What I really give thanks for...

Our post Thanksgiving celebrations consisted of going to see the movie

The Blind Side.

It's got to be a special occasion when we all get to go to the movies because well... it costs a fortune for a family of *sigh* now 7, to go to the movies.

We have had some issues with gratitude lately. Like the paper that was supposed to be written about something they are grateful for... which was turned in blank multiple days in a row because they couldn't think of anything to be grateful for.

The attitudes abounded above and beyond the assignment. Food issues resurfaced after a year and a half. Laziness. Not being involved with the family. Not being present.

I have to admit my feelings were hurt. I haven't been feeling very grateful for my adopted kids, my gifts, quite honestly, because I didn't feel too appreciated either. I was irritated and manipulated.

We all went to a family movie tonight. I was in tears in the first 5 minutes. And I stayed there.

I cannot recommend this movie enough for any and everyone. Not only do I feel so much more grateful for my children, but in general am once again appreciating the miracle that is their lives. The miracles that brought them to me. The miracles that we have yet to see unfold.

I hope and pray that all the kids learned something from the movie tonight. I hope they learned about gratitude, hardwork, family.

On the way home, I told Josh maybe they'd make a movie about his life when he's a professional soccer player. I mentioned that perhaps Sandra Bullock could play me as well. Jeff snorted and said, "more like Kathy Bates."

Nice huh?

Go see this movie! It is awesome!

My latest misadventure

Check out the new blog...

from-fat-a-to-5k.blogspot.com

Jaclyn and I are training for our first 5K ... with our ultimate goal of completing a half marathon in 2012.

Follow us. It should be hysterical watching us meet our fitness goals.

Fat A and Fat B (our pen names for the new blog)

Worthless Wednesday

Text Message Tuesday

A holiday installment of TMT... Enjoy!

Message: "Jeff just asked why Justine is always the focus of my worthless Wednesdays... I hope he meant Wordless Wednesdays."

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*not exactly the message you want from your child when they are 10 hours away in college...

Message: "What blood type am I? Oh and I'll be calling you in a bit."

Reply: "O neg. And that question scares me a little."

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Message: "A guy at the orthodontist office just asked me if my kids acted like that all the time... and then said that he was glad he never had any kids..."

Reply: "Harsh."

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Message: "I just found a note Jaiden wrote to Jameson during class that said I wonder if we could move and leave Jack and change our names.... I was wondering the same thing."

Reply: "Is he bad?"

Message: "What do you think?"

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Message: "Yes. We are still at the orthodontist. Jack's in trouble. Jameson's zipper is undone AGAIN and Justine keeps singing really loudly with her headphones on..."

Reply: "Don't you wish you had an invisibility cloak?"

Message: "Definitely."

Reply: "Just so you could still watch them but people wouldn't know they were yours."

Message: "I like where you're going with this."

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Message: "I am pathetic. It's after 5pm and I'm still unshowered. In my pajamas with toothpaste stain on my boob."

Reply: "A woman after my own heart."

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Message: "I just asked Jack to go outside and kick the dog... he's barking non-stop and it's driving me crazy."

Reply: "There goes his PETA nomination..."

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Message: "I just heard a song that reminded me of me. This used to be a fun house. Now it's full of evil clowns. I'm gonna burn it down. Down. Down."

Reply: "Should I call the authorities for you?"

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Message: "I'm too busy in life to be worried about quotin' movies..."

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Message: "Did the kids finish cleaning the horse?"

Reply: "Yep, they watered him and put away the saddle."

Message: "WHAT?"

Reply: "You asked if the kids finished cleaning the horse...."

Message: "HOUSE. HOUSE. HOUSE."
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Message: "Did you find your hermaphrodite inverebrates? U have lost 2 crabs and 2 invertebrates and my little eli is still alive and well and spinning in his little wheel..."

Reply: "Rub it in. I found the worms. The crabs have long since gone to heaven. Having a backbone makes you much less vulnerable around here. I think I will add that to my Thanksgiving prayer. Thankfulness for my backbone."

