Thankful Turkey

I was at the elementary school and passed the wall where Jacob's class had posted their "Thankful Turkey's." I smiled and started to read the sweet sentiments of being thankful for family, friends and homes. A few even said electricity (not surprising after all the issues we had in our town recently.)

I looked for Jacob's ....

{iPhone photo}

Yep, topping his list of thankfulness -

TV

tows (toys)

food

mune (money)

Perhaps we need to work on helping him realize the blessing the relationships in his life are.

(Little turkey!)

Memorial Day

 Go here and watch the video.

My Dad added this video to our family history website a while back and it is particularly on my mind today.

I do not know these men. Other than my Grandfather's and my Dad's Uncle Jim, I haven't heard stories of them or know about their lives. Yet I cannot help but be reduced to tears as I watch this, see their names, how they served and in many cases, the young ages at which their lives were ended.

In the grainy & faded photographs I recognize a smile, dimples, or eyes and the familiarity which tells me they are mine. That who I am, I owe in part to them. I see all of those who bear the name Robert - the same name I gave my son in honor of his Grandfather & Great-Grandfather and hope that he will live up to it. That leads me to think of the sons who didn't come home and the freedom that we all enjoy as a result and the tears start to flow.

On this day especially, I will watch this with my children gathered safely about me and when they ask  "Why are you crying Mom?" I will try to articulate what I feel and probably fail.

 I hope as they grow in age and understanding they will come to appreciate what I now do and also my sweet Dad who made them more than just names on a pedigree chart and helped us  feel a connection to them.

"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

Malachi 4:6

Egg Dying

The kids were so excited to color eggs at Easter time. We LOVE coloring eggs.

I had intended to also do a batch of "natural" dyes (red cabbage, onion skins, turmeric, etc) later in the week - the natural one's give such beautiful colors and are definitely my favorite. The week got away from us and these ended up being the only one's we did. I had also dyed eggs with Jacob's kindergarten class and I guess after doing it with 22 kids I was a little less enthusiastic about a second round for us!

Oh well, next year.

It had been a cold & rainy day & the sun came out just as we did these. Made the yellow of Jake's seem happier!

  

I love the colored tubs of liquid & seeing those eggs bob in them.

Jacob really liked mixing colors.

We like to write or draw in them in white or yellow crayon. The dye won't stick where the crayon went. I loved this wave of Bek's.

Emily did some lovely two toned eggs - dipping 1/2 the egg into 2 different colors.

Jane was so proud of the one's she'd drawn on crayon with.

The one in Jacobs' hand was drawn on & then dipped in every color! It turned out to be a great green color.

Happy Easter!

Who Has The Sweetest Husband Ever?

I do! I do!

Kindergarten Valentine Party

I had wanted to leave on our ski trip on February 12th but Emily requested that we be here for Valentine's Day. My kids love Valentine's Day & the activities they do in class and trading Valentine's with each other. Last year we missed it. I sent in Emily's Valentine's early - but no one saved the one's she received. She was pretty bummed about it.

So this year we stayed for Valentine' s Day and left on the 15th. That meant I got to be here for Jacob's class party too. I am Jacob's class Mom this year and I have really loved being in his class a much as I can, getting to know the other students and the teachers and seeing him in that setting.

He really is a great little boy.

However, since I hadn't planned initially planned on being here we had asked another Mother to take over the craft for that day. She is a florist and had the kids do a little flower arranging project. She did a great job & really put a  lot of work into it.

The kids really liked it.

Since we stayed in town, I did still do the snack. We had fresh strawberries and I made them all heart shaped sugar cookies - a small white one and a big pink one. They were a hit.

The flower buckets were adorable. 

I was kind of sad we were heading out of town and had to leave ours!

Valentine's Dinner

I like to make Sunday dinners special. Rick doesn't eat with us through the week and Rebekah is often not home by dinner time on weekday evenings, so on the weekend I love having the whole family together for dinner. Saturday is usually more casual and so busy with all the kids sports that we often go out - so on Sundays I really like to have a nice sit down, whole family meal.

Since the day before Valentine's Day was a Sunday I decided to add a few extra touches to dinner. We had a Family Home Evening lesson in the afternoon - it's the one we traditionally have right before Valentine's Day about the Good Samaritan and loving our neighbors. We decorated heart shaped sugar cookies and then Rick took the kids to deliver them & while they were out I sprung into action!

Really, I only did a few extra things...
I had made little place cards and put them on the plates, I used goblets instead of glasses and we had sparkling pink lemonade. I lit candles in the middle of the table.

When the kids came home it was all set up. Emily walked into the dining room and I saw her notice the table .... it was delightful to watch her face as she saw the candles, drinks and place cards. First she looked a little puzzled and then a slow smile spread across her face as she recognized that something special was going on.

