11/30: Today I Am Thankful For…

… making it the entire month posting daily thanks!  I got a little off track this weekend, but seeing as I made it up to Thanksgiving, I think it counts!

To recap the month of thankfulness:

1 – Daddy

2 – Moco & Bubba

3 – Gamma & Papa

4 – Tio Gabi & Tio Javi

5 – My “sisters” – Auntie Sheila, Auntie Therie, Auntie Sasheen, Auntie Mariah, Kitty Cat, and Reta

6 –  Connecting and reconnecting with family & friends via Facebook

7 – Cuddling with Bubba while Moco, Daddy & Deacon went pheasant hunting

8 – A beautiful day in central Illinois

9 – Time off

10 – Afternoon off with the kids

11 – Veteran’s Day and Auntie Bin Bin (Air Force)

12 – Brownies Troop

13 – My challenging job, payday and Family Fun Night

14 – Weekend and Xmas shopping

15 – A rainy day for cooking and baking

16 – Participating in a MomsRising research project

17 – Sherry

18 – DoodleBuddy application on iPod Touch

19 – My mad bargain shopping skillz

20 – My staff

21 – A winning Redbird football season & a big win over UNI

22 – An evening with my family

23 – A Monday night watching America’s Funniest Home Videos with Moco & Bubba

24 – My high tolerance for (fill in the blank) and Moco and Bubba starting to learn about social responsibility

25 – Thanksgiving and Gamma on her birthday

26 – Uncle John & Laine’s cooking for Thanksgiving

27 – Spending only $14 on Black Friday (which actually ended up being more than $14 and mostly on food)

28 – Bubba’s $6 nap

29 – Delicious turkey

30 – Making it the entire month posting daily thanks!

It’s probably safe to say that if I have something to write about (pre-set question or goal), I’ll git ‘er done.  Maybe I need to find a website that gives me a daily question or theme, kinda like that “Social Interview” application on Facebook or TopicOfTheDay on Twitter, or this list, this list, or maybe this other list of questions.  We’ll see how it goes…

11/29: Today I Am Thankful For…

… a delicious turkey!

At 5pm, I decided it would be a great idea to start roasting the 20-pound fresh turkey I bought on Friday night, since we didn’t cook on Thanksgiving day.  Moco and Bubba didn’t get to eat any of it for supper (we had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup instead), but Daddy and I enjoyed it well after their bedtime – and it was well worth the wait.  While it was roasting, I also made mashed potatoes and prepped green bean casserole.  I figure we’ll just eat leftover style all week without having ever actually eaten the whole meal first!

I stuffed the turkey with an onion, baby carrots, celery, lemon slices and lots of spices (salt, pepper, paprika, oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, and a good amount of Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute – my favorite spice mix ever).  Instead of putting the turkey breast-side up, I actually put it breast-side down after reading this post on SimplyRecipes.com.  (Okay, really, I’ll be honest: it was the picture of the turkey drumstick that had me sold.)

As usual, I made modifications to the instructions and recipe, as I always do for no apparent reason except to experiment.  I roasted the turkey for 1 hour at 425°F, then lowered the temp to 325°F for the rest of the time.  The post said that covering the turkey with aluminum foil was unnecessary because of the breast-down method, but I alternated every hour with the foil on and off.  I also basted with regular olive oil.

This was the best turkey I have ever made (I’ve only made three, though) and one of the best I have ever tasted (and Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, so I’ve eaten plenty of turkey) – and I definitely give credit to (1) using a fresh turkey, (2) roasting breast-side down, and (3) very liberally seasoning, inside and out.  Meat was falling off the bones, bones were falling off the bird, and Daddy and I were snacking on deliciously crispy turkey skin at 10pm.

Tonight I’ll be roasting sweet potatoes and butternut squash, making fresh cranberry sauce, and making the green bean casserole.  I’m going to consider making The Pioneer Woman’s No-Knead Dinner Rolls because I can taste them melting in my mouth as I type this… 

I love Thanksgiving, even when it’s no longer Thanksgiving!

