Lincoln's Famous Breakfast

Lincoln likes to make the kids crepes every once and a while, usually on a weekend when we are all home. We had one last crepe meal before Lincoln left . . . . I had a hard time getting the boys up to enjoy it. They had stayed up all night playing xbox and were rudely awakened by me just a couple hours after they had fallen to sleep. Boys, Boys Boys!

The cook. . . . . The efficiency . . . . . The product . . . . .

The finished product . . . .

The joyful recipients! We all agreed that Halley should be here partaking with us, I think these are a favorite of hers!

Thanksgiving Day

Our thanksgiving was very nice this year. I had so many pictures I loved that I decided a slide show would be best. This year the boys got in on the "crafting" action that usually occurs after the meal. I couldn't believe my eyes, but it was nice to have them creating with us. Mom, Trudy and I put on a great spread of food, and there was plenty for all, and plenty for several days of leftovers. Hope you all had a great one too!

Our Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving!

This wraps up my Thanksgiving list. Hope you all have a great day!

New Testament
Old Testament
Prayer, prophets, patriarchal blessings
Quiet
Relief Society
Spirituality, stumbling blocks
Testimony, temples, teachers
Understanding
Visions
White Plains 1st Ward
X-tra time
YM/YW Program (except for the broken bones!)
Zion

The Jury is IN!

Thank you all for your concern!!!! . . . Jana, your post pushed me over the edge and I took McKay to the ER. We just got back, and yes he does have a fracture, so I'm glad I took him and glad to know one way or the other. I guess MOTY is back in the running! (as if I ever would be nominated, ha!)

I have to tell you that the reason I feel less guilty about taking him immediately to the ER and feel more guilty about the method in which I made him take Ibuprofen :) :). I've been a mom for 22 years and have dealt with broken bones before. I know there is no hurry in getting a bone to the doctor. When Halley got injured she had a 2nd elbow. Both the radius and ulna had broken clean through and she sat in the hall not even in an official bed as case after case after case was triaged ahead of her. Chancy and Justin have also gone through waiting that is just unbelievable. As it is right now, McKay just has a temporary splint and won't go for casting until next Tuesday when he sees the ortho people. No hurry . . . . just pain management. We pretty much got a pat on the butt (excuse the french) an xray and a put-off until Tuesday . . . . but at least we know its fractured:)

Oh! I did stop by the commissary and get him some liquid motrin. No more threats! Bubble gum flavored medicine is just the ticket. . . .

Thankfulness Continued

My first list of things to be thankful for were more on the whimsical side. These are on a more serious note . . . . . . . one list just would not do!
Atonement, Apostles
Book of Mormon
Christmas
Deacons
Easter
Faith, father's blessings, failures, freedom
Gospel, growth
Holy ghost
Inspiration
Jesus, Joseph Smith
Kindness, knowledge
Love
Marriage (especially the forever kind)

MOTY Award

There has been a lot of talk lately about the MOTY award (mother of the year). Today I am having to make a decision that will either make or break me for that award. Last night McKay got injured at the church . . . . . came home in tears . . . . . Since I can't tell if his arm is broken just by looking at it (as I could with Halley's arm and Chancy's collar bone) I just made him swallow some Ibuprofen and sent him to bed. The swallowing of McKay's first pills could be another blog entry all on its own which would not win me the MOTY award! So here he is moaning and groaning the morning after, and I'm thinking I may have to make a run to the ER room for him. Should I wait a couple of hours or do it now, is the question of the day. Church injuries are running rampant these days . . . . . .

I am thankful for - Continued

Noses
Ocean waves
Peanut butter, popcorn
Quiet, quilts
Root beer floats, rainbows, rain
Spring
Toothbrushes, thunderstorms
Umbrellas
Vanilla wafers
Watermelon
Xray, Xylaphones (real original, I know!)
Zen-x-tra mp3 player

Twilight

Lincoln, McKay and I went and saw Twilight last night for FHE. I have to say it was better than I expected it would be. I couldn't help but wonder what I would have thought of the movie if I hadn't read the books. You can bet that most of the men hadn't and you could hear some pretty loud guffaws (SAT word for the day!) from the men, and there were probably a grand total of 12 people in the whole audience. I liked the girls they picked for the women's parts, but for heaven's sake, what were they thinking when they cast Edward and Jacob? The vampires are supposed to be gorgeous and Jacob . . . (of whom I had placed my vote) . . . could have been better cast. I've seen some pretty good looking native americans in my time . . . They didn't do much character development with Jacob . . . probably didn't have the time, so there wasn't the excitement of a love triangle, another point of disappointment because I like Jacob so much in the book . . . . . ah! such is life.

