Sunday, November 28, 2010

I was going to make grilled cheese - but went with this instead

I put at least a months worth of planning into this one night.
I sent out my invites, and had 12 of the most important people in my life come over to my house for Thanksgiving Dinner.
It was so muhc fun, making the menu, shopping for the food and decorations. and
Finally sitting down ( in between two toddler boys) and just taking a deep deep breathe,
lookin garound the table and just enjoying the moment.

It was a great night!

I got a table from Keiths work, and set it FOR 12 PEOPLE in my livingroom




I need to remind you, or tell you, that Keith had recently used my camera to go hunting,
and left it in the truck, needless to say, on the eve of thanksgiving, I went to get it, and the batteries were gone! not litterally, but they didnt work..
anyhoo
I had to use my familes pics..
( which are good :D)


I had six pies..

A pecan, A custard, An apple, A homeade chocolate creme, a pear, and a pumkpin..



Austin was so hyper, it may have been the peppermint patty, or just the fact that there were millions of people around..
He had a blast playing with Joaquin..




After it was over, and the house was back to normal..
All three of us were sooo tired, for the past three days, all we do is sleep.
I assume we are coming down with something. But Keith and Austin have no symptoms, maybe it was the
TWO turkeys I made BY MYSELF..

yes, yes I am tooting my own horn..

Anyhoo
This morning I woke up, feeling a lot better.

I could not be more excited for Christmas.
Which yes, I did decorate, and I will have pictures after I get new batteries tonight...

Happy Holidays!!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Pre-Thanksgivng week(END)

I have got the itch..
To cook!  and Bake!

I am so excited about this thanksgiving.
I have a large ( in my eyes, maybe because its my first time)
guest list, of all the most important people in my life.

My sister, and her sons are coming, and that is the best part.

Being together. Eating, laughing and just having fun!

Growing up, I never really liked thanksgiving, no presents, tons of people, lots of dishes..

But now, that  I am grown I love it. It is one of my favorite.

And this month makes me realize everything that I have to be thankful for.
I am so thankful for all the people in my life, who are there for me, and my son and husband.
Who love us, and who always will.

I sincerly Love-Love-Love
my life.
Especially becauce of the path that brought me here. A more honest, REAL place.

Things like watching my son seperate blocks..





Can you see that he has my Christmas love gene??

red and green.. :)





Watching him eat pudding by himself, without any help. OR a mess!



Friday I got ALL of the shopping done for thanksgiving.

That means no more heavily crowded aisles that seem to shrink this time of year, no bumping elbows with people running for the last cranberry can. No more long lines, that take 30 minutes.
ALL DONE!!

And the best part??


Wednesday, November 17, 2010

A. or B.

You tell me..
what you think..

A.
horizontial



B. vertical


A taste of Thanksgiving


This year is my FIRST, ever
annual thanksgiving party, that
I AM HOSTING..
( I know, can you belive it)

This is a taste of my decor and menu,
I am trying to remain un-nerved
and VERY well
prepared!!!





These are my center peices / decor..
The top one, has candles in them. and the bottom
is a pot with fallish flowers.


These are platters, and a cool gravy boat.
( 2.39)


These are cool fall plates, that I hope will be used for years to come
oh and the napkin ring and ORANGE napkins.
( I kindda thing the orange is too much.. but oh well)





Here is my dilemma, I need to know which way to place my place settings..
horizontial or vertical??
What do you, my bloggie buddies, think?

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

the 8 things you NEEDED to know...

1. School..School...School... I am sooo swamped with school. I have two online courses, thats two midterms this week, two term papers, two EVERYTHING.. I have been so concentrated on this.. And luckily it worked. I have an A in BOTH classes... YAY me!!

2. School... AGAIN.. my on campus class, is ALL skills. Basically learning the actualy stuff I will be doing.. e.g. vitals, ekgs, injections, drawing blood.. and luckily I have a B in this class.

