Just One of Many

There are so many things I am thankful for today... 2008 has been a very eventful year with more blessings than I can count. But, there is one that stands out so hugely today - I've been thanking my Heavenly Father for it in every prayer since Tuesday afternoon. I am so thankful for the blessing of Bubba's safety!

After a long visit to the doctor that morning (for me), I fed Bubba his lunch and put him on his bus for an afternoon of school. About 15 minutes later the phone rang... it was a representative from the school district's transportation department, they said, "Your son's bus has been in an accident, he's crying... he's scared... an EMT is checking on him right now... they'll give you a call in a couple of minutes and let you know what needs to happen next."

It was probably only 5 minutes at the most - but it seemed like forever. The call came... "he's got a few bumps and bruises - and pretty scared. " While talking with the firefighter, I decided I would drive over and pick-up Bubba myself.

When I arrived at the "scene" I found Bubba surrounded by six firefighters all talking about how cool his back pack was and how awesome it is to be a fireman. By this time the tears were gone and he was high-fiving everyone. They'd also been giving him a few snacks...

his prized possession?

This bottle of Gatorade!

Kids get over things a lot faster than mothers do. Bubba really wanted to go to school - he couldn't miss the Turkey Trot. So that's what he did - went to school - ran in the Turkey Trot and showed everyone the special Gatorade that he got from a real fireman.

Bubba's doing fine - just a bruised elbow and one bruised knee. The first thing he said when telling his brothers about the accident was, "Now I know why seatbelts are so important!" (Luckily, he was on a little bus - so he had the seatbelt to help keep him safe.) Then of course he was showing off what was left of the Gatorade.

As for me, I'd be perfectly fine if I never got another "your son's been in an accident" phone call again. This was my first (hopefully my last) - and I am so thankful that Bubba was safe!

Soccer All Stars

I made it to my second game of the season this last Saturday... here's a little bit of what was going on. (My pictures are taken from pretty far away - so if you want to see more detail - just click on the picture and you'll be able to see everyone a little bit better.)

Handsome Hubby Coached (he's the guy in white)...

OTG Boy played all over - this is him at forward (look for the sunglasses -that's him) - he did a great job!

The Professor has been an excellent defender this year - he's number 4 out on the field!

Bubba spent his time rolling down the hill - life doesn't get much better than that!

What did I do? I came home with a nice sunburn - that's the most sun I've had all year. Leave it to me to get my first sunburn of '08 the second to the last Saturday of November!

Transitions

Inside Clear...

Outside... Sunglasses!

Thank you transition lenses!

OTG Boys was very excited to get "sports glasses" this year... now he can actually see the ball while he's playing soccer!

Lighting Up the Night

What do you think of our Christmas lights this year?

They are very economical - they light up all night and don't add a penny to our electric bill!

Really, what started out as a city employee coming by to let us know our gas-line needed some updating (since our house is about 50 years old)... has turned into quite the project.

It began with this little hole in the front of our yard... then they decided they also needed to chop our tree down...

and remove the stump.

(still working on that one)

Thanks to the help of a few neighbors our yard is now cleaned up (from tree branches -not giant holes). One loaned us a chainsaw - we now how have a pretty large pile of firewood for camping...

(Handsome Hubby had entirely too much fun with this wonderful power tool!)

...the other offered a truck and a ride to the dump (if you look close you can see it parked across the street) - not to mention several helpers from across the street helped us get the little stuff raked up and into green garbage barrels.

Thank you everyone for your help!

The biggest blessing - we've been thinking about how to redo the landscaping in our front yard ever since we moved in - thank goodness we haven't been able to do it - we've had tractors driving all over the yard for a week. Now we're extremely thankful for our not-fancy-yard and dead grass!

One of Those Days

When's the last time you had a day like this?

Unexpected Twists

I can pretty much guarantee... Handsome Hubby never thought he'd be coaching soccer. But here he is - coaching for his second year in a row (after un-officially assistant coaching a couple of years ago).

Now he's already contemplating if he wants to coach one or two teams next year!

This man is an AMAZING DAD!

Technical Difficulties

The Professor's view of the world is a little bit different from most. His peers don't understand why he's not "like everybody else." Adults are amazed at his knowledge on almost any subject. He says it like he sees it - and reacts with great emotion to the world around him.

This past Sunday, I was in Primary to help Bubba share the 12th Article of Faith - I was sitting up front with another Mom (and good friend) who was going to help her daughter give the Opening Prayer. Well, when it came time for the prayer this cute little girl wanted nothing to do with it and started to scream and cry - when the Professor stood-up in the very back row and announced to the room, "Attention, we are experiencing some technical difficulties."

My first reaction - that kind of behavior is so inappropriate! But after I analyzed the situation (as I often have to do) I realized he wasn't saying that to be silly, he wasn't saying it to hurt somebody's feelings - he was just saying, so everyone could understand, sometimes we just have "technical difficulties." If anyone knows what it is like to be overwhelmed in the situation - The Professor knows.

