Sunday, November 27, 2016

LIT.

When the prelit #Christmas🎄 tree has half its lights out 😂😭, we improvise 🙌🏻✨😜 #iwannabedean 👶🏻💙

Friday, November 25, 2016

in case you were under the impression that this was the greatest thanksgiving ever.

things i asked out loud

while cooking my first

thanksgiving dinner by myself

{like without sean bc the

black plague hit him}:

how long does it take? the turkey. {max said "ask siri"}
where’s the tie thing for the bag? i don’t see it in the box.
where’s the baby? {found him in the flour bag in the pantry}

he offends easily. of course i told him it was all my fault, and cuddled him while he gasped for breathe for the next 15 minutes sobbing on my shoulder. this baby makes me melt. we are doomed.
how do i get the wings under the turkey? {watched a youtube video. way overthought that one.}
when does the stuffing go in the bird? am i supposed to cook it with it? {called mom}.
does the neck come out? boy…that looks like a...turkey neck.
am i supposed to follow the recipe online, the oven bag one, or the stove top stuffing one? i’m doing all three, and i don’t know which one to follow. i feel like there should be one with everyone combining themselves together for the big day.
where are the giblets? i don’t think my turkey has any? are they supposed to be with the neck? they’re not with the neck.
i found the giblets.
they were in the butt. i texted my mom to let her know.

{let's be honest.

i show up for thanksgiving mostly for the baked brie.

everything else plays second fiddle.}

in case you were under the impression that this was the greatest thanksgiving ever,

i thought i'd let you know that sean was sick the entire day, and rallied for dinner to help carve.

dean barfed in the beginning, and maybe that night again too?

i can't really remember anymore.

i was exhausted from being sick the entire two days before.

oceans of puke like you've never witnessed before from this gibson house of chaos.

me included.

and then my sweet mother who came to help us all messaged me today saying she's now barfing and is achy all over too.

stay away everyone!

STAY AWAY!
please note: at least one gibson has barfed every single day in this house for the last 15 days.
that's got to be some kind of record somewhere.
just when you think someone is in the clear,
they have a mystery puke pop up!
or a poop. it's not pretty.

also chase broke a wine glass INTO my sweet potato dish i had just finished and had ready to go into the oven, so i had to dump them all and start again bc heaven knows we didn't need to add glass cutting our intestines from the inside out to this week.

nevertheless, the turkey was amazing, and the gravy was like nothing i'd ever tasted before.

must have been the double salts.

P.S.

i stretched the skin bc dad's text came too late before my hands got to rubbing.

it was probably my favorite part of stuffing that bird.

OH THE STUFFING.

it was soooo good.

and we really are very very blessed.

THE END.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

but we've never really arrived.

"The homemaker has the ultimate career. 

All other careers exist for one purpose only- 

and that is to support the ultimate career. ” 

-CS Lewis

...

i love that my accidental career 

has supported the one career that i've always wanted to do.

homemaking.

mothering.

there is nothing i love more than walking through my house, 

with the laundry put away 

{this is the second time this has happened in the last year,

and i just felt like i needed to tell someone...ha!},

the toys picked up,

and my babies all nestled into their beds.

dishes done.

i think the only thing that has ever given me that same satisfaction was that one semester before we got married and i took 21 credits, got straight A's, planned a wedding, and worked 20 hours a week.

that was the best feeling of finishing something EVER!

the biggest lesson that this last year has taught me 

is that life is not about finishing.

finishing feels nice,

and i'm not saying that "finishing" isn't important.

what i'm saying is we've never really arrived.

"finishing" is an allusion.

it's time that we've put on things.

it's something our brain likes to do to compartmentalize.

maybe more like a coping mechanism?

real joy comes from moving along.

helping people along.

the laundry.

the kids.

my business.

my relationships.

even when we think we've finished something,

it's really just the beginning of starting something else.

it's eternity to me. 

when i think about it all.

and it reminds me about the temple.

in the sealing room 

{where we are married for time an all eternity}, 

there are mirrors facing each other.

to symbolize that time is ever ongoing.

forever.

before.

now.

after.

there is no end from one direction to the next.

just like eternal marriage.

the laundry is never really done.

our children are never really not ours to parent.

our relationships are never really done growing.

we have never really arrived.

we're always just getting started.

everything is in constant going, always.

and as someone who has spent preeeeetty much my entire life 

chronically fixated on "finishing" and "being done,"

so i could move onto the next,

this is a new concept.

but then all of a sudden today,

i was walking around my house feeling so accomplished and finished.

caught up on the house,

toys picked up {thank you chase},

and just relishing in the calm before the thanksgiving storm,

and that's when i had this moment of not worrying about being finished.

not worrying about being done.

not needing to be done.

like i'm so content with everything, 

that i don't have to think in terms of

"when will this be finished?"

do you know what i'm saying?

