Something for the Road

‘Tis the Season

I cannot believe that it is December already, and I know I’m not the only one.  The older I get, the faster time flies.

I love the Christmas Season.  It is full of tradition and good memories for me.  I have been accused of having too many traditions, and I am blessed with a husband who ‘grins and bears it,’ quite well.  But, over the years Mike and I have developed traditions together which are bits and pieces from the families we came from and also new ones which we have developed together.

A few years ago, I felt like I was losing the Christmas Spirit because of all the busy-ness I was engaged in during December.  It just seemed like the month flew by and I didn’t get to relish in the season that I love so much.  So, we got rid of some things to make time and money for the things that mattered most.  I know it may seem harsh and selfish, but I do not send Christmas Cards at all.  My friends are lucky to receive an email with a picture attached, but mostly I try to stay in touch with most friends during the year. 

We have also mostly eliminated gifts to neighbors and friends.  When our list reached 40 gifts, we decided we were out of control.  So, although sometimes it is difficult for me when others bring us something, I just smile and say thanks and tell them we’re grateful for their friendship. 

I also try to do 90% of my Christmas Shopping by December 1st.  And, I accomplished that today – all, while sitting at my computer.  Isn’t technology wonderful? 

I think the most important thing we do is make a December Calendar and put something on every day.  So, I go through the community calendars and pick one or two big activities, calendar them, and then as a family we fill up our calendar.  Here are some of the things we add:

 North Pole Cruise, Family Night at the Festival of Trees, the Nutcracker Ballet, scheduled Christmas Parties, Christmas lights drive, watch a Christmas movie, make cookies, hot chocolate and Wii, snowball fight, read a christmas story, gingerbread houses, serve someone, make snowflakes, and Christmas cards for grandparents.

Sometimes we repeat several of those – particularly the easy ones, but the main thing is that we spend time together as a family doing the things that we like to do together.  Stay tuned for a month full of family Christmas decorations, food, and activities . . . . 

Over the River and Through the Woods

Literally, that’s where our Thanksgiving took us – all the way to Conrad, Montana.  There’s nothing there, really, nothing except family we love.  We had a great Turkey day with Grandma Jo and cousins we are just getting to know.  And, the trip was fantastic – we got to travel along the Southern border of Glacier National Forest – amazing.

   

   

Turkeys, Pilgrims, Pumpkin Pie and Stuff

by Guest Blogger, Gabi Campbell

Hi! I`m going to talk to you about turkeys, pilgrims and stuff.

    Turkey              Pilgrims             Pumpkin Pie               stuff

 

Regarding Turkeys:

1.The name given to a group of turkeys is a rafter, although they are sometimes incorrectly referred to as a gobble or flock.(I personally like them fried).

2.The domestic turkey is a descendant of the Wild Turkey and features prominently in the menu of the Canadian and U.S. holidays of Thanksgiving and that of Christmas in many countries.

Regarding Pilgrims

1. The First Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God for helping the pilgrims survive the brutal winter.

2. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Indians.

Pumpkin Pie

1.  The traditional Thanksgiving menu often features turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. Americans may eat these foods on modern day Thanksgiving, but the first feast did not consist of these items. On the first feast turkey was any type of fowl that the pilgrims hunted. Pumpkin pie wasn't on the menu because there were no ovens for baking, but they did have boiled pumpkin.

Now about that stuff,hmmm……… Well,I can’t help you. Try Wikipedia.

My favorite thing about Thanksgiving is I get to go to relative’s houses.Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful Wordplay

My kids love scrabble or other word games, so when I came across this activity a couple of years ago, I knew they would rise to the challenge of this Thankgiving word game.  It has become a fun tradition for us. 

 

Start with a poster board with grids, or make the lines yourself, and write Thanksgiving on it

Then, have everyone write things they are thankful for, branching off Thanksgiving

   

It’s amazing what the kids come up with.

 

We tried these one year at our big extended family Thanksgiving Dinner.  While we were waiting for turkey, everyone just wandered over and filled it in.  I think we were able to fill it in almost completely.  Of course we’re all thankful for a lot, but this makes remembering what we’re thankful for, really fun.

Thanksgiving Banner

by Guest Blogger, Jessamyne

 

 

I am so excited to blog again!  I love to blog and write on hers because she won’t let me have one(grrrrrr!)!

check this out! I made this really easy banner, but it took some time. If you want to do this, follow these easy steps:

1. On half pages, type each letter on like T H then on the next page A N etc.

2.Get an old colorful magazine and such as a Flor magazine (the one I used, very colorful) and GLUE them on. This way they stay on and last FOREVER. (I made the mistake of tape)

3. String them on to some twine or rope or string and voila! you just hang it up now!!!

4. Mom nailed nails into the wall and then tied the string in a loop and put it up.

5. Remember to show off your VERY long and hard art work!  

well it turns out everything works out when you have a creative me and a VERY creative mom. If you ever want me to do a project, I will do it, as long as you have room on your walls!!

