Thanksgiving Day 2013

Our little family celebrated Thanksgiving Day 2013 with just the 6 of us at home.  Although we really love celebrating with our big, loud extended family, spending our Turkey Day at home was nice.  The kiddos and I all got up early to start cooking.  Our first order of business was to cook our bird.  I bought a turkey breast and cooked it in our crock pot, just like I do a whole chicken.  It was my first time to attempt a turkey, so I was pretty nervous.  I can make a mean ham, but I worried all day as to how the turkey would turn out.  It actually turned out pretty good!

Payton and Karsyn were my main little kitchen helpers.  Evan and Addi found the Santa Channel on TV, so they were busy playing games and singing Christmas Karaoke.  It was a very pleasant surprise how much Karsyn helped.  If Payton and I were in the kitchen, Karsyn was there right beside us working away in her little apron.  I handed her a butter knife so that she could help us dice potatoes and that made her so happy.  She started singing Jingle Bells as she worked.  Every time I gave her a peeled potato, she would say, "Thank you for my treasure!"  And then there's my Payton, she is an amazing helper!  She absolutely loved every second that we spent in the kitchen together and so did I. She works so hard and is such a great cook!  She thinks of all the little details and tries to put special touches on everything. Cooking with my girls is such a blessing!  I enjoy it so much.

Regretfully, I didn't take many pictures.  Trying to cook with many little helpers is fun, but it's a total hands on experience.  When I didn't need Payton's help cooking, she was busy in her bedroom making decorations for dinner. She worked very hard to set a pretty table for us.

And here's a look at all the yummy food that we worked so hard to make.

Evan's deviled eggs didn't do so well in the fridge over night and he was very upset that we weren't able to serve them.  Poor little guy!  While we were eating, we all talked about the things we are so very thankful for. I loved hearing what Jason and the kiddos had to say.  It was so sweet.

After dinner, the kids enjoyed watching the Peanuts Thanksgiving special. Does our living room look like a day care much? ha!

Celebrating Thanksgiving at home was fun and very laid back.  I love that our fridge is filled with lots of yummy lefts overs.  I've gained a new appreciation for our dishwasher... I ran it 4 times today! I really hope each of you had a blessed Thanksgiving!!!!

Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

I'll be the very first to admit that I love Black Friday shopping.  I really do! Back in the good ol' days, Black Friday sales were really early in the morning.  I can't tell you the amount of fun it is to load up into a mini van with my favorite mama friends - a French Vanilla Cappuccino in one hand and sales flyers in the other.   We'd divide and conquer every store.  Since Jason works in retail, Papa Gene would watch the kiddos while Nana, Aunt Kary, Aunt Ashley, and a few others would go out shopping. It was great!

Over the past few years, each store started opening earlier and earlier in an effort to compete for more dollars to be spent their way.  This year Black Friday isn't really on Friday...it's Thanksgiving evening and that has me blue.  I'm a little conflicted as to what I would like to see happen.  Part of me hopes that shoppers will be resistant to the change and stay home. That would send a huge message!  But if that happens, that could mean that stores don't meet their sales goals.  These mega shopping events account for an astounding percentage of each store's annual sales.  And let's face it, meeting these goals are really important to every employee, as it has a direct impact on their annual bonus.

We'll know early Friday morning if these marketing ploys work.  What is means for our little family this Thanksgiving is that we'll be staying at home and working our meal around Jason's work schedule.  It gives me a little insight to how my mom felt so many years when I was growing up.  My dad is a police officer and many times, we had to celebrate holidays on his days off, instead of the actual day.  It never bothered me as a kid, but now that I'm a mama, it does kind of make me a little bummed that we won't be spending Thanksgiving surrounded by family.  The good thing is, it's not phasing the kids at all.  I think spending last Saturday with our extended family was good enough in their book.  Plus, they all couldn't wait to help me cook.

We decided last week that all of the kiddos were going to prepare a dish of their own.  We got started on what we could tonight.  Payton made a chocolate pie all by herself!  Here she is with the finished product.



