Little changes

Since Chris' "promotion" at work, he's been there A LOT. In the past when he has had to travel, I have always worked on and completed a small project around the house to keep myself busy until he returned. I figured that this might also be a good way to keep myself busy while he's gone for 6 days a week from 6am to 7pm at work, until things slow down.

My first little project was to reupholster our dining room chairs. With the help of my friend, thanks Heather, we transformed this-

into this! I love paisley and love bright colors so I was so excited when I found this red and green paisley fabric on sale and am thrilled that it is now adorning our dining room chairs.

My next little project was inspired by the drab gray weather we've been having. With the help of another friend, thanks Vicki, we painted the kids' bathroom a bright aqua color. I don't have all the accessories and pictures that I want to make it complete yet, but the color already adds a lot of happiness to my life, especially since this is the bathroom where I take my long, warm, winter baths.

This is the view looking from the living room (yellow) through the closet/dog room (green) into the bathroom. In this photo I've added the red valance as there will be other red accessories to tie in all the bright colors.

Forget the Turkey, Bring on the Pie!

We spent Thanksgiving with our friends, the Smiths, as we've done for the past two years as well. We always divide up the food assignments into what I like to think of as colored and non-colored. Meaning I bring the colorful foods like the cranberry sauce, the green bean casserole, the sweet potato casserole, the pumpkin pie, and the lime jell-o. I remember my assignment like this: one red, two oranges, two greens. (I'm a color person, what can I say?) My friend on the other hand does the non-colors: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, and apple pie. So, Wednesday as I was getting ready to start the pie, Jared asked if he could make a pie this year. Now I have always had visions of the kids helping me with the pies for the holidays, but never thought them old enough to help just yet, so when I saw his interest, I jumped at the opportunity. I said, "Sure, you could make something easy like a blackberry pie, we have plenty of frozen blackberries." And he promptly got out the recipe book to find his own idea and settled on a vanilla cream pie. I explained that it would take a lot of time and stirring to make it from scratch, but that is what he wanted to do. Here he is stirring the pudding for his pie. He did a great job and stuck with it.

Here is the finished product on Thanksgiving day.

Krystal may not be ready for rolling out pie crust and stirring pudding, but she did help me scoop out the pumpkin puree for the pumpkin pie.

We had a good day complete with turkey and pie, colors and non-colors, good friends and fun. After dinner the girls enjoyed playing with the thirteen year old's dollhouse and Polly Pockets.

Amber showing off a Polly Pocket.

And the boys enjoyed learning a computer car racing game. We do miss our families during the holidays, but are greatful for good friends to share the fun with.

A Trip Back in Time

On Friday, November 6th, we packed up the Suburban for another family road trip. With snacks, toys and coloring pages of each state we were to travel through, the kids loaded up full of anticipation. We left in the early evening and made our first stop in Culpeper, Virginia to visit some friends from Radford that had moved. We had a great time seeing our friends again, but had to be on our way Saturday morning as we still had another 11 hours to drive and we hadn't even left Virginia yet. On we drove to Maryland and made our first stop back in time. Fort McHenry in Baltimore Maryland is the fort from the War of 1812 where Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star Spangled Banner". We enjoyed the nice walk by the sea and were amazed at the size of the canon. This one that the kids are posing in front of is not even the biggest one. We continued on our journey passing through Delaware, New Jersey and into New York. We were all so excited to see the Statue of Liberty, The Empire State Building, The World Trade Center Site and Yankee Stadium. What we didn't enjoy was the traffic jams and confusing road signs that resulted in a four hour drive through Manhattan. Thank goodness it was night and there were lights everywhere, Amber summed up the view with her repeated "It's soo butiful!" Most everyone slept through Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts and woke up when we rolled into the resort on Cape Cod a little past midnight.

On Sunday we went to church then spent the afternoon walking on the beach, collecting seashells and taking pictures of each other. The weather was pretty warm for November in Massachusetts and we were delighted to see that there was still beautiful fall foliage on all the trees.