A Week of Thankfulness

A couple of years ago, I wrote up 2 lists (one whimsical and one serious) from A to Z of things I was thankful for for a talk I gave in Sacrament meeting. I thought I'd give some of the list each day for a "Week of Thankfulness." Here's the list for today . . . .

Arby's
Books, butterflies, babies
Chocolate, Chancy
Dad
E-mail/erasers
Family, flowers, friends
Giggles, grandmas and grandpas
Halley, home, humor
Ice cream
Jeans, Justin
Knees
Lobster, Lincoln
Motherhood, mom, McKay

To be continued . . . . .

Simple Joys

I've had a great couple of days, here are some of the highlights:

1. Another piano recital is marked off the list!

2. One of my students brought me to tears with his playing . . . how rewarding could that be? Very rewarding take it from me. They all did great!

3. A friend of mine did some Ikea shopping for me (thanks Sylvia!) Wow! that saved me a whole days worth of travel, she really went the extra mile and I appreciate it immensely!

4. Chancy put the bed that Sylvia purchased together in no time at all, and I have a bed in Halley's room again, which is another goal I can mark off my list.

5. Lincoln and I got most of the leaves off of the yard. We think we've taken 130 bags off of the yard. Still have another 15 approximately to go, but the leaves are piled up and ready for the boys to bag!

6. Went to dinner!

7. Lincoln sacrificed most of the BYU vs. Utah game to spend time with me getting stuff done. He did get to watch the last half though. What a crazy game!

8. Talked on the phone with my dad . . . . he's getting grumpy about no phone calls from me. We had a nice conversation, THANKS dad!

Way to Weigh

Lincoln and I didn't own a scale for years. I mostly used a tape measure to keep track of my exercising progress. One year, 2 or 3 years ago, Lincoln thought it would be great to get a scale. Since then it has been my nemesis. I didn't know what a big nemesis it could be until I found out it was lying to me. Whenever I stepped on it, it hovered around the same numbers and I didn't know it was broken until one day I went to the doctor and found out my true weight. I went home and cursed the "said" scale and went out and bought a new one. I don't like what the new one says, and I should go back to the tape measure. Anywho, I thought this was cute . . . . .

The Correct way to Weigh . . . . . . . . .

1. Never again weigh yourself with wet hair.

2. When weighing, remove everything, rings, earrings, and removable bridgework, glasses, contact lenses . . . especially the last two items as blurred vision can be an asset.

3. Use cheap scales only, never the medical kind, because they are always five pounds off. . . to your advantage, of course.

4. Always go to the bathroom first. Take diuretics if necessary.

5. Stand with arms raised and pointing out from your sides, making pressure on the scale lighter.

6. Don't eat or drink in the morning until AFTER you've weighed in, completely naked of course.

7. Weigh yourself after a haircut, this is good for at least half a pound of hair (hopefully).

8. Exhale with all your might BEFORE stepping onto the scale (air has to weigh something, right?)

9. Start out with just one foot on the scale, then holding onto the towel rack in front of you, slowly edge your other foot on and slowly let off of the rack. Admittedly, this takes time, but its worth it. You will weigh at least two pounds less than if you'd stepped on normally. Note: You may want to stop letting go of the towel rack when you have reached your target weight.

Get a Grip!

Today and tomorrow I am going to be taking a bitter-sweet pill. Last week I had a family quit the piano. Today is their last lesson and tomorrow is their last recital. I've taught 5 of their children for a total of 5 1/2 years! They are home schooled children and they came to me for a "music" class. The mother stated that she didn't care if her children became pianists they just needed "music" lessons. Anyway, 3 of them are AWESOME pianists now. They LOVE the piano. The mom told me that she is cutting out all extra activities because she is just too overwhelmed. WOW! I cried, the kids were crying, they couldn't even look at me. I asked if it were a matter of money . . . she said no. I'd probably teach them for free. She is the parent who takes my "tuition policies" very seriously. She even paid me when they went on a 5 week vacation. I couldn't get her not to pay me while they were on that vacation, and they need the money!! I'd almost walk through fire for this family. Here's hoping they'll be back once the overwhelmed feeling goes away . . . but until then (or not) I need to GET A GRIP! I hate crying at recitals, but I guess I'll have to wear something with pockets and keep the Kleenex handy. Darn, I wish I could control those eye ducts!

