Thanksgiving Weekend and a House Full!

  So, Thanksgiving...I was so nervous. It was our first time hosting, and my first time cooking a turkey for such an event. Cole invited his friend Kizzy from work and her new husband Tom. He is from the Philippines so this was his first Thanksgiving...EVER! I spent the week cleaning up the house and researching recipes. I found a delicious roasted turkey recipe where you make a compound butter (butter with herbs, garlic, etc.) and you shove it under the skin. I had to baste it every 20 min for 3 hours, not to mention, it barely fit in my tiny oven...

But after 3 hours the turkey was done, and it was beautiful! Did I mention the aroma? I wish there was a scratch and sniff feature on my blog. Wow. 

I did a huge no-no and tried recipes that I have never made before. Fortunately, I am a decent enough cook to pull it off. I made some Brie en Croute for the appetizer, it was delish! Cheese, nuts, and bread. You cant go wrong with that combination. 

We set the table before our company came and Hannah made us all our own turkey hand place cards. She colored them and Cole helped her cut them out. She was very proud of her work. When meal time came no one was saying a word; this is a good sign in my opinion. Their faces were stuffed with food! It was so good! Kizzy and Tom brought the traditional items I didn't make, like mashed potatoes and rolls. Tom also brought some native dishes like Lampas and some delicious chicken soup. Cole was happy to just have his turkey leg!

Lillian didn't get to eat the same food as us, but I made sure she had some Gerber Turkey and Sweet Potatoes. She was just fine with it. Oh, I found this super awesome spoon at Albertsons of all places. You put the food in the handle of the spoon and just squeeze it out into the end of the spoon! It's great for when we are out places or even at church. 

This is a picture of our company, Tom and Kizzy. Oh yeah, and Hannah :-)

After dinner, we cleaned up and our company left, just in time for more company to show up! Cole's family came to visit us for the weekend after they ate in Riverton. With Cole's parents came presents for the kiddos. Such gifts were: bunk beds, a dresser and night stand, clothes, and super hero costumes with muscles. Lucas immediately put on the costume they got for him and didn't take it off until he had to bathe the next day. 

Maggie came with them, which was great because I hadn't met her baby Noah yet! He was so tiny. My kids were still in the womb when they were his size. You forget so quickly how small babies are. He loves his Auntie Manda.

Here is a picture of Ayz, Me, Mandie, and baby Noah in my kitchen. 

It was so nice to have a visit from the family. Cole spent time playing guitar with his dad and the kids played downstairs with Mimi (his sister Mandie). 

On Saturday we took a trip to Fort Collins Colorado to do a little shopping and eat at Rodizzio, a delicious Brazilian restaurant. We went to a baby boutique/toy store that was extremely over priced! They had the coolest stuff there, none of which I was willing to pay for. I did see a really cool baby carrier called a Maya Wrap that I wanted and made a note to save up for it or find it on eBay. When we left the store, Mandie handed me the wrap and said Merry Christmas! It was super nice of her, and I LOVE it. 

After that we then went to the mall. When we got to the mall there was a Holiday Train for kids to ride, so of course my kids had to ride:

Lucas thought it was super awesome. Lillian didn't get to ride, but she liked hanging out in her wrap and watching her brother and sister. We walked a little further down the mall and guess who we ran into? That's right: SANTA!! The kids were ecstatic. Hannah jumped right into his lap, Lucas was hesitant. Like any good mother around the holidays, I forced him to sit on Santa for a picture. He warmed up to him but got off his lap to tell him he wanted a "costume sword". 

Cole's family left on Sunday morning after a delicious breakfast at Perkins :-) We spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying what was left of the holiday break. Cole doesn't have to go back to work until Wednesday so we are going to put up our tree and do some things as a family until he has to go back. 

Denver, Sewing, and Night Life

So, sorry about the long break from Blogg-age. I have been busy finishing unpacking. I figure there is no longer an excuse and I just need to quit being lazy about it. 

Anyways, last weekend we took an overnight trip to Denver. It is only 2 hours away so, not too far of a trip. Cole, Glen, and Megan went to the Black Crowes concert at the Fillmore, so me and the kids had a night-in in the hotel room. We were starving by the time we got there so I decided we needed to order some room service. Now, I was super excited because this was in fact, my first experience with room service. I got the kids a pizza and ordered myself some fabulous sounding pasta... Well the kids' pizza was AMAZING! My food was lacking salt and tasted pretty bland.

BUT to compensate for the lack of flavor, the hotel kitchen included a mini bottle of Tabasco. 

It was a pretty good evening all in all. The concert was good according to Cole, and they got me a T-Shirt (not that it made us even). So, I need to find myself a concert to go to and it's Cole's turn to watch the kids, any suggestions? 
We got up the next morning and chilled while everyone got ready. We then treated ourselves to an amazing breakfast at IHOP. Might I recommend the Gingerbread Holiday Hotcakes...

So when we got home from Denver, Cole and I had a reception to go to for his preceptor at work. It was a small, very personal event, so we had Ayz come over and watch ALL 3 kids! It was nice to be an adult for a few hours, and not just someone's mom. 

