The Recipe for Perfect Thanksgiving

• 9 Adorable Grandkids
• 2 Amazing Grandparents
• 5 Mommies and Daddies
• 1 Large Turkey
• Lots of Side Dishes: Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans, Corn, Relish Tray
• Homemade Rolls
• Lots of Pie: Pumpkin, Chocolate, Apple
• Christmas crafts provided by Grandma
• A basement full of toys
• Games, games and more games

First Frosty

The kids could not wait for the first snow of the season! The big day happened on November 22nd (yes, I am very behind on this blog!). It was a very small amount of snow, but they were not discouraged, they were determined to gather every bit of snow they could and build the first snowman of the season! He was a very cute little guy, but this little frosty is long gone. Now we have a plethora of snow...and it is still falling tonight!

Princess Hanah

We loved having Hanah stay with us for a couple weeks! She definitely brightened out home and brought a lot of joy into our lives. Sidney and Hanah loved playing dress up. They tried on 3-4 dress-up outfits a day and managed to try out every princess dress and dance outfit we have! Maddie even joined in on the fun.

Not so yummy in my tummy!

Jamie has been patiently waiting for Hanah and I to join her at school lunch. We fit in a quick visit right at lunch time today between errands and volunteering! We had a great time, but there were no mini-pancakes and I didn't get one "Yummy in my Tummy" from Hanah as I force fed her the mashed potatoes. She would not eat the potatoes at all with any gravy or turkey on them. But I managed to sneak in 2-3 plain bites between every piece of the soft chocolate chip cookie which she loved. Jamie was thrilled to have us join her and Hanah exclaimed that she had fun as we climbed back into the van!

Twilight!

I thoroughly enjoyed my nights out last week to see the highly anticipated Twilight Movie. I had read all 4 books this summer and really enjoyed them. I joined a great group of women back in August for the Breaking Dawn release party. We celebrated with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and seeing Mamma Mia at the theater. For the Twilight Movie Release, my friend Stacey organized a terrific party again complete with darling invitations, a gift exhange and dinner at Cheesecake Factory. I didn't take my camera, because I knew the event would be well documented by others. Click on the following links to check it out:

Breaking Dawn Release Party

Twilight Movie Invitations

Twilight Movie Party

It was so much fun to be with 24 great friends and enjoy this wonderful evening. I actually made a last minute decision late Thursday night to go see the 12:01 showing of Twilight the night before! (Thanks Kelly, for joining me in the back of the theater!) I am so glad I got to see it twice...I definitely caught more the second time!

As for a review of the movie....I am not hard to please and I really loved it. Yes, it was cheesy. Yes, it was not as detailed as the book. Yes, it was definitely aimed at the teenage audience. Yes, the acting could have been better in parts. Yes, the special effects were a little wierd (especially the glittery skin!). Yes, many things were different than I had pictured them in my head. But, all that aside, I still LOVED it! My favorite characters were Bella, Alice and Jasper. The villians were good and the actor that plays Carlisle is definitely my favorite (pure eye candy)!


I am excited for New Moon because I still remain a big Jacob fan and I really like the actor that plays him....I can't wait for him to mature, grow a little and become the heart throb I envision!

Thanks Stacey for all your hard work and effort in planning our little night out! It was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again. (To read Stacey's great review of the movie: click here.)

StormTrooper Jamie

We are not sure if this injury is the result of having a door slammed on her foot Sunday night or the result of tripping on a rock when walking home from the bus on Monday afternoon. But, we do know that the end result was a broken foot for Jamie. There is a great scientific name for the break and the place of the break, neither of which I can remember. But, basically Jamie chipped off a small moon-shaped piece from the end of the bone in the top of her foot. It is the exact same place and injury that I had when I was in my car accident back in March. And...she has the exact same boot (aircast) that I wore, just in a miniature size. LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER! Jamie is enjoying the extra attention she gets at school and the pain seems to be easing quite a bit. In 2 weeks we will return to the doctor and if it has healed, Jamie can slowly return to her active dancing life!

