this could take all day

Rethinking the holidays: Thanksgiving

 

Whew, did you miss me? I had a post all planned out for Wednesday and then Darin got off work at 2:30 and we decided to pack up and head north that evening, rather than wait for Thursday. So we spent a few hours gathering stuff, feeding ourselves and the kiddos, and getting them in their PJs for the trip. We swung by Darin's brother's on the way north to pick up a couch (ah...the things you get called on to do when you have a truck!) and Daisy enjoyed running around their house for 10 minutes straight. We finally arrived around 10pm (Daisy passed out in the car around 9:30) and got ourselves all settled in bed.

 

Thanksgiving was delightful. Full of family, and laughter, and delicious food. I spent some time in the last week thinking about the holiday and ways to express our gratitude for our many blessings. Its important to me to teach gratitude to my children, but also to help them understand the source of our blessings and the One to whom we owe all our thanks.

 

I culled some ideas for traditions to add to our celebration and thought I would share them here with you.

 

Instead of doing a traditional "what I'm thankful for" share around the table, why not ask your friends and family members to bring an object (or several) that represents what they are thankful for. I think this would be an especially meaningful exercise with children. When I suggested this to my family this weekend, though, they all laughed asking how we could possibly get any more things on our table. So, perhaps if we do this activity it would happen in the living room before or after the meal.

 

I found a website with some nice Thanksgiving prayers. Wouldn't it be great to memorize a short one as a family in the days leading up to Thanksgiving?

 

How about sharing some time together before Thanksgiving in making a centerpiece? 

 

One of the best ways to show our gratitude to God is in giving back to those less fortunate. Our church has dedicated this weekend to 20+ projects in our community. Although we aren't participating this year, we are missing it and know we'll plan ahead in order to join up again next year. hcc roadtrip

 

Or what if you worked with your kids to clear out their old toys and donate them in preparation for the new ones to arrive under the Christmas tree?

 

How about learning a verse to a Thanksgiving hymn? My personal favorite is For the Beauty of the Earth and we sang that at our wedding. Plunk out some notes on the piano and have fun!

 

And lastly, why not spend some time on Thanksgiving in the beauty of God's creation? This is a tradition we attempted to start this year. Unfortunately our toddler was running on less-than-ideal sleep and was a less-than-pleasant hiking companion. So, we took a short stroll along Centennial Trail, and called that good.

 

 

 

 

 

 Any traditions you can share?

 

Daisy's Christmas Wish

A few weeks ago we took a quick trip through Toys R Us to take advantage of their preschool game sale & rebate program. We were managing to leave the store without any meltdowns from Miss Z when she spotted the Mikey Mouse ride-along car at the front of the store. You know, those cursed ones that you put a quarter into for a little thrill? We were trying to get home and didn't really have time to give Daisy a ride, or deal with a tantrum, so I quickly grabbed a toy catalog and handed it to her enthusiastically explaining that "Mama has a book for you!"

The next day Daisy was happily thumbing through her "book" in the backseat when she suddenly exclaimed: "I want that!"

"What?" I prodded.

"That kitchen!" She said. "I get that kitchen and make some dinner for Mama."

With a huge, knowing grin on my face, I spent the rest of the car ride telling Daisy about how she would need to ask Santa to bring her that kitchen.

You see, Santa already has a sweet little kitchen in storage (aka Gran's shed). Santa needs to do a little work on it, but it should be all ready to go by Christmas. It isn't the exact kitchen she pointed to in the catalog, but Santa isn't worried one bit.

We can't wait for Christmas morning!

Here's a little interview I did with Daisy about this topic. Enjoy.

I think my favorite part is "Ho Ho Ho, I'm a man."

Dani, the bully?

Ready to throw a punch?

 

Or just trying to have a conversation?

 

 

Either way, Mr. Caiden looks a little worried.

