Dinner Conversation

Tonight at dinner it was just me and the kids...Andy's been gone for a majority of the day and I've got a killer migraine.  I've actually had it since yesterday afternoon.  So you can imagine how much patience I have at this point in the day.  The kids have been playing nicely today, but their volume was on full blast!

At dinner, Kendall was sitting across from me and said "Momma, do you have a headache?"  I replied, "Yes, I do."  She then asked, "You need a band aid Momma?"  I said, "Do you think I should put one on my forehead to make my head feel better?"  She said, "Yes, you need a princess band aid.  You need Ariel!"

Oh, if a princess band aid would only do the trick!  But how kind of her to share her princess band aids.  She's always manipulating a way to get one to put on her body.  She treasures them.  What a sweetie!

Funny Quotes Heard 'Round Our House

"Momma!  I want one of Ra Ra's giggles!"
Translated means "Mom, I want one of Riley's skittles!"

"I wanna a whippy pie Mom!"
Translated means "May I please have a whoopie pie?"

"I wanna have a newto."
Translated means "I want to have a tattoo."

Bedtime Story

Last night I was putting my Little Man to bed and I reminded him that the next day was PE at school.  He told me he doesn't like PE...Uh oh!  This is how our conversation went:

Mom:  Tomorrow is PE Buddy!
Little Man:  Awhh!  I don't like PE.
Mom:  Why don't you like PE?
Little Man:  I don't like to do jacking jumps.  They make me tired.  And I don't like stretching because I can't touch my toes without bending my knees! (an example of his lack of flexibility was demonstrated)
Mom:  You've got to practice Bud.  You'll get better at it.  I always loved PE class.  You know, Mom use to teach PE, right?
Little Man:  Yeah, but I just don't like it.
Mom:  Are you sure you're my kid?  You couldn't have come from me, you must have come from your Dad!
Little Man:  I didn't come from Dad, I came from Pennsylvania silly!

I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants!

On a side note...maybe this is a sign that Momma needs to go into school and help revamp the PE curriculum!  Everyone should LOVE PE!  ;)

More Thankful Ideas...

After I posted yesterday's Thanksgiving ideas, I came across a few more that I thought I'd share...

I don't know where I snagged this picture...someone's blog last year and I've archived it for future projects so I can't give credit where credit is due, but I think these shirts are adorable:

You have to cut out the hand shape from the tee shirt and then use material from the underside and stitch around the opening.  What a fun idea.  I have an orange shirt for Riley just waiting for a project like this one!

Here is another cute shirt idea to celebrate Thanksgiving.  This one might require a little more work, but it looks like it would be worth the effort!

The details for this turkey shirt can be found at Treasures for Tots.  According to the tutorial, you don't actually have to sew this one, I believe they just used Heat and Bond...I still like to sew around my appliques to make sure they don't start to peel off at the edges.

I also found this at Better Homes and Gardens website:

How adorable would that look on your dining room table?  So cute and simple to make!

Last year we made these to send out as cards to our family members:

The larger hand is Riley's and the smaller hand is Kendall's.  What a great way to show everyone how big they are getting!

This is another take on that same idea...This one just uses feet as well as the handprints.  I found the idea at Crafts Kaboose:

So many projects...so little time...Maybe if I weren't such a craftaholic I would have a cleaner, more organized house?  Yeah, right!

Happy Crafting!

Thankful Ideas

I've been so excited for Thanksgiving...I have no clue what we're doing this year, but I love a traditional "Hershock" Thanksgiving meal and sharing it with my family.  Since we no longer live near our families, we'll figure out something.

I have been coming up with some fun ideas to do around our house to celebrate Thanksgiving and all that it means.  Riley has a family tree that is due next week and I decided that I like the idea of using a tree and instead of leaves for family members, we will include what we are thankful for on each leaf.

I got the idea from here at Roots and Wings Co :

If you want something more for your kids to create, you could do something like this one from Crafts By Amanda :

Kendall and I have already done a masterpiece like the one posted on Room Mom 101 :

Another one that I may consider is to create a "thankful" garland like this one from Blogging With Us :

Here are some other blogs containing fun ideas for you to use to celebrate Thanksgiving with your family:

Learning Development Activities

Tip Junkie

Sometimes I feel like Thanksgiving gets overlooked these days.  I don't remember such a fuss over Halloween when I was a kid...maybe it had something to do with growing up in the Bible Belt of Pennsylvania...maybe it was because our parents didn't spend money like it was going out of style and we just didn't go crazy with decorations and parties...who knows.  But as a kid I have fonder memories of Thanksgiving than of Halloween.  Maybe it was because Thanksgiving meant aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, my Nanny's famous family recipe for dried corn, pumpkin pie, football, etc.  My Nanny's house was always warm from all the bodies crammed into her little house and the smells of food that was cooking all day in preparation for the big meal.  The same smells now take me back to those days.

