Thanksgiving

Yes I realize Thanksgiving was a week ago but I have lots to catch up on and haven't had the time. Things got super crazy hectic and stressful Friday evening. So I will do separate posts first up my first ever time to host Thanksgiving Dinner!

I spent Wednesday evening prepping all that I could so that I wouldn't be stressed and rushed on Thursday morning.
Woke up bright and early and so did the kids so we got busy getting the turkey ready for the grill.

All stuffed with apples, oranges, lemons and limes.

Right before it came off the grill. I was glad the turkey was being cooked outside so I had plenty of oven space to do all my side dishes.

Found this mashed potato recipe from the Pioneer Woman's blog and it turned out super yummy. You make them the night before then reheat in the oven. Was nice not having to spend forever peeling potatoes.

Made deviled eggs just to use my pretty egg plates :)

One of my favorite things stuffed mushrooms and then I made mac n cheese since I knew the boys would eat it.

part of the food spread my grandma made the sweet potatoes rolls and 3 pies. My mother in law brought green bean casserole and dressing.

Was almost impossible to get all the food on the counter in there. But I made corn casserole, mac n cheese, stuffed mushrooms, rotel dip, deviled eggs, Doritos salad and mashed potatoes.

The pretty turkey all cut up on my Grandma's turkey platter that I can remember her using ever since I was a little kid.

The dinner turned out great we had 8 adults and our two boys and had a nice time visiting. We realized we are going to have to find a bigger dining room table which excites me I have been wanting a big one for a long long time. I have more pictures on my camera of everyone sitting at the table I will try to upload them soon.

My little deer hunters

This was the last weekend of deer season. Blake had been going out with his dad each weekend to try and get a deer. It was also Blake's first year that he could shoot one on his own however they tried and tried and never had any luck.

Saturday morning Kenny decided to take both boys (I was thinking yea this will work well...) I got Nathan ready to go and he was sooo excited to get to be big enough to go hunt. We had meltdowns all the weekend before because he couldn't go.

They were dressed and ready and you can see Nathan's big smile on getting to go hunt.

As soon as they left I got myself ready and headed to the bank and then to town to grocery shop. I figured I would get a call soon to come get Nathan as I knew he didn't understand staying quiet and sitting still in the woods for hours. I got all my shopping done and was ready to mop when I got this picture.

They both fell asleep in the truck after a morning of hunting. I went and picked Nathan up after he woke up and he decided he wanted to go see his Papa Kenny so I dropped him off there. I went back home and set in to cleaning and organizing the dining room and living room. Felt so nice to have the quietness and no kids to referee. It has been probably months since I have been home totally alone and able to get stuff accomplished.

I am glad that Nathan was able to go out and hunt with his bubba and dad for the morning it made him super happy and it was all he could talk about on Sunday.

Better late than never Halloween post!

Just dawned on me that I never posted about Halloween! Or pictures of my two cowboys. The night before Halloween Blake decided he wanted to be a bullrider even though he begged and pleaded for the Ironman costume we got a few weeks prior.

I took off work on Halloween to help with his classroom party and to walk in the costume parade thru town. I also decided that I would surprise Blake at lunch and bring him a happy meal and eat with him. When I was in school that wasn't ever an option for your parents to come eat but I am glad it is now. He was so excited to see me standing there waiting for him.

After lunch and recess we headed back to his class to get the costumes on.

He has had this vest and chaps since he was 4 or 5 and well they are to short for him now I can't believe how much he has grown!  He still made a cute bullrider.

Not sure why he thinks it cute to smile like this but that's how he wanted his picture taken.

Here we were in the Halloween parade he was the only bullrider and only "real" cowboy with chaps, vest and spurs. The little boy to his right was in his class and thought his costume was cool so they walked together the whole way.

That evening I took my two cowboys to the school for trunk or treat and they both wanted their faces painted. Blake went first and chose the flames and of course Nathan followed suit and wanted the same thing. I was shocked on how well Nathan did as I took both kids on my own.

We stopped at the police station and fire dept first then we went to the school. After being there for what seemed like forever we headed home and trick or treated their great grandparents across the road from us.

Heck I even got candy at the trunk or treat when we went out to where the ambulance and fire truck was then of course grandma had my favorite candy waiting for me.

It was a long hectic day but was glad to see Blake so happy about me coming to his school.

Something sweet that brigthened my day

Yesterday was a tough day one that I would have rather been home curled up alone. Not sure why my mood was amok but it was. Early afternoon work email crashed and I spent the next couple hours trying to help correct the problem.

Received a text from one of my best closest friends asking if I was at work and asked if she could stop by she had a plant for me. She had asked me a couple weeks ago if I had any house plants yet. I didn't and haven't really ever had any house plants partly due to I seemed to kill them. And partly because our old house didn't get much sunlight and plants didn't seem to like it.

