Thanksgiving...Can I have a do over?

So yesterday was Thanksgiving. Coco and her sweet family came down to spend it with us. I have been excited about this holiday it is my favorite. But come the night before Thanksgiving I wasn't ready.

Coco and her family got in late. We stayed up WAY too late. Woke up Thanksgiving morning not feeling so great. Besides the recovery process I have been going through from the surgeries my body is fighting or going through something else that I haven't been able to figure out other than a little depression.

Anyway so I get up and things were going a long and I had assigned some chores to be done and they weren't finished due to some change of plans of those who were assigned and I lost it. Unfortunately not one of my best parenting or mothering moments. I yelled. I was so upset and tired and didn't seriously f eel like cooking or doing anything but going back to bed. There is more to the story but to protect the others I will only say it was not good. Not trying to make people get down just trying to keep it really.

I cried, child cried, we talked, husband came home I cried more and hubs went and talked with crying child.

All was taken care of but boy what a terrible memory maker this one was.

Then as I am preparing dinner I come to find out that I am out of a bunch of things that I needed. So sweet Al went to the store for me and got them.

Dinner was made and eaten but not the greatest I would have to say.

Then a little later I found out that Coco had told Gabby that Santa wasn't real. Poor Gabby! She keeps saying that Coco ruined her child hood because of it.

So in a nut shell this is one Thanksgiving that will go down in the books as the one that was the worst disorganized Thanksgiving in our family history.

I guess it could be worse my Father had a Aunt die right at the table on Thanksgiving when he was a kid. Gotta look on the bright side.

So can I have a Thanksgiving do over?

Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Not Much

I haven't been blogging due to not much has been going on. Well things have been going on but really nothing that I felt I wanted to blog about.

I went in on Tuesday the 15Th and had my leg worked on. I didn't ask what they were going to do because I really didn't want to know in case it would freak me out even more than I already was. I know this was WAY less invasive than the bladder lift or the hernia repair but I was really scared. So anyway I went in and they started with laying me on a table and rubbed me down with freezing cold iodine from bottom of left foot up to my belly button. The Dr. then came in and said he would be giving me numbing shots so I would feel a pinch. WHY DO THEY SAY THAT? So he started there worked his way up the leg as they had lifted the table and had it at a tilt that I felt I was going to slide down and off of. Weird feeling! I won't go into great detail but I kept feeling what they were doing so he would numb me some more. I was given about 42 shots the entire way up to the groin area. WOW talk about weird. On top of that they had me on some loopy narcotics so I would relax. It ended up what they had done was a striping of the vein. I go back in on Dec. 21St for a different procedure for the rest of the veins on that leg. Merry Christmas to me!!! he he Actually I will be glad to get this all done and feel better. The vein that was first worked on wasn't even the one that causing me pain.

This week is Thanksgiving and is my favorite holiday. Coco, Kyle and her sweet kiddos will be coming down on Wednesday to celebrate with us. I am excited to see them all.

So off I go to take kiddos to where they need to be and back home to work on what needs to be done here. Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Goofy Things

It has been a somewhat not super busy but fast week for us. I have been frustrated with my workouts or trying to work out. Finding out that after two or three weeks of not using muscles they start the process of disuse atrophy. Well during the first 4 weeks of recovery the muscles I used were for walking, going to the bathroom, eating and talking. Needless to say these last 2 muscles are in great shape. My endurance just flat out stinks and I tire out going up our stairs in our house to our room. NOT COOL!! But I will chug along and it WILL get better, regain my strength, stamina and energy again.

A few weeks ago I got my hair cut but 2 short days later I was getting what I call the dog ears in my hair. This is when the hair right around the ears starts to stick out and on me it looks like dog ears. So I called my sweet friend and neighbor who cuts & colors my hair in trade for massages to cut my hair again. I told her I wanted it short, spiky and sassy just how I was feeling. So she did! And this is an view of it at the spikiest points.

I don't think hubs likes (nothing was said and he was home when I left to get it done & there when I got back.) He likes hair flat, and due to the party moving from the back to the top but I like it. It can be dried with my hand shaking through it and a blow dryer. How easy it is to fix. LOVE it! I kind of wish I had my maroon hair coloring on it though.

