Turkey Trottin' Tradition

So, when I was in high school I started a tradition of racing every Thanksgiving morning. Last year I finally brought back that tradition and remembered why I loved it so much.

But this year's Thanksgiving promises to be pretty jam-packed, so I thought I was going to have to give it up again.

Fortunately, my faithful gym came through for me and held a Turkey Trot race last Saturday. Not exactly on Thanksgiving, but if there's one thing I've learned about traditions (or maybe just myself), it's that I have to be flexible with them in order to keep it going.

Some friends of mine ran the "Turkey Leg Relay". We were encouraged to dress up and their mom is so cute and creative, they did. They are a pilgrim, a turkey (her shirt says "Butterball"), and an Indian. So cute! Their baton was a turkey baster.

Before you go thinking I didn't dress up--I'm Spider Man. Sort of. In years past when I've pulled out my running tights, Kayli would say, "Hey Mommy! Those are your Spider Man legs!"

Blake and the kids came to cheer me on. The gun went off about 2 seconds after this picture was taken.

A nice picture of me being passed. But, for the record, I passed the guy in blue back before the end of the race.

Click on the picture if you want to see how freaky I look when I'm focused. This was right at the end of the race. Pocahontas and I had been pushing each other pretty much the whole race. She made one fatal mistake during mile 2. She attempted to cut me off.

That made me mad and I'm an expert grudge holder. So, I made up my mind to pass her at the end no matter what.

And I did. Blake got a picture of it, but it also involves a shot of my tushy and my slow time, so I'm keeping it to myself.

It felt really good to pass her. And to race again, in general. I need to do that more often. Good times!

Anyway, thanks for all the suggestions and advice on the wreath. Now I'm trying to figure out what exactly I want to do. And I'm waiting for my mom's opinion. I originally took those photos with the sole intent of emailing them to her for advice, but then decided to post it for public opinion. I really appreciate you all coming through for me.

Your turn, Mom.

If I finish it this year, I'll post the final product. Thanks again!

Help Wanted

First, I finally updated my music playlist, so if you're as excited for Christmas as I am, feel free to listen!

Second, I'm trying to make a wreath and not sure about my design. It's my first attempt at something like this and my idea has morphed considerably from the original inspiration from a magazine. And I know a lot of you are very creative and cute, so I'm asking for your advice.

Here's what I have so far, unfortunately, my computer refuses to turn a couple of these the right way.

So, my questions are:

• Birds together or apart?
• How far off-center should I make the flower at the bottom?
• For the berries (still in the package, off to the side in some of the photos), should I do them individually or as little sprigs?
• Should I paint the pine cones to add color? What color?
• Should I add something else?

Before you offer advice, you should know a couple things--Don't offer it if you'll be offended if I don't use it. This is still my project. Second, don't be harsh of what I've already done. If you think I should change something, say so gently. I'm kind of proud of my small accomplishments.
And lastly, don't say to remove the cardinals. I miss the cardinals from the East, so they are staying no matter what.

Crossing That Off

Last Monday, I wrote the most intense to-do list EVER. It has 50 items on it. For me, at least, that is about 10 times my normal list. But it's not just my blog I've been behind on lately--it's everything.

Catching up on the blog was one of those items and I'm excited to say, after this post, I can cross it off. Yay!

Now if I can just remember all that we've done since Halloween...

The Thursday after Halloween, we visited the Winter Quarters Temple, in Omaha, Nebraska. That's the first time we've attended the temple since moving. It was so nice! We went with some friends while other friends watched the kids. And the missionaries ended up tagging along as well. So, it was good times all around.

I spent the whole week painting Kayli's dresser.

I thought painting was easy. And it turns out, it is. But learning how was not easy. At least not for me.

That weekend we went down to Kansas City. We tried to get together with a cousin of Blake's, but it was sort of a last minute thing on our part, so that didn't really pan out.

We did go to a cool park though.

Did I mention we've had unseasonably warm weather lately. Soooooo nice....
There were a few of these giant animals all over the park, including a couple elephants, a kangaroo, and something else that I can't remember.

Blake took these with his phone, so they're a little fuzzy. But we thought this was cute.

And there was a firetruck to drive. Can you see the pure delight on his face? He asked to go there again this weekend. I reminded him how long of a drive it was, but he was undeterred. I think it's safe to say he's obsessed.

This week was spent crossing off my to-do list. Thank goodness that's been going well. But it has been busy, so I can't wait until I'm "caught up". Not that that ever really happens. But at least I'll be done with the things I've been meaning to do for several months and I'll only have all of the new things to work on.

Can you tell I'm overwhelmed?

And none of it is really that major, so I really shouldn't be complaining.

