Christmas Pictures

The boys and their new computer! You can actually turn it on now and not have to wait 25 minutes for it to warm up! Yayee! Thank you to all who put money in for this awesome gift!



















The screamed over gift from Brandon, Shannon, Cassidy and Connor!













Nerf War! We had such a fun time with these Christmas day.













Brett and Cynthia still trying to put Jamison's together.













I know it seems that I've been a slacker, but really I've been waiting to get my camera back from my parent's house. By Christmas Day eve I was running on fumes and am surprised I was able to make it home, pop popcorn, and get a movie set up for the boys before passing out... It was only 8PM!
I was pleasantly surprised when the boys woke us up at 7:30 Christmas morning. Shortly following the wake-up call, Jamie got his own call from work. Bummer! Jamie stayed to watch the boys open Christmas presents and I can't say we rushed it, but we could definitely feel the pressure that he needed to leave us shortly.
I made my yummy butterscotch rolls, but sadly they didn't turn out so yummy this year. I don't know what I was thinking, but they were rising too quickly so I threw them out into the garage to slow down the process. It worked, but it also ruined the yeast. They refused to bake properly and ended up being burnt because I couldn't get the middles baked.
Wess and Mary made their Christmas morning visit. I love them coming over and visiting. It gives us that little bit of time of not having to rush out anywhere and enjoy our morning. We showed off our Christmas present from them to them. What can I say, I'm in love with my new freezer. No more climbing into the freezer and trying to dig something out, not knowing if there is any more of that something left.
Luckily Jamie was only gone for a 3hr call and we were able to scoot on over to my family's house. All in all the boys had a wonderful Christmas and were spoiled rotten again, even though we had all vowed that that would never happen again. ah! Such is Christmas when you have kids!

The boys during the last big snow storm.

My best friend and I... also known as my husband

















It's been so long since I posted last, but I wasn't sure what to post. My mind is focused on one thing and one thing only, and not much else is getting past that thought. My quote for the month and the next few ahead is this: "When we think of failure; Failure will be ours. If we remain undecided; Nothing will ever change. All we need to do is want to achieve something great, and then simply do it. Never think of failure. For what we think, will come about."
We had our Judy Family Party this past weekend. There was an element missing though. My Aunt Susan and I talked and both agree that that element was Stacey. Her outrageous flare for getting what she wanted during our gift exchange allowed the rest of us to play off of her. We thought playing in memory of her would be a fun idea, but it just wasn't the same. I miss her so much! It might be time to start searching for a new game to play. 
I have so much to do to prepare for Christmas. Anyone want to come clean my house and finish my laundry while I take a nap? (The chorus of coughing from the boys the entire night last night, has stolen the little energy I would have had left this morning.) Oh and if you have time I welcome you to finish my Christmas shopping. The cookie baking and decorating I will happily keep for myself and what help I can squeeze out of my boys.

Trae participated in the Science Fair this year. He and his Dad worked so hard putting together his DC Relay experiment. I think his Dad was more disappointed that he didn't make it to finals than he was!














Mason the destruct-or . He is prepared for any enemy he meets.




















I have been swamped this week trying to put together a family Christmas party, working, being a Mom, housekeeper, etc. I'm so excited for Christmas, but very unprepared. I had good intentions to be all ready a few weeks before Christmas (which would be yesterday), but I'm not even close to being ready. Oh well, should have a grand time with all the other procrastinators on Christmas Eve. Haha!
I was riding in the car the other day with my boys (I was heading to a Dance Explosion Reunion... it was amazing to see everyone again!) taking them to my parents house for a visit. They were talking about ages and comparing how old they would be at different times in the future. I overhear Jamison tell Mason "You don't want to turn 8. Eight is such a paining age. Eight is when my back started paining me and my legs starting paining me. Yep, eight is a painful age." I just couldn't hold back the laughter. If he only knew what was to come! haha!
Well, back to the DVD drawing board I go. Someone closed out the program I was working on without saving my project. Oh well, such is the life of a busy Mom.

