Will it ever be the same?

I'm beginning to wonder,

will it ever be the same?

In August, I started teaching gymnastics again

I absolutely LOVE the job

I love the kids and it's so rewarding to watch them learn

One day at work, I was spotting kids

They were supposed to jump on the spring board and I would lift them on to the vault

One of the kids came running and I knew one of us was going to get hurt

She was running too far to the left for me to be able to lift her

I dove for her and kicked the spring board

I'm glad I was the one that got hurt

I knew I had done something major right away

The pain was INTENSE

and the pain hasn't gone away :(

I waited 12 days before I went to get X-rays

I was sure it was broke and they would tell me to just tape them together

When my foot started going numb several times a day I became concerned

Here's what the Dr. had to say-

No fracture seen on xray.

 You have a severe sprain with nerve irritation

from the associated swelling.

Elevate and stay off of it as much as possible.

Continue taking Ibuprofen every 6 hours as needed.

These injuries usually take approximately 6 weeks to heal.

Grrrr! I have No patience and 6 weeks is a LONG time

Oh and I have 2 active little boys, 2 jobs and a house to keep up

Staying off of it isn't an option

I wore the UGLY boot for 2 weeks

It hurt when I had it on and it hurt when I had it off

I have retired the boot!

Its been a month, it can stop hurting any time now

Here's what it looks like today

(It looks much better but doesn't feel much better)

It almost feels like I need to pull on it and unjam it

but I can barely touch it

Who would like to knock me over the head and pull on it

Will it ever be the same?

Peanut Butter Pizza

Many people have asked for this recipe

To be honest, there really isn't one

Here is what I have done ~

1 pkg. of sugar cookie dough

I REALLY like Aldi's refrigerated coolie dough but it's not always available

I have used Pillsbury refrigerated dough (this raised A LOT and was much too crumbly for my liking)

and I have also used Betty Crocker cookie mix in a bag (add butter and an egg)

Line a 12" pizza pan with foil

Lightly mist foil with cooking spray

With floured hands, spread cookie dough on pizza pan and make sure to make a little lip for the crust

The baking part is a  little tricky ~

I usually set my timer according to the directions but it's never done, so I just watch until it looks done

Don't over bake your cookie! If it's to hard it will crumble when you cut it

After the cookie is done baking, set it on cooling racks to cool

When it's almost cool, take a larger pizza pan and place it upside down

on top of your cookie and flip everything over

You should be able to remove the pan your cookie was baked on

Gently pull the foil off the back of your cookie

Place the original pizza pan back on the bottom of the cookie and flip back over

Ta Da.....

I usually let my cookie cool completely before I decorate it

Once it's cool and frosted with peanut butter, cut your cookie with a sharp knife 

Then the decorating is up to you

I have used ~

M&M's

Candy corn

Reeses Pieces

Sprinkles

Chocolate chips

Butterscotch chips

Drizzle with frosting

 (I used store bought frosting and a ziploc bag with the tip cut off  to decorate)

Now enjoy!

Nieces

I'm pretty excited this week

I'm getting a new niece,
I will be referring to her as M
She's from Ethiopia and she's darling

She has beautiful dark skin
and
OH MY! Those eyes
 (dark like Hershey kisses and they can make you melt)

I can't wait to show you pictures once the adoption is complete

My brother and sister in-law are in Africa for their first court date

If all goes well, they will come back home and wait for the call to go back to get her

My brother and sister in-law get to spend a couple days with her

 I can't wait to hear how their visit goes

As crazy as I think they are
I'm excited to be the Aunt of this little girl

This journey started in January

A family that lives in Wisconsin adopted M's biological brother and half brother

This family had 3 children of their own which quickly made them a family of 7

When they found out that there was a little sister living with an Uncle,

The family contacted Jeremy and Leslie and asked if they would be interested

And that's how it all started

I already have 2 nieces (age 7 and  3)