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And one time in Chicago...

We went to a beach...

at the 63rd street beach house in Chicago, built in 1914.

Even though it was cold, we played in the sand.

And it was really, really cold...

But it really didn't matter...

We had a great time at the beach...

And promised to come back when it's warm enough to play in the water.

Chicago Shedd Aquarium

It's contagious... the story of the Croach

As you know, living in a house with English as a second language children can be quite entertaining.... well, among other emotions...

We have been preparing for Thanksgiving and in doing so, looking for all of our decorations for fall.

Jameson kept talking about finding a Croach. "Where are we going to put the Croach? Oh it's such a cute croach. I just love the croach."

For the life of me, I have no idea what she's talking about.

Then she brings me a scarecrow.

We all burst out laughing. Sometimes you just have to. Sorry. It's true.

Then Jaiden says, "That's not a croach. A croach is the sound a frog makes."

It's contagious. None of the kids can speak English.

Our traditional Thanksgiving Meal...

We decided this year we would have a real Thanksgiving dinner. An authentic Thanksgiving dinner... without the turkey and all the trimmings...







Ok... I just had to put this picture first... even though it came near the end of our meal. It made me laugh so hard... I just had to make sure anyone passing by had a chance to laugh with me.






The kids and I baked a traditional Thanksgiving meal to go along with our Thanksgiving studies. We learned that the traditional turkey and dressing Thanksgiving meal isn't actually what the pilgrims and indians would have eaten.





So we did a little research...




The boys did a great job cleaning out these acorn squash, which we baked and added a little brown sugar and cinnamon (OK, so the pilgrims wouldn't have had sugar, but we did want the kids to at least eat it... )

We also hollowed out a pumpkin and baked apples and walnuts inside it. Josh and Jack did a great job cleaning all the seeds and we baked those for a healthy snack.

Our acorn squash....

Freshly killed venison straight off the grill...

The first ever slider...

Our spread...

Blueberry Indian Pudding... it was really yummy. Then we discovered it was extra yummy with ice cream on top. (Once again, a variation on what we know about the Pilgrims...)

The duck and the deer turned out to be their favorites. They ended up tearing that poor duck apart to get more meat off of it. It was delish!

Obviously, it was hysterical...

Josh found the duck heart and pretended to eat it. I say pretended because he's back to refusing to eat anything again... just like circa 2008...

Thanks to Skype... I feel better now

We got to Skype with Jordan tonight.

It was just what I needed.

The kids brought their art work in and held it up for her to see. We laughed. We talked about Christmas break.

I feel better now. I sort of made my mind up this week that I wasn't going to submit to this mood I've been in lately. I have made myself get up and get out of the funk I've been in. We are working on some creative projects which always help my mood.

Be prepared for a lot of crafting in the next few weeks...

I always wanted one of these...

I have forever wanted an advent countdown thingymagig.

But I couldn't force myself to pay the $40 + for one. Either that tells you how frugal I am, or how broke I usually am. You be the judge.

This was the one I have been eyeing at target for quite some time...



I still couldn't force myself to put it in the cart the other day, so I began searching for ideas to make my own advent countdown thingymagig.

And this is what I came up with...




The girls and I folded and made envelopes out of scrapbook paper. We used a lot of scrapbook paper leftovers I already had.



We then used hodge podge (wow, I'm using a lot of made up words in this post, aren't I?) scrapbook stickers to create numbers on each little envelope.



We then placed inside each envelope a bible verse leading up to the birth of Christ on Christmas Day. We also placed a family activity inside each envelope. Some are for fun; some are things for us to do as a family; some are things for us to do for others.



Some of the activities we will be doing:
Dollar movie night
Donating food to a local shelter
Building forts in the basement
Baking cookies for a neighbor
Spending the day without electricity
Watching "It's a Wonderful Life" together

We are all looking forward to December 1st so we can count down to Christmas!
And the total cost was $4.75!

Wordless Wednesday