HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!

(Our awesome, expensive camera isn't working, so until it is fixed... in the distant future when we might be able to afford it, all pictures will be crummy quality cell phone pics. Boo.)

What a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving holiday we were able to have this year! It was sad not to see our families, but SOOOOO FUN to just be together in our own little family. So, some of the things that we did to get ready for the holidays. I got a few fun ideas out of a "Family Fun" book my mom sent me. I sent the kids outside with a grocery sack to fill with leaves and sticks. While they were out, I lightly wrote letters on colored paper, and then the kids used glue to stick all their collection over the letters. The final result:

      A cute banner my kids were soooooo proud of! And I accidentally deleted the other picture, but I was trying to teach my kids how to understand the holiday (in little kid standards). So instead of really focusing on the history, I just focused on what it means to be thankful. So we made these SUPER cute corn cob poppers out of toilet paper rolls and tissue paper. The kids filled the rolls full of goodies (candy, a little tube of bubbles, and a turkey coloring sheet they printed), the we wrapped them in green paper. (This idea was also out of Family Fun.) Both of my kids got to pick three friends they were thankful for, and then the day before Thanksgiving we walked and then drove (because it started pouring rain) the little treats around to their friends.

So, at our house... we have a tradition. Every Thanksgiving Eve, we leave out "Turkey Food"... also known as Candy Corn. We leave a small trail outside and a bowl of turkey food inside by the door. We keep trying to catch one of those special Thanksgiving Turkeys that only come out one night a year.

 This year, we were sooooo close to catching one! It came through the front door, ate all the candy corn, and left a trail of feathers all over the house! We all followed the feathers, and some how the turkey sneaked into Mommy and Daddy's room and climbed out the window! Grayson was soooo bummed, he's been talking about his soon-to-be pet turkey and all the eggs we were going to hatch, but they had fun picking up all the feathers. What a mess, that turkey was! My favorite part was Jaye. While we were looking for it, Jaye kept saying excitedly, "I hear the turkey! It's saying cockadoodle-doo!" 

     Grayson is so smart though. Later in the day, he ran around the apartment complex to our window and came back saying, "That's weird. There weren't any feathers outside of your window!" Try making an excuse for that one! This tradition might not last long with my super-sleuth. But I love how excited they get!

After collecting the feathers, we went on a "turkey hunt". I actually got this idea off of Pinterest, one of the RARE times I actually use what I wasted hours looking at. Anyway, the kids colored a few pictures of turkeys. I then taped them to folders, and worked it out so the turkey pictures stood straight up on the table. Our whole family took turns with some nerf guns shooting the targets. Grayson kept trying to try different skill shots, like laying on his back and trying to shoot! He is such a goof! I'm not sure if Jaye actually ever hit a turkey, but she had fun anyway!

Next was the scariest part of the whole holiday! Cooking this fifteen pound sucker! It was my first time to cook anything of this magnitude. In other words, I felt extremely intimidated! Prepping the bird the night before was horrific. Seriously, look at this picture. It almost looks like a headless humanoid! UGH... so creepy! and although I had been thawing it forever in the fridge, it was still slightly frozen on the inside so I had to literally claw the poor humanoid's innards from it's chest cavity- with my fingers. Like a horror movie!

 Then I must've gotten the time wrong, because after 3 and 3/4 hours of cooking, it still wasn't the right temperature and we had to put it back in the oven. So my BEAUTIFUL, GORGEOUS, FLAWLESS rolls sunk into pancakes, and we ended up jumping in the car to kill an extra hour while the turkey finished. My husband suggested the drive... I think my stress-crazy was starting to come out. But the drive was nice. The turkey turned out beautiful. My pancake rolls were still delicious, and everything was sooooo YUMMY!!!

Even with the three paper cuts I got from the tin foil- (who knew that could even happen!?)... I declare this first Ricks family Thanksgiving a SUCCESS! Woo!

Hidden talents! Who knew?!

    Unbeknownst to us, our Public Library was hosting a Wii Bowling Tournament this past weekend. Barry and I just wanted to go pick up a few new books, but our kids got excited when they heard shouting from the "Community Room". We told them they could go check it out while we were browsing, and when we went to find them, they were holding Wii Remotes and playing a round of Bowling. We let them finish their game and then had to rush off for other various appointments.  

But a few days later, after finishing up a story time, I went to check out new story time books and saw a poster hanging over the front desk saying that my THREE YEAR OLD had won FIRST place in the Youth Division of the tournament! You can't believe my surprise as I claimed her prize: a box of candy, a free book coupon at their little used book store, and a five dollar gift card to Walmart. (Jaye doesn't know about the gift card though... Santa needed a donation to his Christmas fund).

When I brought home her prize, Jaye lit up like Christmas! And she shared her candy with all of us- now that's a REAL winner! :)

Grayson was pretty bummed, but today after finishing another story time, I looked at the poster again and at my kids' places. Grayson had won 4th place, so I asked the librarian, "there didn't happen to be a prize for 4th place was there?" And sure enough, Grayson won a bag of M&Ms. So yay for happy kids and their mad Wii skills! :D



SCARY!

     Yesterday, my kids were quietly in my room for well over an hour. I was told not to come in because they were working on a surprise for me and Barry. (I was praying they weren't taking scissors to my bedspread!) Finally, they excitedly invited me to enter the "Scary Halloween Room".

      Here's my bedroom wall. (Ignore the lack of decor and style.) They worked forever to draw, cut, and tape "scary" pictures and objects (like the ax, haha! that is kind of creepy!)  to the wall.

                                                        
                                                         Here is Grayson's skeleton

                                                                             His Spider

 Now here is Jaye's contribution. She is strangely into drawing flags. (random, right?) But here is her Halloween flag, and apparently that is Grayson's face on her flag. There were a few flags taped around my room. Silly girl!

