Thanksgiving or was it Christmas?

With all the snow and cold, Turkey day felt almost like Christmas!

We had hoped my parents would be here for the holiday and La-La's baptism but Mom was still recovering from a bad allergic reaction to iodine and did not feel up to a long drive yet. (We have scheduled La-La's big day for December 11 when my parents are planning to come!) So instead we invited ourselves to a friend's house, the other Dr Justin works with. They were happy to share the day with us and I was thrilled to not have to cook and clean the entire meal by myself!


Our friends live at the top of a steep driveway and after Monday's snow and ice storm, we could not drive all the way to their house; although we tried and ended up sideways stuck in a blackberry bush! We knew we would have to hike so we came prepared with all our snow gear and a sled to haul the food! So after getting unstuck and parked a little better, we burned lots of calories hiking and sliding our way up the hill.

While we finished cooking and preparing dinner, the kids had a ball sledding down the driveway. I even snuck a few runs in myself! I told them I was going to take pictures of the kids and just happened to slide down the ice once or twice!

Dinner was delicious with all the fixin's and the most amazing sweet potatoes I have ever had! They were so rich and delicious I had three servings! Just so you know, I usually do not eat sweet potatoes. I have never had sweet potato pie but I imagine what we ate, tasted like it!

After dinner, we talked while the kids played and then we all enjoyed pumpkin and apple pie made by yours truly! For me it is not Thanksgiving without the pumpkin pie I grew up on. Once you try it, you will never be happy with store bought dense pie! Just to be nice, here is the recipe!

Pumpkin Pie
1 cup pumpkin
1 cup sugar
2 cups canned evaporated milk (one can plus about 1/4 C regular milk works just fine)
3 TB corn starch
½ tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp salt
2 egg yolks

mix all ingredients except egg yolks in a microwave safe bowl. Cook in microwave on high for 3-4 minutes, stir and repeat until mixture is pudding consistency. Beat egg yolks in small bowl, add small amount of pie mixture to eggs, stir and add to pie mix. Cook for 3-4 for more minutes and spoon into baked pie shell. Cover pie with wax paper to prevent a thick film from forming on the pie and chill in refrigerator for several hours. Serve cold with whipped cream

It is truly the best pie I have ever had!

Around 8:30, we decided to brave the steep hill in the dark to head home. Jaco opted to sled down the hill. At one point the driveway became quite steep so all of us told Jaco to stop sledding and walk with the rest of us. He chose not to listen and went flying down the hill. He would have been fine except for the parked car that was in his path! We watched completely helpless as he barreled right for the car. We heard him slam into it and waited for the screaming to begin but by some miracle, he was fine! He said his body just kind of wedged under the car but no pain to be felt! I was picturing blood, bruises, and or broken bones!

We made it home safe and sound, had more pie, and went to bed happy, full, and grateful for small miracles among many other things!

Care Bear's Castcapades!

If you remember in previous posts, Care Bear broke her leg on July 29! She had been jumping on our neighbor's 24 hour old trampoline when she got popped up, hyper extended her knee, and broke her tibia across the top of the bone. Care Bear has always been a very busy active girl so we almost looked forward to her having to sit still and be calm. That only lasted for a couple days and once the pain eased, she learned how to move, and our busy little girl came back in full force!

First she figured out how to scoot with the cast held out in front of her. Inside, outside, grass, carpet, asphalt, it didn't matter! She scooted across anything. In fact, she managed to wear holes in two of the casts from scooting so much!

Then we were able to borrow a child sized walker from a friend and she became vertical again. She liked the walker for few days but then she learned how to hop. She could hop clear across the room and decided not to use the walker because the walker just slowed her down. She climbed rocks, hills, slides, and learned how to swing with a long leg cast on.

She ended up with 4 different casts. We went from pink & green to pink and purple to solid purple, to solid blue. Thankfully Dr Daddy was able to change the last two for free! The first cast change came because Jaco spilled water on it and the other times was because she was just so busy! Playing outside in the mud and weeds is not very good on casts!