11/28: Today I Am Thankful For…

… a $6 nap.

(I’m a little behind in posting… bear with me!)

On Saturday afternoon I took Moco and Bubba to see Planet 51.  It was a cute movie and definitely worth seeing (especially at the matinee price)!  Only problem?  Bubba fell asleep not even halfway through the show!  It was nice to cuddle with him while he was sleeping (he always insists on sitting on my lap at the movie theater), but he’s very tall for his age so it was a little uncomfortable, even in those nice movie theater seats!  At least he got to enjoy some popcorn before he crashed!

 

11/27: Today I Am Thankful For…

…for only spending $14 today.  Take that, Black Friday!

I have been a little bummed all week because we were in Prairie du Chien for the morning of Black Friday shopping.  The two major stores here are Cabela’s and WalMart.  I wasn’t really interested in hitting up either, honestly.

Instead, we woke up in the hotel which has a continental breakfast, so we all enjoyed the make-your-own Belgian waffles.  Daddy stopped at Cabela’s, which is a “must” for him when we’re in that area — especially because our hotel is right next to the store and warehouse!  Then we packed up our stuff and headed out, but not before making our reservations at the same hotel for Christmas.  We found out that the water park at the hotel will be open for Christmas (it wasn’t last year).  It’s rare that one can say “don’t forget the swimsuits for Christmas in Iowa/Wisconsin!”, so we’re looking forward to enjoying that part of our Christmas break!

After we checked out, we stopped to visit with Daddy’s high school friend Carissa, her husband, and their two young daughters who were spending the holiday weekend with Carissa’s parents.  It was a fun visit, though the start of Bubba’s full-day of naughtiness (ugh!).  It was nice to see Carissa, as we haven’t seen her in years, and her beautiful daughters Kalini and Malia.  Then we headed into Elkader and walked around downtown for a few minutes, then walked to Great Grandma’s house and visited with Grandma Lavera and Great Grandma for a short while before grabbing sandwiches at Subway and stopping to say “hello” to Mr. Carnes (Daddy’s best friend’s dad) in his music shop.

We drove pretty much straight home except for a short stop in Morton for gas.  Daddy had to get ready for tonight’s men’s basketball game (we are hosting a tournament), so the kids and I unpacked and putted around the house.  We headed over to the Dollar Tree to pick up some craft supplies to make our own ornament wreathes, then to the grocery store for a frozen pizza and ice cream but ended up coming back with a 20 pound fresh turkey (for $20), a couple bags of frozen fruit (for smoothies), three pints of Ben & Jerry’s, a gallon of milk and a half-gallon of orange pineapple juice.  So much for spending just $14 on Black Friday…

The craft that we did was well worth it.  I got the idea from a post on Crap I’ve Made about Eddie Ross wreaths.  We picked up 9 tubes of red, green, and gold ornaments in three different sizes and a 12-pack of white wire hangers.  I had hot glue gun and glue sticks at home… the only thing I need is some thick ribbon, which we’ll pick up tomorrow morning.

It’s an easy craft to do, but I highly recommend gluing the tops to all the ornaments before you get started.  That part takes up the most time, but it’s worth it.

Basically, with the top hook still twisted, stretch out the wire hanger into a circle.

Then untwist the top of the hanger to slide the ornaments onto the wire.  Move the ornaments around so they get the “layered” effect and so as many ornaments can fit on the wreath as possible.  Then re-twist the hanger to close, and add the ribbon and bow for the final touch.

It took about 6 tubes (12-15 smaller ornaments in each tube) to fill one wreath.  I was quite pleased with how the wreath turned out, although it took forever to glue the top onto each ornament.  Moco is totally excited to do her own tomorrow.  Since I depleted the stock (had no idea how many ornaments it would take!), we have to pick up more ornaments tomorrow.

