Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

The Adult's Table (Jenn made a beautiful table didn't she?!)

& the Kids Table!

We had a great Thanksgiving Dinner!

Appetizers
Turkey
Stuffing Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Glazed Carrots
Green Bean Casserole
Rolls
Pecan Pie
Apple Pie & Vanilla Ice-Cream
Pumpkin Pie
Chocolate Cake w/Butter Almond Icing (all made from scratch)

I made everything put the top 4 items. Baking this year was so much fun with my new mixer!!! Thank you Honey!!!! Here are a few photos.... I wish that I had taken a picture of my 3 pies on my 3-tier pie rack....they looked so pretty!

Mmmm.....Sweet Potatoes with Caramel sauce & Pecans..... I think this dish turned out perfect...it looked so gorgeous...and tasted so good too!!! My sister Sherri loves this dish... I wish she was here to share it with!
Apple pie with a sugared lattice pie crust













2 Pecan Pies

Here I am kneading the dough to make Home Made Yeast Rolls! (Earlier in the week, Laura, Jenn & I went and got our nails done, so we'd look good for the holidays!)

Yes, my Pampered Chef Baking Stone has been broken, and yes I still use it. Yes I know I'm terrible!




I have so much to be Thankful for God has really blessed us. I have a wonderful husband, which I'm so proud to call my best friend. Together we have 2 beautiful, smart, caring little girls which I'm so glad to say they're healthy! We have a house, 2 vehicles, family that we love and miss (they live so far away!), lots of wonderful friends that are so dear to our hearts. I could just go on and on but I'll stop.

Getting ready for Thanksgiving next week?

I've been so busy I haven't even thought about leaving a blog post! How sad is that?!

So much is going on! :) Last week was really busy.

Bobby leaves to go Bear hunting this weekend. I'm washing all his clothes in a scent free detergent. Friends have asked him to go for years, but he's never been able to go for one reason or other. This year he can go, and is looking forward to it. I'm just going to try and not think about it....kind of freaks me out!

I've got my thanksgiving meal shopping done (yeah!)- but I'll be busy with all the baking next week. Bobby got me my Christmas present early so I can put it to use this week - he is so sweet! I've always wanted the big Kithen Aid stand mixer and now I finally have it! :D

We're having Thanksgiving Dinner at our friends Joe & Jennifer's house. They're doing the appetizers, stuffing/dressing turkey & ham. I'll be doing the sides and all the baking! It will be so much easier now! I can't wait to make my mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, pies, cake, etc...

I've got to make my Christmas cards (still), my Christmas Calendar (on a baking sheet - it will be so cool) and do 2 entries into 2 CJ's I got...I've got to get moving!!!! While Bobby's away I should be able to get those 2 CJ's done. Honestly though, I'm not sure when I'll find the time though...I've got to get my nails done, Catherine has her first Daisy troop meeting, and other stuff!

Wohoo time: I have the girls Christmas gifts in lay-away (gotta love that!). :)
I've got to figure out what we're doing for our nieces and nephews, and our parents.

Parent Teacher Conference

So, today was my very first PTC with Catherine's Kindergarten teacher.

It was great. Catherine is doing really great in the classroom. She's not the best at everything, and that's fine, I understand and am okay with that. I did ask the teacher to have the speech therapist to have a review with Catherine just for a few concerns of mine (when she says M and N they sound the same...and when she says 30 and 40 they sound the same...she clearly knows the difference, she just doesn't pronounce them well).

Her handwriting has a lot to be desired, granted she's only 5, but her fine motor skills need some work. I'm going to make a point to set out beads to let her work with picking them up and sorting them, making patterns (something she absolutely loves doing). This should help tone her fine motor skills without "fussing" about her handwriting yet. :) She kind of doodles in the middle of writing her sentences sometimes too...so she's clearly laid back about the whole thing. She's more creative minded (just like her mom) and could care less about writing her letters perfectly.

She gets along great with others, is very helpful, polite and all that other good stuff that you want/expect to hear about social behavior.

