Collin's Birthday Weekend Phase 1

This Monday, Collin (my stepson) turns 17 years old. It is so hard to believe how quick he is going to be driving next month!

So since my hubby is working 2-10 on Collin's actual birthday, we kicked off celebrating Saturday! When we asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, he said he would like to go to the movies with his girlfriend. So we went to see Twlight! Loved it! Of course, we gave the lovebirds their space and sat in another part of the theater. When I asked Collin how he liked the movie, he said "What movie?" Ahhh to be young and in love. I remember those days!

Anyways, I have to mention here how giddy I was going to the movies. It has been sooo long since I have went to a movie, let alone a movie an adult can appreciate. And I was glad that Michael and I could have some time together since he was my "date". I look forward to those times when I can spend a little quality time with him!




After the movies, we met up with my father in law and my hubby for dinner at Famous Dave's, a family favorite. My hubby didn't go to the movies with us because he suffers from bouts of Diverticulitis and his favorite food is popcorn, which he is no longer allowed to have. He said he would go, but he didn't know if he could resist the urge to have popcorn so we figured it best that he didn't. I was disappointed though, but his health is too important to me so it was for the best.


We had a great time at Famous Daves though! Of course, we had to embarrass Collin so we had them bring out an ice cream sundae and they put a sparkler in the top. He was ultra embarrassed, and Sam (his girlfriend) kept pointing out that everybody was staring at us!But that wasn't enough embarrassment so Michael and I sang Happy Birthday to him pretty loud so everybody would hear. We had to make his 17th birthday memorable!
After dinner, I headed off with the kids to see this house nearby the restaurant that every year goes over the top with Christmas lights. We try to take the kids there every year, and I figured that if I took them while we were near there, it would cut down on a trip over there another time. My father in law wanted to get home so he and my hubby didn't go. )-:
As usual, the Christmas light extravagance was awesome! Allyson doesn't remember her daddy and I taking her last year so she was just in awe this year. She cried when it was time to leave. When Fred put her to bed after we got home, she just talked and talked about the lights and how she was going to see them again later. Not too far away from our house is a little "village" that does a "walk of lights" every year so we plan on taking her there to see Santa and see more lights.

And here is the happy couple! Collin had to keep Sam warm cause she was freezing! The torture...I mean traditions we put them through for the sake of Christmas!

Black Friday Mayhem

For the last few years, I have spent Black Friday shopping, and this Black Friday was on different. This year, I went with my cousin Shannon. Her youngest brother, Brendan, also wanted to get in the action so he accompanied us on his first Black Friday excursion ever. We broke Brendan in right by picking him up at 3:30am and dragging him to exciting stores that we knew he would love.



First stop was Kohls. The line was heading towards the back of the store, but I will let you in on a little secret! We never wait in that line. If you buy jewerly, then they will ring you up at the jewelry counter. Saves tons of time!

And if you don't want jewerly, then buy a piece of jewerly, then return it when you go to use your $10 credits for every $50 you spend-thats their typical Black Friday deal every year. It is well worth buying a piece of inexpensive jewelry than to wait an hour or longer in that line!


We hit the rest of our usual stops...AC Moore, Target, Christmas Tree Shop, Carters, Walmart. I love the Christmas Tree Shop! It is one of my favorite stores, and I had a gift card from my birthday so that made shopping there even sweeter.


We didn't hit Toys R Us this year though, but my hubby and I are going to go Christmas shopping for the kids another time and make it a "date" day without kids so I am looking forward to that!


We got home early afternoon! We were exhausted, but we ended up wrapping all of my cousins's gifts for her girls...


I didn't get many things, my budget is really tight...but I did pick up a few deals, and we had a lot of fun. It is always nice to go on a "mission", and I am sure we will be back out next Black Friday!

Thanksgiving Recap

Thanksgiving was divine...the smell of our turkey cooking was overwhelming, and I was starving!

When we arrived at my grandparent's farm, we walked down to the woods where my brother was cutting up another fallen tree. So here is the gang hanging out in the woods.

Allyson followed my grandmom upstairs so I snuck up to see what they were up to. They were having a great time as Ally tried on some hats. My daughter is named after my grandmom, and they are very close-what a blessing!