Payton

While Payton was making her chocolate pie, Karsyn and Addi helped me make a No Bake Cherry Cheesecake.  This is a holiday staple in our family.  Addi worked very hard to smooth it out.  You can see big sister checking out Addi's work.



Addi

Karsyn did a great job helping to make the cheesecake too.  She was really excited when it was her turn to help with the mixer.  But she loved taste testing even more than that! 

She loved the cheesecake and the pie!

Evan really wanted to make deviled eggs.  I boiled the eggs and he did a fantastic job peeling them.  Then, he very carefully filled each egg.  I LOVE Evan's look of concentration.



Evan

It was a little messier of a job than what he thought it was going to be.  He couldn't wait to wash his hands.

Silly boy!

He was very proud of the finished product!  He actually asked me to take his picture.  That's very rare for Evan!



Evan did an egg-cellent job!

Even though this Thanksgiving will seem a little quiet, I know it'll be a great one.  I hope each of you have a very blessed Thanksgiving!

Kountry Kitchen Thanksgiving {2013}

This evening, our little family celebrated Thanksgiving with my side of our extended family.  Aunt Ashley and Grandma Shirley started planning our celebration back in February when they went to a church dinner at an Amish restaurant in Chouteau, OK.  Chouteau is a small town that is about an hour northeast of Tulsa.  It has a small Amish community of around 600 members. The community is known for it's hand crafted furniture store and several restaurants.  When Aunt Ashley and Grandma ate at the Kountry Kitchen earlier in the year, they thought it would be the perfect place for our family to eat Thanksgiving dinner because it's big enough to hold our whole family and the food is delicious. 

The kiddos were all so excited to see the rest of the family!  I took a picture right before we took off and I think that you can tell that they were more than ready to go!

Me and My Crazy Crew

We had close to an hour and a half drive, so the excitement was soon replaced with sleepiness.

Side note - even though Addi and Karsyn weigh enough for booster seats, we are going to replace their boosters with 5 point harness car seats in Daddy's car very soon.  I just feel like they are safer.

When we got to the Kountry Kitchen, I wasn't sure if it was okay to take pictures.  I wanted to respect the very sweet Amish women who did such a great job serving us.  I saw people from a few other groups take pictures with their phones and that seemed to be okay with the staff.  I decided just to use our phone instead of our camera just to make sure that I didn't make any of the workers uncomfortable.

The food was all served family style and it was so delicious!  Here's a look at our night.

Daddy and Addi - gotta love her camera smile. ha!



A picture of our family.  Since the Amish don't believe in using electricity, the lights were fueled by propane. They put off a lot of heat.  Poor Papa sat right underneath and got pretty warm!

Grandpa James and Grandma Shirley

Cousins having fun!

Uncle Chad and Karsyn

We had such a good time visiting and eating.  For dessert, we had our choice of banana cream or pecan pie.  It was amazing!!!  Before we left, the kids had a very short time to check out an Amish game.

And then they gave each other lots of hugs! 



Payton & Jessi

I'm so glad that we got to spend such a great night with our family.  If you ever get the chance to eat Amish food, please do!  Just make sure that you wear stretchy pants - you'll thank me for that tip later!!!

Past Thanksgivings - {2013 Edition}

This Saturday morning, I am greatly enjoying sitting on my couch, drinking coffee, and blogging!  Just about every Saturday since school started in August, we've had a soccer game, a basketball game, or both.  Now don't get me wrong, I love our Saturday game day.  I do.  I can't wait for Evan's basketball games to start in two weeks.  But today, this is nice!

This evening, we are going to celebrate Thanksgiving with my side of the family.  We are going to be eating at an Amish Restaurant.  I'm sure it's going to be delicious!  More than anything, I really look forward to spending time with my family.  Since we are celebrating tonight, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of our past Thanksgivings.  You know the drill.  I don't have pictures for every year, but I can't wait to share the years that I do!

