Thanksgiving Dinner

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! We sure did and the dinner was a hit!!! I cannot tell you how proud I am of myself. This was my very FIRST time making a holiday meal all by myself. Everything was SOOOO good! Check out the picture of our spread. We had turkey, ham, dressing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cornbread, potato salad, gravy, rice, cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and pound cake. Yes, I DID make all of this...except the gravy and cranberry sauce.

So, first let me tell you about the turkey. I made it in the crockpot and it was the moistest turkey I have ever had! My husband doesn't usually eat turkey because it is always so dry. Well, for dinner, he ate two helpings of the turkey and has yet to eat the ham. The leftover turkey is just about all gone!

My two favorite dishes were the sweet potatoes and the green bean casserole. Now, these are not your traditional sweet potatoes with marshmallows or green beans with cream of mushroom. They had a great twist to them and they were oh-so-good!!!!

Finally, I have got to tell you about the pound cake. I was planning on using my grandmother's pound cake recipe, but my dad convinced me that her recipe was too difficult and that he had a recipe that was much easier and almost as good. So, I used his recipe and the pound cake was AMAZING! It was so moist and so delicious!

I cannot begin to explain how proud I am!!! My husband said that me WANTING to cook a holiday meal on that scale was an answer to prayer! :-) I guess the fact that it really tasted good was an answer to prayer too! It is funny, because I guess people were really concerned about me being able to do it all by myself. My father-in-law even had his exercise classes praying for me and my Thanksgiving meal! Well, you know what, it worked!

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Planning for the Holidays

So, I had every intention of using a Thanksgiving planner to get ready for Thanksgiving. Well....I am just now getting around to making a grocery list! This year (for the fist time) I will be making Thanksgiving Dinner ALL BY MYSELF for my family and my in-laws. I am very excited. You see, usually whenever my mother or my mother-in-law come to visit, it is an automatic given that they take care of the kids and that they do all the cooking. Well, not this year! Did I mention that I am so excited?!?!?! Anyhow, although late, I am about to get started planning my Thanksgiving menu.

I am not going to let Christmas creep up on me like Thanksgiving has. So, I did some searching and I have found this great site for printables. They have a Holiday Panner that I am LOVING!!! I have entered their contest to win it, but in the meantime, I am settling for printing off the pages myself!

I just love this time of the year!!!

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Pita Pocket Pizzas

So, I attempted to be creative and I decided to try making pita pockets from the Breadman Manual. Boy, my bread machine continues to amaze me! They were great! The instructions didn't go at all like I thought they would. I figured that I would have to put two layers of round, flattened dough on top of each other so that I would get the "pocket" effect of the pita bread. I was wrong. You just flatten the dough and the pouch kind of forms itself. Once they were done baking all I had to do was cut the circles in half and the pouch was there! I let the kids stuff their pouches with pizza ingredients and they loved it! The pizza pita pockets were a huge hit and they were extremely easy to make! I am SO lovin' my bread machine!!! Here is the recipe that I used (from the Breadman Manual):

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups warm water
8 tsp olive oil
4 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups bread flour (I used all-purpose)
1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp active dry yeast

Instructions: Put ingredients in machine in order listed. Select dough cycle. Once cycle completes, place dough on a lightly floured surface. Divide into 10 pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball. Place 5 balls on a large baking sheet. Place remaining 5 balls on another sheet. Allow dough to rise about 20 minutes. With fingertips, flatten each ball into a 6 inch circle. Bake at 500 for 5 minutes or until puffed and tops begin to brown. Cute each in half to form 2 pockets.

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"Posing Pregnant" Pics

Since I have started blogging, I have been able to reconnect with people that I have not been in contact with for a long time. One such person is my friend Ann. Checking out her blog made me think of the pics she took of me and my husband. Man, that was over five years ago! Time sure does fly! Anyhow, when I was pregnant with my daughter she agreed to take pictures of us at the beach. At the time, she had just kind of gotten into photography. We (along with everyone else) kept telling her that she had a great eye. Anyhow, I absolutely love the pics that she took and this one here is one of my very favorites. But, they don't even compare to the work she is doing now! Check out Ann's photo blog to see more of her awesome work! BTW Ann, I still cannot find the negatives or the printed photos and I only had a few of the pics saved on my computer. I have GOT to find the rest of my "Posing Pregnant" pics!