I apologize.

Back to the biggest news of the last couple weeks--

Kayli started violin lessons!

Here she is doing one of her exercises. Yes, that is a cardboard violin. She'll get a real one in a few weeks, but first she has to learn how to hold and care for one.

And her teacher says it really will be that small.

Her teacher was Bryce's nursery leader when we first moved here and the same girl who taught the KinderMusic class we took over the summer. She is amazing with children, so I had to sign Kayli up for violin lessons.

So far, it's going really well. She loves her lessons and is almost always excited to do her practice exercises.

Isn't that so cute?!

This weekend was spent continuing to check items off my to-do list as well. But we did take a time out to go on a double date Friday night with some friends of ours. We couldn't really remember the last time we went out with another couple (This might have something to do with the fact that we hardly ever go out, period). It was so much fun!

And I think that's all for now, folks!

Happy Halloween!

First, the all-important pre-trick-or-treating meal:

This year I went digging in a graveyard
And scooped up some Graveyard Slush (frozen fruit juice, then add 7-Up)

I came across this creepy witch's hand (bread sticks with craisins)

Collected some Jack o' Lantern teeth (pineapple cut into triangles)

Dead leaves (baked kale)

Worm Soup (chicken noodle with homemade noodles cut long and skinny)

The kids were not as disturbed to find skeletons in their beverage as you might think

Well, maybe a little

Some more pumpkin shots just before heading out for treats

The art of trick-or-treating. The real skill was pushing the doorbell all the way so the people actually knew the kids were at the door. Tougher than you'd think.

My pumpkin lit up at night

And Blake's looks especially cool in the dark

Enjoying the "fruits" of their labors. Not as much as in the past, but still WAY more than we need!

The kids had a great time and I was so thankful that the weather warmed up quite a bit so they didn't have to cover their costumes with coats.

We had a total of two trick-or-treaters at our house--our friends from a few streets over. Anybody interested in leftover Halloween candy?

Bragging, A Sad Farewell, and A Lame Party

I don't know if I mentioned, but in between all of the fun parties, my mom and I were frantically creating and sewing and brainstorming.

So, even though Friday was the day of my mom's departure, we woke up and got to work. And worked right up until the moment she had to leave.

Just FYI, what you are about to see, I am extremely proud of. Feel free to tell me how awesome you think it all looks. Keep in mind that this is my first endeavour into this sort of thing. So, if you don't think it's awesome, lie.

Here is what we did for Kayli's room:

I have since painted the border of the cork board and her dresser a pretty antique white. And I replaced the knobs on the dresser. I'll have to take pictures of that.

And Bryce's room (the hard part):

*WARNING* Do not attempt to copy the following without assistance of a Supreme Sewing Goddess (a.k.a someone like my mom) and a very healthy mental state.

We made that bedspread out of, what else? A bed spread.

That's right. I bought a bedspread, we cut strips of different fabric, and we sewed it right on top of the bedspread. The blue is the actual bedspread, then we did brown from a flat sheet, the tan is a corduroy fabric, and the patterned is little fire trucks.

And we made this bean bag chair. It's not really a bean bag chair because we used cotton filling, though. But it's way more suitable for a little boy this way. He LOVES it. L-O-V-E. When I first showed it to him, he just laid on it for forever. And so did my friend's little boy. So cute.

Here it is laid out with the matching pillow in the back by the bean bag chair.

I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out, but it was definitely a challenge and we were crossing uncharted waters with our little experiment. I broke 3 needles--one almost punctured my eye. But in the process, I did discover that I can wind a bobbin and re-thread the machine ALL BY MYSELF.

I'm so grown up.

And here's Kayli enjoying her new digs. I bought her bedding, but I thought this cute little neck roll pillow would add much needed color to it.

Grandma and the kids enjoying the chair

Everyone who met my mom on this trip kept commenting that we look exactly alike. I couldn't be happier. I think my mom is SO pretty!

Then we snapped some shots of the pumpkins before Grandma had to go. From left to right: Mine (a pirate flag in honor of our Peter Pan theme. Just imagine it with purple glitter puff paint surrounding the flag part), Grandma's, Bryce's, Kayli's, Blake's (angry alien).

The big smiles that just come naturally when Grandma's here.

And then it was time to take Grandma back to the airport. Every time Bryce sees an airplane, he asks if Grandma is on it. I'm not sure if he's hoping she's coming back, or if he thinks it just takes a really long time to get home.

Thanks so much for coming, Mom! We had tons of fun and I'm so happy about all we accomplished. The kids absolutely LOVE their rooms now!