Thanksgiving of 2000, was the most important Thanksgiving of my life and I don't have any pictures!  But, the day is super special because it's the day that Jason asked me to be his wife.  I've read this article several times on Facebook about "boring" marriage proposals.  Click here to read it. It's good stuff and worth the read!  I've given Jason a hard time before about not proposing to me in a big romantic way, but now I'm grateful for the way he did.  Before he asked me, Jason was very respectful and asked my dad for his blessing.  I think if Jason could have waited a second longer, he would have planned something big.  Looking back, I see that he just couldn't wait to get a ring on my finger.  He asked me while we were watching a movie that evening.  Of course, I said yes!  It's hard to believe that was 13 years ago!

Fast forward 9 years later and we celebrated another special Thanksgiving.  It was our first as a family of 5!  We had so much to be grateful for in 2009!  As you know, I had a really hard pregnancy and delivery with Addi.  Despite being given some ominous scenarios a few hours before she arrived, Addi was born a very healthy baby girl!  We were so thankful that God added our Addi to our family.

Sweet Addi Girl - I love her baby face!!!!

Daddy has to work on Thanksgiving just about every year and he did in 2009 too.  The kiddos and I celebrated by eating lunch with my extended family.  Then, we came home and Payton and I cooked for our little family of 5.  Payton was 4 and much like today, she took very good care of best friend and sister.

Payton & Addi

Evan was a big 5 year-old!  He wore camo even before Duck Dynasty made it cool. ha!  I think that you can tell by his face that he was an ornery little guy.

Evan

And no Thanksgiving is complete without a little nap.  Daddy snuggled up his baby girl for some rest.

Daddy & Addi

I really don't know what happened to my pictures from Thanksgiving 2010.  Nana and I have both searched for them with no luck.  We celebrated at Nana and Papa's house.  The girls and I wore purple and it turned out that almost all the girls there had some shade of it on..  I was keeping a very big secret!  I had found out just a few days earlier that it would be our last Thanksgiving as a family of 5!  I was waiting until my first doctor's appointment to share our great news!  It was very hard, because I was so excited. 

Thanksgiving 2011, we celebrated as a little family of 6!  Here's our 4 precious turkey birds. =)

Payton, Karsyn, Evan, and Addisyn - Thanksgiving 2011

Evan was 7, Payton was 6, Addi was 2, and Karsyn was 4 months old.  Nana, Aunt Ashley, and I were all really into making hair bows that year.  Did you notice? =)   We were very thankful to be celebrating Karsyn's first Thanksgiving.


Baby Karsyn's first Thankgiving.  I could just kiss those chubby cheeks!

We had our big turkey dinner at Nana and Papa's house.  We enjoyed such a great day with our family and few friends.  Our little photographer Payton took a picture of Jason and I before we left.  It's a little blurry, but it's one of my most favorites of the two of us.  I think it's because such a special little girl took the picture.

Me & Jason - Thanksgiving 2011

 

That brings us to Thanksgiving 2012.  We celebrated our Turkey Day at Grandma and Papa's house.  Here's our little family of 6.

Thanksgiving 2012

Evan was 8, Payton was 7 , Addi was 3, and Karsyn was 16 months old.  We had so much fun eating and playing games with Grandma and Papa.  They live on 32 acres and their front porch is the perfect spot for a family picture.

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays.  I love that we set aside a special day to be thankful to God for all He has given us.  Honestly, we should count our blessings every day.  Second to my salvation, I am most grateful for amazing people that God has put in my life.  He has blessed me abundantly with people that love me and who I dearly love back.  1 Thessalonians 5:18 In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

As I mentioned earlier, we are celebrating Thanksgiving with my side of the family this evening.  On Thursday, I'm making a small meal for our little family.  How do you spend your holiday?

The Past Few Days

Here's what's been going on the past few days in our little family.  If you follow me on Instagram, you've already seen a few of these pictures.

Last Saturday after Payton's basketball tournament, we were supposed to have our family pictures made.  I had cancelled a few days before, because all 3 of my little girlies weren't feeling too good. To make matters worse, Addi had a very gnarly set of chapped lips.  Then, Karsyn rolled out of bed and knocked her noggin.  Our photographer ended up being sick too.  I guess it just wasn't meant for us to have pictures on that day.   We might wait until next spring to take our family pictures, because we have something planned every single weekend until the end of the year.  Uncle Billy is pretty good at getting a snapshot of our little family, so he might just be the guy who takes our Christmas card pictures. 

