My Avengers

Happy Halloween!

 Ella is Black Widow

 Josiah is Iron Man

Micah is Captain America

 "Avengers Assemble!"

I love that the boys told me

 "You have to say 'Avengers Assemble' if you want us to get our costumes on"

Seeing as she has no hair…a bright red feather will do…right?

She hated her costume at first….

Thankfully she got over it.

Phew…

I do love a theme Halloween after all, and they couldn't be the Avengers without Black Widow.

2009

Batman and Robin

 2010

Buzz and Woody

2011

Peter Pan 

Buffalo Chicken Dip

This is one of James all time favorite things to eat.

I agree.

I got this recipe from my little sister, who got it from a friend, who got it from a friend.
It's one of those recipes that travels from home to home.

I've made a couple of my own variations that make my tummy happy.
I've lightened it up a bit. Then I don't feel completely guilty for devouring half that dish myself.
You can use full fat ingredients if you are feeling naughty.

Buffalo Chicken Dip
2 6oz cooked chicken breast- chopped
1 cup light sour cream
1 cup light Buffalo Ranch dressing (regular ranch works great too)
8 oz light cream cheese
3/4 cup Frank's RedHot Wing Sauce Buffalo

Mix all ingredients together and pour into casserole dish. Bake at 425 degrees for 30min or until bubbly.

I know my sister will make this for a meal. I don't think it's a terrible idea.
It is that good!

I'm Working On It

I am so tired.
I am still waking up with Micah every 4 hours to medicate him after his surgery.
I wake up several other times throughout the night while miss Ella cuts her canine teeth and Micah cries out in pain.

I have a cold and can't breath at night.

I have a 5 year old who thinks I boring, and only wants his friends.

You know how this feels.

Exhaustion.

What are you like when your tired? Do you take it out on somebody?
Generally, my sweet husband gets the brunt of my frustration; and then it trickles down to my children.

I'm working on it.

This has become my life motto. I should probably paint it on my walls.

I feel terrible after lashing out at these people I love the most in my life.

Lets take a look at Josiah, shall we?

Like I mentioned earlier, he is so bored with me.
He loves to learn from me, he loves to play with me, and he loves to laugh with me. But he often forgets he's not the only child in our home. No, I still have two other rascals running around trying to steal my attention.
I am still so glad about our decision to keep him home with me one extra year before sending him to Kindergarten. I think he's happy too.
But he has been feeling like he is playing 2nd or 3rd right now to his siblings.
I confess, he kind of is.
Micah is still recovering from his surgery and still needs a lot of extra attention, and popsicles.
Josiah is only 5 and doesn't grasp the concept of "special treatment". He is hurt that I will give Micah 8 popsicles a day, while he may only get 1 or 2.
He doesn't understand why I will make him help clean the playroom with me, while Micah watches his 100th cartoon.
He doesn't understand why I can't "make a craft" (he's really into crafts these days) because Micah is hurting and needs some cuddle time.
So, he lashes out at me.
He throws fits, and argues, and stomps, and screams, and yells.
My poor, sweet boy. He needs his Mommy just as much as Micah does, and I've been neglecting him.

This face of sweetness and innocence is getting the brunt of my frustration.

I have been unbelievably patient with Micah during his outbursts. I haven't yelled at him or even shown him any sort of consequence for his behavior.

Josiah gets it all.

I know that this makes me look terrible. And that is exactly how I feel.
Terrible. 
Today I confess; I'm working on it.

Today I will craft with him until he's sick of paint and popsicle sticks.
Today I will cuddle with him during quiet time.
I will read him stories until he asks to stop.
I will wrestle with him until my ribs hurt he is tired.
And I will answer all of his 5,000 questions.
I will even play in the snow with him today (yep….snow).

This is just so hard to do with 3 kids under the same roof. Generally it's so easy to please both of the boys at the same time, and Ella is content watching.
But because Micah has been feeling puny, I can only please one of them, and he's crying the loudest.

Which reminds me of this saying.

My poor kids.
This is my life their life.

Let's just say…..

I'm working on it.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

I seem to have a slight obsession with all things pumpkin.
It's creamy, colorful, nutritious, and versatile.
You can make it savory or sweet.
You can turn it into this!

This is my Grandma's recipe.

It's fantastic.
You can find it in my mom's cookbook.
Find the cookbook here!

