Civil War

For those of you who don't know, one of the biggest rivalries in college football is about to go down tomorrow. The Civil War game: Oregon State vs. University of Oregon. Even if you are not a college football fan, or a sports enthusiast in the slightest you have to appreciate this gut-wrenching rivalry that was first played out all the way back in 1894 and is the seventh-longest college football rivalry game in the United States. My family looks forward to this game all year long. Being the big Oregon State fans that we are, yes we care about the Beavers overall season record, but what ultimately matters most is if they beat the Ducks in the Civil War game. They call it the "Civil War" game because it is literally like when the north and south of our country were divided in war. Man against man, brother against brother, father against son. I know families that have fans on both sides and it is not pretty come game time. You can not be a wishy washy fan, you must choose sides. As statistics go it is usually the home team that wins, (all Civil War games since 1997 have resulted in a victory for the home team) my opinion being that the home fans are so wild and crazy that whoever hosts the game has the utmost advantage in rattling the other teams psychy. The games get so loud that the players can't hear anything out on the field. This year however, the home team might just lose. The Oregon Duck's lost their starting quarterback Dennis Dixon to an injury and he will not be playing. Yes, that gives the Beaver's a horribly unfair advantage but do I care? Heck no. This will be one of the low down, dirtiest, grittiest, hard fought games of the year and I will enjoy every minute of it. As Beaver fans well know, nothing ever is for certain where their victories are concerned, but (and I hope I'm not jinxing anything) I'm predicting they stomp those ducks into the ground and bring home another Civil War victory for the old Orange and Black.

Holiday Stories

This time of year I have a couple of books that I get out from the book shelf and either share with my family, or read quietly myself when I get the chance. You know the kind that leave you with that good feeling? They always put me in the holiday spirit and help me remember the true meaning of Christmas and not just all of the commercialism that is thrown in our faces every time we turn on the TV or run to the store. One that has become a Christmas Eve tradition to read is "The Fifty Dollar Gold Piece" by Roderick L. Cameron.















It is just a little Christmas "story card" and is only about seven or eight pages long. It is story about a wealthy family that decides to give away a fifty dollar gold piece to the first person to stand at their door on Christmas Eve morning. The only stipulation to follow the gold piece is that should the bearer come in contact with someone who is less fortunate, they must give it to them instead of keeping it for themselves. It is a very touching story and always reminds me of how fortunate we all are and how no matter the circumstance we can always find someone more in need than ourselves. This book never fails to touch my heart.


Another book that is a favorite of mine is "A Redbird Christmas" by Fannie Flagg.

Here is a short synopsis from the inside cover:

"After a startling diagnosis from his doctor, Oswald T. Campbell leaves behind the cold and damp of the oncoming Chicago winter to spend what he believes will be his last Christmas in the warm and welcoming town of Lost River. There he meets the postman who delivers mail by boat, the store owner who nurses a broken heart, the ladies of the Mystic Order of the Royal Polka Dots Secret Society, who do clandestine good works. And he meets a little redbird named Jack, who is at the center of this tale of a magical Christmas when something so amazing happened that those who witnessed it have never forgotten it. Once you experience the wonder, you too will never forget A Redbird Christmas."

This book takes me away from the hustle and bustle and reminds me to slow things down and enjoy the season. If you are feeling even the tiniest bit "grinchy" take a break and read these books.

Today's Forecast

The old Ri-lo is out of town so the forecast for the next couple of days calls for:

-Cleaning out the fridge and eating up the rest of the Thanksgiving leftovers.
- Decorating the Christmas tree which we set up last night per the request of Kendle, who would not return to normal behavior until it was put up and plugged in. ( I love my fake pre-lighted tree, miss the real pine smell but do not miss the mess)
- Getting out the rest of our Christmas decorations and tweaking them to perfection until my brain is hurting and my eyes are crossed. (This process could actually stretch on for days)
- Doing laundry that accumulated over the Thanksgiving Holiday.
- Getting caught up on all of my mail that has made a huge pile next to my computer.
- Boxing up all of the children's clothes they've outgrown.
-Having a fun girls night tonight with Kendle for FHE. I'm thinking painted toenails, popcorn, treats, and a movie.

