Thanksgiving 2013

Happy Thanksgiving...a few days late. I hope everyone had a great time and spent time with those they enjoy spending time with- sometimes family, sometimes friends and maybe if you're fortunate-both. :)

We had a nice, small, gathering and enjoyed the food and company very much. We went to my mom's house. It was just my mom, dad, Louis, the three girls, myself and Sharon and Dave, family friends.

We had the entire spread of course: turkey, honey baked ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, salads, rolls, candied yams, and four pies. I made all the pies this year- an apple, pumpkin, French silk, and pecan. For the first time ever, I made a pumpkin pie out of a fresh pumpkin. Wasn't that difficult, texture and taste were quite different, but to be honest, I will not do it again. No one in our family really likes pumpkin pie, but what's Thanksgiving without one?  I was hoping one made out of fresh pumpkin would drastically alter my opinion and I would suddenly LOVE it...not so much :) However, the French silk and pecan were phenomenal. Apparently the apple was delicious as well, but I'm not a huge fan of that either so I didn't have any.

After stuffing ourselves beyond embarrassment, we all hung out, relaxed, and of course did some shopping. Online. I know people are having absolute fits about all the stores open on Thanksgiving and the poor employees that have to work, etc etc. I don't care....I work in medicine- there's LOTS of people that have to work holidays: all employees of a hospital, police men, firemen, hotel/motel workers, gas station employees, and the list goes on. It's perfectly fine for these people...apparently their Thanksgiving or Christmas with their families isn't quite as important to the general population as Wal-Mart and Target's employees are.  Just a fact of life. If you don't think Best Buys employees should have to work on a holiday, then I guess you can just wait to go shop until you feel it's fair for  them to be there. I realize these aren't "necessary" jobs that have to be around for society to function, but the bottom line is most of us need jobs, and that means we work holidays. If YOU are fortunate enough to not have to, count your blessings and be thankful, but don't be mad because everyone got the good deals before you got there and then claim you're mad because it's "wrong." Every person, facebook post, tweet, etc that I've seen or talked to that is all worked up about it, it doesn't even affect them. It's not the employees that are mad, it's the consumer. Whatever..... no one cares about my opinion either, but definitely doesn't stop me from putting my two cents, or five dollars in!

ANYWAYS, off my soap box! eek!!!! We managed to score three tablets, covers, and 2 year protection plans for the girls for about 400 dollars!! Sweet! That is all they will be receiving from us, that and a stocking. All three of these girls are spoiled rotten and have more than they need already. They will get plenty from other family members, so no need go over board. Plus, a tablet is a pretty nice gift for being 5,7, and 8.

It was an awesome Thanksgiving, and I am thankful for all the blessings in my life. I have many, and hope to be thankful and appreciative everyday, not just the one day a year we feed our already HUGE faces with turkey.

So....on to something with a little less 'tude from me....lets get some pictures goin'!!!

So....I'm a total dweeb I know, but I was at work on Tuesday before Thanksgiving, talking to my mom and staring at my chipped fingernail polish. I was sitting looking at my thumb when I noticed I was quite clearly in the holiday spirit...even my fingernail polish had chipped into the shape of a turkey!! :) crazy. I couldn't have done it if I tried, but was quite impressed.

My pumpkin pie from a fresh pumpkin. It's waiting for it's turn in the oven.

My apple pie. Oh what a beauty.

Bella lookin' fly on Turkey day....every pun intended. ;)

and our little fashionista Zo. Rockin' the glitter tutu. Of course they're both in black or gray....I am their mother.

Nana cookin' away.

The feast is over, food coma set in, political talk flowin'......that's when I take pictures, no interest or knowledge on politics and Im just fine with that!

ZoZo and her dad, Jason, kicking back and gettin' some rest in after gorging. :)

CHEEEEESE!

so bored....I'm just SOOOOO bored.......

Papa has decided it's time to bust into those pies

nana take a much deserved break after slaving away for days.

Three pretty little girls

Peace....YO

Zoe is in cheerleading and was showing us how she does a 'bridge' in class. Of course what followed was two more showing us how they do a bridge.....

AND THEN......another larger monkey, showing them how he could do a bridge.

and it all ended in a dog pile

Thanksgiving Brunch

Last Thursday was Zoe's Thanksgiving Brunch celebration at school. It was a potluck, and the turn out and amount of food was absolutely unbelievable! There are only about 40 students between the two kindergarten classes, and it took over three of the full size lunch room tables to hold all the food people brought. It was awesome. The kids were all super stoked. They had all made turkey hats that they wore and had prepared a few musical numbers for our viewing pleasure after stuffing our bellies. It was cute! I am thankful that I have a schedule that allows me to attend this kind of stuff, it's not always easy when you work full time and these things happen during working hours, but we have always managed to be there to support all of the girls. :)

MIA...literally

SO.......I went to the doctor on Friday for what I knew was going to be an unpleasant experience, but a necessary one, however, it turned in to much more than even I bargained for.

After I had Zoe, I had an IUD put in. I've LOVED it. Never had a single problem with it, but they only last for five years so it was time to get it switched out and replaced with another one. I also needed to have a pap done since I hadn't had one done since I had the IUD inserted five years ago...I know, I know....save the lectures.....so, I was just going to do it all in one appointment. Not fun- pap, IUD out, IUD in, but figured might as well just do it all at once and not think about it again for at least another few years.

