Turkey For Me! Turkey For You!

I had a really great weekend.  Of course I did!  It was Thanksgiving and I didn't have to get up and take the kids to school!
Yes, it was Thanksgiving.  And we had a great time being together and snuggling with The Boy Who Hung the Moon.  He's getting so big and he's such a smiley, happy, little talker (he's only two months old, people)!
Wednesday, I made pie.  I mean, I made four pies.  Caramel Pecan, Banana Creme, Chocolate Truffle, and Pumpkin.  I tried all of them except the pumpkin because I don't like pumpkin pie.  But the others were divine.  Ben (my brother) made a frozen yogurt pie which turned out to be every body's favorite, so thanks a lot for upstaging me, you jerk!
Friday, I slept in and finally after waiting for hours and hours while Kurtis taught Zach to program something and then make him do an assignment and then check his assignment, we went Christmas shopping.  We are almost done, too!   I'm so excited.  I've never been almost done with my Christmas shopping this early before.  Every year, I say, "Oh, it's October!  We need to start shopping for Christmas!" and then never do.  This year, though.  I did.  I'm glad, too.
Saturday we went and saw the movie Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.  It was awesome!  I can't remember how closely it followed the book (but I'm pretty sure they too a great deal of liberty with this story) because I lent the book to my friend over a year ago and she still hasn't given it back (even though I have asked her to).  I wanted to read it before we went to see it, but I didn't.  Oh, well.  I still had fun.
Sunday, I got to see the Boy Who Hung the Moon again.  His daddy was giving him a name and a blessing in his church meeting that day.  It was a really awesome blessing and my brother did a great job.
After the meeting, we went to his home and ate food to celebrate.  He did hang the moon after all.  He deserves it.  I got to hold him and love him.  Emily said to me, "You are baby hungry, aren't you!"  I said, "Yes!  But I am done."  And I am.  But let's face it.  I have seven siblings!  I am supposed to be surrounded by babies all the time, and I'm not.  There is a seven year gap between the Boy and the last grandchild in my family.  I think I'm allowed to be enamored with him.  At least a little.
I didn't take a lot of pictures at either event and I forgot my video camera on Sunday and couldn't vlog the after party, so we'll just have to be happy with the pictures that I did take.

The pies I made.

Me and Ben!  He and I are twelve years apart.

Then I hogged the baby pretty much all day.

Seriously, with a face like that, how could I not?

 Then I let Ben have a turn.  Because I wanted some of that yummy pie!

 And when I came back, this was happening!  So cute!

Yes, he's alseep.

 Then Kaleb wanted a turn.

 After the blessing at Michael and Lili's place.

He was such a good baby during the blessing.  He cried a little near the end, but calmed down a bit before it was over.

 He's a little squirmer.  :)

This is our Thanksgiving tree.

Well, it's my Halloween tree and I cut out a bunch of leaves on cardstock and told the boys to write down the things they are thankful for.  This is what it looked like yesterday before I took it down.  I'm in the process of decorating for Christmas.  The time to be thankful is over!  Now it's all about giving!

Yay, Thanksgiving!  Yay, Christmas!

I'd Like To Thank Pinterest For Helping Me Make My Kid's Birthday So Awesome

It's been a busy week.  I had my Stampin' Up! workshop and Riley's birthday party back to back.  Workshop on Thursday and party on Friday.  The party was the scariest part for me.  Because little boys are loud and like to run around the house risking breaking things.  It freaks me out.  I had Kurtis work from home for some back up that day.  He mostly just wanted to play the computer while the boys ran through the house causing my anxiety to spike.  I think he enjoys seeing me freak out (on the inside) a little bit.

 This is the Halloween card we made for my Stampin' Up! workshop Thursday.

 This is the inside.  It's really awesome.

Then we made these cute mummy boxes.  We put candy inside them.

 Riley wanted a Doctor Who themed birthday card.  I already blogged about it and showed you the invitations here.

 This cake is a blue velvet cake that I made from scratch after the workshop on Thursday night.  I frosted it in the morning.  It's the Tardis.  Riley really liked it.  I've never made a cake from scratch before.  It turned out alright.  The food coloring turns your poop a blue-green color if you eat too much though.  Nope.  I'm not lying.

 I used my Tardis cookie jar that Kurtis got me for my birthday as a centerpiece.

 I made this out of the first invitation I made (before I made the ones that open up.  You can see a tutorial of how to make those invitations here.

 I finally put up the Halloween decorations on Tuesday.

It exhausted me.

 Riley blew out his candles before I could get a picture!

 Eleven!  He's such a good looking kid!

 This is awesome!

 Riley loved all of his presents.

The party favors.  Tardis boxes full of treats and mini composition notebooks turned into River Song's diary.  Pinterest rocks.  :)

Nobody Ever Calls Me. So Why Would I Think I Might Actually Need My Phone?