* Side story: This morning I realized I had still not bought the items for the Salvation Army boxes our ward is doing so I got Kendle off to school and then me and the Morgster headed to Walmart. This was a big deal because he is five months old and I have never taken him grocery shopping. I have been dreading and putting this day off for a while because he hates his car seat and I just knew he would scream and cry through the whole store and I would much rather wait until Riley is home and can watch the kids to go shopping all by my lonesome. But guess what? I fed him before we went and five minutes into our experimental excursion he fell asleep. He slept the whole time and didn't bat an eye until we headed back outside to the car. I know this will probably be a fluke and it will never happen again, but for just one day at least I can revel in the satisfaction of having an enjoyable shopping experience with my baby.

Best News

My little sister called me last night to tell me she made 1st Team All-Conference! I was "woo-hooing" all over the house. This is the icing on the cake to what our family has been trying to tell her all along: that despite her lousy coach and awkward team mates she still shines. I'm so glad she persevered and kept a positive attitude. I love how humble she is and what a good leader she was to her team. Way to go out in style Tam, I am SO proud of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thankful Tree

Want a fun way for you and your family to display all that you are thankful for??
Make a Thankful Tree!
( Our family did this one year and it was really fun, maybe I'll try it again this year. )

You will need:

1 large brown paper bag (or we used butcher paper)

Construction Paper, red, yellow and orange

Cut open the brown paper bag by cutting down one of the creases and then cutting the bottom off. Lay the paper out on the table and use about half to ¾ of the length of the bag to draw a tree trunk.

Staple, tape or pin this to the back of a door or a bulletin board. (we just taped it to a wall in my parents family room)

Use the remaining pieces of the bag to make branches for the tree. Staple those coming from the tree trunk. This does not need to be fancy and you don’t need to be an artist to do this ...

















Now make leaves out of construction paper. Make lots of them! You can use a basic maple leaf design or any leaf design you would like. You can hand them out to everyone and have them write down what they are thankful for this year. Then tape them to the tree and enjoy.

The children really enjoyed this and it was a good reminder for them to think about their blessings.
























How nice to have a heart full of thanks when you sit down to your Thanksgiving dinner!

Gobble, Gobble

I found these cute turkey place cards here and decided to make them for my family. They are fairly simple and only require a few supplies, which is my type of craft. On the tail feathers are random Thanksgiving trivia questions and the answers are on the back. The website has the template and questions you can print out if you'd like to make them for your own family.

1 Week to go!

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is only a week away. Next Thursday will be one of my favorite days of the year. My how the time flies. It seems like it was only yesterday that I was getting my morning sickness under control and having dreams, (real dreams) about eating delicious food at Thanksgiving, not just dry cereal like I'd been living off of for the last couple of months. That was the turning point at which I started to feel somewhat normal again. Oh, the magic of mom's home cooked heavenly turkey and stuffing. I don't know about the rest of the world, but Thanksgiving's with my family are a 24 hour food fest. A shameless display of gorging and feasting that lasts all weekend long. I am so thankful to belong to a family that loves to eat as much as I do.

In expectation of Thanksgiving, not only will I be preparing my waistline, but also reflecting on all of my many blessings and what I am truly thankful for. There are no words to describe how I feel to be surrounded by my family during the holidays and share those precious memories with them. I realize that as we get older we need to enjoy these moments, life can be short and unexpected. I have much to be thankful for this year.

Evolution of Dance

Reading Tiffani's post about dancing reminded me of this guy who performs "The Evolution of Dance". Some of you have probably already seen it, but it is so funny I could watch it over and over again. Hope you get a laugh out of it.

PTC's

It's that time of year when we get to go visit with our children's teacher about everything they are doing right and wrong, but hopefully more right than wrong, right? Ok, so we had the pleasure of having our conference this morning and it went well, no surprises or worries, just pretty much being told what we already knew. Well, actually there is always one surprise and that is how well behaved and quiet Kendle is in school. Not saying she is a bad kid, but she is definitely how should I say, larger than life the majority of the time. Glad to know she saves it all up for us at home. It was good to talk to her teacher one on one and discuss some of my concerns that I have had about the work they are doing in class and that maybe she could start moving on a little bit. I was glad to hear that they will be starting a reading group soon. I think it is a challenge to have a child who is struggling in school, and also a challenge to have a child who is ready to excel and move forward. Lots of extra work for moms, but that's what we're here for and we try to help them the best we can. Kendle has the rest of the week off from school because of PTC and she is already throwing me the I'm bored card. She would rather be at school than at home all day ( and I can't say I disagree). The countdown begins for school on Monday.