Friday rolls around and I'm nervous. Not looking forward to the appointment. Louis is a doll so he stayed the morning home from work so he could take me.  So its finally my turn so I go back and we get the party rolling. The doctor comes in and she gets right to work, she does my pap and then it's time to take the IUD out, so she starts looking for the strings and can't find them. So she gets a little metal claw looking thing and starts "blind sweeping" with it. Basically fishing around with this tool trying to find strings or the IUD or something and pull them down. No luck. After about thirty minutes and three tools later, she gave up. My IUD is literally missing in action. :(

There are two options:
     1) It's perforated my uterus and is somewhere in my abdominal cavity floating around
     2) It's still in my uterus but pushed so far back they can't reach it.

My doctor is about 99% sure it is still in my uterus- I'm not having any pain, no periods still and Im not pregnant...all signs it is in place and working.  I have to have an ultrasound done on the 5th of December to locate it and then based on that we will determine which SURGERY is necessary. Yes folks, SURGERY. I have to have surgery to get this damn thing out. Best case scenario, it is in my uterus and they do what is called a D&C, which is still a pretty big deal. You get put to sleep and in my book, anything that requires you to be knocked out is a big deal. Lame.

So, while I was going to get another Mirena popped right back in, I am no longer gonna do that. Bummer. I will keep everyone updated once I figure out what is going on. Send me good mojo in the mean time!! :)

Chiggity Check

Just a quick post to check in. Not a ton going on in our world...hence the lack of posts, but sometimes that's ok. :)

Louis went to Milwaukee for work. He is back now and that is good because I absolutely hate it when he is gone. I don't do well by myself, I never have, and I highly doubt that I will start now at almost 30 years old. He travels a bit, but not a ton, he is able to push a lot of it off on another guy, and that works out just fine for me.

Girls are all doing good. Zoe and Bella both got their season passes for Bogus. Bella of course is a skiing fiend. Zoe has never been, but we all HIGHLY doubt she will be, but we got her one anyways, just because she was there and wanted one. Who knows maybe we will all be shocked and she will want to go and will like it. Anyways, Bella and Rachel are still rocking the piano lessons. Zoe will enter piano in January, but we did go ahead and put Zoe into cheerleading classes because that is what struck her fancy. Whatever. As long as they have after school activities to get them off the couch and away from the electronics for a bit....I'm kosher.

Louis and I got our annual Las Vegas trip booked for 2014. We usually go in February, but this year have pushed it off until the end of April. Obvious reasons. :) Anyways, thats exciting. Vegas is fun.

That is really about it. Sad, I know. We live pretty boring lives these days- work and school.

We are managing to have a bit of fun here and there though. Here are a few random pictures from my trusty ole' phone.

Bella, Zo and I took the demon dog on a walk the other day. We're trying to train the beast to walk on a leash. My mom said once that was accomplished she would come out and get her and take her for walks and runs and stuff. My mama obviously has much more time to do that daily seeing as she does not work.

Saturday was an interesting day. Jason, the girls' dad, was leaving for San Francisco for two weeks on Sunday, so he decided to take them out for lunch and manicures and pedicures. That meant that we had just Rachel for a chunk of Saturday. We let her choose where we wen to lunch and she chose Good Wood- interesting choice for a vegetarian, but that's what she wanted and we like it so even better.

 

Jason dropped Zoe off  that afternoon at her friend Teagan's house for her  very first sleepover with a friend. As a mother youre always concerned about this. How the first one will go. Frantic phone calls in the middle of night. Late night trips to pick up a home sick child. BUT, none of that happened. She did awesome, was a good girl and had a really good time. So that meant that after we dropped Rachel back off at her mom's house, we had just Bella for the night. So we went to the Village out in Meridian and checked it out. I was really impressed.  Bella thought the ice skating rink was awesome. We let her chose where she wanted to go to dinner, and for some odd reason- she chose Sizzler...or as B says- Sizz-A-Ler. I dont think we've ever been to Sizzler. It's like 70's cheap steak house style, but she musty have seen an ad or heard about it from a friend because her determining factor was the sundae bar. Some how she found out about that, and she HAD to see it. :) She had the salad bar and so did I and Louis had a steak with all you can eat shrimp, and I have to be honest...it really wasn't half bad. :)

Sunday morning before we went and picked up Zoe we decided to take the girls out to breakfast at Denny's. How sad and abused they look. :)

And last but not least, the girls taking pictures of themselves...gotta love the selfies!

Zoe's Kindergarten School Picture

I saw this and about lost my mind....Zoe looks about 12. It is like a look into the future. When you see your child everyday youre used to the way they look, but for some reason this picture was like looking at her the first time. She is absolutely gorgeous.....I'm a proud mommy if you can't tell! :)

obviously this is just a picture of the picture, hence the piano keys and such

Parent Teacher Conferences and Pojos

On Halloween morning we had parent teacher conferences for Bella and Zoe. They both are doing really well and we're proud of them both. Bella is reading at a 3-4th grade level and is in intermediate Spanish. Zoe is in the highest level reading group and is blowing them out of the water with her spelling skills. Her end of the year goal was 92, she came in to school this fall with 118....atta girl ladies!! They BOTH had less than perfect marks in the following class rules category- they talk too much. Just like their mother-at least they come by it naturally I guess. :) The problem is basically that while they can talk and do their work, other kids can't talk back to them and still do their work, so the other children aren't getting their stuff done....not a huge issue because like I already said they have good marks scholastically themselves, but they need to learn to follow the classroom rules and not be disruptive to the other kids. :) On Friday as a reward for getting a good report card this quarter, we went to Pojos to celebrate and have a little fun. I told them as long as they brought home good grades each quarter they'd get to go do something fun, and Pojos is what  they chose.