thanksgiving

we had a lazy thanksgiving this year. we did ours on saturday instead of thursday.
i made the jello, a cheesecake, and some fudge on friday. on saturday, i made the rolls, the potatoes and the punmpkin roll (cause you can't have thanksgiving without pumkin roll!)
by the time we were ready to eat, i was in trouble for doing too much. i thought i had spread things out quite nicely. if i hadn't done that second batch of rolls, i might have been okay.
but, who did the rest of the food?! shauns mom took care of the turkey, and nana and carli did the stuffing and a pumpkin pie.
not too bad for a quiet thanksgiving!

here i go again...

had my doctors appointment yesterday. it included the dreaded glucose test (thankfully, only the 1 hour though). they ran my iron, and i asked them to check on my thyroid, and give me a flu shot.
both my iron and my thyroid came back normal. the glucose came back a little high. i convinced the doctor to forego the 3 hour glucose test, and just let me treat it with diet. i'm really hoping that i can manage to stay fed, and still keep my numbers down.

since i'm on a diabetic diet again, i'm having to watch my carbs. that means, no sugars, and very little breads and fruits.
so, for lunch, i ate an entire bag of pepperoni. that was not the intent when i started. once i got started, i couldn't stop! the only problem now is that i'm feeling a little sick. all that fat was probably not a good idea!

wet rag

last night was interesting. and hilarious at the same time.

ashley was running a fever. from 102, to 103. AND, nothing was touching it. the tylenol didn't make it drop, and neither did the ibuprofen. we spent the night trying to keep her comfortable. neither one of us slept very well.
shaun grabbed a washcloth, and got it damp so we could try to bring her temperature down. that washcloth became the object of many games last night. first it was me placing it on her forehead, and her taking it off, multiple times. at one point, i was just tossing it on her face. there were a few times that she wiped my face down with it.
then it became Agar. shaun turned it into a puppet. ashley laughed and giggled for at least an hour over that puppet. he nibbled on her nose, fingers, cheeks. she grabbed his face and nose. a wet rag has never been more entertaining!

mommy said!

shannon talking to shaun...
"daddy, time to get up!"
"time to get up, why?"
"cause mommy said!"

crazy insane

i went to the store this afternoon to get a few things that we needed for dinner. while i was there, i bought some more feingold suckers. the little girls REALLY like them.

just a few minutes ago, i caught them under the table with ALL of them unwrapped!
i get SO frustrated when she does that!

misreading

i'm looking at pinterest, and shaun is reading over my shoulder.

"i'm ripening this..."
it says "i'm repinning this...

we laughed SO HARD!!!

counting

young children have a hard time pronouncing things sometimes. and it makes for interesting and funny stories.

shannon can count to five.
one, to, fee, whore.

an endless supply of laughter!!!

banana chocolate chip pancakes

i tried an experiment with lunch today. i was going to do it for breakfast with the little girls, but i feel back asleep on the couch after getting the older two off to school.

anyways, my experiment went something like this:
mash 1 banana in a small bowl
add pancake mix, water, egg, & oil
mix up, pour on griddle
sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top
enjoy

the girls seemed to enjoy them. i'm a little more hesitant to try them as i do not like bananas. i'm going to use up the last of the bananas and make some more. this time though, they are going to be silver dollar size. easier to grab a few to snack on.

accidents

i got a phone call from elizabeths teacher just before noon. apparently, elizabeth had an accident on the playground, and got EVERYTHING wet. i took over some extra clothes, shoes, and socks. she had to wear her brothers shoes because i could not find hers. but, there were no complaints when i told her. however, i didn't have an extra coat to take to her, so she walked home in the cold without anything.

as she got in the door this afternoon, she had another accident. something must be going on for her to be having 2 in one day.

on another note, elizabeths coat disappeared from the coat closet at church yesterday. today she wore taylors coat from last year. we're hoping hers shows back up next week.

