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........

Pumpkin fun

There are so many things I could say about tonight's family project, but I think I will let the pictures do most of the talking for me.....

So, as you can see, Will loved helping daddy carve a pumpkin! Yeah, we carved pumpkins a couple weeks ago because the girls and I were all excited and couldn't wait. Well, those pumpkins are looking really sad and wilted so we got a couple new ones at Hy-vee (slim pickin' there) and carved them up when we got home.

I am really excited about throwing a party tomorrow for the kids. I hope they have fun- the weather sounds like it's going to cooperate and everything. YEAH!

Another weekend blown away

Literally- BLOWN, yesterday was so windy we had white caps in our toilets. Sanford Women's was having a fall family festival yesterday. It was supposed to be at McHardy park in Brandon. Thankfully they moved it indoors to Brandon Lutheran church. There weren't a lot of people there, I think most of them looked at the trees blowing over and never even thought to check to see if it had been moved.

We spent Friday and Saturday at the Expo for Her at the convention center. For being 2 days of standing in one spot, it could have been worse. It was steadily busy, so that is always a big help. Hopefully Scott will get a few calls this week for some sessions.

I don't think we have anything going on tonight. Tomorrow night Haley has a music concert at school. Wednesday night Hannah will be gone for Order of St George- I think Haley and I will start cleaning out the garage. Thursday night is Hannah's conferences and major garage cleaning. Friday night is Halloween and the party. Gonna be another busy week. Scott is leaving us for the weekend to go to a photography convention, so it will be a long weekend for me too.

Anyone want to go to work for me today? I feel like I need a couple days at home to get caught up on some stuff........No takers? Fine, I better go get ready then.

Thank goodness it's raining!

The only reason I say that I am glad it is raining is cuz I am not ready for snow. There is snow falling not too far from here. We have gotten 2 inches of rain in the last 2 days and it is still coming down. That would have been like 2 feet of snow! YUCK!

I spent yesterday at home with Haley and Will. Haley didn't feel good when she got up and by 6:00 she was throwing up. I sent her to bed and she slept until a little after 10. Once she got up, she was fine. It was nice spending a few hours alone with Will. We read, did some puzzles, worked on writing W, cleaned his toybox and played tickle monster. I don't get to spend a lot of one on one time with him. He really is a funny little boy. He reminds me so much of Haley at that age. Super independent, but if he wants help with something he wants it now! Hannah has always been a lot more easy going. I wouldn't want them to all be the same, how unexciting that woud be!

I went to the dentist yesterday and I was sure I had at least 3 cavities. My mouth has been so sore lateley. Turns out no cavities, no cracked teeth, just receding gums exposing nerves. When the dentist sprayed cold air on a couple of spots, my butt came off the chair. "I think we found the sensitive spot" Well, DUH! He told me to change to sensitive toothpaste and gave me a rx for some flouride treatments that I need to do everyday. If that doesn't help, I may end up with a root canal somewhere down the line. Oh joy!

I suppose I should go take a shower and get ready for work. Tomorrow I have the day off to help Scott at the Expo for Her. Hopefully we will get some more portrait sittings out of the 2 days of sitting in one spot! Since it was my idea for him to have a booth there, I feel like I should be there the whole time so he can leave if he wants to......hopefully it's not as boring as a bridal show.

Ok- seriously- gotta go get in the shower!

The end of a fun busy weekend

Usually our weekends are really busy with work related stuff. This weekend was maybe more busy than most, but it was with fun-related stuff. Saturday morning I went shopping with my mom and finally found a new comforter for our bed. We also went shoe shopping and hit a couple of stores in the mall. Hannah had her last soccer game of the season Saturday afternoon. Haley had a lego league meeting from 4-6. While Haley was at her meeting Colleen and I took Hannah and Will shopping for Halloween decorations and other party stuff. We got some really cool stuff, just need to find some lights or something yet. We picked up Haley and went out for supper. Pretty busy Saturday for not having a wedding!

