Busy, Busy, Busy....

I haven't written in a while. This time of year is always crazy. Last week we had our Young Women Evening of Excellence, so I was busy the week before that making invitations (which turned out way cute if I don't say so myself). The theme was "The Beauty Within" and the girls all got makeovers (makeup and hair) before and we borrowed a bunch of formals from women and girls in the ward for them to dress up in. They all looked beautiful. The boys escorted them to their seats for the dinner with their parents and then the boys also served dinner. The deacons didn't get invited to help (ha ha). But the Teachers did, so Travis got to dress up and he did look mighty nice. I had to give the lesson on Sunday so that took up some time. It takes a lot more preparation to teach the young women than it did to teach the 4 year olds I had in Primary before I got this new calling.

This week is Thanksgiving. In Sunday School our teacher had us go around the room and everyone had to say something we were thankful for but there couldn't be any repeats. All of the ones I could think of got taken before it got to me (family, good health, nice area to live in, etc) So by the time it got to me I was afraid there woudn't be anything left. I decided at the last minute that I am thankful for having the Priesthood in my home. Pretty good one huh?!!

I guess I'll have to end this for now. Thanksgiving is at my house, so I have to get cleaning done today because the boys will be home tomorrow and I have pies to make tomorrow to get ready for the big day!

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving and remember to think about all of things you are thankful for this year!

Oatmeal Disaster, NOT!

Okay, I have to tell a funny story. On Sunday morning I woke up thinking I would be a good wife and mom and make everyone a nice hot breakfast before church. So, I made oatmeal and when I was done I sent Trevin to round everyone up. He came back to the kitchen by himself and said, "Mom, isn't it Fast Sunday?" So, needless to say, I then had 5 cups of leftover cooked oatmeal and I really didn't think it would warm up very good the next morning YUCK! So, I set out to look for recipes that used leftover cooked oatmeal. I had never seen one, all recipes normally call for oatmeal uncooked. Anywho, I found this recipe for bread made with leftover oatmeal, made 5 loaves and it is wonderful, so I thought I would share it.
Oatmeal Bread
1 c. leftover cooked oatmeal
1 c. warm ater
1/8 c. brown sugar
2-4 c. flour
1 tsp. instant yeast
1 tsp. salt
In mixing bowl, stir oatmeal and water together to break up oatmeal. Sprinkle yeast on top. Let sit for 10 minutes. Add brown sugar, salt and 1 c. flour and mix to combine into wet dough. Add additional flour, mixing well after each addition until he dough comes together into a rough dough. When dough holds together, turn onto awell floured counter. Knead, adding more flour as needed, for 2-3 minutes. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes. Knead for another 3-5 minutes adding more flour as needed. Surface should be smooth and not sticky. Place dough in bowl, cover and let rise until doubled. Punch down and shape into loaf. Place in a bread pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Cover and let rise until double again. Preheat oven to 375. Bake for 30 minutes. Butter top of loaf. Dump out of pan and let cool an hour before slicing. This makes a really moist loaf of bread. Yummy.
That's all! It wasn't so bad of a disaster after all.

3 TIME SUPERBOWL CHAMPS

We had the most exciting end of seasons ever for flag football. Trevin's team lost over half of their games during the season, most of them just by a couple of points. Last Thursday they began their playoffs and won their game with each team scoring 2 touchdowns each in the last few minutes. We went for 3 extra points on one of ours and that made the difference in the final score. Saturday morning they had their quarter-final playoff game and they were able to beat the other Elk Ridge team, the Chargers. Last night they had their semi final playoff game against the Broncos and won amazingly by a huge score of something like 59 to 63. Then right after that we had to play the final Superbowl agains the 49ers. After a hard fought battle with the other coach playing all 9 of his players at one point and the refs "didn't see it" (each team is supposed to only have 6 players on the field at at time), we came out on top and won 36 to 37. It was pretty cool! So, Travis, Tyrel, and Trevin all won the Superbowl this year with their respective teams.

Halloween is over and I'm already hearing Christmas music on the radio. It's kind of weird because it is still so warm here. Trevin was a Ninja for Halloween. Tyrel went for his last year of trick-or-treating with his friend Tyler. Travis didn't get to go this year. He said we are kind of mean that way. He thought he should still get to go. But, he went with some of his friends and watched a movie and then had air soft gun wars in the dark. He had a lot of fun, but wanted candy so I gave him a full bag we had left over and that seemed to satisfy him.

