Holidays Recaptured

We spent the early hours of Thanksgiving Day at the Mini-Cassia Turkey Trot. Let me tell you- it was FREZZING COLD! My thermometer in my car said 11 degrees on the way down. Mikayla and Brad went with me since everyone else wanted to sleep in! Stephanie called the night before and wasn't sure if she was coming since it was so cold, but she and Brooke and Lindsay all came down to trot with us.

Stephanie is a runner and she decided to run with the group. I did not get the running gene so I walked. Sally took pity on me and walked with me and the kids were all right behind us. Stephanie finished her three miles in about 33 minutes so she came walking back to find us. Good thing she didn't wait for us because I think we finished in 50 something minutes!

Mikayla and Brad posed with the mascot for the Turkey Trot before the race. The whole trot is put on by some of my cousins and I was really excited to take part in it this year! All of the proceeds go to a local fire department and other local causes and it was really fun to do something that was good for our community and also good for my health!

MIA

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. There is so much going on this time of year that it's all I can do to keep up. It seems like I run and run all day and just get home in time to fall into bed and do it all over again the next day.

Chelsey turned 14 on Wednesday! Since it seems like she always gets ripped off (her birthday so close to Christmas has always been bad), I planned a night out at Doc's Pizza for our family and her grandparents. On the way there, she got sick and threw up all over outside the restaurant. She was so miserable, she didn't even look at the food much less eat any! I felt so bad for her. She got lots of great gifts, though, so hopefully that made her feel better. I told her she will never forget her 14th birthday!

The flu that got Chelsey also got the rest of us. One by one, we get it for a day or two and then we pass it on. It's horrible! I felt like I was run over by a truck! Every muscle and joint ached. My lower back was the worst; I truly wanted to die the other night! Poor Treven is taking his turn today. He just keeps telling me, "Mom, I feel yucky. Can't you do something?" I wish that I could get sick again myself so he would be his normal, happy-go-lucky self. He missed the best day of school ever!

Sally came and helped me get all of the secret santa things delivered yesterday. It sure made me appreciate how hard my husband works so we have a nice, warm home to live in! Sometimes I take for granted that most of us are all a paycheck away from being homeless...

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their holiday season! I probably won't have much time to blog next week, so please know that you are all in our thoughts and prayers and we love you!

Family Give

Most of you already know that my family has been doing a series of gives each month for the past year. I can't tell you what a difference it has made; not only to others, but to me as well. It was really hard for me to quit working and go back to living on one income. I was so used to having some of my own spending money and doing pretty much whatever I wanted, that it was quite a reality shock. All of a sudden, I had to wait for payday to take the kids to the movies or out for lunch. Doing these gives has helped me see that there are those that don't get to wait for payday because the only payday they get is unemployment checks that don't even really cover their rent and utilities. There isn't money for McDonalds because there isn't money for shoes for the kids. There are people that don't have a nice warm home to come to at the end of a long day; they get to go to a soup kitchen and pray there is still food left. When I get to see my family and share holidays with them, there are elderly people in homes that dont have anyone but the workers to share their holidays with.

I am so proud of everyone in my family that has joined us month after month on this adventure. It has truly blessed me in so many ways and it has helped teach my kids that life isn't about getting the newest electronic or material things we want. It's about helping others, feeling compassion for fellow human beings, doing whatever little bit that you can to make the world a better place. That's what this life is about! About 10 years ago, the WWJD thing was really big. I believe that this is What Jesus Would Do; help others every single day of his life! He lived His life for others and in the end gave the ultimate sacrifice. None of us have ever been asked to die for anyone, so really...is it any trouble to visit old folks who have nobody or to donate a toy or a new coat now and then? I think not!!!

Blog Hop Update

Ashley did some really cute packaging ideas for the December Blog Hop. Click on A Creative Day on the blog list to the right to see her fun projects!

December Blog Hop Projects

This is a box that I bought several years ago from Papertrey Ink. I filled the bottom with candy cane Hershey kisses and then tucked a gift card on top. No one will guess what's inside! I covered the box with some of the new Christmas paper from Stampin' Up.



These are some of the tags I created to match my tree. I picked different colors this year and I couldn't find anything that matched, so I made my own! Love them and it only took about 2 hours to make 80 tags. I used the same Christmas paper that I used on the gift box.

