Thanksgiving

This has been a lovely Thanksgiving!  Thursday morning my sister and I did the Turkey Day 5K.  We (along with our husbands) did it last year, and I loved it!  Unfortunately, I didn’t really keep up with my running since then...

About a month ago I bought a treadmill and have been trying to “train” for the race.  Now please know that mostly my running is not running at all, but more of ajog.  Last year my race time for the 5K (which if you don’t know, is 3.1 miles) was 36 minutes and change.  I was pretty pumped since it was my first time!  This year I told my husband that likely I would not do as well.  Over the last year I had some trouble with my knee when trying to “run” so I ended up getting a support brace thing.  I also went to Big Peach Running Company and got fitted for the right kind of running shoes.  Thank you to Andrea, because both of those were her recommendations and made a great difference!  

When I walk/run on the treadmill I do not have this kind of success, so I was super surprised when I saw my time for the race on Thanksgiving this year was 33 minutes 21 seconds!!  I gotta say, I was really proud!  Now, if I can just keep up with it maybe I can do another 5K before next Thanksgiving rolls around.

Thursday for lunch we went to my in-laws’ house.  I ate way too much, and had a really good time hanging out with them.

Last night we had Thanksgiving dinner at our house with just my sister and her brood and Dad.  Much delicious food and fellowship was had!  

Today has been such a gloriously lazy day!  Chris had some work to do this morning, but the kids and I were definitely in our pajamas until about 3:00 this afternoon.  While they napped this afternoon, I read over a hundred pages of the book I started this week:  Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks.  It sucked me in pretty fast, and I love that!  There’s just nothing like a good book!

Tonight we had Thanksgiving leftovers.  Don't you just love how well all that stuff reheats?!  Ham, sweet corn pudding, broccoli casserole, dressing with gravy...the list goes on, and probably the kicker is the canned cranberry sauce.  For all the things I don’t eat, I imagine its probably surprising that I am willing to eat that.  It’s just one of those things I guess.  And my kids are under the impression that it’s Jello!  We don’t even eat Jello, but that’s what Christian called it.  Funny stuff.

After dinner we came out so we could roast marshmallows over the fire.  The kids loved it!  I’m not sure why, but they think its’ a real hoot to be able to play outside when it’s dark.  

This fire pit is not as awesome as the previous one...but we didn't build this one.  It works though!

Trying to get the sticky marshmallow goo off.

She just kept asking for more marshmallows!

I love it when they hold hands!

He kept throwing this beach ball in the air (pretty high, I might add) and then running away so he wouldn't get hit with it. :)

All in all, it has been a great holiday!

I have much to be thankful for!

a good day to preserve

I'm so thankful that today it actually feels like fall!  It's one of my favorite times of the year, and unfortunately it doesn't usually hang around for long.  Today I have the doors and windows open and the fans going.  It makes it feel homey to me.


I tried my hand at a new recipe.  It's one from Food in Jars for creamsicle jelly.  I knew I wanted to make it the very moment I read about it!  I have waited until now because it was jelly (and normally I make preserves or jam), and I thought I may be more difficult to make and be successful.  Other than a little extra patience and an awful lot of stirring, it was about the same.  It is delicious!  There is no actual cream in it, but I guess maybe the combination of the orange and the vanilla give it that taste.  I can't wait to try it on a biscuit!

Since Chris has been here today and is willing to help me, we also made a double batch of vanilla syrup.  It's super easy to make and looks pretty too.

For my final canning project of the day, I decided to make another batch of the carrot cake jam I tried out last week.  I figured since I was on a roll I should probably keep it going.  I've got this one on the stove right now, and it makes the house smell so festive!
This is not one I was so sure about since it has actual carrots in it.  I do not eat carrots, and in particular not shredded ones.  Although in the last few years I really have gotten better about trying new foods, when I see carrot raisin salad I have to try very hard not to gag.  Yech.
At any rate, this really has a good flavor!  It's even more lovely warmed up a bit.

Tonight I'll be making pumpkin bread and hopefully some kind of cream cheese icing to take to my in-law's house for Thanksgiving tomorrow!  I'm looking forward to all the delicious food the rest of this week will bring!

just a day

Nothing spectacular...just a few tidbits to share.

I'm in the process of fixing dinner (on the menu tonight is a taco ring).  As it happens, I am in the house by myself...this does not happen everyday, so I'm enjoying it!

Christmas is in the air at my house, so the tree is aglow and the candles are making the house smell super festive.  

While normally that would mean Christmas music, I am currently addicted to listening to Adele and/or Allen Stone.  If you don't have these albums by these people, go get them now.  Thank you to my peeps who shared them with me!

For whatever reason, my children have been driving me in.sane. for the last two days.  Since my husband is concerned with my mental health, he has given me alone time yesterday and today.  Glorious.  Yesterday I went shopping (which should have been therapeutic, but since there were enough people at Tanger that I thought maybe it was Midnight Madness at 3:00 in the afternoon it was slightly maddening).  Today he suggested that I go get a pedicure. Yes, I believe I will.  Thank you.  I took my book (The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks) and enjoyed a solid hour of time for me.  Again I say, THANK YOU to my husband who encouraged this.  :) 

Feeling refreshed and almost cheery.  I love that.  

I'm very thankful for my children, but also for a husband who knows when I need a break from them.

On the agenda for tomorrow:  Avalon Church/ South Campus and then on to Sears to get a new washing machine. :)

 

a guest post

A friend of ours asked me if I would be willing to share our adoption story with her.  She has an amazing blog that you should totally read.  :)  Check it out!  Journey to Josie: Adoption Guest Post from The Reinigs

belated halloween

How is it already November?
We had a rather belated Halloween...we took our boogers trick or treating last night.
As many of you know, Christian has terrible allergies that also trigger his asthma.  Not awesome.  When he first came home with us, it seemed like there was maybe one week out of every month that he could breathe easily and did not have snot continually dripping from his nose as though it were a faucet.  Thankfully, the older he gets, the longer we go between these bouts of nasty, snotty days filled with breathing treatments.


Know before I climb up on my high horse that I do not in any way discount the schooling or knowledge of doctors...
It feels like maybe sometimes doctors forget that the person they are dealing with is not just another case.  This is true for all manner of doctors (whether they treat little people or grown ones).  Just another kid to look at, but hello!  Excuse me, this one is my kid.  Maybe you didn't know, but he's really important! 


Over the weekend Christian was having a fever on and off and was starting up with his traditional snotty symptoms.  We took them both to the pediatrician on Monday morning only to hear her assure us that this was his regular stuff and that our girl was fine.  Go ahead with his breathing treatments.  He'll be fine. 
He continued to run a fever and did not keep anything down.  The. whole. day.  Parenting is pretty interesting.  I can tell you that I can't imagine anyone else throwing up that close to me and just rolling with the punches.  Nasty.  Gross.  Disgusting.  No two ways about it.  But what can you do? 


Needless to say, I am super happy that my boy is back to his normal, rowdy self. 
Since my kids are big enough to know what trick or treating is, but small enough not to understand the dates I was able to arrange for a few people to let us come to their house with costumes and candy buckets a couple of days late. 
Maybe this is the way to do it since their buckets were filled to the top!  Holy moley at the treats they picked up! 


Tinkerbell was feeling less and less inclined to have her picture made as the evening wore on.  Maybe it was because we were getting rained on, maybe it was because I wouldn't let her eat all her candy, or maybe it's just because she's two!
Jake was a great sport and did a really mean pirate growl (with one eye closed, of course).  All in all it was a success!