So about 20 minutes later she pulled in and I went out to talk to her and get my plant. Its always nice how just seeing someone and talking to them for 5 minutes can improve your mood. I rarely get to see her and catching her via text is about as rare. It was quite the treat and when she was leaving we hugged just as we always do and honestly I had to hold back the tears as I walked back in my office.

I took my cute little spider plant home and sat it on my counter between my kitchen and living room and each time I see it I think about my friend.

I had forgot to blog about the other gift she gave me (or maybe I did and forgot...) back when she attended Nathan's birthday party. I am a person who loves giving gifts and surprising the person with gifts. Rarely am I one who gets something out of the blue just because. And when I do it throws me off and I sometimes get a bit emotional....

She found this carnival glass egg plate for me while she was shopping earlier that week and thought of me. I was totally floored when she handed it to me and honestly had tears in my eyes. Caught me off guard. She has pushed me and had my back and held my hand for the last 13+ years thru my fire fighter class and my emt class. Been there telling me I could do it and to stand up for me and show the guys that us girls can do everything they can do.

While we don't get to talk or see each other near as much as we would like we make the best of the times we do spend together.

After she left my work I sent her a text telling her that seeing her and the hug was just what I needed; her reply was me too. I knew that her day/night at work was long and busy and she was exhausted.

Random Thoughts

I actually got some nice sound sleep last night. For the last few weeks or maybe months Nathan has been getting up one two and even 5 times a night. Which makes for a very crabby tired mommy! Last night I pretty much expected him to be up all the time like every other night but to my surprise I woke up at 2 and he wasn't awake so I rolled over went back to sleep until my alarm went off at 4:50.

Figures the one night he sleeps ALL night is the one night Kenny tells me he wants to get up by 5 to go out and hunt before a lunch meeting at work....... So I am nice I set my alarm on my phone (we have yet to put our alarm clock out in our room). Goes off I wake him up he says don't turn it off I'll get up hit snooze probably for half an hour then he tells me well just set it for when you need to get up. I was not a happy camper about this that was two more hours I could have had sound sleep! Next time he wants to get up before me he can set his own phone alarm!

Nathan has his first dentist appointment tomorrow afternoon he seems pretty excited. He got to tag along with Blake and Kenny last month when Blake had his check up. I always do all the dr appts so its nice that Kenny is taking care of the dentist part.

Since Blake has tutoring after school on Tuesday and Thursday and this week is book fair week I told Blake that we could attend the book fair when I came to pick him up. So all week he keeps asking when we get to go I think he's afraid they will sell all out of books before Thursday!

Very glad Blake seems to like his teacher this year such a great change from last year and he is starting to do very well in school. I had been worried about him and his grades first semester but he seems to be coming around nicely and finding a passion for reading.

It's time for me to start thinking about preschool for Nathan! I have no clue where to send him or really who to ask. I need a preschool that he can stay at all day a couple days a week. Loved the one that Blake went to but its expensive and also in Rolla so all friends he makes will go to Rolla and not St. James. We had that problem with Blake but he did fine however I would like for Nathan to know  a few kids. Blake had Cadey and Elizabeth that he had been around since he was born and they all started school together. Nathan doesn't have any friends his age so I am a little more worried about him.

Still can't get back in the groove of workouts and running and while I miss it I just can't seem to make myself do it. And still struggling with some thoughts and emotions after last months race.

I don't do well with change I like routine and daily habits been at my current job 9 years! Well I made the decision to start really looking for a second job in the emt field. I have decided to try and find a job in an ER for now part time easier to work that part time than it is to find a EMT job on an ambulance part time. I know I will not be happy with just the ER and will keep my eyes and ears open for positions at the ambulance base I want to work for. But the ER will give me experience that will be beneficial.

The Weekly Chase

Since yesterday was Veterans Day my office was closed so I was off. I haven't figured out how to cut and paste on my phone yet to blog so I had to wait until today.

 

 

1-Drink at least 80 oz of water daily. I have been drinking way to much soda and not enough water. Did good on water all week and cut soda down to usually one a day

2-Get at least 3 lunch time walks/runs in this week. Ha well it happened once. I once again let work and everything else get in the way.

3-Fix better dinners at night. Success!

4-Get at least 2 workouts in at home on the treadmill. Nope never stepped foot in the room with the treadmill. Guess chasing kids in the house should count for something and cleaning up after them nightly...

 

 

This week my goals are:

 

1-Continue to drink at least 80oz of water daily and not let myself have to much soda or cappuchino. Between the cold weather and being exhausted from lack of sleep I will have to be really strict on this.

 

2-Get the kitchen and dining room ready for Thanksgiving. Still have boxes and just random stuff on counters and the desk area.

 

3-Get 3 lunch time walks in and get back in to running.

 

4-Not stress over Thanksgiving!

Misc. Tuesday

It's Tuesday cloudy cool and down right blah out. I forced myself to change clothes at noon and go get a mile in. Had my nike app turned on to track my time and miles and well almost back to the car I went to check my time only to realize that it only showed .30 miles and not the 1.2 I should have had. So frustrating, debating on finding another app maybe daily mile or it could have been from the weather not getting a good gps signal. What ever it was made me want to scream.

