Turkey Day 2011

I made these little cornucopias before we left on Weds night...Mike mocked me as I made them & said no one will care, but I wanted to do it for the kids. He was right of course. Oh well.

Bryce & Em ate bag after bag of chippies...wonder where they get that habit? ahem-Mike?

The moment Em had been waiting for...the cousins arrived!

Oddly enough-Maddy played with Em's dolls more than Em did. Weird.

Bryce snacking on his 2nd favorite finger food-"OLVINS"

I bought fun new Thanksgiving plates for Em & B, and (as usual) they brought their hats they made at school.

What's Turkey Day without a little loungin'?

I thought this bag of Mike's own Chex Mix-name on the bag & all was hilarious, and thus picture worthy....

Each family got a new Snowman kit made by Grandma-so cute.

What's for dinner?

Since my kids had hats they were bringing, we brought a couple for Maddy & Doug so they didn't feel left out-Doug hated it. Typical 3rd grader. lol 

Thanks for the bad pict Mike. It's the only one so what do ya do?

Everyone played Pin the Wattle on the Turkey (or sometimes on Steph! :) After Maddy went & placed the wattle perfectly, she was asked if she could see and her response was an excited "YES!" :) ha ha ha-at least she's honest.?

The other kids didn't come close to Maddy's perfect score! ;)

Even the "big kids"...

and Papa

A little Thanksgiving Bingo

with prizes!

Bryce was super excited-he has a love of PEZ dispensers.

A little reminiscing about memories past....

And some crafting-rick rack rosebuds...

cute huh?

Bryce & Em got this new cars playmat. 

And as I promised Em-she was able to try on my "Princess wedding dress".

She is still talking about it :) 

After a long trip home-we had lots of unpacking to do. Em was more than eager to help. She took out all her brothers & her clothes & I came in to see this....someone is raisin' her right-I don't care what anyone says :)

Thanksgiving for the Puppies

How do the puppies feel about their upcoming Thanksgiving adventure to the kennel (Auntie Lori)???? Watch this:

Thank You Lt. Ramsey!

Emma's 1st Cheer Experience Video 1

The Next American Idol ???...ha ha ha

Fall is for Family...in Leavenworth

It's Snowing on Walnut Street

and Peyton is all ready for it....thanks to Emma! Poor puppy. The things these kids put them through. He just sat still being dressed up, hugged on, pulled around and obviously dressed as a girl for a good 30 mins-till the kids were finally bored. lol. Such a gentle giant my Pey Pey is.

Doesn't he look THRILLED. :)

Christmas Card Time Again

It's that time of year again! I am so excited to be working with Shutterfly again-they've done awesome work for me the past 5 years and I just know I won't be disappointed when these come in the mail. Here's a sneak peek at what I've been working on. Thanks to Shutterfly for the 40% OFF & FREE Shipping. What a steal! Use Shutterfly-you won't be sorry either!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Shop for a Soldier

Last night Mike was really into the spirit of Veterans Day & wanted to get a few last minute things to go in the care packages. He had this epiphany that (for him) it would be worse to be in Iraq than to be in JAIL! Sand in your face, not always the chance of 3 hot meals a day, etc. etc.  One of the teachers he works with was talking to him about her 2 sons being deployed over there right now. She is very proud of her boys, but said they are itchin' for simple things like Pop Tarts & Yoo-Hoo's (chocolate milk that doesn't have to be refrigerated), spicy chips, etc. She sends case loads of stuff over for her boys to share, but not everyone has a "mom" like that back home. She also said that a couple weeks ago, the boys were in a remote area, ran out of MRI's and were literally eating Tabasco packets for "meals". YIKES! For whatever reason, that really hit home with Mike-he came home and expressed his desire to send something. So became our trip to Fred Meyer. We explained to the kids that we wanted to make the soldiers happy with some yummy snacks. Em asked what they would like. I told her-whatever you like, they would probably like (because trust me-that girl has her dad's genes for JUNK FOOD!) That's all I needed to say. The kids & Dadda were off like the wind. At the end of it all, Mike pulled up with an entire cart full of the following:
10 cans of various Pringles
5 packages of various Chips Ahoy
3 boxes Captain America fruit snacks *courtesy of Bryce of course
2 boxes of S'mores Granola Bars
2 bags of Red Vines
2 bags of Gummy Bears
36 snack bags of Fritos "Spicy" variety chips
20 packages of Ritz snack pack crackers (with Pepper Jack cheese or Peanut Butter)
32 packs of individual Hawaiian Punch mix (for bottled waters)
3 packages of Pudding Packs
3 bags of Chocolate Covered Pretzels
2 bags of Jolly Ranchers
1/2 case Yoo-Hoos
2 bags of Sunflower seeds
2 bags of Starbursts
HOLY JUNK FOOD!!!!
Hope these guys really like the junk my family does apparently. I could see Mike salivating as it all went in the cart! lol
Anyhow-he got it all boxed up and 15 of the large flat rate boxes later.....glad the school district is paying for the shipping! :)

Proud of my poobee for getting so into the spirit of this whole thing.

