Turkey Day

Part Drumstick (aka Part One):

8:45 am, Columbia Park Trail, 15 degrees F and snowing

I am freezing. I can't feel my toes or my fingers and my mind is in a state of battle with itself. One side saying that I can do this and that I can beat that lady standing next to me holding the hand of a four year old child; the other side saying what kind of crazy person gets up on Thanksgiving and decides to run a 5k in snow that is six inches deep and still falling.

In my state of dueling the whistle blows and the gaggle of people take off WALKING? Due to all the snow they had to put the mile walk and the 5k on the same course. So imagine funneling 3,000+ people onto an icy trail that is about 5 feet wide, kinda like trying to eat Thanksgiving dinner while wearing a pair of jeggings, not a pretty picture. In addition to all the chaos there are dogs and strollers to dodge while trying to keep your footing. Now normally I wouldn't make such a big deal out of this but I have been "training" with the help of family and my neighbor (thanks Meg) and I was challenged to beat 36 minutes (thanks again Meg) so I was actually trying to run and putting in what I would consider an effort (we are talking about me after all). I finally spot a pair of ladies keeping a good pace and cutting an effective path through all the drumsticks so I take up a spot behind them.

One mile goes by (14 minutes, way off pace) and then another (26 minutes, I am really going to have to push it) and my mind starts battling again. Side A: "It is too cold and there is no way you are going to make a ten minute mile in the snow. Just walk. There are no witnesses. Nobody will know that you quit. You can't breath. Just take it easy." Side B: "You can't quit now. You can beat those kids. Pick them off one by one like you are pickin' your teeth. Take a deep breath and go." I pick up the pace. I pass the ladies that had cut such a nice path and find another lady to follow. (For those that have never run with me I need a goal. I have to find someone to beat, usually someone walking, just to have a goal. Weirdly competitive, I know, but still have to do it.) The lady in front of me keeps looking behind her, checking to see if I am catching up. I mentally make a note to pass her. Three-quarters of a mile to go and I continue to pick up the pace. Half a mile. I am side by side with my new nemesis. Quarter mile mark, I slowly start moving ahead and then I open it up to as fast as my legs will carry me (which I would like to add is not that fast). I start slipping on the ice so I jump of the trail into the gravel and keep trudging ahead. I see the finish line and someone dressed as a turkey rooting everyone on. The snow is hitting me in the face, I am wet from head to toe but I keep going. 100 feet, 50 feet, 10 feet, DONE! Now the best thing would be is if I told you I beat my challenge and ran my race in under 36 minutes but sadly it is not the case. I crossed the finish line at about 36 minutes 26 seconds. Just shy of beating my time goal. But AHHHH, victory is still sweet. I ran my race and didn't quit even though I really wanted to and for that I am very proud.

Part Breast-The best part of the turkey and therefore Thanksgiving, the dinner (aka Part Two):

5:00 pm, Christine's House, Tired and VERY hungry

First I have to say thank you to Christine and her family for opening up their home and letting Joe, Conner, and I take part in their Thanksgiving dinner. They put on an incredible feast and the company was even better. So thanks again.

We arrive at the house and are greeted with a sweet aroma of turkey being roasted. YUM! In addition to the fabulous smells wafting from the kitchen, Christine and her family have already laid an immense spread of dips and snacks that were so tasty I am drooling just writing about them. We converge in the kitchen, swap stories and cook, while the men watch football. I will have to post pictures later because the turkey looked as good as it tasted as did all the other food. I made my first lemon meringue pie and Christine's pumpkin pie turned out great and we were both so proud.

This may be the best part of the day but it certainly does not last long. Within minutes we are all stuffed (none of us wore jeggings) and ready to play a game. Conner played with Christine's daughter Mia while all the adults played a not so fast game of Smart Ass (the turkey caused our brains to function a little slowly). Finally, it was time to go and we packed our leftovers and loaded the car and went home. Part two may be boring to read but the actual experience was definitely awesome.

Part Giblets because you feel like a chopped liver by the end (aka Part Three):

Black Friday, 3:20 am, Walmart, Feeling like a few of my own giblets are missing

Okay, I know that Black Friday is not actually Thanksgiving day, duh, it's the day after. I get all that however, to try and actually separate the two is like trying to take the fat out of gravy. It just can't be done. So what this all means is that the morning after Thanksgiving is part three of story so just read on.

