Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving was celebrated over a month ago, but I need to record it before I forget it.

 

I hosted our Thanksgiving dinner at my home again this year. It was just a small meal (by typical Thanksgiving meal standards), as it was only my parents coming over this year. The menu was:

 

Tofurkey (cooked with onions and the gravy that came with it)

Mashed Potatoes

Mushroom Gravy

Green Bean Casserole

Stuffing (made by my dad)

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Candied Corn

Cranberry Applesauce

Whole Wheat Rolls (made by my husband)

 

 

For dessert, we had:

Caramel-Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Cookies (pumpkin and peanut butter, both made by my mom)

 

Holidays with kids are always fun, and this Thanksgiving was Liam's first. Of course he was not able to partake in any of the delicious food, but his company was nice. 

 



 

Bridget was excited that she was able to fit in her turkey outfit one more year.

 

I was unable to get any good photos of George on Thanksgiving, but these are the photos from the day before. As I had mentioned in a previous post, George had a little run in with Granny's hot glue gun.

 

On the day before Thanksgiving, my parents came over to watch the kids while I made a quick run to the grocery store. Before I left, I handed Liam over to my dad and set Bridget and George up with play-dough at the kitchen table with my mom. When I got home, the play-dough was still all over the kitchen table and my mom had brought over some crafts to do with the kids (I did not know about this). I came inside, unloaded groceries, and saw Bridget and my mom using the hot glue gun. I took a deep sigh, and went back to the van to grab more groceries, and came back inside. Bridget was done with her craft, and my mom seemed to be putting away the hot glue gun. I went and got Liam from my dad to go change his diaper and get ready to feed him. As Liam was still on the changing table, my dad and I heard George let out a huge scream. My dad went running, I diapered up Liam, and met them in the kitchen. My mom and George were sitting at the kitchen table with the hot glue gun. After a couple of minutes, my mom finally gets up with George and brings him to the kitchen sink (he's still screaming bloody murder). At this time, I handed Liam over to my dad and took over with George. He wouldn't stop screaming and his finger looked raw. I took him to our bathroom and applied some ointment and a bandage to get him to calm down. This worked, so we sat down and ate a quick lunch and my parents went home.

 

After they left, I wanted to get  a closer look at the burn. This is when I took the following pictures. It looked so painful, so I called the doctor and they said to come right in. They made sure he could still bend his fingers, and they determined that it was a second degree burn. They gave us some special burn medicine and bandages to put on every day and they wanted to see him back the following week. George wanted his burn to be bandaged for almost 2 weeks (he didn't mind looking at it when we changed his bandage, but he wanted it to be covered when he played and ate). It was three weeks after the burn that George finally stopped holding his finger out. It was a very traumatic experience for him, and he still remembers it. I don't think he'll be doing anything with a hot glue gun for a long time!

 

 



Extracurricular Activities, Fall 2014

The middle of November, both ballet and gymnastics had their "Parents' Week", and we got to watch Bridget show off what she has learned so far this year. She is in Pre-Ballet II and seems to be doing quite well. I think she is probably the oldest in her class, as she just missed the cut off for public school Kindergarten. The other girls are mostly 4 years old.

 

Her dance studio does not allow parents to watch every class, as it can be quite distracting for the students. Because of this policy, Parents' Week is crowded with parents and grandparents. Her teacher, Ms. Denise, is so good with the kids and they have the cutest songs to help them learn the different positions.

 

We also got to watch Bridget in gymnastics. I usually watch her during every lesson, but this time the parents were able to sit in the gym. Bridget has gotten much more brave and listens to the instructions well. She loves her teachers Mr. John & Miss Rachel. She is so close to doing a handstand without the support of the wall.

Bridget used to be afraid of jumping on the trampoline during her first year. This year, she's much more confident. She is able to control her jumps well rather than bouncing all over the place.

Halloween Festivities 2014

Halloween festivities lasted nearly a week for us this year. Every year, our church holds a 'Trunk-or-Treat' in the parking lot for all of the kids to have a safe place to show off their costumes and get some candy. Some areas also have chili cook-offs and games prior to the trunk or treat.

 

I am now back to using their real names. Their personalities change so often that keeping up with a good nickname was difficult and ever-changing. It was originally intended for privacy but became more of a headache. Besides, it's mainly family and friends reading this stuff anyway.

 

This year, Bridget wanted to be Elsa from Frozen (just like every other little girl on the planet!). Halloween was so warm this year that I didn't need to buy her any covered shoes to match her costumes. She was able to wear her summer time church sandals! She felt super regal every time she put on her costume. She even got to wear some makeup we had leftover from her ballet performance.

 

 

George wanted to be something that "roared", so I was very excited to find this dragon costume for him. He would get into character each time his costume was put on. The very first time his hand went into the "claws", he'd stare at them and wiggle his fingers. I know he was thinking how awesome it was to finally have dragon hands. He is such a fun, wild boy!

 

Liam became the third baby to wear this pumpkin costume for Halloween. He looked just as cute as his older siblings did. I love his smile!

Here are the older kids after the trunk-or-treat. As I rarely have given my kids candy (cookies and cake, yes.. candy, no), George really had no idea what all the packages in his bucket were. Bridget remembered from last year, though. Once we got back to the van, he got to try some. His life was changed forever.

Later in the week before Halloween, we headed down to my in-laws' to attend their trunk-or-treat. They had a lot more going on for the kids there, and we all had a blast.

Finally, the day of Halloween arrived. We typically stay indoors and have our own family fun. My dad brought over a huge pumpkin with some stickers to decorate it with. The kids began decorating themselves, and Bridget put this sticker on Liam. I couldn't resist taking a picture. I'm so glad he was happy about it.

I like to make a Halloween-themed dinner to make things fun for the kids. This year, I made "Ghoulash", using my husband's grandmothers recipe for Austrian goulash, and veganizing it (taking out the beef and changing the spices and adding a few more vegetables to make up for the lack of meat). It was so good and the kids got a big kick out of it. I kept the heat to a low so that the kids could enjoy it, but I personally would have liked to have more cayenne pepper. I can't wait until they get old enough to handle some heat! Oh wait, yes I can. STOP GROWING!

Our Halloween dessert: chocolate cupcakes with orange frosting and festive sprinkles. George couldn't wait to dig in!

He's Blessed, We're Blessed!

Our sweet Liam was blessed on Sunday, October 12, 2014. As previously posted, my husband's family came in from out of town to share the day with us. Liam was calm and happy while my husband gave him the blessing.

After sacrament meeting, we took some pictures in the foyer and came home to have a spaghetti dinner.

It was a little over a month later that we finally had some portraits made of Liam in his blessing outfit. I'm so glad that he was able to still fit in it!

One of my favorites. His eyes, his sweet smile, and those chubby cheeks.

 

 

His "Mommy, I'm ready for a cuddle" look.



We are all so very happy to have him in our family!