Flashback Friday: Oklahoma Nightmare

A gazillion bucks to the first non-family member who can determine why my siblings and cousins all look so terrified in this picture (I'm the semi-calm one in the red dress)....

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Here's a hint....

If Ellie had been on my grandparents' steps that day she would have had a much different reaction than the rest of us.

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It was a dog that walked by that induced all that hysteria.  

Way to go Charlene!!!   I'll get working on that gazillion bucks to send you. 

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Day 337--Tiny Tots

It's a tradition each year that I take any preschoolers I have to the high school's Tiny Tots Christmas Concert.  This year we had over 50 kids from our ward preschool groups.  The band plays holiday songs and popular characters such as Dora, Bob the Builder, Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Rudolph, and of course Santa and Mrs. Claus come and awe the kids with their star presence.  Afterwards everyone gets a chance to meet the characters, giving them high fives or hugs.

Letterboxing 101

As a mother I feel like I'm always searching for fun activities for our family that everyone will enjoy.  It used to be as easy as going to a park or mini-golfing or something, but I've found the older the kids get the harder it is to find things that will capture everyone's interest.

A few years ago we read a magazine article and discovered Letterboxing.  You've probably never heard of it before, but I'm here today to tell you that when the Proclamation to the World talks about "wholesome, recreational activities"  for families that letterboxing  fits those criteria on every front!  

So what is letterboxing?

It's like a grand outdoor treasure hunt!  You don't need any special equipment and you get to explore new parks and trails, get some exercise, and find a little "treasure" along the way!  It's fun for kids and adults alike!

 Here's a little tutorial for you if you want to give it a try:

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First you log onto http://letterboxing.org.

Click on the book that says Letterboxing North America.

Click on your state.

Click on your region.

Then find a letterbox in a town near you and print off the clue.

 

Then get ready for your adventure by getting on your walking shoes and packing  a notebook, ink pad, pen, and stamp with you.

Follow the clues and find your letterbox.

When you find the letterbox remove the logbook from the box and stamp your family's stamp into the book and sign and date it (with a trail name).

Then replace the logbook and remove the box's stamp and stamp it into your own notebook (now your own logbook).  Write a quick note with the name of the box, the location, the date, and a quick note about the day.

Replace the stamp into the letterbox and replace the letterbox carefully into its hiding spot.

Have fun exploring!

   

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Day 336--Letterboxing Logbook

Today I was typing up a blogpost all about letterboxing, so I took the opportunity to take pictures of our logbook.  We discovered letterboxing in 2006 and were gung-ho about it for a year.  Now we only do it  occasionally, but we still love it whenever we do.  

Day 335--Nasty Treats

After reading the Glass Castle for our ward's book group, I thought I'd play a funny joke on everyone and cover the delicious pumpkin bread pudding with a layer of plastic wrap then threw a bunch of chopped hot dogs over the top to fit with the theme of the book.  People thought I was a little weird, but it worked for the laughs.

Day 334: Spirit of our Home

This cute little cardboard house happens to be a part of one of our favorite family home evening lessons. A friend of mine asked for pictures of it, so she could reproduce them for preschool.  It happens to be the only thing I took a picture of all day, so here you go.  I'm finally done with November a whole month late!!!!!

Disclaimer/ Question

First order of business--

A Disclaimer:    Sometimes (okay fine.  ALWAYS) my humor is goofy and understood only by women about 5'4" with heavily freckled arms.  

The Unaltered Truth:  In conjunction with that disclaimer, I want to inform you that my fridge really was broken again (for the second year in a row right before Thanksgiving) and while seemingly suspicious in timing, I am fully aware that democrats are not responsible for Sears' poor quality issues.   When I referred to a "vast left-winged conspiracy" theory I was merely referring to the left-winged dodo birds Sears hires to manufacture their products.   (no offense meant to any dodo birds who may be reading this)

And certainly I would never ever allow one of my own children to express their gratitude in such a sarcastic manner as them saying that they're grateful for "stuff as awesome as me", when clearly it should have read "stuff as awesome as my mom".    I do not tolerate sarcasm in the slightest measure in our household and have already grounded him for 3 weeks for his lapse in judgment on that one.

  Truly it was the most stupendous Thanksgiving ever and there was nothing average about it (even my cooking debacles were spectacular).  Our guests were fun, good-looking, and witty, our fridge was working again,  my nephew was the cutest little pilgrim boy ever, and the Chinet made clean-up a snap.
It was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!  (this paragraph is serious)

Now for the question...

