my kind of crazy

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

Can you believe it .... I didn't take one picture all day!?!

I started the day with the "Earn Your Turkey" 4 mile race and the weather was great this year. Only Danny and I ran so it was pretty low key. I was really excited with my time though (31:45)- I finished faster than last year. And I was really excited that my mom and dad came to cheer us on. There isn't much better than coming to the finish and hearing my mom's whistle and her loud yelling. It definitely gives me the added energy to sprint it in.

Then I came home and started cooking. I was in charge of the ham and the appetizers. Then we went to my parent's house to hang out and for dinner. Dinner was delicious and I ate way too much. The kids got hungry before we were ready to eat so we fed all of them then sent them downstairs to play. Fantastic! I actually got to enjoy my food and spend time talking to my family. It was so fun.

Then the boys played ping pong. We played a board game. We brought the kids over here for a movie and playtime and then all the boys went back over to my parents for all night game night (Call of Duty 5). And I am at home with 7 kids all asleep by 9:00 (since all the 6 year old cousins wanted a slumber party).

It was a GREAT turkey day! I am so thankful for my blessings - my family, my health, my many temporal blessings and above all for the knowledge that I am a child of God.

I hope you all had a great thanksgiving too!!!

Last year was our big Thanksgiving with everyone here except Mark of course (but he'll be back from his mission next year ... yippee!).

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Sophie's First Food

The last few nights Sophie has woken up to eat in the middle of the night. I realize this is not uncommon for a 4 month old - but she has been sleeping through the night since about 5 weeks so it's kind of a big deal to me and I really don't like getting up. So I thought maybe it was time to add in a little extra meal before bed. Tonight Sophie had some yummy rice cereal and I think she did well. She actually reminded me of Luke's first time eating (which is a very good sign he was a super eater).

First Bite....

It was a little too thick...

And she wasn't sure if she liked it or not.....

Then she started attacking the spoon

and ate all of it up no problem

Now I just hope she sleeps good tonight!!!

I'm Thankful for....

My Body.

Last night at FHE our lesson was from the awesome new Nursery manual on Gratitude. It had a picture of 4 things we can be thankful for: Family, Home, Food and our Body. We talked about how thankful we are for our eyes, ears, nose, arms, etc. As I thought about this I realized I have been blessed with a healthy body and I truly am so thankful for it.

I love the Primary song "Whenever I hear the song of a bird" especially the second verse:

He gave me my eyes that I might see the color of butterfly wings.
He gave me my ears that I might hear the magical sound of things.
He gave me my life, my mind, my heart: I thank him reverently
For all his creations, of which I am part. Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.

I am so thankful that I have been able to be a part of creating 4 beautiful children. That I am able to physically endure pregnancy and child birth. What a wonderful blessing. I know when I'm in the middle of pregnancy or labor I don't always act appreciative. But I truly am grateful for each of my pregnancies and especially for how healthy my body is during pregnancy and labor.

I am thankful that I am physically able to run and bike. (I'll admit I wasn't blessed with a lot of hand/eye coordination and I've never taken the time to develop that skill.) What a blessing to be out in the mountains here in Utah on a bike. It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful all of God's creations are.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Today I'm Thankful for...

My Mom.

Last week I saw an article on my MSN homepage about how to NOT turn into your mother. Are you kidding me? There is no-one I would rather turn into than my mom. She is absolutely amazing.

I have a bad head cold and felt horrible yesterday. So the first thing I did when we got to my parent's house for Sunday dinner was ask my mom to take care of me. She of course got straight to work - made me fenugreek tea, rubbed all my points, popped my achy neck and back and made sure I didn't have to deal with my kids the rest of the night.

Then when I went home last night I took the girls and Todd was following a few minutes later with the boys. Claire let herself out of the back door and when she closed it she managed to get her hand closed in the door (she pushed the fancy button to close the door and didn't get her hand moved in time - OUCH). She was on the opposite side of the van so by the time she screamed I had to run around the van holding Sophie in my arms, pull open the door, sweep her into my arms and carry them both inside (using my super powers that mom's get when they are scared for their kids). I set Sophie in her bumbo (luckily it was just sitting right there on the table so it took all of 0.5 seconds) grabbed Claire a bag of ice and called my mom. In near hysterics I just said "Mom. Claire shut her hand in the door come over." Then I hung up the phone and just held my sweet baby with ice on her hand to calm her down. Todd was there 2 minutes later and then my mom showed up right behind him. He hurried and took care of the kids and my mom checked Claire's hand. Luckily, Claire's little hand is almost all cartilage so everything OK and nothing was broken. We slathered it with Arnica, covered it up and put Claire to bed.