Scary Skills

This week Lincoln is gone (again!) but this week he is actually doing some pretty intense First Aid training for his upcoming deployment. This isn't your everyday training he is taking. From talking to him you'd think the ONLY thing they are doing is learning how to give an IV. It must really be troubling him because he keeps bringing it up. Yesterday they practiced on a fake arm and today they are giving them to each other, YIKES! I'm glad I'm not Lincoln's IV buddy! Isn't that horrible? I guess I'll get to hear the gruesome results of IV giving tonight. This month he has been gone a lot. It is nice to have him on the weekends though. I need to count my blessings! (Kinda reminds me Sid, of when you had to give me my intravenous antibiotics, oh the queasiness!)

Yesterday

So many of my posts start with "yesterday . . ." and so is this one! Yesterday was Sunday. There were many things I enjoyed about yesterday.

Firstly, I got to sit with Lincoln in sacrament meeting . . . it was fun to see the bishop mouth the words "I'm jealous" to him. I don't think he is really jealous, because he'll still be with his family in a couple of weeks, and well . . . . Lincoln won't. . . . Lincoln also came in and sat in on my Sunday School class, how nice it was for him not to have any duties to perform!

Secondly, I've been training up some new organists (teenagers) in our ward and the only song I had to play at sacrament meeting was the closing hymn! Wooo Hooo!

Thirdly, it was so nice to see Chancy up blessing the sacrament, and McKay passing the sacrament. Even though our bench was empty, it was nice to see our boys doing their duty.

Fourthly, I had no complaints about my staying after church for choir practice because Lincoln entertained the boys (or threatened them, who knows which) and they didn't bug me the whole time about leaving!

Fifthly, we only had one car, ONE CAR, at church yesterday. I can't even remember the last time that happened!

Sixthly, Lincoln and I and McKay went to the "Tops In Blue" performance that was on the base. It is a group of airmen that travel around doing a musical show for the Air Force. It is usually really good and we felt it was a worthy Sunday activity.

Dedicated to LeeAnn

LeeAnn I couldn't resist teasing you about your comment on Stephanie's blog! My father used to sing this song to us all the time. He had (and so do I now) a song for almost every situation imaginable. Enjoy the below you-tube video! You'll have to pause my music on the sidebar to listen . . . . .

Does Your chewing gum lose it's flavor?

WOW!

Thanks Kiersten for the tip. . . . . Lincoln and I went and put gas in the truck for . . . . $1.98 . . . . at BJ's last night! We were so excited! We haven't seen that price for a long time, and frankly thought it'd never get there again. (It should be lower, based on the barrel price right now.) The weird thing is, all the other stations still had their gas in the $2.20 to even 2.45 range. I'm surprised there wasn't a huge line at BJ's. . . . I wished I hadn't filled up my Jetta, BJ's premium was only $2.18 and we paid much more than that to fill it. Excitement!

70 toes

Two of our 70 toes got broken yesterday. Lincoln takes a lot of trips, but this time he tripped down our stairs and got up with two broken toes. I told him to get them x-rayed, but like a man, he said he'd wait a day to see how they felt. Well, I guess they must have felt pretty bad because he went and got them looked at and yes, they are broken! The bruises look pretty weird. They are at the tips of his toes and just end in a straight line, I guess marking where he broke the toes. If I can, I'll sneak a picture and post it. JOY, ugly toe pictures! Poor guy!

Callingless

Yesterday Lincoln got released from his calling as 1st counselor in the bishopric because of his departure to the middle east shortly after Thanksgiving. This calling has been a blessing in our lives. Lincoln worked with the youth in the ward meaning he got to work with his own children. I didn't need to worry whether or not the kids were going to make it to their activities because Lincoln always took them. That baton will pass to me very soon. Lincoln hasn't been without a calling in a LONG time. I am kind of envious of him because he will be without a calling for almost 8 months. He has been inquiring through the military chaplains if there is a group of LDS members where he is going and hasn't found anything yet. The stake president here may make him a High Priest group leader before he goes so he can form something up. So, I guess he MAY NOT be callingless for 8 months, it just depends on what he finds when he gets where he is going!

Hanging by a thread

I've heard so much talk about the constitution hanging by a thread lately that this article interested me. It is an interview Glenn Beck did with Senator Hatch of Utah. They are both Mormon and both Republican. If you aren't interested in politics or their point of view, don't click the link. I just found it interesting and wanted to share it.