Gabby likes to play with things while she is doing school and she sometimes get's a little distracted making things. Today when she was working on it she came in a plopped this little guy down on my desk.

I think he is cute! It helps that he is pink

Again today as Gabby was doing (supposed) to be doing school work she comes in and says to me ,"Mom, I have a lazy eye."

She is such a goofball. I guess that is one of the reasons I get along with her so well.

Hope you all have a great Saturday. Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Some Home Ec

Today at lunch time Gabby said she was hungry and wanted a Big Mac. I told her we weren't going out to eat. She said well can I make my own here at home. I said sure so we got patties out of the freezer, she chopped up some spinach instead of lettuce and I always keep secret sauce in the fridge. (Doesn't everyone? )

We proceeded outside and I taught her how to fire up the grill and cook the perfect (or what we consider perfect for us) hamburgers.

This is what it looked like when she got it all put together

Pretty good job huh?

I know you are just dying to sing the theme song out loud.

Go for it, it will make you feel better.

This Gabby and her homemade Big Gab Burger!!

Can't wait till the next cooking, grill or baking class.

Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Home Schooling

I had been doing online/homeschooling (using an online school program in our state) with Gabby since the beginning of the year. She has not been super thrilled about most of the work being on the computer and in her words it was boring, until last week.

After doing some research on programs that would give her the hands on that she wanted, the knowledge that she needs to get a good education but not cost a lot of money if any at all I found one. We are now using the K-12 program. After registering her into the school and filling out the needed paper work to get her started up the school was in touch with me through emails to get started right away. Supplies were sent within 4 days and continuing contact on all that was suppose to be happening.

True we are only a little over a week into it but it is so organized, all the supplies were delivered to us, they have online training for the Learning Coach (me), continuing learning classes to help me be able to help her learn and understand the material and a teacher ready to help at any time. LOVE IT!

The program is so organized and Gabby seems to enjoy it a lot. As her elective she is taking French as her foreign language (how fun is that!)

This is Gabby on Thursday morning as she was doing school work. The house was cold & I startled her when I took the picture

I Want To Marry You Cookies

I have a friend Melissa Stadler who I met a while back. She was a neighbor and my oldest daughters Young Woman leader. Melissa is not only beautiful inside but outside as well.

She had made my family some sugar cookies once and they were PURE heaven. Anyway Melissa has had a dream to be cooking contest winner. She was a finalist in the Pillsbury Bake-Off contest in March. Recently she won another contest for the TV show called The Perfect 3.

I just had to share this with you wonderful blog followers.

Melissa was the winner on the show The Perfect 3. Take a few minutes to watch her segment. She did a great job!

This was posted on a wonderful blog written by Mary Younkon that I follow called Barefeet In The Kitchen. She has so many yummy recipes on her blog please go check it out.

When I asked Mary if I could post her post on my blog she said yes and that she has made these cookies twice and they were a hit both times.

I Want To Marry You Cookies

First of all, this is NOT your average chocolate chip cookie. I have run across several variations of this cookie in the past few months. This past weekend, I finally had the perfect opportunity to try them. I stayed as close to the original recipe as possible, in an effort to see what the fuss is all about. (As far as I can tell, the source below is the original author of this recipe.)

The thing that sets these cookies apart from every other chocolate chip cookie I’ve made is the melted butter. Such a small thing, but it has an enormous impact on the flavor. The best part of making these? Everything happens in a single pot. Easy cleanup makes this girl very happy.

The warm butter is blended together with the sugars and it creates a rich toffee flavor that I have never before tasted in a chocolate chip cookie. The cookies positively melt in your mouth. This is the BEST second day cookie I have ever made. They taste phenomenal warm from the oven and they taste ever better the next day. I froze several of them to see how they would handle it and they were excellent as soon as they thawed.

I’m not going to bother saying that these are the best chocolate chip cookies in the world, because everyone has their own opinion on what that would be. However, these are truly some of the best cookies that I have ever made. I can hardly wait to try a whole wheat variation.