Since our plans were cancelled, we decided to take the kiddos out to dinner.  We ended up going to Golden Corral.  It's been a long time since we had eaten there...like since before Karsyn was born.  Evan though it was the greatest place in the whole world.  He's asked to go back every day since!!  I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that cotton candy is served on the buffet.

Evan

During and after dinner, the girls really started to act like they didn't feel good.  We had a chorus of coughing girls the rest of the weekend. On Monday, I took Payton, Addi, and Karsyn to our pediatrician after I dropped Evan off at school. All 3 girls have the same icky virus that Evan had a couple of weeks ago.  Payton and Karsyn both have ear infections.  I'm so ready for everyone to feel better!  On the drive home from the doctor, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful the fall trees have been! 

Fall In OK

During Karsyn's nap on Tuesday, Addi and I enjoyed a Candy Land marathon. She LOVES playing this game!  We've learned it's best to play it when Karsyn is sleeping, but we are both really looking forward to her being able to play with us.  I'm sure it won't be long.  I really love that the game has a spinner now!

Addi is Candy Land Crazy!

Wednesday is a really busy day for Addi.  We have just enough time after school to eat a quick lunch before she has gymnastics.  After gymnastics, I try to take the "long way home" so that Karsyn will doze off before Ms. Susan comes to our house for speech therapy.  Most weeks, Karsyn goes to sleep and I'm able to lay her in her bed when we get home.  Yesterday, she had a different idea and decided to not take a nap.  It was such a busy day, that both Karsyn and Addi were exhausted by dinner.  Shortly after the girls went to bed, I went to check on them and found this!

Payton, Karsyn, & Addi

All 3 girlies were sleeping in the same bed in the wrong direction. ha!  I love that Payton's Bible is in the bed too! 

Today, Addi's class had their Thanksgiving Day Party. This is one of my favorite preschool parties.  The kids all get their faces painted, play games, and eat popcorn.   When I picked Addi up, she was a little Indian girl.  Way too cute!  Karsyn told Addi that she looked pretty! =)

Addi - 2013

Here's a look at a few other preschool Thanksgiving Party Pics.

Addi - 2012.  She was in the 3 year-old program.

Evan - 2008.  He was in the 4 year-old program.  It was so long ago, we had a corded phone. ha!

Payton - 2008.  She was in the 3 year-old program.  I LOVE this picture of her!

It's hard to believe that Karsyn will be in the 3 year-old program next year and have her turn at this really fun party!

This is what the past few days have looked like for our little family...busy, fun, and a little chaotic too!  What have yours looked like?

P is for Payton

Last, but certainly not least, it's Payton's turn for her own post.  I can't wait to tell you all about the biggest sister!

 

I know that I've said it before, but Payton is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.  She has a true heart for people.  Here's a little story just to demonstrate.  In the last week, Addi's lips have become very chapped.  As they have healed and become itchy, Addi scratches them and they look awful.  Twice yesterday, when I went into the girls' room to put away laundry, Payton was putting chap stick on Addi's lips.  Payton was so gentle with her.  She looked at me and said, "Mommy, I hope it's okay that I put chap stick on Addi.  I just don't want her lips to hurt any more."  She is just so caring!!!

 

Payton just finished up playing fall basketball.  She is an aggressive little defender.  I love watching her play.  She is also taking tap and ballet classes.  She really enjoys dance.  She's always showing me her new moves.  This Spring, she'll start playing soccer!  She's an awesome soccer player.  I can't wait to watch her play next season, because she is an even faster runner than before. 