I could not fall asleep. The adds were calling my name. I had stayed up until one in the morning making my plan of attack. I had to change my strategy this year because I was on my own for the first time. Finally, my alarm rang at 2:45 and I was out the door by 3:05. I drove as calmly as I could to Walmart fearing what might be instore (get it....in store) for me there. I was pleasantly surprised to find that when I walked in there were no lines at the checkout and no policemen beating back crazed shoppers as they try to tear past each other to get the best deal. I acquired my targets and checked out and was on my way to the next store by 3:40.

3:45 am Target parking lot, well more like in line 1/4 mile away from the Target doors

Finally, the doors were open and the shoppers flood into the store and I can finally feel my fingers again. I turn to go down an aisle but I am blocked by a Target store employee. I try the next aisle and again blocked. Darn those red shirts. They are funneling all the people to the back of the store like cows being led to slaughter. I am confused and angry because I can't get to the areas that I need to, according to the map that they had given us while waiting in line. I finally reach my destinations and gather my few items and head to the checkout line. An hour and a half later I am finally able to leave the chaos that is Target.

I have come to the conclusion that unless there is an absolute necessity to go to Target on Black Friday at 4 am it is just best to avoid the store. It is a time and energy death trap. So what that they sell new DVDs for $3. Next year I am going back to Walmart. Maybe I have finally learned my lesson that if you go to Target you end up with a target on your back or rather your bag.

Anyway, my day continued to get better as I hit up another five stores. The lines got shorter and I got to stock up on my socks for another year (thanks Fred Meyer). I finally made it home at 10 and tried to take a nap which was usless since Conner was wired and wanting to play. We ended the day as a family going to the movies to see Tangled. It was a cute movie and hopefully we can make this a new family tradition. Mom shops then comes home then we all go to a movie.

This time of year always makes me feel so happy. And I know this is late but to all my family and friends I love you and am so thankful to know you and thankful that you are a part of my life. And so now ends the story of my thanksgiving. Thank you all for reading and now bring on the Christmas music (and Joe you can't get mad it is after Thanksgiving after all, hehehehe).

Happy Halloween

Finally, my child understands the concept of candy and therefore can understand that Halloween is one of the greatest holidays EVER! This year was especially fun because we were lucky enough to have Grandma Charlene and Aunt Nicole come up and visit. Conner was so excited. Conner has recently become obsessed with one of the most beloved cartoon characters of all time and so it was only fitting that for Halloween he become the one and only Mickey Mouse.


And yes after having Molly for almost 8 years we finally turned her into a hotdog or as we like to say a Halloweenie.

Payeton went as Jasmine and Harper went as Winnie the Pooh, which as you can tell by the picture, was perfectly fitting.

We all loaded up and went to the Richland Community Halloween carnival the night before Halloween which all the kids really enjoyed. Then Halloween day we went trick-or-treating to the local strip (not to be confused with strippers) mall and gathered buckets full of candy that I think the parents have been eating out of more of than the kids. Isn't that what this holiday is all about. Kids doing lots of leg work to get parents a bunch of free candy?
And because I am so completely proud of our pumpkins this year, you all have to scroll down and look at our pictures.

P.S. After being scared for years to try it on my own I finally attempted to make caramel corn this year and it turned out great. Thanks for the recipe mom!
P.S.S. Mom you can still send us caramel corn anytime you make it because let's face it nobody makes it like mom.

Prince Charming

A few weeks ago in a very close land there lived a little prince named Conner. Conner was a brave child that had a wonderful gift for fixing things.

He was a very handsome child that rode the most beautiful steed in the world.

Conner lived in a beautiful palace with his cousin Princess Payeton.

Until one day the evil witch Disney Princess Dress-Up Stuff (aka DPDUS) left an enchanted set of sparkly shoes to enslave Prince Conner and hold him captive to the beauty of the "pretty shoes."


Under the spell Prince Conner believed that all other shoes were hideous and that the "pretty shoes" were the only shoes that he could wear. The spell drove his father and mother, the king and queen, crazy and they searched in vain for a way to break the spell. Until one day Princess Sarah came from a neighboring kingdom with a wonderful idea to play a song for the Prince to see if that would break the spell.

And it did. The kingdom rejoiced and all the people were happy. Prince Conner and Princess Payeton rode through the streets thanking the people for all their help.

Life returned to "normal" in the kingdom and everyone lived happily ever after or did they.....

Man on the Moon

I know that I have not written forever but who honestly wants to hear about the things I do all day? Dishes, laundry, and the changing of multiple diapers is not the fun to write about so unless something funny or exciting happens in my day you are on your own to ponder what it is that we are up to.