Check out Forever Lois' blog and see what fun things she came up with this month! The theme for the January 1st hop, is "ALL THAT GLITTERS!" With a new year fast approaching and all the glittery snow we've had dumped on us, there is inspiration for this theme everywhere!

Blog Hop Reminder

Just a quick reminder that Wednesday is the first of the month and time again for our crafty blog hop! The theme for this month was Boxes, Bags, Tags...Oh My! I'm looking for creative ways to package Christmas gifts. Please let me know if you are participating so I can get everyone's blog addresses! Can't wait to get some new ideas!!!

Thanksgiving Blessings

I know that I am a day late, but better late than never! It was just too busy yesterday to sit here and post! I am so thankful for my family. A husband that works his tail off so I can stay home and take care of our kids. What a blessing! I've seen all of their first steps and I get to do the room mother thing...no greater gift that he could give our family! I'm thankful for five gorgeous, healthy kids who give me a reason to get up every morning. My sun rises and sets in these angels. All I have ever wanted to be from the time I was a child was to be a mom! I hear others complain about their kids, but I honestly enjoy spending time with them. They are awesome! I'm grateful for mine and Gary's extended families. There truly is no greater blessing than family and we love getting together with our parents, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews. We know that if we ever needed anything, all we have to do is ask! I'm thankful for the home that I have. I always joke that I will die in this house because I hate moving. Really, I just want to die in this house because it's so perfect for us. Aside from being a bathroom or two short! LOL! Seriously, I love everything about our house: the big lawn, the clothesline, the cabin, the creek that runs behind it, the windows in the dining room, the huge laundry/craft room that is always a disaster! I especially love living in such a small town. My kids can play outside and I don't worry that they will be kidnapped or anything. I know every single kid in the school and all of their parents. Way cool! I'm also blessed to have so many friends. I know that we don't get to see everyone as much as we would like, but I know they are there for us and we are there for them, no matter what! It's so awesome knowing there are so many friends out there who have your back! I am thankful to live in America. Sometimes I really worry about where our country is headed, but I still believe it's better here than most anywhere else. Who wants to live in North Korea or Iraq? There are so many opportunities here and I appreciate being here. Lastly, I am so thankful for God. Without his grace and mercy, where would I be? I am thankful for the forgiveness He freely gives and for His son dying on the cross to save little old pitiful me! His gift was the ultimate sacrifice and I am so thankful for it!

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Red Ribbon Week continued

So...day 2 of our Red Ribbon Week festivities was "Drugs turn you inside out". The kids all wore their clothes inside out to school and I took little bags of pretzels with the phrase on it. Sorry, but I didn't take any pictures of that! I also was at the school at 7:30 am and the kids brought pictures of things they could do instead of drugs and we glued them on some big posterboards and hung them in the hallway. On Wednesday, we had "Drug Free Rocks!" day. The kids came to school dressed as rock stars (there is my little rocker above!) and I passed out pop rock candy with the slogan on it. We also gave the kids sheets of paper for them to make a poster on. They could draw a picture of something they could do instead of drugs, a picture of what you look like on drugs, generally anything anti-drug. We had some really cool posters, but in the end Kadan won for the little kids and Hadley won for the older kids. They each got a giant candy bar. The last day was our Halloween party so we combined the two themes and had "Say BOO to drugs" day. They got to dress up in their costumes and we took them trick or treating to local businesses. They loved bring outdoors and I think it was way better than playing games cooped up in the lunchroom. When we got back to the school, they each got bags of candy with our slogan on it and everyone that had participated in the fun all week got an anti-drug water bottle. We had an awesome week and I hope the kids had a good time!

Red Ribbon Week

I have been helping the Albion PTO this year and our carnival was scheduled for the same week as Red Ribbon Week. There aren't many of us in the PTO and the other lady was taking on the school raffle, so I volunteered to take over Red Ribbon Week (Drug Awareness Week). On Monday, the kids were asked to wear red to school and sign drug-free pledges.

Then I went in and blew up balloons and tied the pledges to each of the balloons. We scheduled the send off for 3:30 since it's right before school gets out. We gathered in the hallway and then we went outside. We counted down and the kids released their balloons.

