I did it!

I have officially hosted my first Thanksgiving dinner- and successfully even! Everything went well, the food was edible and no one got sick! I'd say that makes for a successful dinner. I only had to make one phone call to my mom while making the turkey- that was only cuz Scott made me freak out about the stupid little plastic bracket that holds the legs together. Just for the record- I was right. Here are a couple of pics from Thanksgiving- they are blurry- think my camera needs new batteries:

Turkey right out of package- seems a little scary, right?


Turkey after cooking- looks good, huh? Tasted ok if I do say so myself!

Mom making the gravy- I wasn't brave enough to try that yet!

Colleen carving the dead bird, didn't really want that responsibility either!

This morning I was up at 3:30, picked Colleen, Amy and Kyra up at 4:30 so that we could be at Walmart by the time the 5:00 sale started. What a crazy place that was this morning! You would never know that the economy was in the crapper by the amount of people that were out shopping today. I think maybe everyone else is having the same thoughts as me. Buy it cheaper and less of it! The kids are probably going to be disappointed this year, but hopefully they will realize that it's not all about how much you get.

Anyway, it is now 4:30 pm and I am ready to call it a day. Gotta find some supper for the family and then it will be nothing but snuggling on the couch. We have a wedding in Lamberton, MN tomorrow, so no sleeping in then either!

internet withdrawl

Our internet at home has not been working for the past 2 days. I finally asked Scott to try to fix it this morning. Whether it was him or just timing- it works now! Can you believe it is already the week of Thanksgiving? How crazy is that? Oh and just to add to the "time flies"- today is 11/25 - only 1 month till Christmas! I have 1 present bought, a couple ideas and no cash. Hmm- could be interesting!

This past weekend I went to the festival of trees. I went with Colleen and Amy. It seems like there were less trees to look at and less games for the kids. Will got to talk to Santa though, so all was well. He told Santa that he wants a dinosaur "THIS BIG". Picture short child holding hand WAAAAYY above his head. I think Santa may have to find a reasonably priced dinosaur to put under the tree or said small child will be very disappointed.

Well- this is it- my first Thanksgiving of cooking "the dinner". The turkey is in the fridge thawing. I have a time line all written up so hopefully I won't forget to start anything on time. As long as I don't ruin the turkey all should be just fine. I am planning on making a list of things that I want done tomorrow. Hopefully Scott and the kids will be feeling helpful on their day off. At least I only work 1/2 day tomorrow so I should be able to get some stuff taken care of.

I suppose I should go check on my other internet stuff and then actually get to getting something done.

Blast from the past

I joined Facebook a little while back. Most of my "friends" are people I went to high school with. People I would say hi to if I saw on the street, but wouldn't necessarily have a lot to talk about with them. Today I got a message from a girl that I met at church camp when I was in 8th grade. We kept in touch by writing actual letters - yes I am old enough to remember actual letter writing- sent with stamps and everything. We met up again at a church camp a couple years later in Colorado. She even came down one weekend and spent it with me - she lived in Montevideo, MN. After she graduated from high school- she was a year older than me, we lost touch. Anyway- today I got a message asking if I was the Wendy Bakker that she remembers from camp. Wow! How she found me I don't know, but how cool is that? It would be nice to have a "pen pal" friend again. She and I always seemed to have lots to talk about. Ok- so you probably don't care, but I was really excited!

Had a quiet day at work today- tomorrow will not be the same. Oh well, I prefer the crazy busy days anyway-I don't really like pretending to have things to do.

I suppose I should go check on "hacky"- that's Hannah. I think I might make her sleep downstairs tonight so I can get a good night's sleep. Just kidding, I am a mean mom, but not that mean- maybe tomorrow if she's not better..........

First orchestra concert

Last night was Haley's first orchestra concert. I'll be honest, I did not want to go, I was sooooo not looking forward to listening to a room full of kids squeaking and squaking. Turns out, the songs were short and few and the kids didn't do too bad. I tried to take a picture, but we were at the top of the bleachers and couldn't really even see Haley. I did circle her in this pic so I can prove I was there.

Haley's extra activities are going to keep us busy for the next couple of weeks. Saturday she has a scrimmage for Lego League here in town. Dec 6, she has her Lego League competition in Sioux City. Of course, Scott already has a session that day so I will be driving all 3 kids to Sioux City. Sounds like Colleen would like to go with me, so that will be a big help.

Next week is Thanksgiving- hmm, not sure how that snuck up so fast. I need to get my grocery list in order. Gonna be an expensive trip to Hy-vee this weekend.

Well, supper should be about done, then it's bath night, workout till I can't move anymore and off to sleep. Seems like I have my night all planned.

been ahwile....

It's been a few days since I've posted. Do you suppose that means nothing is happening in my life or too much is happening that I don't have time to play on the computer? I think it's a mixture of both. I have been busy, but not with anything worth taking the time to write about. I have been slowly trying to get the carpets cleaned before Thanksgiving. Yesterday I shampooed the stairs- what a horrible job! That is definitley one thing that I do not want to do for a living! They do look better and the nastiness that was in the cleaner just proved how bad it needed to be done. I plan to do the living room and hallway next weekend.

Speaking of Thanksgiving- I think we got the menu pretty much worked out. Colleen and Amy stopped by yesterday so we could decide who would make what. I figure as long as we have turkey, potatoes, corn and pie, the rest is just bonus food. By my counts we could have up to 18 people here. That will be a nice sized family meal. Nothing like the 60 or so people that used to get together at my grandma Ackerman's, but I don't have room for that many anyway.

