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that's how we do it...

and this is what happens when you ask our family to say "CHEESE"...



and this is also why i did not start going into convulsions and sweating over making our annual holiday card this year. obviously i did not go this route, since i already posted a preview of what our cards are going to look like, but i just wanted to give you an idea what it's like to have my family pose for pictures...

"Friendsgiving"...

this was the first year that we were "home alone" for Thanksgiving, but when i say alone, i mean we had no family come in town and we chose to stay at our own home for the holiday, but by no means were we alone. we have, what i like to call, a very extended family (of friends), some of which we've known for almost 20 years and some for only a couple of years, but we've all become a family of sorts.

i opted to host "Friendsgiving" at our house, and i was dreading it the moment the offer came out of my mouth. i have a lot of anxiety over the appearance of my house and having 15 people in there to look at it...on top of preparing the house, i had to prepare food?! i will say that i was lucky enough to have my very own personal chef preparing most of the feast (see K is for Kitchen). i pretty much had it easy as far as food was concerned, sweet potatoes, ham, bread, beer, and some cute ass cupcakes for the kids.



just a recap of how much food we had: 2 turkeys and a ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, 2 kinds of stuffing, Brussels spouts, jalapeno corn casserole, gravy, fresh cranberry sauce, devilled eggs, and pumpkin bread pudding...did you get all that? my belly sure did! all in all, it was a fabulous time (even with 15 people)! did i mention that those 15 people were only 3 families? yes, everyone we know has 3 kids, so anytime we get together it's always a party. just imagine what it's like when ALL of us get together...

(cheers to the "chefs")

(the table...)

(ahhh...cheers again...a lot of wine was consumed in the making of this event)

(the kids like to play Apples to Apples and this was the card that C picked)

after an all day eating affair, what a better way to burn off the calories than with an all day shopping event. and by all day i mean literally all day! we were gone for 10 1/2 hours!! i came home with two feet full of blisters. what was i thinking? next year the cute shoes are out and the tennis shoes are on! still not sure what i was thinking, because i totally forgot that i had signed up for a 5k the next day. so, i took my blistered feet and ran the heck out of that 5k. proudly i finished 3rd in my age group (which is pretty damn competitive) which also happened to be yet another PR for me 24:49 is by far the fastest i've ever run anything..."run like you stole it!" luckily i did not run alone, but was joined by my other running family. so excited that my little buddy JD also got third in his age division (he's definitely a very fast 7yo!).

to cap off the very busy week, we decided to go hunt down a Christmas Tree. not sure we could fit any more into our crazy schedule...

(more pictures to follow once we get the darn thing "put together")



sneak peek...

Holiday Window Christmas Card

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marathon weekend...

i would like to say we ended our sports season with a bang! literally there was a bang at one point, but i'll get back that in a moment. first let me start off with C's big hoe-down performance at school, which he was so excited for that he changed his outfit a couple times just to make sure he had it just right. i'm pretty sure he was trying to impress the cute little girl he was suppose to be square dancing with, and he was all smiles the entire show.

on Friday night "The Savage" (hubby's new name, since everyone thinks he resembles Fred Savage) had me pick him up at the tire place, and while we were gone NoNo had managed to bust himself up pretty good. luckily my mom was in town to hold down the fort. C was at football practice, The Savage was picking C up, P-Donculous had a friend over, and i was still in the process of cooking dinner, but in a matter of minutes we were out the door on our way to the ER. we were in and out in 45 minutes! unfortunately the meat loaf was not so happy about our quick departure (note to self...turn off the oven if heading out for staples in the skull of a toddler), but we were starved and ate it anyway. NoNo was such a trooper about the whole ordeal. i'll warn you now, you should know by now i'm not afraid to post pictures that are a little graphically detailed when it comes to open wounds, but this is what little man had to have stapled shut...

(keep in mind that there is also a cotton ball shoved in the hole)

and now to start off the rest of the weekend...Saturday was the final day for fall sports, which means no more soccer, no more football, and no more running. P-donculous had his last soccer game (which they won 14-0), C had his last football game (which just happened to be the Superbowl and they ended up getting second, and i missed the game), and my mom and i drove down to San Antonio for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. because of all the driving we missed the Superbowl and the trophy ceremony, but thanks to some awesome parents we have picture proof...

