Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year!!!



Seriously, It blows my mind how fast the year has gone by! I'm so so excited about this new 2010 year, fresh slate sorta~

Not sure about all of you, but I have many, many, many resolutions this year..some of which are old resolutions I never fulfilled last year..hehe. But my 2 most important resolutions this year are just that, the most important!

~*~I vow to be a better mom & not sweat the small stuff, I need to relax a bit and have more fun with my kids. (I think this is a feeling most moms get, or atleast the ones I talk too)

~*~I am making it a point, to NOT make it a point to lose weight (maybe then I'll lose weight :)~

I wish you all a New Year with much Love, Joy, Laughter, Friends, Family, Health & Wealth.

PS...Oh and JOBS!!!


Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The girls' new hobby

The girls have been extremely bored these past 2 days and decided that they would learn to sew with the new sewing machine my grandma gave them, afterall, what else do you do when everyone else in the house is under the weather. Look at these cute things they made in literally 1 hour. They purchased all their own fabric, ribbons & thread...pretty neat huh? Now they want to make pajama pants next~ too cute!!! ( I take NO credit in teaching them how to use the sewing machine, they did it all themselves!) Way to go girls!!!





Sunday, December 27, 2009

My Family...

My entire family (minus a few) were at my home for christmas this year. It has been a long time since we were all together, but we had a BLAST!! My family & Ty's family really hit it off and had a wonderful time together. It was a great night spent at the Bon Fire!

Below:
My cousin Emma, Me & my Nana (grandmother)


Below:
The Morgan Family~ Ty's Parents to the right and this is all their kids & their grandkids. (Plus Aunt Liz is in there too, kris's sister)


Below:
Emma, Me & Nana having fun at the fire (maybe a little too much)


Below:
Emma, Our Tata (grandpa) and me. I love this man, he's the best!!


Below:
Me & Emma with Nana & Tata...aren't they soo cute!




Sunday, December 20, 2009

New Pictures of the Kids

Now these are more appealing to me :) Enjoy!








Saturday, December 19, 2009

Get that sickness outta here!

OH NO!! We can't POSSIBLY have sick kids right around the corner from Christmas! Of all the times for my kids to get sick, they get sick when I'm about to fill my house with 25 people for the holidays! Tyler was throwing up all day friday, Alexa is now developing a terrible cold and kyla's cold seems to be coming back! I'm crossing my fingers for no more pukers! I still can't get that icky smell out of tylers mattress~eww!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Gearing up for christmas

Well, I don't quite know where to start. We decided to have our good friend Jana over with her 2 boys to have a whole baking day, which went wonderful by the way! I always love to spend time with her and her family! The plan was that the following morning, we would all head over to the mall and take a family picture. WELL....

The pictures turned out less then perfect for what I expected. For starters, it was a chore to get my kids out the door that morning, the rain was coming down like a geyser and it's the first family picture that none of my kids were color coordinated! It's the little things like these, that drive me bonkers!! All morning everyone was fighting and the house was absolutely CHAOTIC! Alexa REFUSED to wear something decent, along with ripping out her hair during one of her fits that I spent 20 minutes curling. Tyler would not take off that Jacket, kyla would NOT let me do her hair to save her life (and what the heck is up with the leg being up??? Seriously!) Paige was slouching in one picture to the point she looks completly bored out of her mind! Ty was dying from the heat of the fireplace, which at one point he was completely red (more then normal folks) and sweat started pouring from his forehead!! LOL. Did I mention I felt like the size of a house? Yes, I have gained some weight these past few months, but BOY O BOY does it show in a picture!! As much as I would love to just erase and re-record, I must still share this picture as a memory of where our family is today.

I always look back at our family pictures over the years and I'm totally saddened at how fast the time has passed by and how grown up my kids are getting. I'm not so sure what was going on in the Morgan household on this particular picture day to have it be such a hectic mess, but one thing is for certain, I will look back on this picture one day and miss being in that spot on that day!
I love those little stinkers more then they will ever know!!!


