Gingerbread house competition

The first weekend in Dec I found there was a gingerbread decorating competition. It looked like a lot of fun so when we got up and around we headed downtown. To get in you just had to bring a canned food item or a hygiene item for donation. 

When we looked at the details there were 3 groups, the professional, amateur, and kid group. Since we had gotten there later in the morning many were still working on them but you could see what it was they were making. The kids really had a lot of fun looking at all the different things people were making. 

The amateur group had the most entry's and I was pretty impressed on some of the ones I seen. Olivia loved all the Frozen ones a few people had made. 

Of course the professional ones had a lot of detail and really thought outside the box. 

These two pictures are of the professional ones. At each table there was a container that you could "vote" for your favorite. Since this was all for charity all the money collected was donated. The one with most money won their category. 

We gave all the kids a dollar so they could vote for their favorite on. Thomas and Sup both voted for the Star Wars one. Eric and I liked the pirate ships, which I found out later won the professional group. 

It was a really fun morning and inspired the boys into wanting to try their hand at making a gingerbread house. After we finished up at the gingerbread houses we headed over to Aizzpizza. This is a new pizza place that has opened up here. I had heard good things about it from some of the girls at work so we decided to give it a try. It is best described to me as like subway but it pizza instead of sandwiches. We were all able to have our own pizza the way we wanted and it was fresh and hot.   

sushi night

This year Eric and I wanted to have a fun night while we still had family down. We thought we would have more of an "interactive" dinner. Eric and I thought it would be fun to have a sushi night and since we didn't really have a lot of the stuff to make it his sister was willing to share her things with us. 

We had gone to the store before Thanksgiving and picked out all the stuff we thought would be good to stuff in the sushi rolls. It was fun to see what every one picked and I think we were able to have a pretty good selection of all types of sushi rolls. 

Even though our boys were not as excited to eat the rolls they did try the ones they made. I think for the most part we all had a fun time with it. We did have crepes earlier on in the week that we did dessert sushi rolls as well : )

Thanksgiving 2016

Thanksgiving is always such a fun time for our family. For the past several years Eric's sister and her family come down and spend the long weekend with us. We have a little bit of a system worked out that we really don't have to plan too much at this point ; )

 I always like to try new things and recipes and it so nice when others are willing to try : ) On Thanksgiving we always have appetizers and then our big turkey dinner late afternoonish. Since all our kids are getting older we all tried to help with something for the meal and/or the appetizers. 

I think it is safe to say all the kids had fun helping with the food. Everything went off without any issues and we had a fun and very yummy meal. It is fun to see all our kids have fun and grow from year to year and have some fun traditions and memories to share with each other. We are grateful that we are able to spend this holiday together!

I am thankful for...

What is nice about the location of my job it is not too far to get to the school the boys attend. For Thanksgiving, Thomas's teacher invited all the parents to attend a reading by the kids who wrote what they were thankful for. 

I was able to take my lunch break and head up to the school to see Thomas. At first he wasn't going to read it paper, but I gave him a little bit of a guilt trip and he changed his mind and read it for me ; ) He was one of the last ones because he was not going to originally read it. After hearing some of the other kids I who were thankful for their family, God, food, and all the things you would hope to hear I was hoping Thomas would be along those lines as well…. He was not. He was thankful for his Xbox, Halo and Legos…. It seems I still have some work to do ; )

Raking leaves

Depending how the year and the weather our leaves may fall before or after Halloween. This year they started to fall a little bit into November. 

We have a huge maple tree in our front yard that I will say I love most times out of the year. In the fall it drops A LOT of leaves and in the spring we have to deal with all the annoying helicopters. As we have grown up in our house the falling leaves have actually become fun of the kids.

Like most other kids the joy of raking the leaves into a huge pile and having someone either throw you in i.e. Daddy in their case or jumping in can entertain and have a lot of fun for a long while. This year Olivia was able to join in on the fun. She is a little more of a girly girl so she was not too interested in being in the leaves. Her fun came with putting on the tutu and dancing around the pile ; )

With the boys getting older we are also starting to put them to work a little more. With this job at least we didn't have any complaining, which is a big plus in my book ; ) As they get older and the joy of the leaves become more of a chore then fun I am sure it will change. But at least for the time being it is still fun!

Post Halloween dinner

Even with Halloween being on a Saturday this year, we were bust finishing up costumes, I didn't have a chance to make our special Halloween themed meal. 

 Making themed meal is something I really like to do so I didn't want to skip out on it, so I decided to just make it for our Sunday dinner the next day. 

 We always have the mummy hot dogs so that was a given. The side or the other items I like to see what other fun things I can try and make. This year we went with the vegetable skeleton, witch finger breadsticks and a pumpkin cheese ball. 

For dessert we made grave yard pudding pudding cup. Originally this was suppose to be in one big cake pan. But when you put pudding on top of cake its really hard to have an edible leftover. So I went with individual cups. This way they put as much cake on the bottom then their pudding. On top they put crushed Oreos and then topped it with a Milano cookie for the tomb stone. I also found these bone sprinkles that they could put on top. The boys had a lot of fun with these because they could make it how they wanted : )    

Halloween 2015

This year was a fun year for Halloween. The boys picked some interesting costumes and Livvy was old enough to kinda know what was going on. She also had her big brothers to show her the ropes. 