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Another Funny Conversation

While I was cleaning out my desk, I came across a little piece of paper with a conversation written on it. See, I have a little notebook that I try to record the funny little things that the kids say. Well, try is the operative word. Hence, the random piece of paper with the conversation. Anyhow, I wanted to share. It was from August of this year.

JJ: "Mom, can we go to the pool today?"

Me: "No J, it is too cold."

JJ: "Well, we can wear our life jackets."

KJ: "No J. Life jackets are for keeping you up in the water...not for keeping you warm!"

Big sister had to "break it down" for little brother...again!

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Funny Dialogue

This morning I heard a funny little dialogue between KJ and JJ that I just had to share. Here goes...

KJ: "Hey I'm wearing your favorite color (blue)."

JJ: "You are?"

KJ: "Yeah, you are too!" (JJ also had on a blue shirt.)

JJ: "I'm two??? Hey mom, guess what! I'm not three anymore. I'm two!"

Then KJ began to try to give JJ a kid explanation of homophones!

KJ: "Not the number two...too!"

Kids can say some of the cutest little things!

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Giving One Click at a Time

As I have been trying to build my blog, I have been checking out lots of other people's blogs. Something that I found on someone's blog kind of caught my eye. They had the following images on their blog:

Interested, I clicked on the image and realized that by my single click I was helping all over the world! How does it work? How can simply clicking on each of these boxes each day be helping people all over the world? Well, when you click on one of the six images above, it takes you to the specific site listed on the image. On that page there is a button to click: the "Click Here to Give - it's FREE" button. Your click is counted by their servers and you move to the Thank You page, where you will see small ads for their site sponsors. Site sponsors purchase these small ads on the Thank You page for a certain amount of time. The number of people who click during that time frame is tabulated and the sponsor is billed for the appropriate amount.
100% of sponsor advertising fees go to the charitable partners. So, I checked it out a bit more and it appears that you can click each of these boxes ONE time every single day of the year. What a great way to give and it costs nothing, except the thought and effort to just click!

Want to add these widgets to your blog? When you click on one of the images on my page it will take you to the cooresponding site. Look on the left side of the page and click where it says "Link to Us." Simply choose the image you want, copy the HTML code and paste it onto your blog.

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Bottle Top Names

I am loving this idea of Bottle Top Cap Names. I can't wait to make them, espeically for the boys who are learning to spell and write their names. Carisa has lots of great "tot" ideas on her website/blog. Be sure to check it out!

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The Beauty of Fall

I just love this time of the year. I love seeing the leaves change colors! The vivid reds, oranges, and golds are just so captivating to me. It is just amazing to think about how beautiful God's creation is! After living for several years in places where I did not see the colors of fall, it makes me so much more appreciative of the fine details of God's craftsmanship. I often wonder if people who have been fortunate to live in a place where they see the beauty of fall each year have the same awe as I now have. I hope that my appreciate of this aspect of God's beautiful creation never wears off no matter how many years I am fortunate enough to see it! While admiring the colors one day, the boys were having a blast jumping around in a pile of leaves that I had raked up for them. I was able to get a picture of one of my boys holding a bright leaf that he collected from the pile. I love the pic. Check it out!

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How to Make a Blog Button

Here is the button that I have made. I have posted this on my sidebar. People who want to link to my site with the button just need to copy the code in the box and add it to a HTML/JavaScript widget on their blog. Then, they will have a button on their blog that links to my blog. Want to create one for your blog? I have step by step instructions below.


<center><a href="http://mama-jenn.blogspot.com"><img border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266031041138856418" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8aNKYbiIQz8/SRSzVM9DEeI/AAAAAAAAAL4/wd9A2H2t5g8/s200/mama+jenn+brown.jpg" /></a></center><br/><br/>

I am by no means tech-savy. But, I have had lots of fun playing with and developing my blog. I noticed that many sites had little buttons that you could add to your blog that would link back to their blog. So, I decided that I wanted to try to figure out how to do it. I figured I would write it down so that I can pass along the info, but more importantly so that I have a reference for when I want to create another button or for when I change the look of my blog and need to replace my lost widgets. So, here is a step by step tutorial on how to make a button for your blog.

