The other President G

The other President G

Today W finally got my final Christmas gift assembled, a new, nice, rolls on wheels, swivel, reclining, computer chair! I got to sit in it for all of 5 seconds in front of the computer until the W demanded his computer time..... huh, I wonder if he had other motives in getting this chair.

When G came up from the current Star War battle, he promptly went over had a seat, swiveled a bit then turned his back to me and slowly turned it back around to say, "Hello, Mame and what would your problem be?"

A bit taken back, I replied, "I was doing fine, but I don;t recognize you. Who are you?"

G ~ "....why I'm the President of the United States and I would like to take care of your problems."
Then busted up into laughter and twirls around in the chair!

CREATE ~

Last October there was a talk given in General Conference about how we should CREATE and what a joy in our lives we can achieve if we "create" So I have chosen CREATE as my word for 2009.

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before."

"If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it."

"You are choice daughters of our Heavenly Father, and through the things you create and by your compassionate service, you are a great power for good. You will make the world a better place. Lift up your chin; walk tall. God loves you. We love and admire you." Dieter F Uchtdorf

The big Green proverbial Elephant in the room

Yesterday was a get down and get things down day.

Balance the check book ~ done
Move $ around ~ moved to today
make a couple of doctor's appointments ~ one done one to go
Laundry ~ almost done
packets ~ some done, some more today
supper ~ done
Call Social Security ~ done
check on Granny's strawberries ~ done
Pay the bills ~ done
Clean up after Christmas ~ Almost done. It was impossible with all the Nerf bullets and a zillions and zillions of Star War figures, I made a deal with G. He could move it all to the hall way (behind the couch), if I didn't have to step over it or see it then it was good. Still with those moved things just seemed cluttered..... I finally got it.... the big green elephant in the room had to go! The Christmas tree MUST come down!

When I told W that he needed to be around when I started (you know for the tall stuff) he gave me a shocked look and stated "Mom, Christmas isn't over yet!" with no feeling at all.... I stated that "it was and the tree had to come down before I left again!"

I got this concerned look again from W when I came in carrying the Christmas gnome. He'll thank me in April when we don't still have the Christmas tree up!

Gotta run... I just remembered there are Christmas lights around a tree outside..... they must GO!

UPDATE ~ the green elephant is now laying in parts in the floor (I don't which is worst the laying all over or the not started yet) waiting for W to decide that I'm right and he needs to carry it up the stairs! The outside is successfully de-Christmas-ed

Logic will get you from A to B
Imagination will take you anywhere.
Albert Einstein

We Wii~ed

My brother and sister in law from THE west played the

"I'm the greatest uncle and aunt" card this year.

They gave our family a Wii!

thus We Wii~ed

The boys Wii~ed

Grandpa Wii~ed

We even taught Mimi to Wii....

Sometimes still pictures just don't capture the Wii moment ......

Did you happen to catch the different boxing styles?

Pictures of Christmas 2008

This Christmas we patiently waited for the rest of the family.....

(no those aren't all his, those BIG ones are mine, gotta love my boys!)

We ripped into presents......

We tried on our new things......

(hubby)

we read and gave directions.....

(my dad and brother)

We untied a bazillion of those little wires holding toys in......

We had a great Christmas 2008

funny from Christmas morning.......

G evidently had sometime on his hands early Christmas morning, before he was allowed to get everyone else up. In that time it would seem that he had gone through every one's stockings.

When I made in beside the tree he informed me that Santa had accidentally put on of my gifts in his stockings *?* and that Santa had also gotten messed up with one of dad's gifts.....it had surely been meant for me! *?* When I questioned him about the which gift in dad's stocking did he think was meant for me, he said, "it's one of those things that goes between your toes when I get them painted."

Knowing what he was talking about I tried not to laugh I thought I'd just wait this out.......

hubby's stocking was filled with these..... "Gecko Toes" They are to hang on a wall (or tree) so you can put your cords, air hoses, or garden hoses on them!

JUST CAN THIS BE? How big does he think my toes are?

