We have been waiting for you for a while now. Almost three months actually. You first started dropping hints that your arrival was eminent when my sweet baby was just 4 months old. At the time, I thought that was a little premature, but what do I know. I'm just his mother.
As time went on, the hints got heavier. No longer was it just the buckets and buckets of drool and the biting. Now his gums were swollen and red and he wasn't complete without something in his mouth to chew on. Then came Niagara Falls out of his nose. Surely you couldn't be far behind. And yet day after day, week after week goes by with no sign of you.
Now I love a snotty nose rubbed on my shoulder as much as the next mommy, but really...enough is enough! It is one thing to be fashionably late but it is entirely another to RSVP and then just not show up. My son and I do not appreciate being stood up! As I have comforted my baby these last weeks, assuring him that it isn't him, it's you, I have come to a conclusion...
Either you are just a sadistic creep that enjoys torturing my son with buckets of drool, swollen gums and a runny nose
OR
you have been kidnapped by the tooth fairy's evil twin and are desperately sending out an SOS.
So which is it...do you need me to send out a rescue team or am I just going to have to kick your butt? Either way, I am coming in with a pair of pliers if you don't show up soon.
When Brad and I got married, we were told by our pre-marriage counselor that you don't just marry a person...you marry their entire family. For better or for worse, I have found those words to be very true.
I have also learned that you marry their holiday traditions as well. Hence the "for worse."
Brad and I have very different ideas about what "makes" Thanksgiving. For example: The first Thanksgiving of our marriage, we were with my family. My mother asked Brad if there was anything he especially wanted with Thanksgiving dinner. My husband replied, "olives." I know, it's random. And very easy. So we were happy to oblige.
In my family, we eat later in the afternoon, so there are always appetizers out early in the day for snacking. My mother put out a bowl of mixed olives with appetizers. By the time dinner rolled they, along with all of the munchies, were gone. When we sat down at the table, Brad looked around and asked where the olives were. Apparently in his family, olives are a part of the meal...lesson learned.
Another difference between us revolves around vegetables. Brad likes his Thanksgiving veggies creamed into some sort of casserole with a crunchy topping and virtually unrecognizable as vegetables. Now I realize that much of the country is with my husband on this one, but for me personally, green bean casserole makes me want to hurl. And that nasty sweet potato stuff with marshmallows...bleh!
So this year, it is Brad's mother's turn to spend Thanksgiving with us and our original plan was to travel to Nashville. And then I imagined what it would be like traveling with three small children during the busiest traveling weekend of the year. By car or air, the vision was terrifying!
So I suggested that his mom and stepdad come to us instead. I told Brad that way we still get to spend Thanksgiving with them, but we don't have to travel. Plus the added benefit of getting to make Thanksgiving dinner myself. To this point in my argument, my husband responded, "What do you care about making Thanksgiving dinner? You never eat anything but turkey anyways."
Um, yeah dude...that's the point! This year I am making a meal that I will actually eat because I like it, not because I am being polite. This is what I am making this year: (all recipes from Martha Stewart)
Driving past Chick-fil-A every day of the week without stopping and then waking up Sunday morning with an insatiable craving for the original chicken sandwich.
I love to read. More than just about anything else. And sometimes the line between fiction and reality gets a little blurry for me.
When I read New Moon for the first time (that's right, I said "first") I was 16 weeks pregnant with John. And just a little hormonal.
It probably wasn't the best timing.
I was spending the weekend with Emily for her son's baptism when I started the book. I was in bed reading that first night and Emily came in to say good night and see if I needed anything.
And she found me sobbing hysterically into my pillow.
Of course, she asked me what was wrong and I choked out the words, "I...I...I think...he...is...go...ing to...leave her."
And like any sane person trying to talk an irrational mess off the ledge good friend, she sat on the side of the bed and held my hand and asked, "Do you think maybe you are taking this so hard because you are pregnant? Because you know this isn't real."
"NO!" I (almost) shouted, "It is like he is leaving me!"
Did I mention the blurry line?
And I need to mention that at this point in time, Emily had not yet finished reading Twilight, so she didn't fully comprehend the magnitude of what was happening in New Moon. Two weeks later she was sending me frantic texts messages in the middle of the night about this exact same chapter!
I have heard others say that of the Twilight books, New Moon was their least favorite, but I disagree. I love New Moon. And I can't wait to see it played out on screen!
Which means that in just one week, 7 short days, it will be the fourth Thursday in November.
More commonly referred to as Thanksgiving.
While I realize that this is not exactly breaking news, it is something of a shock. To me.
Not that Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November. That happens every year like clockwork. The same way that Christmas comes every year on December 25th.
What is shocking is that it is already Thanksgiving. Wasn't Labor Day like two weeks ago? I am completely unprepared for Thanksgiving. Which I will be hosting for my in laws this year.
Well not completely unprepared. I did pick up my turkey yesterday. All 16 and a half pounds of it! I ordered a 12-16 lb turkey and I got all of that plus half a pound. To feed 4 adults and 2 children.