Alexa decorating her cookies

Tah Dah! I think most of these are baby haydens but some are the twins'

My sweet little bugger! (you should have SEEN how many sprinkles they went through..lol)


Mama and Lexa



OK...so here it is...the dreaded pictures!







Merry Christmas everyone!!!



Tuesday, December 8, 2009

First Snow of the season

Yep so it is...the first snow of the season for us up here in the beautiful pines of PV. I woke up this morning to the wonderful views of snow out my back window. It was all grand and great, until I had to drive in it. There was about a 20 car mess trying to get out of our community, cars in the ditch, stuck in the median and jack-knifed. It was so scary. It took me 3 times to get out of my community and all three times I was just about sick to my stomach at the thought of the inevidable. I love the snow...just not driving in it. I have love for all you minnesota, washington and illinois snow drivers!!! For the record; this is the WORST snow I have seen here (ice wise) since we have lived here in over 3 years.

Below you see bo in the last picture...he was acting like a crazy man out there in the snow~too bad he hurt himself so bad that this evening he can barely walk...my poor bubbers! He LOVED it though..he was racing around the back yard like a maniac at 5 am in the morning...lol.








Sunday, December 6, 2009

Let the constructing begin


Ty has officially started to re-do my old schwinn bicycle that I used to ride when I was a kid. With the help of his brother, they have taken the bike completely apart. They are going to sand it, paint it and make it all brand new for Alexa for Christmas.

For those who don't know about this bike, I'll share with you the story of how it came into my life. When I was 8 years old my grandfather bought me this bike for my birthday, I remember it well...with its old blue scratched up paint, white glitter banana seat and the big white basket on the front. I thought I was lance armstrong on this bike let me tell ya, I thought I was hot stuff!

Then around the age of, um, lets say 12...I hated this bike, with a passion! It was too old school for me..I wanted a BMX, but NOPE! My tata was a man who wasted nothing, if that bike had 2 wheels and would still pedal around then it was good enough for me. According to him, that was a "perfectly good bike"!! So what did I do you ask? What a typical spoiled brat would do, I REFUSED to ride it. Instead, I took up rollersating to get around. (which I ended up breaking my arm at his house, see he should have listened to my requests in the 1st place)

The bike was then passed on to my poor little cousin. She too, hated that bike. In the same fashion, tata told her the same thing he told me : "thats a perfectly good bike!". She even recently told me she had tried abandon the bike in the wash near their house in the hopes of maybe getting a new bike...but those hopes were squashed when a local neighbor walking in the wash noticed a bike that he had seen one too many of my tata's grandkids riding on and doing the "good neighbor' thing they do...he brought the bike back to my tata's house. Needless to say, my cousin was furious that this bike had been recovered...but tata was THRILLED!

So about 5 years ago, my tata gave me my bike back so my kids could ride it. At first I was horrified to see that same old, dingy bike arrive back at my door. It has since become a family heirloom, and it has touched me that my tata has kept it for all these years and never tossed it out. It has many memories of my childhood, as I'm sure many memories for him as he remembers all his grandkids riding this bike. (and now we're all grown up) If you can beleive it, my kids LOVE this bike! So we thought it would be a great idea to take this perfectly good, solid constructed bike and fix it up since it is afterall, a classic. And a classic in my family.

My tata doesn't know our plans of fixing up the bike & this year he will be spending christmas with us...I can't wait to surprise him and alexa with a brand new shiny pink schwinn. (Shhh..don't tell mom) OH, and the funnier thing is my cousin who ditched this same bike will be here too..LOL. I'll post pictures once it's done.





Saturday, December 5, 2009

Lexa's new haircut

Alexa badly wanted another 'short do' and since I know what she will do if we don't comply with her hair requests, we cut her hair today. I am not the mom who really likes my girls to cut their hair short, but she is very able to wear a short haircut and rock it! She looks so cute!!! 1 down, 3 to go before christmas.