Christmas 2008

"I had just settled down for a long winter's nap" ~ at 12:30 am ~

Round 1~ There was a little boy (G), tugging on my arm,
"Mom, I can't sleep, I'm WAY to excited."
with my eyes darting to the clock ~ surely it wasn't 6:30 (the time we all agreed would be a good time to get up) already ~ I felt like I'd just gone to bed.... it was 4:30am
"G, you have to go back to sleep"

He crawls in bed with me and does finally fall asleep ~ not that I would know because I was asleep before the climbing over me was done.

Round 2 ~ 5:30am

"Mom, I'm way too excited to sleep anymore. I'm going into my bed and going to read books."
"NO, just go back to sleep."
he was off and back to his bed.

round 3 ~ 6:29am
"Mom, it's time, I'm going to get W up!"

so we were all up....with one extreme excited boy, and 3 others that were trying to open their eyes and gain excitement.

We all opened our gifts, had fun, assembled, and played.

We had our traditional Christmas breakfast ~ cinnamon rolls and breakfast casserole.

Then we settled into our new 'toys' (W ~ an xbox 360, G ~ his AT-TE star wars and bajillion figurines, hubby ~ into his hot wheels, his sport book, and his new clothes, and me ~ into my new electronic keyboard).

I then slipped away to finish my long winter's nap and by some miracle all the boys went down stairs to play so the upstairs was quiet!

Around 5pm we sat down to our traditional Christmas dinner of Ham, layered salad, rolls, twice baked potatoes, and green beans.

It's also our tradition to stay in our PJ's all day ~ G gave up on his footie pjs after a couple of hours for his regular pjs. Saying that the footie were too slippery!

I have tons of pictures but right now, that just seems like too much effort on my part!

....and laid Him in a Manger.....

Christmas Eve 2008

We've had a nice relaxing Christmas eve. We woke up to a small amount of snow (maybe an inch) and the blowing wind. We traveled to hubby's brother's home. Hubby's mom was there for the holidays.

W giving Granny a goodbye hug!

I just love this picture

don't pay attention to the date... I don't know what's happening there, but it was 12/24/08 trust me!

Then G, hubby and I headed to Bass Pro Shop for a bit of gun shooting!

Well, at their pretend shooting range. We all did quite well, if I say so myself!

I've made all the things I need to make for dinner tomorrow, so I'm set up now.

I always struggle with Christmas eve supper. I want something special but due to time it just doesn't ever seem to work out. This year was no different. I seemed to work (for this year at least) we had Shrimp, G's favorite cocktail meat balls, little pigs in a blanket, and tamales (a lady at hubby's work makes them) along with every ones favorite jumbo Black Olives.

G has begged to open a present every hour today! He always get to open Christmas PJs and he's so excited for them this year. He got to pick them out. They are Christmas footie pajamas. When he saw them in the store he just laughed, I suppose he'd never seen them before. He's never had these because of this LONG legs. I"m just hoping that they fit....he's so excited to get to wear them!

I'll post a picture in the morning.

I have to tell you that I was shocked and amused..... he didn't know how to put them on. I heard the struggle but when I looked.... he had put them on backwards... the zipper in the back. I have failed in my attempt to mother this boy with the footie PJs. I quickly taught the lesson and now he is joyfully hopping around the house in his footie PJs!

The letter to Santa is written,

Dear Santa, First of all we all hope that you like the Oreos. We have been good this year. We hope you have a great Christmas. We didn't have time to put reindeer food in the yard, so tell the reindeer I said sorry and next year we well get some. Please write back, Sincerely, and he signed of our names.

the cookies (Oreos, G's favorite) are setting out and I"m ready for bed! I'm not sure anyone else is but I'm pooped!

A glimpse of Christmas in our home

Bloomin' Monday

These little blooms are a surprise.

A friend gave me the box with the amaryllis in it a couple of weeks ago. The plant was this tall (maybe 8") when I opened the box. It continued to bud but didn't get any taller, the buds just kept coming. At this point it has 8 blooms on it (plus the one that G knocked off for a total of 9). I've had amaryllis bulbs before but never one this small and full of blooms!