'cause today, i really like what my brain is saying.

and i'm really just grateful to be here right now thinking this.

and feeling this.

amen.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

SPUDS {and also he told me i can get my christmas tree flocked}

dean didn't walk until he was almost 17 months.

the pediatrician says he's a "classic 4th baby."

i wasn't worried,

but i could tell by the way he was giving me his spiel,

he'd had other moms in there worried.

then it was like he remembered who he was talking to,

and he laughed, and i laughed,

and we remembered how awesome it is to just know that kids are awesome,

in their own individual unique little ways.

and then we discussed at length about how perfectly perfect he is in every way.

i think the thing i've loved the most about the 4th baby

is that i've never rushed him in anything.

when he didn't want to crawl, i went with it.

when he didn't want to eat baby cereal, i went with it.

when he didn't want to walk, i went with it.

every part of me wants to make him last as a baby forever,

and if that means him not walking until he's 2,

then that means i'm soaking him one minute longer than if he had done it before then.

sometimes i look at sean and can't imagine not having another baby.

other times i feel like we were nuts to have 4.

you know those nights.

when everyone is melting down,

the 4 yr old takes the baby's diaper off trying to help him get in the tub,

but the diaper is full of poo,

and now the poo is all over the 4 yr old,

the legs and feet of the baby {bc the baby is now stepping in the diaper full of poo on the floor that the 4yr old took off on his own--so helpful i tell you},

the rug in the bathroom,

the wall in the bathroom,

and also in the water in the tub.

yep, that happened once.

it's those days where i feel totally in over my head.

but the there's these other days.

where i'm sitting on the floor of the big room playing cars with dean.

and he's making sounds as the cars come crashing down.

everything is calm.

and then he sits his little chubby body on mine and is still for a minute.

i feel like i might die from intoxication of his little baby self.

and i just want to have him be like this forever.

and i can't imagine not having a baby in my house.

i've had a baby in my house for 8 1/2 years straight you see.

and it fuels me.

i makes me feel sane.

except on the days it doesn't of coarse.

all moms know what i'm talking about here.

so for right now,

i'm just not going to worry about him getting any older.

because right now, i'm soaking in every second of him being 17 months young.

also, his little noise he makes when he buries his face into my neck

and rests his head on my shoulder.

his favorite book is baby beluga.

i sing it to him, and he turns the pages.

sometimes he crawl all over me and pulls my hair.

other times he just rocks his body to the beat of the tune.

and his baby mullet.

he's bringing the mullet back guys.

curlz and all.

this fall's latest trend i say.

this picture of the boys and me made me laugh out loud.

we could barely hold the potatoes they were so big.

we literally kept dropping them, and then they'd roll around on the ground,

and dean would chase after them,

and we just ended up covered in dirt.

then i made mashed potatoes bc it was supposed to snow {and it did}.

on accident, the 5 potatoes i boiled made about enough mashed potatoes to feed us for thanksgiving and christmas.

i asked sean if we could reheat these on thanksgiving,

or it that was sacrilegious?

he said he thinks i'm getting smarter and smarter as the years go by.

this is why i love him.

also, he told me i can get my christmas tree flocked.

i love him a lot.

please note: chase's grubby chubby hands.

also, the gatorade.

i'm happy to report this has been a puke free house since a few days ago at least.

{dean says

"wooooooaaahhhh!!!"

every time he puts a car down the ramp.}

why do babies have to grow up?

i want more...sometimes.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

so there's a crack in the garbage disposal...

so there's a crack in the garbage disposal.

also all of my halloween decorations are still out.

except for over the tv, which basically i call my fireplace mantel.

that has thanksgiving up.

and the halloween stuff is piled up on top of the couch so baby dean and chase can't get to it.

because the kids got into the storage closet.

which means i can't get into the halloween bins to put it all away.

so our house has a lot of this going on in it right now.

the plumber came out yesterday to inspect.

the sink. the disposal. whichever.

and he declared he'd never seen a crack in that place.

i asked him if it could have been caused by someone throwing 23 quarters down the disposal.