Trevin has been busy practicing for his talk in the Sacrament meeting program next week. The boys all got their report cards last week also. Trevin is the only one in his class that hasn't missed a spelling word yet this year and got E's (for Excellent) in every category. Tyrel got all A's and A-'s. Travis got mostly A's with a couple of B+'s. They are all doing very well and I'm proud of them.

Travis is getting way too tall. He is 1" shy of 6' now. Trevin has already outgrown his school pants and looks like an orphan. Hopefully Santa will bring him some pants. Tyrel is pretty average for his age, a little on the taller side but seems to grow at a steady pace instead of all at once.

Oh, I did make it to my scrapbooking goal of 365 pages. Actually I am currently at 389. WOO HOO! Now I just need to get the journaling done on them.

I had my first sale at my new online store yesterday. I was so excited. I am still in the process of getting it set up, but drop by and see it if you have time. http://www.kraftykuts.biz/


That's all for now.

Got a 2 Point

Well, what should I write about today? It seems like such an uneventful life without football consuming our every waking moment. Actually Trevin is playing flag football still, but it isn't near the time consumer that tackle was for the older boys.

Travis got his braces off this week and got his retainer. His teeth look really good. It is also end of term this week, so both Travis and Tyrel have been busy making up missing assignments to get in before it is over. I can't understand why they don't turn it in when they do it the first time. They always seem to get lost if they don't get turned in right away and then they don't get full credit for them. They both have been getting good grades anyway though.

Tyrel got his braces on two weeks ago. So, we are in for another 2 years of orthodontist appointments. He is also taking CERT training and had to spend 13 hours last Saturday in his class and gets to spend another 4 or 5 hours this Saturday. He said last Saturday was the longest day of his life. But he will get 3 merit badges for completing the training, so I think it is worth it even if he doesn't.

Trevin has been practicing his talk for the Primary program this past week. We went to his parent teacher conference this morning and he is the only kid in his class that hasn't missed a spelling word yet this year. His other grades were all really good also. He just needs to work on the neatness of his handwriting. That seems like the report we got every parent teacher conference through elementary for all three of our boys.

Sean was gone over last weekend and up through Tuesday on the deer hunt. He was kind of bummed that Kevin and Kathy weren't there this year, but he had fun and got a deer. It wasn't a monster, but it will do. We just finished cutting and wrapping it up a few minutes ago.

That is all that is going on with us. My dad is doing great after his surgery. The physical therapist said he is where most people are after 6 months of therapy and it has only been 6 weeks, so I guess that means all is going well. He meets with the surgeon the first week of November.

Take care.

SUPERBOWL

Football is over. Yes, I am kind of sad about it. It was fun to watch my boys play and I really did enjoy the games. I am glad the practices are over. It kind of takes a toll on family time when there is practice every night from 5:30 to 7:00. Then we just rush home, eat, take showers and go to bed. But anyway here are the standings for the Superbowl.

Travis - won his final game 39-0 and then WON THE SUPERBOWL 12-6. His favorite position that he played this year was noseguard. Here is his photo!


Tyrel - WON THE SUPERBOWL 13-12. It was a close game, but they managed to pull it off. Here is a picture of him tackling the running back.

Trevin - had his first flag football game and won 39-21 with Trevin scoring one of the touchdowns! I missed it because it was at the same time as Travis' game, but Dad said he did great! He was pretty excited. He had his 2nd game last Saturday and lost. I don't even remember the score, but it was pretty sad. It was Fall Break, so there were lots of kids missing, but the few remaining hung in there despite the rain. Trevin got to play center. Here is his picture!

We went to take our annual family pictures on Conference weekend. They turned out pretty well but you will all have to wait to see when you get your Christmas cards. Sean thought we should all wear Steelers sweatshirts, but I refuse to have bright yellow clothes on for a family photo, so we settled on BYU hoodies and T-shirts.

I had set a goal to do 365 scrapbook pages this year. I've done pretty well. To date I am at 350, so I believe I should be able to get those last 15 pages done before the end of the year. Now I just need to get caught up on the journaling for all of those pages. That will have to be my goal for next year. Actually, I am about 3 years behind on journaling in my scrapbooks. OOPS!

Reflections

I had the following article published on a scrapbooking website a couple of months ago. I'm thinking it has been there a while and they will probably be taking it down soon, so I thought I would put it on here so I would remember it.