The ornaments we used are plastic (shatterproof) ornaments, some were matte, others shiny, and some glittery.  There weren’t many color options at the dollar store, so if you want to spend more money and have more options, you can certainly “upgrade” your ornament choices.  Glass ornaments are probably the most beautiful to use, but if you’re doing this craft with kids, shatterproof are the way to go!  Plus, you can’t beat the price — this craft was well under $10 for 6 tubes of ornaments, a wire hanger (12 for $1), plus glue, if you don’t have any.  We still have to buy the ribbon, but it will still be under $10 with some nice (sale-priced) holiday ribbon!

11/26: Today I Am Thankful For…

…Uncle John & Laine’s cooking.

Daddy, Moco, Bubba, Deacon and I drove up to Cedar Rapids after I got off work on Wednesday.  We stayed with Auntie Therie for the night before heading out for Elkader the next morning — but not before we had a hearty Thanksgiving breakfast cooked by Auntie Therie.  We feasted on scrambled eggs, sauteed onions, bacon, toast, cranberry bread, juice and coffee.  Bubba exclaimed, “Auntie Therie is the BEST cook!”  He was in heaven with that breakfast!

We stopped in Elkader to meet up with Grandma Lavera and Great Grandma, then we headed over to Uncle John’s house.  We were not expecting to eat Thanksgiving dinner at Uncle John’s; in fact, we had planned on going out to eat!  Uncle John invited us all over to eat when he heard we were in town — they had cooked three turkeys on the grill!  We ate well there, too!  It was nice to see Uncle John and his wife Kim and three of their five kids — Nikole, Kaycee, and Laine.  It has been a few years since we have seen them, so it was nice to catch up with everyone.  Uncle John took the kids out to see the horses and all the ‘coon dogs (at least a dozen); Bubba fired away a thousand and three questions and was stuck to Uncle John for a good part of the afternoon.  We watched most of How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  (I can’t believe we don’t have that book and/or the original movie!  That might have to be a Christmas Eve gift for the kids — new pajamas, a book and a movie to enjoy in the hotel after Chinese food?  Sounds like a fun night to me!)

In the late afternoon after the Thanksgiving meal, Daddy, Moco, Bubba, and I headed back to the hotel after helping Grandma and Great Grandma get settled at Great Grandma’s house.  We just hung out, relaxed in the hotel, drank lots of water, and watched Horton Hears a Who before going to bed.  That was our Thanksgiving — the driving was the hard part!  It seemed to go by very quickly, but it was relaxing not to have to do much work and just enjoy good company!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!!!

11/25: Today I Am Thankful For…

…Thanksgiving. Food, family, friends, fun… just wish we could spend the long weekend visiting with all our family & friends!

Today I am also thankful for my mom, who is celebrating her ?!th birthday today. Even though she made fun of my dad for wanting us to move closer to home (I believe her exact words were “you want those losers to move home?!?!”), we still love her very much. Happy birthday, Gamma!

Daddy, Moco, Bubba, Deacon and I are headed out to Iowa in about an hour.  I’ll do my best to post from there, but I may not be able to get anything posted until later on Friday… but that just means I should have some good stories and pictures to share from the holiday trip!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! 

Have a fun, safe, filling, and extra special holiday with your friends and family!

11/24: Today I Am Thankful For…

…a high tolerance level for (you fill in the blank)…

(Clearly I’m starting to struggle on the thanksgiving train.)

No, but really… I’ve been thinking about how to teach my kids about philanthropy and thinking about others, and not just during the holiday season.  But of course, it’s that time of year and there are so many opportunities to show concern for others and to develop a more altruistic approach to the holidays.  Slowly, I think they are starting to understand it as we talk about things like greed and materialism, discussing haves and have nots, etc.  In the past two weeks, I am starting to see these discussions come to fruition in small, but meaningful, ways.

