Welcome to the family Elbie

On Thanksigving we welcomed a new addition to the family... Elbie the Elf. Jayden named him because he couldn't say Elf... we all loved the name of our newest family member. His first night with us he learned to spell his name in cereal.

Elbie celebrated the holiday season with us. He was so much fun to have around and could always count on him for a good laugh. Sometimes he was very sweet and I mean sweet as in bringing us treats, other times he was sneaky and would get into trouble, and most importantly other times he would give us gentle reminders of the true importance of the holiday season.  I have captured just a few of the silly things Elbie did throughout his time with us.

1.) He decided to make a snow angel (OUT of Flour!!!)

 

2.) Just hanging around... the best part is believe it or not this took the boys a while to find him.

3.) Elbie is our hero! (on the fire truck) 

4.) Looking at Elbie and his sharing skills. He made S'mores over a candle with some friends. 

5.) Toilet Papering my tree.... "Oh Elbie" that is what we said almost every morning when we would look for him.  

6.) Elbie saying prayers by the manger reminding us of the importance of Christmas.

7.) Stinker trying to figure out how Elbie got so high.

8.) Instead of Where's Waldo .... we said "Where's Elbie?"

9.) Hmmmmmm I wonder where Elbie went?

10.) WOW Elbie brought us a special treat on Saturday morning!!

11.) Splish Splash Elbie was taking a bath... in our kitchen sink!!! Oh Elbie!!!!!

12.) Elbie was missing the North Pole... Im glad he dressed warm.

13.) Sending us a message (in toothpaste)

We all miss Elbie already. Sport even wrote a note recently requesting him to return. I'm no fortune teller, but I think he may make an apperance down the road (wink wink).

We give thanks....

Well it has been way to long but I want to take a moment to recap what I am thankful for this  season.  This year for Thanksgiving with all the holiday chaos we ended up having a holiday COMPLETELY alone.  I was alittle in shock at first … what a holiday with no running around, no time crunch, unhappy people for some reason or another… NOPE!?!?! The Jenkins had a schedule problem with shopping, naps, and bedtimes so my Sis and family hosted our parents and we stayed home. The Reseighs all went to Jason's Brothers house along with her family, looked like it turned out well.

As for us…. we woke up to a very quiet house, packed up the boys, dressed warm, grabbed some hot chocolate/coffee and donuts and went to the Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was the BEST idea ever! Yes a little cold but we did it and those smiles on the boys faces made it well worth the frostbite toes (they thawed eventually).  Stinker saw his PAWS, Paws, Paws… he also was a big fan of the huge Balloons when they would fly over his head. Sport jammed to the bands and loved the entire thing.  With our strategic planning we ended up getting in and out of the parade with no traffic. We got home in plenty of time to begin the food prep and relax.  Dinner turned out PERFECT… of course tons of leftovers, but that is what Thanksgiving is all about isn’t it?  By 5:00 they food was put away, the boys were in PJs and relaxing and I was prepping for my Black Friday chaos. I met up with my Mom and Sister at Toy R us at 7:30 and we went full force until 5am…took a power nap and went back out with the crazies by 8am until 2pm!  LOVE IT!

Thankful Recap Top 10 List:

·         Top priority my amazing, charming, irreplaceable boys (all 3) my life would not be possible or complete without them.

·         A secure job for Hubby and I. We are both budget people that love to plan ahead for our dreams and make them possible BUT within reason. We are so thankful to have secure jobs we both enjoy that make those dreams come true.

·         Friends – You win some you lose some. Life really does put you through some interesting obstacles that you just can never plan for. We are so thankful for our great friends/family that REALLY has stuck by our side, offered help in some way, and pushed us along. We know who they are and we would do anything for them as well.

·         Sports – I know, I know why, in the world why I admit this?!?! But, its true sports is in our everyday life and I am so thankful for that. Whether it is us all being physical or watching together; it keeps us out of the scary bad things that can surround us and keeps us safe and healthy (that’s my deep thinking going to work).

·         Faith – We are so thankful to find St. John Vianney a very welcoming church and family that does not judge our life, our past or even our current choices. We go in there and have a safe place to pray, reflect, and think. Im not a fan of the music program but you can’t have it all and I don’t go to church for music. I go there to reconnect and chat with God and thank goodness he has created this place for us to all feel we can go there when needed.

