Christmas blessings

it was an amazing christmas in this household once again.
we tried to get every memory possible into the week of christmas.

we made a gingerbread house


and gingerbread boys


we went to candlelight service*

we ate prime rib with homemade bread and all the fixings

we spent time with family

we played

we made santa cookies

we fed the reindeer**


we watched a movie and then curled up together in mama's room


we checked the santa radar and closed our eyes before he made it to missouri

we woke on christmas morning and had homemade cinnamon rolls

we opened presents and watched it snow

we soaked up the blessings that spilled over us

and finally

mama crashed with exhaustion!

*there may have been a not so magical moment when the pastor said "and they took the body"
maggie misunderstood and stood up and yelled for all in the service to hear "THEY CAN NOT TAKE MY POTTY!!! HAAAAY MISTER YOU GIB ME BACK MY POTTY!!!"

**yes that is my snowman face down in the snow... yes we fed the reindeer from the front porch, it was freezing and snowing outside!

the dinner email

(this is a copy of an email we have been sharing for a couple of weeks - thought i would post it in case our other friends were interested in some easy, sometimes healthy, sometimes cheap,
most of the times yummy dinner ideas.
the point of this was to shave a lot of time off planning meals, making lots of trips to the store and fretting over dinner. its also meant to save money by only going to the store once and eating at home more)

here we go again.
last week allison and i didn't get around to meatloaf, so its making another appearance.
its a lot of food, so you may not have to make it all, just ideas if you would like...

baked ravioli
frozen cheese ravioli
jar spaghetti sauce
mozzarella cheese
(put ravioli in a casserole dish, cover with sauce and cheese, cover in foil - bake for about 30 minutes, uncover, cook until cheese is all bubbly)
serve with loaf italian bread and green salad

chicken pot pie
3 cups cook and cut up chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
bag frozen mixed vegetables
add garlic salt, pepper as you wish
1-2 cans biscuits
(mix the first four ingredients in casserole dish, bake in oven for 15 minutes
at 375, then take out and top with biscuits and bake until brown)

taco soup
cooked hamburger (about 1-2lbs)
can diced tomatoes
can corn
can kidney beans
can black beans
can chick peas or other beans of your choice
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch seasoning
mix all together and cook either in crock pot for a few hours, or on the stove for about 30 minutes - 1hr.

meat loaf
same as before- make it how you like it
this time we are having it with new potatoes and green beans
allison's green beans
cut up about 4 slices bacon, fry, add chopped onion and cook until soft, add
a few cans green beans and several new potatoes cut into half or quarters
cover and cook for about an hour

home made chicken nuggets
cut up boneless skinless chicken breast into bite size pieces
coat with shake and bake, cook according to package directions
i eat them over salad (like a healthy fried chicken salad)
or serve with tator tots and a veggie for the kids

~we usually have a little something for dessert, such as some type of berries over
frozen yogurt, something somewhat healthy like that.

that's all for this week
i printed this and highlighted what i didn't have at home, then took that to the store as my shopping list. voila, no more grocery store for the week.
well, that's a lie, i did go back for ice cream one night, laundry soap another night
and paper towels a third night.
next week i will be better at this.

lunch lady

a quick funny...
i had to work today for the college, but jeff promised carson he would go eat lunch with him
he had maggie and ashton with him, so they all headed up. most public outings with maggie are scary, because we never know what will fly out of that mouth next. today was no different.
they got in the lunch line with all the other first graders and teachers and she told the lunch lady, "i toot on your chicken nuggets"
well the little ones all started laughing at that and so she repeated herself and added in
"your fwench fwies taste like poop wady."
nice.
molly wants us to come eat with her tomorrow... im out.

thanks

i love this time of year, the time that forces you to sit down and count your blessings. to stop complaining, checking out how green the grass is on the other side and inspecting your own.

i love the things you discover when you really think about how many blessings you are surrounded with.

of course im thankful for my family, my house, my health. the basics.

im also thankful for my jobs. the fact that i have two jobs to nitpick when so many people i know are struggling to find just one.

im thankful for my comfy couch which i love to fall into after a long day of craziness at work and or handling children. for my dvr to melt my mind into, lose myself into some noneducational programming.

im thankful for the shoes, backpacks and crayons which scatter my living room right this moment. for the fact that my children are still little enough to need those things, to be careless enough to forget to pick them up. how blessed to have a house full of chaos!

im thankful for my angelic girl, who covers me with love every day, who never forgets to thank me for making her lunch, for making dinner, for allowing her to help out.