Maybe I really don't need sides. There will be plenty to eat with just the turkey. In that case, I guess I am ready for Thanksgiving.
My brain is dead and my kids (and husband) have not been providing me with the usual (and obvious) blogworthy material lately. Yo fam, what gives? Mommy has Snellings Stalkers that must be fed regularly!
So I am borrowing a page from better bloggers and offering you a Q&A post. Ask me anything and I will answer you honestly to the best of my ability. I mean, if you start asking me questions about nuclear physics I will probably have to make up an answer, but questions about me, my family, Twilight, etc will all be answered truthfully.
There are few edible things in life that I love more than peanut butter. As far as I am concerned, it is just the perfect food.
But something strange happened at the grocery store last week. Instead of grabbing my usual jar of JIF, but my (completely of it's own volition) went a little to the left and picked up this instead:
I don't really know what possessed me to purchase this. I have heard others talk about how yummy it is and Rachael Ray uses it all the time in her dessert recipes, but I myself never felt the need to betray my faithful peanut butter try something new.
As I unloaded my groceries, I got a little mad at myself over my impulse buy. I mean, that stuff is not exactly cheap and it doesn't even really sound that good! Who likes hazelnuts?? It sat in my pantry for two whole days before I could bring myself to try it...but when I did
OH.MY.WORD!!!
It was like I had died and gone to chocolate heaven. Seriously, where has this stuff been all of my life!? I went through the whole jar in less than a week! And even worse, I have gotten Emma Jane hooked too. Everyday she asks me for some nella. Brad has been calling us both crack addicts and Libby can't understand why Mommy and Emma Jane are eating something that looks like "mud on a graham cracker." It's crazy in my kitchen!
And I haven't yet had the heart to tell peanut butter I'm just not that into him anymore.
Seriously! Every time I sit down at the computer she grabs my arms and says, "Mommy, I do it too."
(Okay, maybe she is actually saying, "Mommy, you don't do it. Pay wis me." but that makes me sound like a really bad parent...)
So anyways, Emma Jane has been going on and on about starting her own blog. Anybody that knows her knows that she has lots to say, plus she has these mad photography skills that she has been dying to show off!
Check out this self portrait she took!
Watch out, Annie Leibovitz!
Emma Jane Snellings is about to take the photography world by storm!
I work out with a trainer once or twice a week. Her name is Julie. (She is actually my second trainer, because the first had to take a leave of absence.) So Julie is now my personal torturer. While I miss certain things about Anthony, like how he always told me how awesome I am and called me his VIP, I have come to really like Julie. For one thing, she has children so she knows from experience what exercises are going to best strengthen and repair the damage that 3 kids in 4 years has done to my core. She also is very straight forward and basic with her workouts. Anthony was interesting and never put me through the same routine twice, but he also threw in some crazy stuff (with deceptively cute names) that I would never do on my own.
So yesterday, Julie started off my workout with some squats and lunges. NO biggie! I have done thousands of squats in my life and I am good at squats. We were working on the machine that looks like a swing set but instead of a swing there is a bar. You know? Right? If you don't, go to gym more because that's the best description I got!
Anywho...I wasn't doing very heavy weight and at first it seemed really easy. Except that Julie made me squat on a 10 count (which is r-e-a-l-l-y slow) and I had to hold it at the bottom before pressing up. Like I said, the weight was light and I was more worried about falling down than the pain. When we were finished my legs predictable felt like jello and I was thinking that my quads were going to be seriously sore the next day!
Not so much. When I woke up this morning, my legs really felt fine. I can definitely tell that I worked them, but they don't really hurt.
My butt, on the other hand...is totally hating me right now! Apparently, I haven't actually been using my gluteus maximus for the last 29 years and it is currently protesting this abuse with every step I take!
She totally tricked me with those squats! My butt may sue...
We don't celebrate Halloween in our family. And even if we did, we live in the worst trick-or-treating neighborhood on the planet! Seriously, in three years I have not had even one knock on my door!
But we don't even miss trick-or-treating because our church puts on this amazing Harvest Festival every year! There are games, crafts, bouncy houses, a hayride, a cakewalk, tons of junk food and candy! The kids had a blast and Brad and I discovered that chocolate makes Emma Jane a little tipsy! She was having trouble walking in a straight line at the end of the night!
Here are a few pictures of the fun!:
Emma Jane really liked the tossing games!
And decorating Mr. Pumpkin Head!
Here are the girls hearing the Wordless Book and making a candy version of the story.
Decorating crowns
John was there too! He and I are taking a dinner break!
Face painting!
And the most fun game: The Obstacle Course!!
We finished up the evening with the cake walk. Here is Emma Jane trying to stand on two pumpkins at once! She really wanted that cupcake!
I am married to the love of my life, Brad, and am a homeschooling mama to our four children, Libby, Emma Jane, John and Jami. I am so blessed by the family God has given me. My life is never the same two days in a row! It is totally chaotic, sometimes frustrating, full of laughter and I wouldn't trade it for anything!