he laughed, and i raised my eyebrows,

and we had a moment of solidarity standing there in my kitchen.

they're coming back tomorrow to put in a new one.

merry christmas house! we are buying you a new food grinder;).

then the light bulb in the light fixture over the kitchen table started smoking.

i kid you not.

sean and i laughed really hard about it all at the end of the day yesterday.

i love this stupid house.

mostly the peach tree ;)

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

and also, i'm wondering who mitt romney voted for.

it must be noted that Donald Trump was elected as President

of the United States today.

i walked my two little boys into city hall yesterday to cast my vote.

would you look at Dean in his little shirt!?

that little smirk.

i just want this picture on my bedside table forever.

don't you worry, there's still a mullet full of tight little curls in the back there.

no matter what, there's no greater feeling than the patriotism of election day.

when it comes to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,

anything feels possible.

and freedom.

you can taste it in the air.

i BELIEVE in america,

and i love that i have the right to vote.

today, i'm rejoicing in that.

and also, i'm wondering who mitt romney voted for.

just sayin.

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

NO work NOvember {on Thanksgiving Day}

I LOVE

when it's a

GOOD THINGS UTAH

day!!!!

Send me in your pics through

instagram {emiemiemi82}

Facebook {Emily Ryan Gibson}

or by email {emilygibson82@yahoo.com}

when you make these because i want to

soak

all

and enjoy it right along with you AHHHH!!!

The dough itself takes 30 minutes to make, then rise for 2 hours, and then roll them out and bake at 350* for 15 minutes. i had SO much fun having my kids tell me what to write for the things they were thankful for, and now i can't wait to read them all around the dinner table on Thanksgiving Day.

This is by far one of my favorite traditions we've ever started!

Click HERE to see the segment from today on Good Things Utah!

...

Ingredients

1 1/2 CUPS milk

3/4 cup + 1tbls sugar

1 egg

1 Tablespoon salt

2 tablespoon sugar

2 cups warm water

9 cups flour

1 cup butter

Directions

Dissolve 2 Tablespoons of yeast in 2 cups of warm water and 1 Tablespoon of sugar. Let for 10 minutes.
Scald 1 1/2 cups of milk, 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of butter, in a microwave safe bowl, for about 2 minutes.
- Cutting the butter into pieces helps it melt faster.
- There will probably be some little cubes of butter still floating in the hot mixture, they will melt.
Add yeast to this hot mixture, but it will be too hot to just dump the yeast straight in.
To cool it down stir in 1-2 cups of flour, then add 1 egg and 1 Tablespoon of salt, and leave it to cool for a couple of minutes.
Make sure your milk mixture is just warm, not boiling and add the yeast mixture!
Using a fork or wooden spoon, gradually stir in 9-10 cups of flour (counting the flour you have already added to cool it earlier).
I would recommend only adding 2 cups at time and stirring in between. These rolls turn out so much better when they are mixed by hand.
At the end the dough will be dense and sticky, and may be hard to stir, you can use your hands to incorporate the rest of the flour if needed. Be sure not to add too much flour. Then smooth the dough out and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave it in a warm place and let it rise.
When your dough is close to raising completely, butter 2 cookie sheets and set them aside.
Let the dough raise until it has doubled in size.
Cover your working space with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Dump your dough out and divide it into 4 balls. Eyeball the sizes, then lift them up and feel the weight of each ball. Try to make them even, but they don’t have to be perfect.
Using one ball of dough at a time: roll the dough into a circle on a floured counter. Once it is rolled out spread the top with butter from edge to edge. You will use about 2 Tablespoons per circle of dough.
Cut the dough into quarters using a pizza cutter.
Then cut each quarter into 3 pieces. You should end up with 12 triangles from each circle of dough.
Roll the dough starting with the wide end of the triangle
Tuck the tail of the triangle under the roll and place it on the buttered cookie sheet. You will make 3 rows, with 8 rolls per row. This will give you 24 rolls per pan. Two balls of dough will fill 1 pan. You will get a total of 48 rolls!
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
Place the pans of rolls in a warm place (on top of the oven if possible) to let them rise. Once they are touching and full in size, cook (one pan at a time) in the oven ’till they are golden brown. About 10 – 15 minutes.
- It may take longer depending on how hot your oven cooks. Keep a close eye on your first pan to get the right time for the second.
While they are still hot and fresh out of the oven run a stick of butter over the tops of the rolls for a delicious buttery glaze.