A Blessed Thanksgiving Day

 We had one of the best holidays! I hope everyone else did too. Everything came together wonderfully and we got to see most of our families together. Wednesday evening was my big dinner. It was just us 3, my dad, and Nick's best friend Terry. It was a lot of hard work making all the food but Nick helped out and it all turned out perfect. My menu included: turkey, dressing, cheesy cornbread, mashed potatoes+gravy, glazed roasted carrots, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, ravioli with ricotta and marinara (our tradition to always have one Italian dish at holidays), and desserts were pumpkin pear spice cake (to DIE for) and pumpkin pie with french vanilla cool whip. SO GOOD.

 (Snuggles was sitting so pretty, I had to take a picture of her)

 I ended up getting called in to work that evening, but thankfully we were done eating and I had already cleaned the kitchen up!

The next day was Thanksgiving and we headed over to my mom's around noon. I picked up my grandma Margie on the way there so she could join us! My brother Shane and nephew Cameron were also there with us.

This is when the day got more interesting! We were planning on driving out to Foster where Nick's parents live (almost 80 miles away) and when my brother heard this, he asked if he could go with us. We said sure! So we said bye to my mom and stepdad. Shane followed us to our house in Norman where he dropped off his truck, then he and Cameron rode with us down there.

When we were about 20 minutes away, Shane informed us that my mom and stepdad were on their way too, and he had been texting them every turn we were making! But then he lost reception and we didn't know where they were (and they had no idea where Nick's parents lived). When we got to the house, my mom got ahold of me and they were just a few miles down the road. We met them in town and they followed me back to the house! Nick's family was just so excited to have all of us there with them! The kids had a great time playing outside and looking at the pond, the girls had a great time talking in the kitchen, and the guys had fun walking around and looking at the new construction.

We stayed there for several hours and came back home after dark. Thankfully I didn't get called in to work for a surgery, but I did have to go in that evening for mandatory paperwork. I still had my camera with me, so I snapped some pictures of the beautiful Christmas lights they have up by my hospital!

Did You Hear the Whoosh? It Was Time Flying By

 It has been a crazy month for us, and 11 days since my last blog. Nick had his tooth surgery done that Monday and we were able to talk the surgeon into taking out his broken tooth while he was asleep. The procedure went well but he had to have some of his jaw bone drilled away to get all roots out. They told him the pain would not get better for a couple of weeks....needless to say they were right! It has been almost 9 days now and I think it is just now getting better for him. He is still on prescription pain meds but is able to let more time go between pills.

Brad had a great time spending a few days with his grandparents and cousin but was a little devil the first couple of days back home. We always have to "reprogram" him back to a normal schedule in real life.

Our huge tree in the front has covered our lawn in leaves and Brad has a blast running thru them and playing outside....

I tried a new "recipe" I am very proud of--I made butter! No I did not churn it, I used my food processor! It is so delicious I just want to eat it with a spoon. I have been rationing it just because I do not want it to run out!

I have been getting a ton of orders from friends and coworkers for headwarmers and hats. Here is the latest order I finished for a friend....

Well this is the big week! Thanksgiving is only 2 days away. I am cooking my big dinner tomorrow b/c I am on call from Wednesday night until Sunday morning--yes for a total of 82 HOURS. My dad, his girlfriend, and Nick's best friend are coming to eat with us. On Thursday we will go eat at my mom's then try to visit Nick's parents in the evening if I don't get called in.

Here are the latest things of my daily thanksgiving....

11.-i am thankful for all of those who have served for our country!

12. thank you to my MIL for staying with nick while i was at work today (and for watching Brad for a few days) and thank you to my boss for being understanding

13. **missed a day**

14.i am thankful for a husband that appreciates and loves me unconditionally

15.i am thankful for the mornings i get to share coffee and chit chat with my mother  

16. i am thankful i have the knowledge AND desire to cook for my family

17. i am thankful that i learned how to coupon almost 2 years ago and have saved sooo much money doing it! heading out now for a ton of great deals

18. i am thankful that my grandma has been able to know her only great grandson, Brad

19.i am thankful for the quiet alone time that Nick and I get after Brad goes to bed

20.i am thankful that i {usually} have the strength to deal with difficult issues, and that I know it's something I am still working on  

I went to a Newsboys concert at a church in OKC last Thursday with my dad, his girlfriend, my brother and his wife. We all had a great time and the music was amazing! There was a total of 4 bands that played--Grace Campbell, Luminate, Building 429, and Newsboys. They are all Christian bands and have songs on the Christian alternative radio station that I love to listen to. I wish I could post pictures but I did not bring my camera.

