Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving Day Activities


What a day...what a day!!!! While I gave my youngest a long overdue haircut I looked for a show on t.v. to catch his attention. I found something that caught all 4 boys' attention.  



No, it wasn't this....


It was this....


Brett could not believe his eyes when he came upstairs and saw his boys watching a Barbie movie on t.v.  In all fairness what initially caught their attention was a mean dragon but the mean dragon did not have the spotlight for long.  Oh and also please note in the pictures the resulting haircut on my youngest.... I did pull out the correct attachment but got distracted and forgot to put it on and simply started buzzing his hair with the attachment that was currently on the clippers ..... the #1.  Can you say soldier boy?????  Yikes!!!!

After the haircut I got myself ready and then made my thanksgiving assignment.... Cauliflower casserole.  yummy!!!


One head of cauliflower cut up and boiled until cooked through
one 8 oz package of mushrooms sliced
one cup grated cheddar cheese
one tin cream of chicken soup
approx. 1 cup of italian seasoned bread crumbs (you can make your own bread crumbs with 2 slices of whole wheat bread crust crumbled in a blender and then mix a teaspoon of italian seasoning into it)

As the cauliflower is cooking, fry up the mushrooms in a frying pan sprayed with non-stick spray.  Combine the cheese and tin of cream of chicken soup (do not add water) in a sauce pan and put on medium low heat stirring frequently until all the cheese is melted and it creates a sauce.  Drain the cooked cauliflower and place it in a non-stick pan or casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray.   Sprinkle the fried mushrooms on top of the cauliflower.  Pour the cheese sauce over top of the cauliflower and mushrooms.  Sprinkle the bread crumbs on top of the casserole.  Set your oven to broil.  Put the casserole in the over (do not cover it) and broil for two minutes.  Check to see if the bread crumbs have browned.  If they are not quite brown yet give it another minute but do not walk away! The bread crumbs go quickly from a golden brown to burned if you do not watch carefully.  When the bread crumb top has browned pull it out of the oven and you are ready to eat.  

The above picture was actually taken before going into the oven.

Well what would Thanksgiving be without eating some great food?


or being chased by Grandpa's remote control car...



Man down!!!
or playing with Grandma's toys...


or being stared down by great-grandpa's scary cow... (note how far away my oldest is from the cow).


and how mean he was looking at me??? yikes!! 


My youngest was standing at the fence and the cow ran at him.  He jumped back and started laughing...
 That cow will be hamburger meat in a few days.  I think he knows it!!!

And of course mom makes you have your picture taken before you can have your dessert.  



It was a great day and we love getting together with family.  Family is something we are so thankful for.  Other things my boys said they were thankful for included but are in no particular order: our house, life, their body, the earth, friends, food, moms and dads, Heavenly Father and Jesus, Legos, Christmas lights, people, animals, plants, and of course brothers.

Good luck to all those who are braving the stores tomorrow.  I have chosen to stay home and believe it or not... sew.  I have to finish my Festival of Trees entry.  I still have the binding to do on three stockings before I am done.  Good luck in the stores!!!!!


Monday, November 24, 2008

Brotherly Love


Brotherly love is a beautiful thing and it warms my heart when I see it....because most of my day is filled with phrases like "please use your words"  "please don't hurt your brother" "how do you think your brother felt when you did that?" "can you please share?" "can your brother please have a turn when you are done?" "I'm sorry but you need to take your mad to your room and calm down".  That's what happens in a house with four boys (five really when you include their dad who teaches them even more things that I have to "unteach"). 

So I love moments like these:


But I still laugh when a brother TRIES to teach another brother something like riding a two-wheeler and he has good intentions... but the other brother's frustration gets the best of him...

First comes the instructions...


and more instructions...


he makes an attempt and fails...



watch me do it again... as big brother executes a perfect circle around the basketball court...



and yet more instructions...


some more demonstrations while little brother looks on, his frustration building...


"G. you are not teaching me properly!!!!"


and then mom is busted by the next-door neighbor "Robin why are taking pictures of your kids in the doorway? why don't you go outside??"  I'm caught!!!


You have no idea how many times a day I see this look on my four-year-old's face and I caught it on camera just at that moment.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Brothers of the Carribean


Last night was our ward's Pinewood Derby and it was our 8-year old's first official car.  You never know what idea an 8 year-old is going to come up with when they dream up a car and it was so fun to see all of the creative and fun cars last night.  It warmed my heart that my cubscout involved his younger brothers in his car by choosing pirate heads that represented himself and each one of his brothers.  


He, of course, is the captain of the car!!! and his brothers are behind him in descending order according to age.  He named it Brothers of the Carribean.


Of course before the races could even begin you had to visit with your friends....


and check out the track...


and the competition...


Brett warned him ahead of time that the Pinewood Derby is all about luck.  But lady luck was on my cubscout's side last night.  Race #1 began...






Hey Brett! How many times in a day does 1,2,3,4 happen? (that's our joke...he said it only happens once a day) I missed catching with my camera the jumps for joy my cubscout made but excitement was in the air and he caught his dad's eye across the room as if to say... thanks for your help dad! ..........(what about mom?.... didn't I give some assistance making sure you had paint and spray for the car?...not to mention taking on the task of the hotglue for the pirate heads... sheesh!!!)

Brothers helped cheer and count down to release the cars for the races.


Race #2 began...






another first place star!!!!

I missed Race #3 (well I get to visit and chat too don't I?????) but it was a second place star and who wants to post that anyways????

The final Race....



another first place star!!!!

Lady luck I love you!!!!!  Jaden was so excited he couldn't contain himself!


Race results: Jaden won 1st place for Group B and overall he tied for what was called 3rd place although there was no 2nd place so really I guess he tied for 2nd.  Go Jaden!!!

Everyone was given a ribbon award and Jaden's was the Best Back Seat Driver Award to which Brett made the comment to the guys standing next to him "why'd he get that? Robin didn't drive the car"  hardeharhar.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Halloween At Last!!!!


No I'm not talking about Halloween 2009! I'm talking about my long-awaited Halloween pictures for this year (because I know you have been DYING to see them right?).  Now that my camera/computer problems are a thing of the past I finally have my Halloween pictures on my Mac.  Yeah!!!!!!!

I can't believe that my boys are growing so fast.  Most of them are significantly taller this year than last (my three-year old being the exception).  They all chose what they wanted to be this year although some boys changed their minds a couple of times until settling on a final choice.  The end result:  


As Halloween can get expensive you may be wondering how much I spent.  Let me break it down for you.  Brett's costume (can you really call it a costume? hahaha!!!!) ... mask= $1.00


Joe Montana football player (borrowed from Grandma) cost = $0.00

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume- already had it but needed nunchucks cost for nunchucks= $1.99


Batman costume - already had it, cost = $0.00

Jerry Rice (hope I spelled his name right) costume (also borrowed from Grandma) 
cost = $0.00

Total costs= $2.99

Halloween candy on the other hand...... well..... we won't go there will we.

We begin trick or treating in an orderly fashion at first...


but once the boys see candy it is like a shark frenzy sets in... didn't your mother teach you manners???? Oh wait! I'm their mother.  Moving on....




Can you guys even see????


Night sets in and we have done our rounds so we head for home to fill up treat bags.  


That should keep us stocked for Family night, lunch boxes and week-end treats for quite some time.  Thanks to all my neighbors for a great Halloween!!!