You must be able to deduce that if I am sitting here writing I do have a few things that happened recently that I think are somewhat funny.

First, I love to watch Dr. Phil and Oprah, yes you can make fun of me all you want, but I just love to watch these shows probably because I am nosy and like to know what is happening with other people. However, all this is somewhat beside the point. I was watching Dr. Phil recently when suddenly Conner springs from the couch and runs to television hollering, "Poppa, Poppa." Now for those of you who don't know my family or Joe's family Dr. Phil has an uncanny resemblance to most of his grandpas and great-grandpas. On Joe's side they all share the same hair line as Dr. Phil and my dad has a very similar well kept mustache. So now my son is under the impression that Dr. Phil is somehow one of his "Poppas" and lets me know this everyday from 3:00 to 4:00. Now as for Oprah, Conner believes she is his aunt Nicole. How this connection was made I am still trying to figure out but for the hour of Oprah that we watch she is his "Cole." Do you think that we could claim her as family now?

Second, we went to the park yesterday with several friends and the kids were all fighting over the same ball. Well leave it to my imaginitive son to look in the sky and see the moon in it's round glory and start screaming "Ball" and stretching his arms for it as if it were just out of his reach. When his attempts at grabbing the so called 'ball' from the sky failed he then employed his mother, aka me, to try and grab it for him. It took some serious efforts to distract him from the great ball in the sky and with that we said farewell to the man in the moon until another day.

Friends

We were lucky enough to have some company over the weekend. Mike, Stefanie, Isabella, and even Echo Plane all stopped on their way to Royal City to see Stef's family. Conner was so excited to have a friend to play with. He kept trying to show Bella how to play with his toys and then tried to eat all of her food. He has really come to love being around other kids. It was really nice to have some company (we even got to play some pinochle).


Isabella had lots of fun playing the piano.














Conner LOVED being read to.















Conner and I also went for a walk with our neighbor Meghan and her daughter Sarah. We stopped at the park and let them swing and play on the slides. They had lots of fun even though it was a little chilly outside.

Sleeping Baby

So for those of you that have kids you will appreciate this. Conner is now falling asleep in his bed for both his naps and at night and he is sleeping through the night. So let me just say (with my happy dance) WOOHOO! After a more than a year and lots of people telling me about their babies sleeping through the night it is finally happening to us.
Also, (Erin, you will appreciate this more than most) Conner is also flaring his nostrils at us when he is angry. He looks like a bull. First you get the "look," then he flares his nostrils and snorts. It is so hard not to laugh because it is quite hysterical. For those of you who don't know this, the flaring of the nostrils is a trait that does not come from either me or Joe but must be a learned trait from observing his Aunt Erin. I guess this makes Erin and I even because as I learned a few weeks ago from talking to her son Luke on Skype that he has learned my ever wonderful, yet rarely seen, trait of the "Screech eye". Now the "Screech eye" is too difficult to explain but just think back to the days of watching "Saved by the Bell" and you can kind of imagine that it is truly a puzzling, weird, and somewhat disturbing sight to behold. And if this is all just a little confusing take comfort in the saying "you just had to be there."

Halloween Fun, etc.

Well we finally made it to a second post. Yeah! So I guess we had better do a little catching up. First, Conner is now 1 year old. Can you believe it? We had so much fun on his birthday. Second Halloween has come and gone. We took Conner trick-or-treating at the local mall. He refused to walk. He wanted to be carried the whole time but it was still a lot of fun. Third, we finally have a new president which I am sure you all know but it is still a historical event and pretty exciting. So basically that is about it so just look at the pictures and you will be all caught up as to what is happening around here.

Conner really liked the GIANT pumpkins but he had to settle for a small one.









The pumpkin patch that we went to had all kinds of fun things to do. They had farm animals to pet, a maze, hayride, and lots of other things.



























We went to a Halloween party and were in charge of desserts. So we made a bleeding cake and cupcake brains. They were gruesomely good.


























Conner went as a "Rocker" for Halloween. I couldn't get a picture of him carrying his guitar but it was still cute. We carved pumpkins Halloween night (a little late) and let Conner try and gut his own pumpkin.

These last pictures are of Conner's birthday party. Gayland, Cindy, Jordon, Dallas, Buddy (the dog), Cidnee and Payeton all came to celebrate with us. We had such a good time and I think Conner did too. Once he got into the cake he was loving life. Don't you miss the days when you could eat like a slob and nobody cared?