3. Stupid fall weather. The weather is so bouncy.. up and down.. one day its 70, the next its 50.. it can get down to 30 at night and thus, making mama bear sick sick sick. I blame it on the girls in my class, who claim they will not miss a class even if they are puking up guts..  I BLAME you girls. Now... I am sick.. BUT. I cannot REALLY blame them, because if we miss a class, we pretty much fail. so tonight I will be treching it class. tissue box in hand. NOT MISSING A CLASS...

4. Austin.. My little ear infection baby.. 9 so far in his two years here. geeesh. He is actually doing a lot better, the croup is gone, and no sign of ear infection. A lingering cough is the only thing thats left.

5. Hunting Season. The time of year that makes husbands all over the state start acting deer crazed. Which ironically coninsides with " The Rut" which is the time of year that all the male deer go doe crazy. So.. in conclusion. My husband is in " the deer rut" he eat, sleeps, talks, and LIVES all things deer. This includes buying doe urine ( which smells BAD fyi ) it means calling all his friends and family to talk about deer, he probally dreams about deer, and he definatly smells like a deer, with all this scentless soap and stuff.
I.cannot.wait.till.December.

6. Thanksgiving. YAY! I am hosting our FIRST annual family dinner. I sent out cute invitations, and everything. I have ( including me and keith) 7 adults and one very cute little toddler attending. I have the most beautiful menu planned. and 3 delisious pies.. I am so excited!!!

oh did I forget to mention. This is my first turkey.. I cannot lie.. I may be a wee bit nervous.. JUST KIDDING.. I am sure  I will be fine..

this is definatly MY THING. I love planning and decorating and cooking and hosting..

 7. and once this day is over.
ITS THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME... OF THE YEAR...
CHRISTMAS DECORATING..
every year sinse I can remember we have decorated the day after thanksgiving. This year will be no differnt.

8. without a doubt, I am the happiest girl, the luckiest girl and very very thankful for all that I have.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Veterans Day!

People in this era get so caught up in their own little worlds, and I mean ESPECIALLY Americans, however all human kind is built for survival mode, and henseforth put themselves first. Its human nature and cannot be argued.

Anyhoo..
Today could have been a normal day, a day where MY husband still had to work, and I had to still got to school, but all the youngsters got the day off, banks and doctors offices and post offices were closed. It could have been, and WAS for a lot of people - just that.
I could sit here and complain about the idiocracy of taking this day off, when NOONE celbrates it, its corpriate Americas way of taking a break, while I get stuck getting behind in my netflix movies because the mail didnt run.

However, I am a true American, one of my MANY nicknames in high school was PATRIOTIC BACON..

I LOVE America, not saying that others do not.
But the severity of the military and what they actaully do for us.. its real, and hard core, and people dont really grasp it.

I feel that WE owe them.. We owe them EVERYTHING, so the least we can do is take a day off from our self absorbed lives, and celbrate the ULTIMATE sacrifice they made by free choice.
Without them, we would NOT be free. and because we all know that freedom did NOT come, and to this day is still NOT free, we honor those who have fallen FOR US..
Ones who have mothers, and wives, and unborn babies, and little kids back home missing and praying for them, you can bet they DONT FORGET..
And neither should we.

We also, need to get out of our delusion idea of " world peace" " everything will be fine" and remember WHY we are fighting in the first place. what and who those men/women are fighting FOR..

Ah..
Everytime I see someone who is or has served for us, I make it a point to thank them. Because its the least that I, an American civilian can do for what they do for me.

SO.

Thank you..
and the BIGGEST veteran I have the pleasure of calling my grandfather,
James M. Keen, I give a special thanks to you gramps.

I look up to you, and thank you for serving OUR country for ever 20 years.
I love you!


Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Miss Petigree Lives for the Day

Today I watched a movie I had been harboring for almost a year.

It's called- ' Miss Petigree lives for the day' Loreda gave it to me to watch months ago, because I had

complained of not having any good movies. I had never got around to watching it, because it happened to be

the same time I fell into a new television series- Greys Anatomy..