Friday, November 27, 2009

Thanksgiving is the start...

to BLACK FRIDAY! Oh yes, you better beleive my butt was at the store at 3:45am waiting to get, well, I'm not sure exactly what I was going after this year really. I just had to go! I was able to start my christmas shopping and slowly I will finish it all by the time christmas comes. Nothing is better then the larger ticketed items kids request as they get older...joy! Atleast the 3 younger kids are easy to please still :)

BTW...walmart was still a mad house!! At one point I asked myself WHY I was even there! It's amazing to me how many adults will act like such immature children over stupid $10 toys. I mean really, I'm seriously thinking the $5 I save on that same $10 black friday toy..isn't worth practially loosing a limb or getting the back of my heels bloody. Don't get me wrong, I consider myself to be a Black Friday Pro Shopper...but I'm certainly not vicious; unless I'm forced! After last year when someone stole, YES I SAID STOLE the wii out of my cart...I'm a little bitter :)




Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Tylers Funnies Part 2

Our conversation last night at dinner:

Alexa: mom, tyler has a girlfriend

Me: What?

Tyler: Well mom, there is this girl at school...she has had a crush on me and I've had a crush on her...so we decided we'de just get together

Me: What do you mean "get together"

Tyler: ya' know...we're going out now mom! (almost with like a DUH mom attitude)

Paige: Well make sure you don't kiss her tyler

Tyler: Oh we can't Paige, we aren't allowed to make out at school anymore!

Me: SPEECHLESS!

Trading Tuesday

TCBOTB

CUBAN CHICKEN~~

Chicken leg quarters (or breasts if you prefer) I made 10 pounds..

Mojo Marinade ...Goya brand

1/2cup diced white/yellow onion

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 limes, sliced in wedges

Marinate the chicken in the mojo marinade for atleast 4 hours. We did ours overnight. Chop onion & parsley and place in a bowl together and refridgerate for an hour so the flavors can mary. Place all the chicken on a baking sheet sprayed with PAM, bake for 45-55 minutes at 350; or until cooked through and has roasted color to it. The legs take much longer to cook then the breasted chicken. Once chicken is done, squeeze with 2 limes and cover with your parsley/onion mixture.

We served ours with pan roasted/carmelized veggies & couscous with parmesean & pine nuts.

CousCous: make according to directions on the box~I make 2 servings which is 2.5 cups chicken stock with 2 cups couscous. I add an assortment of seasinings, just depends on what I am making. This particular one I added garlic powder, kosher salt,pepper, toasted pinenuts. Once the couscous is cooked I added the parm cheese, fresh parsley, green onions and some olive oil until the mixture was no longer clumpy. The kids like it.








Saturday, November 14, 2009

1st Place Champions!

So it is, they have won their division. She played 10 games while being completly un-defeated. Talk about something to be proud of! These girls did an amazing job and their teamwork with each other is what brought them to the 1st place trophy. I'm so proud of her & her team!!

The last game was probably the best game they have ever played. The other team played very well and made our girls really work hard. The majority of the game I was at the edge of my seat, while screaming! (I think I will be out of a voice tomarrow) Ofcourse, I was screaming nothing but goodness to my kyky...lol. :)

I have to say that Girls are the most aggressive soccer players I have yet to see, and also the most compassionate. Kyla has played in this league for several years and is friends with many of the girls on her opposing teams...
When kyla came up to me after the end of the game, I was immediately praising her and giving her many of hugs and she turned to me and said that she felt really bad for winning because the other girls were so upset & she had seen one girl crying. At that moment, I realized how much MORE then soccer kyla has learned from her years in sports. She knows what it feels like to be on both sides of the fence, she knows when to gloat and when to be compassionate. I'm so proud of her for GREAT SPORTSMANSHIP!