 

Payton is in the 3rd grade and is a straight A student.  She is very smart and is in the Gifted and Talented program.  Her best friend at school is named Brooklyn.  Payton is usually a little quiet and shy at school.  She is not a girl that likes a lot of attention to be on her.  I was the same way at school and I completely understand. =)

 

Though Payton can be a little shy at school and around new people, she adores all of her cousins.  She completely comes out of her shy shell around them. It doesn't matter which cousin, she LOVES being around each of them.  I can't wait when we all go to Galveston this summer and she gets to play with them all at the beach.  She also loves our friends, the Wiggles, who are like cousins.  Pay is in the same ballet class as Katelyn and looks forward to seeing her every week.

 

Payton loves to read.  Her favorite series right now is The Bailey School Kids.  She also loves to read from the Magic Tree House Series.  When it comes to movies, Payton loves classics like Annie and Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  Just typing that brings the Ompa Loompa song to mind. =)  She also loves to watch Despicable Me.  We may go see Despicable Me 2 over Thanksgiving Break.

 

Payton loves to help me cook!  She is so helpful in the kitchen.  She always helps set the table and cooks anything that can be cooked in the microwave.  It's very seldom that I have to pack lunches any more, because most mornings, Payton has it taken care of. 

 

If you need someone to clean out your car, Payton is your girl.  Nana has paid her for her services before because Payton is such a hard worker!!!  Payton's also pretty good at making a beds....when she wants too. =)   Payton morning chore it to unload everything that goes into kitchen drawers or bottom cabinets from the dishwasher and she always does a great job at that!

 

When it come to food, Payton is one of the least pickiest eaters in the family.  Her favorite meal is pork chops with mac and cheese.  Although, crock pot BBQ is a very close second.  When it comes to fruit, she'll only eat apples and bananas.  She doesn't like most veggies, so we're going to have to work on that. =)

 

Payton is very creative!  Unfortunately, the art classes that she was taking don't work out with the rest of her activities.  It's my plan to let her take them again over the summer along with piano lessons.  She loves to create and she loves music!

 

God sure put together a special little girl when He made Payton.  She's amazing and can makes every one's hearts melt by just walking into the room.

 

Payton - we love you so much!!!!

 

 

 

 

Girls Basketball Tourney Time {2013}

As of about 2 hours ago, Payton's fall basketball season has wrapped up.  What a fun season it has been!  She has had the nicest little girls on her team and I've really enjoyed getting to know their parents.  Her coaches were also great!  Despite how well all our girls played together, our record leading up to the tournament was goose egg wins for all 6 games.  Pay's first game this morning was against the green team.  Their record was the exact opposite of ours.  Payton hasn't been feeling well all week.  She really wanted to play and be there for her team, so we decided to let her play. (Sorry in advance for the picture quality.  I love everything about the league the kids play on, save for the fact that it's very hard to get a clear picture at the basketball court.)

Getting ready for the jump ball.

The blue team fought really hard against the green team.  I really thought that they would pull off a win!  At the final buzzer, the green team was 3 points ahead!  That put Payton's team in the bracket for 3rd and 4th place.  Their second game was against the orange team at 11:30.  We had just enough time to drop Daddy, Evan, Addi, and Karsyn off at the house.  Karsyn started to feel a little warm and was really wanting to take a nap.  My goodness!  I am so ready for everyone to feel better!!!  Payton and I got back to the gym just in time for her to warm up with her team.  Before we knew it, it was time to pray and then the game started.

The teams getting ready for prayer,

This was another nail biter of a game.  Payton's team fought so hard!  At one point, they were down by 7 points!  The girls worked hard, but again, by the final buzzer, they were down by 3!!!  The blue team took 4th in the tournament.  Here's Pay's team after the tournament.

Blue Lightening

Here's my little all star after the game.  You can tell that she wasn't feeling too well.

My #5

As fun as Payton's past winning seasons have been, I'm really grateful that she's had a season like this too.  There are lessons to be learned in winning and in losing.  That's why I love team sports.  Sometimes, even when you give it all you've got, it's just not enough.  But at the end of the day, it's okay.  Life goes on.  And not matter what, Payton will always have a big family cheering her on!

We praise Him when we win and we praise Him when we lose.