Yesterday we went to Omaha to take pictures. Long trip for pics, but it was nice. We met up with a photographer that Scott knows there and wandered around the Old Market and an abandoned train depot. We took the kids to the "big slides" for a little bit and then hit Applebees before heading back home. Oh- I almost forgot- I got to have Schlotzsky's for lunch too!

All in all, we weren't home much this weekend, but we did get some family time in. Michael even took some family pics and some of just Scott and I. Hopefully he got some good stuff. I would love to have some new stuff for my office.

I haven't had time to figure out how busy we are this week. I don't think we have anything going on tonight, but past that I have no idea!

Better go get ready for a super fun Monday! (maybe if I tell myself it will be super fun, that will help?)

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

I am quite excited about the fact that it is Friday. We don't have a wedding this weekend, I am going out for supper with some friends tonight, and we are actually planning a family outing on Sunday! WOO HOO!

Last night the kids and I worked on pumpkins. Will and I painted and the girls carved. I don't have a lot to talk about this morning, but I wanted to post some pics of the pumpkins in progress. We didn't take any of the completed pumpkins- it was getting kind of late by the time they were done.

Chef Haley

Ok so she's not into fine cuisine or anything, but Haley is learning how to cook. She asked me to start teaching her how to make a few things. So far her "specialty" is french toast. I have been having her help me with supper at night just so she can learn a little bit about cooking. Now, I know, I am not the world's greatest cook, but my family seems to be getting along just fine. I won't be the one to teach her the fine art of cooking, but I can certainly give her the basics. Besides, I can't see Haley wanting to learn how to make new and creative dishes!

Yellow pumpkins?

Well, the kids and I finally got around to making the sugar cookies tonight. I went to make the frosting and found out we didn't have any red food coloring left. Kind of hard to make orange without red. When Haley saw the yellow frosting she said "Since when is yellow a Halloween color?" My smart butt comment was "since mommy doesn't feel like making a trip to the store just for food coloring". So we have yellow pumpkins, yellow cats and yellow ghosts. What the heck, they will all taste the same anyway and I wasn't planning to enter them in any contest so who cares? The girls handed out invites to the Halloween party today so I guess I can't back out now. Hopefully not all the kids they invited can come, I think between the two of them they invited over 30 kids. That would be a little more than I am prepared for. I don't think it will be an issue though. Having the party on Halloween night will probably keep a few of them from coming. That and a few of the kids are of religions that don't celebrate Halloween.

I suppose I should get some work done. The laundry room is calling my name........wait maybe that's the bills on the counter......or maybe the dishes in the sink........or .....nope, I know it is the couch and blanket calling for me to snuggle and watch House. Yup, that's got to be it!

Hannah the mechanic?

After 2 years of desperately needing new tires and brakes on his truck, Scott finally decided to take care of it. We got tires a couple of weeks ago and that made the brake issue even more pressing. This week Scott decided to fix the brakes himself. This week he also decided to paint the garage floor again. So- we have a nice clean shiny garage floor that we can't drive on for a week. Not the best timing to have to fix a vehicle, but that's the way life goes most times. For some reason, Hannah decided she wanted to help daddy fix the brakes. I guess Scott even had her using the impact wrench and taking off nuts. She is the girlier of the two girls so I think it's kind of strange that she is the one out helping, but whatever. I think Scott probably taught her the usage of some 4 letter words- he was having a tough time getting the rotors off. As long as she doesn't use the experience for show and tell at school it shouldn't be a problem!

Well, today is Saturday. Hannah has a soccer game at 9. We have a wedding in Luverne from 12-4. Tomorrow we have a bridal show all day. One of those weekends where no matter how fast I move, I will not get anything accomplished. I cleaned the house last night. This morning I mixed up some sugar cookie dough. The girls really want to make Halloween cut outs. I figured they could make cookies with grandma today. If grandma doesn't want to make them, we can do it this evening instead. I think pumpkin carving and painting will have to wait until next week, but that's ok.