Oh yeah, so in the downstairs living room there are 4 windows that look right out into the front yard. They are ground level so you can see right into the play room. This has been a problem, especially at night when the inside lights are on. We don't want any creepers looking in on our kids. The solution? Discount fabric from Wal~Mart, and me using my limited sewing skills. I specialize in two things when sewing, pillow cases and baby blankets. Curtains are pretty much a combination of the two. Hannah helped me out by handing me pins and putting the used ones back in the tomato cushion. 

As you can see, I am getting very bored with making the curtains. But the turned out great and you can no longer see in, or out, of the downstairs windows!

Okay, I read the Twilight books just like every other woman in the world, and yes, I loved them. However, I hated the first movie. I thought it was a combination of cheesy effects, added dialogue, and poor acting. So when New Moon came out I had mixed feelings. I had the highest hopes that it would be so much better than the first. Ayz got us some tickets for opening night so I put the kids to bed when Cole got home and we went to the 9:45 show. Let me just say it was everything I wanted it to be. So much better than the first. It just goes to show what popularity and a couple more millions of dollars will do for a franchise. 

Ayz and I tried to take a pic while she was stopped at a stop sign...she didn't get the memo...

There, thats much better!

Fall Leaves=Family Photo

Today was such a fun day! The kids wanted to make some cupcakes, and I just so happened to have some Rainbow Chip frosting and cake mix! Sooo while they were sleeping I made the cupcakes and when they woke up I let them decorate. 

Lucas was more interested in eating the sprinkles...

Hannah was being very meticulous about her decorating. She took her time decorating one while Lucas decorated 3.

Lucas was super pleased with himself. He decided he was done decorating and just wanted to eat.

Here is our tower of cupcakes!!

When Cole got home he asked if we wanted to go outside so we put coats on and headed out into the back yard. There were piles and piles of leaves so the kids decided to get a rake.

Lillian and mommy. She loves going outside! You can see the kids behind us hard at work.

We made a huge pile of leaves and thought the kids would like to be tossed into the middle of it. Who doesn't have a childhood memory of jumping in leaves?!

Lucas thought it was crap. He didn't like being thrown into a pile of decaying foliage. 

Hannah on the other hand thought it was AMAZING!

Lillian wasn't sure what to do about the leaves around her. She started to slowly sink in then decided she wanted out.We put her on the ground away from the giant pile. She immediately started to eat the leaves.

She is such a pretty girl! We feel so blessed to have such a beautiful baby girl in our life. 

We even managed to snap a Family pic!

Letters and Sleeping All Night

So Hannah has been working on writing her letters at school. She made what they call a 'bag book' and wrote words on papers and put them in bags. The words she chose are all of our names in the family. Here is how she wrote Lucas' name:

I have been wanting Lillian to sleep thru the night for a while now, and I think she is more than ready. She eats real food and nurses before bed, SO when she wakes up at night it is more habit than anything else. For a while I was just getting up and giving her the pacifier and she would go back to sleep. Well, I am tired of getting up. Cole and I decided it was time for her to cry it out...

It was very hard for me last night to lie in my bed and listen to her scream. It was about 30 min and she eventually settled down. I thought it wouldn't be too bad if she only did that once a night for the next week. Boy was I wrong. At some point she woke up again and cried for what felt like forever. Cole had to literally put his arm on my chest to keep me from getting up. UGH. So I am hoping she only cries for the next few nights and then gets the point. I am not sure what I will do with a full nights sleep.

Glasses, Ponytails, and Rock Stars

Today was the first day in a long time I felt normal! I woke up with no headache and felt decent most of the day. Cole had day 2 of his Orientation at work and surprised us by coming home at 3:00! It was so nice to have some time with him. 

Lucas has a well known fascination with swords. All types, all shapes, and all sizes. He finds it to be a personal threat if you touch any of his swords, especially without asking. Anyways, today I asked him to please pick his swords up and walked into the kitchen. As I was doing the dishes I could hear all sorts of sound effects coming from the living room. I walked in to find him having a battle with an imaginary foe. I didn't even get mad, I just went and got the camera. 

Something big happened today for our little Hannah; she got glasses! The eye doc says she is almost as far sighted as Lucas, she just doesn't have the eye turning problem he does. Who knew! Apparently I can make cute children, they are just blind as bats. She got to pick out her own glasses, and picked a purple pair made by PEZ (yes, the candy). She looks like a smart little librarian. Once on, she said everything is bigger. She also has a little issue with depth perception. I am going to have to help her on the stairs for the next few days. Here are her before and after pics at the eye doctor:

Today I tried something new with Lillian...a ponytail. She surprisingly held very still. I couldn't do this to Hannah til she was about a year old. I am glad Lillian has a little more hair...even if she looks like bam bam...

Lucas was so excited to have his sister wearing glasses just like him.

Lillian is really pushing herself up. I think crawling is in her near future. She spins around when on her tummy, so it's only a few weeks before she is moving forward.

Cole went out to the garage this evening to do a little Rockin'...Lucas decided to join in on the fun