I worry about the girls and hope they adjust well

My mom will be leaving for Wisconsin today

She will be taking care of the girls while their parents are gone

I always try to send something special for the girls

I decided a Thanksgiving bag would be the way to go

The girls love crafts so I put some craft kits together
I got the ideas off of Pinterest and used supplies I had to make the kits

I also packed some yummy fall goodies

I heard from Leslie this morning-
She said they are safe, they slept well,
they were having pepsi and enjoying the internet at their hotel
and M is already calling them mom and dad :)


Natalie and Miriam- We miss you and we hope you have a fun week with Grandma!
M- We can't wait to meet you!

Happy Halloween 2011

What should have started out as a Happy Halloween morning

started with tears instead of smiles

The pumpkin Spencer worked so hard on

was thrown out in the road last night

I put the kids to bed and told them to get a good night sleep,

we would be celebrating Halloween tomorrow.

I walked out in the kitchen, looked out the window and saw pumpkin splattered

I immediately ran to the front window as if I was going to catch these punks

and saw the empty spot where Spencer's pumpkin had been

Within seconds I was on the phone to the police

They sent an officer, who got the pleasure of seeing me in my hot pink snowman pj's,

he said there were pumpkins smashed all over the neighborhood

Why couldn't they have thrown Parker's pumpkin,

I was the one that carved it

No, they had to throw the one that Spencer carved

I woke Spencer up this morning and told him the bad news

Why would they do this, was asked over and over

It was heart breaking to see the boys go outside in the bitter cold

and pick up the pieces of Spencer's pumpkin
I think they wanted to try to put it back together

So, after dropping the boys off at school,

I went pumpkin hunting

Do you know how hard it is to find a pumpkin on Halloween?

I went to Wal-mart, Hy-Vee, Fareway and Dollar General

I ended up down at Schmitz Melon Shed

The doors were shut and the shed was closed but there were wagons of pumpkins

I went in the restaurant and begged to purchase a pumpkin

I paid for a pumpkin and picked one I thought Spencer would like

I brought it home and set the table with carving utensils

Then I searched the internet in hopes of finding a cat carving template 

He came home and carved his new pumpkin

We ate supper

It wasn't quite like Papa Murphy's pizza but it worked

And our Halloween ended on a happy note

Costumes, Trick or Treating, Lots of Candy,
Some cool Cubs shirts (Thanks Aunt Janelle & Uncle Randy),
Visits with friends
and
A new Pumpkin

                                          

Christmas already?

Yesterday we carved pumpkins
Today we heard Christmas music

What happened to Thanksgiving?

Wal-mart has already turned their garden center into a Christmas display

Trees, cards, gift wrap, ornaments and lights

Hobby Lobby has also been filled to the brim with Christmas decor

Honestly, I can't help but get a little excited

My friend and I just planned our annual Christmas shopping trip

I can't wait! I only get to see her about once a year and we spend ALL DAY together

I had a $10 gift certificate to Hallmark burning a hole in my pocket
so I bought 4 rolls of Christmas gift wrap

Some people have a shoe fetish, I have a gift wrap fetish (no joke)

I am already thinking about making holiday throw pillows

What do you think?

The boys and I have been to Toy Land countless times to make wish lists

Speaking of wish lists-

Can't my children be 2 again so I can shop in the Little Tike and Fisher Price aisle?

Spencer wants a BB gun
(You're going to shoot your eye out)

I'm not sure how I feel about this yet

With daddy in the military and a Grandpa that has a full gun safe,

what else would a 9 year old boy want?

