Thanksgiving Weekend in Pictures

Wordless Wednesday: Kiddos

Tell the Truth Tuesday: Thanksgiving Dinner

A lot of people dread cooking for Thanksgiving...but not me. I freaking love it! I love being in the kitchen for hours at a time, snipping and snapping at people, sweating, and being covered in glop and sauce and every thing you can imagine. I love basting the turkey and smelling its' delicious aroma, I love the cranberries popping, and the potatoes boiling. Why do I love these things? (and YES I do love them, for once in my life, I am *not* being facetious about it) because I love that all that chaos turns into a delicious dinner with family. I love that after all that work, I can sit down with a cold diet coke and a full plate in front of me and hear chomping and laughing and slurps. Afterward, when we're all done eating and Geo is in the kitchen picking at the turkey and someone is scraping the whipped cream bowl to get the last little bits I am able to sit back and relax knowing that all of my hard work has paid off and everyone is happy and full and content and that's the best part for me. Om nom nom, time to get into the kitchen and start my prep for Thursday! Happy turkey day everyone!!

Friday Five: Laundry

1. Washing machine: front-loader or top-loader?

Top loader-brand new too since my old one crapped out and flooded the laundry room twice in one week

     2. Detergent: liquid or powder?

 Either is fine as long as it's Gain 

    3. Rinse cycle: fabric softener or another additive?

Vinegar sometimes 

     4. clothesline or dryer?

When the weather cooperates, I prefer to put things on the line. 

    5. Do you fold things straight off the line or out of the dryer? Do you iron?

Nope and I absolutely HATE ironing. Things get hung up in our house anyway so folding isn't that big of a deal to any of us.

Thankful Thursday: A List

In no particular order, here's a list of things I am thankful for this morning:

Losing two pounds in two weeks.

The song "Locked Out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars; it's what I use on my phone as an alarm and it always makes me wake up wanting to dance.

The "buddies" (Sam and Cal, Gabe's stuffed dogs) Gabe doesn't like to snuggle anymore, but he'll gladly give up a buddy if you need a snuggle in the early morning like I did today.

The ice maker in my freezer; it makes drinking a gallon of water each day so much easier.

The teachers didn't go on strike in the kids' district.

All of our fur babies who, while four legged pains in the asses sometimes, keep us company.

Momma Sukey is out of the hospital and feeling better!!!! YAY!

What are you thankful for today??

Locked Out of Heaven

Wordless Wednesday: The White Stuff

Stop This Train

I wanna get off...

It's been such a long busy week; I managed to miss Thankful Thursday (I'm thankful for friends who are like family) and Friday Five (five things I am doing this weekend: cleaning, cooking, changing bedrooms around, laundry, crochet) and blah.

Our dear friend Sukey who is like a second momma to me, actually she's older than MY own momma, which isn't hard since even I am older than my mom at this point-she looks great for 29...haha-was admitted to the hospital on Thursday morning with very high blood sugars and ugh. I don't often get overly emotional, however on the phone with her son, listening to her husband (our very favorite sailor Jimmy) and her daughter crying, I kind of lost it in that ridiculous high pitched way that I hate. The whole day was just shot-I couldn't think of anything except how in the hell I'd deal without her being there and how could I get to Boston to be with them and UGH. I'm happy to say that she is doing better, however I believe I am still going to have go out there and lecture her on putting herself first...much like my own mother..and me..hmm I see a trend here.

Gabe started a new add medicine Friday and I've been conflicted about it...I didn't want to do it but at this point school work is becoming an issue, not because he doesn't know HOW to do it but because he is so inattentive that he CAN'T do it. The first day was really rough however today, day three, he seems to be adjusting to it fairly well, which puts my mind at ease. It was very hard hearing him tell me that the meds were making him very angry and it felt like his blood was battling itself and making him want to explode. *sigh* We talked about it yesterday and he said it doesn't feel that way anymore but his head still feels a little bit buzzy, which I suppose is to be expected anytime you take a drug that alters your brain chemistry. I wish this were easier.

