Thanksgiving

Well it's now over a week after the fact and I'm finally getting around to doing a post about Thanksgiving. This is not a good sign for the rest of the holiday season.

Lets see, were to begin...oh yeah, Sunday before Thanksgiving I was giving a talk in church. My throat started to feel a little scratchy the day before and I just kept saying, just hold off until after my talk. I even ate 5 clementines on Saturday. Sunday morning I get up feeling ok and I make a fabulous breakfast for my family. After which 2 people feel sick to their stomachs...lovely. Then Lana gets a massive nose bleed and Ronnie decides to clean out his closet resulting in 6 trash bags of junk, I kid you not! So I went on and I made it through my talk barely. I don't know if it was nerves from speaking in front of nearly 200 people or the start of a really bad cold, but my hands were so cold and clammy that I was too embarrassed to shake anyone's hand. At one point I felt so weak I remember holding on to the podium with both hands. Afterward I grabbed a tissue as I sat down because my nose started to run then my eyes were burning because I could feel a fever setting in. A few hours later I was curled up on the couch watching my kids destroy the house because my throat hurt too much to tell them to stop. Ronnie had to go to work unexpectedly. And panic set in as I looked at the state of my house and thought Ronnie's parents are coming to stay with us tomorrow from Missouri. They are super nice people and wouldn't care what my house looked liked, but I cared. It was not up to my standard to have people over, much less staying in my house. Ronnie came home from work and saved the day. He and the kids got all the common areas cleaned and ready for company. The bedrooms didn't get touched. Kyle's bedroom is where the grandparents stay when they come for a visit and it was truly atrocious. Lana's bedroom remains messy most of the time since she gets up after we put her to bed and has a ball playing with all her toys. And our bedroom wasn't looking so hot after the surprise closet clean out either. Kyle managed to clean his room enough to fit an airbed under his loft bed and that's all I could ask for. Grandparents came and everyone was glad to see everyone and nobody cared about the surroundings. Imagine that!

Thanksgiving was held at my house because I like everyone eating together, in the same room. All of our family won’t fit at one table but I'm luckily because I can fit two or three table into my dining room. Everyone helped with Thanksgiving. I called my mom and pawned off more dishes for her to make the day before and boy did she come through. Everyone at my house helped set up and cook and clean. Even Lana helped set the table until she was distracted by the frying of the turkey. She said that the raw turkey looked like a brain, now how would she know what a brain looks like? Kyle was the gofer, we had him running to the garage for something constantly. Even with my brother coming down from Logan, UT this was our smallest gathering so far for Thanksgiving. Probably because my grandmother was out of town and we didn't have any friends take us up on our offer this year. The food was great and the company was even better. I just wished I had more room for lounging around afterward. My brother didn't seem to care; he found him a nice comfy spot on the floor. After dinner we always start perusing the Black Friday ads. I had my eye on a tree from Home Depot, finally I found a tree with warm/white LED lights and it was only $50. The next morning my mother-in-law, Sue, and I hit the sales. A few hours later we arrived home victorious. What a great day!

How???? What???? Why????

You clean house all day long on a Saturday.

Since both kids are home all day they mess up the house as fast as you can clean.

You do all the laundry in the house.

On the last load you ask your son to switch out the laundry from washer to dryer.

He hands you the house phone and say's at least the phone will be clean.

 

How does this happen????

 

Monday morning at 7:30 a construction worker knocks on your door to tell you they are turning your water off for a few hours to do some work on the city's pipes.

You run to brush your teeth.

You run out the door to take the kids to school (running late) and buckle your daughter into her car seat and when you shut the door you notice a huge hole in the street right in front of your driveway.

The construction workers see your look of angst and say I think you can make it out over here if you angle the car just right.

You reply, No I can't, but maybe you can.

The construction worker asks, would you like me to back your car out?

You reply with a resounding YES.

The construction worker backs your car out with your two kids in back and you kind of freak out a little bit as he drives on your lawn in order to avoid falling in the huge hole in the street.

 

What????  They couldn't have asked me to move my car when they told me they were turning off my water????

 

Your daughter eats some soup for lunch that contains beans.

She tell you there is something stuck in her mouth and thinks it is like a popcorn shell.

You tell her it is probably some skin from a bean.

She says I can't live like this.

You tell her to use her finger and get it out.

She gags and then says I really can't live like this.

You tell her to take a drink and swish it around and it should come loose.

She does and then says it's a good thing because there's no way I could live like that.