                                                           

now, on to the actual marathon part of the weekend...the grand finale of my running season was the 1/2 marathon on Sunday. mom and i were all smiles before the race even started:

i even stopped to pose for photo ops along the way (which, in the long run cost me a few minutes off my record pace time...damn it!). i ended up finishing with a personal record of 2:02:55 (6 minutes faster than my first half marathon).now let's crunch some numbers...i finished 4,402th out of 20,432 people, that's the top 21%...HOLLA! i'm no Kenyan, but for me that's pretty damn impressive... 

(waving from the Alamo at mile 3)



goblins...

it's the beginning of one of the worst seasons for anyone trying to stick to any type of diet. from now until the New Year there is nothing but an over abundance of tasty goodness shoved in your face. Halloween starts off with the damn candy! curse that candy and lip smacking greatness! i have to hide it from myself, but i always manage to find it again (maybe i should put my car keys and cell phone in the candy bag). once Halloween is over and we've devoured 15 pounds of cavity creations, it's on to my most favorite holiday of all, Thanksgiving. it's an all day eating contest that lasts for almost 4 days! and of course, the entire month after the turkey celebration, is one big hot chocolate peppermint drinking fest. it's no wonder that our gym just sent out a notice saying they are extending their operating hours to accommodate the holiday season.

anyway...back to the goblins...my kids. each year they are allowed to decide for themselves what they want to dress as for Halloween. easy enough for me (and my wallet) the oldest just wanted to be the same thing he was last year. P-donculous changed his mind about 5 times before settling on the football player, and NoNo liked the muscles on good ol' Spider Man. they had a blast running through the neighborhood like a bunch of hoodlums demanding candy from strangers. and now i know who to blame for the added 5 pounds (damn stranger neighbors)...

and three weeks later...

i'm horrible! okay, not that i have a million readers, but i have a handful and i feel horrible that i haven't posted anything in almost 3 weeks! i guess you can say it's been a little busy in our house (and it will be like this for us until we ring in the new year). just take a look at my schedule for the next month...is this normal?

and this calendar doesn't include any social gatherings, birthdays, or entertaining. somehow we managed to have every friday free and clear (dang it i just said that out loud).

so, to catch you up on things...in the past few weeks we've been camping, went to the state fair (horribly disgusting), had a good ol' hometown homecoming parade, and went to the pumpkin place. of course this does not include the usual weekly activities of shuttling everyone from football to soccer and back again. did i mention that somewhere in there i'm suppose to cook dinner and keep the house from looking like the underside of a midtown freeway.

anyway, here's a couple photos of our adventures...

(our gang at the State Fair along with the H's - makes for a rowdy bunch)

(NoNo loved him some turkey leg...and chocolate coverd cheesecake on a stick...and fried frito pie...and corn dogs...and frozen lemonade...)

(NoNo's pouty i don't wanna pose face)

(what i like to call the dirty dozen)

(NoNo with his girlfriend)

well, that's about it...until Halloween!!!

not that i forgot or anything...

the other day was my mom's "39th" birthday. did i forget, NO! i sent her something fun in the mail and the boys even called to sing happy birthday, but i feel like i neglected the blogosphere acknowledgment of her special day. so, here it is Mom...HAPPY CAKE & ICE CREAM DAY!!! (don't you feel famous already?)

like totally...

this is totally not okay, and i'm not one to normally blog about things other than my family (or myself), but enough is enough. at first it was the "jegging" (for those who don't have a clue what that is - it's a jean / legging) and sometimes with the right circumstances (must be tall, skinny, and no booty) they can be kind of cute, but then i saw these...

