Juggling it all...

So another turkey day has come an almost gone. We had a glorious Thanksgiving with the Herrick's and have much to be thankful for. Scott had to work today, well at least that's the way the day started out. He was first on the list to be called off if the patient count was low, but no such luck so he went off to work this morning business as usual which left me to take care of EVERYTHING. I signed myself up to bring way more than I would have if I knew I would be doing it alone, but in the end the kids were great, I was super organized and we only left our house 17 minutes later than I wanted to - I can totally live with that! I took just a few pictures mostly for the benefit of Scott so he could see my handy work with the name tag place settings and so he could feel like he didn't miss anything. But then at about 2pm I received a fantastic phone call from the Big Guy saying he was comin' home! He was lucky enough to have discharged his patients and not receive any ...

...well, swim, of course! The other day we had Sam's BFFs over after school for some play time and during the first hour they were here I had each and everyone of them come up to me and ask me if they could go swimming. Of course being the rigid, un-fun adult that I am I told them... 'heck NO, you can't go swimming! It's November for crying out loud and that water is like -30 degrees or something!' Well, leave it to the Big Guy to say, 'sure, why not'. And so, I present you with the Fab 4 swimming... in November... fully clothed - well, some... and lovin' every minute of it! Note to the mom's... I don't blame if you never let your girls come over again! Sorry! And PS - Sorry for Sam's... ummmm.... 'free spirit' ... we're working on that!

Today, for the first time, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I get it. I am now in the club. I now know why most moms only want a family photo as their gift for Christmas, birthday, Mother's Day or any other gift-giving holiday. Why do I know this... because today was OUR family picture day and it was everything I wanted and more. I don't care if no one looked at the camera, I don't care if we all had something stuck in our teeth... it was a picture of me and my most favorite people on earth and that right there is worth more to me than ANYTHING that could ever be purchased. So, in honor of picture day I just couldn't help but grab my own camera as soon as we got home to get a few shots of my own since we were all lookin' uber cute. Completely random pics, most out of focus (I really am working to train Scott and Sam), but just a little sneak peek of us...

So I have recently ventured into the world of making ribs - on my own - and let me tell you I really am just that good! Thank goodness Samantha loves them, too. At the rate she inhales them she just might choke on a bone if I don't watch out for her. Seriously though, I'm really quite proud of my new found cooking ability. My mom has always rocked the ribs - she can make a mean rack of ribs - so it's always been very intimidating to try something that my near and dear has already perfected. However after a lazy day of channel surfing I came across this cooking show demonstrating how to make some delish ribs. I was hooked. I committed everything this guy said to memory and set out to make my own mean rack of ribs. Ummmm yeah, I'm kind of a rockstar now in my family...we've all been in heaven the last few days with all the leftovers. This was the final stage of the cooking process... the beautification part. Caution... do not attempt to eat your computer scre...

I'm just warning you now that every once in awhile I will have to confiscate this blog and use it for my own selfish reasons... mainly contest entries. I know, silly right? You see most giveaway contests want you to leave a post on your own blog about the giveaway itself. Normally I wouldn't bother with ridiculous contests anymore (insert the bad experience I recently had with the whole EBSI website joke-of-a-contest thing) but since I feel like I never win anything, I will reserve my entries for the things that I absolutely have to have and really, really want to win. Case in point... this giveaway contest for this necklace . Ok, bye.

It would seem that Brody has become quite the imaginative little fellow. This is what he did/said to me today... Walked into my office and came up to me sitting at my desk with one of Scott's stethoscopes around his neck and announced that he was Dr. Brody and need to check my heart. Me: OK Dr. Brody my heart is right here (pointing to my chest). Me: Does it sound good? Brody: Well it does have a little gas in it. Me: Oh really? What should I do? Brody: Go to the doctor and spit it out... I'll be right back. Ummm, yeah... apparently for heart gas you're just supposed to spit it out... whatever "it" is. Brody then reappeared next to me with his blanket and said 'Put this on mom, it will make you feel better'. He then checked my stomach with the stethoscope and said there was a rock in it and then left again. Only this time he reappeared with an easter bucket, another one of his blankies, the tie to my bathrobe and the pillow from his bed and told me to ...

I personally don't remember mine but I'm almost positive it was met with the whaling and gnashing of teeth - literally. I despise the dentist and it's no secret in our house that even though we have (the worst) dental insurance Scott and I still have a hard time making ourselves be the parent in this situation and just go to the dentist. I can still feel all the anxieties I felt when I was younger having to go to the dentist and orthodontist - it's really quite debilitating. So, when it came time for the twins' first dental appointment I made for darn sure that they thought they were going to Disneyland. There's only enough room in this family for two big babies when it comes to going to the dentist and those spots are already occupied by the Mom & Dad. I was so worried how they would do - they don't do to well when it comes to new, unfamiliar sterile environments - but they both did so great. Brody was really quite the charmer. It was an early enoug...