Sunday, November 30, 2008

Thanksgiving

Ok so thanksgiving is over! Zach and I made our first family dinner together and we had so much fun. It was so much work but it was so worth it. We made the turkey, green bean casserole, Grandma Stookey's stuffing, smashed red potatoes, corn, gravy with Laurie's help, biscuits (ok we bought these & warmed them up), cranberry (in the shape of the can, of course), deviled eggs that never made it to the table, pumpkin cake and a pumpkin pie that didn't turn out. I used the wrong pan and it didn't heat properly...oh well...didn't need the calories. I know Zach would agree with me when I say I give props to those woman out there that do this every year all by themselves. This is a huge meal to make, it's very time consuming and it's what people look forward to on this day. I know that the next time I eat someone's Thanksgiving dinner I will be more thankful.

It was only going to be Zach, me, Ashton and Stephon but Laurie (Zach's sister) and her son Nic came too. The boys don't get to see each other very often and since Stephon was home and they didn't have plans they came over to celebrate with us. Ashton was excited because he got to enjoy his "kid's champagne" (sparkling grape juice)! FANCY - lol! Ashton tried turkey for the first time and finally agreed that it was good noting "it tastes like chicken." If only this kid would try more stuff he would eat more stuff....hmmm...I don't know why he is this way??? Stephon tried Grandma's Stookey's stuffing and loved it. He normally would only eat the Stove Top stuffing out of the box. It was a big day for both boys :) Stephon had to leave around 4 to go to his dad's dinner at his Grandma Jenny's house. I am so thankful that we were able to make it work for both families to spend time with Stephon.

The rest of the weekend involved lots and lots of R&R!! Friday I slept in...shopping on that day is only asking for a black eye or an assault charge.............YES that really happened at Wal-Mart where my sister was!! We did go to see Four Christmases. We were going to go see Madagascar 2 but Zach for some reason was in some kind of turkey coma and asked for tickets to see Four Christmases. Needless to say Ashton was not pleased. Not to mention the opening scene is Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon getting it on in a bathroom at some bar. YEA - Ashton turned to his father and said "nice movie dad." Awkward for sure! As soon as the movie was over I made sure we rushed out before the lights came on and everyone saw our 7 year old boy with us! Since Zach made the mistake he promised he would take him to see the movie he wanted to see Sunday after Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma Stookey's. So today we went to see Bolt (minus Zach...he went hunting).

Overall it was a good long needed weekend and it's nice to wake up every morning and be thankful for everything in my life. I know I don't wake up every morning and say thank you to anyone for anything that I have but this is something that I need to work on and I think it's something that everyone should work on!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Welcome ME

Ok so I set this account up in September of this year so that I could comment on my friend's blogs but I never actually thought I would do a blog of my own.......what the heck. Why not, right? hmmm...I don't do well chronicling my life let alone my family's life. I mean I tried to have a diary when I was younger but that lasted about a day.

Well the football season just got over for both boys. Stephon was in MCJFL for the 2nd year. His team's record was 6-1! Stephon played running back (and something else but I'm a girl and still learning) on the offense. He played (something) on the defense also. He worked on special teams. He did the punt returns. He kicked field goals. He basically played every minute of the games. AND he was voted MVP during one of their games!!! He was sad for the season to end and I must admit that Zach and I were a little sad too. Ashton was in Lakeland Youth Center flag football. He played all positions...with his short attention span it was hard for him to play just one position. His team was undefeated and they even won their championship game in 20 degree weather and 50 mile an hour wind...ok it wasn't that cold but I'm sure it wasn't far off from that!

The end of the first trimester at school was last week. Stephon is in 5th grade this year. He got A's and B's with only one C (Language). I was so proud of him. I was really stressing for him to get the honor roll because last year he got it all 3 semesters!! But at mid-terms he had maybe 2 or 3 C's and he brought them up!! Way to go Stephon! Ashton is in 2nd grade this year.....side note.....this will be the last year the boys will be in the same school until Ashton is a freshman and Stephon is a senior!! OMG......He got the honor roll!!! Ashton has a bit of a behavior problem in class but he's working on that and will all the disruptions he still did a very good job.

Stephon started AAU basketball last week. For right now he's only practicing once a week. We'll see if he'll pick up another night of practice soon. They are planning on playing 30-40 games this season...YIKES! He's very fired up about it and I can't wait to see him start playing his games.

So this last week of November is a big one. It's Thanksgiving week. YEA! Zach and I will be making our very first family dinner. It was only going to be me, Zach, Stephon and Ashton but now we will have guests. Zach's sister Laurie and her boy Nic-o-las will be joining us. I can't wait. We have a feast setup and succeed or fail it's going to be an experience!! We have to make our dinner early so that Stephon can go with his dad to his grandma's house. I'm just thankful that we can work together and have Stephon's best interest in mind