REALLY?! who in their right mind would wear these? yes, they would be great for a costume party, but could you see a mom of three walking into the grocery with these on? i thought i could let this fashion pass by like the bell bottoms before it, but then it only got worse. while strolling through the Gap, i saw these...

yep, you saw that right, stirrup pants! seriously? i can remember a time (about 20 years ago) when these were almost cool. yes sir, i was that kid with the stirrup pants, leg warmers, baggy sweatshirt, and jelly bands, but c'mon people not ALL styles are meant to make a come back! i would like to see what a "normal" person would look like in these get ups. imagine what these would look like on someone 5 feet tall and bootylicious, not pretty. so unless you're into roping and riding and you were your pants tucked into your boots, there is no need to wear these. i'm just sayin....

and so it begins...

football season started last week (but we were out of town watching FSU get their arse handed to them by OU) and this is the first year that C is playing tackle. it took a good month before he was comfortable running around with the gigantic helmet on, but once they put him on defense and he was allowed to legally (in soccer he's notorious for the slide and elbow - not allowed) tackle someone, pure excitement in his eyes! unfortunately i brought the little camera to this week's game, so we have one decent picture.

and since when is football season so damn hot! we sat in the bleachers under a pop up tent suffering in the 100 degree sweltering heat, and to top it off...our poor little Eagles lost. it's still pretty exciting to watch your little guy out there tackling bigger kids though...

you just never know...

a few weeks ago a friend told me that Mercury was in Retrograde, and the stars were all out of whack for her for the next month or so. for me, who does not believe in all that hocus pocus celestial stuff, i was like okay, hope the stars realign. but after a few weeks i started to really see what she was talking about. it wasn't just her stars that weren't aligned, it was everyone! i still may not believe in the whole astrology thing, but something has been seriously wrong lately.

it started a little over a month ago with the news of an old friend finding out he had cancer, and then another friend explained the whole mercury thing, and then another friend thought she lost someone, and then it happened to me...last wednesday my dad went in for a visit with the cardiologist (he had been having problems for a while and not telling anyone tsk tsk Dad) who told him they wanted to go in and check things out. so, on friday he went in for what was suppose to be a routine cardiac cath, but ended spending the entire weekend in ICU waiting for his now scheduled triple by-pass on monday morning. and now it's monday and my dad is out of surgery (which ended up being a quadruple by-pass) and "resting". i like how they say it's resting when you still have a giant ass tube stuck down your throat and an incision the size of my forearm on your chest, but my mom says he's "looking good". i guess what i'm saying is that you never know what's going to happen, with or without a planet being in retrograde, so hug your babies tight and call your momma....

a little tropical storm won't stop us...

for the last 5 or so years, every September i've been getting my kids out the door for their first day of school, and never has it rained, not once, except for this year. and boy did it rain, like tropical storm Hermine rain. it rained for 24 hours without stopping, but that didn't stop me from getting my kids to school. those rascals were going to school in a boat if need be! this fall i have ALL my boys in school (at least 3 days a week anyway)! so, you ask, "what are you going to do with yourself...nap?" first of all, i don't nap, that's silly. why nap? i might miss something. but really, my plan is simple and i'll find myself still busy as ever and not getting everything done that i want to. i go to the gym, i go to the grocery, and i can clean all by myself with not a single person to whine and complain.

back to the first day of school (for the little ones)...the boys were so excited for their first day, bags packed, lunches made, clothes put out, but once we walked into school...duhn duhn....the leg holding and whimpering began. even the 5yo was gripping the door jam as we tried to enter his classroom! it took a good 30 minutes for us to get out of there (without the kids), but of course they were fine as soon as we left. we'll see how day 3 goes today....

amateur hour...

probably not at all what you were thinking, but i get the best ideas right before i go to bed at night. for example last night i had the best idea for a blog post all about being a food critic, but by the time i woke up...i have no freaking clue what i thought up the night before!

maybe something a little like this:
how does one go about becoming an official food critic? i've read some a million reviews and yes they are insightful and sometimes entertaining, but what makes them an expert? i'm going to go on out there and say i have a pretty keen mouth when it comes to food. i can thank my dad for having a very experimental and global themed hand in the kitchen, which only expanded my love of all things food. so, why can't i be a food critic? i love food! i'm not afraid to sample anything, at least just once (except for anything with eyes still attached, anything formerly soft and cuddly (such as veal or lamb), or anything that uses organs from a body). the hubby has learned that i'll venture out to try a new restaurant based off of some review i found in some obscure magazine.