Haley has her first orchestra concert tomorrow night. She forgot to bring home the information sheet and only remembered to tell me yesterday. Sometimes I wonder how we ever get to all the things we are supposed to. Her brain doesn't work the same way mine does. I need to have things planned and in order. She is more like Scott, always just figures it will work out. Usually is does work out and that drives me crazy! Maybe someday I will be less of a freak about having things planned- doubtful. With 3 kids, eventually things are going to have to be planned a little ahead of time cuz I can't be in 3 places at once no matter how hard I try!

I suppose I should go see what the kids are up to. It has been too quiet for them to not be into some kind of mischief!

What?????

I tell you, that little boy of mine gets funnier everyday. I was just giving him a bath and he looks me in the eyes and says "If that dinosaur tried to eat me, it would hurt." So matter of fact. What dinosaur were we talking about? Oh- we weren't talking about a dinosaur at all. That's why he is so funny- the random things that he spurts out all the time - what a goofball!

I go back to work tomorrow after a couple days home with the munckins. I like my job and the "grown up" interaction, but I wish I could spend more time with Will. The girls are so independent and do their own thing most of the time, but Will is growing up so fast, I feel like I am missing out on some of the best stuff with him. He can count to 10, say most of the alphabet- mostly in order, spell his name and make my heart melt with just one "i love you, mommy". Sometimes it makes me sad to think that he is my last baby, but I know that we are already spread too thin most days. I guess I will just have to keep him little as long as possible. All of the things that we want our children to do on their own, but as soon as they don't need our help anymore, it makes us sad. There just doesn't seem to be a happy medium.

I didn't accomplish nearly as much today as I did yesterday. I did get to the studio and worked on some stuff for Scott. I also got the laundry caught up. No shampooing today, though. Oh well, guess I know what I can do this weekend! Yippee!

I suppose, I should motivate the girls to get their school stuff ready. I have a feeling they will both be dragging a little in the morning. Tough to sleep in for 4 days and then have to get back in to the "regular" routine.

A day off?

Well today is day 3 of my 4 day weekend. I was up at 6, did 30 minutes on the elliptical, shampooed 3 bedroom carpets, took Haley to Lego League, picked Haley up from Lego League, took all 3 kids for haircuts, we did family pictures, took both girls to the orthodontist and soon it will be supper time. Yup, seems like a day off to me!

Today was Hannah's initial consult with the orthodontist. Poor kid has to have 6 teeth pulled. She has a cross bite that requires 4 of the pullings. The other 2 are molars that have permanent teeth growing into them. The xrays are pretty nasty looking. She is going to get to know the orthodontist very well I believe. On a good note- Haley does not have to wear her retainer anymore. Good thing- since she broke it and I was not looking forward to paying for a new one! She doesn't have to go back for 1 year. Then we will be talking about braces. Will better have nice straight teeth- the orthodontist doesn't give group discounts!

I wonder what I will do tomorrow? I can bet I won't sleep in. I also probably won't spend all day watching tv or playing. I need to do some bookwork for Scott and I really should shampoo the hallway and the stairs. I am going to wait to do the living room for another week or so- closer to Thanksgiving and a house full of company.

Time to start getting supper ready!

4 day weekend - WOO HOO!

That's right, I get a 4 day weekend. The girls don't have school Monday and Tuesday. Both of the drs I work with are out of town Monday and Tuesday. I decided that spending the day with my kids would be waaaaay better than sitting at my desk trying to come up with stuff to do. I am really looking forward to sleeping in and hopefully getting some stuff done around the house. Maybe we can even get in our other family picture that Scott is wanting to take. We are going to try to do a "dressy" picture. I even got Will a little suit outfit. I figure I should probably spend a little time figuring out what I am going to do for Thanksgiving too. I am having both families here for lunch. I am going to do the Turkey and a ham - both for the first time ever. I might try to convince the rest of them to bring all the other stuff. Colleen is great at making pies so I think I will leave those up to her, plus she can make them so Kirby can eat them too.





Oh - look at this:


Yup, that's snow. We got a little bit of snow overnight last night. Will thought it was pretty cool. It's not supposed to snow more this weekend, but I think it is supposed to be pretty cold. I am really not ready to deal with winter, but not much I can do about it. No use in complaining, not gonna change anything- right? I hope Will likes playing in the snow better this year. Last year it just made him really mad to get stuck in the middle of the yard.

I think it must be time to go relax in the jacuzzi tub. I am really feeling the need to sit in the dark and quiet and ignore the rest of the world for a few minutes. Sounds like a great way to start my long weekend!

Halloween fun

The party went well. The weather was amazing! The kids were playing outside after they got done trick or treating- not usual for Halloween in SD. I was standing outside waiting for trick or treaters, the kids didn't have to have on snow apparel under their costumes- very unusual for Halloween in SD. I didn't get very many pics of just our kids in their costumes cuz by the time we were all dressed and ready their friends were already showing up for the party! I did manage to have one of Haley's friends take a pic of our family quick before the rest of the kids arrived.

The mummy wrap game:




Even got Kyra and Dan to join in:

Bobbing for apples:

The cutest little dinosaur you ever did see:

Scott is out of town this weekend at a photographer seminar. The kids and I kept pretty busy yesterday. We cleaned the house, got groceries, put away the Halloween decorations. We took Colleen to Look's Market with us. Scott wants me to make him some buffalo chili and I was feeling like I needed some moral support to go to the market. She was a good sport and went with eventhough she probably thought I was crazy. We went out for supper with Steve and Colleen, came home and all 4 of us snuggled in my bed and watched Lion King. If the weather is still really nice today, we might hit the zoo for a little while. Really we should just stay home and clean up the backyard before the snow flies. Maybe we can get that done while Will takes a nap........