im thankful for my handsome little boy who runs and plays so hard every day im sure he will collapse of exhaustion. im thankful for his incredible appetite and how he can drain a gallon of milk in just minutes.

im thankful for my funny little four year old. im thankful for the way he just pops out of nowhere with a hug and a kiss on my leg. how his giggles fill a room with sheer happiness.

im also thankful for my crazy, wild, terrible, beautiful two year old. im thankful for how she tells me "your eber mommy", meaning your the best mommy ever. im so thankful that her little hands and legs are still chubby and babylike, that she still has a hint of baby left in her.

im thankful for my husband, for his crazy daily patience with me. for his help with the kids and the house, his forever rose colored glasses when he looks at me.

im thankful for my friends. they make me laugh and see myself from a different perspective, keeping me on my toes.

of course for my parents who raised me to be who i am. who instilled the values i have embedded in me and who have made me who i am.


so a million thank yous, to everyone who blesses my life each and every day.

choose your battles

i have become pretty agreeable to whatever my children want to wear on any given day.

if i don't have to dress them, and i choose not to fight with them, that is several minutes i have saved every day.

this was maggie's wardrobe necessity today.

it works on the swings.

it works for playing legos.

and finally it works while reading dora.

it also works in the grocery store and target too.

fooled me once... fooled me twice

ok, so i have learned my lesson. no more working out while maggie is free in the house. she is a beautiful, destructive trouble magnet.

have you ever tried to get two full tubes of lip gloss off hard wood floors? it doesn't happen. i have tried everything, and my bathroom floor is a slick, shiny, vanilla pomegranate scented mess.

i should of stopped, yes i should of. she gave me warning when she came out of the bathroom and said, "i squeezed your wip stuff weely hard mommy. see? i a princess."

she had lovely lip gloss all over her mouth, and the way i saw it, that was better than black paint, right?

distracted

this is what happens when mama gets distracted with her work out and doesn't pay close attention to her 2 year old.

she said, "i just doing my homework mommy, my teacher says i hab to wook wike a kitty."

i am really proud of how kitty like she made herself. i am however a little teensy stressed about the fact i have to take her to the store like this.

trick or treat

oh i was so excited to have off for halloween this year.

1. no working when you have to turn the clocks back and work an extra hour.
2. no changing the batteries and clocks on 57 clocks on the inpatient units.
3. no working when there was a full moon.
4. no working when the computer system was scheduled for downtime.
5. getting to see my cute little goblins dress up and free load candy!


the vampire, baby leopard, brave knight and sneaky ninja getting ready to go trick or treat.






why you should go help your first grader get dressed for the school parade. im not sure if he is a latin dancer or a ninja, but something was definitely not right.


(yes that is bare chest hanging out of his backwards costume, and yes i worked the night before, was sound asleep in bed while he was parading around school like this.)

rats.

rats. i didn't think 7 year old boys could be so heart broken over winning or losing.

when carson's team lost their final playoff game by a touchdown, i assumed when he ran off the field to me crying he was hurt!! hurt was right but it was his poor little heart, not his arm which had just been face masked.

he was truly broken hearted about losing the game, real tears and real heart ache over not making the championship.

good thing he had trick or treating to look forward to in just a few hours...

touchdown!

who would of thought i would turn into one of those crazy sideline mom's - screaming and jumping like a loon. how can you help it when your little boy is running in the touchdown on the last play of the game?

tough guy.

tough guy making sure his mom watched him run in the td.

Joy

a little tidbit of joy on a rainy nasty cold day.

turn on a little MJ and let it loose.

your knees

i heard this song that scared me the other day. the line in it went something like "i guess we're all just a phone call away from our knees"
isn't that the truth?
i mean, i see terrible things happen to families every day, i hear about things that make me shudder.
beautiful little three year old's come into urgent care with an upset tummy and leave with a giant terminal tumor in their belly. their family's lives are changed from that day forth. i get to sit back and read about it on their blog, pray for them, thank god it is not my family.
i pray to god every night. i pray for him to please keep my family safe. please keep my children, brother's, friends, and parents healthy. please please please don't let tragedy strike me.
and then i get scared, like, if he thinks im too afraid of it, please don't test me, please don't show me i can handle it.
we have had our share of sadness, my husband lost his baby sister and his father within 11 months of each other a few years ago. both were phone calls received while life was normal. one morning we were sleeping and his aunt called to say his dad had died. one night i was at work and he called me and simply said "angie died." i was getting ready to go to lunch, i was laughing with my friends. i still remember who was standing on my sides as i held the phone. i remember driving to the hospital in the middle of the night.
phone calls that bring you to your knees.
i got my own scare a couple of years ago when my dad nearly died on his birthday.
jeff and i had just gotten back from christmas shopping and my mom called. your father collapsed at the boat. he is at the hospital now, i don't know what is wrong with him. she was worried about thanksgiving dinner. and then another call on his next birthday (remember this).