My sister in law Jamie with my youngest nephew James. This was James 1st Thanksgiving! He has gotten so big!

I have had on my mind to get an updated picture of the 4 generations of my mom's family so this would be my grandmom, my mom, my daughter, and me! This will definately be a keepsake! My son, Michael, took this shot for me! Thanks Mike!

We attacked my grandmom with kisses, what a great time! She got the giggles!

Then we began our feast! I couldn't get enough! I probably gained 20 pounds in one day, but it was so worth it!

After dinner, we watched the kids play in my nephew James' walker. They had a great time. Ally would fly down the ramp, and Colt would jump up onto the ramp and jump off just before Ally would hit him! Doesn't that sound fun?

Then when that was over, the kids had ice cream. Not sure who set them up, but they came in with spoons and containers of ice cream. Too funny! Ally's container was half full, Colt's was a little less.

It's not Thanksgiving without a food fight, and this year was no different. This is my cousin Adam with my brother. Luckily I was just far enough away not to be included, although I know my brother, and I was uneasy that I could be the next target. Didn't happen though! Poor Adam had pumpkin pie all down his back.

Then we had more ice cream!

Shared some laughs!

Then it was time to call it a night cause I had to be up by 2:30AM for Black Friday shopping!

Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving! We sure did!

And today I am also thankful for a little bit of news...

No I am not pregnant! But I bet I had a few of you thinking I was!

Yesterday we heard that my grandfather who recently found out he has cancer has improved a little. He has been in the hospital for a little bit now, and he wasn't doing too great, but yesterday he seemed a little better from what I hear. Right now, he isn't taking visitors by anyone but his own children. )-: But I know he needs his rest and considering how many grandchildren there are and how sick he has been, I totally understand!

They are going to try a treatment of medicine that we are hopeful might help his quality of life. If he responds well to it, it might extend his life for years. We are remaining hopeful that he will get out of the hospital soon, and maybe be up to spending Christmas with his family as we do every year! That would be a huge blessing to all of us! But just having him feel better would be great as he has been pretty sick and we all hate to see him suffering!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all are enjoying the day! I am quite behind today so I shouldn't even be blogging, but it's all good. I have been baking all morning so I missed my 9AM wake up call for Thanksgiving breakfast with my Grandparents and Uncle. A little sad about that, but I'll be over there shortly!

Today's baking was rather simple...just two pumpkin pies, but I made the filling last week to freeze so today I just had to make a couple pie crusts and bake the pies. I actually made quite a few pie crusts so I could freeze some for the holiday season. I have a freezer full of peaches so I know peach pie will be in my future!

Whenever I make pie crust, it is mandatory that I make jelly tarts out of the leftover pie crust. My grandmom used to make pies and cakes weekly so growing up we were always baking things together, and she always made us kids jelly tarts from leftover pie crust.

You just take the extra pie crust, put a dollop of jelly in the middle of a triangle and fold. Bake for awhile...no set time, and wallah a yummy treat. I could eat a ton of them, they are particularly good warm!

Thanksgiving is such a special time for me! I love to eat for starters, but that is besides the point. I have so much to be thankful for, and boy do I know it!

The Things I am Thankful for.....

Since today is Thanksgiving, I thought I would follow blogland tradition and list 10 things I am thankful for...there are so many things, but I'll try to condense it down to 10. (-:

Things I am thankful for today and everyday....

1. First and foremost, my family and their health! Everybody needs to feel loved and wanted, and they definitely do that for me....sometimes it can even be on overload. Ever tried shopping with four other people that want your constant attention? I constantly hear "mom" or "Tonya" during our whole shopping trip...they always want to show me things they think I will like or that they want. It can be a little overwhelming, but I just remind myself someday the kids will grow up, and I'll miss that, but I am sure that my dear hubby will compensate for their absence!

2. I am really thankful for my home. It is small, but definitely bigger than most of our rental houses, and we bought it on our own. Its something I am proud of. Someday we might move or build our "castle", but things could be worse so I am grateful for my house...the shell is just a house, but my family makes it "home".

