Thanksgiving Week

We had such a great Thanksgiving break. Dan had to work a good part of the week so the girls and I headed to Long beach and hung out with all the cousins for Thanksgiving dinner and black Friday shopping. Then we drove over to my brothers house who lives there as well and hung out till' Saturday. Lots of good food, family and of course crazy black Friday deals.

Dan got off Saturday so we headed up to Big Bear for dinner, and good family time. It was like 25 degrees and beautiful up there.

Morgan took this one for us.

We stopped in this little cafe and I tried their sipping chocolate. It was this tiny little China cup that was like $5 but OH MY GOSH! It was like getting a chocolate high for the next 6 months. Dan and the girls were cracking up as I was drinking it (bathing in it) because my mouth was covered in chocolate.

Dan said there was no way to be classy about it and really I wasn't trying. ;)

The girls loved looking in all the store windows, especially the one where the lady was making baked goodies. :)

No pictures of Graph "in" the snow. She was freezing!

I read, organized, shopped and planned out what I would make for Thanksgiving for two weeks prior. I was trying to make sure Ryanne and I didn't get to left out when it came to good eats on Thanksgiving since we can't have gluten or dairy. I made this Coconut-pumpkin pie and it was a hit.

I also made this Pear-Apple cobbler and I swear you could not tell it was gluten and dairy free. even the skeptics of the group seemed to love it. :) I forgot to take a picture of my stuffing but it rocked as well! I have NEVER made stuffing so it was a challenge to begin with. I am so excited to make it again for Christmas. I am quickly learning how to cook and bake really good stuff completely dairy and gluten free just by making my own flour blends. I got tired of paying $5 for 4 muffins or $6 for a bag of cookies when I could do it myself and make way more. It's more work in the end but there are so many good GF & DF resources out there that it really is fun to try and figure it all out. I picked up this great book this weekend called Baby Cakes and it is all GF, DF and mostly Vegan desserts. YAHHOOOO! Christmas baking here I come!

The Funny Thing About Blogging.....

The funny thing about blogging is this; you either have nothing exciting to share (which is not usually the case around here)

OR

You have so much going on you don't have time or the energy to stop and blog about it. That would be where I have been lately.

Nothing to dramatic or earth shattering really just daily life that gets away from you. I will just share a few snippets of our last few weeks.

My friend shared something on her blog recently that really made me stop and think. Actually I'm thinking about having T-shirts made and passing them out. She said "Disobedience leads to drama!" Now maybe I'm an idiot and you all have pondered this fact many times before. But it just floored me. I was like,"Yes, of course Lord. Disobedience to YOU leads to drama every time." When we gossip, when we do things OUR way. When we aren't faithful in our marriages, when we are bad examples to our kids, or we are selfish and self seeking in our friendships, when we refuse to allow you to lead us. So simple and yet so powerful.

OK on a lighter note, both our girls tried out for a solo part at church for the Christmas Eve service. They were to find out who got parts last night at choir practice. I picked them up and Morgan came bouncing out of class; "MOM, I got a part again this year!!" I was of course happy and proud of her. But then I saw Ryanne coming behind her and I thought to myself, Uh oh this is the first time both girls have gone after the same thing. Could be bad. Might be one of the downsides to them being close in age. But the second Ryanne opened her mouth God blessed me. She said,"Great job Morgan, do good OK? I didn't get a part mom but I will just try out every year till' they give me one." And with that she bounced off into the rain singing away. Such a sweet spirit.

If you are reading this and are Gluten free like me. Go buy the new GF Bisquick mix. My friend picked me one up the other day and it was actually really good. :) Little cheaper than the Clark's or Trader Joe's one when it comes to ounces. So great that they are coming out with name brand things that are safe for GF people. Stinks that so many people need it though.

On to the marriage ministry we have been trying to help get rolling at church. We kept trying and trying to get a place reserved for a Christmas dinner to kick it all off. No luck. No place had dates or they were to expensive. One Monday about three weeks ago I prayed,"OK God clearly it's not your will for this to take place at this time. Or we are missing something here. I am going to let it go and focus on the Valentines dessert/game night. Maybe this is your way of not adding anything to my plate the month of December. I'm good with that. Just use us. Amen" That night Dan called from work and said the woman's ministry dinner had fallen through and so they wanted to know if we wanted the place they had already rented etc. Seriously? OK here we go Lord. Now we have almost maxed out the number of couples we can take and God is bringing all the details together. Crazy. :) The funny thing is we are praying because we still have NO speaker. We are just moving forward and trusting God knows exactly who is supposed to share what and who is supposed to be there to hear it. Oh and all in the same week we found a spot we could afford for our retreat in April. Thank you God.

Threw a birthday lunch for my dad.

Had dinner at some friends house.

Snuck in a date night with some other friends.

Got new tires on my car and 4 days later had to put $500 into Dan's truck-OUCH!

Still getting that support group for women with autoimmune diseases off the ground. Met some neat ladies and hope to help more. Very encouraged by the fight in people to be healthy via food and natural remedies.

Dan still studying for the BC test at work and training for the Iron Man in May.

Both girls are running their first race in Dec. Morgan a 5k and Ryanne the Elve's trott. 1/4 of a mile. Should be fun.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Quick (but funny) Conversations

Me: "OK Ryanne, what state are we working on this week?"
Ryanne: "I forgot."
Me: "I will give you a clue; it starts with a C."
Ryanne: "Nope I got nothing."
Me: "OK one more clue; you were born there."
Ryanne: "OH,OH I GOT IT!! I KNOW! MEXICO!!"
Me: *sigh*


Me: "Honey tell the kids and their friend to quit playing in the dryer please."
Dan: "Kids quit playing in the dryer."
Me: "Seriously honey, they are climbing in there, tell them to stop please."
Dan: "Why they aren't turning it on are they?"
Me: *sigh*

Ryanne: "Mom could you hand me my lip gloss out of your purse?"
Me: "Yup, here you go."
Ryanne: "Mom, this is NOT mine."
Me: "Sure it is, just use it and put it back please."
Ryanne: "Mom, I am sure something is crazy in your head because this IS NOT MINE!"

We were in the middle of a busy Clark's (Grocery store) for this one.
Ryanne: "Mom, what did you say my step mom's name was?"
Me: "Ryanne honey you dont have a step mom."
Ryanne: "Then who's the other lady you were talking about?"
Me: *Sigh* "That would be your birthmom Ryanne."
Ryanne: "Oh yaaaaaaaaaaa', that was her."

I have decided that sanity and children/husbands DO NOT go hand in hand. ;) So I have also decided to just wear crazy really, really well. :) Hence the duck suit in previous post. Stay tuned for many more posts about a crazy mama and the children/husband she adores.

Harker Halloween Happenings

I hosted our second annual Halloween dinner with our friends and neighbors. Then our friends from around the corner came up and we took all 10 kids around the neighborhood. They were all so cute and so good.

We turned Graph into a rock n' roll/goth girl. My mom made the girls costumes. Ryanne was Little Mermaid and Morgan was Jasmine. The costumes were SOOOO good! They talked my mom into being a cat.

GGER_PHOTO_ID_5534615745811306818" border="0">Hopefully Grpah's parents don't see this and make her come home.

You didn't think I wasn't going to miss the action did you? I like to keep my costume a surprise and then come to the front door and surprise Dan and the girls. Morgan said,"Mom, there is something VERY wrong about this!" ;)

Even the birds dresses up as a ghost.

The kids table.

The adults table.

My little monsters.

This picture kinda freaked Dan out.