Thanksgiving 2011: Part Deux

In our family, we have to be flexible in regards to holidays.

Sometimes Thanksgiving happens on a Saturday

because someone who shall not be named

has to save lives or something boring on the actual Thanksgiving day.

And sometimes, this Saturday Thanksgiving involves not turkey, 

but eggs, bacon and other breakfast items

We decided to do a brunch for Todd's celebration.

It was fun to host some members of the Ashby side.

We ate and talked and then went outside for a quick 

TURKEY BOWL.

Grandma and Grandpa even played!

There were several plays that we thought Grandpa was on the verge of a 

broken hip or pelvis... but NO!

He stayed on his feet!

Touchdowns were scored.

Tackles were made.

Fun was had by all.

Of course, Luke had to sneak some electronic toy time.

Those i pads are a tool of Satan.

Then we brought up the myriad of Christmas boxes and started

that hateful job of packing up Thanksgiving and then putting up Christmas.

Again, we are ruining Christmas by having a fake tree (per Maddie).

Overwhelming job finding a place for all of my crap.

Sadie and Luke were so excited to see all of the crap though.

Kids make all the stress of the holidays worth it!

Tis the reason for this season!

Neola Thanksgiving 2011

  I absolutely adore the centerpieces designed and created by Emma and Madison.  If you look closely you can see various family members faces on pilgrims bodies.  They stuck them on straws and put them in old mason jars filled with popcorn.

This is the reason I attend Thanksgiving dinner.

It is entitled, "Dixie Salad" and it is ecstasy.

Also included in this masterpiece is 

Ham rolls and jalapeno poppers.

Seriously, those 3 dishes could have kept me happy all day long.

Oh yeah!  Cheese and Crackers brought by Jen was a favorite!!

Sadie's reason for living.

Her little kitty that lives on the farm.

His name is Oreo and she spent about 4 hours each day holding him...

NOT KIDDING.

POST-TURKEY SLEEP

Tanner learning to drive a stick shift.

There are definite perks to having wide open spaces when raising teenagers.

Uncle Tyler looks nervous.

Tanner looks like a man.

A real life ranching man in his pickup truck.

Out in the field doing him some chores.

Everyone was so full from all the yumminess that there was very little pie action at first.

Playing some football with Uncle Brett.

Now- Let me tell you a true story about the day after Thanksgiving.  Most of the world likes to call it Black Friday.  I must say, it was a dark day indeed.  You see, my parents and brother had permits to cut down their Christmas trees in the forest.  'Oh what a fun family tradition', you say.  'Oh what a pain', I say.  We drove about 45 minutes or so up the canyon on a very bumpy road.  We had 2 trucks with 6 adults and about 48 kids divided amongst the 2 vehicles.  We drove up and down the canyon road looking for the perfect tree.  Of course, my brother had to have a blue spruce which only grew about a mile from the road, down a snow covered hill.  My mom was having none of that nonsense.  She wanted a tree that when you cut it down, it fell into the bed of the truck.  I love that woman.  Well, we drove up and down and down and up and finally we decided on a couple of trees that we had passed about 5 times in our journey.  Tyler had to hike for his blue spruce and drag it up a very steep hill, but he was happy.  Mom chose a little tree that made all her dreams come true... 2 feet off the road and practically put itself in the back of the truck.  We loaded up the 46 kids (left 2 up the canyon) and headed back down to the homestead to decorate our lovely trees.  Oh, the Christmas spirit permeated the air.  UNTIL, about 5 minutes from home when I asked someone to check and make sure we still had the tree... BLACK BLACK FRIDAY!  NO TREE IN THE BACK OF THE TRUCK!! OUR GLORIOUS TREE HAD PLUMMETED OUT OF THE TRUCK AND WAS SOMEWHERE BACK IN THE CANYON!

Did we turn around?  Did we go back and get the tree?  ARE YOU INSANE?  My dad said, "I feel such relief that tree is out of my life!"  So we got home and posed with the only remnant of our loverly Christmas tree.

 Yes, I forgot his coat.

He is very fashionable in his pinkalicious hat and his plaid farm jacket.

Merry Christmas from the Griswalds!!

Freakin Hopeless

I have several questions to ask the Man in Charge when I die.


1.  Why do kids only throw up at night? And why is it right when I am just entering dreamland?  I mean.. do I not deserve even 5 minutes of peaceful slumber????


2.  Do they intend to hit 5 different surfaces with each spew of their putrid vile chunkiness?  I swear my kids are like.. "BBBaaarrrffff! Cool, I hit the closet door!  RRaaaallffff!  Awesome, I got the hall carpet and the door!  UUcckkkk!  Mom is going to be so proud I hit the shower curtain this time!"  One thing that I never get to hear when my children are sick is the glorious sound of vomit hitting the water in the toilet.


