Thankgiving follies

Let's have a little chat about Thanksgiving. Also, let's chat about the phrase "when it rains, it pours." Our Thanksgiving was the definition of this quote.

We were so excited for Mom and Dad to come in on Wednesday afternoon. They drove and drove and drove some more. . . bless their pea-pickin' little hearts.

Mom and Dad made it out of Blackfoot just before the roads were closed due to a blizzard. (Apparantly it hasn't stopped snowing since.) They pulled up right on schedule and everything went sour. I'm not saying that these two things are related in any way.

Tyler found a comfy seat in the armchair and didn't move all night. His face got more pale and he started to say he didn't feel good. All 3 kids refused dinner. By midnight he was throwing up.

Turkey day was here, after a long night. Tyler had slept on the couch. Shane took off to play in the turkey bowl, and Mom, Morgan and I went on a jog. After we got home we went to put the turkey in the bag and the bag was defective. Mom and Dad ran to Wally World to get another bag. no bags left.

We cooked the turkey in foil. The turkey will be done by 3, we planned. 3:00 came and went and the turkey was still practically alive. (Note to self: Don't cook the turkey and the ham at the same time unless you raise the oven temp.) Honestly, I've cooked Thanksgiving turkey plenty of times before. The day was just cursed.

Around 1:00 Tyler began to point out the red spots on his belly that really itched. Are you kidding me? They continued to spread over his entire body. They looked a lot like chicken pox. They were in his mouth, down his throat and in his ears. We researched and debated taking him to urgent care and finally came to the conclusion that it was a really bad case of the hives. We kept him home and drugged him up with benedryl.

Thanksgiving night Mom and I headed to Toys R Us to cash in on some Black Friday goodness. I have only ever been shopping on Black Friday in California where all was merry and bright. I was under the impression that we would have a nice time. Apparantly people in AZ are crazy. The Toys R Us line was INSANE. We opted out and headed home.

Good thing we did. Shane was doubled over on the bedroom floor. He hasn't been officially diagnosed yet, but I'm pretty sure he was having a gallbladder attack. He described the exact pain that I had 2 1/2 years ago when I had my gallbladder attacks. I did a little research on the web and found out that drinking pear juice allieviates the pain. Also, flax "tea" does too. It worked. 1 hour later, he was asleep. He attacked the next night too. Poor guy.

Friday came and we spent the day at home. I felt bad that my parents had come all the way to sit in my house. They're so patient though. The kids loved seeing them despite the sickness. Early Saturday morning, Paige started in on the throwing up. Mom and Dad were leaving early - 5am-I told them they better run. It didn't help. I just talked to Mom and she's had the flu too. Yuck.

Even with the chaos, we're still thankful. Thankful for family, thankful for friends, thankful that Tyler didn't have the chicken pox. Thankful that Shane could find some relief for his pain. Thankful for the times when we're not sick.

Of course, it's a lot easier to be thankful now that the craziness has passed :)

In this picture the hives weren't even that bad.

This is after the 2nd day of having benedryl.

Of course he didn't want me taking pictures on the first day. He felt horrible.

Dad, just hanging with the kiddos. . . . or should I say the sickos.

How to Train Your Dragon Birthday

Happy 7th Birthday yesterday to our no-so-little-anymore Paigey. Oh how fast the time escapes. The Elmo phase has passed. The princess and Dora phase is over. We're heading into teeny-bopper time and I'm not so sure I'm ready for it. Play make-up and Barbies. No more bows in her hair. Disney channel music videos and Delilah on the radio. She may have a small crush on Hiccup from her dragon movie. Can you even have a crush on a cartoon character? I'll take cartoon crushes over real-life crushes any day.

Seven things I love about my Paige:

* She's passionate. About mostly everything.
* She's expressive. There isn't really a time when we don't know exactly how she feels.
* She LOVES music!
* She's not afraid to try most things.
* She's creative in her art, school and pretend play
* She loves my cooking
* She's always excited about the next big holiday, next visit from family, or next family outing. Her excitement is contagious!


The 7th birthday bash was a hit. Saturday will forever be remembered as the "How to Train Your Dragon Birthday". Not, the big 7th birthday, or the big birthday before you turn 8. . . nope, she's hopelessly addicted to dragons.

We focused on the "training" your dragon instead of the violence of the vikings, since it was a girl party. The girls loved it! They each got their own little beanie baby dragon (retired and purchased cheap on Amazon!) They held their dragon while I tossed fish to them in the "Let's Be Friends Fish Toss." Kylee and Tyler won, hands down, with 5 fish caught between them in one minute.


Then, we played pin the tail on the dragon. Paige drew this cute little Toothless picture a few weeks back. I had her make a little brown tail to pin on.

Next was the golden dragon egg hunt. They searched for golden dragon eggs in various places all over the house and down the street. The last clue led them to the "dragon nest" where they picked up their goodie boxes.