**but she is still excited about collecting that 1st place trophy on tuesday** By the way, kyla is trying out for the traveling soccer team on tuesday night, which would allow her to keep playing into early spring. I'll keep ya posted








Thursday, November 12, 2009

Paige's Orthodontist Visit

Today Paige went into the Orthoditist and had her consult. The Dr was so nice and made her feel so comfortable about her upcoming procedures she will have to get.

Soooo...just for you mom, here's the update. She has impacted vampire teeth that are criss crossed up in her gums. The Dr is hopeful they are not infused to the bone, but says they may be very hard to get down, like about 6-9 months. She will have to go to the dentist and get her baby vamp's pulled out, they will then have to cut a small hole into her upper gums (the back side) to try to get to the vampire adult teeth and they will attach a bracket and wire. THEN, the orthodontist will put her braces on and slowly try to get those vamp teeth down. It will be a LOONG procedure but the outcome will be so beneficial for paige. In the event the vamps are fused to the bone (the x-rays are very hard to tell) they will have to be surgically removed. The ortho dr. said he can move other teeth to be in place of the vamps if thats the case.

The dentist is trying to see if our carry -over dental coverage will cover the pulling of her 3 baby teeth they need to have pulled before they can put the braces on. If insurance covers this, which we arent sure because it is VERY limited insurance, it will save us $360. She should have the braces on by January and the payments are very reasonable. I'm just so grateful we are able to do this for paige since she is very self concious about her teeth. The overall outcome: A Happier more confident Paige!!!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Veterans Day Program

Our school does a Veterans Day Program every year for all the local vet's, active armed forces,
and all of our local police & firemen. The program was SO AWESOME and the kids obviously all worked so hard on their songs. I was amazed at how many veterans showed up to be a part of this event...the veteran sitting behind me even had tears in his eyes.

The had all the flags of all the armed forces, gave all the service men handmade cards and sang them a big thank you song! It literally brought a tear to my eye to see all the old vet's in their uniforms who came to watch our kids. Ty said it was the best school program he has ever been too. Our only regret, is that we didn't invite Grandpa Bill to join in on the Veterans day tribute...he would have loved it! I was so proud of the kids!! (And the teachers who put so much thought into such an overlooked holiday)

The first video is of my niece's class (Annalese) you probably can't see her but she is at the very top sorta left of the middle.

The last video is the twins' classes. Alexa is on the bottom row in the middle (red shirt) and Tyler is on the very top row all the way to the right in a blue shirt (good luck finding him). Sorry for the shakiness....parents were walking all around us it was hard to keep the camera still.



Friday, November 6, 2009

Thanks to Britt!

I was inspired by a friend of mine, Brittney, who recently started going back to the public library after several years. Inspired by my love of reading, and my memories of my 'old library' days, I figured I would give it a shot and go back.

Can you beleive I was in there for over 2 hours!? Our newly built library is a bit out of the ordinary, but I was having quite a good time looking for books. Not only did I get many cookbooks (which I don't have to buy now) but I also got movies, and Paige got CD's and movies too. Paige was even able to type up her essay while she was waiting for me to finish..how GREAT is that!!!!

How funny that Paige ran in to so many of her friends from school in the library too. (guess it's the hangout spot...LOL, not when I was a kid, LOL) Once the twins and kyla heard wind that we went to the library, they are dying to go tomarrow and get their share...lol. How sweet!

So for tonight....Ty went to get pizza and we're veggin' out to a movie night (thanks to the library) in our living room. Thanks for the Inspiration Britt!! What a way to save some money...Love Ya Girl!


The Season Of Giving

As you can see, I am so excited about the upcoming holidays that I have already changed my blog layout again,lol. ThanksGiving is not my most favorite holiday, but I love when it gets here because it means we are almost to Christmas. The Christmas season in our home starts right around a week before thanksgiving, I know, crazy right?

