Turkey Cupcakes

How do I get myself into these things?I can NEVER say no! I have A LOT to do tonight! Pack for our trip, laundry, ironing, Anna's spelling pre-test, get Lindsay to bed, clean my house and countless other things! What am I doing? Making Turkey Cupcakes for 2 classes!!
I got the new book, "Hello, Cupcake" at Costco a while back... C-U-T-E!!! Their turkey cupcakes involved small cupcakes on top of big ones and cookies for tails with candy corn "glued on" with frosting.......Uh, not this time for me! Here is my VERY simplified version! They are the "get by" cupcakes for this year's Thankful parties at school. (There is an "Anna" Montana concert going on in my family room RIGHT NOW, Shae and Scott are at the semi-final game 2 hours away and I am feeling the "Mommy stress" of getting ready to leave town-so these will have to do).
Hope you have lots to be "Thankful" for today like I do! I am so blessed to be able to be a Mommy, use my hands, be going on a vacation with my whole family, hear the precious singing voices in the other room, smell the sweet smell of goodies in the oven and make my daughters happy to bring cupcakes to school tomorrow! (I can sleep on the plane! :-}.

*update on the girl's volleyball game: They lost :( But they made it all the way to the semi-finals and made this 1st place team work hard! Great Season Lady Lions! (and phew, no more practices and now we can eat dinner together again!!) {yeah!}

Quarter Final Volleyball Game

We Won!!

{{yippee}}

Tonight Redding Christian beat Elk Creek in the Division quarter finals!!

The next game is this Thursday, November 20! This will be the semi- finals followed by the Division Championship game on Saturday November 22....(if we win on Thursday.) Please keep our 7 girls in your prayers that they will stay well, and as always, glorify Jesus Christ !

Sneaking One In (shhhh)

Isn't she precious? I got her last year after Christmas for half-price. I have a serious weakness for sweet "snow people"! Since Scrooge won't let me get the Christmas boxes down yet (rrrrr), I took a trip up to the attic and found the box with the goodies I found after the holidays and had safely packed away to be unveiled THIS year. It's like giving yourself a gift, opening the box to reveal the surprises that wait patiently all year to be adored!

She is a "Woof n Poof" product (they are made in nearby Chico, California but are carried in Nordstrom and other gift shops all across the country). This particular one has a music box inside her and when wound up she plays "Let it Snow" ever so sweetly. However, I DID NOT wind her up because Lindsay is home and I fear my little snow friend would end up with Cheese-it orange stuff all over her!!

I will see what else I can sneak in while I am supposed to be preparing for our trip!!

Baby Shower- Blog Style!

The time has come to celebrate,


God's sweet surprise, it's really great!


It's funny when we THINK we're done,


He decides to send a "special" one!!


So, baby Logan number five,


We will anxiously wait until you arrive!


Short and easy labor is our prayer,


And joy for your family beyond compare!


Enjoy your gifts and all the love,


But, mostly cherish this gift from above!!

This is a "blog shower" To really understand it go to www.hogwash3.blogspot.com !

• Baby Logan gets a red sweater...for visits to see his/her cousins where it is cold!



• Big sister Maddie gets special stationary.



• Big brothers get a new book.



• "Little" big sister gets Miss Pattycake Christmas DVD (okay, let's be honest, it is REALLY for Denise!)
  
  
• Mama gets some "smellies" from Bath and Body Works!

CONGRATULATIONS LOGANS !

Nikki...Thankyou so very much for the darling "party favor"! This was a fun idea!

Christmas is Coming...

I couldn't help it. I really went to get ornaments for my SILs (which I did). I kept hearing this faint call "Inger....Inger..." I HAD to buy her, she wanted to come to my house..what was I to do?

We leave for Cabo San Lucas (along with 16 other Luffs..) NEXT Sunday (yes, I am trying to pack for my 5 peeps and also pack some fun "cousin crafts" and all), but when I sweetly asked my precious husband if we could please get the Christmas decoration boxes down from the attic so I could decorate before we leave (you know, so it would be all festive and beautiful when we get back home), he said..."Uh,no."

Gosh! {said like Napolean Dynamite}

Guess I will have to wait :(

Lindsay.....

I forgot to put this picture on the last post. So...this is Lindsay keeping herself occupied while waiting for dessert after the play! We sure could have used those crayons during the play! (the poor people in front of us kept hearing the questions "where is Anna?, "What is happening? (she doesn't see well, so this one is justified!), " That was a pretty song, huh, Daddy?" and they were also treated to random clapping and kicking the "clickers" on the floor just to hear them make noise! (clickers are the "church" shoes that make a clicking sound when you walk..all my girls LOVED them and called them this). Sweet girl, she's just trying to enjoy life....I should be more like HER!

The Music Man Jr.

This year Anna decided to try out for her school's production of "The Music Man". She is always telling us that she is going to be famous one day and do special things for us all (like introduce Shae to the Jonas Brothers!). What a relief when she came bouncing into the car the afternoon the "cast list" was posted...and she ...got...a....part....as.....A TOWNSPERSON!!! Phew! This girl was floating! She was in 2 of the song productions, complete with choreography! (sooo cute!)The proud parents! I wonder if she will still claim us when she "is famous"!?
Grandma and Papa were impressed too!

It really was so well done, and it was at the fancy "Cascade Theater" downtown where all the artsy shows have their performances.