So this fall Thomas really got into the Titanic. He really likes reading the "I Survived…" books and after he read "I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic" thats all he wanted learn about. So when we asked him what he wanted to be he said the Titanic I had no idea what to do and was going to tell him to think of something else. 

Eric has a pretty creative mind and said he would be able to make it for him and had an idea. He and Thomas made the boat out of cardboard. It took a few weeks to make and paint, but it turned out really nice! Thomas was pretty impressed and so was everyone else! Phillip was pretty funny he wanted to be the boo berry ghost. Yes the cereal that comes out every Halloween. So I went with a blue fabric and actually found this fun little hat at the party store. Olivia I went with a little witch costume. It was fun to make a little girls costume : ) I was able to find a witch hat headband, which was perfect for her! 

Thomas by far got the most comments when we were out trick or treating. There were a lot of people who had their spouse come to the door just to see. He did have some trouble getting around tight spots but for the most part he was pretty proud of all the comments he got. I would have been fun to enroll him in a costume contest ; )

It was so nice to have Daddy come a long this year! We were out for a couple of hours and all the kids made out really well. Livvy was a pro after the first house and realized she got candy after knocking at the door. She really didn't need any assistance at all and was not all a bit shy to go up to the door. She loved it when they thought she was just so cute and let her take 2 handfuls of candy instead of one ; )

Running water !!

By the end of Oct 2015 Eric was working hard on getting the bathroom into a a workable state. After only having one bathroom for over a year, I think we were both excited to see the bathroom start coming together. 

We had actually bought the sink faucet a while back but after getting the sink and countertop in it was time to do some plumbing. 

The first if the running water came with the sink. Eric was relieved that it all seemed to run well and was successful with no leaks! Olivia was the first one who was able to test it out. 

Fall Fest 2015

This past year we had a lot of fun at the fall festival. This year it was fun to have Papa Jim along with Aunt Sara and Uncle Josh to experience the fest with us. 

Olivia is by far the best eater we have. Thomas can eat a lot but can be very choosey in what he eats/willing to try. Olivia will try just about anything as long as she is hungry. She can also surprise you in the amount of food she can consume of just a little girl.  

In the past the boys have been pretty predictable on what they are going to eat. This year Thomas did surprise us with a few things. He has become a fan of onion rings so he got a "small" order ; ) he did eat most of them but I think he did have a little bit of help from us as well. 

Phillip is really into the shakes and ice cream type foods. It was pretty warm most of the days so it seemed to work out well for him, except when his ice cream melts too fast ; )

One of Thomas's favorites is the Texas Tenderloin. There are a lot of booths with this as an option. But as many will tell you after you go to the fest a few time you scout out the good places. This booth ALWAYS has a line so thats where we go. 

Thomas and Olivia had a couple of these. It seems that she was just as a fan as her big bother ; ) And thankfully it was big enough that Thomas was willing to share too!

Tiling the bathroom

So for our bathroom we decided to go with a full tile shower. We went with a natural stone and cut them into the smaller tiles we wanted. We had a really nice design that Eric and I came up with and for the shoer we went ahead and used the tile for the trim.

Sometimes the boys offer to help and sometimes Eric looks at it as an opportunity to show them a new skill or how challenging things can be. The boys were actually interested in trying out the how the tiling worked so one evening he had the boys in with him. 

Sup helped a little bit in the shower and Thomas was put to work putting on the trim on the outside of the trim. Sup needed a little more help putting the mud on but he had fun and was able to put the tiles where they needed to go in the shower. 

Thomas was a little more independent after Eric showed him how to do put the mud on and line up the tiles on the outer part of the shower. Eric even gave him the spacers and was able to to all the side that he was able to reach. 

He did a really nice job and could tell that he world really hard on making sure the tiles were straight and lined up. It was fun to see how he was taking pride in a job well done ; )

Toyota day at Holiday world

It seems to work out every few years Toyota has their summer picnic Holiday world. He have been there one other time in the past and the boys really have a good time. This was Livvy first real time at a park so we weren't sure how she would really like all the rides. 

 Sometimes in September it can be a little cool for the water park so we were happy to see it warmed u enough that we could also enjoy the water park.

 We thought we would start out with something safe like the carousel. The boys were excited that we were all able to ride this ride together. Eric volunteered to take Livvy on her first ride. As soon as the ride started she was happy and smiling and was having a great time. This lasted until the ride stopped and she had to get off. She wanted to keep going and didn't understand that she couldn't keep riding on her horse so her tears started after the ride was finished. 

 As soon as she got in another ride was all happy and smily once again. This ride was nice because the boys were still small enough that they could ride with her. 

