Thanksgiving

We're here in Colorado and I'm enjoying myself a lot. Our Thanksgiving started out with the Juniper Valley Ranch tradition of target practice at the dump. It consists of shooting bottles, toilets, microwaves, whatever papa can find. It is a fun tradition and Zak's first year to participate. Then its off to a yummy meal, then lots of lounging and sleeping by the wood burning stove. We were even lucky enough to get some snow in the evening. Then today the girls did a little shopping and it was game playing the rest off the afternoon. I'll leave you with a few pics of our festivities.

A belated "Thank you!"

My good friend Cristina over at "Baby its Cold Outside" gave me a blog award last week. And I am late in thanking her. So Cristina - Thank you!! And the fact that it was for having a creative blog makes it even more special since I profess to have not an ounce of creativeness in my body. Its my ability to find and copy ideas that make me look good every once in awhile.

Now, I'm going to pass this one along to Kelly at From Kelly's Kitchen. I have not only had the pleasure of tasting her amazing food, but I have gotten to copy a few of her ideas and recipes as well. She'll never disappoint. Thanks Kel! Wish I had some of your warm cheesy bread right about now......

Random thoughts - its as good as I can do

My mind is in a whirlwind.

We're headed to CO for Thanksgiving this week. I'm excited. Its always a good time. And it looks like there's some snow in the forecast. Not so great for traveling, but I'm hoping to get a great family shot in the mountains for our Christmas cards.

When we told the kids that I would be going back to work and daddy would be staying home, Zak said "Mom, I have always wished that and now my wish is coming true." Wow - guess I won't worry about the transition for him.

My house is half decorated for Christmas. It is driving me nuts. We always get a real tree and we can't get it until after Thanksgiving, since we'll be gone. I feel like I'm trying to be in the Christmas spirit but not.

I am mourning the fact that I'll most likely be in a cubicle for my favorite season of the year. I'll just have to bring the Christmas spirit to work.

I am, although, super excited that I need to buy a new wardrobe in order to work. Oh yeah!

I'll try to update over the holiday and give you some pics.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Non-traditional

Everything about my life is traditional. And I like it that way.

Until now. Andy and I have made some big decisions and are about to make some big changes in our life. I just took a new full time job. And Andy is going to come home with the kids. There are over 250,000 stay at home dads in the US alone, and the number in other countries can be higher. I won't lie - we are scared out of our minds. But we know this is what needs to happen for our family right now. And while we're scared, we're super excited too. Andy will get a much needed extended vacation (kind of), the kids will get some incredible "dad" time, and I can jump back into the corporate world, where I feel like I excel. This probably isn't a long term thing, but we'll see where it takes us. Our new adventure starts after Thanksgiving. Wish us luck!

Sisters

Good Times

And bad

(that knot is courtesy of little sister's head)

And I do what with that?

I'm not going to lie. When I get mad, it feels really great to slam the door. I've done it since I was little. I think maybe I even broke a door off the hinges (gasp). The Lord has done some work with me since then - don't worry.

Which brings me to Paige.

For those who don't personally know Paige - I wish you could meet her.

For those who don't know Paige very well - you'll find this shocking.

She, at her wee age of 3, can slam doors better than I could ever dream of. Today, as I walked her into her room because she was screaming about something, I saw fire in her eyes. My usual routine is to take her in her room and make her throw her fit by herself. She usually ramps it up once I've put her in her room. Once I hear that she's quiet, I'll go in and ask her if she's done. I can be guaranteed her response is "no". To which she slams the door in my face and give out one more long, loud scream. With that, she exits her room and is usually her sweet self. It happens every time. But today - it was war. Before I could shut her in her room fast enough she looked at me with some fierce eyes, a red face, and let out the most passionate scream I've ever heard from her. And I've heard a lot of them. I will never forget that face. I went back to the living room and seriously thought - that girl can't be mine. She stayed in her room extra long, and I didn't go check on her at all. Finally after about 15 minutes she emerged in her dressy shoes, red sunglasses, and plethora of beads, and acted like nothing happened.

I decided, the next time I am having a bad day, maybe I need to try that.