but he lived! it was a miracle both times!! it was crazy and i still have my dad. my mom still has her husband. my babies still have their grandpa.
but then his doctor called my cell phone by mistake the other day after a routine cat scan.
my heart skipped a beat. i haven't thought much about it lately. he is here, i see him, he is fine.
but the doctor said his remaining aneurysms are growing. they are on his spine.
they will wait until he passes out again and then attempt to operate.

see what i mean? one phone call away from our knees.
so i preach it. i write about it every few months. love every minute. love every crazy, not exciting, not vacation, not christmas, not perfect moment minute. love the every day things.
love each other.
tell each other.

ok

i am ok with not having any more children.
i am ok with not being pregnant again.
i am ok with not holding my newborn again for that first blessed time.

i am ok with what i have been given.
i am ok with my four healthy, active beautiful children.
i am ok with having a little bit of free time for myself.

i don't feel sad when i am writing this.
i feel relief.
i feel excitement.
i feel at peace with this decision.

i watched desperate housewives last night, where the couple finds out they are pregnant with twins, after they have four children.
she was sad, she said she didnt want anymore kids, she said she didn't love those babies growing inside of her.
would that be me? of course not. would that be my husband? of course not.
we are crazy like that, we love to raise babies and have the craziness in our house.
but we are definitely both ok to move forward to the next stage of life.

we are happy to have time for each other, refocus on us, and let our children see us a little more relaxed day to day.

so i am ok to stay myhouseof6.

my babies...

molly


carson


ashton


maggie

Chloe Belle

so i do realize that my last post was about how crazy things were at our house, and how i was stressing a little. i decided (with much persuasion from my little 8 year old) that we needed a puppy to raise.
molly debated on her name for quite a while and after ruling out snowfall and cupcake, she chose chloe belle. this little poofball is a mix of a bichon and a poodle. she is crazy about the kids and follows them everywhere, much to maggie's delight.



puppy food, vet bills, potty training, chewing... but watching molly meet this little thing was priceless.

Just cute

while there is always a lot happening around this house, it seems to be getting busier lately. i have started a new job as a clinical instructor while maintaining my current job, jeff is in full force with grad school and coaching, the kids are busy with activities and school work, its just daily craziness. i realize we are not the only household with crazy schedules and lives, but it does take some deep breathing at moments.

so, my youngest keeps me laughing and remembering what is important around here.

such as, mowing the lawn in your big girl pants and tutu.

or playing quarterback at her brother's game.

i don't care how stinkin bad she is, she is still pretty yummy.

Ashtonism part 3

i woke up early today because it was my husband's birthday and i wanted to spend a little time with him and the family before returning to work. i made fried chicken, tator tots, fruit salad and jello cake for dinner. the kids were playing outside and i called them in to eat.
ashton hops up to the counter and looks at his plate.

i tell him, "its everything yummy, so please eat up buddy."
he says "oh yes, mommy, i remember this dinner to death."
i ask, "what about death buddy?"
he says, "its death mommy."
"ok buddy, just eat it, ok."
my husband chimes in and asks him what he means.
"i remember this to death daddy."
jeff says "oh, do you mean you love it to death?"
"yes daddy, i lub it to death." says the sweet funny little thing as he gobbled it up and asked for seconds.

a christmas carol

my good friend "A" and i decided it would be a rockin good time to go downtown to union station and see the disney train. it was in town to promote the movie "a christmas carol" which is coming out this winter. it did sound like fun, a big disney production, meeting friends and just enjoying the little kids for a morning.
i got myself dressed, maggie and ashton ready and loaded up the van. after fighting for a parking spot, we finally squeezed into one and headed for the station. it was a long walk, but we saw a glimpse of the train and were ready to go. "A" was on her way with her little guy.
I made it through the crowd to the train which stated, 1 hr wait from this point. Oh goodie, its only 90 degrees out with full sun, and my daughter has long pants on and winter boots. don't ask, it is really important to her to be prepared i guess.
we stood in line and waited. i had drinks for them, so they downed them, ate their snacks, met up with A (who illegally hopped in line with us) and checked where we were in line. almost to the one hour point. goodie!! did i mention it was blazing hot and i had sweat running down my stomach, back and legs? poor maggie was tomato red, but not about to part with her boots.
a few tantrums later, we made it to the train entrance.