Then this morning when I came out of my room from getting ready I saw my mom's coat hanging on the stair rail so I went downstairs to find her. She had already cleaned the boys room (not a small task since they are boys), picked up all the trash out of the basement and put it in a nice little pile, started a load of wash, folded a load of wash (you know the last one that never quite makes it out of the dryer - for me it's always towels), pulled out the kitchen trash to take outside and was planning on taking the trash can out to the street for trash day (I beat her to it though), all after checking Claire's hand. She really is amazing and can do it all. Her super powers don't turn on only in times of need like mine. She has them permanently. I hope I can earn mine too!!!

So today (and everyday) I am so thankful for my mom. I am so glad that she lives less than a half-mile away. I love that she rides her bike over to my house just to stop by and check on us.

Thanks mom. I love you!

p.s. isn't she the cutest mom????

Friday, November 21, 2008

Flashback Friday - Thanksgiving

I don't have a lot of childhood memories of Thanksgiving. We never really went anywhere because we lived too far away to go anywhere for a weekend. I spent almost every Thanksgiving when I was at BYU in Provo or at my roomies houses. But then when my parents moved out to Utah everything changed with the holiday. It is now my favorite of all the holidays.

What's not to like? 2 days off work, family, lots of food, and no presents to be bought. I LOVE it. The best part of the holiday for me is that it's one of the few times my entire family gets together.

For several years we went up to Spokane to my grandpa's house. The funniest part is that we would NEVER leave the house and all the girls go stir crazy. The boys would all bring their computers and set them up in grandpa's basement and play games all night long.

Some of our family traditions are: all night game nights (as many as the boys can get away with), family volleyball, shopping or a movie for Emily's b-day, and now the turkey trot (hopefully we can make this one a tradition - last year was soooo much fun!)

Thanksgiving 2002

Grandma Giboney, My Mom, Tayson and I

Grandpa Schultz, My dad, Tayson and I (and Daisy)

Emma and Tayson
On Grandpa's sweet couch/Mark's bed

Tayson and Adam

asleep in their car seats at the airport waiting for our flight to Spokane

Thanksgiving 2003

We had to eat at the "kids" table.

Todd, Chris, Heidi, Lexie, Tayson and I

Tayson and Daisy

Daisy was Grandpa's dog and she was the ugliest dog ever! Her eyes bulged, she could only walk forward so she would get stuck in corners, she was losing her teeth, once she pooped in the hall and I stepped in at 2:00 AM (not funny), but I miss Daisy because she reminds me of Grandpa and I REALLY miss him!

My cousin Theresa and I

We were in charge of making the gravy every year.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Grilled Cheese

First let me just say my hubby ROCKS!!! For the last few weeks I haven't left work by 5:00 once. I've just been really since busy since I got my new job. And every night when I get home he or Timmy is holding Sophie and takin' care of business. He hasn't complained once. Did I mention he rocks?

So tonight at 5:45 when I was leaving work I called to tell him I had to stop by the grocery store to pick up some treats for YW tonight and asked him if he wanted me to pick up something for dinner since I wouldn't have time to make anything and he said not to worry about it that he would fix dinner. Seriously? HE ROCKS!!!

It's known in our family that Todd makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches, it's his meal when he cooks. We used to enjoy his grilled cheese every Sunday after church but since we have 1:00 church we haven't had them in a while. It was such a simple meal but it was so great to come home to the table set, dinner cooking on the griddle and happy kids.

When I got home from YW the kids were in bed, teeth were brushed, homework was done and Todd was holding one not-sleeping baby. He rocks I tell you.

While I'm thinking about grilled cheese....Todd and I eat them differently. We both like white bread and real butter, he likes American Cheese. I'll do American or Cheddar. Todd puts peanut butter and jelly on top of his after it's cooked. Isn't that crazy??? Growing up my mom always put mayo inside it or grilled them with tuna. But I like a nice basic grilled cheese and I love soup on the side.

How do you eat yours?

P.S. Did I mention Todd ROCKS!?!