Happy Thanksgiving (a.k.a, turkey day, pilgrim day, eat all you want on desserts and get sick day, and then. . . you get the idea!)!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too Good to be True Pumpkin Cake

 

1 15 oz. can pumpkin (or 2 cups jack-o-lantern pumpkin)
1 spice cake mix

Mix well. Pour into greased and floured 9x13 or 2 loaf pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Nutritional Content: 24 servings, 97 calories, 1.6g fat, 20 carbs, 1g protein.

Kirtsy

kirtsy n.
1. a gesture of respect often made by women
2. a place where women give nods, respect, and props to the coolest things out there. Where they find things, share things. News. Ideas. Information. Products. Coolness. And more and more and more. kirtsy is like that friend who always finds the best stuff... only better. Because it finds the stuff online. And let's face it, there are billions of online options...and finding something you're interested in is sometimes tricky. So kirtsy was created as a portal where skirts can be raised with respect. A spot that you can stop in to see what excellent things others have found. (according to kirtsy.com)

I came across this site during my search for something else, and I got a little drawn in.  I have several blogs I like to follow.   A lot of them have to do with decorating, creating, and running.  there’s something about the internet that just completely sucks up your time, and so I’m very conscious of not wasting time while browsing.  But, when relaxing by myself at night, I do like to read blogs and I came across kirtsy when I was reading DesignMom.

While taking a few minutes perusing today, I came across a blog – Making it Lovely.  I loved looking at the design ideas and color combinations – it might be a new favorite.  This pumpkin pie play dough looks good enough to eat (can I?)  Then I found this great article on different, miniature advent calendars for Christmas – something you could make with the kids.  I found both of these on the homepage under the Most Popular picks.  I found these fun things in about 5 minutes.  There are also some fun clicks in the Editor’s Choice column.

You can also search by category.  When I searched under, “Design and Crafts,” I found this great tutorial on making custom-sized boxes.  I love it!  Can I put everything in a box?  Then, I just had to check out this wreath made from book pages for only $2.

O.k., so maybe perusing the internet every day is not the best use of my time, but I have found that on occasion it does save me a lot of money and allows me to dream when I’m not creative enough to dream on my own and need a little pick-me-up.  I’m always amazed at all of the creativity out there – periodically I borrow a little and it makes me happy.

And, if you are a Geek, like my husband (his words, not mine), check out Digg. 

Delicious

No, the synonym for delicious is not “yummy.”  In this case it is “bookmark.”  Have I lost my mind? . . . .maybe, but that has nothing to do with this post.  Mike just introduced me to this little tool and I love it.  I have had my computer re-formatted far too many times this year – I’m pretty sure he has a secret passion for re-formatting computers and using mine is a little less messy for him.  Anyway, each time my computer has been re-formatted, I have lost my bookmarks for the internet.  With Delicious, the problem is solved.

Delicious is a Social Bookmarking service, which means you can save all your bookmarks online, share them with other people, and see what other people are bookmarking.  You can also see the most popular bookmarks that are being saved, according to how they’re tagged by interest.  It’s a great way to keep track of all of your bookmarks, and searching is easy.

Before, we used folders to organize our bookmarks, but Delicious uses tags.  Each bookmark can have several tags, and they are automatically organized.  There was a little bit of re-training for me, as I was so accustomed to the bookmark system before, but in a lot of ways it has made many things more simple.  Check it out.  It’s free.

Example:  Although finding new bookmarks is not a high priority for me, when I tried it out I found this great little service that cuts your photos for you.  So, if you’re not highly skilled in cropping photos on your own, or you lack the software for it, you can go to CutMyPic and do it in a jiffy.  I tried it on my photo on the right.  Hmmm, if I had more time, the things I could find . . . . .

Blogging and Villages and Such

When Jessamyne wrote her post this last week, I didn’t really have any expectations – I just wanted her to have an outlet.  I was overwhelmed by all of the comments just for her.  Her confidence soared, she became more positive, and she had more energy.  I’m so grateful for all of the people in our lives who boost her up, support her, and give her good experiences.  Some are family, some are dear friends,  .  . . all showed us how much they care about us.

It is true, . . . parenthood can be tough, but when you have back-up like this, it makes it more doable and there is hope.  Thanks to all who helped her have such a good experience.  I’m sure she’ll be invited back as a guest blogger in the future.

Home Improvement – Mudroom

They say that the first impression people get when they walk into your home, is the impression that sticks.  If that’s the case, until now ours has been a little lacking.  I wish I had “before” pictures, but I neglected to take any – probably because I was so anxious to get rid of it.

Our home has a double entry, which I love to call the mudroom.  It had green carpet, blue molding, a door with a window and curtain, and bad drywall (of course) when we started.  About a year ago I got sick of the carpet and pulled it up to find a well-worn wood floor, but very charming.  We have re-done the drywall, floor and ceiling.  We added a recessed light in, which helps with the lower ceiling.  There is a new front door and a new entry door (which I absolutely love).  Mike recently built some cubbies and installed hooks, and we have a marvelous shoe cupboard from IKEA (I wish we had one) which helps keep everything tidy. Oh, and don’t forget the painted floor.

The carpets are temporary and purely for function, but you get the idea.  All in all, I’m really happy with the result.