I know the stores all have their Christmas stuff out already and some of my neighbors will be putting up their lights soon, but I'm pretty firm on not digging out the Christmas decorations until Black Friday - or at least that weekend.  We typically decorate a tree that weekend too so we can enjoy it longer, but I don't like how people forget about being thankful for everything God has given us.

It's a wonderful holiday to remember all that we have in our lives, people who love us, a roof over our heads, a steady income and healthy family members.  My family has been so blessed over the years and will make an effort even if it's during half time of the Dallas game (If Andy can even stand to WATCH the game after the season they've been having!  Ha!  Sorry, Babe, but as an avid Eagles fan, I'm loving it!) to make sure that we share all that we are thankful for this year.

I hope you find time this Thanksgiving to remember what you are thankful for...

Tricky Feet!

Kendall and Riley were so excited to go trick or treating this year...or tricky feet as Kendall's been calling it lately.  We ended up getting together with some friends for dinner and then going out with the kids through the neighborhood.  It was nice because Riley could go with the older kids and Kendall could go at a slower pace with her own friends.

Both had a blast even though the weather was cold and rainy.  Star Wars was the theme for the night for the big boys.  There were three clone troopers and two Darth Vaders.

Here are my two ready to head out with their friends for some treats:

Here is Kendall and her friends getting ready to scream "Tricky Feet!"  

Kendall would come back from each door and run into my arms and tell me how much fun she was having!  I love seeing their excitement when they finally understand the joy of holidays.  

I can't wait to see what joy Christmas holds for her this year!

Hope you had a Happy Halloween!  

BTW, Andy celebrated by staying home and answering the door and watching Penn State kick some Wolverine butt!  We were greeted with screams of joy as JoePa's Lions pulled off a trick play and earned a first down!  We were supposed to watch the game with a friend and former Michigan alum, but since it was T or T night, we decided to postpone our football gathering until next year...

Mother Goose Day

At Little Man's school they don't celebrate Halloween, but the first grade does celebrate Mother Goose.  What better time to do that than during Halloween?  The kids had been learning numerous nursery rhymes and songs over the past weeks and each child was to learn a rhyme and dress up as a character from that rhyme.  My Little Man chose Yankee Doodle because it's easy and because we have a horse from his cowboy costume a few years ago that still fits.  We stuck a feather in his Woody hat and voila!

We've been practicing Yankee Doodle for about a month so my little princess had to get in on the action of learning it...she likes to say "stuck a feather in his hat and called it rock-a-pony!"  She gets mad if you try to correct her too!  What a nut!

I was a little nervous for Riley because he despises public speaking and won't sing a note in front of others...in preschool Miss Donna (his music and art teacher) use to get so frustrated with him because he'd sit there with his mouth shut and not sing at all!

Well, today he had to say his rhyme in front of his classmates AND all the parents, grandparents and siblings of the first grade class.  He's got a big class...26 kids.  So you can imagine how many parents were there with their camera batteries charged up!  He did so well.  I was so proud of him.  When he's nervous you can't hear him very well - he mumbles if he's not confident, so when it was his turn, if you didn't have a front row seat, you might not have heard his rhyme.

See what I mean:

Don't you love listening to them scream, I mean sing, their little hearts out?  They are so cute!  Wish you could bottle their energy!

Addition: Here are a couple of pictures I just found on a different camera from that day.

A Winter Wonderland...

So I realized that I just created a post just two days ago regarding all my favorite things about this time of the year...How silly of me to forget to include SNOW on my list!  It's been snowing in the mts. for a few days, but this morning we awoke to a winter wonderland!  We had about 8-10 inches of snow on the ground as the sun was starting to rise.

I made Riley come downstairs to look out the window as soon as he got up today and the poor kid was bummed that he didn't have a snow day and that it would most likely be melted by the time he gets home.  Then Kendall woke up and I showed her too.  She said "Dat 'now Momma!  Dat 'now on the trees!"

After we dropped Riley off at school, we both got bundled up and headed outside with Penton to make snow angels, throw snowballs and make a snowman!  I don't know who had more fun, my kid or my dog!  You'd never know Penton is 77 in dog years!  She ran around like a nut!  She loves to roll around in the snow and catch snowballs!

So excited to finally get a chance to wear her new snowsuit and boots!

Once she got a taste of it, she kept on eating it...I had to teach her about yellow snow...Penton had been out earlier in the morning!

Yummy!

Penton has always loved the snow...She use to beg us to come outside in it and play with her when we first adopted her!  Somethings haven't changed!

My little Snow Bunny!

Trying out the sliding board in the snow...

She couldn't get out once she came down.  She reminded me of Ralphie's little brother from the movie The Christmas Story!

Check out the dumping on the mountains this morning!  Been looking like that for the past few days.  Can't wait to hear total amounts in the canyons!

Kendall made a new friend today.  Sadly, Mr. Snowman didn't survive much longer than lunchtime.  The sun came out and he suffered from heat stroke...

I think my tomatoes might be done after this snow...unfortunately I still had a LOT of 'maters left on the plants!