45 days after she broke her leg, Care Bear had the cast removed. She hated having the casts cut off and screamed and screamed each time! I guess I expected her to be all better when the cast came off but that was not the case. It took almost a week before she would really walk and she limped for several weeks after that. Now two months later and she walks pretty normal but she still limps and hops when she runs.

Having a child with a broken leg is an adventure I hope to not repeat! I am so glad she was able to heal and pray it will all be a distant memory in the not so distant future!

Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Hannah Montana, the Dead Bride, and Percy Jackson!

This Halloween season got rolling for us at an adult game night with couples from our church. The house we went to was completely decked out in everything Halloween from a dead guy who jumps up from his coffin, to a spooky talking butler, to count Dracula. It was a ton of fun until we got the text from Jaco saying La-La had thrown up all over our friend's couch. (We had shared a baby-sitter and all the kids were at their house, not ours!) Thank goodness the party was pretty much over!

Justin and I dressed up as a BP oil worker and the oil spill. The party was dimly lit and since I was in all black, people did not know what to say to me. They couldn't figure out who I was and then with just the whites of my eyes showing, it was a little eerie. I had fun and was just happy that Justin agreed to dress up!

One of the nearby cities did trick-or-treating Friday the 29th. It was from 3-5 and included all the downtown merchants. It was fun and nice to do it in daylight hours and the weather was perfect!

Jaco had wanted to be Harry Potter but I was not on the ball to find him a robe in time so HP was out. He has been re-reading the Percy Jackson series so I suggested dressing up as Percy and Jaco loved the idea! I hand painted the shirt, made a lightning bolt with duct tape and cardboard, painted an old sword gold, and glued some feathers to some old converse tennies and BAM...Percy Jackson came to life!

La-La decided really early on that she wanted to be a dead bride. I found fun material at Jo-Anns for the veil and we recycled a white dress that was getting a little too used, tore it and made it dirty and we had a perfect wedding dress! Add some black and white make-up with a wig from last year and La-La became the prettiest dead bride I have ever seen!

Little Care Bear chose to be Hannah Montana. We already had a Hannah dress but then this sparkly dress was found and she just *HAD* to have it. I agreed that it was perfect so with the sparkles, some much loved make-up, and an itchy wig, Care Bear magically turned into Hannah! She even won cutest costume at her school!

After trick-or-treating we came home and carved pumpkins. I helped the girls with their pumpkins but I was very proud of Jaco because this was the first year he took full responsibility and did his 100% by himself!
Look closely at this picture and you will see mama cat walking on the roof above us! We had no clue she was there until we looked at the picture on the computer!

Spooky glowing creations!

Saturday night was the ward trunk or treat. It was supposed to be out in the parking lot but since we live in the great northwest, it was raining! The party was moved indoors and I did feel a little weird with my dug up graveyard directly in front of a portrait of the Savior.

The girls had fun making sucker ghosties and coloring pictures. Care Bear decided to take a break from her itchy wig and went as a cute monkey.

Jaco throwing bean bags at a large pumpkin face

Justin did not feel like going as the BP gang so I went all out as a witch. So many people had no clue who I was until either Justin talked to me or the kids called me mom. I handed out the candy from our room and some of the kids would not take candy from me. I wasn't even saying anything! One little girl was obsessed with my nose, it was so cute! I used tole paint on my face and neck so I was able to match it to the rubber nose. To get the nose to stay on, I filled it with modeling clay and it was sticky enough to hold my honker in place!

Finally on Sunday the real Halloween was here! Poor Jaco and Care Bear woke up Saturday night throwing up so trick-or-treating was questionable. Thankfully they both perked up just in time to pound the pavement since we had not received enough candy from the previous 2 nights!

