Moving Question

I've recieved some questions, so figured I should explain myself some more....
So the deal with us moving.......we are keeping our fingers crossed for a relocation offer from the company. I don't think PBAL as a unit is going to stay around. My suspicions are that the lab will be under PGRD and that the site QA in St. Louis will be the only QA needed. I'm done with the lab QA stuff. I want to get more involved with clinical trials or just at least with something bigger than this. So I think PBAL will be gone after the middle of next year. That is when Aaron and I will both be done with our Masters degrees. We just want to do something new. Go on an adventure. We can always come back if we don't like it, but right now is the time in our lives we can just pick up and go, experience someplace new, live life. We kind of feel like we've "done" Missouri, and there isn't a lot more exploring here. The relocation package here is perfect, so it wouldn't set us behind. We are hoping to get up to the north east: Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts - around there. Yes we've already gotten all the "It costs so much, you will never be able to afford your house there, blah blah blah." Our plan would be to go out and get like even just a two bedroom studio apartment or something - the smallest we can do with for at least a year, and just explore every weekend. There is something so appealing about that we could really go down to the bare basics of what we needed as a family and just make it happen. We'd all still be happy without a basement full of toys, heck, the kids don't even need beds, they mostly sneak in with us or sleep in their "Special bed" of a blanket and pillow at the end of our bed!!! We don't need a big kitchen, or big living room...none of that, we just need each other. "Home" is wherever we are for the kids, so as long as we are happy and flow with the punches, they will feed off of that.
Sooooo, that is our plan. Keep your fingers crossed that I can find a job internally to get us there.

Thanksgiving weekend

Happy Thanksgiving. Yummy, one of my favorite holidays, but I didn’t get near enough food, so hope everyone will do the same stuff for Christmas, or I’m just going to have to make my own Thanksgiving at the house and eat it all myself! Last Tuesday I had a mild (ok, almost severe) panic attack when I realized that I had never gotten Denise’s stuffing recipe from her. Now to a lot of people, this might sound so ridiculous, but I know that for Aaron, it just isn’t Thanksgiving without that stuffing. So I completely panicked, then talked myself down and found what seemed like a similar recipe. I’ve never made it before, the one year they weren’t going to be here to fix it, Aaron had called his mom for the recipe and made it himself. So I kind of remembered what he had written down a few years back. Wednesday when I got off work, I went straight to the store, got all the stuff, and went home with a purpose. This was going to make or break Thanksgiving, ok, maybe not make it – but it would have broken it. I am Thankful to report that it turned out and passed Aaron’s inspection with only a minor change “The celery are usually bigger bites”. So, the recipe lives on.

Aaron’s Thanksgiving Stuffing
2 packages of sausage
Half of a yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
3-4 stalks of celery, diced (about 1 cup)
2 boxes of chicken StoveTop
1 box of Cornbread Stovetop
2-3 small cans of chicken broth
½ stick butter (optional)
Salt and pepper

Brown sausage, drain, add onion and celery and cook. When onion and celery are done, remove from heat. Stir in all boxes of stuffing. Put in greased oblong cake dish, pour chicken broth over, melt butter, drizzle over. Salt and pepper a little. Cook at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Aaron swears it is good. I HATE stuffing, so don’t go near the stuff. But him and the kids eat plenty of it – they all LOVE it.

So know that we had stuffing out of the way, noodles were the next thing on the list. See for me, its just a good meal without noodles. That is what makes or breaks the meal for me. My Nannan used to slave away for hours, but I’ve found a store brand that works for me. I had graciously (selfishly) agreed to bring the noodles to my uncles for lunch on Thanksgiving. They turned out good, even Nannan thought they were homemade and loved them!! At my uncles, all of us kids were there (minus my two step-sisters and their family) and Christopher was at his mom’s. But it was cool to have us all there. Might be a while before it happens again with Allen out of state, Cameron going into the military, and us hopefully moving out of state.
That night we went to my dad’s house. We got to see my “Uncle” Timmy. Love ya Uncle Timmy! Hopefully we will see you all soon down at your place!
The next day we left the kids there and came back home. Friday night had Kevin’s b-day party, got a stomach spasm, Saturday day worked on research paper, went to eat, went Christmas shopping, more on paper, went to neighbors for game night, another stomach spasm, and Sunday went to Rams game. We had great seats, too bad there wasn’t much to watch. At least I enjoyed the company!