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

3 cups flour (I used half white flour and half whole wheat)
1 Tbs + 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 cups sugar
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
4 large eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup cranberries (I used dried)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9X5 loaf pans. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil and orange juice. Add to flour mixture and mix until well blended. Fold in cranberries. Pour and spread evenly into prepared loaf pans. Bake 60 min, or until done.

Enjoy!

Your home will smell like heaven too!

A Virginia Weding

I had the opportunity to go to my Dad's cousin's wedding in gorgeous Virginia; without my children.
Granted, I had to leave my husband at home too.  I missed him more than I missed the chaos of the three little ones.
I have lived in Colorado for over 10 years now and I adore Colorado. But after seeing Virginia in the fall, I think I have a State mistress.

It was stunning! And the wedding was set inside of a poster.

Groom's Step Mother, The Groom, Me & Mom

I even had the opportunity to go on a date with my Daddy.
Wine tasting at the adorable Unicorn Winery.

Yep! Wine slushies, and they were DELICIOUS. Of course!

The rehearsal dinner was delish (of course) and it was nice to have "adult time" with my parents.

The wedding was stunning and I was so excited to have a reason to get dolled up.

The stunning bride!

My adorable parents.

I might just post a tutorial on how I did my hair.

Looks like we were photo bombed. 

But I love to dance. And dance, I did.

I have decided I look quite odd when I dance.

And with that my dreams of being on So You Think You Can Dance were destroyed.

Fun, none the less.

Twine Wrapped Bottle

This is my second installment of my MOPS craft series.

I had given a little talk about frugal living and I thought there was no better craft than giving new life to an old thing!

Enter….the twine (or for MOPS, yarn) wrapped bottles.

I had each mom bring her own jar or bottle (I used a salsa jar) to wrap and I provided the following:

Hot Glue Gun
Rubber Cement
Yarn (or twine)
Flowers

Start by putting a strip of hot glue on the bottom ring. You want to make sure it sticks well.

Then use the rubber cement to wrap the rest of the bottle.
It's less expensive and it won't burn your fingers!

I then used hot glue on the top of the jar to ensure it wasn't going to unravel.

Glue some grass or moss around the top of the ring and then fill with seasonal flowers.
I love this because it can be changed out for each season.

Right now I'm loving it filled will bright colored poppies.

Under The Knife

What a week. I can't even begin to tell you how tired I am. 

I left for Virginia with my parents early Thursday morning of last week. Arrived back in Colorado early Sunday morning, and took Micah to surgery early Tuesday morning.

He was scheduled to have his adenoids and tonsils removed.

He's such an amazing boy (I know he's mine…but it is the truth).

When we told him we were going to the Dr, he was excited, not nervous or anxious.

After all he's been through he wasn't scared.

This is him before the surgery.

Have you ever had to watch your children go under anesthesia?
It's torture for a parent. To watch them slowly become less lucid and then to see their eyes roll back into their head and know they are out.
I had to watch Josiah do this when he was 2 and had to have a hernia surgery, and again yesterday with Micah.
I can't help but cry. I tried to hold it together, it's just terrifying to see that.

We waited only 20 minutes and they were done. It was truly amazing.
He did great. They removed his very large tonsils and he medium sized adenoids with the hopes of improving his respiratory problems.
We waited a couple of more minutes and then were allowed to go back and see him.
He was eating a popsicle slushy, was very groggy, and asked to do it himself.
The entire time we were there he didn't cry, complain, or whine.
This picture is about 20 minutes after surgery and we tried to get him to sleep. Doesn't Buzz look so comfy to cuddle with?

Then here he was before we left, less than 5 hours after arriving for surgery.

Yep, that's a cheesy grin.

We couldn't believe he wasn't in more pain!

On the way home he threw up in the car due to the anesthesia (and I had a minor panic attack).
But once we were home, you would have never thought he had JUST had surgery.
He was eating anything he could get his hands onto, and even attempted to eat buttered noodles for dinner (but he gave up and opted for yogurt).

I can't believe him.
I am hoping the recovery is this easy. I wasn't expecting it at all. I thought he'd want to cuddle on the couch for 3 days and I'd have to force juice down his throat.
But no, this morning he asked for a cinnamon roll (I soaked it in milk first) and a pop tart (that was a bit more questionable in my eyes).
He's chasing Ella around and hasn't sat still yet.
God is amazing.
The spirit he has given Micah is full of power and strength. He will be a mighty warrior one day.

Micah's verse is proving to be true every day.

2 Timothy 1:7

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power, of love and of self discipline."