Gobble Gobble until you WOBBLE!!!

Our Thanksgiving weekend started EARLY with Daddy arriving home on TUESDAY from Washington to CELEBRATE with us!!!

We were all so THANKFUL to have DADDY home!!!!Our Thanksgiving Day went like this:

Got up at 7am to play in the Neighborhood Turkey Bowl {Alan}

Got up at 8:00am to go running {Amber}

Got home around 10am & got ready to go to the Madsen's for some YUMM-O food!!!

Yep, I ate ALL of that & MORE!!!!! :)Then we cleaned up & us GIRLS planned out our Black Friday Madness!!!While the boys pecked away at their laptops!

{yep, Al has a laptop that he got to buy all for himself on the companies DIME ... AWESOME!!!}Then we were hungry enought to DIVE into our delicious dessert!

Dad sampled them all & gave us 2 thumbs ... WAAAY-up!Grammy got to feed Kye since he was going on a NO-NAP day & was so finicky with me, but loved it when Grammy fed him ... STINKER!

{take note of Grammy's hair ... the next picture is the result of her knotted up-do she did to keep hair outta all the food}We even had a visitor ... Grammy the CLOWN!!!

{she's probably going to shutter when she's sees this picture on here ... LOVE YA MOM!!!!Kye was a pretty happy kid, even with no-nap.

{he just stuck BY ME the whole day ... while my other 2 ran about with cousins}

He LOVED played with the feathers out of one of Grammy's decorations.We hope you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!!!

We DID!!!!!I left about 7pm to go stand in-line at Wal-mart for a big ticket item that Santa MIGHT be bringing our kids for Christmas ...

It's ALWAYS such a blast to Black Friday Shop with my Sisters & my Mom!!!After Target's opening at midnight Char & Megie chose to head home for the night while Mom & I trekked on to the other stores.

We hit up Khol's for some items ... that were worth it although the line took us over 1 1/2 hours to get to check-out ... it was a MAD-HOUSE!!!I got EVERYTHING I wanted on Black Friday thanks to my Mom-in-law who didn't want her extra pair of sheets ... SCORE!!!

We went to Alan's Cousin's Party with all of his cousins on Friday afternoon.

{it was fun to catch-up with those who came}

Saturday was spent enjoying just US!

We hung-up Christmas lights, put up the tree, & just hung around.

After spending LOTS of time with Daddy we had to SADLY say goodbye to him Sunday morning ... :(

But to take away some of the GLOOM we decided to decorate the TREE, that Daddy put up, that night.

My kids were EXSTATIC!!!Look how well Kye "hung"-up the ornaments he was given. {hehehe}It was a wonderful weekend!!!

**SIDE NOTE**

ALL 5 of our chickens are now laying eggs!!!!

We finally get enough eggs EVERYDAY that we don't have to buy ANY!!!

{we also have enough to share with others ... SCORE!!!!}We LOVE having chickens!!!!!

Low-maintenance & they produce useful things!!!

:)

Thankful ...

I am TRUELY thankful for so much!

As I have gotten older I realize more & more the LOVE of this holiday!

I LOVE to reflect on the things I'm thankful for & desire to have the same attitude of gratitude all year long!!! ---maybe this year I'll be better at it!

Anyways ---

{i won't list them ALL ... just a few with pics!}

I am THANKFUL for my FAMILY!!!

I couldn't of asked for a better husband in the whole world!

He is TRUELY meant for ME!

I have 3 marvelous kids!

I love all of them to PIECES!

--

I'm thankful for the gospel!

It brings me such joy & peace!

I'm thankful to know that my family, my WHOLE family, will be together FOREVER!

That is so POWERFUL to me!

I'm grateful to know that I WILL see my loved ones someday that I have & have never met & who have FOREVER influenced me for the better!

What a blessing to know that there IS a life hereafter!

---

I'm grateful for the simple things like snuggling with each one of my children! {& my hubby!}

They may have not all been snugglers as a baby like Kye, but they ALL enjoy snuggling with me every now & again & I LOVE IT!!!

