Thanksgiving 2009

We made a mad dash to GI town for a quickie Thanksgiving with my side of the family. My big brother and his family were in from Utah- it was great having the cousins together. My little brother wasn't able to make it - missed ya, Trev!

The food was great! Loved the frog eye salad! And the conversations were hilarious! Lots of laughs!

My family didn't have alot growing up - which isn't always a bad thing. We have the BEST stories to tell! We're always laughing and surprising our spouses with most outrageous childhood secrets. I know my mom loves having all the kids together - but I think a part of her is actually a little leery of those occasions. For some reason, we always end up admitting something (like a huge hole in the wall behind a cabinet, skipping morning swim practice when we were young by hiding out in the tree house, that there was a homeless man that lived in our backyard for awhile. etc) that leaves my mom reeling in shock!

Craziness and chaos...do you think its in the genes?


Here are a few pix from yesterday!

This how we serve gravy...no piddley little gravy boat here..no way jose!

Littlest cousin B...looks EXACTLY like his father (see pic below)

all the girls (mine and cousin E)

Pucca and E playing catch...it was surprisingly nice outside! Gotta love that with so many kids running around.

The mashed spuds my little brother would have ate- had he been there!

Pucca and her 'friend' cousin C


And the older kids (the twins and cousins A and N)


It was fun- my mom cooked all the food and it was WONDERFUL! Love you all!

go go go

We made a quick visit to Rochester last week. Pucca had a check up at Mayo Clinic on her arm and shoulder. She's still doing remarkably well! The twins came with - which was nice. They now have a little better picture of what Pucca's surgery and recovery was all about. But don't get me wrong - they played the bored preteen role superbly!

Saturday night John and I went to the game with my little brother and his girlfriend, Maranda. They live in Kansas, but are definite HUSKER fans! John's uncle and cousin were also at the game! It was nice catching up.


Lastnight was the end of the year program for the AD girls (a group of girls ages 8-11 that I help with at church). The program went great! Kind of bittersweet for our family- with the move, we are in a different ward.

After the program, as I was cleaning up- I felt a little tug on my skirt. I looked down to see a little girl. She told me that Pucca was hurt. She rolled her ankle while playing with the other children. It swelled up really fast and she wouldn't let anyone touch it or move it- so we took her to the ER.

She has hairline fractures in her ankle. mostly on the growth plate. And a piece off the tip of her leg bone had fragmented off. She will get re x-rayed on Wed, but has a rigid splint and crutches for now. Poor thing.

Dog years

Ms. Emma (aka Ems, Emmers, cow, and damn it dog) will be celebrating a special day tomorrow. She's turning 4! Which means we're about the same age...well, if you're counting her age in dog years.

We love our Ems...her personality, loyalty, playfulness and sweetness.

Here are a few random thoughts, stories and particulars about our cow.

• Yes, I call her cow. This came about because when she wants something she makes a mooing sound. A little growling purr that comes out moo. Not to mention she's always trampling my clean stacks of laundry and flower beds!
  

• We were given Ems as a gift. We were back in GI town for Christmas and some friends of ours let the girls come over to see the new litter of puppies. It didn't even occur to me that we would be bringing one home. But Christmas night, one of my favorite people in the whole wide world passed away...and suddenly I became vulnerable and emotional. Grief can make you act so out of sorts! Then you add the fact that John told me "No" when I said we should get a puppy...well, I became 'all-powerful-dictator mom' and we were coming home with a puppy, dang it! We had every intention of buying the puppy, but the sweet family told us to just take her...a gift from them to us. Seriously one of the best gifts ever!

• shhhhhhhh....this one's a secret! I really do love the dog, eventhough I'm hard on the girls about taking care of her, give John crap about spoiling her, and yell at her for sneaking on our bed. I couldn't imagine our family without her!

• I think John and I realized how large a part of our family Ems is when we went house shopping. We were always referring to the lot size and yard size by saying "Ems would love this yard!" or "Not big enough for Emma."

• Her full name is Emma Sue Kelly. You have to give a dog a middle name. Because when they get in trouble...its EMMA SUE... when she hears that her head hangs down and she mopes back to her pillow because she knows she did something wrong.
  

Finally, a story about Ms. Ems. John was out of town for a few days. And it rained and rained and rained. Dog + rain/mud + white neutral carpets + house for sale = ONE BIG HEADACHE! Not to mention Ems doesn't like the rain. She hates walking through the puddles on the patio- so we usually let her out the front door.