DISCLAIMER: I KNOW it seems like there are ALOT of steps, but for my sake I needed to describe each step in detail. So, it may be over-kill, but at least I won't have any questions when I have to use the steps to make a new button! :-)

As I said, I am not that tech-savy. I know that you can do a lot of this using digital scrapbooking, but I only know how to use paper and scissors. So, that is how I made my button (similar to my header, but I am sure that you could probably use the same info if you have a digital design that you want to use for your button.
Having said all that, the paper version of my button measured about 2.5” x 2.5.” I scanned it in at 300 dpi and saved it to my computer. Here is what I did:

1) Open up the blog dashboard.

2) Select Posting and then Create. (I have found that for me the easiest way to create the button is to make it in a post and then paste it as a widget to on my sidebar.)

3) Use the “Add Image” tool and browse to find the scanned image you want to use for the button. Select “None” for the layout and “Small” for the image size. Upload image.

4) Once, the image is uploaded, click “Edit HTML” so that you can obtain the info needed to create the button. What you will need is: 1) the url of the website you want the button to link to (this will be the web address of your blog) 2) the image ID, and 3) the url of the image. #2 and #3 can be found in the HTML you see on the screen.

5) Copy and paste the HTML code below into your post. (It is easier if you paste it a few lines below the image code that appeared after uploading.


<center><a href="BLOG"><img id="PHOTO-ID" src="PHOTO-URL" border="0" /></a></center><br /><center><textarea name="info" rows="3"><center><a href="BLOG"><img border="0" id="PHOTO-ID" alt="" src="PHOTO-URL" /></a></center><br/><br/>

6) Now you will begin to make the following changes to this code by using the HTML code that was already on your screen. First, where it says, BLOG you will need to replace that with the web address of your blog. (Be sure to begin with http://) You will have to do this in two places.

7) Next, look in the HTML on your screen to find where it says img id=”……” Copy and paste the info that is between the quotations and use it to replace PHOTO-ID. You will have to do this in two places.

8) Now, look at the HTML on your screen to find where it says src=”….” Copy and paste the info that is between the quotations and use it to replace PHOTO-URL. You will have to do this in two places.

9) Now, you will need to add the following to the very end of the HTML code you are creating, but change the parenthesis to less-than and greater-than symbols: (/textarea)(/center)

10)Now, save your post.

11) Click Compose and take a look at your button.

12) If it looks good to you, then click Preview.

13) Click on your button to test that it links back to your blog.

14) If all is well, go back to your saved post. You may have noticed that you have two pics of your image. One is the button that links to your blog and the other is simply an image of the pic (If you click on it, it will just be an enlarged picture. It will not link to anything). Select “Edit HTML.” Now, it’s time to paste the button onto your blog as a widget.

15) Copy the HTML of the button.

16) Move from the “Posting” section to the “Layout” section.

17) Click “Add a Gadget”

18) Select “HTML/JavaScript.”

19) Paste the HTML of your button and save. Now you are all done! Enjoy your button!

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Operation Christmas Child

Yesterday at MOPS, we spent our time filling boxes for Operation Christmas Child. What is Operation Christmas Child? Here is a short description from the website. You can also click on the title above to be taken to the official website.

Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God’s love. Since 1993, more than 61 million shoe boxes have been packed, shipped, and delivered across the globe. People of all ages can be involved in this simple, hands-on missions project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas—Jesus Christ.

It is amazing that so many of the things that we take for granted can bring joy to the face of a needy child. It was a very humbling experience to watch a video of a woman recount the day, as a young girl, that she received her box. You see, her shoes had holes in them; they were too small; the sole was taped up, etc. Inside her box was a brand new pair of shoes. I am tearing up as I think about it. She asked who gave her the box with the shoes and she was told that someone gave them to her because they wanted her to know that God cares about her. The person began to share the great love of Christ and she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior that very day. As an adult, she now fills boxes for the kids just like her! It was such a moving story! So, if you are interested in blessing a child by filling up a shoe box with gifts, please visit the site for all the details. The National Collection Week is November 17-24.