Jared took this picture of Chris and I just as the sun was setting.

Monday morning we found ourselves back at the beach, a different one this time. Again, the weather was really nice and there were so many beaches to explore we just couldn't resist. Amber was quite interested in the noisy song these two seagulls were singing to each other. Around 11am we met up with a local Lawyer that we had met at church for a little tour. He took us to an old Quaker church and cemetery. The Quaker meetings had begun in 1659 and the building was built in 1809.

Next he took us to an old windmill that was originally built in 1791, but has since been restored. We then went to the Yacht club to see all the boats and finally ended at another beach where the kids really enjoyed feeding the huge seagulls.

After our friend returned to work, we decided to continue exploring Cape Cod on our own and headed over to Chatham to see a lighthouse and yet another beach. The highlight of the day was when we went to the fishing pier and watched the fishermen bringing in their catch. The seals and seagulls follow the boats to get their scraps, so we got to see several seals up close. It was pretty smelly and slimy watching the fish being loaded on the chute, but real interesting. Finally, we ended the day with swimming at the pool (the kids had been asking ALL day).

Tuesday morning we drove the almost 2 hours to Boston. As with New York, the traffic was crazy, but after a couple wrong turns we finally made our way to Boston Common which is a huge park in the middle of the city. From there we walked the Freedom Trail to visit many of Boston's historical sights from the days of the American Revolution. Above are Krystal and Amber at Paul Revere's grave site. We also saw some very old churches and the meeting houses where the Revolution was born.

As we continued on the trail we passed the Green Dragon Tavern. This tavern is mentioned in many books about the Revolution so I just had to get a picture of the kids in front of the British Soldier posted in front (Jared is trying to fight him - a true revolutionary). We continued on to find the spot in the street where the Boston Massacre took place, Paul Revere's home, and the Old North Church where two lanterns were hung to warn that the British were coming. After some warm New England Clam "Chowda" we crossed the river into the beautiful and much more quaint Charlestown to see the Battle of Bunker Hill monument and the USS Constitution as well as the WWII ship the Cassin Young. After touring the ship, we took a boat across Boston Harbor back to Boston.

We finished off our time in Boston at the City Garden where we found the statues of Mrs. Mallard and her eight ducklings from the children's book "Make Way for Ducklings". We couldn't resist this photo op as I often feel like a mother duck with my ducklings following behind.

Wednesday morning we headed back up North, this time to Plymouth. Our first stop in Plymouth was the Wampanog Natives village. It was really cold this day, so we enjoyed crawling under the little doors and entering into the native longhouses to get warm by their fires as they answered questions and talked about the way life would have been for the Wampanog before and after the settlers arrived in America. The kids were interested in the native toys that were on display, Krystal even found a doll. It might not be a Barbie, but she still liked it.

As the day grew colder we walked over to Plimoth Plantation. Very similar to Jamestown in Virginia, this reproduction of Plimoth was most interesting because each of the workers actually play period characters. I was excited to meet William Bradford and talk with him about his influence on the colony.

We finished off this day by going to Plimoth Rock and seeing the place where the Pilgrims first came to Massachusetts. We were interested to find out that this was not actually the first place where they came to land in America, but just where they settled. We also toured the Mayflower II, a working replica of the Mayflower.

On Thursday we found ourselves back at the beach. We decided to spend the day driving to the tip of the Cape. There was a tropical storm out at sea that brought in some great waves for playing wave tag (a game the kids think they made up). Apparently wave tag is even more fun when the water is freezing and you are bundled up in your winter gear, because we all had a blast! Only Krystal and Chris got caught and had wet feet the rest of the day, the rest of us stayed dry.