You die laughing.

 

Why are little kids so stinking funny????

She's Crafty

A few weeks ago Ronnie bought me this T-shirt.

                                                    

                                                    

Normally I don't wear crew neck T-shirts out of the house.  I prefer V-neck or something, anything other than a crew neck.  I guess I watch too much What Not to Wear.  I love this shirt, it totally cracks me up!  It combines my love of all things crafty and all kinds of music all on one shirt.  I'm sure it would end up in the trash can of shame if Stacey and Clinton ever came knocking on my door, but oh well.   When I wear it I think...isn't it cool that my husband totally gets me.

                                             

So while we are talking about crafts, let me show you the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to decorating for a party.  This is a paper bag flower.

                   

I hung a few of these at a baby shower and everyone thought they were way cool.  I learned about them from Martha Stewart.  I guess I'm the only one that still watches Martha.  I would much rather read her magazine than watch her because she really can be quite annoying, but I could never throw away her magazines.  I have 8 years wroth of subscriptions in a closet and I decided, once the shelf they were on started to bow in the middle, that I had enough magazines.  Now your probably asking yourself how often to I look through them.  Well I organize them by month so in October I can go grab the October box and see all the fun Halloween crafts.  Whenever I want to do a holiday craft I just go grab that box and I'm set. 

Alright, enough about my magazine hoarding issues, back to paper bag flowers.

1.Get six paper lunch sacs any color.

 

 

2.Fold the bottom flap back.

 

 

3.Cut the bottom of the sac off.

 

 

4.Cut all six bottoms off the sacs

 

 

5.Grab some double sided tape or glue.  I love Zip Dry.

 

 

6.Glue or tape down the sides of all six sacs and stack them on top of each other. 

 

7.Cut a petal shape out on one side of the sacs.

 

 

8.Use a hole punch to make a hole through all six sacs.  Then tie a ribbon around them loosely.

 

9.Bring the front and back sides of the sacs together and glue or tape.  If you have a hard time making them both meet, then cut the petal shape further down the side.  Then hang from the ceiling.  Stand back and marvel at what you can do for less than a buck.

I Can't Have Everything

I absolutely adore these boots. I can imagine buying outfits solely to be worn with these boots. I can imagine sitting and looking at them all the time and counting all the buttons on these boots. I can imagine learning how to properly care for leather shoes if I owned these boots.

I will never own these boots, because I am too practical.

I love Kevin Spacey. I love the way his eyes wrinkle when he smiles. I love the sound of his voice. I love his 5 o'clock shadow that he seems to always have no matter the time. Ronnie knows that if he goes to rent a movie and can't find one he wants to watch all he has to do is pick a Kevin Spacey movie and I'll be happy.

I will never be Mrs. Spacey, because I'm very happy being Mrs. Lutes.

I love this vehicle. I have priced this vehicle loaded with all the things I wanted it to have on it and even the color I wanted it to be (olive). I figured out how much money I would put down on this vehicle and what my monthly payments would be. I test drove it more than once.

I will never have this car, because my kid's education means more to me.

I know I can't have everything. I know that if I did get those boots they would probably make blisters on my feet and I would still wear them because they cost so much. I know that if I were Mrs. Spacey I would probably be annoyed because I would never get to see him due to work and well life just wouldn't be any fun without Ronnie. I know that if I drove a Commander I would park in the back of parking lots so my car wouldn't get dinged by carts. I know that you can't always get what you want and sometimes when you do get it, it's not that great. Lana has learned this life lesson this week.

Trunk or Treat

                                      

                                  Kyle and Lana (aka Indy and the Indian) at the Trunk or Treat.

Notice Indy's whip,  I let Kyle take a weapon but not before I duct taped the heck out of it...he he he.  Also notice Lana's peacock feather?  Just so happens my really nice neighbor reads my blog and saw my costume post and called me up and said we have some peacock feathers and you can have one so Lana will be just like you.  How cool is that!

I dressed up for Halloween this year.  I was really scary.  I was so scary I looked in the mirror and was scared STRAIGHT...my hair that is!

                        

                       

Lana came across a fellow tribe mate.  Boy howdy, was she ever surprised or maybe that is the

                                                                        sugar comma kicking in.

                                               

    Indy found the Holy Grail of the Trunk or Treat...cotton candy, it sure beats monkey brains!

I made Ronnie go vote after work on the last day of early voting.  So he arrived a little late to the Trunk or Treat.  He invited his friend Jerry to come and enjoy the festivities also. 