3. I am very thankful that all of my grandparents are still alive! I am 34 years old, and I have had a very close relationship to all my grandparents. My kids know them as their grandparents and how special is that? All of my grandparents have been pretty interactive in my kids lives, and that has been such a blessing to me!

4. Friends are the spice of my life! They keep it real and add the comic relief that I need in dire situations. I love my friends! Amy, Shannon, Jen, Jamie, Holly...my friends rock! Love you guys, thanks for keeping it real! Without their friendships, I would be lost, and I treasure everyone!

5. My niece and nephews...Over the years, I have had the pleasure of watching my niece, Cory, grow up into a awesome person! We have so many memories of trips taken, time spent together! I love this girl, and I am so proud of her!

My nephews are still little, but what a blessing watching them grow! My nephew Colt is the same age as my daughter, and that is a wonderful blessing. I hope they can grow up close to each other. James is such a joy with his big smiles and laugh, he makes my heart melt!

6. I am thankful for my mini-van. I know I can hear the sighs from here, many would not be caught in a mini-van! But mini-vans rock, and I waited a long time for it! Mine has automatic doors, and a tv...two things I never would have looked for in a mini van, but I can not tell you how great the doors are for babysitting. I just hit the button on the remote, and the kids can start piling in! The tv I only let my daughter watch if we go on a long car rides or if we end up killing time waiting for the kids to be done robotics or soccer practice. It's definately been an unexpected blessing!

7. My parents. I am so thankful that they are so supportive of me and Fred. I don't know what I would do without them! They know we make mistakes, but they guide us, and forgive us. My mom loves Fred to death, and I can't tell you what a blessing that is!

I also have to add my father in law to this one! He is like a second dad to me cause he is always there to help in a pinch, whether with the kids, cars or house problems. We always know we can count on him! I am lucky to have him in our lives! And did I mention that he makes the best spaghetti sauce in the world!

8. Our extended families. Can you tell I am into family??? My aunts and uncles mean the world to me! I have several that I am pretty close to, and they have been invaluable to me!

Also I have to put in here that my husband's sister, Jen, has been a rock to me for many years and for that I am particularly thankful! She has been a shoulder to cry on and a partner in crime. Love her!

9. My husband having a job. For the past several years, I have been able to be a stay at home mom to my kids. I am so grateful that I have been able to do this. I babysit to help my hubby with some bills, but he handles most of it. With the economy like it is, layoffs have been happening a lot at his company, and we are so thankful that so far he has dodged the bullet. But should he get laid off, I know that he would find something to support his family, he is just that kind of guy, and I love him for it!

10. My husband. I put my hubby last because he knows he is first in my heart. He has been such a blessing to me over the years. We had our trials and tribulations in the beginning, but the past 8 years of our marriage have been awesome! He is very supportive of most things that I do or want to do. Okay, he wasn't thrilled that I ripped out the bathroom while he was at work, but it needed to be done. hehe. Did I mention he is forgiving?

One thing that I LOVE about my hubby is he lets me be "me". He doesn't control me, he doesn't make decisions for me, he lets me have the freedom to be me....any of you that know me in real life know that I am "independent" from oil changes to remodeling, I have to be able to do what I want...and hubby gives me that freedom. He rocks, and I could write 5 pages about how much I love him...and then probably another 5 pages about how he teases and annoys me. But when you can read a guy by his eyes, that pretty much does it for me! Smiling eyes do it for me! He'll love that I put that...

AND I AM SO THANKFUL FOR ICE CREAM!!!!!!

OH, AND BLACK FRIDAY, THE BEST SHOPPING DAY OF THE YEAR!

Okay I am dragging myself away from the computer now so I don't miss Thanksgiving dinner although I have another 50 things I could list. (-:

The Tree of Thanks!

Today the kids had a half day of school....that one statement says A LOT! It was total chaos after they got home! My house went from wrecked to worse in a matter of minutes. It was time for some action so off we went to work on a project.

The project for today was the "Tree of Thanks". This is something I have done randomly with my kids different years. I cut out a tree while the kids worked on creating leaves. On the leaves, they wrote various things that they are thankful about.
Sorry, not the best picture of our tree, but it is on my basement door in our little hallway so I couldn't get the right angle for the best effect.