Trae, Nana, Jamison, and Mason on Thanksgiving morning

Great Uncle Mike, Mason, and Aunt Cynthia

Jamison playing catch with Uncle Brett

Trae golfing in the little snow we had

Jamison, Great Grandma, Trae, and Mason

Jamie and Brett couldn't stay away from their game

"I got my flipflops that I left here all summer and my toysrus ads... I'm ready to call it a night."

Another amazing Thanksgiving has come and gone. Every year that we are able to celebrate with my Grandma is a great year. I absolutely love her humor and beautiful spirit. We are so lucky to still have her with us and that my Uncle Mike is so willing and able to help her.

I had 5 days off of work and I can say that I didn't realize how much I needed a break until I had one. I loved just hanging out with the kids and husband, watching movies, eating homemade caramel popcorn. These are the life moments that I hang on to and love to look back on.

Loosemeat Sandwich (including 40 minute bun recipe)

So one of my mother's favorite meals is sloppy joes, my least favorite meal is sloppy joes. Guess who won that war? Okay, so it might have been close to a tie, but maybe I pulled a little ahead after she "forced" me to eat it and I threw it all back up across her kitchen table. Yep, what memories. haha! My poor mother.
My children and husband love the sloppy joe, but I think I have only brought myself to make them once. We have finally came to an agreement and I am willing to make them this tasty little sandwich.

Loosemeat Sandwich

1 lb ground beef or ground sirloin
2 tsp salt
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
water

Salt bottom of skillet. Brown ground beef and start crumbling it with the back of a wooden spoon. You want the meat to end up being cooked into small crumbles.
Add chopped onion while browning meat.
When meat is browned, add mustard, vinegar, and sugar.
Add enough water to barely cover meat in pan.
Simmer until water is cooked out (about 15-20 minutes)
Serve on rolls/buns with mustard and pickles.

40 Minute Hamburger Buns

2 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 C warm water, plus
2 Tbsp warm water
1/3 C oil
1/4 C sugar
1 egg
1 tsp salt
3-3 1/2 C flour

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.
Add oil and sugar and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
Add egg, salt, and flour to form a soft dough.
Kneed on a floured surface for 3-5 minutes until dough is smooth.
Divide into 12 pieces and roll into balls.
Place on greased pan, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes.
Bake at 425* for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Sorry, it's a bit early for Christmas decor, but I couldn't find a Thanksgiving template I liked. Of course, some of that might be due to the fact that I have zero time to really give the new template thing a good search.

I've been slacking on my blog and on my pictures this month. I was taken down by a mere cold 2 weeks ago and am still struggling to get over the sinus and ear infection it left me with. I actually went to the doctor for the ear infection (I know what a shocker) because it was draining. The doctor dared to tell me that it just doesn't happen that way. Ears do not drain like a runny nose. I suggested he look at my ear and change his opinion. So, after exclaiming over my enormous amount of scar tissue (I guess he assumed I was lying about having tubes in my ears on 3 separate occasions) he proclaimed I had an ear infection. Ta-Da! And this is why I save the entertainment of the doctor's office for times when I am just needing a laugh.

Well, I did get on here to write a very disturbing story about my MasMonster, so I better get to it. Tonight I sent Mason to the bathroom to, well, to potty so we wouldn't be having any accidents in the middle of the night. He proceeds into the bathroom, Jamie is standing watch at the door to make sure he goes because he tried to tell me he didn't need to go. As he is standing there he watches as the plastic lizard Mason is chewing on falls into the toilet. He yells for me (trying to pass the buck) and I tell him to make the judgment call on whether to fish the lizard out or not. I just know I want no part of it. So he goes in search of something to pull this lizard out of the urine soaked toilet. He comes back to find Mason with his sleeve pulled up and arm deep in the toilet retrieving his toy. Ew! Ew! Ew!