                        

So here are Jerry and Ronnie dressed up as two guys that just got off work.  I won't tell you why Ronnie is laughing so hard, you'll have to ask him yourself.  That Jerry is one funny guy.  Too bad he's moving in a few weeks. We'll sure miss him.

It was getting late and the natives were getting restless. For real...what you don't believe me?

                                         

                                                                                     See.....proof!

                                                                          So we high tailed it home.

                                               We hope you all had a Fun and Safe Halloween!

I'm Kind of Handy

Lana's class is having a Halloween party tomorrow. There has been a sign-up sheet for parents to sign-up to help or bring something for the party. Since I'm good friends with Lana's teacher I told her of course I'll come help with the party and just let me know what you need me to bring. I knew there would probably be something that no one would sing-up for and I'll just bring that. So then yesterday she called and asked me to bring 40 pumpkin shaped sugar cookies, but not for Lana's class, no this was for her afternoon class. I said sure why not after giving her a little bit of a hard time.

Today I set out to make the cookies and first started with clearing off the counter. There was a bag that had motor oil in it because my car has decided that oil tastes good and drinks it right up these days. Yes, I've taken it to the shop and it's still a mystery why my car uses so much oil. So anyway, the oil reminded me I need to go check the oil, something I've been forgetting to do. So I go out and check my oil and while I'm doing so my neighbor walks out of his house to get something from his car and I smile and say hi. This is the same neighbor who's lawn I mowed without asking and then blamed it on my son. Nothing else really happen here other than my self thinking, hey I'm a pretty handy woman, I can check my own oil. Ok enough thinking back to the oil, which was just this time...my car is odd.

So then I head back in to make cookies. I go to turn the oven on and notice there is a dirty pot from dinner still sitting there, hey it happens. So I empty the remains in the sink and turn on the disposal. The disposal isn't working. I remember about the reset switch, but that didn't work either. I turn to the internet and learn that there is a place for an allen wrench. Ok, now I'm mad at myself for making Ronnie put his tools away. I have to go find the allen wrench in the garage, I hate the garage. I found it and headed back in. It only took 3 different allen wrenches before I found the right one. Then I flip the switch and hey it worked. I'm feeling pretty handy again. Then I notice that the water is backing up into the other part of the sink. I look up kitchen sink clogs on the internet. I find out you can use a plunger. Well the only plunger we have is a bathroom plunger and well it's just not going anywhere near the sink, YUCK! I decided it would be silly to run out and buy a new one so I grab an old toothbrush and break out the bleach and get to work. I think my plunger is sink worthy now and head back to the kitchen. I decide to try the disposal one last time before I put the plunger in the sink. What do you know the sink with the disposal cleared. The other sink was still clogged with mac and cheese (last night's dinner) so I grab a spoon and start scooping it out and then the clog is cleared. So I have a really clean plunger now and a clean sink, really feeling handy now.

Back to the cookies. As I am making cookies my little helper, Lana, spills some sugar on the floor. Sugar and bare feet are really annoying to me so I stand still and ask Lana to bring me the broom. She breaks out singing, baby come back you can blame it all on me....all the while dancing with the broom. I guess my kids watch way too much TV if they can sing a Swiffer commercial. I was laughing too hard to think straight. I can't even make this stuff up! Kids are hilarious.

We dedicate this song to Ronnie, because well we can get by without you but it sure is so much nicer not to have to.

Oh and here are the cookies I finally got around to making.

How to Flirt With Your Husband Over Email

Ronnie had to go out of town for work early Tuesday morning.  I've been know to send him pictures of the kids to let him see what's been going on.  He has this nifty phone that lets him get emails and so I talk to him throughout the day via email and no one knows he's taking a personal call (of sorts).  He checks his email during meeting and no one knows because it looks like he is just taking notes.  So this morning I thought I would send him an email that would make him start laughing during the middle of his meeting.

Here is what I sent him:

Hey, here is me wearing my new PTA style shirt.  I fit right in at Lana’s school now.

Here’s my fishy face

Here’s my kissy face

OH my!

Ok, I’ve composed myself and am back to normal…normal as I can be.

LOVE YOU

I don't know if he started laughing or even if he was in the middle of a meeting, but I did get not one but two emails in return. 

The first one said:

that's awesome - love you

The second said:

you should blog that.

So like a good wife I obeyed...probably for the first time ever!