I'm not sure what it is about the season..whether it be the smells of baking, the christmas music in the stores, the old movies played on tv, the excitement my children get waiting for santa or just the fact that I get to drive around and see christmas decorations and trees & lights. Whatever it may be, this type of year is my favorite because it makes me feel so GOOD! I love to give to people, I love to see people smile because of something I have done for them, and I just LOVE how other people feel the exact same way!! This sounds corny, but people are just more beautiful around christmas...don't you think? The joy of giving to others is by far the best feeling I could ever have. We are going to try to instill this again into our kids this season and let them each donate gifts to other kids in need. We were going to try to adopt a family, but due to our finanical situation we are unable to this year...however,I heard today that you can also donate time to your local churches (even if your not members) and you can help wrap presents and put together the food/christmas boxes...what a great way for our family to help someone elses.
That's what it's all about!!

Need I say more?




Sunday, November 1, 2009

Our Halloween Pictures

We hosted Halloween this year at our home and all I can say are 5 words...KIDS KIDS & MORE KIDS!!! We had our kids, our family's kids and the neighbor kids. It was less then calm to say the least, but very very fun!

Halloween has become one of my new favorite holidays to celebrate, it's really one of the only holidays (next to christmas) that our kids look forward too. What I love about halloween is that it's a time when you can decorate, party, dressup and have lots of fun; and it doesn't involve me buying them tons of presents. I mean seriously, what a great holiday!!

Ty missed out on halloween this year since he was deer hunting with billy :(. I meant to take more pictures but with all the kids I didn't have much time before half of them were out the door. Me, Ty's Mom & his 3 sisters took all 13 kids trick or treating!! YES, I said THIRTEEN kids!!! Brave women we are, huh? lol. But we ended up not losing any little tricker treaters so I guess we did good...

I'm was such a flustered mom that night that I forgot to snap a picture of kyla (sorry sis) but I swear I will steal the picture that Hayley snapped and post it on my blog, otherwise I will make her re-wear her costume..LOL!! HEY, a moms gotta do whatta moms gotta do in order to capture her memories, right!?

I ended the night sitting up with my daughter Paige and her friend and we just talked and hung out for a couple of hours until the wee hours of the morning while everyone else was crashed....it was so cool to hang out with Paigers like that.....great times! (well I'm sure she didn't think it was so great the next morning when I made her and her friend go pick up the pumpkin goop from the 3 punkins they smashed the night before, little turds...they didn't think I would find out!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Markel in his scary mask~ (chelseys son)
Tyler as his scary vampire...
Little Allianna..I couldn't get her to smile not ONCE!
(Hayley's Daughter)

Halloween Pizza's the kids made...how cute!

Cute little Punkin!!!!


Kyla's friend stayed the night, she's SO CUTE!
Alexa's Pumpkin she carved {notice the dimples she did}

Tyler's Pumpkin
Awww...what a bunch of happy little pumpkins
Dominique dressed as a genie...what a pretty color on her
(Chelsey's daughter)

Annalese dressed as a sorceress (hayleys daughter)

There's Hayleys little punkin...

Brenton, I can't remember what he was (chelseys son)

There's my scary little sweet vampire again (tyler) I LOVE the black locks!!

Here's my little witch (no pun intended) Alexa
so cute....
Paige and her Friend~ this girl is such a sweetie. They looked adorable & had a blast!

This is Mishon, Nick and Paige. This picture was so funny because when asked if nick wanted to get in the picture he said 'YA' and he jumped right smackdab in the middle of these two beautiful girls, we were all laughing our butts off. He's a sweet kid!

It just blowsmy mind how grown up my daughter is getting, she's so beautiful.
After trick~or~treating kyla and kiki played a game of checkers before hittin' the sack

The boys patiently waiting to play their game of checkers..

Atlast! They finally got to play their game of checkers before they too headed off to bed. These two boys get along SO GREAT!