Nickelodeon Universe with the Little Ones

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Ramona and I took advantage of the fact that 5 of the children were in school all day last Friday and went to the Mall of America with James, Shawn, Hanah and Lydia. We used up lots of free Nickelodeon Universe points and the kids loved the rides. James's and Shawn's favorite was the swings. Hanah loved the Diego bus and Lydia loved the Carousel. We then ventured to the food court and managed to get everyone exactly what they wanted for lunch. Ramona and I treated ourselves to some Long John Silvers for 'old times sake'. In the 'old days' we use to stop by Long Johns's every Sunday after church and get fish and chicken for us to eat on our hour long drive home.

Cousins, Cousins, Cousins

With PJ's visit this weekend, we were able to get all the Shaw cousins together. They have a great time and love each other very much.
You can also view these pictures on Ramona's Blog. It is not easy to get 9 children to cooperate, so we felt pretty good about these candids we were able to capture!

Yummy in my Tummy!

Yesterday for lunch, Hanah and I joined Sidney at school for some great Mini-Pancakes! Sidney and her friends had a great time laughing with Hanah and listening to her talk. Hanah LOVED the mini-pancakes and every time she took a bite she exclaimed "Yummy in my Tummy". She ate every bite of the pancakes and the sausage and when she finished she wanted more. Sidney happend to be the 'table washer' this week, so we got to watch her clean the tables after everyone in her class lined up for recess.

Game of the Year

Brent is on pins and needles this week....
(yes he has had some exhausting interviews at Target...for a new position),
but the real reason is
the big game this weekend.
BYU vs U of U.
He will probably not even be able to see it....unless any of our MN buddies happen to have Direct TV and have subscribed to the sports package that carries the MTN channel. Please let us know and Brent will be overjoyed to join you in watching the game and bring gifts if necessary!

AMERICAN GIRL Dreams Do ComeTrue!

We have been waiting months for this day to finally arrive. The American Girl Boutique and Bistro at the Mall of America is finished and open for business! The Grand Opening is this weekend, but after a little research I discovered that there was a 'soft opening' today and tomorrow. So I surprised the girls, told them we had an errand to run at the Mall of America and walked right up to store. It took them a few moments to realize that there were customers coming and going and then they shouted for joy! We looked over the entire store twice, exclaimed multiple times and dreamed of how we would be spending all our money on future shopping trips. This time, however, we walked out with only the free catalog which we already had at home. Jamie is hoping for Ruthie for Christmas and Sidney is hoping for Molly, both are pictured below!

WICKED Weekend!

The touring company of Wicked is playing in Minneapolis for the next few weeks! Our family has been completely obsessed with the music since this summer,when we saw the production in Chicago. So we went up on opening weekend to enter the lottery and try for some great cheap seats once again! Jamie was our first big winner! She won two great front row seats on Friday night at the bargain price of $25! She took Aunt Mony with her and they loved it! Aunt Mony was blown away at the amazing voices and Jamie once again loved seeing the performers up close. They even waited at the stage door and got autographs and pictures with all the stars! It was a night to remember for them both!

Jamie with Boq.Jamie with Glinda.Jamie with Elphaba.Jamie with Nessarose.Jamie with Fiyero.
(I have to add that he was my favorite Fiyero yet!)

Sidney was pretty disappointed that she did not get in to see Wicked on Friday night, so we went back to Minneapolis on Saturday and Mom was the lucky winner this time! So Sidney got to see this amazing production from the front row also and we loved it. She was very tired afterward and decided it was in her best interest to not wait for autographs this time....she was sound asleep after 2 minutes of sitting in the train, we hadn't even moved yet!

To find more information about the wicked lottery, click here. We will be trying to win the lottery again to get Brent and Riley in, and probably more than once if Jamie gets her way!!

Lysol attacks the Nursery!

Tonight for Activity Days, we attacked the Church's nursery toys with Lysol wipes. The girls worked very hard and the toy cabinets looked pristine when we left. The did a great job! We took these fun pictures at the end of the night! I love these girls and appreciate their willing attitudes!

Student of the Month

Congratulations Riley!(Click on the images to enlarge!)

I will be a very proud mother tomorrow
when I place the
'Student of the Month'
sticker on the back window of my mini-van!
(Now I can feel like a true Minnesotan soccer Mom.)

3 Reasons to Rejoice!

(Sorry about the poor pictures...
took them with my phone....
but you get the idea!)