Tomorrow several of us are getting together for pizza over at my friend Jenn's house. I made an angel food cake, have cut up the strawberries (put a little sugar to get their juices flowing) and will make a whipped cream tomorrow and layer the cake in 3 tiers. I'm planning on making m&m cream filled cookies tomorrow with the help from Catherine. :)

I ran to Giant (our grocery store) tonight to pick up a few things...the kids wanted to play in the Kid Play house...so we had to make it there by 6 (that's when they stop taking in new kids). I found out that the valet packing (you pay for your groceries, let them know you want them to load your car up...you go get your car, pull up under the carport area and they load your car up with groceries for FREE...they're not even allowed to accept a tip! Wow...I was blown away! If you know me and my thoughts on tips! :) LOL

.....okay.....so here's the deal on me and tips. I HATE the fact that consumers have to pay to have a service done correctly. If you are employed you should have a commitment to do the job, and do it right. Your customers should not have to pay you on top of what your employer pays you to do that job. I think that whatever your job is, you should be paid well to do it (a happy employee is a good employee). How many times have you left someone a tip and honestly they didn't do anything extra to "earn" it. I'd love someone to give me a tip for all the stuff I have to do! okay I'm done! :) This is in no way to infer that a waitress doesn't deserve good $$ (infact they deserve a really big paycheck for having to put up with all they have to put up with, besides remembering everything they have to!)

5 Days of November

Nov 1
-10AM Book Study with Lisa & Ruth at my house.
-6PM Sign Girls into Kid Zone at our grocery store, then "the girls & I" (Jenn, Anne, Laura) eat in the Cafe the store has.

Nov 2
-Go to the grocery store to actually buy a few things.
-Do some baking.
-Jenn comes by to chat after all kids are in bed.

Nov 3
-9AM MOPS - brought homemade scones
-7PM Home Owners Association Town Haul meeting (I brought up some landscaping issues)

Nov 4
-BOBBY RETURNS HOME! Yeah!!!!!!! (He was away on another business trip for a week)
-Order Chinese in...then had some romance time! ;)

Nov 5
-We sell our truck, the Chevy S10 (we bought a SUV the other week....a red Chevy Blazer)...no need for 3 vehicles!
-Fall Pictures...No fantastic ones....I hope to go on a drive up in the Mountains tomorrow after church.

Recap on Halloween

Thursday...
Catherine's school Fall party was great! All my volunteers showed up, the kids ate all the goodies, then we divided up the class into 3 groups for games and a craft. They played jack-o-lantern bean bag toss, Acorn Drop, & the pumpkin-o-lantern craft.

Here's a picture with them all holding their pumpkin jack-o-lantern craft thingie that they made. :)

They all came to school in costume, they had a parade (the entire school participated outside) then finished the day with their party!

That night was trick-or-treat night. I asked my neighborhood friends (Jen & her 2 girls, Ann & her son, and Laurna and her daughter) to meet me at my house at at 6, then we went T-or-T'ing together. Next year, I think I'll make a dinner, invite them to bring their gear, come earlier eat then get dressed.... and make a really fun evening of it! :)

Catherine was Tigger (this was her "warm" costume) for the actual trick or treating.

Here was HER costume..she wanted to be a cat...so here she is in her Black Cat costume.


Abby was our cute little Lady Bug...she did very well at trick or treating, but got tired and was ready to go home, so we headed back, dropped her off home to help Dad and Nana hand out candy, and the rest of us went back out and hit another street or two. :)
She was so tired that she put herself to bed that night! She headed upstairs (I thought that she was going to play) and after a while I went up to check on her, and found this...


So halloween and all the candy is over! (well, not the candy, we have way to much!)

Sunday morning I took my mom to the airport so that she could catch her flight back home....that afternoon Bobby left for a business trip...he'll be in Alabama, so his parent will drive up to see him Thursday. I'm glad that he gets to see them. Friday night Bobby will get back! :) Yeah! :)

Last night I went out with the girls for dinner (our grochery store watches kids from 3-9 for 90 minutes free!) so we sat in their cafe and ate and chatted! :) Yesterday morning, two of my other friends Lisa and Ruth came over for our book study.

Today Catherine has her field trip! :) I should scrapbook today...we'll see if I do anything...just not in the moode to. :( No inspiration here. I want to make my Christmas cards...but again, no true inspiration. I made a couple...but I'm not thrilled with them. I think a trip to the store is needed.

I've got to go and get Catherine ready for school today. See ya!