

Camden and Griffin's pajamas are wrapped and under the tree, for opening on Christmas Eve, but Mum and I had to try ours out the other night, before my parents headed back to Maine.

Festival of Lights

Tonight was our local Festival of Lights, and so I decided to whip up some homemade pizza, bake a few goodies, and have a little party. We had some friends join us, along with Nana and Papa, before heading over to the city park.

Here I am with my mother and my good friend Jeanie. I met Jeanie at Camden's school - - she has a great little boy who is Camden's age. My mom got to know Jeanie too, this fall at soccer practice, when Jeanie's son and Camden were on the same team. It is impossible not to like Jeanie because she is so bubbly, fun, and friendly. I am so glad to know her!

There was entertainment at the band shell, food, cocoa, and a gingerbread house contest. We wondered around but mostly watched the boys play in the snow and throw snowballs.

Of course, Santa and Mrs. Clause were there. This picture of Griffin, getting squashed by Santa cracks me up. My ears perked up when I overheard Griffin telling Santa that he wants an electric guitar for Christmas. That's a new addition - - hadn't heard that one before. Unfortunately for Griff, the gifts have been purchased already, and he's definitely not getting an electric guitar!

It was a fun night, even though I think it took everyone a little while to thaw out after we got home!

Thankful

I'm so happy that my parents were in Idaho this year, for Thanksgiving. The boys and I are going to miss them so much when they head back to Maine in the next week or so...I can't even stand to think about it. I'm extra-thankful that they have been here to help me recuperate from gallbladder surgery this week - - while it is an outpatient procedure (like most surgeries these days) I can tell you that it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. Ouch! I really didn't feel well at all today, but I'm hoping that I'll be on the mend in the next day or so. I don't enjoy sitting around!



Here's what Thanksgiving dinner looks like when you've just had your gallbladder removed. I can tell you that the mashed potatoes agreed with me, so that's probably what I'll be eating for the next few days. We spent the afternoon relaxing, and now I'm getting ready to tuck the boys in (after we finish watching Elf, of course).

These boys of mine have it pretty good. It is a regular occurrence to be sitting on Nana's sofa in the evening, eating an ice cream cone, sometimes while getting a "lotion foot rub". Lucky boys!

A Merry Little Christmas

Cookies for Santa

It started with this post. Then, I read this. The end result: some cute little gifts for my

niece and nephews...

Super easy, and fun to make. The boys and I made a batch to "test" the recipe. The verdict:

Yummy.

The Winner (and Thanksgiving Dinner)

I am so sorry in the delay of letting you know who won my "Random Acts of Kindness" giveaway! I didn't forget about it, but rather, haven't been near my computer much in the past 48 hours or so. This was my first completely unassisted turkey, so I was a little nutty. I think I had to call my parents 3 or 4 times for instruction. Alas, I'm happy to report that the bird was completely cooked, and it was nice and moist (thanks to the brine, I am sure!).

So, on Wednesday evening, I paid a visit to Random.org, which is a great tool to use if you have a giveaway on your blog. I went to the comments for the contest post, and removed all the comments that didn't say "done". You guys did a great job, I'm so happy that so many people participated, and some of you, repeatedly. Anyway, at 5:42 p.m. (Mountain Time), I entered in the parameters, and number 5 was the number generated, which means Jenn is my winner! Congratulations, Jenn! Please go to my profile and send me an email with your mailing address, and I will get your package off in the mail to you. I will edit this post later today to show you the loot that Jenn will be receiving, but I'm in my jammies at the moment and I'm going to stay right here in my recliner! You may know Jenn from my sidebar - - she has a blog about her life and her experiences with new motherhood that I enjoy reading. She also happens to be my cousin, or more accurately, my second cousin (her mother is my cousin, Susie). I have many wonderful cousins, but growing up, I was particularly fond of my Boothbay cousins. My brother and I loved to play with Margaret and Janet - - we were all very close in age - - and I just loved it when Alan would come to our house for a visit. I was particularly infatuated with Susie and Cheryl, though. Their weddings were the first weddings I remember attending, and when they each started having children, I was obsessed with babysitting. Not quite old enough to do so, but I wanted to so badly! Imagine my thrill, a few years later, when Susie had me come down to her house to spend the night and watch Jenn, Kristi, and Trent for her. It remains one of my earliest and best babysitting memories.

I would love to ask those of you who participated, to share your random acts with me, if you feel comfortable doing so. I will keep them anonymous in the post - - just sort of a bullet-point list of the little things that can make another person's day - - I figure we can all use some inspiration! So, if you'd like to share, just go to my profile and send me an email with a brief description of your experience(s). I'll be sharing some of mine, too.

We had a lovely day here yesterday! Today, I will begin sorting through the leftovers and coming up with a plan of attack. I see some turkey pot pie in our future. Okay, I see a lot of turkey dishes in our future. We were lucky to have Steve's parents, Rex and Kasey, and our nephew Banzer here for the day, and we had a great time. Steve's folks have been here for the past three months, but will be heading back to Maine this morning.

Thanks again for participating in my challenge!

Halloween Recap

We had a wonderfully awesome Halloween...so much fun! The festivities kicked off on Friday, when I had the pleasure of helping out at Camden's school party. The kids paraded up and down the hallway in their costumes - - so happy that I was able to see that.

On Saturday night, Rex, Kasey, Banzer, Rod, and Candy came to our home for a little Halloween party before we headed out for trick-or-treating. Kasey and I sure had fun preparing ghoulish appetizers and treats for everyone. I'm already looking forward to next Halloween!

A Busy Weekend

This past Friday, Camden's kindergarten class went on a field trip to a local dairy farm. Griffin and I were lucky enough to be invited along, and we had a great time!

The farmer and his wife showed all of the children a bit about their farm, introduced them to some of the cows, and let them do a little exploring. Then, they were all treated to some Darigold milk, and some cookies to go with it. I overheard Camden more than once, telling anyone who would listen, "MY Nana grew up on a dairy farm!"

Although Griffin was mainly interested in the school buses, he did get in on the calf-petting action.
Griffin continues to insist that he no longer needs to nap, yet, I keep finding him conked out in random places in the house. The boy doesn't like to be told how to run his day, you see.

On Saturday, we took the boys to the massive Easter egg hunt at our city park. Griffin
had no interest in the whole spectacle, and even Camden (in the orange jacket) got a little overwhelmed by the crowd.

He was very happy to pose with the Easter Bunny though (hmmm...where's Griffin?), and had lots of fun playing with his cousin on the playground after.

Yesterday, the four of us went to the top of Old Freezeout Hill at sunrise, and then enjoyed a beautifully scenic drive. Next, we were off to Rod and Candy's house for Easter brunch (that's Camden and Banzer above, searching for eggs).

Presently, we are all recovering from massive sugar hangovers, but we all had a great weekend. The weather continues to be beautiful, so we are taking full advantage of it!