Brazilian Christmas

Grab your motion sickness pills for the beginning ~ I couldn't get in the right position!

But it stops rocking.... hopefully soon enough.

Happy Birthday MOM!

Today is my MOM's birthday!

Happy Birthday

we have G with pencil and paper figuring out just how old you are!

thinking back.....

As I was getting showered, and dressed this morning for the 5th day in a row I thought back to the last time that I'd "worked" for 5 days straight. That was almost 18 years ago.

Somewhere around the mid April 1991 I worked my last day of regular work. I quit work about a week and half before W was born. Then I became a Stay at home MOM for the last 17 plus years! Even though I've been subbing for 3 years, NEVER a week straight. I believe the most before this week was 3 days in a row.

This week has been a challenge in organization mostly, and a what to wear 5 days in a row, (when you change schools you can repeat clothes easily) and then add unpredictable weather to the morning drive a few mornings. It's been fun but I'm glad it's over.

The Holly and the Ivy

*Make sure you turn off the music at the bottom!**

W's director would like them all to move, they sound better when they are loosened up and moving. It also makes it appear that they are enjoying themselves. There are more movers but they were gone that night!

From my little Cub......

This month G and the other cubs made this little ornament.

They sawed, they painted, they glued, and they cut.

G did a great job!

Adventures in Subbing #11

Subbing this week has been bitter sweet.

I really couldn't image that I'd be teaching this week, with all teachers have to do the week before the end of the quarter.

I received a call early Monday morning asking if I could clear my schedule and teach a Kindergarten class all week.

Sadly and tragically their teacher's husband was killed last weekend in a car wreck.

The principal had called all their parents before Monday morning so I didn't have any questions, just little sweet girls telling me that they knew why I was there and not Mrs A.

I can now see why people teach. When you're only in a classroom for a day or two, it's ciaos and sometimes a bumpy ride (I could write a book about the "Misadventures in Subbing"!)~ but a week in kindergarten~ it's fun.

AND NOT just any week but the week before Christmas no less!

This post is also to tell you that ~

If you're expecting a Christmas gift from me I haven't gotten it yet!

If you're expecting a Christmas card from me I haven't mailed it yet!

BUT I have next week, RIGHT?

that is IF I don't get the cold, or strep, or any other ailment

going around in this little fun kindergarten class!

Let it Snow

This morning we woke up to a few inches of nice fluffy snow!

But we braved the drive to school then we scrape windows after school!

Go Tell it on the Mountain

*Don't forget to turn the music off at the bottom*

Here is one of W's Christmas performances!

This is his favorite song that they do.

It's amazing that no one has challenged this little HS's song choices.

Yep, he's the "mover"!

They were missing several (14 out of 29) but they still sound good.

Enjoy!

3rd annual Cookie Exchange

This morning was the

3rd Annual

Stephanie & Shelly

Cookie Exchange

We had 10 ladies join us

each bringing 5 dozen of the same cookies.

We eat, we chat, we play games, we laugh,

and all leave with a variety of 5 dozen cookies!

Some people share their cookies with their neighbors,

some have them at family gatherings, and

some just enjoy the different cookies with their family.

This year I took.....

Lemon Stars

1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp lemon extract

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp grated lemon peel

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt
In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in egg and extract.

Stir in sour cream and lemon peel.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt.

Gradually add to cream mixture and mix well.

Divide dough into 3 balls, cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or until easy to handle.

Remove one portion of dough from frig at a time.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness;

cut with a floured 2 in star cookie cutter.

Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove and cool.

Frosting ~

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

6 Tbsp butter

3/4 lemon extract

3 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

3 to 4 Tbsp Milk

In a bowl combine powdered sugar, butter, extract, food coloring and enough milk to achieve spreading consistency.

Yields 9 dozen.

Freezer Burnt part 2

I'm still cooking out of the freezer (98 % of the time) but it has it hazards!

On Monday we had Spaghetti (the sauce was in the freezer).