I was really hoping to can some sauce and salsa!  Oh well...What can I do about it now?

My Favorite Time of Year

The smell of apples cooking in my kitchen, leaves changing colors, brisk mornings, hot cider, football, jumping into piles of fallen leaves, pumpkins, festivals and fairs, hayrides, haunted houses, sweaters and vests, our wedding anniversary, oh the list goes on....

I decided that I really need to start decorating our home...This use to be a fun task for me when we lived in the same house year after year.  But over the past few years, I've come to enjoy it less and less because not every decoration looks good in each house, or I can't find them, or don't want to spend more money on decorations that may not fit in the next house, well, you know...

But this year I decided to start small and get myself geared up for Christmas.  Here's my mantel for fall:

I made the banner out of burlap and created stencils to paint the letters and the leaves.  I hot glued it onto some thick twine and hung it from the mantel.  I got the idea for the bows around my candle holders from a shop nearby...why I never thought of that before is beyond me!

Now I've got the bug to start decorating the house.  It's just a matter of finding (or making) the extra things for this house that I didn't already have in my stash of decorations!

Look What She's Got...

PINKTAILS!

Her hair is FINALLY long enough to be put into pigtails!  Whew!  It's been a long 27 months, but we've finally got some options...since she won't let bows or hats on her head for long, at least this is a fun option.  She actually requests pigtails these days!

Health & Safety Fair

The PTL at Riley's school hosted a Health and Safety fair last week as a culmination of the week's activities relating to health and safety.  The kids were able to see fire trucks and talk to fire fighters, learned about karate, and participated in a Safe Kids program as well as discussed internet safety.  The kids had to complete a scavenger hunt by answering questions based on presentations throughout the week as well as from the fair.  Riley gets a free "dress down" day because he completed it!  Kids who have to wear uniforms to school live for "dress down" days.

The fair was fun for the kids.  They had police there who had a road course set up to teach the kids about bike and scooter safety.  Kendall flirted with a male officer for a good 45 minutes.  He declared her section of the course a "Princess Crossing" since she was blocking traffic by riding her scooter in the wrong direction!  She has mastered how to get out of a ticket by flirting with the cops by the age of 27 months!  Boy, we're in trouble, huh?

There were some dental students there showing the kids how to brush their teeth.  Kendall loved practicing with the "Nemo" doll.

Be Ready Utah also came to teach the kids about Earthquake safety and preparedness.  The guy came with a bee costume to dress in to get the kids attention at his booth...boy did he get my kid's attention!  Kendall fell in LOVE with the bee!  She didn't leave his side.  She was hugging him, holding his hand, following him around wherever he went!  She was so disappointed when he left to take off his costume.  What a change since last year she freaked out at Santa and Curious George!

What fun for the kids...I thought it was a successful program in it's first year.  Riley really enjoyed the presentations during the week and got upset when it was time to leave the fair on Friday!  Can't wait to see what next year's Health and Safety fair brings!

P.S.  I just realized that all of my pictures are of my daughter who is NOT enrolled at Grace and none of Riley!  She was entertainment for everyone at the fair!  Riley was so busy playing with his friends that he hardly stood still.  Here is one picture that my friend had taken that included Riley and some of his classmates.

Halloween Humor

I received this last year in an email and it's back around again and this time I thought I'd share it since I've been on my political soapbox on here already.

Ha!  Ha!  Hope you got a good laugh out of it too!  (BTW, if you are a democrat, I know there are tons of republican jokes out there all the time...just watch any news channel except FOXNEWS!)

Happy Halloween!

Fire! Fire!

No, there really isn't a fire, but there was a fire truck at Riley's school this morning to kick off their school's Health and Safety week/fair.  Here is a picture of his first grade class in front of the fire truck...Can you spot my little man amongst the sea of students?

That's him cheesing in front of the firefighter on the right.  What a good looking group of kiddos, huh?  I think little kids in school uniforms are so cute!

Will The Great Pumpkin Appear?

There is a family owned apple orchard up the road that puts on a great family fall festival.  They show "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" once it gets dark and also have food (including hot apple cider and cider donuts!), a bounce house, games, vendors and a hay ride.  We decided to head over Saturday night to check it out.  Last year we had intentions of going, but the weather did not cooperate.

My two munchkins enjoying the maze

Hanging out at the fishin' hole

Riley caught something...maybe a tootsie roll?

Trying to get the bean bag into the clown while our friends cheer him on

Watching the movie while snuggled up on a blanket

Hayrides are so much more fun in the dark!

We had such a great time and ended up finding two families there that we are good friends with to spend time with too.  It's really starting to feel like home now that we are bumping into friends at different events throughout the area.  Which, if the past is any indication, we'll start to feel really at home and comfortable here and we'll get the call that the company wants us to move again...part of me has been hesitant to get too attached here for that exact reason, but I think I'm finally hooked.  This place is too beautiful and my Utah friends are so accepting and kind that I find I'm starting to grow some tiny little roots...