Thanksgiving

We had a very different Thanksgiving than usual this year. Jesse invited any of his Marines that didn't have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving to come to our house. So 6 of them can over at 9 am to watch football. Only 4 stayed for dinner, plus we had Patricia and her kids so I ended up cooking Thanksgiving dinner for 11 by myself. Like literally no help at all. It was really good though. I made WAY too much food. We had a 24 lb turkey, 10 lbs of potatoes mashed, 2 batches of sweet potatoes, 3 doz rolls, 2 pans of roasted carrots, some green beans, some stuffing, 2 pumpkin pies, and apple dumplings. I haven't cooked a thing since, because we have so much Thanksgiving leftovers in our fridge!
Lincoln was doing great until I tried to get him to change out of his filthy clothes and into nice clothes before dinner. Then he refused to wear any clothes at all. And he fell asleep 45 minutes before dinner started and woke up when we were dishing up. He spent the rest of Thanksgiving hiding on the couch.
The other kids had a great time though.
The guys started playing poker before dinner, and when I made Jesse carve the turkey he let Savannah take his spot. She actually won a few hands too.
Look at that huge delicious turkey.

Thankful

Its 2:30 on Thanksgiving. Jesse and his friends took the kids to the park, and I actually have a few minutes open on my cooking schedule so I thought I would make a list of things I'm thankful for. Here goes...

1: A husband who works hard, plays hard and takes time to enjoy doing nothing when the opportunity arises.
2: A beautiful little girl who is extremely generous and loves to make people laugh.
3: The cutest little boy ever with a fun personality that is definitely one of a kind.
4: A house to live in that I actually like.
5: 2 cars, we shared for the longest time and I don't think I'll ever be able to take having my own car for granted again.
6: My mom. She is the best mom ever. I can't even describe how thankful for her I am.
7: My dad, one of the hardest workers I've ever known.
8: In-laws who aren't overbearing. I've heard enough horror stories from others to be grateful for that.
8: My brother, Clif, who is a great example of an outstanding dad.
9: My sister, Camille, who is wonderwoman, seriously she can do everything at once and make it seem easy.
10: My sister, Cherilyn, who is always generous and forgiving.
11: My sister, Caytie, we were never really close growing up, but now she is honestly probably one of my best friends.
12: My sister, Chalee, who really knows how to have fun.
13: My sister, Christon, who is an amazing teenage girl. Seriously, wise for her years.
14: My nieces and nephews, love them all!
15: Opportunities to serve.
16: San Diego weather, I may miss the snow and rain but it is convienient when you child refuses to wear shoes and socks.
17: Good friends who almost feel like family.
18: The Marine Corps, I love knowing in these hard times, that I don't have to worry about lay offs or anything like that.
19: Being in a financial situation where I can afford to feed 5 hungry Marines + my family and Patricia's family Thanksgiving dinner.
20: My big comfy bed.
21: Having a camera again!
22: Having a healthy family.
23: The opportunity to send Savannah to such a great school.
24: Lincoln's therapy. It is sometimes a pain to be there so often, but I'm very grateful that he is getting the help that he needs.
25: Affordable health care.

There are many, many other things, but I'll stop there because I'm sure no one wants to read anymore. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Slave Labor

My kids were crazy today. Well, actually crazy doesn't even begin to describe how Lincoln has been for the past few days. So this afternoon after he calmed down a bit I decided that I deserved a break. So we headed to Ikea. If you didn't already know Ikea is the perfect place for a break because they have free childcare! So I dropped the kids off, had a snack in silence in their cafe, then started wandering the store. $80 some-odd dollars later I had 2 awesome serving bowls, new salt and pepper shakers, a gravy boat, some Christmas lights, a throw for the back on my couch, covers for the pillows on my couch, a square tablecloth for my dinning room table, a side table that I'm going to use as a kids table, and 2 plastic chairs. Awesome, right? So we came home and the kids insisted on helping put the legs on the table. I thought this was pretty much a Kodak moment, and the following is the video i got...



I swear I was not putting them to work as a punishment! Lincoln has been in trouble most of the day, but the work was voluntary. In fact it would have been quicker and easier to just do it myself! Look how happy these 2 little monkeys are with their new table set.

Guess What I Bought Today

And just in case that doesn't make it blaringly obvious...

About time, huh.

Boycrazy

Savannah came home from school yesterday and immedietly walked in the door and started drawing. She drew a palm tree, then asked me how to spell Simon. I spelled it out, then asked her who Simon was. Simon is a boy she met on the school bus yesterday. So she drew a picture of a palm tree and wrote "To Simon from Savannah," on it. Pretty innocent right. Then she got a second piece of paper and wrote "To Simon from Savannah" with hearts all over.

I think it might be time for an all girls school.

Mother of the Year

So Tuesday we were having a bad day. The night before I worked until midnight as I do 4-5 nights a week. I went to bed around 2 am and was woken up at 2:30 by a child who had wet the bed. I got that child changed and settled into my bed and laid down only to have the other child come in ten minutes later to let me know that they had wet their bed. Around 3:30 I finally got to sleep. I was then woken up at 6:00 by a child demanding popcorn and Dinosaur Train only to find that the child in my bed had had another accident.