I haven't been blogging very much lately.  Do you want to know why?  It's silly, really.  I started doing this.
I'm not sure how it will go or if any one will even watch them.  So far, the answer is not that many.  Which is fine.  Talking to a camera is weird still.  I mean, as an actress, we are told to pretend it isn't even there and now I have to look into the lens and pretend it's a real person.  Who am I even talking to?  Meh.  I'll figure it out.  It's fun.
But I have a story to tell that I don't think I can tell quite as well on camera.  I get nervous.
I watch this guy on YouTube quite a bit.  He's kind of the one who made me think I should just go for the video blogging thing.  I have been toying with the idea in my head for awhile now.  He's doing this weightloss challenge thing.  He suggested we set goals.  My goal is to work out everyday - well, every week day.  So far, I worked out every day this week except Wednesday because I needed a break.  I was determined to work out on Thursday, too though I probably should have not.  I over did it and hurt my right side behind my rib cage.  So I Friday I wanted to do something that would not require me to do push ups at all.  I thought I should go walking with my dog, Neji.
Walking with Neji is really not that fun for me because he pulls me and does not walk next to me.  I HATE IT!  So I wasn't going to do that.  Kurtis said I should do it and that Neji could be my workout buddy.  He'd push me into going further than I normally would.  HA!  That sounded awful.
I finished the book I was reading and said to myself, "Just do it.  Just take the freaking dog on a freaking walk.  You will have fulfilled your goal, and that will make you happy and you have Shay Carl's voice in the back of your head telling you to do it and how could any one ever say no to that man?"  Blah, blah, blah.
Finally, I got my work out clothes on and I got Neji in his harness and put his leash on it.  I got on my new athletic shoes that I bought for me to go play racquetball with Kurtis (but he never commits to actually doing with me), but have never worn yet, and we were off.  I thought about bringing my camera along, but then you would know just how out of shape I really am.  It's terrible.  I have no stamina.
I went down my street, around the corner, past the funeral home, up the block with the craft store on it, then up to Fairfield Road and past the Jr. High.  Then around the corner past the grade school, down Mutton Hollow to 700 something.  Then left on 700 and right on 350 and back to my house.  Kurtis thinks it was two miles at least.  I don't know.  It took me about 45 minutes.  I walked and jogged and then walked again.  Neji LOVED it!  He thought it was the best thing ever.  When we got home, he was so happy and dancing all around.  And I loved that he loved it.
I was getting ready to get in the shower when I heard Kurtis' ringtone.  Great.  I almost didn't answer it.
"Hello?"
"Hey, where are you?"
"I'm home.  I  just got back from taking Neji for a walk/jog.  What do you need?"
"I just got a call from the school that Kaleb is sick.  They left me a message because they couldn't get a hold of you."
"Oh.  Crap.  I was just about to get in the shower.  I guess I'd better go get him."
"Yeah.  Call them and see what's up.  Because it's better if you go get him than me."  Because he is 35 miles away and I'm only, 0.6 miles away.  This is when being a one car family kind of sucks.  Kurtis took the car to work that morning.  I called the school to find out what was going on with him and if he could walk home.  He said he could.  He also said his head felt like it was being crushed.
So, I got my clothes back on and I ran to the school.  Well, like I said.  I have no stamina, so I ran.  Then I walked.  Then I ran again and then I walked.  I probably ran faster than I did when I had Neji with me.
The thing that is ironic here is that when the school called me the first time, I was probably walking right past it.  Geesh.
Luckily, my friend was driving home from somewhere and saw us walking home.  She did the awesome thing and gave us a ride.  I gave Kaleb some Ibuprofen and told him to lay down.  He felt better after a bit.  It was probably a migraine.
Today, though.  My hips and shins are really mad at me.  I'd like to tell them to shut up, but when I move, they just start up again.  Jerks.

My new shoes.  Aren't they cute?  They came untied, so I felt like I was a three year old when I double tied them.  ;)

The Boy Who Hung the Moon

I had a really great weekend.
Saturday night, my brother and his wife welcomed their first child into the world.
Sunday, I got to meet him.  He is quite adorable.
With his parents' blessing, I will now show you the pictures I took when we visited him in the hospital.

 He has captured my heart.

 I told the boys Kaleb gets to hold him first.

"What!? Why?"

"Because he has never held a baby before."

 Zach loved holding him.  Until he started to cry.  Then he didn't want to hold him any more.  He didn't believe his Aunt Lili when she told him it wasn't his fault.

 Beautiful mother and baby.  Kaleb took this one.

 Riley thinks he's pretty cool.

 I do, too.

 Ben is pretty excited, but trying to be cool.

 He kept sticking his tongue out.

 It was so cute. :)  Everything he does is cute.

 Fingers and toes.  Then he got cold and said, "I want to be wrapped up!"

 Grandma got him to burp.  She has skillz.

 Grandpa was pretty excited.

 I love this picture of my mom snuggling her grand-baby.  She is so beautiful.