 When it warmed up and the water park opened we headed over to change. It was nice this year because Philip was tall enough that he could go on the big water rides with me. Thomas is not a big fan of the big rides but Sup is a lot like me and he was so excited that he was finally tall enough that we could ride the big fun rides together. We were able to get Thomas to ride one ride with us but that was his fill. 

 Livvy still takes pretty good naps : ) This allowed Eric and the boys to go play in the wave pool while I was able to hang out with Livvy while she napped : )

 When the water park was closing up we changed and went back to the amusement park. They have a really nice part with all the little kiddy ride that we thought Livvy would really like. And she loved it when the ride started but as soon as the ride started to slow down she now knew that was the end and she would have to get off. And then we got the sad look like this one and the crying until she was able to ride on the next ride. I think she will be like me and Sup and enjoy the big rides too when she gets older : ) 

One last ride around the park. For our last ride Eric was able to take the kids around in this little truck ride :) It was a fun day and I think everyone slept pretty good that night!

A start of something new

              

So off and on I looked for jobs here and there. It was something that I always struggled with back and forth. When we lived in Michigan I worked before and after Thomas was born and for the most part I enjoyed working in the world of nutrition. After we moved to Indiana everything was new and I wanted time some time with my children, so I stayed home. But I will admit there were times that I missed my professional job and talking about nutrition and being a Dietitian. 

      

I did apply for some jobs here and there but never really heard anything back. I knew I was getting to a point that even though I had experience it was old experience and not many companies, at least the ones I know, you can't count being a mom as working experience. (Although it really should!) With the boys in school and Livvy done nursing I was casually looking again. There was a position open for Davita that caught my eye. I was really looking for something part time a couple days a week and this one was listed for 32 hours so I was a little hesitant. Although I really liked renal in my internship and like the fact the dietitian actually plays an important role in taking care of kidney patients. Although many times they are not the easiest population to work with but I after working with bariatics, I was certainly use to working with difficult patients. So Eric encouraged me to just go ahead and apply to see what happened. To be honest I was not expecting anything. I was completely surprised when I got an email from the recruiter asking to set up a time to talk with me. After that I got a call from the facility here to set up an interview. And at the end of the week she offered me the job. I had the weekend to think about it and there was still a lot of debate to take it, my biggest concern was to find someone who would be willing to watch Livvy for me. After a lot of praying and talking and debating I felt that this was an opportunity the Lord had given me. The facility was very close to the our home and school and would put me back into the world of nutrition. So I accepted the position and by the next week Livvy's nursery leader at the time called and said she would be willing to watch Livvy for me.  

After Labor Day I started working for Davita as a Renal Dietitian. Before I started my first day we went out and celebrated with ice cream that night. The first two and half weeks were training which were pretty rough. The nutrition stuff came back pretty quick I think but the world of electronic charting and the other thousand programs for everything was overwhelming. After the first few months I felt that I was getting my footing and it now has been just about 6 months and I think I am starting to get comfortable with everything. As crazy as it might sounds I like going to work and enjoy the work I am doing : ) The boys were not too affected by me going to work because they are at school most of the time. Livvy has lots of fun with our sitter and does an amazing job with her. I am truly grateful for everything she does for Livvy. 

Raingutter ragatta

This year for scouts Thomas was able to participate in the Raingutter Ragatta. I personally was not aware of this event so it was a new experience for me. 

It was a good thing Eric new what to do so he was able to work with Thomas and help him put is boat together. At this time he was into Jurassic Park so he themed his boat after that.  

The boats did not seem as intense as the pinewood derby cars so it didn't take too long for them to put it together and decorate them. Thomas was pretty excited to race his boat at the scout meeting. They had the two rain gutters set up outside and chairs so we could watch the race. 

Thomas did win the first run but not the second run. Overall he had a lot of fun and I think the enjoyed having his brother be his personal cheerleader ; ) 

Thomas gets his Bobcat

Because Thomas has a late spring birthday there were not a whole lot of scout things he was able to do until school started. We were able to do quite a few things done in his scout book during the summer but it was not until the Aug pack meeting that we was able to get some of his rewards. 

With me being new to scouts it was fun to work with him on some of his achievements. With the boy scout program the first rank you earn is Bobcat. He actually earned this pretty quick so he could move on to working on his wolf. 

Thomas was very excited to finally get to have a badge of rank on his scout shirt. He did not like the fact his shirt was "empty". With the Bobcat presentation it was a fun to him excited about his achievements. 

Along with his Bobcat he was also able to earn two belt loops he worked on to help him earn his wolf. He earned his running with the pack and digging in the past. 

Olivia's hiding place

Olivia is a very busy girl, and as much as I do not like to admit it…she is a lot like her older brother Phillip. She can find anything to entertain herself. It does not taker her long to discover things and once she started walking she was into just about anything. 

One of the things she loves to do is to get into this cupboard and move the dishes out so she can have space to sit and hide out. Sometimes I am amazed where I find some of my bakeware, but thankfully I can usually locate it.

She actually loves this game and loves just hanging out here and she can be quite happy for a long time : ) If she wasn't in there giggling you may not even know that she was in there!

Where's Olivia ?? ; )