I have been REFLECTING on why I scrapbook…… I do it because I love it! It is my hobby and my escape. I also scrapbook because my family loves it. My boys love to sit and look through their books (even as teenagers) Wow, am I old enough to have teenagers? This got me thinking and REFLECTING on why I scrapbook for them.
My husband is my life. He loves me and supports me unconditionally and there is no way to thank him enough for what he does for me and for our children. I made him an ABC album for Father's Day a few years ago about the reasons I love him. It was the one and only Father's Day gift I have ever given him that he cried over when he opened and started going through it. It was a total surprise to him because I worked on it while they were all gone on a Father and Son's outing for church and I was home alone for the weekend. He is the greatest husband and father ever!
Travis…my 14 year old…when I REFLECT on Travis I think about how patient he is. He can be trying to watch a movie or playing a video game and have all of the little nieces and nephews crawling on him, shooting him with sponge darts, stealing his hat, and he never gets impatient or mad at them. He just takes it all and loves them and that is why I think patience is his best quality and one of the many things that makes me love him and makes me want to scrapbook for him to show him in one more way that I love him.
Tyrel…my newest teenager…REFLECTING on Tyrel's traits always makes me think about what a loving person he is. He can have ornery looks and he tries to show attitude, but deep down inside he is a pushover. He is always the one that gives hugs and kisses to everyone after family prayer each evening before he goes to bed, and they are not just like I get from the other boys because they are part of the routine, I can tell through his hugs that he really loves and appreciates everything that we, his parents, do for him, including scrapbooking his sporting events.
Trevin…my baby…who is not really a baby anymore, he just turned 8, but when I REFLECT on what I love so much about him it is because he is my baby, and I find that I love (and am also sad about) scrapbooking the last baby blessing, the last kindergarten graduation, the last baptism, the last pack night award ceremony, and there will be many more lasts as he brings up the caboose of our family, but he also gets the benefit of me knowing what I am doing when I scrapbook now. Or at least I think I do. I'm sure in 5 more years I will look back and think, “I could have done better on that page.
Well, this is pretty lengthy, but I did want to REFLECT on why I love everyone and because of that, I keep scrapbooking.

Sports and More Sports

Well, first off I have to apologize for getting behind. It has been a crazy week!

I'll start off with sports. Most new stations end with sports, so I thought I'd be different. Tyrel's game 2 weeks ago Saturday they won 36-0, last Wednesday they won 48-0, and last Saturday they won 12-6. He has another game tonight and then will have his Superbowl on Saturday. It has been a fun season and in a way I'm sad to see it end. We all love the games, but I will be glad to not have to run around to practices every day. Tyrel thinks he is going to go back to soccer next year. He likes it a little better than football to play, but he loves to watch football and is one of the most avid Steelers fans you will find. His room is even decorated wall to wall with Steeler stuff.

Travis' team won their game last night 12-0 against their rivals, the other Payson team. It was a really good game, but it is getting kind of cold for these night games. They won their Saturday game 20-0 and had a bye the previous Tuesday, so only 2 scores for him. I, being the great mother and photographer that I am, left my card in my computer last week when I was dowloading pictures, so I was clicking away at the Saturday games last week and went to look at the pictures I had taken and lo and behold, there were none! UGGH! I have it safely in the camera now, so hopefully I can get some this Saturday. It is too dark at the weeknight games for me to get pictures. The field is lighted, but I can't get a decent photo ever.

Trevin tied at his game last week 0-0. That seems to be a popular score. All of the teams are pretty evenly matched this year. Tonight is his last soccer game and he starts flag football on Saturday. He is pretty excited for his first year of football. They are already asking me when they get to start basketball. I'm glad that there will be a little break before that starts although it isn't as bad because they only practice a couple of times a week instead of every day.

We want to thank everyone for their prayers and thoughts concerning my dad. He had his surgery last Wednesday. It was a long a stressful day for everyone but worth it. It went great! He ended up having a hemangioblastoma which is the fancy word for a mass of blood vessels. The Dr. said it was scary for a bit when he got to them and they started bleeding, but once he got all of them stopped everything looked clear and normal. They had ordered up blood, but for some reason Dad's red blood cell count was really high and once they got everything stopped it was back down to normal, so there was no need for a transfusion. They also said that it wasn't cancer and that it as a very low chance of growing back. He was released on Saturday which was a couple of days earlier than they thought and has been here at our house since Sunday to be closer to physical therapy for this week. It has been great to have him here and hope he enjoys his stay with us as much as we enjoy having him here. Here is a cute picture of him in his cap and gown before surgery. Sorry dad, I couldn't resist.

We are having family pictures this weekend as long as the weather cooperates. We did have snow earlier this week which seems really early for this time of year and more storms are coming later this week, so I hope we can get them done since we all just got our hair cut and are ready to go. Will post pictures next time I update.