On Snowy Tuesday I got out some Chili (2 small containers) from the freezer. I put them in the pan and popped the lid on and didn't look again all day (the burner wasn't on, they were just thawing). When I finally did get ready to turn the burner on, I opened the lid and ........ Spaghetti sauce. It was late and I went to the freezer and had to quickly thaw our some boneless chicken breast. Needless to say our supper on Tuesday was more like a Midnight dinner.

On Wednesday I tried the chili again.....spaghetti sauce again. I checked right away! Who know I had SO much Spaghetti sauce. I quickly changed the menu to grilled Steak.

Tonight (Thursday) I went to the grocery store on the way home from school ~ smoked ham and Mac and Cheese!

Meet Baby Roy

W became a father of Baby Roy (yes he named him) today after school and is in charge of him until 7:30am tomorrow morning. W has a monitor bracelet on that prevents him from passing Baby Roy off to anyone else (ME!). He said that he could have gotten me a bracelet to wear for a 2 hour time period (something tells me that before dawn, he's going to wish he had gotten the extra bracelet).

Baby Roy cries when he needs to be feed, changed, picked up, or burped. You have to be careful not to "break" Baby Roy's neck (of which I've already done once)!

W isn't having fun and is a bit stressed just at the fact that Baby Roy could start crying at any minute! Fortunately, Baby Roy isn't noise sensitive.

When I got home from cub scouts ~ hubby reported (without being asked) that "things hadn't gone well while I was gone!" Which I thought was funny since I couldn't make anything any better even if I'd been here!

I should have known this was going to be stressful for W when I read/signed the permission paper. There was a whole side of instructions and warning about sleep deprivation. How to not let MY child drive if they've not gotten enough sleep, and how they are not to drive while taking care of the baby, etc.

Christmas Card shots

`

OK, Bing it's time to sing!

Where is Bing Cosby when you need him?
"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...."
G and I have been working on getting the house ready for Christmas! We have the tree up, with most of the lights (my job) on it, G has put the candy on a gingerbread house. We have a tiny bit of lights on a our Grandpa Roy tree outside.
"....Every where we go"

Biggest Fans or Little Monsters?

I've created my Biggest Fans or Little Monsters. How quickly it can change!

The pets have been enjoying turkey leftovers (skin, drippings, bones) over the past week and loving it. I WAS the most popular person in their eyes (or their bellies).

But now it's been over for a couple of days and they were still eager to see me, but the winds of change are blowing. They, actually it's the cats seem to be glaring at me now!

Skipper is still being very attentive but still the ever loyal pet.

On the move

These little teeth are on the move, well actually these little jaws are on the move. No, not just from talking ~ G has a mouth full of appliances all in an effort to widen his little mouth. He had the lower "lip bumper" put in last week, and then the top separator put in yesterday. He's quite sore today and VERY dippy (it causes him to produce extra saliva) We have the Tylenol on hand very 4 hours and the slurps constantly. Both will subside in a couple of days. If all goes as planned then he'll be appliance free when he heads back to school in the fall!

I have to say that I really dreaded this, he is a dramatic child. I thought this was going to be a full blown 3 act play of drama, but it's not he's done really well, and hasn't complained.

Freezer burnt?

We are eating out of the freezer this week. I've been trying to this for the past few weeks but only half heartily. This time I'm serious! Not only I'm I cleaning out the freezer but the pantry as well. I'm a girl on a mission.......

Last Night we had Shake 'n Bake Chicken leg quarters, baked potatoes, and these most wonderful rolls that I've found. Sister Schubert's dinner Yeast rolls. They are frozen but ready in 5 to 10 minutes.

.

There are 10 nice sized rolls in this package. There are a couple of different kinds of yeast rolls to pick from and they'll all good. I cooked them all thinking that I would make turkey sandwiches out a couple for hubby's lunch today.

That didn't work out since W LOVES them.

I also made a cinnamon coffee cake from the pantry.

freezer - 3

pantry -2

Tonight we had half of the lasagna that my mom had brought up during soccer season!

freezer -1

pantry -0

I'll have to work on that!

Tomorrow, I have to sub so I've already made beef and veggie alphabet soup.

freezer -1

pantry -2