While they hunted for golden eggs, they made their own ice cream in a bag. Each of them had their own little double bag with a serving of ice cream mix, ice, and rock salt. They squeezed it as they hunted. Some turned out, some didn't. I figured some of them were a little too distracted while hunting and forgot to squeeze their bag. It all worked out. By the time we had eaten pizza and cupcakes, only a couple of them wanted the ice cream anyway.

They each colored a little picture and watched How to Train Your Dragon while they waited for the pizza to cook.

Before I knew it, the pizza was gone, the cupcakes were mostly gone and the presents had all been opened. 4 girls were just enough for our little house. I never could have imagined the noise that can come from 4 little 7-year-old girls!

Sandwiches and Bo Tilly

Mo does NOT like to go to the gym. She gives me the pouty lip when I drop her off. I drop her off anyway. I was the queen of the pouty lip. No kid's gonna pull that one over on me.

5 minutes before class is over, almost every time in the last 2 weeks, the nice girl in the daycare comes to get me out of class.

"She's screaming and won't stop," she says politely, which basically means. . . come get your bratty kid now. We don't care how cute she is, she's hurting our ears.

When I pick her up, she laugh/cries and comes running.

"Why are you crying today?" I say.
"Did you get an owie?"
"No owie. Sandwich." she says.
"Sandwich?" are you kidding me?
"You want a sandwich?"
"We can get a sandwich when we get home," I say. I've been saying it for 2 weeks.

One of my friends there laughs and says I must make one heck of a sandwich. Real funny.

Laughing/crying again . . . . "ok, mommy." (insert pouty lip here.)
"Mo, you're so silly."

And here's where it gets good.

"No, Mommy, you bo tilly!"



Bo Tilly. Say that three times fast and I'll bet you'll start laughing. I do, everytime.
bo tilly
bo tilly
bo tilly

HAAAA!



Just to clarify, this is what bo tilly looks like:

She actually starts a lot of words with "b"

what = but

treat, sweet, feet, etc. = beet

fork = bork

gym = bim

Phineas & Ferb = Bineas Berb (Don't even get me started on that one)

You get the idea.

What a crack up.

Spooky Trees

We've been planning it for weeks. Finish the costumes and take a trip to the "spooky trees" to have a shoot. The kids were so excited. So was I, let's be honest. Willing subjects. They didn't disappoint.

How to Train your Dragon has been a hit at our house.
o.k. so maybe that's an understatement. They are OBSESSED with it. I have to admit, it's a great movie, and these were the funnest costumes I've made yet. Morgan's was already made, but I added the wings. She kind of looked like a dinosaur before that. Paige's skirt is my favorite. . . and hers. I think she'd wear it to school every day if I let her. Tyler loves his necklace and studded vest.

My only hang up is the name of Paige's character. "Astrid". . . are you kidding me? What kind of parent names their kid Astrid. Let's pray that Paige doesn't mumble when she introduces herself.

Tyler couldn't be convinced to be Hiccup. He needed something more manly. "Scary Viking" it is. He likes anything with a mask so he can be silent all night. Talking to people would be pure torture.

There's a dragon now!

Watch out. . . she looks fierce!

WAIT! Don't hurt her! It turns out, dragons can be trained after all.

They make great pets.

and apparantly they suck their thumbs. . . who knew.

Happy Haunting!

thankful

Today I am thankful

I think it's the weather, or maybe the fact that we don't have to be anywhere all morning and afternoon. It's refreshing. The clean laundry smells nice. Shane got to go golfing for the 1st time in a month. The kids have been outside all morning enjoying the weather. They have been laughing and playing and getting along while they watch tv, ride bikes, play ball and conquer super mario together. They all sing the theme songs in unison for Phineas and Ferb, Elmo, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Super Mario Galaxy and How to Train your Dragon. I think it's cute. Mo sings "hotgog" to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song, so now they all sing it that way.

Today I'm thankful to be a mom, a wife, a maid, a "costume designer", a photographer and a daughter of God.

I don't care if it sounds cheesy or cliche.

I just want to say it outloud today, because a lot of days I don't feel as thankful. Somedays it feels like drudgery. Somedays it feels stressful. Today, it just feels nice.

Thats all. Just nice.

a bed

I've been following a blog for quite some time now. First, it was called Knock off Wood, now it is called Ana-White.com LOVE it! I dreamed of the furniture I would build. I showed Shane every plan. He mumbled things under his breath.

It came time to move Mo out of her crib. That's right, she's officially a big girl.


"Let's just go shopping for a bed," he said.

"Fine," I said, knowing full well that the bed we wanted would be way too pricey on the showroom floor.

After 3 hours of shopping. . . "So, how much do you think we would spend if we made the bed?"

Be still my soul.
I jumped right on the plans.

The trundle was a breeze. The bed gave us a little trouble, but nothing that we didn't work through. All in all, it turned out great. Shane is already talking about building an entertainment center.

The trundle. . . coming along nicely.

Here's the headboard before it was fully painted.

And here's the finished product. . . LOVE it!