They were so excited to watch their balloons fly so high. The wind was blowing really hard that day and they took off like crazy! We watched and watched until we couldn't see any balloons anymore. A few days later, one of the boys said he found his own balloon on a fence post by one of the fields his dad owns. Pretty cool! If I do Red Ribbon Week again next year, this is a MUST activity!

Just Dance Part 2 (noone is safe!) ha ha

Because I am feeling somewhat evil today and because I think they were so great, the guys get one more picture for the whole internet world to see! David, Gary, Jason, and Keven were good sports! They deserve an extra 15 minutes of fame for their dance!!!

My nephew, Taylor wanted to play SO BADLY! His older brother, Christopher, absolutely did not want to play and Taylor really didn't want to do it without him. He begged and pleaded and Chris still refused. Finally, Taylor gave up and danced with the girls. He had so much fun that all of a sudden he didn't care if he was the only boy dancing! After a bit, Chris wanted in on the fun, too, so he and Treven danced with Taylor. By the end of the night, I think we had more than one boy addicted to it!


One last shot of our family night. This is Natalie, Lindsay, Mikayla, and Braquel dancing. I have to say how grateful I am for my family. We don't get together as much as we did when the kids were little because it seems like we all have kids running in so many different directions, but we have so much fun when we do see each other. I especially appreciate my sister-in-law, Robin who takes the time out of her busy schedule to drive two hours each way to come and participate with us. We love having all of the kids together and it's so great to see the boys. If it wasn't for selflessness, we would hardly ever get to see them. Love you guys! Anyway, I really appreciate all of my family for being so awesome! I don't know what I would do without all of you!

Just Dance

After the straw maze and dinner, we all crowded into the living room and played Just Dance 2...wow! It was so much fun! For those that don't know what the game is, you play it through the wii. There are tons of songs to choose from and you basically just do what the guy on the screen is doing. It keeps track of points for how well you do what the icon is doing and then it ranks the players. It is such a kick! This is Stephanie, Sally, and my mom dancing to Proud Mary. Robin is also there, but my living room is so small that we were too tight to get everyone in the picture!

Believe it or not, but even the guys got in on the dancing. David, Jason, Gary, and Keven all did a number. I was so busy laughing I thought I would wet my pants! Anybody that knows Gary and I very well, knows that we DON'T dance-EVER! It was really neat that he would get out there and do it, though. The girls have bugged him since we got Just Dance 1 to try it and he never would. Amazing what the peer pressure will do!

Here are the professionals of the game! Ivy, Lindsay, Mikayla, and Chelsey! They are so fun to watch because they can all keep up with the dancer dude on the screen and they look like they are in sync. It's not just a mass of arms and legs when they dance! Notice Ellie in the picture? She crowded in and danced almost every song! She's quite the little dancer with that wild hair! Stay posted and I'll get some more Just Dance pictures soon!

Gibbons Harvest Party part 2

More fun at the straw maze! Mikayla and Brad started out with us, but I think we were too slow for them! Mikayla's friend, Lindsay, and her family own and operate the straw maze...which we highly recommend! It was so much fun and since we had such a large age span for the kids, it worked out really well for everyone!

Since Jason and Sally were late, we went through the maze once and then again when they got there. Sam was so excited so Dave and I decided to hide in the maze and try to scare him! I think we ended up scaring ourselves more than him! He thought it was pretty funny!

There were lots of holes in the straw. At first I thought it was animals burrowing in the straw bales to stay warm. Then I decided it was from the workers peeking through to see who was coming. I'm thinking they might even use the holes to reach through and GRAB people! I was glad we went to the non-haunted version because I can't imagine walking through the maze in the dark and not knowing when someone was going to jump out and grab me!

Gibbons Harvest Party

On the 23rd of October, we had a family get together. It's been a really long time since we've had one (I think it was Easter) so I decided it was time. We met at the straw maze at the bottom of the Albion grade to start. We had so much fun! It was kind of trying to rain and it was chilly, but once you got inside of the straw, it really wasn't too bad. This is the entire crew after we got through the maze. Christopher and Taylor and Treven were maze geniuses-they had to come in and rescue a few of us!