Today is also election day and no I didn't go vote before work and I hope that Kenny gets home in time tonight for me to go vote. I hadn't really kept up with much on the election and I am not in to politics. But I will be glad to have all the tv ads, radio ads and facebook debates done and over.

Decided to join a facebook group for a holiday challenge called My Weight Loss Coach Holiday Challenge put on by Calorie Counting Running Girl. I have followed her blog for a while now and like that she started out being over weight and with lifestyle change and workouts has got to where she is comfortable now. However part of the first week of the challenge is taking a picture of yourself with your sports bra and workout shorts on and then taking your measurements. I know that in the end if will be fine because I need to focus on measurements more than the number on the scale. However its hard because I am addicted to the darn scale not as bad as before but still more than I should.

Lately the boys have been testing every ounce of patience I have and I am not sure why. Guess from being an only child I am not used to the sibling bickering and fighting over this and that. They can play so good for awhile then it all falls apart one cries then the other one starts and I just want to scream and pull my hair out.

Blake is still doing the after school tutoring with his teacher two nights a week and I think its helping him alot. He is stubborn as all get out and while I know he loves to read some nights its like pulling teeth to get him to sit down and read a book. Frustrating to me because I want him to excel in school and have perfect scores however I know that's probably not a good thing to think.

Nathan is becoming more and more independent which is nice but really making me realize that he is growing up and will soon be in preschool. I think this weekend while Kenny and Blake are gone hunting that I will think of something Nathan and I can do that's fun I may take him to a park to play and maybe out to lunch just have a mommy and Nathan day.

The weekend

Found out last Thursday evening that we had an auction to work on Saturday. I was slightly happy about it as I had saw the sale bill and it had some items I collect listed. Wasn't to happy that it was going to be an early morning long day and cold out.

My mom watched Nathan while I worked the sale and Kenny and Blake went deer hunting for the opening day of youth season. I waited and looked at my phone all day hoping he would be calling or sending me a picture of his first deer. No such luck :(

The auction was long and well all the items listed were either not what I was looking for or the wrong color. I did spot some fiesta ware that matched the set I have and they had several other colors mixed in. I wanted the teal but ended up getting all of it really cheap! We didn't sell much food so I was able to be away from the grill and watch stuff sell, it was mostly junk and going dirt cheap. I found some old wooden letter blocks for Nathan and then a pink candy dish that I liked. Was glad to be done the wind had changed to out of the north and picked up and it got real cloudy and cold.

Blake and Kenny went out again yesterday morning to get a deer and well Nathan wasn't to happy to be stuck at home with mom. I got laundry caught up and kitchen straighted up and dusting done. I hate dusting they need to make furniture that repels it! Still need to finish unpacking some things in the dining room if we are going to have Thanksgiving at our house in a few weeks.

Blake still didn't get to shoot at a deer but did get to see a couple which made him happy and he is going out again this weekend so maybe him and Kenny will both get one.

I am adjusting to the time change better than I normally do. I liked that when my alarm went off at 6am it was getting daylight. So maybe just maybe I can start getting up at 5 and getting my run in on the treadmill before the days starts. I just hate waking up and being up hours before daylight.

Weekly Chase

Ok trying something new. Been seeing several blogs that are linked to a Weekly Chase and its goals you set for your self for the week. I have been debating on doing it and after my half I haven't really got back on track with eating or working out like I should. Thought this may help get me back up and going.




First time I have tried to share a link that included a picture hope it worked....


My weekly goals for this week are:

1-Drink at least 80 oz of water daily. I have been drinking way to much soda and not enough water.

2-Get at least 3 lunch time walks/runs in this week.

3-Fix better dinners at night.

4-Get at least 2 workouts in at home on the treadmill.

I have started off good I remembered to bring my workout clothes with me to work so I can go for my walk at noon. Have my cup filled up with nice cold water to get my first 40oz down.

Have dinner planned for tonight, I am tired of just throwing something together or just letting the kids decide on hotdogs and mac n cheese or home made pizzas. However the pizzas are pretty healthy so I can't complain to much but need more variety.

5 Question Friday

1. What terrifies you the most? Losing loved ones. Yes I know it will happen but it scares the tar out of me to think about.
2. Favorite fall/winter drink? Cappuchino
3. Do you and your spouse have the same political views? Don't really have political views. We don't discuss politics much although this year we have talked about two of the three running for sheriff.
4. What was the last book you read? Was it any good? Ha last book I read was almost 2 years ago and it was the Pioneer Woman's book.
5. Do you look forward to the snow each winter? Why or why not? Yes and no. If it would kindly snow on a Friday night fluffy sledding and snowman snow then leave Sunday night I would be ok with it. But during the week when I have to drag the kids out and drive with all the idots who don't get the point to slow down nope I HATE IT.