(i thought a picture of the line would help remind me not to make these type of decisions in the future)

had we brought the older kids, it would of been pretty cool, but understanding the costumes and the making of the movie did not entice my children. it was a good thought though. we tried to be good moms and point out the interesting facts about the original charles dickens version, but it was hard to talk over maggie's screaming. heat stroke apparently makes you crazy.

(ashton and maggie checking out the exhibits they could not read or understand)


(maggie, ashton and "E" using the one finger touch rule to the no touch exhibits)

i did get a text from my other friend "L", but doesn't that girl know that i do not know how to text back? i read "are you at the train, its an hour and a half wait" but i was happily in my van racing towards home - sorry "L" i hope you didn't wait, or if you did, i hope it was fun!

little quarterback

My cute little Carson had his first "practice" game today. Maggie was puking on the sidelines - literally - but Carson was busy running in the touchdowns!

Party!

carson had his seventh birthday party today. it was just a bunch of sweet little boys from the neighborhood and school, playing quietly and eating cake and ice cream. pleasant and peaceful.
see below - two minutes after drop off.


after gathering in the living room, we headed downstairs to make some "gloop". its a little creation of borax, water, white glue and food coloring. not messy at all with all those sweet little boys mixing so nice and neat. i of course did not end up taking the whole mess and throwing it in the trash can after they left the room. and when they asked for their "gloop" before going home, i did not lie to them and tell them it didn't turn out right after all.

we then came upstairs and using our manners sat down for some seven pound chocolate cake and ice cream.

after washing our hands and throwing away our trash, we opened up presents.


the highlight was a giant rocket from mom and dad which we promptly went outside to launch.
great fun was had by all.


until of course...



well its all fun until somebody puts the rocket on the roof.

its beginning to look a lot like fall

its going, can you feel it? summer is slipping away.






no more lazy days in the sprinkler, staying up late and skipping baths.




football started a couple of weeks ago and its back to practices and ball games.


we met the teachers tonight, and its back to homework and packing lunches.



how cute is molly's teacher, posing AS IF molly was being scolded day one.
both teachers are MU fans which left us all quite relieved.
(they seem to be smart, kind and likable too.)

something funny.
jeff had to take maggie to the dmv with him the other day. you know how that place is like walking into an elevator, nobody looks at anybody, nobody talks, just crabby people sitting in silence waiting for their number to be called. well, he pulled his number and sat down with maggie. they were waiting and then she decided to stand up and do a rendition of you are my sunshine for everyone. she altered the words to go "you are me organs, you are me organs, you make me happy when skies are great. you neber know organs, how much i lub you, so please dont take me organs away." i dont know where that came from, but it did lighten the mood at the dmv.

something not so funny.
sometimes it is safer to just have one parent in charge of the children. when there are two of us, i think he is watching them and he thinks i am watching them. in reality neither are.
here is a pointer for you. when your two year old says "i go find mommy" and you say ok, that means she is going to find mommy. if she thinks mommy is outside running, she will probably head on out there.
she may put on her own shoes and walk out the front door. she may then walk down the cul-de-sac and then down the street. a minivan may see her and stop, and the mom may get out and walk her back to your door. oops. lesson learned, lock the doors.

something funny.
ashtonism part 2.
i was in mama's tummy before i was born, right?
yes buddy.
i was born in my swimming trunks, right?
no bud.
yes, we all were born with our swimming trunks on, right?
no bud.
well we were all swimming before we were born.
cute. he took us literal when we told him he used to swim around in mom's belly.

bennett springs

we met up with our family at bennett springs this past week for some relaxation and fishing.
since my cousin and i both have four small children, it wasn't really that relaxing, but it was lots of fun and there were no horrid incidents like this one.
i will say that every time i drove by, walked by or looked at that parking lot, i got physically ill and still can't fathom how a mother could do that.
anyhow - not this trip. no way no how would our little maggie get left behind anywhere.

so some pics of the happenings...


when you are too scared to sit at a table with eight small children, just put them all together and sit across the restaurant from them. they did surprisingly well without any pesky adults bossing them around.


oh it was somebody's birthday while we were there - i even got 35 candles on the cake and nearly burnt the cabin down.


when you can't fish, eat cheetos.


if you can fish, always fish next to grandpa.