Here we are as we are starting inside. You would think that it would be easy to find your way out, but when you're inside, you can't see anything but straw. You get really disoriented and it's hard to tell where you have already been!

These are two of my nieces, Natalie and Whitney. We had already gone through the maze when they got there, so we went again. I'll post some more of the straw maze pictures tomorrow! And coming up, Just Dance 2 pictures...you're gonna love them!

Fall Treats

Our school carnival was last week and each of the kids are asked to bring some kind of homemade treat or cake for the cake walk. I made three pans of these spiderweb brownies to take. I was pleasantly surprised when they were some of the first treats chosen!

The night before the carnival, the PTO president called and asked me if I had planned on making cinnamon rolls. I really hadn't planned on it since I work on Wednesdays and the carnival was on Thursday. We were a little concerned that we wouldn't have enough for the dinner, so I whipped out a batch Thursday morning. Honestly, I have NEVER made cinnamon rolls before, but they turned out super yummy! I will definately be doing this again-only for us and not the school!

Watch out, Bad Boys!

Is it just me or are the cops supposed to be after the bad guys...not themselves? This kids is just too funny!


Check out the intensity on Treven's face...he really makes me laugh. Mikayla has a great big purple bike that Treven insisted he ride while we trick or treated. It was ten times too big for him and it had two flat tires. He pouted and cried until we finally told him he could ride it until it got dark. We followed him in the car and laughed the whole way. He looked like one of the old delivery guys with his hat and bike. About halfway through the night, the chain on that poor old bike broke right in half and he had to walk it the rest of the way home. Valuable trick or treat time wasted!

Bat-a-rina

Ellie loves to dance so the bat-a-rina costume was a perfect choice for her. She looked so stinkin' cute! The only problem we had was her bat wings were too big and the only way they had to attach them was a tiny piece of velcro. We tried pinning them, but it didn't work too well. I should have tried the costume on her before that night and stitched the wings right onto her shirt!

Blog Hop- House and Home

Sorry this post is so late today; normally I like to post first thing in the morning. Anyway, our theme for October was "House and Home" and crafts could consist of anything that related to our theme. I made a basket to welcome a new neighbor. I also made a card to stick in the basket.


The basket included various treats: homemade cinnamon rolls, packets of hot cocoa, a bag full of marshmallows, a seasonal dishtowel, and a pumpkin spice candle.

Check out the link to Forever Lois, she made a really cute project for this month's blog! You will love it! The theme for December 1st is : BOXES,BAGS,TAGS...OH MY! Show us the creative ways you wrap your gifts, fun gift ideas, etc!

Blog Hop Coming Soon!

I intended to run into town first thing this morning so I could download the pictures of my blog hop project and get them posted. However, Mikayla went to basketball try-outs this morning and nearly passed out. She got dizzy and disoriented and now has a screaming headache. The ocach thinks it was low blood sugar combined with a sudden increase in pysical activity. I'm concerned it may have something to do with lingering effects of her concussion last January. So to be safe, I went and picked her up. She is sleeping now so I will go to town when she wakes up. I don't want to leave her alone just in case she feels like passing out again. I will be home as quick as I can and get the blog hop pictures up and going. Thanks for being patient!

Dusty

We went to a bbq at a friends' house and ended up with this dog! Gary and I both swore we would never have another dog. We don't have the time or the energy that being a responsible do owner entails...Treven has been crying and begging for a dog for so long and we kept telling him no. At this bbq, though, Treven carried poor Dusty around all night. My friend asked Treven is maybe he could just keep him overnight for her. We finally agreed and she promised she would come get him if he was any trouble at all. That was a month ago...guess who is still at our house? Guess who will be staying at our house?

Treven loves the dog and he has been a pretty good dog. We've had to chain him up outside because he is so friendly that if we aren't home, he will go to the neighbors to find someone to play with him. I'm afraid he may end up running into the road and getting hit, so when we can't be outside with him, he has to be on the chain. He stays right with us when we are outside, though. He will run after Treven or just come sit by my feet. He does jump a little, but we are working on that. He's pretty good about sitting and lying down already. He sort of plays fetch, too. I think if we work with him enough he will turn out to be a good dog. He loves kids so that will be a plus.