i've come to an understanding that expert critics (those who are paid for their opinions) usually don't have the typical taste buds of us common folk, and will rate a restaurant much higher or lower than it probably should be. so, this is why i look for real critics, like myself, in obscure local magazines or websites like Trip Advisor that allow regular people to post their thoughts on pretty much anything. case in point: we went to a restaurant while on vacation over the summer based on the recommendation of a friend. it was a horrible experience, and if i would have read the reviews, i would have known better than to go there in the first place. yes, my friend did suggest it, and she was mortified that we had such an awful time, but we should have listened to the other 13 people who said it was going to be a waste of time and money. now, that being said (and now being the 14th person on that site to say don't go to this place), i firmly believe that i'm a very capable food critic.

so, if you have a question about a place...i've probably been there and i'll probably tell you in all honestly if it's worth the hassle of trying yourself. and i'm not ashamed to say i like a few chain restaurants, but once they start messing with the menu or changing up ingredients, i'm out of there....

back to school...

not sure who was more excited about today, but i'm going to go with the 3rd grader. he was up an entire hour before he needed to leave this morning, which is almost a miracle in itself. i can't believe how much he's grown up in the last 3 years. look at him, he almost looks like a teenager!

in a few weeks the other two hooligans will be off to school (why in the world their preschool has to start 2 weeks after the other kids is beyond me!) and then i will really have a party productive school year. yeah, yeah, i'm a stay-at-home mom, but honestly having a few days to myself is totally necessary. it's not like i spend those days laying around on the couch watching day time television (i honestly don't even know what's on tv during the day). those are days i get my "work" done...

just curious...

have you ever wondered what would happen if you clicked on that little link on the top of the blog page? every once in a while i'll click it, just to see what happens. you actually come across some pretty interesting reads. not sure what i'm talking about....

yep, that little thing that says "next blog"...it takes you to some other random blogger. it's different every time! sometimes you'll come across some pretty crazy pages, but most of the time they are just like me, normal people writing about their own crap. so, if you're really bored and feel like browsing around other's people's business, then this might keep you occupied for the next 30 minutes or so...

the vacation...

this is going to be a short post, but full of pictures. it took me long enough to download all the pictures from the camera and forget about the dinner that was boiling over in the kitchen. anyway...here's a brief recap of our annual beach week...

my little NoNo...he's so darn cute (when he wants to be)

the boys took to the ropes (and yes, that's as high as it looks)

hubby's side of the family

our mode of transportation for the week (you would think P would be a little more excited)

those kids have no fear

me on the other hand...different story

me and the BIL hanging in mid air

playing with trucks in the sand is hard work apparently

the masterpiece (would you believe a dang bird flew down and stole the nose?!)

probably the only picture of us together

heaven on a spork right here folks!!

hot fresh chocolate glazed donuts covered in ice cream....OhhhEmmmGeeee....i would like to thank the good people of Hartell's Village Diner for coming up with this mouth watering dish.

this is the third year in a row that we've stayed at the beach, and we always go in August, but after 3 years of rain and sea weed we might be reconsidering going so late in the summer next year...

because 1991 was a good year...

for whatever reason, back in 1991, i begged my mom to take me (and my sucker of a friend, Jessica) to the mall so that some stranger could dress me, fluff my hair, apply over used pink lipstick, and then take creepy photos. this wonderful place was Glamour Shots, and yes, they are still in the business of taking creepy photos of teenagers. i'm not sure what's worse, the hair, the outfit, or the huge amount of metal in my mouth, but man i was happy teenager 19 years ago (thanks Mom)!

(that's me on the right)

my sister came to visit...

i think i showed her a pretty good time....

we celebrated her birthday all week! and did you know that if you're wearing one of those silly flashing, feather covered birthday hats, you get free drinks? must say this is the best idea ever...i'm keeping that thing in my purse and using it every time we go out!

as for the rest of my sister's crew, i think they had a good time too. of course, getting all 5 kids to sit together for one picture is nearly impossible (sorry Nana). we pretty much spent the entire week outside in the 100 degree heat, but that's what the cold beer is for...

(shopping and drinking...pretty much how the last 6 days were spent)