I decided it would not be fair to have our fun Halloween dinner on Sunday with two sickies, so we waited and extended the holiday one more day to Monday night! Pumpkin brains, bones, severed toes, graveyard dirt and blood to drink! When I told Care Bear the menu before I made it, she told me there was no way we could really have it because stores do not sell severed toes, blood, and brains! Guess I got her!

Hope everyone had a fun and sweet Halloween! I know we did especially with it lasting several days!

Summer is....

OVER!

Yes, I know summer is over because as I type this there is rain on my windows and a blazing fire in the fireplace, BUT I am going to do a picture post of what some of summer 2010 WAS!

move #8

You have probably figured out from previous posts that we moved...AGAIN! Justin got a job north of where we were so we packed a moving van in the middle of August and headed up I-5. We are really hoping to make this our final destination because the kids are only getting older and it is getting harder to say good bye to friends! We miss all of our friends but especially the Bruner's who lived across the street. We loved hanging out with them, camping with them, and there is something so comforting to know you can call a friend for anything from a can of soup to help with kids. We are planning to go camping with them every 4th of July so we can stay in touch!And let us not forget the Savage family. Friends that accepted us 100% messy house and all!

We also miss the health club I worked at and it's great pool, the book club I belonged to, church friends, the school the kids went to, our great long driveway that was perfect for the kids, living so close to the Redwoods and the coast, Super Wal-Mart and it's cheap groceries, having everything within 15 minutes of our house, etc...

Our new area has lots of nice things that we love like, acres and acres of orchards with cherries, apples, pears, and peaches, beautiful views of Mt Hood, Mt Adams, and other large mountains, all kinds of hiking, camping, and fishing areas, decent weather, and laid back people! Our new ward is awesome. When we pulled in to our driveway with the moving van, there were so many people to help us unload! Plus they brought us dinner for a few nights and they have been great about making sure we are invited to different activities.

I have been able to join a community choir and I go with a couple ladies from church. It is not Dr Anderson's choir but it is not ward choir either! :-) It is an audition only choir and they have been around since the 70's (including some of the members). The director Loyd Walworth LOVES music and gets as excited as a kid at Christmas when he talks about it. It is so much fun to sing in a decent choir again!

Since we moved, I also started working! All 3 kids go to school all day so I figured it was time for me to do something besides sit home and waste time on the computer! I heard about a caregiver job and applied. I started work 2 weeks ago and it is great! I go into people's homes and assist them in everything from dressing to cleaning to running errands. I am with one client right now who is recovering from a fall. I am there to make sure she is safe while her daughter works. I work while the kids are in school so when they come home, I am done and ready to be a mom again. Right now I have to leave by 6:30 a.m. so Justin gets to get the kids up and out the door to catch the bus. It has been good for all of them, especially Justin!

The house we are living in right now is old! It is in a great location with a wonderful yard including a fun barn, for the kids but it is old. It smells old, has old curtains, and is like I said, old! The kids are all sharing a bedroom because the "3rd" bedroom is really just a bonus room and is so far removed from the rest of the house, that we were not comfortable having anyone sleep in it. So instead we are using it as a toy room! We live kind of in the boonies and so we get to deal with all sorts of rodents! The cats are in heaven catching mice and other critters but we are not so sure we appreciate their "gifts". We have had bunny backsides left for us, moles, mice, intestines, and other rodents that I can't name. One day in a matter of 10 hours, I had to dispose of 4 mice! Our landlords were not sure they wanted us to lease their home since we own 2 cats. I am so glad we do have two cats! If not we would be taken over by mice! We will be in this house for a few more months and then the plan is to "house-sit" a Dr's home while he goes on sabbatical to New Zealand for 2 years.

The longer we are here, the more I like it. I have to be better at planning shopping trips because we don't live too close to any stores. I am spending less on impulse shopping. As I said before, our ward has been so friendly on Sunday's as well as during the week. We feel like we can be ourselves and be accepted and loved. The kids are having fun, and it is a beautiful part of Oregon! What more could I ask for!

