Traditions

We're not a family that has a ton of'em...but we've got a few.

We've been doing Thanksgiving on our own (away from family) since Paul started med school. Was that really six years ago??

That makes this our 7th Thanksgiving on our own, we've hosted 5 out of the 7 times.

We've come up with a few good traditions along the way...as well as some funny experiences and great memories.

First of all:

Martinelli's Sparking Cider. As in every one gets their own bottle.

And yes, we drink from the bottle.

Then:

Best Pecan Yams. They'll change your life.

(from the Favorites book)

And of course:

Triple Layer Chocolate Mousse. Nothing else needs to be said.

Then there's rolls...and this is where the funny experiences come in.

(Although not at all funny at the time.)

To make a long story short...homemade rolls are the bane of my existence.

CAN.NOT. DO THEM.

I've tried different kinds, different recipes, tricks of the trade, I've even had more than one tutorial.

CAN.NOT. DO THEM.

But a few years back, when we were not hosting, for some reason I agreed to bring rolls.

That was mistake #1. But it got a lot worse from there. And that frigid snowy Thanksgiving morning was turning into something of a disaster for me as one thing went wrong after another.

And then, the car is loaded and ready to head over to our friends house - we're just waiting for the timer to go off so we can take the rolls and stuffing out of the oven.

Which is when we realize...I never even turned on the oven.

And THAT is when I sat down in the middle of my kitchen floor and cried.

I've come a long way since then.

Which is why tomorrow morning you'll find me at Great Harvest Bread Co.

Buying rolls.

(Don't judge, they're delicious)

We do have Thanksgiving traditions that are not based on the menu.

Most years we go around the table at the beginning of the meal and say one thing we are thankful for - not Paul's favorite, but I like it : )

And this year we've started something similar with our kids.

Every night for the month of November we get together as a family and say one thing we are thankful for.

It's always fun to see what the kids will say...and to come up with our own new thing each day.

Here's mine for today:

I got to have lunch with Noah at school

bring treats to his class

read to them

and watch them do a super cute birthday song thing too.

Loved it.

Love that he wanted me to come (Paul says next year he probably wont)

love that he insisted we take the extra cupcakes to the principal and other office ladies

love his cute friends

and loved hearing from some of the adults at school what a wonderful boy he is : )

And now for one more funny Thanksgiving memory:

a few years back, after a somewhat late Thanksgiving dinner (to accommodate crazy work schedules) we all gathered in the living room around our little tv...

to watch the Thanksgiving episode of Grey's Anatomy.

It was very important to me.

And now it makes me laugh out loud!

Because I've given up Grey's and I'm totally beyond that now : )

My Thoughts On...

(Because I don't want my most recent post to be about Avery getting her head split-open anymore)

online Christmas shopping - best.thing.ever

skinny jeans - pretty dang comfy

ear warmer head scarf thingy - I might not do my hair a single day this winter

having 3 kids - well. tonight I said to my husband, "Children was a mistake." He said, "I know."

But that is mean. And not true. So here are my real thoughts on parenting:

It's hard. And there's lots of crap. It's exhaustingfrustratingdrainingneverendingmaddening. It's not the laugh and play and read books and snuggle and have fun with your kids all the time that you imagine it's going to be. Although we do some of all of that. It's just that there's a lot of hard stuff in between. More than you realize there is going to be. But here's the thing - the good still outweighs the bad. Not in amount. Most days there is a lot more "hard" and "bad" than good. It's more that the good is so great that it makes up for the bad, makes it worth it.

So today I am grateful that when I sat down to play with Avery she kissed my face every 5 seconds. And that Noah insisted on reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to me before bed. And that Alex danced with me in the living room after dinner.

Yeah, today was a(nother) hard day. But that is the stuff I'm going to remember.

"Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

- Gordon B Hinckley

Warning: the following image may be disturbing to some viewers

Or is it just me?

Avery had her first stitches today after slamming into the coffee table.

It was traumatic - for me and for her.

And after a visit to the ER we barely had enough time to make it to church for the Primary Program.

Like I threw on a skirt, took a minute (much to the annoyance of my husband) to put on minimal make-up, and went to church with Avery's blood on my shirt and the I-rolled-out-of-bed-and haven't-touched-my-hair yet look.

Awesome morning.

Poor Baby.

Winter Love

Today I loved the "first snow"

and watching the big kids from the window with this little kid.

Because I like snow a lot more through the window.

I loved watching them build a snowman together.

Never mind that moments later they were fighting about said snowman, which turned to screaming, which led to Alex trying to demolish the snowman, which caused Noah to throw snow at her, which sent Alex into the house in tears.

It was cute while it lasted.

I'm also loving Bath & Body Works hand soap in winter scents.

This one is my fav for sure.

I'm loving (a little too much) these buckeyes

(aka chocolate dipped peanut butter balls).

Not so good for my (first-ever) pair of skinny jeans I just got.

