One of These Things is NOT Like the Other...

So...the kids and I decorated for Christmas this week. I have to say, this was the QUICKEST we have EVER decorated. It had to have taken us a whole...oh...ten minutes. *sigh* When we moved here last year, we THOUGHT we were retiring and decided to leave behind all our Christmas decorations (since we would be home by now!) Silly us!

The only box that made it with us was a small box that held some of our advent calendars. Now you gotta understand--we LOVE Christmas! We have boxes and keepers and more boxes of decorations. You know the ones you hate on your street because they have soooooo many decorations everywhere? That's us! I even have Christmas dishes! Steven has the machine that makes all his outdoor airport landing lights--I mean decorative lights--play in tune to Christmas carols LOL! We got the Christmas fever BAD!!

Anyways, I talked to the kids, and we have decided we really don't want to buy a bunch of decorations--since we already have more than any one family should be allowed to have--so...we are just going to make do with what we have.

This is our tree (below). It is over six feet tall--rotates on it's base and normally has over 400 ornaments (most made by friends) that cover every single branch. *grin*

Something is just NOT right with this picture *sigh* This is our "tree" This year LOL Kimmy found some little ornaments and decorated her cactus she keeps in her bedroom window *grin* Somedays you just have to have a sense of humor!!

At first it really did bother me that I didn't have my stuff...but as time goes on...we are learning to make new traditions this year. When we are all together again as a family, we will be able to put up our tree, put out all my nativities (I collect them), cover the house with lights and everything else, but we will probably still reminisce about the year we had the cactus tree!

One Month Down...Eleven Left to Go...

Well, today is one month down! He has been gone:

790 minutes
47,419 minutes
2,845,144 seconds

Not that I am counting *grin*

I decided I would look for a fun picture..."Yet, another reason why I love him..."

This picture was taken during a HOT time of year in Miami. My girl scouts were complaining of the heat, so we decided to throw a Winter Party for them. We had snowball throwing contests, had ice cream, and then Steven climbed up and made it "snow" on the kids (boy our neighbors wondered about that one!) He used to snowcone machine to make the snow for the girls. They all loved "Mr. Steve" and so do I!!

I miss you handsome! Only 332 more days to go!

I Always Wondered...

When we first heard the song "Honkey Tonk Badonkadonk" we teased Kimmy she should use it for one of her sign language performances...but never could figure out how you would sign it LOL Well, today on her blog it's "Random Youtube Tuesday" so she was researching a video to share...and she actually found someone doing the song! I thought it was so funny...I decided to share it here too!

Yes...I am STILL sick...*cough cough*

I cannot believe how this bug is hanging on! I made myself go to church today...long enough to try and get my Visiting Teaching report done...so I didn't have to call EVERY sister in the ward with no voice! (Thanks to my one sister who turned in her report!!! I really appreciate it!) I tried to keep my distance from people...so I really hope I didn't spread anything else!

Other than that...I have just spent way too much time in bed being SICK!! I am tired of coughing and feeling like a truck hit me! And now, poor Kimmy who has been SO good to take care of her mom and siblings this week--is getting sick! And it is FINALS WEEK for her UGH!! I guess I just didn't have enough excitement...my hubby deploys, the van DIES and we have the black plague at our house! Oh well...In time this too shall pass!

So...if I haven't talked to you lately...I apologize...It is hard to chat on the phone without a voice (Sorry Gloria and Robin!) I hope we will feel better soon and life can go on! I just thought I had better give an update on the sick house--since people had asked *grin*

Happy Turkey Day!

First...a disclaimer...I NEVER cook Thanksgiving! I have the BEST husband in the world who LOVES to cook big meals...and hey, well, I LOVE to let him! One time he was deployed...I cooked Thanksgiving--we had those Banquet turkey microwave meals! Let's just say the kids thought that was a ONE-TIME memorable event. I have not quite been forgiven for that yet! So....with that said...and handsome being deployed...well, it fell to me to fix the big dinner!

Second disclaimer...I am SICK AS A DOG!! Stay as far away from my house as possible...it is quarentined! Seriously, this is about the sickest I have been in a LONG time. I am wishing I could just curl up in bed and sleep for about a week...and have my handsome here to take care of me. *sigh* but life doesn't always work as planned. So as I cooked all day (and had to keep resting), we FINALLY got dinner done about 4 pm! (and Banquet TV dinners were not a part of it!)