Jamie scrubs Mason and the toy up, but I'm still not sure I want it kept. Well, Jamie tucks Mason in and I'm standing on the side of the bed waiting to read Mason a story when I notice Mason chewing on something... Yes, you know what it is.... it is the lizard!!

Between work and these boys of mine, I'm pooped... at least that wasn't in the toilet, well, at the time of the drop....

Navajo Tacos

Thanks to the reminder from our friends of the existence of Navajo Tacos, I went in search of a great scone recipe. I think I have found it with this one. For those that are not dealing with soy allergies, an easier solution would be to flatten refrigerated biscuits and fry. And don't forget to sweeten the extra scones with either honey butter or a butter, cinnamon and sugar mixture!

Scones:
2 1/2 C warm water
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
8 tsp oil
6 C flour

Combine first 3 ingredients and let rest 5 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients, but add flour a little at a time until dough is no longer sticky ( I usually use the whole 6 cups)
Allow to rise 1 hour. (I find throwing it into a 100* oven works really well for this... remember to turn off oven once it has reached this temperature)
Break off pieces of dough that are about the size of an egg and "flatten out" with hands to around 1/4-1/2 inch thickness.
Deep fry until golden brown on both sides.

At this point you have some options, meaning, what to top them with...
2 cans chili (homemade is once again our friend here)
lettuce
onion
cheese
beans (black, chili, or pinto)
diced tomato
cheese
sour cream
guacamole
salsa

**A quick solution I usually use is to brown a lb ground beef and diced onions, then add a can of diced tomatoes (mexican flavored), spices, and black beans into a pan and top our tacos with this.

Halloween 2009
Jamison the Vampire, Mason the Bumblebee, and
Trae the Master Chief



















Mason stripped out of his costume and couldn't even
make it to his bedroom because he was so worn out.













Halloween this year was a nightmare. Of course, isn't that the point of Halloween, to bring all our nightmares to the forefront of our minds? This year, Halloween awakened us sunny and beautiful... How deceitful it was.
I got the kids going, and started working on Jamison's vampire cape. We had searched and searched earlier in the week for a costume, but everywhere we went we ran into the same scenario of vampire costumes being sold out. No worries, Mom is here to save the day. We ran to the fabric store and purchased satin and fleece to make a warm, but realistic vampire cape.
So of course, I had no time to work on it during the week, it seems whenever I pulled it out I would immediately have dogs and our cat, or the kids rolling all over my work area, but I would have it done for him to go trick-or-treating later that day. So I cut, and I ironed, and I sewed, until it was done and ready to go.
Item one done and on to the next thing on my list... hemming Trae's costume. His costume sagged all the way down to his knees and so I thought I would use some of that no-sew tape to hem up the waist a bit for him. Can I tell you how useless this tape is?? Or maybe it was user error? Or maybe it didn't like the costume material, but regardless, the tape did not work. Luckily, I had my trusty sewing machine out and went to work.
Finally it was time for some fun. Time to get the pumpkins out and start carving. We had planned to do this days before, but life kept getting in the way and we just didn't have time. We had a great time, even though we were a bit rushed.
After this activity the boys were ready to get into their costumes. Jamison sat ready for his vampire teeth to be placed on his teeth. We mixed the putty and applied as directed, but it wouldn't stick. No worries, we had more, mixed the rest up and applied, but still no luck. Okay, not to stress because I have my handy hot glue gun at the ready. No one was burned during this process, but a lot of tears were shed because not even the hot glue would make these vampire teeth stick to his teeth. So he was forced to reapply his make-up for the 4th time that evening and go toothless.
At this point, I'm afraid I got a bit impatient with my lovely husband and he decided it would be wise to go to the store for some items that I had asked him to purchase several hours before. So while he ran to the store, I made the pizza dough and pre-baked it so it would be ready to put the toppings on later that evening at Jason and Aimee's.
When Jamie arrived home, the boys and I decided to make a run to a few of the neighbors'. Not 5 minutes later, I witness Jamison falling flat on his face, skinning his knees and hands. Poor kid. At this point, we decide to blow this joint and head to Jason and Aimee's to hang out.
It's amazing what good friends can do to lift your mood! We ended up having a fabulous time there and even got the kids out to do a bit of trick-or treating.