Two socks, one sock, no socks

It is so hard to keep socks on Morgan's feet. It is a normal occurrence to start off in the morning with both socks on and then an hour or so later to see this:

One lone sock in the middle of the floor. He will scoot around the house with one sock on for quite a while and it doesn't bother him one bit.

Then pretty soon, off comes the second sock. Usually because he is trying to push off and the carpet is hard to maneuver on.

All I know is socks on or off, he is one happy guy! (slobbery, but happy)

Socks are highly overrated.

Holiday shopping

This time of year I try to avoid the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers. People start to get down right rude and pushy and it destroys my holiday mood, so I do a lot of my shopping online. Little things like stocking stuffers, and treats I'll buy from a store but most everything else I try to do from home. Isn't it great to be able to sit in a comfy chair, and browse to your hearts content without having to waste gas driving around and compete with other people for that last Polly Pocket doll house? Or worry about your baby having a poopy diaper in the check-out line? Most places have good shipping prices around the holidays and I love Old Navy's $5 shipping prices on your whole order. Last year I found some great deals on ebay (love it) and some of the college bookstore's websites for sporting gear, (my husband is a big WSU and Ohio State fan). Now I don't know about anyone else, but my favorite part of Christmas morning is going through my stocking. My mother would always do an awesome job of putting neat things in there. Now that I'm married, I have to say Riley puts together a pretty awesome one too. One cute place to get stocking stuffer ideas is here. They have tons of good ideas based on age and where you're shopping at, and people have submitted their own traditions and ideas. Check it out.

So I'm asking everyone: What are some of your favorite places to Christmas shop on the internet?

Some things I love

Last night, (or early this morning depending on how you want to look at it) Kendle woke me up because she had another nightmare. This usually happens at least 3-4 times a week. I know, I know mom, just getting paid back for my childhood leaps through the dark onto your bed. So I walk her back to her room, tuck her in, and am turning to leave when she says "blow me kisses mom". Let me explain a little bit here-
Our nightly bed-time ritual is that we read, say prayers, give each other a kiss, and then I blow her a kiss at the door so that she can catch it and stick it under her pillow to have good dreams. My daughter is very systematic and everything has to be just so, (hmm, don't know where she gets that from). Kendle remembers EVERYTHING, so if for example she happens to fall asleep on the couch and you put her in bed without this ritual, when she wakes up in the middle of the night she freaks out that she didn't get her kisses!

OK, so back to the story. Turning to leave she asks me to blow her a kiss. So I do, she catches it and sticks it under her pillow, and I can see her little mind at work. "What do you need?" I asked her, (almost falling asleep leaning against the door frame mind you) and she says that I better blow her some extra kisses to save underneath her pillow in case she has another bad dream, and then I won't have to come back in her room again. What a great idea! Why hadn't I thought of that? I guess it worked because she didn't wake up another time and slept on till morning. I love that my daughter thinks her mother's kisses are magical and strong enough to keep the bad dreams away and protect her while she sleeps.

I love that she ran up to me and gave me a big hug when I picked her up from kindergarten today. Those surprises are getting few and far between.

I love that Morgan is so happy to see me when he wakes up in the morning, and lays there cooing and talking while I drag myself out of bed. I love that he laughs at my silly faces and jokes while I get him dressed.

I love that my husband is getting my cupboard door fixed for me today and picking up a new cell phone charger for me since I can't find my old one. He really is a pretty thoughtful guy, when he gets around to thinking about being thoughtful. :)

I love that today is just a boring Tuesday, nowhere I have to be or anything important I have to do. Love it.