Nanna and her Grandbabies.


4 Generations with Nannan and Granddad

Mom and her kiddos

5 rows from the field on the 50 yard line!!

Lots and Lots of pictures

Turner's Birthday weekend started on Thursday when Aaron got offered 2 tickets to the Blues Hockey game. I had to take Mackenzie to her first Daisy (Brownies) meeting, so I couldn't go, so we decided it would be a blast for the birthday boy. They even put his name up on the big screen.

Being his goofy little self

Pretty sure he was shooting somebody with his "Spidey web" here. Aaron said he didn't take off the hat all night and was shooting everyone on the Metrolink

Daddy and Turner in their seats.

Yippee...think he had fun??!!

Friday night we took Mason with us and went to Jump4Fun. When we got home he got to open 1 present. This game is ALL I hear about now and he even slept with it the other day.

And we had cupcakes - can you tell!! lol

Saturday night, Mackenzie had 2 friend's over for a sleepover.

Pillow Fight!

The three Musketeers! These girls are becoming inseparable.

Mackenzie, Bell, Abby

Sunday morning, the 4 year old Turner posing for the camera
Another pose for the camera!

The party gang, Turner's cake was a homemade Transformers cake. Not the best, but it tasted awesome!

Birthday boy in the birthday chair that the girls so helpfully decorated.

Arrrrrrrr! In his pirate dress-up (that mommy got for super clearance after Halloween!)

Happy Belated Buddy

No, don't worry, I didn't forget Turner's birthday, just haven't gotten around to writing the post on it. My little Turner...oh buddy, you melt my heart. Tonight while I was on my way to class, Aaron texted me to tell me that Turner had just told him that he "never wanted to die because he wanted to hug mommy all days". Surely said while he was slaying a monster in his Star Wars game! And that is my little guy all wrapped up. The boyest boy of all with the sweetest biggest heart. Turner never ceases to amaze me and completely capture my heart. I am constantly in awe with the individual personality he has. You know how some people talk about whether they dream in color...well Turner dreams in "Superhero". I am always hearing stories about how he was having this dream that a shark/monster/bad guy was trying to get him, and then he kicked them in the face and beat them up!! There is nothing that could bring this little guy down. I hear from him the most how much he loves me. Whether it is as he is running through the living room sword fighting, or in the middle of the most mudane task, he will always come over to tell me how much he loves me. And with the most sweet voice, puppy dog eyes, and slight tilt of the head. I can't believe he is 4 years old. Really....where has the time gone. There is something so special about Turner. Of all my children, I believe I have the most to learn from him because he is so different from myself. I love his invincibility, his belief that he CAN do ANYthing, the pure way he believes he is a superhero, his soft feelings, the way he is a momma's boy, that smirky little smile (oh that smile) , the way he is so naturally boy, the fact that he acts out what he is telling me, that he shoots people with his "Spidey hands" or invisible guns, that he still so innocent, that he always sees the "light from Heaven", that he wants to live forever just to be with me.......this little guy is a one of a kind.
I love you so much Buddy!!

So what is new these days.......

Mackenzie has a boyfriend, has for a while now. So what does "boyfriend" mean to a 5 year old...that she chases him around the playground at recess!LOL She just loves Patrick. Little red headed little boy that rides the bus with her. So last night she tells me that she only likes boys that are cute, funny and smart. And if a boy isn't all of those she is not going to let him be her boyfriend because they will make her act not as smart!!! You go girl - wisdom far beyond her years!!! She is also all in to having sleepovers and friends over, or going over to friends houses. Seems like every day I'm either picking a kid up or dropping one off. I LOVE it. I've been looking forward to this point in our lives since she was born.