3.  Is there some reason this has to occur at the busiest time of the year (i.e.Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc..)?  I am not bitter that last year we had to eat our Thanksgiving dinner at a stupid restaurant because we had the sick.  


4.  Why does this horrible vomit have to power to render me completely and utterly hopeless? 

• Hopeless that my house will ever smell clean.  
• Hopeless that I will ever truly rid my carpet, blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, curtains, tile, bathtub, towels, washrags, puke bowls of the stupid infecting virus.  
• Hopeless that I will get any sleep in the next 48 hours.  
• Hopeless that I can resist the urge to run screaming out my front door.

5.  If Sadie only eats 3 tablespoons of solid food, how does that multiply and exponentially expand in her gut to create 1 gallon of chunky vomit?  Could someone please explain the math????

6.  Is it wrong to wish for a medication that both immediately stops the vomiting and causes a nice peaceful sleep to come over my entire family?  You know... like Nyquil for kids, only plus a little Phenergan or Zofran.  I think if I was to have a super power, it would be most assuredly, the power to stop vomit.  Or the power to cause a peaceful sleep to all children in my house under 8.  Or it would be the power to design and manufacture my own purses and shoes.  That would be a good one.  If I had that power I could design a purse that hung around the sick ones neck and it would be big and slouchy and would catch all of the vomit emitting from sick ones face.  That would be awesome..

Someone lame already invented it.

But, I will invent one that is much cuter and made for children.

Another Page-turner!

Did you read the first book of this trilogy, "Matched"??

I told you to!!

This is the second book and I read it in 2 nights.

Love it.

Now I am sad because I have nothing to read.

If you have any suggestions for me,  please leave a comment!

I need another good story!

So easy to love the first one of the season...

Love Love Love the first snow of the season because-

A) It is absolutely gorgeous

B) My kids get soo excited to play in it

C) Fun to build our first snow man (or "snow little person" in our case)

D) Watching Tanner and Luke wrestle around like crazy boys love to do

E) Luke gets to practice his mad tackling skills on our little snow person

F) Perfect excuse to make hot cocoa and biscuits.

What I dislike about the first snow of the season-

A) getting kids dressed in order to go out and enjoy the snow and freezing cold.

It takes some serious MOM SKILLS to wrestle them into gloves ("my fingers are not in the right hole")

and socks and boots and snow pants ("these make me feel fat") and coats ("I weally don't fink I need a coat with my snow pants and gwoves on") and hats ("my hat is too itchy!").  I think it may have taken me about 45 minutes to get them all dressed.  I thought the snow was going to be melted by the time we got out to the front yard to play.  

AND THEN...

B) I really hate all of the snow ball throwing done to faces.

As you can see, everyone got it in the kisser at least once.

But, we survived our first outing into the wonderful white stuff.  

Now begins my hatred of it.

I have no words for these words...

I swear to you

this all happened

in one day.

Today..November 18, 2011

Here it is in black and white.

I am a mother of 4 children

In various stages of life.

College

Learning to drive

Firm testimonies of Santa

I am at a loss.

(Shocking isn't it.)

There is no way I could have survived today without my little mischief makers.

Sadie and Luke writing their letters to Santa helped me to stay in my body.

Sadie wants a light pink dress and kitty.

P.S.  Luke DOES NOT want "Hale Sex" for a present.

That is Halo set!

He messed up on his 'e' and 'x'ed it out!!

How will I survive 2 teenagers driving??

Valium and Trazadone may be in order.

Kidding!!

Not really.

Some of our Fall Fun

 Luke and Annie's joint birthday celebration at Grandma Farm's house.

Annie is very irritated by Luke's mischievous ways.

He insisted on blowing her candles out as well as his own.

 Trips to the pumpkin patch

 Maddie is an officer in the HOSA organization at her school.

I know it sounds like an immoral group, but it is not.

I think it stands for Health Occupations Student Associations.

So this is her at an overnight meeting she went to this fall.

They look so serious and professional in the second picture.

 Luke had a friend party at Jump On It! 

It was fun to watch the kids nearly kill themselves on the wall-to-wall trampolines.

I especially love the picture of Luke headfirst in the foam.

 Goodbye to football..

 Poison Ball on the trampoline..

in the cold..

at nighttime..

with 17 balls..

and no coats...

SUCH FUN!

 A date with Sadie and Luke to the Aquarium and to see the movie

"A Dolphin Tale" (loved it... cried the ugly cry most of the way thru it)

I took about 20 pictures at the aquarium, but all of them were stupid

because my kids won't hold still and all of them were of the back of their head.

Tanner and Cole and some other Army Rangers getting ready to 

light somebody up!

Having fun on Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom.
Tanner and I are, of course, T-rex's.
And Todd is sleeping.
Typical.