NOTE: For those of you who have been to my house--check out the table--it is actually cleaned off! This is a rare state of my table--I ALWAYS have projects covering it! LOL

This is how our dinner turned out! We had ham, turkey, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits, stuffing, salad and chocolate cream pie

After much discussion with the kids, we decided to have a ham this year instead of a big turkey--I actually HATE anything that comes on a bone--so the whole idea of having a big turkey with bones to deal with--really grossed me out! Although...I was quite suprised to find out the ham had a bone! Now I know for Christmas to look for boneless ham! LOL! This one had a YUMMY brown sugar glaze! Normally I would have used fancier serving dishes, but by the time the dinner was done--so was my cold medicine *grin*

I decided to surprise the kids and did make them a turkey too--I just cheated and bought the boneless breast!

Missy was being so patient for dinner to start. We did keep joking about the fact that this wasn't a normal dad thanksgiving though--the turkey was actually done before dinner was served! One year we invited a bunch of people from church over--and handsome MAJORLY miscalculated how much time the turkey wouls take. We ended up sending it home with people at the end!

Kimmy laughed about my "one person serving" turkey. She said that was her dinner! We did finally convince her to share!

Everyone seemed to really enjoy their food! I wish I could have tasted it *sigh* I HATE being sick!

I have weird children...that is just all there is to it. They love to make up weird concoctions! For example: Stevie loved to gross me out at a Chinese restaurant we went to in Idaho by putting sweet n' sour sauce on his mashed potatoes as gravy. Missy loves to put pizza pringles on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And Kimmy? Well, she is the queen of it! Today's "gross-mom-out" concoction was a biscuit with mashed potatoes, gravy and turkey as a sandwich. Blech!

This is Stevie going for about his 6th serving of turkey! That boy wins the "shovel-it-in" award of the night! Yowza!

This is our "we-miss-daddy-memorial". One of the things Steven does that just drives me insane is that he will leave glasses of juice all over with just one swallow of juice left in them. Inevitably I will knock them over and make a mess! There was always a pitcher of juice on the counter and a glass with one swallow EVERY morning when I would get up! So...this one is for you handsome! We missed you today! I am so grateful that you are my hunky handsome husband, a fabulous father to the kids and a GREAT soldier! We miss you very much and this is the LAST Thanksgiving we can let you miss!

This was my EXCEPTIONALLY difficult Thanksgiving pie we had for dessert! I worked long and hard on making it look and taste so great! *grin* We also have a pumpkin pie (same type of hard recipe) that we get to have with all our leftovers! Yummy!

So...I survived making my 1st Thanksgiving dinner...even feeling as crummy as I did! *grin* We spent the rest of the night watching a DVD about Lance Burton, the magician (which means the kids have now pulled out EVERY magic book and kit we own). It was a fun Thanksgiving, all things considered!

One last thing...

We had so much fun with the DVD, we started playing on Youtube again with magician's and came across this video of Lance Burton. He was almost killed when a stunt went horribly wrong and he missed getting hit by a roller coaster car by only 1/10th of a second. It is quite amazing!

Happy Turkey Day!!

Missy Tries to Cheer Her Mom Up!

This has been a no-good-very-bad day! There I said it...it has been really ICK!

I am sick as a dog and think I am coughing up a lung (guess I have two--I could give up one??) so that's gotta count for one part of a bad day! THEN...I decide to run to the PX and get cold medicine and tape for a project I need to finish...and my van starts acting funny. Yes, the van I bought so that I would have dependable transportation while Steven is deployed and he hasn't even been gone 3 weeks yet! *sigh* So tonight Kimmy and I take it VERY SLOWLY at 35 mph up to our mechanic in Cove. (So if you happened to be going to Cove tonight about 630 and grumbled about a very slow van and a gold car following it with their hazard lights on...that was ME! Thanks for not honking or waving with your finger *smile*) And THANKS MOM AND DAD for being willing to listen to me cry and offering to help...it's mean a LOT!

Which brings us back to the topic...Missy tries to cheer her mom up! I am the proud owner of two cute cards she made me tonight declaring her love for me and to "keep smiling" and THEN she gave me a dress-up show (just so I have something fun to blog--boy do I have this kid trained or what?) So...here is my cute girl:

Oh How Addictive YouTube Can Be!!!

The other night we got playing around on YouTube--that is SUCH an addictive site...You watch one video and then start linking to another...and oh wait!...let me see if they have...and four hours later you realize it's 2 am!!!! (Which might account for my migraine the next day???) Anyways...I loved this video...the one that started it all!

So...from Moosebutter's "Star Wars" we started jumping...Star Wars Dance Off...Star Wars this...Star Wars that...and beyond!

The next day I guess Stevie and Missy were still on a Star Wars kick...because down they come with their creation "Star Wars American Idol"!