Ally put that she was thankful for her mommy and Kira - she was coached for sure by the others- I know without a doubt she would have said her daddy if she had a clue as to what was going on. Michael was thankful for candy...everybody that knows Michael knows that he will spend every last dime on candy. Collin asked that I not put what he was thankful for so I am honoring his wishes so I'll leave that up to your imaginations!

Things went from chaos to mellow rather quickly. I had to laugh at some of their thoughts. One of the kids was thankful for water. I thought that was cute! Most of them put family, friends, love, food...pretty basic stuff. Another one put toys...go figure! We had a pretty good time working on this project. I thought they did a good job on the leaves...the tree wasn't so great, but that was my fault. Live and learn...live and learn.

Homemade Belts

My sister in law, Jamie and I were talking about children's belts not too long ago so this post is for you, Jamie!

I was spending hours scouring my usual blogs when I came across a tutorial on how to make super easy belts on Rachel's website.

So I thought these would make the perfect gift for my little girl to open at christmas, although I will probably give her one today. I know, not too exciting, but it is a very tight christmas this year, and she really gets excited about little things like these!

All you need is ribbon, one inch metal D rings and a sewing machine. Walmart actually sells a black plastic click buckle that would work perfect for a boy, I might try one of them next, but I don't know what the price of them is. I am telling you the hardest part of this whole project is getting out the sewing machine!

This is a 5 minute project, and super cheap. Our Walmart carries a 4 pack of the D rings for 78 cents. A roll of 9 yards of ribbon was $1.97. I can make 4 belts from a roll of ribbon so I would need 2 packs of D rings. I didn't count the cost of the thread cause I always have that around. So making four belts at those price would make each belt cost about 88 cents. I don't know anywhere I could get a belt for that price! I found some of these for sale on a website for $12. a piece for a toddler. They also make them for adults so I might try my hand at that. They would look cute with a Christmas ribbon. If you need a tutorial, Rachel's is perfect so I am not even going to go there!

"Homemade" Donuts

This is a super easy, yummy project to do with the kids. These donuts won't win any awards, but they are quick, easy and edible. The kids love making them, and eating them!

For starters you just get a tube of those ready made biscuits. I have used various kinds over the years.

By the way, my hubby caught me taking a picture of the biscuit tube, and thinks I have lost it! You should have seen his face. :-)

First I take the biscuits out of the tube, and set them on a cutting board for my kids to make the biscuits into "donuts". Today we used a cap off of the jar of vanilla. I have used various things like a tiny heart shape cookie cutter or other caps off of other things.

After cutting the holes in the donuts, we fry them up in my cast iron pan. I usually use canola oil, but you can pick your poison.

You have to keep an eye on them cause they cook pretty fast, and as soon as you go to unload the top rack in the dishwasher, you'll end up burning them. I caught mine just in time, they were getting close to the dark side. ;-)

Then I just take them, and dip them in confectionary sugar. A nice sugary treat for the kids! You can glaze them or drizzle them with chocolate.

Today I am in a hurry as I have company coming over so confectionary sugar it is!

My brother just arrived, and they have passed his taste test!

The party never ends....YAY!

Tonight we went to an impromtu party at my brother's house. The kids love getting together so we get an evening out, and the kids are happy to play with other kids...makes a nice night for everybody!

One of my nephew Colt's favorite past times is riding his bike as fast as he can through the house so he was trying to teach Ally how to do it. She really loved wearing the helmet!

My nephew James kicked back and relaxing!

So thanks for a nice evening out Randy and Jamie! It was a great refuge from a pretty crappy week!

We really need to get game night together soon!

The Big Cheese!

Our friend Myles (Baby Ava's brother) turned 4 so we partied with our friend Chuck E. Cheese today!

Allyson has a crush on Chuck E. She followed him EVERYWHERE. She begged me to let her kiss him so I relented and she gave him a huge kiss on his nose. It made her day!

Baby Ava sleeping away at her brother's party!