Hanging

Honey do, two

Yesterday I had a fabulous time with my honey. We did just normal everyday things, but to do them together was awesome. Why in the world would I ask him to take a Friday off when the weekend was looming ahead big and strong? Well, here I am 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning and I've been alone in the house for already 20 minutes. Weekends bring on commitments, and every last one of my boys, including my honey, are gone. I cherish my Friday with him, even though we went to a doctor appointment, the JAG office for power of attorney(s), grocery shopping, christmas shopping and lunch. Just hum-drum, but fun because we were together. I think I'm appreciating him more now that I know I'm going to be doing without for a while. This is what I love about being a military spouse. No taking for grantedness here!

Honey do

I asked my honey if he would take the day off today, and he DID!! I am so excited to spend the day with my most favorite person. Just thought I'd let you all know . . . . and I needed to get that political post moving down the line in the blogasphere. . . . . Have a GREAT day, I will!

Rollercoaster Ride

I could only keep my eyes peeled open until about 11 last night. I had my popcorn, my jammies, my nice warm bed and just couldn't keep my eyes open. But before my eyes closed shut the media was already declaring Obama the winner of the election, just 1 minute after the polls had closed on the west coast. Does this drive anyone nuts but me? How can they declare the winner (even though they are right most of time) before they even count the votes from the west coast and only 15% of the votes in some of the other states? DRIVES ME CRAZY!

Anyhow, this morning while watching the results I felt like I was getting on a long rollercoaster ride. I hate rollercoasters. There is no getting off. You are on for the duration. That is what the next four years will be like. Just like a rollercoaster there will be large dips, and the corresponding rises. It will be an interesting ride!

PS - I listen to talk radio a LOT. This morning McKay asked me, "What is Mark Levin going to talk about now?" Oh, McKay, he'll find A LOT to talk about now that Obama has been elected, you can be sure of that!!!

Fall leaves

This year, and every year the removal of leaves from our yard is a major, MAJOR undertaking. Usually we wait until they are all down and do a big day of raking and blowing. THIS year, we've taken a different approach, we've already gotten rid of quite a few barrels of leaves by getting them ready for the wonderful free weekly yard-waste-pick-up that our county has. If the county didn't do this we'd all be covered up to our eyebrows in leaves! Our first year we tried bagging the leaves, and at about 150 bags we decided there had to be a better (and cheaper) way. You have to put them in huge paper bags (no plastic) in order for the county to pick them up. Now we have tarps that we "bag" them in. We pile them on our truck and we look like the Beverly Hillbillies with leaves stacked up at least 3 times the heigth of the truck, and several truck loads worth of that. We have 32 trees in our yard, most of them oak trees that are probably hundreds of years old and very big and have LOTS of leaves.

This year, I am very nervous. I keep looking up at the leaves and thinking "FALL! baby FALL!" Lincoln will be leaving at the end of the month and I do not, DO NOT want to do leaf pick up without him. We need muscles to get those tarps in the truck! I don't even have Justin this year . . . (maybe I can get Justin and a few friends to come, hmmmmm) Those leaves keep sticking up in the trees and yard-waste-pick-up ends in December. So fall, leaves FALL!

Need I say more?

Thanks Becky . . . I'm using your cartoon, and sorry dad . . . I know you won't like these.

Tomorrow is one exciting day . . . I'll be glued to the TV all night! GO VOTE!

Surprise!

I decided to give my sister a surprise 40th birthday party. This is a big undertaking for me because I am not a "party girl." It was a labor of love, and didn't seem as big as I thought it would be. All my worries were for nought. It turned out great! (If I do say so myself)

The food was really fun to put together, I didn't get a picture of the "bloody bones" which was manicotti with mushrooms poking out each end. They really did look like bones! Above are "finger" sandwiches and a ghostly sandwich in the middle. Below, are eyeballs!The scene: I forgot to get any pictures of the "before decor" so here is the aftermath. McKay wanted to help me decorate, and so on Halloween morning I woke him up for school and said, "if you get dressed quick, we can decorate before you leave!" I've never seen him get up and ready so fast in my life! Below is some of the crowd. Trudy's kids, and the Tripp's can be seen in this picture.Below is the birthday girl talking to my dad. The Hayes, Brooke and Brenda are the two on the right. The craft table. Wow, did this keep the kids busy for quite a while. All I did was set out paper, paint and a few goodies, and with no ideas they went to town and came up with some really great creations. This picture has Ceci and Stevie, the Tripp children and some of the Rich Henrichson children in it. The adult game . . . . we played Bonco, the non-gambling version. The winners got to pick a treat out of my piano treat bag. This is the head table, from the left is Steve, Trudy the birthday girl, Lincoln and Steve Tripp.

Fun! Fun!