I Want To Marry You Cookies

recipe just slightly adapted from Melissa Stadler, 2011

(The original recipe stated that it makes 2 dozen cookies. Apparently, I like very small cookies, because I wound up with 5 dozen small 2-3" cookies.)

1 cup butter

1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups AP flour

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (my note: the oats are not a strong flavor in these cookies, they provide a great texture, but they in no way make this an oatmeal cookie)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (my note again: this is barely discernible, but is adds a unique flavor to these cookies)

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (the original recipe called for 1 cup semi-sweet and 1 cup white chocolate, however we are not big fans of white chocolate, so I simply used all semi-sweet)

In a large saucepan (I used a 6 quart pot), melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, remove from the heat and add the sugars. Stir until the sugars are well-incorporated and mostly smooth. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

While the mixture is chilling, mix together the dry ingredients and set aside. Remove the pot from the refrigerator and stir in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Add the chocolate chips and use your hands to make sure they are evenly distributed.

Roll by hand into 24 medium size balls or 50-60 smaller ones. Chill for at least 30 minutes. (I simply rolled them into balls and placed them on a couple of plates. Then I stacked the plates in the fridge until I was ready to bake them.)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Remove the cookie dough balls from the refrigerator and place them onto a large baking sheet a dozen at a time. Bake for 10-12 minutes, larger cookies will require an extra minute or two in the oven. Remove from the baking sheet immediately and cool on a wire rack.

When you make these I would love to hear how you liked them. Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Proud Momma

Faith came home yesterday from school with two awards. The first was for Outstanding Student Class Award for Math and the second is for the Dean's Honor Roll. So proud of her!

I told her this is what she need's to keep doing so she can get her scholarship to BYU. Since she was little she has wanted to go to BYU and I think she will make it there!

2ND Award

Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Halloween Wind Up

I am not a huge fan of Halloween. I use to be but it has got way out of hand with the grossness and money that it costs for candy & costumes. I would be just happy going to the Trunk or Treat and our church and calling it good. But that didn't cut it this year for our youngest Gabby. Faith opted out for this years Trick or Treating. So Gabby and 2 of her BFF's went with us walking around. We went to our two neighborhoods and it took us 2 hours of walking.

There was one house that is set up super gross with a guillotine, electric chair and gross bloody fake people in their front yard. EWW! I won't even look at their yard if I am driving down the street.

The girls insisted on going down the street. I told them as long as it was right as it was getting dark. So we did. The girls went up in their pretty costumes and said trick or treat. The owner lady who was wearing a bloody shirt said to the girls "Oh you want a treat! ", and proceeded to pick up a chain saw & start it up as she chased them. I was a little more than ticked off that someone would do this to three 11yr.old girls. I was so upset. She proceeded to tell the girls that the blade was taken off of the saw ( oh that is comforting). Anyway we kept on walking down the street to houses and all of the sudden we hear the chain saw close to us and the idiot lady was walking down the street with it firing it up. Now I don't mean to be a stick in the mud but not everyone likes this kind of terror especially little kids or whimpy Mom's like me.

So we got done and back home where I felt safe and secure.

Sorry about the rant I just don't think some people get it. To me Halloween is no longer for the kiddos it is for adults. It is now the #1 adult holiday passing up New Years Eve.

Now for pictures to wrap up this holiday.

This is a picture of Gabby with the eyes she made at Ainsley's house out of bendies. She likes to creep her sister out with them.

Naima in the bathtub pretending she was Santa with the bubbles on her face

Faith carving her pumpkin

E'lyse and her super hero pumpkin Spider Man

Talmage making a scary face

Cute pumpkin Gabby made at Achievement Day

Naima isn't scared of much but this silly paper spider she didn't care for

Talmage the night of Trunk or Treat as Batman then about 15 min. before we left he decided to be Buzz Light year (sorry no pics of that one!)

Naima as a pretty girl pirate

Gabby as Pumpkin Girl

Sara as a Bumble Bee and Dallas as a Biker

I may be a party pooper but not sure if I will be celebrating Halloween next year. We will see! Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Candle Time

I will posting more of an update a little later (I HOPE) but wanted to share this with you. I think this is a wonderful idea that I will join in yearly now. Hugs, Bobbi Jo

Please check out the link to join in Christmased.com