Months drew on, and I had sort of forgotten about it.

July came, and its presense was hard to miss, after Loreda passed, I kept thinking about it,

I wanted to save it for a specail time, because in a strange way, it made me feel close to her again.



It brings up all the things we wished we would have done, I went to her house for family dinner with the

boys, but I WISH I would have gone more often, I called her but I WISH we talked more, I WISH we

were closer, I WISH she was still here.


The scariest things in life are the things that are going to happen either way..

aging is so scary, death is so scary, thinking about losing the people that have such a huge impact on you is

so hard to grasp.

Thinking about watching my baby grow up. Is good, and the good outweighs the bad. The bad keep me

grounded. Because I know that the good is so much more amazing.

I think about the " bigger picture" instead of the right now, because the right now, is not perfect, I dont have a

job, I am working so hard to get done with school, so we can get into my career, and not have to worry so

much about money. The BIG picture is the future, the here and now, everything is temorary, and these are all

things I know Loreda would have told me if I ever forgot.


This movie - was good.

I am not sure if it was because I know Loreda loved it, or if it was just a cute little movie.

I think it was both.

It made me happy, it made me sad.


I miss Loreda so much, so much my core throbs with pain..

But Austin and I watched it this afternoon, he would not fall asleep, so I cradled my feverish croupy toddler in my arms, wrapped up in a blanket, and watched it.

It was a good feeling. and a good movie..

You should watch it ..

Espeically if you knew loreda and want to feel close to her for a couple hundred minuetes..



Sunday, November 7, 2010

Thanks-weekend

This weekend was the absolute best..

I want to say, that I know it sounds cheesy but it was so great, and PERFECT..
I love my life. And have so much to be thankful for.

which brings me to my thanks..

Austin spent the night at his GREAT-grammies..

This leads me into my Thanks..

When I was pregnant ( and my whole life before then)
My grandmother was always there for me, seriously the BEST grandmother IN THE WHOLE WORLD..
She came to all my appointments ( I was too fat to drive at the end there)
after he was born..
And I was all sore and recovering..
She came over in the mornings we watched GSN, drank coffee ( me decaf) She let me take cat naps, we talked, we shopped, it was so great. Just thinking about everything she has ever done for me makes me want to cry.
She and Austin have such a close bond, and I think its because of the time spent together WITH him.
He loves her so much, and so do I.
I am so blessed to have this kind of relationship and DOUBLY blessed that Austin gets too too..

I am so in Love with my life..

Sunday..
 went to get Bubba, Keith had ALOT of things to do.
( including deer stuff)
SO I thought I would be a big helper and ge tout of his hair.
We went to Friendlys for lunch with my gal friend and her 3 year old daughter.
It was so fun!
He was such a good boy, he ate his lunch AND a monster mash sundae
THEN..
we went to Jokers.. he had a blast..
so did I.
It made me even more excited to go places..
oh boy.. I love this little boy soooo much!

Austin had so much fun at jokers..




Friday, November 5, 2010

Today I am thankful for..

Days like this, when I feel so stuffed up my head could explode, I feel like not doing anything..
anyhoo...

Today I am thankful for my husband.
We met almost five years ago ( four and a half actually)
After one year, were engaged, 9 months later, were married, and one year after that we had Austin.
I knew we would be together, or that I wanted to be with him FOREVER since that first Spring.
 we are young, we are crazy kids..
and are learning about this thing called marraige, and I admit we have been through a lot, but
it was all for a purpose - to bring us closer together..
It's weird, but it worked..

Keith is my best friend, yes.. we do disagree sometimes, but I like it that way, if we always agreed we never would have any fun! ;)
seriously..
He is a really hard worker, and really puts time into making something of himself, his hard work pays off, and he puts an effort into our goals and dreams, in a way that I know they will come true..
He is the best father, I would EVER hope to have for my children..