All About Evan

Evan

I've wrote a post about Addi and Karsyn.  Today, it's Evan's turn.  I'll write about Payton soon. =) As hard of a decision as it was to let Evan skip a grade, it comes with such relief to say that he is doing great.  He is on the Honor Roll and loves being challenged.  His teacher told me that he'll do great next year in middle school, because he's very organized.  She also told me that he's doing great socially.

 

Evan loves all things sports.  Last week was kind of crazy, because basketball and soccer season collided.  Wouldn't you know his practices were scheduled at the exact same time?  Fortunately, it was only for one week.  His last soccer game of the season was on Saturday, so Evan can focus just on basketball now.  Besides playing sports, Evan loves to watch just about any game that comes on.  He especially loves the Green Bay Packers (much to Daddy's dismay. lol),   OKC Thunder, and any sports that The University of Oklahoma plays.  Boomer! Sooner!  It's down right amazing the amount of sports statistics my little guy knows.  I love listening to him talk sports with my grandpas and my dad.  

 

When Evan's not watching sports, he really enjoys reading.  He can't wait to read the next book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.  He recently read the book Hatchet for a school project.  I was kind of excited about that, because I really enjoyed reading it when I was in school.  He's also read the first book in the Harry Potter series.  Since we've heard so many different view points of  Harry Potter books, Daddy read it first and decided it was okay for Evan to read.

 

Evan's favorite food is pepperoni pizza.  I'm pretty sure that he could eat it for every meal every day.  He loves Rocky Road ice cream too.  He loves just about any kind of fruit and a few veggies.  He's still my pickiest eater, but he's no where near as picky as what he used to be.    

 

Evan really believes in early to bed, early to rise.  He goes to bed at 8:00 p.m. every night.  He's usually the first asleep.  He's always up before 7:00 a.m., even if he gets to stay up past bed time.  Most mornings, he'll quietly come into the living room and watch a game that he's recorded, until everyone else is awake. 

 

 

Evan really enjoys playing video games.  It's probably not a big surprise, but he loves to play football and basketball on his DSi and the Wii.  He's really good at Wheel of Fortune too and beats me often.  And no, I don't give him a feel good win.   He's just that good!

 

Evan has a very kind and compassionate heart.  At school, he joined a group called K-Kids that finds helpful things to do in our community.  A few months ago, we were out shopping and there was a little boy that was standing outside of a business all alone.  Just as I was noticing the situation, Evan walked over to him and asked him where his mommy was and how long he had been alone.  We made sure to help the little boy and Evan still wonders how he is doing.

 

Evan is a really good big brother.  He loves his sisters and is pretty great with them....when he's not arguing with them. =)  He's really good at helping out with them and with the house.  For the most part, he always keeps his room clean too. 

 

Jason and I feel blessed everyday to have a son like Evan!

 

 

Daddy's New Wheels

This morning, when Karsyn and I were at Payton and Evan's Veterans Day Assembly, Daddy was at a car dealership signing papers on a new (to us) car!!!  Yay!!!  I really wish that I could have went with him, but sometimes wheeling and dealing takes forever.  I had to make sure I was in town to pick Addi up from school on time.  Here's the Nisson Pathfinder that Daddy will now be driving.

Daddy's New Wheels!




About 4 1/2 years ago, when were looking for a new mini van, we had zero wiggle room in our price range.  I remember Jason telling me that we would NEVER find a van for what I thought we could pay for one.  But, we prayed and God did exceedingly and abundantly more than what we could ask or think.  Not only did we get one in our price range, our mini van has leather seats, low miles, a sun roof, and overall it has been great purchase.

In the last few weeks, it became very apparent that Daddy needed a new car.  He'd been driving our little black car that we bought a few months after we got married...12 1/2 years ago.  It's been a good car for us, but it was time for it to have a happy retirement somewhere in a junk yard.  Before we started looking, we started praying.  God was faithful before in helping us find a car and we knew He'd be faithful again.

We were very excited when we found this little red Pathfinder.  It has a few years and a few miles on it, but we really believe that it's the right car for our little family.  And just like when we bought our mini van, we really believe that God ordered our steps to it.  We're really excited.