Parker wants EVERYTHING
Good thing he has a birthday 8 days before Christmas
He circled everything he wants in the Toy Land ad
This made me laugh

I told ya he wants EVERYTHING
He's wants everything from a doll house to WWE action figures

I am thankful that I have already started my lists and my shopping
but the lists keep getting longer

As I was walking through Wal-mart today,
I saw a big box filled with Christmas Cd's
I LOVE Christmas music
I of course sifted through it
but didn't buy any

It won't be long and the hubby will be working like a maniac
hanging Christmas lights outside
I like things simple
A candle in each window is beautiful
But he enjoys having the brightest house on the block
so I let him do his thing
Chip's ultimate dream would be to have lights flashing to the beat of Christmas music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hjtd__eEmA&feature=related

I'm getting excited but promised myself that the tree wouldn't go up until Black Friday

Busy Saturday

I knew we had a a lot to accomplish today

Did I really think it would ALL get done?

NOPE

I'm glad my expectations weren't to high

I started this morning at 5:00AM

Clothes in the washer

Dishes in the dishwasher

And  went back to bed until 7:00AM

Now the day could officially start

The boys carved pumpkins in their underwear

I actually carved Parker's and vowed to NEVER carve pumpkins again

I have NEVER enjoyed carving pumpkins

I hate the slimy stuff

I can't stand the smell

or

The HUGE mess

Look who decided to help

After the pumpkins were done

We took them in the bathroom, turned off the lights and let them glow

Spencer's is a cat

and

Parker's is Frankenstein

(Sorry about the blurry picture)

I cleaned up the pumpkin mess

and made a new mess in the kitchen

This mess was SO worth it

I have a friend raising money for a breast cancer walk

Her mom is a breast cancer survivor and they are having a bake sale

I had been wanting to try a recipe I found

on none other than Pinterest

Baked Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes

Made em and Tried em 

and OH MY!

Spencer ate one and I think I heard something like

I think I just died and went to heaven :)

Don't worry, I will be creating a post with the recipe

I needed to cuten (Is that a word) these up

and thought these were adorable

I put the donut holes in a wrapper,

put 6 donuts on a small white plate, put them in a ziploc bag and stamped spiders on it

I also made giant dipped marshmallows and peanut butter pizza

After I had my kitchen looking like a tornado hit it

I decide it was time to put the costumes on and go visit my Great Aunt Ruby

She wasn't feeling well today but wanted us to come

She's a sweet sweet lady and we love her dearly

Thanks for the yummy snacks Aunt Ruby!

The last thing on my to do list today

was to get some pictures taken

Every Christmas, I make a calendar for my mom

The weather was great so today was the day

Wouldn't you know it, my camera and my children had issues

Parker isn't sure how to smile with all those missing teeth

What use to come so natural, now looks ridiculous

My camera was also acting up

90% of my pictures were blurry

I would have been more upset about the camera if the kids had cooperated

These are just a few shots I captured

Really guys?

I guess it's time to call it a day

Proud to be TIGERS

When we started looking for a home 11 years ago

We knew we wanted children

but we weren't thinking about what school we wanted them to attend

We knew what we could afford and what we were looking for

After months of looking

We FINALLY found a house

I HATED the location

Well let me just tell ya

10.5 years later I still HATE the location

But LOVE the school district we are in

We are proud to be Colorado Tigers

The boys LOVE Colorado school

They have awesome teachers, counselor and principal

We couldn't ask for a better school

We also like that Colorado only has ONE fundraiser a year

but it's a BIG one

Colorado Elementary had their annual fall festival a couple of weeks ago

Every year I am amazed -

The hard work from parents and teachers

The donations given

The students selling raffle tickets

The baked goods

It's all just AMAZING!

This year the students sold over 15,000 raffle tickets (AMAZING isn't it?)

The top 25 sellers of raffle tickets got to go get ice cream with the principal (Mr. Spies)

Not only did they get to have ice cream, they got to ride in a white, excursion limo

It was sitting outside the school this morning

and COOL doesn't even describe it

The bake sale made over $700.00

These were a few of my donations for the bake sale

A little sugar anyone ?

I also heard that the book fair brought in $900.00 more than last year

WAY TO GO TIGERS!!!