·         Organization – haha that’s silly… NO not really! I am so thankful for the lifestyle my parents instilled in me to be organized and a planner. With a 7yr age gap, husband with an impossible work schedule, and sports/hobbies my planning has kept us together to still accomplish things together and make our time together the best all the time.

·         Food – of course having daily meals seems silly but no not really… there are people out there that don’t receive a meal left alone 3 a day AND a snack. We are thankful to have these tasty meals and at times at creativity and fun to them.

·         Shelter – So what if our basement was under water for the 3^rd THIS YEAR… my boys still have beds, we have clothes, and we have great neighbors. I’ve always liked water… I prefer it by my boat NOT in my basement but yet again…. You have to really pick what is important and what isn’t.

·         Learning/School/Tranning – The statement “You learn something new everyday” is very true and we are so thankful for that. I love that Jason and I can share our trainings we have with eachother and use what we learned into our everyday life with the boys. It's even better when Sport learns at school and can come home and teach us!!! And Stinker well…. We learn from him that everything in life can be funny in the mind of a 2yr old… he has taught us that speaking doesn’t necessarily come easy. For example some of his common words “Excuse me = Monkeys” “Baseball = Muckmall” “Rosie = Arrf Arff” “Popsicle = Popabuck”.

·         Life - Life each day to the fullest….another statement that is often forgotten but shouldn’t be. Today is a gift that’s why the call it the present. Recently Jason and I have had to go through many unexpected deaths of some very young people…why, how, who… none of it matters it’s the fact that it happens and we need to appreciate all the days and time we have together! 

Stinker and Daddy watching the Parade from their "special" spot... Standing ontop of a fire hydrant! This dedicated Daddy balanced the whole time for a good view for the little one.

Baby Blue Eyes waiting patiently for his PAWS at the parade.

Cooking time my little Chef. Sport made his very own  "Pumpkinly Speciality" ... It was GREAT!!!

Stinker's first Thanksgiving meal he had enough teeth to eat and enjoy.

Handsome boy made friends at the parade (of course). They had a great time watching all together.

Reseigh VS Food - Noodles (Kun Fu Panda)

This challenge was not on amount of food but the heat index and timed (30minutes) for the family to finish 6 packages. GOOOOOOOOOO team!

 



Reseighs took win!!!

Simple things in life

Today is Jason's 34th birthday.  I refer to him as my "oldest child" because he really is a kid at heart but that is also why I love him so much.  With that said, buying gifts for him is very easy and fun. This year took some thinking power, LOTS of research, and some sneakiness, but it all came along smoothly.  Me and the boys along with my parents (thank goodness the went in on it) bought him a Crossbow for his birthday.  We ended up buying him a Barnett Wild Cat. Icing on the cake I worked with his friend Drew and scheduled a "playdate" as we are calling it and they are going hunting together on Sunday to test it out. I wish there was a way to pay the buck to just show up!

The actual celebration...although his bday is today we ended up celebrating yesterday with my parents because Jason is going to the Tigers game (7th row).  I tell ya this birthday year wont be beat.  While at dinner I gave him a small gift bag that had a MSU house flag in it. He handled it really well "Wow thanks guys lets put this up later....".  After a great dinner we walked outside and my dad called him to the trunk. POOF 1000s of thoughts running through his head he was in denial. Of course he played with it right then and there. He then got home and played with it (while watching sports) for another couple of hours. 

Jason's first glance and trying to figure out what he was looking at.



In the middle of the parking lot he pulls it out to play.  Gotta love him!
Honestly, I wasn't planning on spending that much money for his birthday but watching his reaction and also listening to him talk with excitement makes it all so worth every penny. That's exactly why I coupon and cut corners wherever I can. Moments like this where I can spoil the ones I love... I'd do it everyday of the week if I could.

An Apple A Day

That's right an apple a day keeps the doctor away. I'm going to keep the Dr.s far away from us and keep these boys healthy. This week because Fall is in the air; with the BEAUTIFUL weather we are having (high 70s) in the middle of October here in MI we were lucky enough to grab great apples from an MI apple farm.  Each day this week we will have some sort of apple twist to the meal.

Monday - Happy Birthday to Chef Dadda a day early.  Since he will be going to cheer the Tigers on in round two of the World Series tomorrow (on his actual birthday) we will be going out to celebrate his birthday tonight with my parents.  The restaurant is his choice so far its a toss up of Puerto Vallerta (a true Mom and Pop Mexican restaurant that we love around the corner from our house) or Red Robin (Yummm)! 


