I was glad that not only the girls could have fun with this,
but Noah too. It looks like the Wookies and sand people have invaded Hoth,
and here's an impressive assortment of jets, weapons, aliens, soldiers, skateboards, helicopters, etc. who have taken up residence in the Pagoda and the pink Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired house.
After dinner on Monday, we went around the table and each person listed one thing that they are thankful for (the only rule being you couldn't say something that somebody else already said). We continued around the table several times until we started to run out of ideas. The kids came up with some great stuff, but Molly's contributions were the most note-worthy:
Child A: I'm thankful for food.
Child B: I'm thankful for candy.
Child C: I'm thankful for our house.
Molly: I'm thankful for the Military.
Child A: I'm thankful for Jesus.
Child B: I'm thankful for the sun.
Child C: I'm thankful for the moon.
Molly: I'm thankful for the Bill of Rights.
Child A: I'm thankful for my eyes.
Child B: I'm thankful for clothes.
Child C: I'm thankful for Mom & Dad.
Molly: I'm thankful for Hospitality.
And so it continued. I have pretty awesome kids.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope you get your fill of turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, and plenty of pie.
Zoe made this the other day.
Dear Santa,
May I please have a go kart and a watch and long hair, new church sandals, and a new church dress. Love, Zoe Ann P*.
We were talking about it after she showed me and I told her, "You know Zoe, I don't think Santa can give you long hair; it'll just have to grow out on its own."
She responded, a little sheepishly, "Oh. Well, you know, I was thinking that maybe it could get long by magic or something."
If only these cute kids would never grow up!
Lucy, Zoe
Me & Hubs (nice Blair Witch Project shot huh?)
Everyone loved the novelty of the fire so much that the increasing rain and the smoke in the eyes didn't deter them.
It felt good to go inside and get dry pajamas on afterwards; we'll have to try the firepit again on a dryer night!
As you know if you read my facebook updates, we had a bit of a dinner fiasco last night.
It being Stake Conference Sunday, I was excited to have more time to cook a delicious dinner (and a delicious brunch in the morning too). I had recently seen Paula Deen make Acorn Squash and I wanted to give it a try. It was covered with a butter/sugar/syrup combination; who wouldn't love that? I decided on a Stovetop Stuffing chicken roulade as our main course (a dish that I just made up as I went along) and I made some yummy rice flavored with chicken stock and spices to round out the meal.
Our plated food was gorgeous. I considered dinner to be a culinary success.
Had dinner just been for Aaron and I, it would've been lovely, calm, and uneventful. But, I happen to have four children who have told me on various occasions that they dislike anything from the squash family. They definitely made that known last night.
I'll spare you the details but after listening to a totally unacceptable amount of groaning and complaining I had had enough; I retired to my room and thankfully Aaron was willing to take over. Eventually, all the kids did finish their dinner (we insist on it around here) but it took some of them a full hour. AN HOUR to eat about 1/4 chicken breast, a small portion of rice, and 1/4 of a buttered/sugared acorn squash.
I was so annoyed by the whole thing I was ready to give up cooking altogether. But then I realized that if I really did quit cooking dinner and left the kids to their own devices, they'd have nothing but white bread toast and cold cereal for dinner. So this morning I came up with an idea.
My reasoning: I am to blame for the kids' ungrateful reaction to last night's dinner, because I clearly don't expose them to enough "different" food for them to know how to properly behave when they see it. Makes perfect sense, right? When they got home from school today I explained to them that based on last night's performance, it is obvious that they need more practice dealing with unsavory dinners. Therefore, I will make them food they don't love until they learn how to eat and behave properly. Once they can show me some decent manners, I will make them something I know they like.
During our after school chat I made them practice appropriate responses to finding out what's for dinner:
Me: Guess what guys, for dinner we're having codfish with liver.
Kids: Mmm! Sounds very interesting, Mom!
Me: For dinner tonight, I'll be serving rotten meatloaf with mustard sauce.
Kids: Wow, I've never had THAT before!
Me: What's for dinner, you ask? Why, I've prepared a delightful dish of sauerkraut and brussels sprouts.
Kids: Sounds delicious!!
Tonight's actual dinner: zucchini, and freshly-baked whole wheat bread. I opted for minimalism so that the zucchini would be front and center. (They don't like zucchini as it is part of the squash family, of course.)
The children having been well-prepped, dinner tonight was absolutely delightful. It was clear (by a few silent grimaces as they forced it down) that a couple of them did NOT care for the zucchini but they ate it anyway without a word of complaint. I heard a lot of "thanks for dinner, Mom!" and "this zucchini is actually pretty good!" and they were all finished within a reasonable amount of time.
****
I am looking forward to making their favorite soup tomorrow night. It's amazing how much more I want to do that for them after they behaved so nicely tonight. So there's a little dinner-time tip for you; I hope this new strategy keeps working in the future around here.
photo credit
Look at that pretty sky.
"Real" climbing!
Overlooking sprawling Phoenix.
I heard a lot about this tunnel; they loved it!
My kids' idea of a fun time on their day off from school. 
355 Utah apples + 12'ish hours on my feet = 30 1/2 beautiful quarts of applesauce.
I'm in the primary presidency of our ward and a few times lately our chorister has been out of town and I have filled in for her. It's a fun time of year to sub for singing time because the Primary Program is behind us, and we can spend the rest of the year having fun singing without the pressure of learning all the Program songs. (For the record, I think the kids have fun all year 'round; it's only the chorister that feels the pressure!)
Anyway a couple weeks ago I made these fall leaves out of cardstock and taped them onto bamboo skewers. I taught the kids the song "It's Autumn Time" and they did actions with their leaves. Once they had the words and actions learned well (which took no time at all; easy song!) we had a little parade around the room, singing & waving our leaves around. It was pretty fun. Here's the song & actions:
It's autumn time, it's autumn time (wave leaf back n' forth over head)
The leaves are falling down (gradually lower leaf down)
It's autumn time, it's autumn time (same as beginning)
It's all around the town (keep leaf up and turn around in a circle).
It's autumn time, it's autumn time (same as beginning)
It's yellow, red, and brown (when your color is said, raise your leaf high)
It's autumn time, it's autum time (same as beginning)
Bright colors can be found (wave them around like crazy).
Pretty simple right? Even the big kids thought it was fun, especially when we did the "parade" around the room.
Hi. Please forgive my lack of posts lately. Updates coming soon.
But for the time being, I just wanted to let you know that this would be a phenomenal time for you to come and visit! Just look at those temps. Juno and I have been enjoying mid-morning jogs around the neighborhood. The kids have been riding their bikes like crazy. We leave the doors & windows open.
It's really quite lovely!