Not posting a picture of that, still trying to adjust to the idea.

But they fit in my boots - warm and dry warm and dry warm and dry.

I'm loving this ear-warmer head scarf thingy.

And I love that it fits me no matter how many buckeyes I eat.

Would You Rather

This is what the alarm on Paul's phone looked like the other day.

Yes, that's 3:30am

Although it was Daylight Savings, so it was more like 4:30 am. A typical day in the life of an anesthesia resident.

And then there was my morning:

I woke at 7am - to a sick, crying baby covered in vomit and diarrhea shortly followed by a second screaming child with a face covered in blood.

The story:

As I was dealing with Avery I heard what sounded like my big kids sliding down the stairs in sleeping bags.

I yelled, "that's a bad idea!"

just in time to hear a crash and then blood curdling screams from Alex who came running to me with her face covered in blood.

Face first down the wood stairs and straight into the tile landing results in a bad bloody nose.

So...

work 90+ hours a week in a high stress environment including 30 hour shifts and getting up to go to work in the middle of the night

or blood vomit diarrhea laundry 2 screaming kids and another one to get ready for school

Some days I'm not sure what I would rather.

(Alright. I'd still rather do my job.)

Things We Like

(and when I say "we" I mostly mean "they")

Riding the plasma car in the newly-cleaned-out garage, baby sister humming in your lap

being swaddled like a baby, especially at bedtime but sometimes in the middle of the day (?)

snuggles from baby Av, she likes to use her forehead

and sometimes her cheeks

doing mom's hair with every hair clip in the house (and then trying to convince her to go out like that but settling for a picture)

and making the biggest possible mess at every meal!

Oh and we can't forget "poison baby."

basically Avery toddles around the house after the kids making funny noises at them and if they get touched 3 times they're dead.

Want to come and play??

Word of the Day

justasec

definition: a measurement of time

As in, when I tell Alex to get off the computer she says, "But mom can't I have one more justasec?"

and now for a completely unrelated story:

Paul had the day off on Tuesday and was actually home. Also, Noah was home sick that day. So when Paul was in the kitchen that morning, making eggs for everyone for breakfast, I looked around and saw my whole family and declared, "This feels like a holiday!"

Paul laughed. "Not a weekend?"

And then we both laughed. Because we both know he's not around on the weekends either.

Thanks for working so hard for the family hon - the upside of all your long hours is that when you're home it feels like a special occasion : )

It's not my favorite.

but Happy Halloween.

This year we went with our good friends to Tweite's Pumpkin Patch.

It was more like a village - tons to do and the kids loved it.

Not that you can tell. And that is the only picture I got (because we were on the wagon ride and I could actually keep track of all of my kids for a few minutes and pull out the camera).

Oh wait! Me and Avery were there too, and we look happy : )

For reals though, when we walked in Noah's eyes got huge. Slowly, arms outstretched, he said, "This. Is the coolest place I've ever seen."

It's also the place we got these beauties.

And after they were carved Paul informed Noah that 2 pumpkins a year is his limit - once Avery is old enough, Noah is on his own.

Thanks for doing the dirty work, hon : )

On Friday I had two "Character Parades" to attend in one afternoon.

Alex was totally into it.

She did get a little more animated - and she loved wearing her ballerina costume all day at school. And she loved that her ballet slippers made her feel like she was "just wearing socks."

Noah's was next. Every year it's tricky - because he wants to be something scary for Halloween, but you can't be anything scary for the school "Character Parade."

So it's totally awesome that the kid next to him looks like...something very scary.

Anyways. Noah borrowed a pirate costume.

Swashbuckling.

Except he wouldn't wear the wig of pirate hair to school - maybe because his sister told him he looked like a girl?

Saturday night was our ward party and Trunk-or-Treat.

I got Noah to cooperate for pictures when I reminded him that we couldn't even see his face.

And I made his ghost costume.

I know, awesome, right??

(although eventually Paul had to tear the eye-holes open to make one big hole for his face. so he could see)

Alex was so cute but totally freezing to death - despite the shade shirt under the leo and the fuzzy pink leg warmers.

(she wore a coat)

Avery is not pictured. But she wore a snowsuit. Because it was freezing.

And because I didn't want to buy my baby a costume.

Before the trunk-or-treating started the kids enjoyed some of the festivities.

My favorite was watching them eat donuts off a string.

Alex was cracking up.

And they both came home with glaze all over.

They trunk-or-treated for about 20 minutes, making a full round of all the cars, and they were satisfied. And freezing. So we came home and ate lots of candy. And washed off glaze.

Tonight being Sunday we did not trick-or-treat. When I explained to Noah, earlier this month, that we would not be trick-or-treating on Sunday, but Trunk-or-treating on Saturday I thought he might be disappointed. Nope. His only response was, "OK, but I get candy?"