Yay or nay.  Do you think these inflatable yard decorations are obnoxious?

PS That is not my house and they do not have cutesy little names like Frosty, Pete the Polar Bear, and Blizzard.  

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Day 333: Letterboxing on a Beautiful Day

About 3 years ago we discovered letterboxing as a fun family activity.  We've loved exploring new trails while we get fresh air and exercise, although we haven't had the chance to do it as much lately as we like to.

Today was such a beautiful day we thought we'd give it a try again and take Rocky with us. .

It was a lovely park surrounding a nature center and we thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon of exploring.

Adam has always been one of the most eager letterboxers of the bunch.  He's always the one most excited to get in there and find the boxes.

Day 332: A Peek at the Decorations

Now that it's light outside I thought I'd give you a little tour of our decorations this Christmas.  We were a little late putting on the angel, so here's Emma getting a little boost from Daddy while she puts it into place.

These outdoor inflatables were a mere five bucks or so last year after Christmas.  I thought they were a little gaudy, but the kids (including big kid Glen)  absolutely loved them.

This four foot high wreath is another "baby" of Glen's.  He came home with it from Michael's several years ago, so proud of himself and his amazing find.  I actually love it too!

Dear Friends,

To my very loyal, tolerant blog friends,

It has come to my attention that I have let you down these past few days.  Instead of humorous essays filled with wry observations about our modern Thanksgiving holiday and great photos of my botched cooking adventures, you got a big fat nothing instead. 

I have lots of good excuses, like the fact that my Sears fridge was broken AGAIN (it's a conspiracy I say, a  left-winged evil conspiracy) and I haven't had more than 5 hours of sleep in weeks, but then that's just kind of boring stuff I always complain about, so instead I'll tell you that it was due to the fact that I've had major writing block and have been far too busy making embroidered name placards for all of our Thanksgiving guests (to go along with the personalized cardigans I hand knitted for everyone) that there wasn't a spare moment to sit down at the computer.

 So now you know why I have let you down, I'm going to let you down again.

  Although it could be argued that it is always the case, today, in particular, I have absolutely nothing witty or observant to say

Our Thanksgiving was, on the whole, pretty average.  I know you're not supposed to say that, but it's true.  We had absolutely no family squabbles over whose turn to pray it was nor any yelling matches about whose pie was better.  Not a single person insulted my cooking skills when I overcooked the roasted vegetables, oversalted the croutons, and in a moment of true desperation resorted to Stove Top stuffing instead of homemade.  Instead our friends and family were all nice and gracious and totally helpful. 

They all put up with  an averagely good dinner (my fault, not theirs) on Chinet plates.  We all overate an abnormally average amount and sat around and engaged in obtusely average conversations about cute kids, the weather, food, BYU sports, and Bangladeshi politics.

And then as per our tradition we discussed with the kids some of the things that we're grateful for...

(actual responses) family, Legos, friends, food, scriptures, Jesus, church, trees, losing teeth, grass, temple, books, Facebook, toys, tv, sports, and "stuff as awesome as me" (can you guess which child wrote that?) 

So there you have it.  I'm sorry I've let you down the last few days and I'm even sorrier that I burdened you with my late night attempt at saving the day.

Hope you had a wonderfully average Thanksgiving too!
Love,
L

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Day 331: Decorating the Tree

As per one of our family's traditions, today (the day after Thanksgiving) we have decorated our house for Christmas.  The kids had a fabulous time helping me put the ornaments on the tree and Glen eagerly decked out the outside of our house too.

Day 330: Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with a house full of family and friends (Our family, Matt, Karey, Lincoln, AnnaLisa, Katya, Leeza, McKenzie).  It was pretty laid back and we ate much later in the day than usual due to AnnaLisa's work schedule. 

Day 329: Making Way for More

Today was spent making way in our garage for our new cheap bare bones refrigerator, which will hopefully be a good back-up for all the times our kitchen fridge breaks (at least once or twice a year).  We don't want to replace the kitchen fridge yet, because we hope to replace all the appliances in a few years and we'd like them all to match. 

Day 328: Madly in Love

Ellie is totally and completely in love with Rocky now and has actually informed us that she hopes to marry him one day.   We hope she finds someone a lot more qualified than a pug/beagle mix, but we're happy for the companionship he provides to her during the day.