I'm always up for a GOOD 'ol fashion SNUGGLE!!!

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I'm grateful for a sense of HUMOR! We have some GOOD laughs at this house between all 5 of us!
--

I'm so grateful for the WONDERFUL job that my Sweetie has!

& that he is SOOO willing to support our family & work his hardest for us all!

It was a long 2 years of unemployment, but it has been a change to have him go outta town for 2 weeks at a time every so often, BUT we are SOOOO, SOOOO GRATEFUL!!!

--

I'm grateful for our wonderful house!

This house has brought so many WONDERFUL memories for us & even though it's a PIG-STYE alot of the time ---

{like today while I was busy making 3 batches of rolls & my 1st homemade pie}It's nice to have a place to call HOME SWEET HOME!

--

Life is TRUELY wonderful once you REALLY start to look at it ... isn't it??!!??!!

I am so BLESSED!

Thank You to all the WONDERFUL people in my life that make it WONDERFUL!!!

--

Can I say I'm not grateful about 1 thing??

Well, I'm sad to say that my first pie making experience was a BOTCH!!!

ugh!

.... hopefully it won't taste too BURNED cause I'm too tired to make another one!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!

Hope it's a WONDERFUL day!!!

Snow is falling ALL-AROUND!

It looks like tomorrow is gonna be ANOTHER good day for THIS:


It's so much fun to play in the snow with my kids!!!
BRING IT ON!!!

S - Day

S-day is Surgery Day at our house.

It was a day that was bitter sweet for everyone!

Emma got upset about it EVERY time I brought it up to her & I, being the mature adult, just bawled about it behind her back!

:)

What a GOOD COMBINATION we made!!!

Yes, I was the ONLY one to go with her to the hospital.

We chose to have Al stay at home with the boys cause it was going to be so early & it just seemed to make more sense for our situation.

Emma & I shed MANY of tears together!

Our check-in nurse probably thought why the heck did I come & not my husband!

I was so emotionally unstable which probably made it worse on Emma, but I WANTED to be there, so I CHOSE myself to be the one to go.

Emma was really ok until it came to getting out of her clothes & into "the gown".

This is how she felt about "the gown" ---Yep, she BAWLED!

But I explained to her that "Bradey-bug", her NEW surgery pillow pet, was going to go with her into surgery even though I couldn't. I had LOVED that pillow pet all-OVER so if she was scared or nervous to just hug "Bradey-bug" TIGHT & she'd be OK!!

That worked in her mind!!! She also new that since she could take her "Grandma's" Blanket with her too, she'd be ALRIGHT!!!

{that's what she told me after I explained about Bradey-Bug}I HATED the thought of her LEAVING me!

That's the part I dreaded & cried over the MOST!

Watching her being wheeled away from me was AWFUL!!!!

It did make it easier that she was ALL SMILES!!!

I love her sweet little spirit soooo much!

I'm glad she was converted at that time, cause I NEEDED IT!!!!!

-----

Her surgery lasted about 20 minutes & then Dr. Stock came out & told me it all went well.

He said that she had what they call Glue Ear.

{he said they pulled out over 2inches of sticky gloop in each ear ... no WONDER she couldn't hear!!!!}

But it looked good once they were done & she would be back there about 20 more minutes before I could see her.

{thank goodness it was a short n' sweet surgery cause 40 minutes away from my Princess was LONG enough!!!}

This is what she did in RECOVERY ---Just laid & watched "Super Why".

She took a couple SIPS of water & had no interest in eating ANYTHING!

She kept going in n' out of sleeping & was really quite GROGGY acting.

After about 30 minutes of recovery we got to HEAD HOME!!!!