Last week, Moco’s school council had a canned food drive.  Moco was insistent that we have non-perishable food items ready to go for the first day… so we emptied out the cupboards and filled her backpack to take to school.  During the week, the kids and I had a discussion about Christmas.  Santa only brings one, maybe two, gifts to each of our kids each year.  While they shouldn’t expect presents from family and friends, the reality is, Moco and Bubba receive gifts from immediate and extended family every year — and not just on Christmas.  Multiple times each year, Daddy and I help the kids go through their clothes, books, and toys and donate everything that they have outgrown or don’t play with but are still in good condition and not missing pieces, etc.  Two weekends ago, they cleared out almost a trunkful of their belongings.  I was floored that they just kept handing me things to put in the basket.  Bubba kept telling me “I don’t play with this… I don’t play with dat either!”  Moco was also very proud of how much neater their room was upon emptying out so much stuff.

Tonight Bubba and I went to the grocery store after I picked him up from Sherry’s house.  The Salvation Army bell ringer was outside the store, and when we greeted him as we entered.  This was Bubba’s first encounter with the bell ringers within his memory, so he started me asking me about what he was doing and why.  Before we exited the store, I emptied my change in Bubba’s hand and explained to him what we were doing.  He had a big grin on his face as he walked up to the red bucket and dropped a handful of coins in and pushing some other change into the bucket that hadn’t made it in from a person before us.  Then Bubba started up a conversation with the bell ringer, starting with “Why do you ring a bell?” and ending with “Okay… have a happy Thanksgiving!”

And finally Moco came home last night and told me about a drawing that she is working on during art class.  Apparently her school is one of many schools participating in a contest; the winner of the contest will have his/her artwork featured as a holiday card.  Proceeds from the sale of those cards will go to a children’s hospital.  Moco has been working carefully and diligently on her artwork, partially because she wants to haver her artwork featured and perhaps win the $50 prize, but also because, as she told me, “it’s really going to help the kids who need surgeries and stuff who are in the hospital.  I want to be able to help those kids.”  I really appreciate her honesty in recognizing her own competitive nature and balancing that with the sincerity of helping others.

So, I’m thankful that my kids are starting to understand and appreciate social responsibility and the impact that even they, as small children, can make in this big big world.

11/23: Today I Am Thankful For…

…a Monday evening at home watching America’s Funniest Home Videos with my kids — their laughter is contagious!!!

Moco and Bubba are limited to watching TV on weekend mornings, so this was a rare treat for them.  It is so nice to unwind with my family, cook a good meal, bake some cookies, and snuggle with my babes before they fall asleep.

Tonight we had salmon, using my homemade habanero jelly in a variation of the peach jalapeño salmon, and potatoes au gratin.  I have never actually made potatoes au gratin before, and I was quite pleased.  I didn’t have all the ingredients for any recipe that I found, so I made up my own version with what we had on hand: Yukon gold potatoes, shredded sharp cheddar, shredded Mexican blend cheese, heavy cream, 2% milk, nutmeg, paprika, salt and pepper.  I was very pleased with the outcome, and the flavors blended really well with the salmon!  I also baked a double batch of the big, soft ginger cookies.  I made modifications to this recipe, and while they are still tasty, they aren’t as good as last time.  I used half brown sugar and half white sugar and I didn’t use orange juice like I did the last time.  I’m pretty sure that the white sugar and lack of orange juice are the culprits.  Still soft and tasty but not quite as flavorful as the last time.

Can’t wait for this short work week to be done so we can enjoy our long weekend.  Daddy is technically off this week (university is closed), but he is still working with men’s and women’s basketball.  Moco has school tomorrow but will go to Sherry’s on Wednesday.  I get off Wednesday at 5pm, then we will drive to Iowa for Thanksgiving Day with Grandma Lavera.  We’ll visit with Great Grandma as well.  Daddy has to work Friday afternoon or evening, so we’ll be on the road back to Iowa that morning instead of hitting the Black Friday sales (not like we ever do anyway)!

I’m going to pour myself another glass of milk and a couple warm cookies before bed… hasta mañana!