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November Calendar

Although I do not get to scrapbook nearly as much as I would like to, I have one little project that gets my creative, scrapbooking juices flowing each month. As a way to archive my scrapbook pages, I make calendar pages. I am a chronological scrapper, hence, having a calendar just before the pages depicting the events for that month makes since for me. So, each month I make a calendar that I display on the fridge. Once the month is over, I put it in my album. I have a Creative Memories fridge frame for the calendar pages. I got to it a little late in the month, but here is my November calendar. I used my die-cut machine to make the word "November." I used little stamps from Michaels to make the days of the week. I stamped the leaves onto white paper using acrylic pants, cut them out and glued them on.

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My Girly Girl

Prior to our move, KJ was concerned about making friends. Well, that has not been a problem. She just finished up a basketball class with one of her friends, Jada. She decided that she wanted to play basketball because Jada wanted to take the class. So, we did it. As a former basketball player, I was thrilled that she wanted to play. I have never tried to push basketball on her, hence, she knew nothing. She didn't know how to dribble or anything. Granted, she was much better by the end of the classes. Once we got to the final week of class, KJ was especially excited. After the last class I asked her why she was so excited. She told me that she was glad that the class was over. She told me that Jada wanted to do basketball again, but that she didn't. She now wants to do dance...even though Jada doesn't want to. Well, I am certainly glad that she has a mind of her own. But, it wouldn't hurt if she followed in mommy's basketball footsteps. Wait, now that I think about it...perhaps there is still hope. My mom told me that as a little girl I was very girly. In fact, she tried to convince me to play basketball and I didn't want to. I didn't actually start playing basketball until I was in the 7th grade. Since KJ is only 5, I guess she still has time! :-) But, for the meantime, she is my girly girl and I am okay with it. After all, I do have four boys.

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My Recurring Epiphany

Do you ever have those moments where you have to remind yourself of something that you have already learned/discovered for the second, third, fourth, fifth, or millionth time? Well, I do and I would like to call it my recurring epiphany. For the last week or so, I have been so busy trying to do "stuff." Now, I am already quite busy with five little ones and homeschooling on top of that. But, I tend to slip into these stages of trying to do too much. Do you know what I mean? I get so carried away with "other stuff" that being a mom seems to just get in the way of the other things that I want to do. For example, I needed (correction....I wanted) to look at something on the computer. The kids were climbing into my lap, asking questions, complaining about being thirsty, etc. I was getting frustrated because they were keeping me from doing what I needed (wanted) to do. I find that when I try to focus on things other than the kids, (Disclaimer: This does not mean things like folding clothes or sweeping the floor...these types of things take no focus at all...I do it so much, I feel sort of robotic about it! LOL) my fuse becomes very short. I have little patience and I get overly frustrated with all aspects of motherhood. Is it just me or am I preaching to the choir? So, after a week or so of not enjoying motherhood, I had my recurring epiphany...Stop trying to do and be things that God has not called me to do and be in this season of my life. For the time being I am a homeschooling mother of a five little ones who need me...all of me! So, practically speaking, what did I do? Well, today, I put the laptop away, which is why I am just now getting around to writing my blog. Normally it would sit on my desk (turned on of course) so that I could check on things as I walk by! You know how a few minutes on the computer can EASILY turn into 20 minutes! I also took out a little notebook and kept it in my pocket. When I would think about things during the day that I wanted to do or remember, I jotted them down...rather than trying to get them accomplished at that very moment. I also made a conscious effort to focus on the kids rather than the "other stuff" that I wanted to do. Once they went to bed, (after I cleaned the kitchen of course...I try to be a FlyLady) I was able to do some of the things that I wanted to do. So, how did the day go? It went quite well, much better than the last few days. If only there were someway to keep it up and not slip into those moments where I have to have my epiphany...again! Maybe I should jot THAT down in my notebook. :-) Better yet, I need to post it on the cabinet in the kitchen! (I will talk more about the importance of my cabinets in a future post! If you don't utilize your cabinets, you will want to be sure to check out what I have discovered!)