VBS

When you don't live in Mormonville aka Idaho or Utah, you have the opportunity to allow your kids to participate in VBS or Vacation Bible School during summer break. You could go to a new one each week! They are free, teach simple bible stories, fun songs, and most importantly, entertain your kids for 3 hours a day!

Some people might think it strange that I send my kids to VBS since we are very active in the LDS church. I think it is good education! I grew up in sheltered Idaho Falls and was surrounded by Mormon's. I knew almost nothing about other religions. Then my hubby ripped me from my comfort zone when he was accepted to medical school in Iowa. All of a sudden I had as many friends outside of church as I did in church. Most importantly my eyes were opened and I realized there are really amazing people in this world and it was OK that we attended different church services. This probably sounds very close minded but if you have ever lived in Idaho or Utah, I hope you understand. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to leave Idaho because I now have friends all over the country some of which I share the same beliefs and others who I share a love of our Savior with and that is more than enough! I apologize if I did not include anyone growing up because they were not Mormon. I am trying to raise my own kids with strong testimonies of the gospel and open minds and hearts to accept all people. I am teaching them that even if someone does not live a life style we practice as Mormon's, they are still good people doing great things!

Ok, I am done preaching! The girls participated in 3 different VBS this summer and it was great! They had fun, learned Bible stories, and I had time to pack for our big move!

Care Bear and La-La eating lunch with Camdyn, Raegen, and Peyton Bruner!

Crazy day at VBS!

A *NEW* Scout! 8-5-10

I am going to start playing catch up on here so the next few posts will be in no particular order but will update Summer 2010!


August 5, 2010

After crossing the symbolic bridge from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts!

Jaco has officially completed Cub Scouts and is now an 11 year old Boy Scout! I have been warned that Scouting is much harder than Cub Scouting so I hope I (I mean HE) can do it! Thankfully I only have one son! Jaco is such an over achiever that I am sure he will make it to Eagle Scout! He has heard about Uncle Art who earned every merit badge possible and he wants to do that too!

But for now, Jaco did manage to earn all 20 activity badges and his Arrow of Light.


By accomplishing this, his Cub Master made him a very cool Exceller award! This award is what motivated Jaco to set the goal of earning all 20 activity badges.


He almost did not complete some of the badges but managed to finish one of them as we were walking out the door to his final Pack Meeting!

Receiving the Boy scout neckerchief

Our Cub Scout leader was the BEST! Curt Tiffany was called to be the 1st counselor in our Bishopric but asked to continue as the cub scout leader along with serving in the Bishopric, because he loves the boys almost as much as they love him!

Justin gave Jaco this knife at the pack meeting. It is a knife Justin's Grandpa Max gave him when he was a boy and he passed it on to Jaco!

CONGRATULATIONS Jaco! I am so proud of you! I love how when you are presented with a challenge that you meet it head on and are not happy until you complete it!

Back to school...Back to early alarms!

I had very mixed feelings about today. I was tired of the constant teasing bored kids ready for more structure but not ready to be tired from the early morning alarm clock!

I thought it was spendy to get two kids ready for school until I had to get three ready! I am so glad I planned ahead this year. In May and June, I bought all 3 kiddos new shoes, new backpacks, simple school supplies like crayons, glue, etc..., and some basic clothes like jeans. I am lucky that they all grow at a slow but steady rate so I felt safe buying everything. Then when we figured out where the kids were going, I bought the rest of the supplies. It was easily $400 and this was not buying anything name brand! This was all Pay-Less, Ross, and Wal-Mart! I dread the day when they discover name brands and pray they will be confident enough to not care!