Overall, I Seriously do not want to imagine my life without him in it.
Or my life without him as my partner.
I look forward to getting older, and growing older, together..
for better or worse..
I love you Keith Mosher..

Round Three

Austin was born in the harshness of Winter, in fact the day we brought him home  there was a blizzard..
It seems that it is in his blood to get sick every. single. winter.. ( I know its not winter yet)

When he was an infant, and we were new parents, he got sick three or four times before summer time. Ear infections, colds, things like this.
Then last fall we got the flu ( yes, the BAD flu) and that winter came with four more ear infections, two that lasted over a month and a half.
This year, it is only November and he has already gotten TWO ear infections, IN BOTH EARS..
A sinus infection, AND now croup. 
I feel so bad for him, because he can hardly breathe and when he coughs he sounds like a seal asking for more food...

I ask the Doctor if this is normal for his age, Keith and I both had severe ear issues growing up,
now I have scarred drums, and he is hard of earing, we think this might be why austin is more prone to getting sick.

She said that at the 24 month check up, they count up all the infections and if its a high number ( she thinks hes had 9 in his life so far) then they refer him to an ENT specialist.
TUBES..
She also said that if he has to go back within the next two months, before his 25 month, then she will refer him to the specialist..
Tubes sound scary to me, but my research has shown that it can be quite helpful..

anyhoo
two nights ago we ended up in the E.R. with the sealy dog bark I mentioned.
I had never heard it before and was scared senseless..
They gave him some med.. and a nepulizer and he is doing much better..





This is Austin at the hospital at 2  in the morning..
His spirits rarely get down.



Thursday, November 4, 2010

A whole Month of thanks??? geesh

On THIS  Blog I follow
The author urged her readers to join her in a whole month of thanks, each day sharing one thing you are thankful, leading up to the BIG thanks day.. TURKEY DAY at the end of the month..

I think this is a lovely idea, I think it will be a good exercise in remember my blessing.
I have a late start, but am gonna catch up TONIGHT..
( Austin has had this croupe, and a ear infection in BOTH ears, added to my overloaded plate of SCHOOL)
anyhoo.
I got four days to catch up on.
so here goes..

Day #1. I am thankful for my health, I am in school right now, leaning about diseases and sickness, and how to treat them as a nurse. I somtimes forget that I am healthy and my husband is healthy ( almost completly, he just quit smoking) and our son is healthy. I get caught up in the NOW, and just have so much to truly be thankful for..

Day #2. I am thankful for being an American. I am thankful for my rights as an american, I am thankful for the freedoms and liberties that we sometimes forget were so hard to attain so long ago for our ancestors, I am so greatful to the men and women who put their lives on the line every day, for me! Even when they have kids and husbands and wives at home just like me. They are heros.

Day # 3 Gaga.. As I call her. You would maybe know her as Margaret, some wouldnt know her at all, and just KNOW that she is the one who watches my son while there is layover time between Keith working and me going to school. I am thankful that right now I dont have to send my son into a daycare that I dont know anything about, or one that has no emotional attachment to my son ( I am sure that they are great)
I love having a family member who has run her daycare for what? over 50 years? She raised me in the daycare ( by raised I mean, daycared me) and she is so great. I trust her 200% with Austin, he loves her, and calls her " nana" He loves being around his cousins,( and there are enough to go around in this family) And I just love that there is no doubts about her. She is a truly amazing women. And I love her so very much!

Day # 4. Today, I am thankful for my neighbors. They are my family, and my friends. I feel it was a relationship a long time in the making, The father of my "real" father, whom I had never met. BUT when I did ( almost 18 years later) I felt truly apart of him. He is one of the greatest people I know. And I would like to think that some of the good in me, is from him. His wonderful wife, has grown to be one of the people I trust the most, one who I feel "gets" me, and they are always there for me AND my family. We have formed this uniquie bond, with over 40 years age gap, yet somewhere we all have a lot of similarities and I look up to them in a lot of ways. I am truly blessed!