Yes it was going to be one of those days! After taking Savannah to her bus stop, we got all ready and took Lincoln to his 3-year-old checkup. He is doing well. 32 lbs and 37 inches tall. Very average. They put us in the exam room and as soon as I walked in I knew that we were going to have a problem. It was painted bright orange with flowers and fairies on the walls. I don't know why anyone thought that was a good color for a small room in which children are going to be expected to sit still. About half an hour later a medical student came in to examine Lincoln. Other than commenting on how much "energy" he had the majority of his exam centered on trying to convince me that he needed the H1N1 vaccine. After I had explained to her exactly why Lincoln is not immunized. I thought this was pretty interesting since they have huge signs all over the waiting room, hallways, and every exam room stating that they have no vaccine. Apparently they do, but they only give it to certain people and Lincoln qualifies since he has a tiny little bit of asthma. Whatever. So she left the room saying that she would talk to Lincoln's doctor and let me know if the doctor wanted to see him. Finally after 90 minutes of chaos in the orange room Lincoln was literally hanging from the doorknob screaming "Out!" and kicking me. So I packed him up, told the receptionist to let the doctor know that Lincoln was not waiting anymore and to call me if she had any questions and left. I scraped the side of my car pretty badly on the way out of their parking garage.

So we headed to Subway for lunch. Lincoln announced that he wanted chips and cookie for lunch. I know he hates sandwiches, I'm not really sure why I thought Subway was a good idea. And I was just way too tired to argue with him, so chips and cookie it was. When we got home he asked for his cookie and I said, "You have to eat your chips if you want your cookie." That's when it hit me. I definitely will not be getting the mother of the year award this year. Seriously, chips and cookie for lunch?

Our day did not get much better from there either.

Anyone Want Some Free Money?

So about a month ago I was referred by a friend to a site called swagbucks. I'd never heard of them before, but she claimed that she got tons of free gift cards for doing nothing so I thought that I would check it out. So I joined and installed their little search engine thing. Its been about a month, and I have 58 swagbucks, enough for 1.2 $5 Amazon gift cards or a $25 resturaunt gift card, or to plant 3 trees, or 5 $5 gift cards to Euphoria Baby... you get the idea. So its not a ton of money, but considering that all I did was start using their search engine instead of google I haven't done anything that I wouldn't normally do I'd say that's a win. Free money is free money.

So I thought that I would pass it on to my friends. Plus if you click on this little button and sign up I get more points.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Today was Western Barbecue Day at Savannah's school, and parents were invited. So Lincoln and I signed up to go and Jesse ended up being home during that time, so he came too. It was fun but chaotic. Lincoln thought it was the greatest thing ever, but only ate 2 bites of his food. I can see the lunch thing will probably be an issue when he goes to school, he was just too distracted by the playground.

So while the kids were playing, Savannah's teacher came over to talk to me. She said, "So I hear Lincoln just turned 3." I said that yes he had, it was a fun day, etc. Then she says, "I hear he now wears 'big boy pants,'" again right, about time, etc. Then she says, "Savannah says that now he can work at Ikea." I was so embarrassed! Savannah loves to play at the kids place at Ikea, and she calls it her work. You have to be potty trained to go in there, so for the last year every time we go in there she gets to go "work," but Lincoln has to come with me because he wasn't potty trained. Good to know that this is what is significant to her about Lincoln turning 3 and using the potty.

Then when her class went to line up, her teacher brought her back to me and told me that Savannah said that she was going to throw up and that she had been complaining of a headache for 2 days and that I should probably bring her home with me. Great, now I'm the slave-driver mother who puts her 3-year-old to work and makes her kids go to school even if they are sick.

We Have a 3-Year-Old!

Yesterday was Lincoln's third birthday! He had such a great day. After speech I took him to McDonald's for lunch. That is until he got in a full out punching and kicking fight with another kid at the top of the playplace and had to be dragged out by the other kid's dad. Then we left. We had just a small BBQ/party for him last night and he loved that too, as long as no one touched any of his new stuff. First thing in the morning I sang "Happy Birthday," to him, and he covered my mouth and said, "Stop it!" Then Grandma Conger called and tried to talk to him and he freaked out. My sister, Caytie, and he kids called and sang to him, and he hid. After that we kinda gave up on the singing. He just doesn't like the attention.

I can't believe how much he has grown up in the past few weeks! Since starting speech not only is he talking more, but his overall behavior is so much better! He is suddenly walking by me and holding my hand when we go to stores. We now go days between fits instead of just hours. He is potty trained, not only during the day, but at night too! Its been 2.5 weeks now, and we've only had maybe 5 accidents total including night time.

I don't have any pictures now, but I took some with a disposable camera, so stay tuned in a few weeks! In the meantime, here are a few pictures of Lincoln throughout the past 3 years.
Big Newborn Lincoln (9 lbs 4oz)


Giant 3-month-old Lincoln (around 20 lbs)


Ginormous 6-month-old Lincoln (around 25 lbs)


Lincoln's First Birthday!


18-month-old Lincoln


2-year-old Lincoln


2 and a half


Almost 3 (I don't have any good pictures from the last 5 months or so)