We recently moved to a new city. We chose a small community to live in for 2 reasons. Justin is working out of two cities and our new home is in between them and we had heard amazing things about a charter school in the small city we moved to. We had been under the impression that if we lived in this community, the kids would automatically get in. We started communicating with the principle; Jaco even e-mailed her a couple times, so they knew we were coming. One week before school started, we found out that the charter school had room for Jaco and Care Bear, but not La-La! She was devastated and I was ticked! The school she would be sent to is 20 miles away where the charter school is literally .6 mile away. The district would bus her but of course she didn't want to go by herself! We toyed around with sending Care Bear with La-La so they could be together but then Care Bear would lose her coveted spot and what if later in the year, La-La got in and Care Bear was left alone at the school! I was so frustrated and did not know what to do. La-La cried and cried and decided she did not want to go to school at all. She suggested I home school her but I am hoping to get a job and I would not be able to with her home. When the secretary called to tell me La-La would not be able to go, she had mentioned that the same thing happened to another family. Their 5Th grader got in but their second grade daughter did not. One afternoon when I was so frustrated I was crying, I had the thought come to me to somehow find out who this other family was and see if the girls could meet before school started. I truly believe it was an answer to my prayers. So I called the school and asked them to call the other family, give them my information, and ask them to call me. The other Mom Lisa called me within a couple hours and she was so happy to get the girls together. We met that night and Emily and La-La hit it off immediately.

La-La and Emily ready to go on their long bus ride together

The next day they played for 6 hours and had a ball. We found out Emily is in La-La's class and they will ride the bus together! All of a sudden La-La was happy about school again and she knew it would be OK! I also bought a small notebook that La-La will keep in her backpack. I will write her notes and she can write notes to me while she is on her long bus ride. She really liked that idea!So today, all 3 kids started a new school year with Jaco and Care Bear in a charter school and La-La off to another school until an opening comes up at the charter school.

Jaco started 6th grade! He was disappointed to go to a "little Kid" school again as he had been looking forward to middle school which he would have gone to if we had not moved. I know he will do so well here and I will admit I am so glad he gets a few more years in a "little kid" school!

La-La is off to second grade! She was excited but nervous and I know she will do great!

My little Care Bear is not so little as she started kindergarten today! She will go all day. When I dropped her off, I was worried she might cry but she was so brave and acted so mature.

She has to deal with her cast just this week at school and hopefully by Friday it will be a thing of the past!putting her things in her very own cubby

La-La getting off her bus at the end of the day. She said she had 5 recess breaks and loved the morning because there was no math!

Jaco and Care Bear getting off their bus! Jaco solved his teacher's Rubik's Cube and is already known as the class genius and Care Bear claims she already did math on a computer.

Last night for FHE, I interviewed each of the kids. Here are their answers!

Jaco=J La-La=L Care Bear=C

What is your favorite book?
J: The Hunger Games series
L: Juny B Jones
C: That's Not My Frog

What is your favorite song?
J: It's On (Camp Rock)
L: Phantom of the Opera
C: I Like to see the Temple

What is your favorite food?
J: Supreme pizza and banana cookies
L: Meatloaf & sour cream potatoes with ice cream for dessert
C: steak and cupcakes

What is your favorite color?
J: green
L: pink and purple
C: red and pink

What is your favorite outfit?
J: anything comfy and not stiff
L: dresses
C: sparkly shrug, tank top and jeans

What is your favorite thing to do?
J: anything electronic ie...DS, computer, TV
L: explore
C: play barbies

What are you excited for school this year?
J: after school clubs, extracurricular activities
L: meet new friends and learn more things
C: doing crafts

What are you nervous about school?
J: making friends
L: everything about the 1st day
C: having to go to time out

What will Mom do while you are school?
J: read
L: job and clean up the house
C: be on the computer

What will Dad do while you are at school?
J: work
L: work
C: watch TV

Anything else we should know about you?
J: Wishes he was still at our old house so he could go to middle school
L: funny thing; she was wearing my bra during our interview!
C: She loves snuggling with her mom