So tonight they passed out candy. I gave them a few instructions and let them be in charge. Oh man, were they into it. It was hilarious!

They watched for trick-or-treaters for a good half hour before anyone was even out. Then they slowly transitioned from watching at the window, to waiting at the door, to standing on the front porch with the bowl of candy, calling out to trick-or-treaters.

And there was some real teamwork going on. Noah would look down the street and holler to Alex how many were coming their way. Alex would quickly count out the right number of mini candy bars and distribute them evenly between the two of them.

They remembered to say "Happy Halloween!" and "Your welcome."

Noah would run inside intermittently to let me know how many "customers" they'd just had : )

The kids had a good Halloween.

They are cute.

And I am glad it's over.

Now Bring on Thanksgiving!

There's a holiday I can get excited about.

Food, Family, Counting your Blessings. Nothing weird or creepy about that.

just tilt your head to the side

I'm still not used to it...coming around the corner to see Av toddling down the hall. Makes me laugh every time : )

It's a Tough Business

Learning to walk, that is.

While Paul was away

I did not play.

I worked on this.

And tried not to think about our original plan - the one where I was in San Diego with Paul (where he attended and presented at an Anesthesia conference) eating good food, staying in a nice hotel, seeing old friends, enjoying a 5-day break from the kids, and attending parties on aircraft carriers in the pacific ocean. Our original plan got derailed by a few things like money, childcare, a baby not ready to be left behind

...I love this phase, I love this phase, I love this phase...

Really I do though : )

And besides who needs a vacation in San Diego when you could stay home in Minnesota and accomplish something like this??

It turned out so freakin' good I don't even know what to say.

Except that maybe I cried (before during and after)

worked like crazy for 5 full days and into the wee hours of the morning

while simultaneously caring for my 3 young children

and our home

single-handedly.

And so I thought you might need 5 different pictures.

That show the same thing.

Oooo and you need to see it like this to really get the full effect:

Could. Not. Be. Happier.

And to Cat:

thanks for talking me into it

working with me every step of the way

and keeping me sane throughout.

Good times, hon. Good times.

I love you : )

So anyways.

It's official. My kitchen is amazing.

And it's done : )

1, 2, 3...?

3 kids.

Weird. I could swear I have 11.

That's what it feels like when I've got all three of them 24 hours a day like I do for the next 4 days.

(No school Thursday and Friday.)

And... it's only Thursday afternoon. I'm exhausted and half-crazy.

You probably would be too, if my kids were yours.

I mean do you have a 4-year old daughter as sassy as Alex?

The other day when I told her to do something she didn't want to do she snapped at me with, "Okay, fatness!"

I mean really, what am I even supposed to do with that??

Last night it was Paul she was sassing and he finally thought to sit her down with the i-pod and some good old Taylor Swift.

I'm sorry, I didn't realize there was a 16 year old in the house.

Sigh.

At least she still has a sweet side.

A crazy funny side too : )

Then there's Noah.

Who is suddenly a big kid.

When I asked him for a kiss the other day he responded with, "Oh mom, if my friends saw this..."

WHAT??!?

And the next morning it was, "Girls. They're sooo sensitive."

But then there was last night.

He was describing to me a girl in his class with "golden hair."

So I said, "What color hair do you like girls to have?"

And without hesitation he said, "Brown, like yours."

Yep, still my little boy : )

And Avery.

Well, we've really out-done ourselves this time.

She's our most stubborn kid yet.

And she's got something of a bad reputation. Who knew a 1-year old could even have a reputation??

But she loves her mama like crazy and I'm wrapped around her little finger.

I wouldn't trade any of'em for the world : )

(But do you really need to ask me why we're done?)

The Big Event

Paul got back from a 5-day trip to San Diego (more on that later) just in time to celebrate Avery's birthday with us.

(Luckily, she remembered him.)

I don't know who was more excited about the "party"

Avery

or Noah and Alex.

Probably Noah and Alex, but Avery picked up on everyone's excitement and had a great time too.

She loved her new toys and the kids loved showing her how to use them.

Avery loooves music and will dance to pretty much anything.

Battery operated toys included.

I even caught some of her moves on (low-quality) camera.

Although Noah laughing in the background might be the best part.

Avery got a super cute cake all to herself, with delicious cupcakes for everyone else - all from our favorite local bakery.

Ya know, per Avery's request : )

Dad thought she might need some help with a spoon.

But she got in there with her hands anyway.

And then took over with the spoon.

She savored every last bite : )

I think we had to pry the spoon and cake from her hands.

At least she got to take a bath afterwards, which happens to be her most favorite activity.

All in all, a great first birthday.

Fun for the whole family.

And in honor of our newly-turned one-year old here are some pictures from a recent photo shoot, done by my talented friend, Jolene Reed.

And don't forget to click here to see the rest of them on Jolene's blog - she posted a few of my favs.

Love'em.

Love our baby Av.