Thanksgiving 2010

We spent Thanksgiving 2010 in Andrews, TX. Everyone but Hunter was here, and he was in Lancaster, PA with his girlfriend and family. we missed having him home, but he will be here on the 19th of Dec, for Christmas break. And, Jess will be joining us sometime over the break for a visit also. We fixed a 26 pound turkey with all of the fixings, plus 2 pies. Our turkey was covered in butter, salt and pepper, then a bottle of white wine was poured over him and into the cooking bag. He was one happy bird and very yummy.
Kyle's girlfriend, Victoria joined us for dinner and then we all watched the movie, Grown Ups. Then it was time to turn in for Rieley, mom and dad. The older kids stayed up and did who knows what, I probably don't want to know. haha
The paper turkey, was made by Rieley at Storyhour, at our local library.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. We have so much to be THANKFUL for.

Sisters

Bailey and rieley wore matching outfits to one of the boys football games, even had tatoos for the game night on. Won't allow them on face again, took 3 days to get off and made her face red once we got it off. Then during lunch time one day, Rieley and Bailey were having races on her Tinkerbelle power wheel(Bailey) and on her 3 wheeler(Rieley), who by the way rode circles around her sister.

Dentist visit 11-18-2010.

Rieley had a cleaning with Dr. Wilkerson on Thurs the 18th of Nov. Normally, these consist of her sitting in my lap and him looking at her teeth and painting the flouride treatment on. After, her experience in PA, she will not go near the dentist without tim or I there and in our laps. So, today was a huge step for her. She actually sat in the chair, let him clean her teeth and take an xray. He found, the tooth that the dentist had capped in PA, has an infection under and around it, so we need to have that tooth pulled and a spacer put in until her permanent tooth comes in. This momma bear was not happy with this news, the dentist was not pleased either. Saying the dentist in PA either did it wrong or missed something.

So, on Dec 6th, we will take Rieley to the hospital to be put under and have that tooth pulled. This, we see as the only way to have it done, until we can get her to feel more at ease with him and not panic when we go to his office. After, how badly she was traumatized in PA, this will be a LONG process, and luckily this dentist is very understanding and is willing to work with rieley and us in getting her to feel more comfortable in his office, with him and his staff.

After the visit, she was rewarded with a trip to the ToysRUs store, located directly behind the dentists office.She picked out these cute little animals that come in little balls, like you get out of gumball machines. They have 16 in a pack and she loves them.

Please, think of her on the 6th, as she goes under and has this procedure done. Will update site after we are home that day. Should go in early in the morning and be home after lunch.

Salsa Black Bean Chicken Soup

1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves-minced

2 chicken breasts

1 cup frozen corn

1 can drained and rinsed black beans

1 ½ tsp cumin

1 tsp Worcester sauce

½ tsp chili powder

¼ tsp fajita seasoning

1 cup salsa (or you can use a can of diced tomatoes and green chilis)

4 cups chicken broth

Optional-1 TBS diced jalapeños



Directions: Combine all ingredients in the crock pot. Cook 8 hours on low. Shred chicken. Serve with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, sour cream and cilantro. A squeeze of lime is good in it, too. Also, I usually taste and adjust the seasonings a bit about an hour before eating. Add more spices according to your family's preferences.
I used 2 cups of corn, and didn't do the chopped onion and garlic and it was awesome. Got the recipe from another blog I read. I also, put the crumbled tortilla chips on the bottom of the bowl and then soup on top with the cheese, we don't care for the sour cream either.
Hope whoever tries this enjoys it like we did.  So easy, just drop everything into the crockpot and leave it alone.

Pigtails and puzzles.

Rieley's hair has gotten so long, she is enjoying having me put it up in a ponytail, but the other day she asked for 2 pigtails and looked so cute.

Also, her and dad, continue to do puzzles together in the evenings, and she likes to help do the big people ones. She is doing 100 piece puzzles by herself, still loves all of her floor puzzles too. Her and Bailey, did all 14 she has the other night, and then I got the fun job of putting them all away.

Trip to Lubbock, TX.

We took a shopping trip up to Lubbock, TX on the 7th of November. Not much here or in the small malls in Midland or Odessa, so we drove 2 hours to shop. Now, that Bailey and I know how easy it is to get there, we will be going back minus the men. haha
We were able to get the majority of Rieley's Santa shopping done, with the exception of stocking stuffers. She will be one happy girl, when she wakes up Christmas morning. Bailey did some damage to dad's wallet too. We ate an early dinner at the Outback and headed home, to be able to do the 75 MPH, before dark. One advantage of living here in TX, is we do see some awesome sunsets. Tim, was driving. Daddy treated everyone to DQ upon our return, you can see how riley enjoyed her dillybar, she is wearing it on her face.

Along the way, we saw alot of cotton that had been picked, some still needing to be picked and some tractors working on Sunday. something new to see, back in PA you never saw the Amish out on Sunday working, they used that as their day of rest.

Trip- Part 4

We made it back to Lafayette in the afternoon, on Thursday(Oct 28, 2010). Grandma and Grandpa were happy to see us and they had recooperated from the past long weekend up in WI. Rieley was running a fever for a day after we returned and pretty much layed around all day. Aunt Pam arrived on Sun, for baby Rhyon's baby shower and Trick or Treating. She brought a pumpkin with her, and they decided on a face and turned it into a jack-o-lantern. Rieley went as Ariel, this year. It was a little chilly and we only went to a few homes for treats. Then, she helped Aunt Pam hand out treats to who came to g and g's house. SHe was Aunt pam's hip attachment for the time remaining in Lafayette, they helped grandma finish a 550 piece puzzle, we raked leaves and trimmed a bush for g and g, changed some light bulbs for them and did a little shopping. Plus, on Sunday night, we went to Rieley's now favorite place to eat, Olive Garden and had dinner.
We headed to the airport in Indy, Tuesday morning about 9, it was time for our 2 week vacation to end and we needed to get back home to daddy and the other 3 kids at home. Aunt Pam was leaving shortly after that to head back to Bloomington. We had a great visit, just wish we lived closer and visits were closer together.