And a special shout out to my friend Anna for letting us crash her house a couple afternoons to borrow her sewing machine. And then letting us take it home when the projects just kept dragging on. And on and on and on...

The good news is, I'm finally getting the sewing machine from my grandma fixed, so I'll be able to keep on with the fun.

The kids were pretty bummed to see Grandma go. Fortunately, we had some more coupons for free food at McDonald's, so we picked that up on the way home.

And I got them excited for the party at our gym that night.

Blake and I decided that twice was enough dressing up for one year, so only the kids got festive that night.

We had dinner there and then got to the fun and games.

Monster Twister

Peek-a-Boo! I love this because I can see my baby Kayli in that face. I love my big girl, but I miss that baby.

Making lollipop ghosts.

Becoming mummified

Breaking free!

The soon-to-be Thanksgiving bowling champ demonstrated his proven technique

But it didn't really sink in. I still can't figure out how she got the ball over there from that angle. She gets that from me.

And look at that form! Check out the feet.

If I remember correctly, he finally just walked up and smacked the pins with the ball.

He gets that from me.

So, really, the party wasn't that great. But it helped the kids get over the sadness of saying 'good bye' to Grandma. And the kids had a great time with all the other games and stuff, so what else really matters?

Up Next: Halloween, finally!

Pause for Yummy Goodness

I'll get back to the catch up. But I meant to post this recipe for my cousin last week so she could have it for the weekend. Don't worry, I still got it to her. I hope it went well!

Anyway, I made this last week and it was so delicious, I couldn't not share it.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

5 eggs, well beaten
3 C. sugar
2 1/2 C. canned pumpkin
2 C. corn oil
4 1/2 C. flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ginger
1 1/4 C. milk chocolate chips

Cream eggs and sugar. Add pumpkin and oil. Add dry ingredients slowly and combine thoroughly. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into 4 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

My additions and changes. I was making this to give away, so I followed the recipe. But next time I will cut the sugar and oil in half. And I did semi-sweet chips because milk chocolate is not worth owning. Let alone using. I'd also recommend 2 loaf pans because it made four very short loaves.

All I'm going to say is, this is the best pumpkin bread I've ever had. And that seems to be the general consensus with all that have tasted it.

So, you might want to join the club.

Trunk-or-Treating

Tuesday and Wednesday were not-stop crafting and creating.

And shopping for necessary supplies.

I never want to go to Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's, WalMart, or Michael's again.

Ever.

Thursday was our church Halloween party.

That morning I heard Bryce wake up early, but before I could get to him he snuck downstairs and found someone to snuggle with.
He was so happy to just stay and snuggle here

That night we headed out for party #2.

We started with a chili cook-off. I don't feel like I make a super chili, so I opted for my fabulous real corn cornbread. That was a smart idea because there was TONS of chili and only my one 9x13 cornbread. Needless to say, it went quickly.

But, shockingly, it didn't win anything in the chili cook off.

Next we did the Trunk-or-Treat. It's supposed to be done in the parking lot at your car trunk. But it was raining, so we stuck to the classrooms around the church.

No complaints here.

Captain Hook passed out the candy because I knew he'd be more fun than me. And he was. Apparently, he managed to swipe a couple bags with his not-so-sturdy hook.

He gave them back--no worries.

Tinker Bell and Peter Pan headed out for their second round of candy getting for the year. In all the chaos, we somehow only brought one of Bryce's shoes, so he went around telling everyone, "I'm Peter Pan and I have bare feet."

Tinker Bell. I didn't really get shoes for her costume because I thought we'd be outside for all of the parties. So, she went in her slippers.

One more shot of her super cute "wings"

Next up was the carnival

I don't know how they got kids to volunteer to be the ones inside this "whackamole", but all of them seemed to be having a great time.

That tongue seems to be out of his mouth more than in it these days You might not remember, but she was devastated when the pumpkin patch shut down before she could get her face painted, so we made sure it happened this time.

While Bryce visited the fishing pond.

Have you ever seen a cuter fisherman?!

Next up, donut eating

He followed this around with his mouth wide open, but every time I snapped a picture he would close his mouth.

And then he gave up and just shoved it in

I've always admired her ability to remain lady like in "sticky" situations

If you read my Abiding Joy blog , you've already seen this picture. But I think it's adorable. He ran around telling everyone, "I have a wollipop. It's really biiiiiig!!!!"

People thought it was so cute, they kept coming up to him and asking him what he had, just to hear him say it again.

Fortunately, we were in the car driving home before he informed me that his wollipop had a mouse in it and he was eating its poop.

How does he come up with things like that?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I just heard my HoneyBuns walk in the door way early, so I've got to skeedaddle and get out of my lovely painting clothes and into normal attire.