I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed recently just because these last couple months are flying by so quickly. I am cooking the whole dinner tomorrow and still don't have all of the ingredients I need...I have TWO craft shows in two weeks and I really need to work on my inventory for them...we still have things we need to do to the house before we list it for sale in January...I still have some planning I need to do for our big anniversary party...Christmas is only a month away!! Eeek. I just have to tell myself to take it one day at a time and everything will be ok!

Week of Updates

This has been an interesting week for us. Nick was playing with Brad last weekend while I was at work and in a freak accident one of Nick's back molars was broken by a toy...thankfully he wasn't hurting too bad so we were able to hold out until Monday to see a dentist. They did an exam and xrays (it had been awhile since his last checkup) and the doc said he needed two fillings, and had a wisdom tooth that was dead from a filling that was done wrong. He wanted to put a crown on the wisdom teeth and the broken tooth but with our lack of insurance that would have cost around $6000! Ha, we said thanks but no thanks, just pull the suckers out. That (plus the two fillings) brought our cost down to just over $500. They scheduled all of this to go down on Wednesday.

Nick went in Wednesday by himself while I stayed home with Brad. 3 hours later the office called and asked what pharmacy we use so they could call in 4 prescriptions....seemed like a lot but they said he did fine and was on his way home. However, Nick told a different story when he got home! They did the two filling fine but when the doc started to pull the wisdom tooth it broke at the gum line. Evidently the roots on it were twisted in different directions instead of straight so he dug for 3 hours trying to get all of the roots out so they wouldn't infect the jaw. The dentist also told him his has torus which is basically a thickening of the bone. In the end he was not able to get all of the roots out, hadn't even touched the broken tooth, and Nick had been tortured enough! They stopped and scheduled him to have the roots surgically removed Monday morning after a weekend of healing and antibiotics. They won't be able to touch the broken tooth for over a month when he is well enough.

My boss was kind enough to let me off of work on Thursday so that I could stay home with him and try to help keep his pain controlled. It's been rough so far for him but he is trying to keep his spirits up. The pain meds aren't helping very much so we are definitely going to ask for different ones on Monday.

In the midst of all of this I spent all of Friday and today helping my mom with her garage sale! My brother and sis-in-law were also there and we moved a lot of merchandise. The weather was nice but very windy!

I have to work Monday and Tuesday so Brad is going to stay a few nights with Nick's parents to let him rest while I am gone. On Thursday my dad, his gf, my brother and his wife are all going with me to a Christian concert of Newsboys. The week after that is Thanksgiving!!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, let me catch you up on my daily thanks for the month:

4.-i am thankful today for having a nice house in a good neighborhood where I don't have to worry about crime anymore. and yes i have worked hard for it

5. i am thankful that as i became an adult my mother Kathy turned into my best friend

6. i am thankful i have the right to vote

7. i am thankful we can afford needed medical care when it happens....

8. i am thankful to have reliable transportation, and a hubby that knows cars in and out!

9. -i am thankful for a husband who is a great father and has had the opportunity to spend Brad's first years as a stay-at-home dad.

10. -i am thankful for the close family that i have and that we all try to get together as much as our schedules allow!     

Belated Halloween Pics

 I know it's a few days late but I am finally posting our Halloween pics! My sis-in-law and our niece Zoe joined us for pizza then we hit the streets for trick or treating. There were tons of kids out and the weather was perfect! Not too cold or hot, just right to keep us comfortable with all of the walking. Brad got so much candy in his bucket that we had to make a pit stop at the house to empty it!

The kids had a great time together and we all had fun dressing up. You might enjoy my alter ego.....

I think I pull it off pretty well, no? Nick wore a Mason Verger mask (from Silence of the Lambs) that he already had--he is weird like that.

 After getting candy we went to my mom's house to say hi for a bit. She had 260 trick or treaters this year!!!!!!!! She ran out of candy and started handing out quarters, HA.

I have recently gotten several orders for the headwarmers so that has been keeping me busy! I just went and bought 6 skeins of this blue to make a bunch of OKC Thunder themed ones for people, and to take to my craft shows next month.

 I love November, the changing of the seasons, the smell of fall, and the holiday time! Our weather hasn't gotten very cold yet--really just chilly at night and still 70s-80s in the day right now. I highly doubt we will be getting much snow this winter but a girl can hope...

On Facebook I am participating in the daily November "Things I am thankful for" so whenever I post a blog I will catch you up!

1. I am thankful for a loving husband and lasting marriage 
2. i am thankful that my miracle baby is happy and healthy! 3 1/2 years old and never been sick {knock on wood}
3. I am thankful to have a stable job doing what I love