Hunting 2009

You know you are a mom of boys when you have to empty their pockets before you send them into school. Nothing better to find than a bulging pocket full of empty gun shells in your 4-year-old's pants. I can't imagine the time he must have taken in collecting those shells the past few days!
We are finally home. Arrived last night to the screams of our poor Smokey Kitty. He crawled into the linen closet before we left and no one noticed. And here we were worried that he didn't have enough food and he was going to eat the little frogs. The cat has meowed at us all night and all day, and we are not sure if he is going to stop lecturing us any time soon.

I'm afraid I'm short on stories and pictures this week. I can, however, announce that Jamie and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on the 10th! Go us!













Our wedding announcement picture...




















The marriage that many said would not last. I'm sure by hearing this statement, they made us work that much harder on staying together. It's amazing that our relationship has survived some of the worst times and some of the most beautiful, life changing times.
Our marriage has held together by Jamie's willingness to acknowledge that I'm always right and my willingness to forgive him if I am wrong. Though this phenomenon has happened so few times, why even bother mentioning it??
I'm not proud to admit it, but this anniversary we just let quietly slide by us. I found myself doing dishes, while Jamie put together some shelves for the laundry room downstairs. We even found ourselves contemplating what to have for dinner when Jamie was suddenly called out to work.
When Jamie left, I was forced to start cooking or fall prey to Trae's constant mantra of "I'm hungry."
It seems that when Daddy left Mason felt that it was time to tease. His victim is Jamison. Poor Jamison, it seems he gets the most teasing from his brothers, but truth be told, he is the one that screams the loudest, cries the easiest, and fights back the fastest. He might as well have a big red target on his back. So off Mason went to fart on his brother. After several attempts on his brother's life and Jamison's constant gagging, Mason was sent to his room.
After being released from his "prison", he came to find out what was cooking on the stove. Upon hearing that chili is what was for dinner, he had a massive breakdown of laying on the floor crying. He then proceeded to tell me I couldn't make chili because he would get the farts again.

Funny boys on our ride home from the zoo.















Watching the penguins, watching a dragonfly.















Total chaos ensued when trying to get all the kids together to take their picture.



















Another week has gone by and more memories were made. We had a great time going to the zoo with my brother and sis-in-law and my cousin and her kids. We were finally able to see all the new baby animals and enjoy one of the busiest days at the zoo. It was a tight fit, but at least we had fun.
The weather is getting colder and I'm sad to report my tomatoes have finally met their doom. At least I don't have to take credit for that one. I was able to keep them alive all summer. Yeah me! Bad cold weather!
The kids and I had a great day with Cami and the kids again on Saturday (are you sick of us yet?) while the guys spent the day fishing. When they arrived home Cami and I ran away... too bad it was just to the grocery store for salad fixings, but us girls can pretend it was for something big.
On Sunday, Jamie and I (make that I) painted a "focus" wall. It is a very dark color, but I love it! We also moved the laundry room downstairs. What a fiasco that was. (Thank you Mary for the use of the hand truck) It started out fine, but then he heard me grunt when I was helping roll the washer down the stairs and told me to stop. I heard "stop", backed away, and allowed him to take control. The next thing I knew, the washer was rolling down the last 3 steps and taking Jamie with it. They both rolled to a stop at my feet. He now says that I misinterpreted those words he said and should have stayed under the washer, just without lifting. uh, yeah... So anyway, now the washer and dryer are downstairs and they seem so far away. I have a bigger laundry down there, but it's just not convenient. Maybe I'll find my rhythm again and it won't seem so bad. Isn't that how life always is anyway?!