-----

We arrived home where Daddy whisked her from the car to the couch, just like a prince charming would, & got to snuggle with her while Mommy ran to the store & fulfilled Emma's request for Breakfast ... {after her not being able to eat/drink anything after midnight I wanted her to EAT! i would've gotten her ANYTHING & EVERYTHING she wanted cause she had to go through such an AWFUL thing!!! :(}She wanted the cinnamon squares ... aka cinnamon life, so that is what she GOT!!!!!!& she ate about 1/2 of what she normally eats. :(

I also got her FAVORITE for lunch ... aka lunchables!!!

Her & I were pretty exhausted all day, so after Daddy went into work we layed around, read books, & snuggled A LOT!!!!

After naps in the afternoon, at least for her, she was back to NORMAL!

Her friends Adelle & Jet came by & brought her brownies & a card.

{she treasures that card & brings it for me to read everyday when we read books, along with Grandma Ferg's card}Then Grandma Fergy & Uncle Davey came that night bearing gifts ---{the Zebra pillow pet}

As you can see she was TOTALLY back to normal!!!!

She was EXSTATIC to have 2 NEW pillow pets!!!!!Emma's hearing improved IMMEDIATELY!!!!

It's been amazing to me!

When we got home she complained non-stop about how LOUD her brother's were & that it hurt her ears. {we tried to keep them as calm as possible as I'm sure her ears were sensitive.}

She commented to me while she was eating breakfast, "that she had NEVER heard her voice like this."

She hears my WHISPERS instantly!

She whispered for the 1st time in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday!

She covered her ears with her hands all through Primary!

She hears the T.V. at a normal volume level!

She immediately responds to EVERYONE who is talking to her!

She hears EVERYBODY when they say, "HI" to her!

I can't even begin to decribe how wonderful it is to have a HEARING 5 year old!!

It truely has been such a blessing to be able to have this fixed!

I'm grateful for such a sweet, good, little girl who isn't struggling because of this hearing loss!

What a BLESSING she is!

I LOVE YOU EMMA!!!!

We are so very GRATEFUL for everyone's thoughts & prayers in our behalf!

We were so blessed to have Daddy home to give her a blessing the night before, along with our WONDERFUL home teacher, & we know that helped in the whole process of things.

Thanks to EVERYONE who helped our family get through this!!!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for amazing doctors that could help my little girl HEAR again!!!!!!

Are you READY for some FOOTBALL????

My mom IS the CUTEST!!!

She LOVES to think up fun activities that she can do with the grandkids & they always end up being such a BLAST!

As the grandkids sit now, there are more girls than boys, so we have had more GIRL-Y activities prevelent in our family functions. {Which has been perfect-ly FINE since my Zachary is the Oldest boy grandchild & any of you who know's my Zach knows that he doesn't mind the GIRL-Y aspects of life because he has an older sister ... NO I AM NOT WORRIED FOR HIS FUTURE!! He is ALL BOY in SOOOO many ways!!!}

ANYWAYS ...

A couple of months ago my cute Madre saw football oreos & decided she needed to have a "THEMED" party around them, so she threw a FOOTBALL party for all the Grandkids to ENJOY ... & ENJOY they did!!!!

We had all the WONDERFUL FOOTBALL food ---We got to watch Charly Brown's Thanksgiving, since it has a football scene in it ---We participated in a football training obstacle course ---

Made football themed sugar cookies ---

{they sure were GOOD & my boys LOVED smearing them all over my house sometime the next week ... yes, I should've taken a picture of their "art work" ... aka MESS ... but I was too upset by it. oh the JOYS of 2 boys working in action never seem to amaze me!!!}

We also got footballs for the boys ---& "pom-pilots" for the girls ---

{aka Pom-poms & mega phones ... funny Emma!}& had an ABSOLUTE BLAST with all of our cousins who were in town!

{yes, we missed you Afton!!!!}

It was honestly such a fun little get together.

Thanks Mumsie for putting it together for us ALL to enjoy!

As I sit here & THINK of the events of the last 2 weeks ... I am grateful for what I DO HAVE! I'm grateful for a sweet 5 year old little girl who has a desire to succeed & please others in life. She is REMARKABLE & truely my LITTLE MIRACLE!!!!