 This was the scariest part. Grayson said, "Moooommy, close your door!" And Oh, how I screamed. There was a big scary snake on the door!

This one's my favorite of the scary Halloween room. It's an "Apple Monster". (He's learning about apples at Pre-school, so I'm assuming that's where the connection came from.)

I am so grateful for my creative little kids, and I love my SCARY HALLOWEEN room!

And I am so grateful they used tape this time, instead of Elmer's glue...  like last time.



Little Laycee Bug

    A while ago, Laycee found a doll on Jaye's bed, and adopted it. She has been OBSESSED with dolls ever since. It amazes me that a 14 month old innately knows how to nuture a little baby. She loves to put her baby in a stroller and push her around, she loves to wrap it up in a blanket and snuggle it. I tried to give her an adorable stuffed animal to play with and she kind of squawked at me angrily and then insisted I get her a doll instead.

    I think it's so funny. The other day we were at Walmart and Laycee just started freaking out while we were in the toy aisle, so I got her out of the cart to look at stuff. (I'm a brave Mom, I know.) And she went right over to the wall and started whacking this box that she could reach until it finally fell on the floor. Satisfied, she just carried the box around and looked at the twin dollies inside.  Kids definitely come with their own personality, because Jaye could care less about dolls.

Here are a few pictures as proof:

This is Laycee first thing in morning

 Here she is in the afternoon with her baby. (Did I mention she loves to wear hats and necklaces too?)

 She was quiet forever in her room so we went to check on her, expecting to see marker on the wall or something shocking, but she was just sitting quietly, playing with Jaye's barbies, putting them into the stroller.
 Such a sweetheart!

BOO!

Where has the time gone?! My little JJ has turned THREE!!! So of course it was time to party!!!

Jaye wanted to have a Halloween party, but since it was the beginning of the month, I didn't want to stress out parents by getting a costume in order. So we had a "Halloween Hat party" and invited everyone to wear their crazy hats. In retrospect, it wasn't that great of an idea, because five minutes into the party, no one was wearing their hat anymore. BUT, as my mother taught me, a party has to have a theme, so the Hat idea was it.

So the families arrived and we had a haunted dinner, with a veggie pumpkin tray, Hot dog mummies, and apple monster mouths (not pictured). The kids and I also cut out Halloween shapes in tortillas and made tortilla chips with dip. It turned out pretty yummy!

 So then on to the games. (SHOUT OUT TO MY MOM for some fun ideas!) We gave all the kids a sheet of stickers and then had them race to see who could get all their stickers on the other players the fastest. This was a GREAT game for little kids! And for my husband too apparently.

Then we did a Witch race. The kids had to ride their brooms to the line and then throw hoops (glow stick necklaces) over a pumpkin (orange soda with pumpkin faces drawn on).

 Pinatas are a TRADITION with our family, but I didn't have time to make one, so we played an alternative game I found online. We hung a candy bucket from the basketball hoop and gave each kid a few pieces of candy and then they raced to see who could toss their pieces in the fastest. This turned out to be a great game for little kids too. After everyone got their candy in, we just gave them their goodie bags and dumped out the candy just like a pinata.

NEXT: Presents! Jaye was pretty spoiled by her Mema! But we loved all the gifts given and are so grateful for our friends! (And for all the birthday cards and money from family... THANK YOU!)

                          Jaye wanted her cake to say "BOO" instead of "Happy Birthday"

 And here's our little three year old after the party. Hatless. I didn't get a single picture of her wearing her tiara. Oh well. It was a Huge Success and so much fun! I'm sad there won't be another birthday party until April. :P



Sorry Jaye

I had company over nearly every day last week. Which, in my book means: AHHH! NO TIME to do laundry! Hide it all in Jaye’s room!


And we did. And we enjoyed all the company that came over to our "clean" house. Then Sunday hit, and Jaye had an accident in her LAST pair of clean panties.

All I could think to do was put her in a pair of Grayson’s. So I did.

I never realized how much Jaye enjoys hoisting up her dress and parading around for the whole world to see. But the whole world, or at least EVERYONE at the church fireside got to see her blue Sponge Bob briefs.

She got a lot of looks. And I felt the need to explain to anyone and everyone that Monday was a BIG laundry day at our house.

I’ve said it before… but maybe someday I’ll know the satisfaction of GOOD homemaking skills.

Go Jaye, Go!

We have owned this seat for over a year, and I just now read the print. What a strange message to put on a toilet seat....

         But I guess it's true, because some magic has been made at our house! Jaye is officially potty-trained... again! She was potty-trained for a few weeks last year, but changed her mind, I guess. But since she turns three next month, and the price of pull-ups went up exponentially a few weeks ago, we decided to really lay down the law.

    Jaye was already using the facilities about 50% of the time, so I decided to kind of try that "potty train in a day" kind of thing. When she woke up, I told her "today is a big day!" We stayed at home and I set the alarm to go off every twenty minutes. Every time it beeped, Grayson and I would march behind Jaye shouting, "Go Jaye, Go!" And we did a victory dance every time she did her business. Then Jaye would receive a prize of four chocolate chips.

     By the end of the day, I was getting pretty burnt out by the 20 minute thing, but Jaye absolutely loved it! Grayson's cheering died after a few hours and by 4 in the afternoon, I just told Jaye to go by herself. Every time though, I heard her sitting on the toilet cheering, "Go Jaye, Go!"

     So the next day, we did the timer for 30 minutes early in the day, and then lengthened it to 45 by the end. And the rest is history! She has had only ONE accident in two weeks and it was only because she didn't get out of the car fast enough.

So..... HOOOOOORAY!!!!!! Just one kid in diapers!!!! Hooray, for saving money! 

                                      Hooray for making magic!!!