Tuesday - We are going to have left overs and cheat today since Chef Dadda is going to the game. However we will be having Homemade Apple Pie Chef Dadda recipe for dessert when he comes home instead of birthday cake. Yes, I actually made him make his own pie BUT that's only because he is really picky if I do the crust wrong. Trust me it's safer this way.


Rosie's birthday is Friday so we gave her a little Apple Pie treat too. Looks like her licking those lips means she liked it. Happy 5th Birthday Rosie Grace we love you!!!

Wednesday -   Apple Stuffed Pork Roast with a farm fresh veggies that I picked up at a little side road market (one of my favorites in the Fall).

Stinker was our first taster he exact reaction "yummmm" I know it must be good he ate all of his meat and he isn't a meat eater! And he tried the Apple Spag Squash for the first time and loved it.

Close up of the Apple Stuff Pork Roast with the apple spag squash and side of mashed potatoes.

Thursday -  We have lots of beef to use up from our cow we purchased in the Spring. Chef J is going to make Swiss Steak and mashed potatoes. We will enjoy hot apple cider in real apple cups (hallow out an apple and pour cider in it).  I think it will be a nice special twist to our dinner.

I made Hot Apple Cider served in a hallowed out apple cup and gave the boys a side of homemade Apple Crisp.

 

Side view of our dessert.

Cider is gone after 2nds and the crisp is almost gone too.

 

Apparently this was a family hit the boys were sharing the apple cup!

 

Friday - Apple Chicken Pot Pie with another farm fresh veggie. Tank you Rachel Ray for the Pot Pit recipe. *** Working Mommy side note I made extra chicken mixture to freeze some and will place it in a pastry shell later on in the season for another dinner.



Saturday - Great family friends of ours The Elges family have 2 October birthdays just like us in the family. So we have a tradition to go to Frankenmuth in the month of October to have the Free Birthday Zhenders chicken dinner. We will take advantage of this today and head to Bronners (World's largest Christmas Store) to get in the Christmas spirit and then enjoy some of the famous chicken.

Hellooo.. Goodbye another weekend come and gone

 This past week flew by but with nothing but smiles.  Simple recap....
Friday -  I went out and used my Groupon to Dream Dinners with my mom. See a little alone time not only did we have a good time BUT I left there with 6 ready to eat meals to add to my freeze to have on hand. Friday due to a very great solid straight A progress report my Dad (Papa) took Jeffrey to the home opener Red Wings game. They had a great time... a little alone time for them (hasn't happened in a while). He also came back in a great mood.


My Mom and I getting ready to knock out some meals together.



Look at her concentrating so hard and then there is me... was that suppose to be Tsp or Tbl?


Nothing beats a great feeling of having on-hand ready to make meals completely ready in the freezer outside.



Look at this amazing 4th grade progress report from all of his teachers.


Yup it earned him a special night out with Papa just the 2 of them for the Home Opener Red Wings Game!!! Stinker is trying to go so we had to sneak them out.


Saturday - Jason and my dad went and used their golf Groupon and had a beautiful day of 18holes. Me and the boys played outside, did some yard work and just enjoyed some quiet time. We then had a fantastic night reuniting with the All Star baseball families at one of their houses. Of course the boys were gone and played for hours. The Dads also gone and watched sports together. The Moms sipped some drinks and we too even found some time to relax. Our goal was to leave by 9:30...NOPE we didn't leave until 1am. No worries Stinker fell asleep long before that, which is why we were able to enjoy a couple more hours.

Sunday - Its a beautiful day that couldn't be passed up. We utilized our Greenfield Village pass and brought along Nonna and Papa. We all had an absolute fantastic time. We took a train ride, rode in the Model T cars, we learned a lot about Thomas Edison. It was a great day we had a nice picnic. Sunday evening the boys had the typical neighborhood play date in our backyard but I don't mind all the giggles and smiles it was great to see all the kids enjoying the weather together.


Mom, Dad, & Sport riding in the Model T behind us.


Stinker taking a deep breath of the beautiful mother nature surrounding us.


This is one of my favorite buildings the garden house. Where's Waldo/Papa I love that I was able to capture him with these beautiful colors AND he has a smile!


My Mom and Dad are waiting outside in the front of the Thomas Edison building. Sport wouldn't leave, he had so many questions and wanted to learn. The workers were very patient with him it was cute.


We took a nice family train ride around the whole Village. What a BEAUTIFUL day and place to escape to.

Another wonderful weekend with the family enjoying time together & making memories.