It was about 11pm and I was locking up the house. I decided to let Ems out before going to bed. I took her out the front door. She took her precious time finding just the right spot...mean while I'm standing on the front porch watching her (making sure she didn't spy that troublesome neighborhood cat and make a run for it). All of a sudden a car comes down the street and slows down in front of the house. Well, Emma interpreted that as a friendly visitor and started towards the truck. The truck was just slowing down to make the turn at the end of our street and when it sped up- so did Ems. I ran out in the yard, in the rain, yelling at Emma to get her little butt back here. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked at me like I was crazy. And I'm sure I did look crazy. Reprimanding a dog in the middle of the night, in the rain, barefoot, cursing under my breath and talking to her like the naughty child she was. I think our neighborhood shall miss us and our craziness!

Last night I told Emma we'd have to grow up and become more dignified in our new neighborhood...that would make John happy. She mooed, found a cozy spot on the floor and farted as she laid down.

punk-in pie!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE pumpkin pie. Seriously! When I was little my great grandma would always make an extra one...and although she never came out and said it- I knew it was just for me.

Its my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal. The stuffing/dressing is a close second...but that's a new liking in the last few years. There are so many fun ways to mix it up...with apples, or crumbled up cornbread muffins or turkey sausage etc etc etc. But I'm getting off topic...PUMPKIN PIE!

My favorite pumpkin pie is super easy to prepare!

1. Go to your grocer's freezer aisle.
2. Grab a Sara Lee frozen pumpkin pie
3. Take it home and bake per instructions (oh- and pay for it of course! )
4. Let it cool- then refrigerate for a few hours. (it has to be cold - its the best that way!)
5. Cover with a whole carton of whip topping.
6. Dig in...cutting into slices and plating- PURELY optional! :)

I've tried out alot of pumpkin pie recipes- and I come to realize Ms Sara Lee has it perfected! I'm not a big fan of pumpkin pies with using real shredded pumpkin filling...yuck! And some call for too much nutmeg. Sara Lee all the way!



This morning I got this email from my mom...sadly enough, it doesn't deter my love for pumpkin pie. I'm still counting the days until Thanksgiving...so grandma, please please please say your making a pumpkin pie! and maybe make an extra one...for traditions sake! :)

The world according to pucca

As we were walking back to the van after school, I asked Pucca how school was today.



"Great! Ms. Kennell (her teacher) is going to be a grandma soon. Her 25 yearold daughter is going to have a baby this week. But don't worry- she's married...so its all good."


what!? She said it so matter of fact- that all I could do was look at her...speechless. Obviously she has it all figured out! And she's only a first grader! Such a silly kid! :)

New do and color too!

It was high time I did something with this rag top of mine....so I did a little cut and color.

Actually, I cut in some more bangs and added some layers, but the overall length stayed the same. And I went with a lovely light brown auburn. Perfect for winter! :)

a little behind

Things have been oober busy this week- and I forgot to post my favorite fall decorations...and our pumpkins!!!!


Ok- so I LOVE the pumpkin patch. Really any farm pumpkin patch-y area (not one specific one). There is something about taking a hay rack ride out to a field and pulling your very own orange gord free from its vine- that makes it that much more special.

This year however, the weather had different plans for us. It was rainy and cold and yucky the week leading up to Halloween. So in an effort to avoid catching colds and quite possibly pneumonia...we found our pumpkins somewhere else... a local grocery store. GASP! Shocking I know. I felt shameful evening mentioning it to the girls. But what can you do?!

Here's our make shift pumpkin pic for 2009...
yes, we bought them from Super Saver.
yes, I made them pose like that- I was getting my pumpkin pic one way or another.
and yes, I'm sure people thought I was nuts for making my kids sit by pumpkins outside in the raining mist in front of Super Saver.
But its also a memory that adds to our family! And we're just crazy like that...at least I am! :)

The twins painted their pumpkins and Pucca carved hers. (She cleaned it out and I carved what she wanted.)




Kynna's is a clown (middle), Kwynnie's is a scarecrow (right), and Pucca used halloween shapes for her face. The eyes were witch's hats, the nose a pumpkin and the mouth a bat. They all turned out cute!

Here's my little ode to witches...I made witch brooms to set by my front door. I just grabbed a stick from the yard, cut some perennial grasses and tied them together with some twine.


Here's the whole front stoop...


can't forget the cinderella pumpkins...aren't they cute! And they only cost $4 for all three of them. And the wreath was made from supplies at Hobby Lobby- the whole wreath only cost $15- I bought them when the floral things were half off...which they are right now if your thinking of a holiday wreath.


Speaking of Christmas...I wonder how we will decorate our new house!