Part of our agenda for the day was to stop at as many lighthouses as we could find. We took this picture at the Highland lighthouse. President George Washington had 10 acres purchased to build this lighthouse in 1796. The lighthouse was originally 500 ft. away from the 125 ft. drop off cliffs. Due to erosion, in 1990 it was only 100 ft. away from the cliff and had to be moved back to where it now stands 450 ft. away from the cliff. This family picture is taken at the edge of the cliff. It was a pretty awesome sight. We continued to the tip of the Cape to Provincetown which is actually where the Mayflower first landed in America and bought a copy of The Mayflower Compact and some saltwater taffy. What a day!

On Friday, we headed in the other direction to finish off our tour of Cape Cod. Our first stop was a glass factory where we watched glass blowing. That was neat. Then we went down to Falmouth to an aquarium where the kids enjoyed seeing the big fish and touching starfish and horseshoe crabs. Finally we stopped at the Nobska lighthouse (pictured above). All in all, we saw five lighthouses, at least three windmills, hundreds of quaint little shops, several beaches and quite a few cranberry bogs. Compared to the bustle of the big cities we really enjoyed the nostalgia of Cape Cod.

Saturday morning we said our sad goodbyes to the beach and drove back through the big cities. We stopped in Edison, New Jersey to see the Thomas Edison Museum where we saw hundreds of Edisons patented inventions, not all 1093, but it was still cool. We spent the night at our friends house in Frederick, Maryland and after going to church with them we headed back home.

So, from the Mayflower in 1620 to Thomas Edison in 1931 we enjoyed our trip back in time. If I were to ever imagine time traveling I think it would end the way our trip did, with a huge dose of reality. We hadn't been home for 15 minutes when I had to start making phone calls for my calling at church. But when life gets a little hectic and too 21st century, at least I have these pictures (and many more) to look back at and remember the quiet calm of Cape Cod.

Use the force!

For the past several months, we have been watching all the Star Wars movies, one by one (I know there are only six of them, but we're kind of slow). Add in the fact that Lego has a whole series of Star Wars kits and the result is that Jared has become obsessed with Star Wars. So it was no surprise that when I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday party he said "Lego Star Wars." On Friday night, Oct. 16th, Jared had his friend, Connor, over for a sleepover. We watched Star Wars Episode 5 and the boys stayed up late playing Legos. For breakfast in the morning, I made Star Wars shaped pancakes. Here are Connor and Jared with their Tie Fighter and X-wing pancakes.

Rather than planning games for the party, we just had Jared's friends bring their Legos and build Star Wars spaceships. Then, they played a game in the basement with their creations.

Krystal and Amber set up a popcorn picnic to watch the show as the big kids flew their spacecraft back and forth.

Jared was so pleased with his spoils, lots and lots of Star Wars Legos.

Finally, pizza and chocolate cake to finish off the party. It was possibly one of the easiest birthday parties ever and the boys had a blast!

But, as usual, when our family gets into something, it doesn't stop there. The kids collectively decided that for Halloween this year we should dress up as characters from the movie Star Wars. So with a few borrowed pieces of costumes, a trip to goodwill, a little bit of sewing, some permanent markers, and a yard sale find - we are the Star Wars family.

Chris is Anakin Skywalker (whom later becomes Darth Vader), I am Padme Amadala (married to Anakin and mother to Luke and Leia). Clarissa is Princess Leia, Jared is Luke Skywalker, Amber is R2-D2 and Krystal is C-3Po. On Wednesday night, the 28th we went to our church Trunk or Treat party and on Halloween night we went to a party at a friend's house with Trick or Treating afterward.

Here are Princess Leia and C-3Po all ready to go get some candy.

Earlier in the week, we had painted pumpkins. This is Krystal hard at work on her masterpiece.

These are Clarissa, Jared, and Amber's pumpkins. We did carve the pumpkins eventually, but don't have pictures of the carved side. All in all, it was a fun Halloween. Personally, I think Halloween gets more fun each year the kids get older. I can't wait until next year!

Happy 10th Birthday Jared!

Jared at his Aunt Kara's wedding in 2004.