I suppose I'd better get everybody ready for the game. At least it's not raining!

Too busy or uneventful life?

It's been awhile since I posted. I'm not sure if it's because I have just been really busy or if it's because we haven't really had a lot of excitement. I haven't been taking any pictures lately so that's part of it. I really want to take more pictures of everyday life, cuz the kids are growing up so fast. Colleen told me about a place that will print out your blog- pictures and all- and make a book out of it. I need to look into that. Sounds like a wonderful thing to have for the future.

We are busy trying to plan a Halloween party. I am going to let both girls invite some friends for games and trick or treating. I don't know how many kids will come since we are doing it on Halloween, but I figured I should take advantage of the years that the girls will let me help plan a party for their friends. Haley is getting dangerously close to being "too old" to let mom help. I am not looking forward to that, but she is so much like me that I know it is inevitable.

Ok s0 how perceptive are you? For the detail oriented, you will notice that it is 5:30 in the morning and I am blogging. Why is that strange? I should be out running. Coulda, shoulda, didn't. The alarm went off this morning, I got dressed to go running, I came downstairs and decided to go on the elliptical instead of freezing my butt off outside. I was on the elliptical for about 10 minutes and I couldn't take the clunking noise anymore- it needs a new bearing or something. So here I am - burning calories by typing. I think I am going to have to start doing my dvds in the morning. It is getting awful cold out overnight. I am definitely not a die hard runner. No winter running for me!

A quick request from those of you who read this. Please pray for my uncle Marv DeRuyter. He had surgery yesterday to remove a large mass from his thyroid. He has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. His surgery was pretty extensive and now they are waiting on some path reports. I am sure his family would appreciate a few extra prayers lifted up for them.

Well, I'd better at least do a few crunches this morning before I hit the showers. I'll see what I can do about blogging a little more often- I'll even try to get some more pics on here!

Proud of my girls.....

Today was the last day of the Sioux Falls running club race for the kids. The girls did awesome. We had set goals for the girls so they could earn supper out and ice cream. Hannah's goal was to run her 1/2 mile in less than 4:30. Last week she ran it in 4:58. Today she ran it in 4:26. Haley's goal was to run her mile in less than 9 minutes. Last week she ran it in 9:29. Today she ran it in 9:09. Sooooo close to making it by her goal. Since both girls tried so hard and improved so much from the first race, I took them out for supper- McDonalds and then to Cold Stone for ice cream. Eventhough Haley didn't technically make her goal I was so proud of both of them for trying hard and not stopping to walk at all. The three of us had been going out at night and running a mile together to practice. I hope I can convince them to still go running with me eventhough the races are done. I think it is a good habit for them to get some activity every day. They spend so much time inside playing or reading and soon it will be too cold to go outside very much.

Ok- enough mommy gushing. I need to go tuck in all of my angels. Have a nice night!

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy B-day to me! I am (gulp) 31 today! You know 30 wasn't so bad, so I suppose 31 will be just fine too. Scott bought me a carpet cleaner for my b-day and he even used it already! When I got off work yesterday he had the living room floor cleaned. I know, I know, men are not supposed to buy that kind of thing as a gift, but honestly it's what I wanted. Flowers are great, but they die. Jewelry is wonderful, but I can only wear so much at one time. Really- keeping our house looking nice is way more important to me anyway. I take pride in keeping a clean house, so when it's gross, I feel gross. Make sense?

Anyway, I will be spending my 31st b-day at a stranger's wedding. Oh well- that's the life of a photographer's wife! The kids are going to spend the night with mom and dad so that Scott and I can go out after the wedding. It will be nice to not have to worry about getting home right away so that grandma can go home. I don't know what we are going to do, I would like to go out to eat and maybe have a couple drinks. I would love to go somewhere that we could dance a little, but there isn't really a good place for that around here- Buck's is too country for us. Oh well, we never have really been big partiers so why start now?

Well, I'd better go get ready for today's wedding! Have a piece of cake for me today!