I didn't really do anything different for dinner. We usually have something nicer on Sundays anyway. We had Honey Baked Chicken (they all love that) green beans, and rice pilaf.

For dessert I did make Creme Brulee. I love Creme Brulee, it's my favorite dessert! I haven't made it in forever and I don't think the younger kids have ever had it before. They were fascinated with the blow torch and all really liked it.

Mmmmmmm!

I had leftover custard, so I made an extra in this small pyrex dish (and it became my "bonus" dessert!) Like I said - I LOVE Creme Brulee!!

I had cut out a bunch of card stock hearts and after dinner we all wrote out hearts to each other. We each took 5 hearts and made one for each other member of the family - writing something you loved about them, or a talent or quality you thought they had.

I loved seeing them put a lot of thought into what they would write about each other.

Rick helped Jane with some of hers, giving her some spelling tips!

This one had to be one of my favorites.

I love snuggling you to Janie!

We all had a great dinner and it was a good reminder to me that it doesn't require much to make a family memory. I am so lucky to have this family, I sure love you guys!

Dog Show

There is a local Dog Show held here on Memorial Day.

The handlers need to be kids. Our neighbors don't have any kids - but they do have a dog (Gavin) whom we really love. Gavin also loves Emily. So when they asked if Emily would be interested in taking him in the show we were delighted.

They have adorable categories like "Best Ears", "Best Trick" and "Most Mysterious Heritage."

Emily and Gavin were in a few categories.

But the one they were most hopeful for was "Best Trick" - Emily had been practicing with Gavin the week before.

They worked well together.

And ended up winning first place in that one!

Thanks Gavin for being our friend & for giving Emily "practice."

Veteran's Day

Every year on Veteran's Day, I want to read sections of my Grandfather's journal to my kids. He was a soldier & served in WWII.

My Dad has a copy at his house, and I keep meaning to see if I could either get it copied somewhere there, or just write out several sections myself - as you can imagine, he is very protective of it!

The trouble is, I never think of it when we're actually there - just on days like Veterans Day & Memorial Day. I have added it to my "Utah List" for the next trip, and hopefully next year we can read it and I can teach the kids a few things about him and his life.

In the absence of the journal, I thought a trip to the Intrepid Museum would be good. The S.S. New York (the new ship that was made largely from steel reclaimed from the twin towers site) was docked next to it, but no-one was that interested in heading over there, so we just went to the Intrepid.

We had to take Jane to the doctor in the morning, so we went after lunch.

We missed the landing of a Blackhawk helicopter that was at 11am, but it also meant that Rick left work early and met us there. Any day that Daddy gets to join us is super!

We did get a picture with the S.S. New York in the background.

If Jacob ever becomes a fighter pilot - this is exactly what he wants his plane to look like!

Jane hadn't been feeling well. In fact, we took her to the pediatrician right before heading into the city. Double ear infection. Did I take this poor sick baby home? No, I'm afraid it's the curse of being the 4th child. I just went through the drive through of the pharmacy and we gave her a dose of antibiotics and ibuprofen and were on our way. She fell asleep in the stroller as we were getting our tickets and slept the whole time we were there. She woke up much happier!

 

Of all the things that we got to see on this ship - the thing that probably fascinated the kids the most was this phone. What's that circle thing???? Why is there a cord on it???? How do you dial????

Seriously, this was the phone we had in my house THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL for me.

Yes kids, items from your mother's childhood are now in a museum!

 

Out on the deck, they had a rescue helicopter. The kids could climb in it and touch all the stuff.

The pilot and a couple of the rescue guys were there answering questions.

Jacob thought it was wonderful, and loved sitting in the pilots seat.

 

 

Emily, in the flight simulator.

 

Jane woke up as we were exiting the gift shop. Sad that she missed it, but it did make the afternoon much easier for the rest of us! (Sorry Jane.) Entry is actually included on our Brooklyn Children's Museum membership - so we can go anytime.

We'll make another trip when Jane isn't under the weather.

 

We all headed over to Mars 2112 for dinner.

 {iPhone photo}

Jane got out to walk, since she'd been in the stroller so long!

I love watching those little legs hurrying to keep up with her Dad. It reminds me of running to keep up with my Dad's long strides when I was a little girl.

 

{iPhone photo}

We'd never been to Mars 2112 before, and I though it would be fun for the kids, especially Jacob. It's not too far from the Intrepid and not having to move the car was a huge plus.

It's a space themed restaurant. You take a "ride" in a "spaceship" to get there and there are aliens walking around, etc. The layout and decor are supposed to be as if you were on Mars.

Maybe this restaurant was cool when it opened. Don't bother going there now. The "ride" to the restaurant was $2 a person and made me feel kind of sick. The service was TERRIBLE. Seriously, really, really bad. All of that could have been ignored if the food was halfway decent - but it wasn't. It was kind of like Applebee's on it's worst day.