Ellie loves him, too. She is the one he tends to jump on, mostly because he is excited she is out there. She loves to play with him, but she likes him better from about 10 feet away. She's not too sure about his wet kisses and wiggly tail!

Here are a few more of the Halloween projects I have done. The flowers are part of a floral arrangement I did that sits by our front door. The bib is from the same glow in the dark fabric that I made dishtowels out of for our family reunion. It was so cute I couldn't resist. I also made Treven a pillowcase out of the same material. The ladies at the fabric store probably thought I was crazy; I just kept going back for more! The sign was just a cheap old frame from the dollar store that I put a vinyl sign over. I used some patterned paper for the background and did a bit of rubbing and VOILA! Easy as can be. It looks cool, on my shelf, though. I placed some bottles with colored water by it so it kind of looks neat!

Weekly Menu

Monday: chicken gravy over mashed potatoes, green beans

Tuesday: Crockpot lasagna, green salad, garlic bread

Wednesday: hamburger helper, corn (don't laugh; it's Treven's favorite)

Thursday: school carnival-chili and cinnamon rolls

Friday: shepherd's pie, bubble bread

Saturday: white chicken chili, cornbread

Sunday: salmon, baked potatoes, green salad

Breakfast:
Monday: cream of wheat
Tuesday: muffins, pears
Wednesday: cold cereal
Thursday: applesauce and granola bars
Friday: waffles

Years ago, my mom made a ribbon holder for the girls. Now that we have Ellie, we needed another one! I looked everywhere for some wooden rings, but I couldn't find any, so I bought a package of 12 shower curtain rings instead! Worked great and I got to finish what I had going on in my head! I bought a spool of the polka dot ribbon and ended up getting 4 holders! I threaded the ribbon through the ring and sewed a straight line across the ribbon to hold it in place. Then I embellished the stitched line with flowers to cover it up.

When I was buying my ribbon and rings, I bought 6" of various colors of satin to make bows. You use several various sizes of circles and burn them to make them curl. Put a brad through the circles to hold them in place and glue onto a clippie and you have an easy but cute hairbow. One trick I learned, though...don't use a lighter to burn the edges. It burns the living daylights out of your fingers. Spend the extra couple of bucks and buy one of those aim-a-flame things! Way worth the money!!! These are fairly small and not too curled because they were for Ellie. When I made some for the older girls, I used bigger circles and curled the edges more. It looked funny on such a little girl, though, to have them so curled.

Here is the final project finished and hairbows all in place. No more smashed bows or digging through the drawer to find the one you're looking for!

This is reality, folks!

Welcome to my life...I know I showed pictures of Ellie and her beef stroganoff, but seriously...this is reality. Every day reality in all of it's glory! This is what makes up my days...cook breakfast, clean it(and Ellie) up. Cook lunch, clean it (and Ellie) up. Clean house (clean Ellie's face at least two more times). Cook dinner, clean it (and Ellie) up. This is what being Ellie's mom is all about and believe me, we couldn't stage this kind of mess even if we wanted to! I've decided that there is nothing I can do to change the fact that I have a mess maker; I'm going to sit back and enjoy it while she is still little...and take lots of pictures!

Lagoon Pictures

We went to Lagoon a week ago or so. We had so much fun! I was going to leave Ellie with my mom, but Gary thought we should take her with us...I really thought we were headed straight to DisasterVille! She was so incredibly good, though! She didn't have a nap all day and still she was smiling and stayed in the wagon even when the older kids were riding and she wasn't. The kids had a ball and we really didn't have too much fighting or arguing about which ride was next. They got me on Collosus twice and Wicked once. Gary didn't feel up to riding any of those rides so it fell on my shoulders...he stayed with Ellie. When it came down to the haunted houses, he took over and I stayed with Ellie. During Frightmares, they have people dressed up and walking around the streets. While they were in line for the haunted house, one came right up behind Mikayla's shoulder. She knew he was there, but she didn't want to turn around and look so she threw a fake punch over her shoulder. He was so close to her, though, that she popped him right in the chin! Pretty funny! The three older kids all got tattoos before we left and then we went to Red Lobster for dinner again. Treven insisted he wanted lobster. He was told no so he said, "fine. I'll have crab." He ended up with popcorn shrimp and then he ate almost all of my crab legs.We had a good time and it was nice to spend time as a family!