11/22: Today I Am Thankful For…

…an evening with my family: a quick but tasty supper straight from the freezer, Ben & Jerry’s fro-yo for dessert and a few good laughs… Now it’s 7:30pm and both kids are bathed, stories have been read, and lights are out!

After a quiet morning and rough afternoon (not enough sleep this weekend caught up to Moco & Bubba), we finally settled into a great evening together after the kids and I took Deacon for a good walk and Daddy came home from work and working out.  We had an early supper that I threw together.  I found a bag of Tyson Any’tizers Buffalo Style Popcorn Chicken Bites (the kids say Gamma bought them), a bag of sweet corn, and a box of New York Texas Garlic Toast in the freezer.  We didn’t have any ranch dressing to dip the chicken bites, but we did have a container of sour cream and a package of Hidden Valley Fiesta Ranch Dip Mix – so I mixed half the sour cream with half the dip mix for a more flavorful ranch dressing alternative.  I also added a little seasoning salt to the sweet corn, which was a big hit.  We probably overdosed on sodium for the day, but it made for a rather quick and tasty meal without having to go to the grocery store.

The kids helped me finish off some Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked frozen yogurt, then we got ‘em bathed, in pajamas, teeth brushed, stories read (tonight’s selections: For the Love of the Cubs and Trixie the Halloween Fairy), then lights out.  Neither kid has made a peep since I turned out the lights… feels good to relax in the peace and quiet after a very busy, very fun weekend!

11/21: Today I Am Thankful For…

…a winning Redbird football season and a HUGE WIN vs. UNI.

I am also thankful that Uncle Danny, Aunt Lisa and Cousin Mattie were able to join us for such an exciting game on such a nice, crisp late fall day.  It seems that every time they come to visit, the games are extra exciting… this year was no exception.  The Redbirds were the underdogs today, but we came out fighting and led the game with many exciting plays (and a little bit of luck) until just under one minute to go.  UNI scored a touchdown and went up by 3 points.  We marched back down the field in that final minute and scored a touchdown with 0.6 seconds left.  It was awesome for those of us in attendance!  My adrenaline was pumping – still is, almost eight hours later… I just wanted the guys to finish with a winning season under the new head coach and to beat UNI that we weren’t supposed to have a chance against.  I know how much time, energy, passion, and dedication Daddy puts into the Redbird student-athletes, especially football during the fall season when he’s with them every game too.  It was such an awesome way to end the season — we’re so proud of our guys!

After the football game, we headed over to the men’s basketball game vs. University of North Florida.  Not quite as exciting as the football game, but still a Redbird win.  We all had such a great time cheering on the ‘Birds today… I love the fact that Moco and Bubba enjoy college sports as much as Daddy and I do.  It makes me feel good that they are actively involved in what Daddy does, that they pay attention to what’s going on, and most importantly, that they appreciate and enjoy the games.  Of course they don’t know all the terminology, rules, plays, etc., but they absorb what they can and ask questions.  Moco is very observant of everything that goes on during the games — on and off the field, visually and audibly.  When she gets excited at the games, she gets really goofy and starts to dance around — if you know Moco, these are rare “coming out of her shell” moments.  Bubba loves to be at the games, especially when he gets to hang out with Uncle Danny.  I can’t wait to see what he has absorbed and knows about sports, especially football and basketball, as he gets older.  He has already requested Bubba-sized Redbird football and basketball jerseys (#0, of course, for Osiris!).

Uncle Danny, Aunt Lisa, and Cousin Mattie had to head back to Iowa tonight, but we’re thankful we had the chance to spend the day with them.  What a fun, fun, FUN day with our family and our Redbirds!!!

Go You Redbirds onto battle! Fight for ISU.
Raise the banner, red and white; to this emblem we’ll be true.
So let us cheer the Redbirds on to victory! Every voice proclaim:
‘We’ve got the fight! We’ve got the might! Let’s win WE WON this game.’

I-S-U!  GO!