FHE GAME NIGHT

For our family home evening activity tonight we decided to play Monopoly. Last Christmas, someone bought us the deluxe edition and we have never used it, so it was a good time to break it in. I haven't played this game in years and years. At first we thought it would be a little complex for Kendle to keep up with, being only 5 after all, but boy did she catch on in a heart beat. She was a little real estate tycoon in no time flat. Every time a property came available she would snatch it up, or outbid someone else for it. Pretty soon she had almost as many houses on the board as Riley. Then there's myself, who managed to land on Riley and Kendle's properties over and over again, and be sent to jail one too many times. Even Morgan wanted to get in on the action, so I held him on my lap so he could crinkle up all of my money, much to Riley's dismay, (it's just pretend I had to remind him). We finally had to cut the game short because it was past Kendle's bedtime, but we were having so much fun we could have played for at least another hour or so. She ended up with a very substantial amount of money at the end; clearly the winner. It was so enjoyable to sit together and share some laughs and poke fun at each other's mishaps. No tantrums, no crying, just laid back quality togetherness. I love my fun little family.

Custer's never let's me down

Yesterday was just one of those near perfect days. In the afternoon, my mother and my sister accompanied me to the Custer's Christmas bizarre at the TRAC. My mother and I go every year and it is always fun to see all of the crafts and Christmas items on display. It jump-starts the Holidays for me to hear the Christmas music playing and smell the wonderful smells. I always find something really cute for my home, and this year was no exception. I've been searching for that perfect little black table, and low and behold yesterday was my lucky day.
















Isn't it cute? What a steal, I couldn't believe it. Not only is it an exact fit for the little corner in my kitchen, but it looks like it was made to pair with my black shelf that hangs above it.

This table from a store would have been at least twice as much as what I got it for, so I couldn't have been happier. After leaving Custer's, we drove to the Country Mercantile to shop some more. They have a ton of Christmas decor and ornaments on display, and of course the yummiest selection of goodies for miles around. It took us a long time to get out of there because there were so many neat things to look at. It was hard for me to not come out of there with an armful of sweets, but I did come away with some clever stocking stuffers and these cute ornaments:

By this time we had really worked up an appetite, so we headed back to town and stopped at Cousins for dinner. We visited and took our time, and it was so relaxing to not have to rush around. My super husband had told me to take our time and go do whatever we wanted for however long we wanted. He really is a great guy (especially during hunting season when he knows he needs to butter me up) and takes good care of the children while I'm gone. Funny story I have to insert here- Since he was going hunting this morning he loaded the kids up in the car to go scout some birds. Kendle loves to go on these little adventures with dad. Then he was planning on taking them to Walmart because he needed to buy some more contact solution. Well, they drive out to the fields and he smells a dirty diaper in process. So he had to head back home and unload the kids to change Morgan. By that time, he lost his motivation to head to Walmart. I just had to laugh when he was telling me this after I got home, because isn't that so typical of when you are trying to go anywhere with a baby? Oh, the life of a mom.

Anywho, it was the best day I've had in a long time and I realized I need to do more things like this with my mom and the rest of the girls in my family. This time of year makes me want to be around my family as much as I can. We ended the day with lots of goodies, good ideas for future crafts, and some great memories.

Trunk-or-Treating and the Pumpkin Patch

Last night we attended our ward Trunk-or-Treat. I was so glad it was on Halloween this year and that we didn't have to dress the kids up two different times. There were a ton of people there and Kendle got quite the haul of candy. My mother drove up from Oregon and came with us, and we had a fun time. Here are the children before we left:

Morgan looking oh so scary as a little skeleton.

Kendle made a cute fairy and she was most excited about the sparkly makeup she got to wear, even though she didn't like the process of putting it on. I love how Morgan's facial expression in this picture is like, "stay away from me fairy and no one gets hurt".

We left the Trunk-or-Treat around 7:30, and then hit a few houses in our neighborhood on the way home. The people on our block were very nice. One older fellow gave Kendle a handful of candy bars and another house gave her candy and an awesome skeleton pencil, so I think she was pretty pleased with her grand total by the time we headed home.

Also, on Monday I went with Kendle's kindergarten class to the pumpkin patch. It was pretty fun and chaotic and messy, and all of the things field trips usually are. It was interesting to see Kendle's interactions with the other children in her class and watch her pick out a pumpkin.

Yep, that's a keeper!

They also let the children run through the hay bale maze, pet some animals, and climb to the top of the hay pyramid. At the very end, they were given a snack and then gathered their pumpkins up to take home.

This picture cracked me up. Her teacher was giving them instructions on how to stand in line while they were waiting to get back on the bus. This is classic Kendle for ya.

I'm glad I decided to go and share this memory with her. Did we have fun?

As Kendle would say, "that's a positive!"