I cry just thinking about it!

----

Ever since this little angle of mine was 3 I worried about her hearing.

I brought it up to her pediatrician at every well-child-check-up from 3 on ...

he was NEVER even concerned about it.

I talked to her pre-school teacher about it ... again NOT A WORRY IN SIGHT!

I talked to my Mom, my mom-in-law, friends, sisters, sis-in-laws & again everyone encouraged me that it was OK.

Not that I blame ANY of THEM ... well, I kinda do my pediatrician, but I do really like him so I'm trying to look past this ... they all gave me the BEST council they had.

------

This year in Kindergarten I got the news I was waiting for & the DIRECTION I have been longing for ... she didn't pass her hearing test & I now had someplace I could take her.

I have been anxiously awaiting my time slot to see the District Audiologist.

They tested her & recommended I go to a ENT dr ... aka ears, nose, & throat dr.

I took her & they tested her.

She has liquid blocking her hearing in both ears.

thick liquid!!!

that causes her to hear outta both ears as if your fingers are in your ears ALL THE TIME!

Try it ... it REALLY does make it difficult to HEAR very well.

My heart breaks for her!

I will never forget the test they did where they by-passes the ear drum & made the sound go directly to the coclia & she could HEAR, REALLY HEAR, for the first time.

Her face LITE-UP!!!!

She was baffeled by how LOUD the sound was ... it made me happy/sad for her!

I think of ALL the things she has been MISSING in life!

:(

It makes me sad to think of the times that I have been short, frustrated, & onery at her because she didn't hear me, I had to repeat something for the 90th time, or I had to make special trips to her room to get her for meal time --- SHE REALLY DIDN'T HEAR ME!!! :(

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Here I am CRYING ... again!!

But to look at the BRIGHT side ---

-It's something that CAN be fixed!

She will get tubes put in her ears on Friday ...

yep, THIS FRIDAY!

-The drs were AMAZED that she talks as well as she does!!!

she has a 75% hearing loss between BOTH ears having problems.

{30% in one ear & 35% in the other}

Most kids with that significant of a hearing loss for so long would have some sign of it in their speech --- SHE HAS NO SIGN IN HER SPEECH!!!

-They said that she SHOULD be struggling in school -- & she ISN'T!!!

Her teachers are AMAZED cause she really does stay on task & participates well!

She is such a SWEET little girl who has OVER-compensated her hearing loss by READING LIPS & expressions of others, so she IS successful & really shows NO sign of the hearing loss.

What a sweet, remarkable, amazing, shining star she is!!

I LOVE her, even more, for how she has already TRIUMPHED at the young age of 5!

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She is NERVOUS & very SCARED everytime we talk about the surgery.

But it'll be good to have done BEFORE Daddy leaves on Monday.

Her Daddy can give her a blessing tomorrow night & she'll be JUST FINE!

I can't WAIT to have this behind us & a BEAUTIFUL little girl that can hear me WHISPER to her!!!

Life is GOOD!!!

I'm grateful for the simple BLESSING/MIRACLES amongst the hard times!!

------

I'm gonna "steal" this saying from a friends blog ... {hope she doesn't mind!!}

If you LOVE life ...

It WILL love you back!!!

{That is Emma for ya!}

Halloween 2011

On Halloween I had the priviledge to go to Emma's class & help at her class party.

It was fun to see her interact in school & I LOVE being around her!

Here's her DARLING lil' pumpin' that she decorated.Then for dinner I got a WONDERFUL idea from my lovely twin sister to make a "SPIDER WEB" pizza ... Thank sista!!!Then it was time for dressing up ...We had Baby Spidey,Super hero Princess,& Big "BLACK" Spider Man.& we also had the Black Scary Monster for the trick or treating escapade.Bye, Bye Trick or Treaters ... Have Fun!!!& F-U-N they had!!!

With LOADS of candy to prove it!!!!Hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween!!!

Happy Be-lated Halloween Everyone!