True love in the form of an ax

My grandad is no longer with us. He was the sweetest man I ever knew. One of my favorite memories of my grandad was that he made the best fires in the fireplace in the wintertime. I remember him wadding up countless newspapers to get the fire going, and playing games and eating popcorn by the fire. Great memories.

I'm all about ambiance. I want my house to exude warmth, and welcome. My husband is the opposite. He's practical. He thinks the fire should be a heat source and not just for looks. And in theory, that's great. We did that when we lived in CO and I loved it. But it kills him for some reason to burn a fire in the fireplace, with all the heat getting sucked up the chimney. And me, well, as long as it is warm and welcoming, who cares?

So we've had a few arguments this year about the fireplace. He thinks we need to get it cleaned before we burn it (we've been here 3 years and burned the fireplace about 10 times), he's from the country where you chop your own wood and doesn't believe in paying someone for it, and he thinks its impractical. I had to start thinking of ways to place candles in the fireplace and how we could make s'mores.

The other day I was rounding the corner to see a truck in my yard and the gate open. There was my husband and a coworker, unloading wood. Free wood. Its not often that the sight of your husband unloading wood makes your love grow for someone, but for me it did. He had put aside all his arguments and gotten me some wood. The plus for him, is that he didn't have to pay for it, and he got to get his ax out and chop it. Something he did all the time growing up. So I'm going to leave you with a picture of my sweet husband doing the most romantic thing for me....chopping wood.

Score One for the TV

Some routines just develop, without you even trying to create one. Our morning routine doesn't vary at all. Once the kids are up, they get their cup of juice for the day, with a vitamin sitting on top of their lid. Its funny how if I don't have the vitamin sitting on their lid, it throws them off. If I hand it to them directly, both Paige and Rene' will put it on their lid, then eat it. Weird. Then its usually cold cereal, unless I'm in the baking mood for muffins or pancakes. Anyway, the TV is turned on to PBS kids and thus starts their morning show routine. If their up early enough its Curious George, then Sid the Science Kid, then Paige and Rene' stick around for SuperWhy. Zak's usually off doing chores. This is what happens at our house every day between the hours of 7 and 8:30am.

I've often felt convicted about the amount of TV my kids watch. I'd love to be doing crafts, taking nature walks, putting on puppet shows, etc. But that just isn't a regular occurrence at my house. I need a shower. And I need my sleep. So I'm not getting up early to get a shower. Therefore, the TV is always on in the morning.

Yesterday I helped in Zak's class. We were all at the library where the Librarian was reading a story about the life cycle of a pumpkin. As she was reading about how the pumpkin was rotting, my son raised his hand and said, "There is another word for rotting - its decaying.". The librarians looked up with surprised faces, the teachers were laughing, and I was a proud parent at that point. I didn't teach him about decaying, Sid the Science Kid did. And I'll be letting Sid the Science Kid teach him every morning ...........without guilt.

Lets move on

I will not blog about how scared I am for my children/family today.

Instead we're going to talk CHRISTMAS!!!!!

I've got the candles going today, the Christmas music blasting, and I am planning my Christmas. From food, to decor to presents. My plan is to have all my shopping done by Thanksgiving so I can sit back, relax, and enjoy the Christmas parties and traditions.

I'm planning lots of Christmas activities for my family this year. One is advent calendars. I am always too late on getting these, and then the cute ones are sold out. I have also explored ways of making some. I can't find where I've seen this, but you take 25 gift bags, decorated for Christmas and then string them on a line with clothespins, fill them, and then open one each day. Or I just might buy them. Either way, I need to take care of this now.

Every year, I say I'm going to make gift baskets for my neighbors. This year, I really am going to do it.

I am also going to plan some service project for our entire family to do. I haven't decided what this is yet, so if there is anything you and your family do for others during the holiday season, I'd love to hear it.

Come Dec 1st I hope to turn this blog into a Christmas Extravaganza!

One in 1000

This is just one of the 1000 posts, I'm sure, of children in their halloween costumes. So here you have it!

Rene' won 2nd prize at a costume contest. Everyone thought she was a skunk. She was supposed to be a kitty.

My mom and I made this pumpkin costume as a very last minute effort a couple of years ago for Zak. It was an orange pillow on clearance that we took the stuffing out of and then made a face on. It has served its purpose well.

Darth Vadar passing out hugs.....classic.