Captain America...In the Flesh...x2!

With Veterans Day around the corner, I wanted to pay tribute again to the heroes in our family. Lately Bryce has been REALLY into the MARVEL character Captain America. Granted he's had Captain America toys since he was born, and even had a Captain America (/wolverine) cake for his 2nd birthday...but he's just really into it again lately for whatever reason. 

The other night Mike talked me into renting the new Captain America movie that just came out. I feared it would be $1 and 1.5 hours I could never get back-because I don't do sci-fi or comic book crap....usually. With the exception of Iron Man & Batman. He assured me it would be of the same type. So I sat down with my ipad-ready to multitask through it :) Needless to say-never needed the iPad. I LOVED it! Bryce was able to watch the first half with us-then Mike warned that a scary comic book character would probably come in to play soon & it would be best for B to scram :) However-until that point, he couldn't have been happier. Woo-hooing for the "underdog" Captain America & loving all the Soldier stuff (like we've been talking about in school). Mike & I looked at him, then each other & agreed- if anyone in this family was to join the ranks-it would be "ooh rah Bryce". Ha ha ha. Watch the movie-you'll see this little guys reasoning soon enough.

Which brings me to today. My students have been honoring our military this month at my preschool. I think it is important to instill patriotism in my kids, just like I said in my post this time last year-about teaching the Pledge of Allegiance. :) They have been working hard the past week to collect items for our troops in combat: things like stuffed animals for soldiers to give to the kids they meet, blank cards for them to send home, various toiletries, munchies/snacks, etc. We joined forces with Mike's class at the Middle School for it. In 3 days we ended up with two overflowing laundry baskets & 2 giant bags full from their efforts. Parents said the kids were SO excited to bring stuff in for "the soldiers".  I am pretty proud of them. 

Mike & I are going to take the kids across campus to let Em & B see part of the 24 silent vigil this Friday. It's actually something I look forward too.

For show & tell day at school last Friday-the kids were asked to bring in pictures of heroes in their family (or friends). Kids were BEAMING with pride as they entered my classroom with their various pictures. They each got to get up in front of the class & show the picture of their hero & who they were. 

We made a giant American flag by using each students' handprints & added the photos to it-creating a WALL OF HONOR.

Bryce shared photos of his Papa Martone & Grandpa Allison....

Em was just as proud to show her photos-even though they were of the same people! :)

Em had a class activity about what Veterans Day means.....this is what she said she would send to a soldier to say "Thank You".....she obviously had the care packages on the brain! :)

The kids have been dressing up as "Army guys" since the first of the month-they LOOOOOOOVE it! Best dress up ever-hands down. Gotta get some more-ebay here I come!

This is what the completed WALL OF HONOR looks like. The picts are still coming in-and I LOVE that fact!

One of the first projects we did this month to decorate our classroom-Bald Eagles. Em & B said they are going to send theirs to Grandpa when we are done with them at school....wonder why? Could it be that giant Eagle feather in his basement that they stare at each July? :)

So here's a HUGE thank you to the real Captain America's out there, namely-Captain Martone & Colonel Allison. Words can't ever express the gratitude I have for your service & dedication to keeping our country safe. We love you!

How do you thank our Veterans each 11.11?

Football-all bad???

Football sucks. Truthfully here aren't many things in life that I find as annoying. EXCEPT......foodball food-is pretty much AMAZING! What's not to like about appetizers galore? Last night I came across this recipe from my friend Matt.

Buffalo Chicken Wing Soup!

Believe me when I say, it is a heavenly bite of fall goodness! Then again, one of my weaknesses is Buffalo Chicken Wings-or ANYTHING with Franks Red Hot on it! lol. I normally don't like anything spicy-or as Kathleen would say "I don't do spicier than Ketchup" :) but Franks Red Hot....there's just something' about it.
We tried it out for dinner last night & I can't wait for leftovers tonight. It's a recipe worth sharing. Beware though-serve this at a party & the pot will get licked too! Recipe makes enough for 4 servings. Enjoy! And you're welcome in advance :)

(picture is from Matt's blog-we didn't wait to make ours look this pretty :)

Buffalo Chicken Wing Soup

1 small onion, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

4 Tbs butter

1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup milk

14 oz. Can chicken broth

2 cups cooked & diced chicken 

8 oz. Velveeta cheese

½ cup Franks Red Hot or Franks Buffalo Wing Sauce

1/4 cup sour cream

Bleu Cheese Crumbles (if desired)

Cook onion and celery in butter until tender, stir in flour. SLOWLY whisk in milk and chicken broth. Add chicken. Add velveeta and stir until melted. Add hot sauce, sour cream and sprinkle with bleu cheese to your taste preference. Cook low, stirring constantly until heated through and bleu cheese is melted. SERVE!

I used rotisserie chicken from the grocery store (like I do with every chicken dish-ttt...ttt....lazy me. I know!)