Turner is becoming a gamer. The first thing I hear out of his mouth when he wakes up, I pick him up, or I walk in the room is..."Mommy, I play Ninja Turtles..PLEASE!" Really it is the only thing he wants to do right now. Him and Austin are little monsters right now. Totally brothers, now officially have 2 boys in the house. Just this morning I walk in the living room to see that they have piled every pillow on top of the coffee table, laying on top of it, and rolling over to fall off on to the floor. Do boys just like to be destructive and try to get hurt?

Austin has been taken over by a body snatcher. My sweet little boy is a monster right now. He is extremely stubborn (wonder where he gets that from) and is either wanting to be completely independent and then switch in a split second to wanting mommy to do it and hold him. I find myself at least once a day screaming/crying back at him...."WHAT....WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!??!" But then he does something so incredibly cute. Oh the joys of children. He had his Parents as Teachers evaluation on Wednesday and scored super high on his fine motor skills and advanced in his gross motor and speech. So Mackenzie was always ahead on speech, Turner on gross motor, and Austin on fine motor. So cool to see them all work together and each have their own strong point. Can't wait to see how it factors in to their personalities and things they do as they get older.

Well, I'm actually sitting in class right now and guess at some point I should start paying attention. Only 6 more months till Aaron and i both have our Masters......YIPEE!

Elephant Rock (AKA...almost to Heaven)

Yesterday was so beautiful we just had to get outside. First we packed up a lunch and went to the park. Had a good game of family football going (Austin is quite the linebacker), then on a whim we decided to head to Elephant Rock. I had remember going there as a kid and thought it was cool, and I've been wanting to get there all summer. So we got out the map, and took off driving. We ended up taking about an hour unnecessary detour, but it was ok. Aaron and I felt like we were on a date with all the time in the car to just talk and catch up. The kids had a blast going on the "Roller coaster" roads. We finally found the Elephant Rocks, and had just enough time to explore before the sun set. The kids LOVED it, Aaron and I LOVED it. It was a blast for everyone. Of course in line with the last post, it did not go unnoticed to me that we were going down 4 months to the day that we had originally planned - it was a planned outing while Harold and Denise were here to visit this summer, but Denise's "stomach ache" kept us from making it. But then when we got there, as we started climbing up, Turner goes "Mom, we are almost to Heaven!" Well honey, I'd like to think that a little bit of Heaven was with us today. It was an amazing time, so much fun conquering the rocks, and exploring the secret passages. We topped it off with dinner out (a special treat with the budget we've been on). While at dinner I texted a friend who grew up around there, Jeff texted back that he just happened to be down there, so we stopped by to say hello, and congrats...they just found out they are expecting!!!! It was a great date day with my husband, my kids, and just maybe an angel from Heaven.

We made it!

Exploring all the secret passages.

I owned this rock!

I think we got it mom!

Family shot

momma and her bear cubs.

Enjoying some R&R after the long climb.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Mackenzie had her first real sleepover with a friend from school Friday night. they had a blast, I had a blast playing make-over with them. She got invited for another sleepover last night, but we weren't home in time for her to go. I have a feeling that I'm either going to be plus 1+, or minus 1 at least 1 night a weekend for the rest of her life! LOL

I found this on my desk at work a few weeks ago. On a particularly hard day, I looked over and saw this sitting on my desk. I have no idea who left it there, but it was so fitting. Think maybe this was a sign?!?!?!?!

The Time Change

Sure last weekend was the time change. Set the clock back an hour. But when is the real time going to change. When will everything that we do, every day, not be about it being "4 months since they came for a visit, 3 months since diagnosis, 1 month since we lost her". For all of my life up to this point, my life has been based upon a timeline of wonderful experiences. "Since graduation, since Aaron and I met, since we got married, since we had Mackenize, Turner, Austin" Now I feel like everything is based on our loss.

About a week ago, Aaron and I had this converstation, and I'm crying telling Aaron this, and he stops crying and just looks at me and says "Hey, This isn't your way of trying to get me to have another baby is it! LOL" (that is us:), middle of tears, cracking jokes). "No honey it isn't, but may be worth a shot!" lol

The time will change. Someday. I think it is why I want something big to happen in our lives. For a big move, or career change...something to overshadow it. But I just don't know that anything will ever be that much of an impact.