Jared has really grown. Still, it's hard to believe 10 years have gone by. We love Jared's huge smile with dimples. Jared is really into Legos right now, especially Star Wars Legos. He will spend hours building star ships with details like escape hatches and lights. He also still enjoys art in any form and has recently created a whole nature series with oil pastels. Lately he has spent a lot of time talking about what he wants to be when he grows up and he can't decide between a Lego designer, an architect, an artist, or illustrator. He has been making up his own comic books, usually involving Legos somehow. Jared also enjoys anything funny, especially Bill Cosby and Abbot and Costello. He can recite most of their acts word for word. We love that Jared still thrives on hugs from Mom and Dad, is a huge help with his sisters, and loves to spend time with his many friends at Cub Scouts and workshops.

Humanitarian Yard Sale

After confiscating many clothing and toy items from the kid's bedroom floors, we had a family meeting to discuss what we should do about this problem. Part of the discussion was that there are many children in the world who do not have nice toys and clothes and after the recent disasters overseas, there are many children who do not have anything. While trying to decide how we could give some of our things to those children who have nothing, Chris suggested that we could have a yard sale and give the money to them instead. What a great idea. Our church's humanitarian services are known world wide and the church always responds to give aide after natural disasters, so we decided that we would give the proceeds from the sale to the LDS Humanitarian Fund. We made that decision on Sunday night. Monday, I set out to find a location for our sale as our home is off the beaten path. On Tuesday, we still didn't have a location so I sent an e-mail out to several of our friends inviting them to join us and asking for ideas for a location. Someone suggested the church and on Wednesday I got permission from the Bishop to use the church. Thursday and Friday were spent going through all our clothes, toys and household items to see what we could sell as well as hanging up fliers at local businesses. Saturday morning we woke up before the sun was up, packed the Suburban and headed to the church. The event was well attended by the community even though rain threatened the whole day. Several families from the church also donated items to sell, brought baked goods to sell, or helped to run the sale. We are so grateful to all those who helped and happy to say that we made $171.80 that will all be donated to the humanitarian fund.

The kids helped to set out all the donated items and then stuck around all day to help with clean-up too.

Finally, a Monarch!

Two years ago for Christmas Aunt Kara gave the kids a butterfly house. With the house, which is a net-like cylinder, came a card and instructions to fill out and send in the card to receive monarch caterpillars and the food with which to feed them. Shortly after having received this wonderful gift, I discovered that one of the girls had eaten the card (Yes, our girls eat paper). No sweat I decided, we have plenty of milkweed in our yard, we will just collect the caterpillars off the milkweed in the summer, feed them milkweed and voila! monarchs, right? Wrong. I searched and searched, but to no avail. Not a monarch caterpillar in sight. While digging for the garden in the spring we discovered several moth pupa and put them in the house. We did enjoy watching them wiggle and hatch. In the fall, we came across many wooly worms which we also put in the house and enjoyed as they metamorphed into cocoons and then moths. But still no butterflies. So this summer I was determined to find a monarch in some form or another. As it so happens, while we were down in Florida visiting Aunt Kara, there were monarch caterpillars devouring her milkweed plant. Would you believe, we actually put two of them in a plastic container and drove them all the way from Fort Lauderdale back to Virginia. When we arrived home there was only one left, but that's better than none. Now, I would have loved to have put the little guy straight into the butterfly house, but over the last year and a half, the house had developed a hole in it (thanks to our cat). I had to settle for putting the caterpillar outside on our milkweed in hopes to find his crysallis later. Periodically, I searched, but with no luck until finally one day when I was working in the yard I found this... Isn't it beautiful! And not three feet away was a second one. Naturally I collected them both and carefully moved them to the butterfly house. We weren't sure how long it would take, but a couple weeks later the first butterfly hatched. About a week later, so did the second one.

Here is one of the monarchs in the butterfly house, drying his wings.

We didn't get to see either of them come out of their crysallis, but we thoroughly enjoyed it just the same. We let them go as soon as their wings were dry and we love to watch for monarchs flying in the yard and wonder if they are ours.