crocheting

this job crocheting is going to be a huge help. at the moment, it's seasonal, but they intend to keep their best "performers" afterwards.
last week i made $165.
this week i made $289.
i think that's going to be the most i make in a week. i really can't turn out more than 25 items a week. but, it's helping to pay off some bills. and it's going to be taking care of christmas for us.

getting ahead

so, i was looking on the colleges bulletin board one day, and found an ad for crocheters. there is a lady that has "bearded beanies" she sells on etsy. she's having trouble keeping up with demand, so she has started contracting the work out. since it's easy and something i can do from home, i decided to sign up. she pays me per item i am able to finish and turn in each week.

the income has been a blessing. we were able to get new tires on the van just before our trip to utah, knowing that i was bringing in the money and could pay them off.
i just made a payment on them, only to discover that the grinding of the breaks we've been hearing and feeling, is not a happy sound. they need to be replaced.

so, instead of paying off utilites, i get to start paying on break replacements.

i was looking forward to paying off the bills!!!!

cars 2

nana's work does a coloring contest every year at halloween for the kids. they have 4 age groups. everyone who participates gets a treat, and the winners get a movie.
nana brought home the pictures for the kids to color, and they all did, then she took them back for the contest. the day after halloween she came home and told us that there had been something wrong with the winners that had been chosen, and they were going to rejudge them.
a few days later she brought home the treats, rice krispies. then she told us that taylor has won for his age group! he got the movie cars 2. he was so excited!
it's the first movie we've ever won! and, it's not bad for a sequel.

pumpkin pictures

i mentioned a little earlier that i had carved pumpkins with the kids. well, here are the pumpkins, and the trays of filling.

and, of course, taylor picked the most difficult pattern in the book!

elizabeths was a perfect choice for her. a catbat.

 shannon picked 2 ghosts.

everyone was happy with their pumpkins!

halloween cookies

trena, shaun's sister-in-law started a tradition with him and his sister, carli. they made and decorated cookies for halloween. this year, she brought everything over, and told carli it was her turn to carry it on.

carli was far braver than i am. she got all 4 kids involved, and they rolled, cut out, and decorated halloween cookies.

all four kids helping to roll out the dough

nana helping to decorate

 all involved with finished products

the cookies up close

when trena brought everything over, she informed carli that shaun had a decorate a cookie as well, so here is his. 

halloween

the kids had a lot of fun this halloween. i know it's a week late, but here are pictures of the 3 older kids.

taylor was optimus prime again this year. he wanted to be ironman, but in the move, that costume disappeared. at the last minute, he decided to a vampiric.

 elizabeth is cinderella. trena made the costume, and elizabeth LOVED it.

shannon is a little imp. she's missing her wings, but she was dang cute!

ashley was a ladybug. i put her hair up in pigtails, and she had antenna!

to-do list

my to-do list isn't getting any shorter, and there is so much that i need to do today, but i'm afraid to do much of anything.
tuesday, we went to idaho falls, and got some things at sam's, and fred meyer. when i got home, i cooked and put away in individual servings, 5 pounds of turkey burger. then i grated and froze 5 pounds of cheese. at the same time i was making dinner.
yesterday, i went to the stores in town to finish up our grocery shopping. i went to di, and found a coat for me, a rolling backpack for one of the emergency kits, and one of my all-time favorite movies, white christmas. near the end of my shopping excursion, i starting having labor type pressure. i managed to get home, and in the house, and then had to let shaun take care of everything else. and for the rest of the day, i was pretty useless.

my to-do list today goes something like this:
put up pumpkins - cooking, mashing, and freezing
laundry
dinner
make a cake
work - more beards and beanies
clean front room
put away laundry after it's clean

and, i discovered after i got home yesterday, that i am still in need of some things from the store.
however, in light of the last two days, i'm either going to wait until shaun can come with me, or until friday. i need to take it a little easier today, if i can.