The one "up-side" was that Jacob was convinced we had really gone into space. However, this made him completely terrified of the aliens walking around. He turned his head away whenever they walked by, and stared at them when they weren't looking with eyes like saucers the whole time he was eating - completely on guard. I think he was waiting for it to turn into the Cantina scene from Star Wars!

It was nice to be able to spend this day thinking of my Grandfather, and other veterans who have given so much, that we might have the life we do now.

A happy day in the city for our family!

Pioneer Day

The 24th of July passes by in NY like any other day - but not for us because we know it's PIONEER DAY!

We love our church and Utah and we love Pioneers - especially Emily, so we always try to do something special on the 24th of July.

This year we made our plans, and then late on the 23rd Emily asked "Did you mend my pioneer dress yet?" Yikes. I had not - not to mention it is now about 3 sizes too small, and I was sure she wouldn't fit it anymore. I told her that it probably wouldn't fit, even if I did mend it that night. She's so good natured, she just said "Do you think you can make a new one next year?"

I was disappointed in myself. I know Emily adores pioneers - why didn't I think of the fact that she would want to wear the dress - she always does! I quickly called Rick - are you at the train yet? He was not (thank goodness he works so late.) I asked him to stop at American Girl place on the way home and get Kirsten's summer dress. We already had the cute red boots, and I figured I could quickly come up with a bonnet. At least her doll would have pioneer get-up, and then next year (if I remember) I'll make her a new one - one that's a little too big, so she can wear it a few years.

After she went to bed, I snuck in and took her doll. I made the little bonnet, and dressed her in it and the dress & boots (finding the red boots in the dark in Ems room was quite the task!)

The bonnet turned out to be pretty cute.
I let Rick pick the fabric - he did a good job.

I made a little tag, and then sat her on the end of Emily's bed, so she'd see her when she woke up. The next morning she came downstairs and gave me a giant hug - she liked it, hooray!

I also had Rick get Bitty Baby an outfit, so Jane wouldn't be sad (I wasn't up for making a bitty baby pioneer dress that night!) Not at all pioneer, but cute and summery - and Jane was thrilled.

We love American Girl - just check out how cute these shoes are!

The next day we launched our pioneer activities - in the afternoon, because we still had swim team in the morning.

I ground wheat & made bread.

Friends came over and we made salt water taffy. Nine kids pulling taffy made for a lot of chaos - I never get any good taffy pulling pictures, since my hands are all sticky & I don't want to touch the camera! Next year, I think we'll make the taffy a day ahead and just eat it on the 24th! Also, I went to 4 places looking for glycerin, and didn't even think about flavor until I started to make it! I looked in my valentine lollipop making stash to see that I only had bubblegum! We used that & tinted it pink and the kids didn't seem to mind. next year I'm thinking light pink / grapefruit flavor ...

It actually turned out really well this year - I wish I had some pictures of the finished product! Here it is cooling, just before the pulling.

Then we went to the park, and shook cream in jars to make butter - and ate it on our bread for an afternoon snack. Yummy!

Then played "pioneer games" - the 3 legged race was hilarious!

Jacob thought he was so funny falling down, that he actually didn't really seem to be attempting to do it properly! Poor Charlie who had him as a partner, he was such a good sport about it.

The little girls wanted a turn too - so Laura partnered with Andrew & helped them have their own turn.

They did a pretty good job.

The we threw "bee" beanbags into a honey pot (Utah is the beehive state.)

We saw this game in Nauvoo last summer - two cans attached to opposite sides of a piece of wood. I made some small beanbags and Rick attached the cans to the wood - you toss the beanbag from one can and try to flip the wood and catch it in the other. Emily actually got quite good at it. OH, and see her outfit? The cutie - she wore her bonnet, and a skirt with bloomers underneath (they still fit) and her "Laura Ingalls" boots and looked very much like a pioneer!

We also ran with a stick and hoop - my kids love this game. Emily is really getting good at this one too! Could there be a more pioneer-child looking picture? (If you ignore the baseball diamond & the house in the background!)

Jane got to hold William - the highlight of her day. Little does she know that lots of pioneer children would have had the job of carrying babies while their parents pushed handcarts. I wonder if she would have been as delighted if she had to hold him all day. While walking. Every day. For three months.

So glad we don't have to do that!

Jacob's pioneer get up.
Which he actually wouldn't wear for the games, but I begged him to put on for a picture.

I was going to make dinner in the dutch oven - but it was getting late & the kids were tired, so we just went to a new restaurant near our house to eat dinner. Good thing too, because Jacob started to fall asleep at the table while we were there.

I haven't done any dutch oven cooking this year. Last year I made something in the dutch oven once a week (on our driveway) - for practice. I think when we get back from vacation, I'm going to do it again, at least until the weather gets cold because it's fun and yummy and I want to get better at it.

It was a fun day, and we're looking forward to it again next year!