Two weeks ago, at my insistence to the doctor that something was NOT right in my body, he tested my A1C levels and my blood sugar and lo and behold, I am diabetic-not badly, just enough that if I don't get it together I WILL eventually be on meds and all sorts of junk I don't want. I'm taking classes to help manage my diet and what not. I was diabetic both times I was pregnant (so it wasn't a huge surprise that my A1C was a little higher than it should be) so I know what I am supposed to do, it's just a matter of getting there. I'm okay until it comes to the evening; I am an evening muncher. I like to watch tv and snack. I'm working on doing things with my hands at night when I am watching tv so that the temptation isn't there. Last night I crocheted a Christmas stocking for SuperBaby, tonight I am going to work on a baby hat and matching stocking for a friends' grandson...guess everyone should expect handmade gifts this year...and maybe in the process my fasting blood sugars will go down haha.

Finally, today is Veteran's Day and I'm so thankful for the Vets in our lives (G da G, Great Grandpa Harvey, my grandmother and grandfathers, my father, my uncle, Geo's sister and brother in law, my cousin's husband, our friend Tommy, our favorite Sailor Jimmy (who wasn't a sailor, but that's beside the point), Jimmy's son Nelson, and so on and so on...we're so lucky to have so many people who were willing to sacrifice their own lives and safety for those of us who were/are unable to...we're also thankful for those we don't know by name, but who fought for us regardless. If you see a vet today, thank him or her---and give thanks that all of these people were so willing to sacrifice for US and our country.

Let's hope next week is a better week for all of us...it'll start today when the kids and I go to the animal fest at the fairgrounds-lots of dogs and cats and other furry creatures to snuggle with...can't go wrong with that :D

Wordless Wednesday: Victory

Love, charity, duty, patriotism...

Tell the Truth Tuesday: I'm sick of politics

I love love LOVE politics; I love debating and discussing and getting to the nitty gritty of things in this country; however, this year, I am totally and utterly burnt out by it. I am so glad that the election will be over today and we won't have to deal with it for another four years. I've found that this year by far, people have been more hateful than I can ever remember. I've actually lost friends over opposing political views, not because I disagree with them but because they are so hateful when someone disagrees with them that I couldn't take it anymore. You don't have to be nasty to prove your point and if you DO then maybe you ought to reconsider your beliefs. So today, I urge you to get out there and vote-it's your responsibility, your obligation, your PRIVILEGE but don't forget that people are still people, even if you disagree with them so keep your words in check...

Just Another Manic Monday

Is it just me or did Monday come reallllly quickly this week? This was the first weekend Hh has had off in three weeks and the first weekend in about two months where we were all feeling healthy and the weather cooperated so we could actually get out of the house. I know a lot of guys would be pretty put off if their wife gave them a honey do list on their only weekend off in weeks, but Hh is a stand up guy, so he wasn't too cross with me :) The yard now looks fantastic...well for the most part; the neighbor's giant tree dumped a ton of leaves last night and they ended up in our yard, but other than that, things look great. We caught up on the laundry, we watched some tv, we took the kids bowling, we went out to lunch with some friends and we both got some much needed sleep. All in all, it was a pretty darn good weekend...but it ended too quickly. Oh well, such is life, Geo's back to work now until the day before Thanksgiving and then he'll have a nice long weekend to spend with us...of course we'll be busy but at least we'll be together :)

This week is looking fairly quiet unless of course, our teachers end up on strike as it looks like they will be, then we'll have the kiddos home with us for a while but that's ok, they can help me plan Thanksgiving dinner (lucky them!! haha)

A Guest Post From Our Favorite 8 year old

hi this is Gabe Witkowski  Homeless people need scarfs hats gloves and jackets and food
I want to help them. I am going to collect these things for Lazarus house.It  is for  homeless people even
for kids.I feel bad about the homeless people .If you want to help me  you can send  me these things. If you
cant send me these things, maybe you can send a gift card to me  so i can buy what you want to have
to donate to them.  

