Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. Some friends of ours came over and we enjoyed a gigantic feast and lots of fun. Here is the final menu for this year, some from us, some from our friends:

Apple Cider Brined Turkey
Savory Herb Gravy
Mashed Potatoes (a whopping 12lbs!)
Brown Sugar Glazed Sweet Potatoes
Stuffing (my own concoction from a few recipes)
Fruit Salad with fresh fruit and real whipped cream
Matt and Mandy's Famous Spinach Salad (From the Friend magazine)
Cranberry Jello Salad
Rolls
Relish Tray
Calico Cabbage Salad
Cheesy Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Mexican Corn


Pies:
Cheesecake
Brownies
Ginger Apple Cranberry
2 Pumpkin (from our own garden pumpkins)
Old Fashioned Apple
Cherry
Pecan
Honey Rhubarb
Coconut Cream
Chocolate Cream
Pear Streusel

We obviously are still eating leftovers and we have put a few of the pies in the freezer for a later date. Brett hurt his back on Thursday- so he sat and did all the peeling and prepping while I did the leg work. It worked out well and we ended up eating near the time we said (Okay, so it was 45 minutes late, but for me- that is pretty good for Thanksgiving). We had a fun time talking and semi-playing games afterward. It was a good day. We hope everyone else had a great holiday as well!

Our Half Marathon

Back in October, Mr. D and I ran a half- marathon together. We had been training all summer and it was an awesome, exhilarating experience to run the race together. It was Brett's first race of any length ever, and my second half-marathon. I am so proud of him! I was not having my greatest run and he kept me going the whole time. We finished in 1 hour 51 minutes. (About an 8.5 minute mile, I think)

The kids also got to run in a kids race, Princess and Mr.Man ran about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile and Noodle did the toddler race which was about two blocks. They all got medals and were incredible excited to have run their first "race."

Hamburger Helper

I made Hamburger Helper for the first time in my life last night. I was feeling pretty disgusted-
Number 1- it has hamburger in it (I loathe hamburger and maybe buy it 2 times a year)
Number 2. - let's face it, Hamburger Helper is a box meal... need I say more?

So here's the funny part. I cooked it up, (it was the Crunchy Mexican kind) and it made the whole house smell like fake tacos. The kids ran up the stairs and started commenting on how GOOD the house smelled. I was still trying to fathom that I was actually cooking this for dinner. Anyway, I served it up, held my breath and took a bite. It wasn't all that bad, a little bit soupy taco-y taste with fake cheese sauce.

The kids loved it. LOVED IT. The both told me that it was either number 2 or number 3 on their list of favorite foods. I mean this is right after homemade pot pie (for Princess) and pancakes and waffles for Mr. Man. They said they could eat it all the time. Ugh. Even Mr. D came home and said "Wow honey, the house smells great! What did you cook for dinner?" Needless to say, there weren't any leftovers.

So my question is: Should I be hurt or happy that they loved it so much?

Getting Back to Life

We went to my parents house this weekend, and somehow it seems when we do anything out of the ordinary or spontaneous, I have a hard time picking back up life. So, this week we have gotten off to a slow start. I am happy to say, however, that we have accomplished much in the way of homeschooling this week and I even canned some habanero jelly. I will be happy with my accomplishments and hopefully be back on track for next week.
I think there may be a lesson in this for me about advance preparation- if I didn't always fly by the seat of my pants, then I maybe could pick up a little easier!

On another note, I feel like I have been doing better at letting things go and not being so stressed out. I changed the schedule for the kids homeschooling, and I think that works better, too. I wish I could say I don't get angry or frustrated anymore, but I am working on it- and things are definitely better than they have been. (HeHe- My sisters may have something different to say, they hear more than enough of my rantings!)

I have a few makeup posts with pics- hopefully I will get them in soon!

Oh the Humidity!

We keep our windows open at night whenever possible to keep air-conditioning costs down. So the other night we thought nothing of going to bed with basically every window open. We had something that the weathermen call an "upper level low pressure system" come through Iowa. So whatever that means, it brought a lot of fog and water vapor close to the ground. At around 3am, our smoke detectors went off all through the house. (They are all connected to each other through our wiring). I guess all the water in the air had brought the particulate matter in the air to above normal levels causing the alarms to go off. Brett jumped out of bed -freaked me out- and then realizing that it was just the good old Midwestern humidity- I got up, closed all the windows, turned on the AC to dry out the house, and went back to bed.

The Atonement and Gratitude

Well, this week has been better than it's not-so-prodigious start. I have been able to let go and relax about more things. (I know, it's only been 3 days, but I have to start somewhere!) I really have been pondering this whole thing, and trying to change myself, my ways, and my thinking for the better.
As I have been pondering this, I was thinking about the Lord and how He sees me and my children. I realized that by trying to be "perfect", not attaining that and then getting completely [angry, frustrated, depressed- choose one] I was in fact, being very imperfect by not accepting the Lord's Atonement in my behalf. Instead of repenting and getting better, I was simply digging myself deeper into a non-Christlike attitude. I think the Lord loves me and my children. I just need to think that all the time, even when things are not perfect.
I also realized that by focusing on all the things that didn't go right, I didn't ever look at the things that did go right. Even on Monday- I got the grocery shopping done, we did do some school, and housework. That is not fancy or a ton of stuff- but hey, why not be happy about it? I have been taught this so often, I wonder how I have lived thus far and still have trouble seeing all my blessings- which when you look- makes me think of the scripture "My cup runneth over." My family and I have been blessed so abundantly, everyday, that if those were the things I focused on, I think even my worst days would take a drastic turn for the better. I really have been given so many blessings.

There was an interesting article in the Ensign that came in the mail yesterday titled "Truths and Lies" (Ensign, October 2009, pgs. 62-65) I think it was written for me. Here is one the things it said:

Lie: I need to prove that I'm worth loving by being perfect. Only when I'm perfect will I be able to experience love from God and others.
Truth: Even though I'm not perfect now, I can have constant access to divine love.

The author writes of some of the ways she fell into this trap and then ends with a quote from Bonnie D. Parkin, former Relief Society President. "Although we can make choices that enable us to experience a heightened or a lesser degree of Gods's love, we can and should be partaking of God's love now, even- and especially- in our imperfect state. We are worth loving because Christ thought we were of enough worth to atone for us individually."

I am grateful for the Lord who loves me and keeps going along with me as I learn and relearn all this.

Venus Fly Trap Mosquito Murder

Yesterday I bought Mr. Man a Venus Fly Trap on a whim while at the grocery store. He has been checking out carnivorous plant books at the library, looking at them in nurseries, etc. Needless to say, he was ecstatic.

I wanted to show the kids how the traps worked- when an insect touches the tiny hairs on the inside of the traps, it closes. So, when I hit and stunned a mosquito I thought "This is the perfect opportunity!"

I picked up the still-alive, but injured mosquito, and called the kids in. I dropped him into one of the traps. He didn't move enough at first to trigger the trap shut. We jiggled the jar and he crawled right out of the trap. So naturally, I picked him up again and set him back in the trap. He again crawled out- this time just in time not to be snapped up by the plant. This is not going well, I thought. So once more, I picked him up, put him in the trap, then used a knife to trigger the hairs and Snap! -mosquito trapped. The children were super excited - and me? I felt like I had committed mosquito murder!