 

Caiden was born a couple weeks before Miss Dani and belongs to our friends and Darin's coworker. We were lucky enough to share a condo, a late night coversation, a delicious breakfast, and a stroll around Leavenworth with them last weekend.

And Dani enjoyed her time on the ottoman with her new buddy.
 

first snow shots of the year

Daisy was more than a little disappointed at the lack of snow in Leavenworth last weekend. Thankfully she has a great Papa who agreed to stop at the Snoqualmie Summit and let her play outside for a while.

 

A great Papa who isn't half bad with the camera himself.

 

A papa who will generously share his gloves with the poor girl who doesn't have any.

  

A papa who is kind enough to let his dear wife stay in the warmth of the car, and warn her that when he does get back in he plans on blasting the heat for a while.

 

 A papa who loves his three girls to the moon and back,

 

and he never hesitates to tell us that.

 

rethinking the holidays: Christmas gifts

Are you thinking about Christmas yet? I sure am, and have been for a few weeks now. And I think I'm gonna change a few things up this year so I thought I'd share them here with you.

  
  
(Image from 2007)  

"Gifts" is my language of love, and I absolutely adore the Christmas excuse to find just the right gift for my loved ones. Unfortunately, my budget isn't unlimited and I don't want my kids thinking this holiday is just about getting stuff, so I've gotta find a way to keep track of what I'm doing. I've found some ideas floating around online about setting your gift limit based on a few categories, and I'm totally onboard with that plan, so here's what Darin & I have come up with.

Our 5 categories:

• a big "want" from Santa
• something to read
• new pajamas
• an ornament
• something special from Mama & Papa

Here's where I am so far in the shopping:

Daisy:

• This kitchen (purchased used on Craigslist this summer. I've got a great story to tell about this in another post.)
• need to find a book (any suggestionf for a two-year-old?)
• will purchase pajamas during a black-friday sale (likely at Kohls)
• ornament purchased in Leavenworth (a princess tiara with her name on it)
• an apron, oven mit & hotpad already purchased

Dani:

• Gonna share the kitchen with her sister someday (Santa plans to make note that the gift is for both girls)
• need to find a good board book (what's at the top of your list lately?)
• Gran gave us some Christmas pajamas for her
• ornament purchased in Leavenworth
• a cool "taggies" toy (purchased at a conseignment sale)

(image from 2008) 

Growing up, Santa would always bring Darin & his siblings an unwrapped gift. So last year, when we got Daisy the table & chairs it was a perfect way to incorporate this tradition into our family. Now that we're giving the girls a big play kitchen this year, I'm extra glad for the no-wrapping gift from Santa.

I have always treasured the experience of opening my box of Christmas ornaments and remembering each one. As I got older my Mom set aside all my ornaments and so I had a decent collection when I wanted to begin decorating my own tree. Each year Darin & I buy each other ornaments and I love going through them each year, remembering the "wheres" and "whys" of each choice. That's why I wanted to include our girls in on the tradition. They get a special ornament every year from us, and any others they receive along the years will also be added to their collections. And they'll have a nice full box or ornaments to decorate their own tree someday when they decide to leave me.

 

Of course, the 5 categories does not include stocking stuffers. This is a tradition in my family and one that still baffles my dear husband. He says he would rather receive 1 big present that 5 small ones, but I think he'll catch on one of these days.

As a kid we were always allowed to open our stockings first thing. Each stocking was filled with little trinkets and special things to keep us entertained as we waited for Mom & Dad to get up, the orange rolls to be baked and eaten, and the "real" present opening to begin. I loved the magic of leaving your stocking out with the cookies & milk and coming to the living room in the morning seeing it overflowing.

What are your thoughts about gift giving this year? What are your traditions you can't wait to pass along to your kids? 

Anne got married!

Anne is one cool chick and we are so happy that she has found J-money (as the boys around camp started calling Justin when he began dating Anne).