thank you
 from Gabe

This is Chrissi; Gabe was so excited to be able to blog this today...he's really excited about helping some families at the Lazarus House in the next town over; we've donated to them before but this is the first time the kiddos have really wanted to get involved. We've been talking a lot about giving to others and helping and for the past few days both kids have expressed an interest in helping others. Gabriel's first idea was to have a popcorn stand...however, he wanted to charge $10 for a box of popcorn and $5 for lemonade...not quite what most people can afford for a snack :) Please note that if you'd like to help with winter stuff, it does NOT have to be new, it just has to be in good shape AND you don't have to help at all, you can just smile and thank God that kids like Gabe and Bits exist still. As far as gift cards; we have a friend who works at Meijer and has said she'll take them there and use her discount card so they can get a few more things than they could somewhere else-Gabe is planning on sending notes to Meijer, Walmart, and Target this week to see if they'd like to help him out as well-I'm hoping they will. Can I just say that we are so proud of these kids? I know we are biased because everyone thinks their kids are the best BUT these guys are so loving, generous and kind...makes our hearts feel good when they want to help others, especially other children. :) 

Friday Five: Five Things to Know Right Now

Five random things to know right now:

1. Yoplait key lime Greek yogurt is AMAZING. 100 calories and only 10 carbs-it's my new go to snack when I am craving something sweet.

2. Today Gabe had to go to school early to practice for his news anchoring debut on the channel ten news at school. His anchor name is "Gumball Gabe" and he'll be reviewing a "Big Nate" book and discussing hurricane Sandy.

3. Bits is currently obsessed with footed pajamas. This has proven to be a bit of a pain in the butt as she is very tall and they don't make clothes that fit her proportionally. Nevertheless, she is in her footed pajamas from the time she gets home from school until she has to GO to school the following day.

4. The election is days away and you reaaaaaaallllllly need to go vote; I'd, of course, prefer that you vote for the blue party HOWEVER I just want you to go out and vote.

5. FINALLY! HH is off this weekend and none of us are sick and the weather is supposed to be decent so we'll be doing yard work, taking a hike or two, and catching up on some netflix.

Have a great weekend all!!

Thankful Thursday: Rituals

Today is Thankful Thursday and it's the first in November, which apparently means you're supposed to post one thing you are thankful for every day of the month; however since I do that on a regular basis, I won't be taking part BUT you'll still get a Thankful Thursday post once a week...

Today is the beginning of a three day festival/ritual called Dia de los Muertos. (Day of the Dead) It's a fantastic ritual that many people in Mexico participate in and has made itself kind of popular here in the states as well (mostly because sugar skulls are so damn cool I think, but I digress) Dia de los Muertos is basically about remembering those who've gone before us. The belief is that there are three deaths; the body dies, the spirit dies, and finally your memory dies.

Death is so taboo still; people don't like to think or talk about it but quite frankly it's inevitable; you are born to die, you start dying from the moment you are born-which of course is a depressing thought I suppose BUT that's just how it is. I'm not particularly religious (in case you hadn't noticed haha) but I'm pretty spiritual and I also believe that people have a soul. Everything in the solar system-the universe-has energy. That energy has to go somewhere when you die; it doesn't cease to exist, it just goes elsewhere. I like to think that souls stick around for a while to make sure the survivors are coping and then they break up and go into various places and people; it's hard to deny that theory when you look at children who have personality traits of long deceased relatives and so on. A part of my grandmother, I am positive, is within SarahAnne's personality. Sometimes she says things or looks at me in such a way that I am shocked that it's my five year old child in front of me, not my grandmother and Gabriel is so much like Joey in such silly little ways that I almost wonder if Joey is playing tricks on us through him.

Today I stopped at the cemetery as is my usual trip on Dia de los Muertos and saw Joey. I found a flower at a local shop that reminded me of him, left him some dimes, and cleaned up around his headstone. I thought about him a bit and thought to myself that he'd just adore all these nieces and nephews of his and thought that finally it seems to be getting a little easier without him, but some days are worse than others.

I feel calm and peaceful now; it's little rituals like this that soothe my soul when it's weary; I'm so thankful that we as human beings have coping mechanisms (for lack of a better word) in rituals that help smooth the rough edges off of things. I hope that today, regardless of what you believe or don't believe, you'll take a moment and think about someone who has passed on ensuring that their memory lives on even while they do not.