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"Don't Want Fruit on Me"

Here is a bit more homeschool comedy:

We have been learning about the Fruit of the Spirit (Galations 5:22-23). So, last week, thinking that I could kind of get them excited about the impending lessons of the next day, I asked them if they knew what kind of fruit could grow on them. Boy, was that a mistake! For a whole day I had them upset and worried. They didn't want apples and oranges growing on their body. DC didn't want dirt on him. KJ said she didn't want bananas in her ears. JJ was the worst of all. He cried in dismay about the idea of having fruit growing all over his body. Even after I explained that real fruit would not grow on them, I had to deal with their worry and concern for at least two days. Don't worry, things are better now! :-) They understand that the REAL fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control!

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My New Blog Header

I love my new header!!! How do you like it? I have been working on it for a few days. So, how did I do it? Well, let me start by saying that I know that there are lots of great things you can do with digital scrapbooking and that you can use that technology to create super cute headers. But, I have no clue how to do it. So, I wanted a cute, original blog header, but didn't want to pay to have someone design it. Well, my November 2008 issue of Creating Keepsakes scrapbook magazine provided the solution. There was an article by Elizabeth Kartchner titled "blog away" which gave instructions on how to create a new header that is made from the scrapbook materials that I am used to: paper, glue, etc.

Exactly how did I do it? Well, I created my design on paper that measures 10" x 4". (The tutorial in the magazine suggested 8" x 2.5". But, I made mine larger because of the design elements that I wanted to use on the paper.) So, once I made my paper version of the header, I scanned it in at 300 dpi and used the resizing tool so that my header filled the sizing box. Then I saved it to my computer. Next I went to the Blogger, opened my "Dashboard," clicked "Header," and then "Browse." I selected "Instead of title and description" and "Shrink to fit." Then I uploaded the header image and viola!!! Now, I am working on buttons for my blog. Of course, I will let you all know once they are done!! Yeah, I love my new header!

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Counting By A's

Here is a bit of homeschool comedy for you!

KJ learned out to count by 2's (up to about 10) awhile back. So, we have been reviewing how to count by 2's for about a week now. So, yesterday in the midst of the chaos of me trying to get dinner on the table she told me should could count by A's. I said okay and totally disregarded her comment. So, today I was able to work with just her on her schoolwork (the boys were quietly playing downstairs...so I let them keep playing). Anyhow, she announces, again, that she can count by A's. Here I am thinking that I am misunderstanding what she says and then all of a sudden she says, "A C E G I K M...and so forth." She was counting by A's! Once I figured out what she was doing, I couldn't help but laugh. It is amazing how kids make connections in their heads!

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99 Balloons

A friend of mine recently had a miscarriage. Last week I was making a card to send to her, so I decided to take out one of my scrapbooks. See, I, too had a miscarriage. (It was in between the sets of twins.) I made a scrapbook page to commemorate the baby that I lost. As I read through everything on the page, it dawned on me that the two year anniversary of the day that my baby was born and died had passed without even a thought. Sad to say, I don't even recall remembering the one year aniversary! ...A few days ago I recieved an email with a YouTube link titled 99 Balloons. Boy, was I touched. I was in tears before the video was even over! If you have children, please be reminded that they ARE a blessing. You know, I think about how upset and frustrated I can get with my kids. This made me stop and realize that there are peole out there who only wish that they had kids to get upset or frustrated with. The video 99 Balloons, is a great reminder of just how precious life is and that we should treasure every moment that we have with our children! Check it out below.

I am also wondering, those of you who have had a miscarriage, do you do anything special to commemorate and/or celebrate the child you lost?

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Harvest Festival

Yesterday evening we took the kids to the Harvest Festival that is put on by our church. The kids had so much fun. They had people dressed up as characters from the Bible telling their story. It was great because they told the stories in first person. So, it was like hearing about David and Goliath from David!! Check out the pic! There were all kinds of games for the kids to play, like knocking down Goliath, fishing (fisher's of men), and finding the lost sheep. They even had live animals to pet, fire engine rides, bounce houses, face painting, karaoke, and horse rides. The kids had so much fun. But, what I loved most was that the focus was totally on Jesus! At every booth, the workers took time to talk to the kids about the Bible before they got to play the game or get candy. KJ dressed as a princess...of course. JJ dressed as Diego (Dora's cousin) and DC dressed as a cowboy. (On a side note, it was so funny when DC had his horse ride. He took his hat off and yelled "YeeeeHawww!!" It was the funniest thing ever!)

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