Jeremy came, too!

I let Kaleb take the camera and take pictures while we were there.  This one turned out pretty cool.  

The rest looked like this:

He cracks me up.

Always Bring A Banana To A Party

That's what the tenth Doctor says anyway...
I'm getting ready for Riley's birthday party.  He wants a Doctor Who themed party.  I made really awesome invitations.  Here.  Check them out:

This is my first idea.  I thought it was awesome.  Then I went on Pinterest and saw some that opened.  I thought those were even cooler.

So they turned into this.  But I wasn't quite satisfied.

So it became this!  This inside is the same.  I'm really pleased with them.

I like throwing my kids parties as long as I don't feel too overwhelmed by it.  This means, I need to start planning things well in advance.  Thus, Riley's birthday isn't until October, but it is time for me to start the planning.  Invitations are done.  Sometimes, that's the hardest part for me.

I was talking with Zach and Riley (Kaleb was upstairs in his room) about their birthday parties.  Zach told me he wants a Minecraft party.  Which is fine.  But then I realized I need to ask Kaleb what he wants for his party.  He's after Riley.

So I asked Kaleb this morning before he went to school what kind of birthday party he wants.  Our conversation went something like this (but I can't remember everything exactly - I was still not quite awake):

Me:  What kind of party do you want for your birthday?
Kaleb:  I'm not sure.  There are so many kinds of parties you can have!
Me:  That's true.  You'll have to let me know when you know.
Kaleb:  I want... I want.... I want a MILK party!
Me:  What is a milk party?
Kaleb:  No, wait!  I want a cow party because cows make milk and you need milk in milk chocolate!
Me:  It sounds like you want a chocolate party.
Kaleb:  I want a cow party!  With milk chocolate!  Will you see if you can borrow Grandma's chocolate fountain?  You should just buy us a chocolate fountain!  Then we can use it whenever we want!

His last party was a chocolate party.  It was awesome.  I guess if it ain't broke don't fix it, right?

Oh, and then there's this.

In Which the Forthcoming Baby Boy Is Celebrated

I never blog any more.  What's wrong with me?  Well, today, I am sick with a cold.  It sucks.  I hate being sick.  I'm hacking up all sorts of stuff and it's great.  That better mean I am on the mend.
But last week, was my sister-in-law's baby shower!  It was so much fun!  I never get to see her very much any more.  She is due September 17th.  I am soooooo very, very excited!

Okay, so I started this post yesterday, realized the laptop upstairs has all my pictures of the shower on it and it was not plugged in or on, so I couldn't get to my pictures to show them to you.  So I quit.  But now, I've prepared better.  I plugged in the laptop and it's on, so I can get to my pictures on it from my computer in the basement and yippee!  I can share them with you now.  Also, while I am not 100% better yet, I do feel much better.  I came home from church (I only went to church at all because I had to give the lesson in Primary) and pretty much slept from 1 until 6 pm.  It was awesome.  Even if I did get woken up by one of the kids bugging me once or twice.  They still haven't learned that when dad is home, and mom is trying to rest, dad is perfectly capable of answering any and all of their questions.  Especially ones regarding what they are going to have for dinner.  I fear that day will never come.  Well, okay.  I don't really fear it.  More like I've accepted that it is a basic truth of my reality.  I just don't like it. Not one bit.  I often scream at them, "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LET ME SLEEEEEEEEEEP!?" in my head.  Out loud it's not really that intense.

These are basically all of the pictures I took at the shower which is really not like me.  Usually I take more, but I needed a new battery for my camera (It came in the mail a few days ago, and it's like my camera is new again.  I'm so in love!), and I got distracted by talking to people.  You know, being social and all that.

 This is the card I made her.  I found the idea on Pinterest and it is sooooo stinking cuuuuuute!

 My aunts and cousin.  She's having a baby, too! :)

My mom's cousin's wife, my aunt, and my cousin.

 Grandma, Lili's mom, & the guest of honor.

 She's so fun to have around.

 What!  What is a boy doing at a baby shower?  Those are for girls!

He he.  Kaleb said he wanted to come.  I said it probably wouldn't be that fun for him.  I think he disagrees.

 My mom.  Trying not to look at the camera.

 We played one game where we had to guess the cost of a bunch of baby items.  I lost horribly.  Then we ate.  Then there were presents! :)

 Lili's mom gave her this awesome vintage card.

 And also was able to find black t-shirts and jeans for the baby.  So he can look just like his dad. :)

"Do you know how hard it is to find those in all the sizes that I found them!?" She agonized.

I gave her some adorable onesies and a cute pair of jean shorts.  Michele and I also went in on a gift.  I wrapped it and then started talking to her after she opened it.  I forgot to take a picture of her while she was opening it.

But this is what it was.  It's so cute!  I loved mine when I had a crawler.  I could put him in there and make dinner or take a quick shower.  It was the best thing ever!  I wish I could give one to all the new moms.