I admire that he puts in to practice -everyday - what he has learned in his therapies. I admire that even though the kids around him pick at him and make his day hard - he still keeps trying. I know he's not perfect (who is?), but I have seen how far he's come - each day is a lot of work for my little Professor and I admire who he is becoming - a very strong, but empathetic young man.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

I forgot - I promised a few people our traditional Halloween Dinner Recipe... so 1 week later here it is...

Dinner in a Pumpkin

Ingredients:
1 Med. Onion Chopped
1 1/2 to 2 Pounds Extra Lean Ground Beef
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 Cans Chicken with White & Wild Rice Soup (Undiluted)
2 Cans Creamy Chicken Mushroom Soup (Undiluted) - or I just use Cream of Chicken b/c that's what I have on hand and it still tastes good to us
1 Can Water Chestnuts, Sliced & Drained
2 Cups Cooked Rice
1 Cup Crisp Chinese Noodles
Cashews
1 Small to Medium Pumpkin Cleaned Out


What to do:
1. Paint a face on pumpkin with permanent markers (I copied my face out of a magazine this year - I thought the winking pumpkin was really cute). Cut top off and thoroughly clean out seeds and pulp.

2. In large pan, brown ground beef and onion together. Drain any grease from pan.

3. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, chicken with rice soup, creamy chicken mushroom soup, water chestnuts and rice. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

4. To Bake in Pumpkin: Spoon meat-rice mixture into pumpkin and replace top. Place entire pumpkin with filling on a baking sheet. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees or until the inside meat of pumpkin is tender. Remove lid and sprinkle Chinese noodles and cashews over the top.

5. Serve meat-rice casserole, and for vegetable, scoop out cooked pumpkin.

I usually have more casserole than will fit in the pumpkin - so I put the extra in a foil baking pan and freeze it to cook up later (don't put the noodles or cashews on until after you've baked it). To cook, let it thaw during the day - and cook at 350 for about 50 minutes.

Reasons

It's been a little while since we've had our speech homework... first the teacher was sick, the next week The Professor was sick and last week... well, we were so caught up in the holiday we completely forgot to do our work.

This week (and last week) we are focusing on reasons. First of all, we are working on knowing and saying our reason for why we want something to happen. So, instead of saying, "Dad, play catch with me." Make your request with a reason, "Dad, would you play catch with me because..." This helps each of us to understand why a request is important to the person making the request.

We are also discussing why it is important to understand the reasons we are asked to do certain things in our everyday lives. For instance, we are discussing the reasons behind the importance of doing chores. We also have a worksheet to discuss the reasons our Dad would ask us to close the door, if we forgot to close it, on a cold and snowy winter day (we haven't discussed this one yet, but I'm sure it will be great... the Professor is very literal... and we literally do not have cold and snowy days at our house. I can't wait to hear what he has to say about this one).

A Tooth Story

Once upon a time there was a young boy (let's say about 10) who lived on a farm. He loved horses and he loved swinging through the air - so, what could be more perfect than growing up with a horse walker in his own backyard! He'd run - grab the rope and go flying to see how far he could go. Then one fateful day, in an attempt to get the walker to go as hard and as fast as possible - he misjudged his grip and flipped the snap (for hooking up the horses to the walker) on the end of the rope right into his teeth. He was in pain - his tooth was broken off to the nerve! He went to the dentist - his tooth was reconstructed.

Fast forward 20+ years...

Handsome Hubby calls his wife - "you'll never guess what just happened."

She says, "what?"

Handsome Hubby says, "my tooth just shattered in my mouth!"

Wife says, "how!?!" (Envisioning all kinds of horrible scenarios...)

Long pause... sheepishly says,

"I bit into a granola bar."

After a few more visits to the dentist - his smile is as good as new - and just as handsome as ever!

My Coupon Man

There are about a million things I love about my Handsome Hubby. But one that's on my mind today is his love of coupons! We've always tried to be thrifty and find the best deals and soon after moving to Mesa we were talked into trying out Coupon Sense (click here for more info). At first, it was just "my thing" - I am the primary grocery shopper after all. Then, I was pregnant and on complete bed rest - he took up the shopping for me... coupons and all. Now, here we are again - me pregnant and sick - Handsome Hubby doing the shopping. The first time around - I think he just used coupons to make me happy... this time I think he enjoys the thrill of the good buy!

A few weeks ago, he was excited to come home with coupons for $13.50 off of our next shopping trip. He always saves more than he spends. Last Saturday he was completely thrilled with the purchase of his new electric toothbrush (which the dentist really thought he should have). It was on sale - the store was out - he went back with his rain check for $20 off & an extra $20 for the "extra bucks" he missed out on, put that with a $4 off coupon for spending over $20 and now we'll send in our receipt for a $15 rebate. The toothbrush also came with a promo to take a survey and get a $10 visa gift card. He thought it was the best deal ever!

He says he sees why I like coupons.

I like it when friends let me know they saw my Handsome Hubby out shopping and they were impressed he was using coupons - they ask how I talked him into it? I didn't!

I just have a wonderful husband!