Great Job Redding Christian! Thanks for all the hard work!

(BTW, Lindsay did attend this event, but she was too stubborn to be in the picture, and Shae didn't get to use her ticket because her team keeps WINNING and advancing in the Volleyball playoffs! So she had practice...good thing she has her driver's license now! Next game on Tuesday...)

Volleyball 2008 Photo Shoot

Shae's Dream

Watch out Gabriella!!

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We finally got our new routine down.

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Big Game Tonight! Go Lions!

The Lady Lions had their last :( Home game on Tuesday night.
We had some great fans show up! Beckie brought the boys, Brad had to work, so this was no easy task alone!

Blue eyes was trying to figure it all out!

He had a good time playing with Grandma and Papa, and the noise didn't seem to bother him this time...he likes things calm and organized and quiet (he IS his mother's son!)

The hometown faithful fans.

This has been a fun season watching this little team bond with each other and be so successful even though there are only 7 of them. Most of our opponents had teams double our size! They are heading to a tough game tonight which will determine their psition in the league playoffs. We are praying for them to play hard, play well, and above all else, honor Jesus Christ tonight no matter the outcome!

(it will be a nail biter, and it is an away game, so Scott is going and I will stay home with the little girls..but I get regular text updates from him!)

Go Lady Lions!!!!

It's Over

The election is over, and God is still on His throne! Now it is our task, as those who trust Him and love our country, to pray for our new president and our country. We are in for some challenging times, I am sure, but we can rest in knowing that God knew about these results before the foundation of the earth.
Proverbs 21:1 "The king's heart is in the hand of The Lord; He directs it like a river wherever He pleases." Worry not, Christians, We serve the ONE ALMIGHTY GOD!!

A New Driver in the House!!!

This is the girl that passed her driving test with a score of 100% today!!
This is the girl driving HERSELF to school (in her "schweet" inherited mini-van"!)

Bye, Shae!! How has this day come so fast? You were just my bald little baby yesterday!

This is the happy girl who drove herself home from school today...and is about to drive herself to her volleyball game so we don't have to get there sooo early! Yippee!!

This is what the new driver scored when she carrived safely home from her first solo! (Her sweet Dad thought of everything...flowers, starbucks giftcard, gas giftcard and Jamba Juice giftcard!) We are so proud of you, Shae! Congratulations! (and Yippee that you and Anna can go to school by yourselves tomorrow.....I think I will stay in my pajamas :)

A Month of Thanks

WoW! The commercial Christmas season is upon us! The stores are full of decorations, trees, gift wrap and anything else green or red you can think of. Beofre you know it , it will be the month of......greed. How sad.
I am making a real effort this month (well, all the months really) to be truly thankful . I will work all month with my girls to be sure they know how BLESSED we really are. The song "Who am I?" comes to mind..really, who AM I that the Lord of all the earth would care to know MY NAME? How unbelievable that I am one of His own!
Today I am thankful for:
My salvation
My family (why do I get to be a Mommy when so many don't?)
My health (read this blog www.confessionsofacfhusband.blogspot.com )
My country (why was I born in the US and not Iraq?)
Democracy........please exercise your right, and vote tomorrow!

I am humbled by the life God saw fit to give me, and I pray that I will accomplish His will in the days He has given me on this earth. I am THANKFUL.

Teacher Gift Idea

I have a daughter in High School and I always feel like the HS teachers don't get gifts anymore! So I copied a cute idea I saw on my blog friend, Rachels blog (http://www.eoberrys.blogspot.com/), at the beginning of the school year. (she is very creative!!)

I went to http://www.studiojk.etsy.com/ and ordered the "kitchen" labels..only I chose teacher names instead of kitchen names. They were fun and E.A.S.Y. to put on the jars I found at Ross for $3.49 each (labels were $15 for 6).

I filled the jars with candy from Target (halloween section 50% off-but the candy itself isn't packaged for halloween). It beats trying to think of something to bake, and then having to BAKE it. The candy made the labels not show up, so I just took a dozen pencils each and lined them behind the label...problem solved!

I thought these would be cute sitting on their desks...and they could have a sweet afternoon "pick me up", or use them to bribe their students!!

Halloween 08

This is the Lion that came to dinner tonight...aka Austin Jeffrey Luff!! Grrrrrrr!The Cousins Scott and Anna after working on their jack-o-lanterns.

(Scott was listening to Sean Hannity while doing this...can you tell?)

The welcoming committee...i tried to get this picture with no flash so you could see them lit...but it wouldn't work!

This is the Halloween feasting table (Nikki...look what I made!) We had Taco soup, cornbread and a "spooky salad bar" (my sister in law made labels for everything..vampire eyeballs were cherry tomatoes, etc...Ewwwww!

This Little pumpkin came too...aka Gavin James Luff (just look at those eyes!..and I love me a thumb suckin' baby!!)

As we were cleaning up after dinner, we had a very special trick or treater (one of 2 in all actually!! ) This is Lindsay's friend from school...AJ. He kept saying "Hey, Lindsay's Dad, we can be Buds now since we live so close!" It was funny. (and BTW, he had the same Doctor Lindsay had, he is another brain injured victim of that man!)

Lindsay wasn't about to put down that cupcake for the picture...ad she kept going back into the family room to watch Dora too!

Halloween 2008 was a fun time for all! Have a "SWEET" Weekend!