Myles' mom had the party first thing in the morning...smart move! We pretty much had the place to ourselves. I usually avoid going to Chuck E Cheese on the weekends cause it gets so insane, but I have found that 9am on a weekday is the best or late night like 7 or 8 is pretty good. So I was pleasantly surprised that the place was pretty empty on a weekend when we arrived! We were out of there when the lunch crowd starting coming in, it was perfect timing!

Allyson and Daddy playing with toys from her "goodie" bag!

Happy Birthday Myles!

We hope you had a great day today, we know we sure did!

Myles playing at his 4th birthday party!

Ode to Bigfoot

I have to do an "ode" post since a couple of my blogger friends did one!

This week was a sad week for us! We are mourning the loss of our youngest cat, Bigfoot. Bigfoot decided it was time for him to move on to his next adventure so he snuck out of our house one day. We have no idea when, but my hubby noticed he wasn't around one morning. After two days of intensive searching, I have conceded he is gone.

Many of you that know Bigfoot, know our loss is great. He was once a feral cat, only motivated to come out of his hiding places for food. Over the last couple years he has morphed into a loving and friendly cat, often spending his evenings curled up on my lap while I watch TV before bed.

Biggie has 6 toes on each paw, which I think is the sole reason that my husband "had" to have him. Yes, he was probably an inbred cat. Biggie loved to watch imaginary things, it would be "normal" to see him staring up at things that weren't really there. I guess if your mother was also your aunt, you would be pretty weird too. Could your mother really be your aunt? Hmmm...something to ponder. Anyways, I think his family tree might have had some intertwined branches if you get my drift.

So we will continue our search for him...in hopes that he is just on "vacation" and not avoiding us permanently.

Until then Biggie, I will fondly remember our time together.....

Nobody ever caught their claws in a curtain quite like you...you gave me a big smile, every time I would wander in a room where you were shaking your leg desperately trying to get the darn lace curtain to be unstuck.

Or how you could bite off the head of a mouse in one fale swoop. Or when you would twirl your head while watching an imaginary fly. Or when you would walk on my head as I slept. Or when you would whack my butt with your claws as I walked by the bed. Ahhh, so many memories, so little time together!

You were truly one of a kind and you will be missed....but we'll keep our search and hopefully force you back home soon! We don't give up easily!

Kids, Crafts and Crazy fun!

Today we met at my cousins house for our "playdate". I don't know if the kids were more eager or the adults. My daughter is loving these playdates! And so am I!

We had circle time right away today...probably cause we were under a big time constraint, and somebody was a half hour late! That same somebody had to be home earlier than usual to get the kids off the bus cause they had a half day of school. Somebody needs better time management skills, but I am not mentioning any names.

After circle time, we did a project. My sister in law, Jamie had drawn mugs of hot chocolate. The kids colored the mugs, then we used glue sticks to adhere cocoa, and marshmallows. The kids had a lot of fun working on them especially smearing the cocoa on the paper, on their clothes, and on their faces.

After that project, the kids had some free playtime. Ummm, it was loud...and did I mention it was loud? They had a blast though while we had "girl" time eating our lunch...although there were some moments that we really couldn't hear each other. But you have to expect some noise when you get 11 kids together under the age of 3!

Check out the baby room or as Shannon calls it "car seat parking".

We bribed the kids to eat their lunch with these cupcakes...and it worked!

For the final project of the day, we borrowed an idea that I saw on the pillsbury website except I made homemade sugar cookies. Aren't they cute????

I thought they turned out adorable....

on the pillsbury site that is.....

Ours were a little more like Indians than Turkeys, but that is okay cause when you tell a 2 year old it is a turkey, they pretty much believe you. (-:

Our Friday is rolling along....

Today was a momentuous day. Baby Ava started rolling, and I actually got to see it over and over again. It was funny that I was on the phone with her mom when it happened the first time so she got to experience it through the phone.

So Ava graciously re-enacted the roll over and over again so I could get some pictures for her mom. I tried to get video, but like most babies as soon as the camera was above her all she would do was stare at the camera.

And so it begins....

Almost there....

Mission accomplished!

So there you go JoAnn...it was like you were right there with us!