 

We first met Anne in 2005 when she and Darin worked at Fircreek together. She had finished her degree in recreation and was getting away from home (Iowa, I think) to come work in our fair state. One of my favorite things about Anne that summer was her inability to understand the Washington concept of "layering". She was always so cold! We tried to teach her you wear warm clothes in the morning, strip them off mid-day, but save them for the evening when it gets chilly again.

Anne was the activities coordinator that summer and was full of life and creativity and fun. And I loved hanging out with her.

 

Anne moved home after summer and Darin went back to school. One of his fall courses required him to do some practicum visits so he made an appointment with Crista Camps to come tour Island Lake. During his tour he learned of an opening in their program department and called Anne that afternoon. Anne was soon hired and not-so-much-later given a promotion to Program Director at Island Lake.

   

Darin was oh-so-jealous, but being still in school was unavailable to apply for the job. He and Anne used to joke that he got her the job and she now owed him big time.

 

A while later, when Darin was all done with school and on the job hunt for months we signed up to attend the "super sectional" of the Christian Camps and Conference Association. We spent our own money to travel to Coeur d'Alene and register Darin for the conference, hoping it would lead to some great job opportunities.

During the conference Anne pulled Darin aside and asked for his resume. Turns out she had inside knowledge that her counterpart at Miracle Ranch would be leaving soon and she wanted to be sure that Darin's resume was the first one in the hiring committee's hands.

(A couple other serendipitous moments happened during that conference as well. One lunch Darin asked God to help him sit at a table with the "right" people and was frustrated when he ended up lunching with a bunch of maintenance guys. [Nothing against maintenance guys, Darin was just hoping to get a job in program at this conference.] Turns out one of the guys he sat with that day was on the interview team for the Miracle Ranch job. In addition, I left the conference early to go to Spokane and get my haircut and Darin ended up hitching a ride to Spokane with the Crista van. He was later told how much of a positive impression he had left on his soon-to-be-supervisor in that van ride.)

  
   

Long story short, Darin was hired and Anne made good on her debt. And Darin and Anne enjoyed working together for many months. I will never forget their program team characters of the Easter European Table Tennis Champions and how they practiced their routine for hours in their office!

 

Anne's friend set her up on a blind date with Justin and we were excited for her. But one night when she was hanging out with us after doing her camp-hosting gig, she revealed she was a little nervous about this guy. She had asked him their staff-meeting "question of the day" which involved which type of ice cream one would be and Justin had responded vanilla. Anne couldn't figure out what that said about him. Is he too boring? Or is he stable?

We teased her a long time about that. 

 

Turns out vanilla was the right answer.

We are so happy for these two and can't wait to see how God continues to use them in our lives. (Or maybe we'll get a chance to be used in their story this time!)

saying yes, Part 2

Puddle jumping!

Yes, it was dark and pouring and in the middle of the Costco parking lot. But we had our boots and our hoods on. And we held hands, found the best puddles we could, counted to three, and jumped.

It was utterly delightful. The giggles from my kid made my insides smile, and the grins from passersby was a wonderful bonus. Hopefully we reminded them to cut loose a little too.

Any yes plans for your today?

(Here'sthe original post if you're new here.)

the winner

I wore the black dress. And I loved it!

  

And I never got a full-length shot of me in it, so you'll have to take my word for it that I was workin' that dress.

What fun to have an excuse to get all dressed up and have somone take a family shot for my Christmas card. (This isn't it.) Oh, how I love my sweet family.

 

More wedding photos and stories to come...

dodge vs. kodak

Have you seen this hilarious video properly titled What Old People Do When They Get Bored?

Well, my parents (who I might clarify are not yet old) have taken to making some fun of their own.

My favorite part is my mom's helmet and gloves!

matchy-matchy

Packing their Christmas dresses up for them to wear to a wedding this weekend.

 

Walking by these little matching piles has made me smile all day long. Love being the mama of two delightful and adorable little girls.

Now if only I had the cash required to dress them alike every day...