Halloween 2020 Ideas

Halloween is one of our favorite holidays!  We go all out with decorations, we usually have a party and invite the girls' friends, we have our favorite Halloween movies that we watch throughout October -- from Boo to You, Winnie the Pooh to Hocus Pocus!  We make it a month-long celebration.  Fall is my favorite time of year, the house is cozy, the weather is cozy, it's the start of the holiday season.  Our little New England town sets 2 hours for trick-or-treating on Halloween -- usually 5:00 to 7:00pm.  We have the kids come early, we have pizza and munchies, then head out for trick-or-treating.  We have no sidewalks on our street, and our town basically has 2 big streets that kids trick-or-treat on.  One is around the corner from us and there are some houses that give out candy along the way.  The 2 main streets go ALL OUT.  I mean, haunted houses, fire pits out front, hot cider, donuts, hay bale mazes, ghosts that fly out from the top of someone's barn, one man even adjusts all of his shutters on his 2 story home to make it look haunted and he dresses as Dracula.  It's so much fun for the kids -- and adults!  

Things are a little up in the air, to say the least this year.  It would not be a surprise if towns did not have trick-or-treating.  Or, if parents decided it was just safer to skip it this year.  There certainly are safety measures that can be taken - wearing face masks, hand sanitizer after each house, kids opening bags for homeowners to drop candy into with no contact. 

 

Last year's brownies!

Our plan for this year is what I'm calling "Reverse Trick-or-Treating."  The girls are still going to get dressed up but instead of trick-or-treating in town, we are going to put together goody bags and drive to friends' and family and drop our treats off to them.  The girls are excited and it will be something fun and different to do.  And we are still decorating, we'll still carve pumpkins, we'll still watch our Halloween shows all month.  The girls want to reverse trick-or-treat and then come home and have the party foods we would usually have.  My youngest, an avid baker, wants to have a cookie decorating contest, and she wants to watch her first "scary" movie.  My eldest is on board with all of that but also wants to watch Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Good thing it's on a Saturday this year -- it's going to be a BUSY day!!

Whatever you do, try to make the best of these crazy times we are living in and try to make it festive for your kids but also yourself - these are stressful times - have some fun!

Trampoline

Back in March, we heard that my youngest's school year was switching to remote learning and all of her end of year activities were cancelled.  No 8th grade trip to Washington DC, band competition & trip to Six Flags, softball tryouts, end of year concert, 8th grade graduation, and likely the summer musical that she's enjoyed being in the past two summers.  We anticipated that a "bummer summer" was looming ahead with no visitors, no trips, no sleepovers with friends, no annual '80's party, no beloved cousins coming to stay and the town pool closed for the season.  I gathered the girls and we made a summer wish list and a summer to-do list -- all things that we thought we could still do, in spite of the pandemic sweeping the globe.  The top of the list for my youngest - something she's been asking for for ages - a trampoline!  I took some of the money that we were refunded from the Washington trip and I found a trampoline on Amazon - searched all around but in addition to a run on toilet paper and sanitizing wipes, TRAMPOLINES and actually KIDDIE POOLS were also pretty darn hard to find!  I placed an order for both items in April and they arrived around Memorial Day weekend!  The pool was not a big success, some fun was had but it was a hard summer to keep a kiddie pool going - a run of cool days led to little use and a need for a lot of scrubbing and chlorine shock - and with so little rainfall (we must be in a drought this summer!) it was hard to justify constantly emptying and filling the pool.  But the trampoline...  BIG hit!  My youngest is out there a ton (pictured above) and my eldest enjoys it too - to bounce on but also she has spent quite a bit of time just lying on it and reading this summer!  And my husband, the biggest kid of all, loves to jump on it!  Summer is winding down, this will be enjoyed into the fall and then we'll tackle how to store it this winter - yikes.  But much loved and used this summer - well worth it!

"Wall of Fame"

With all of this time spent at home, I have been in project mode!  Some cleaning and organizing, some de-cluttering, some makeovers...  While cleaning out my big storage closet and coming across high school band concert posters and play programs I got an idea -- why let them collect dust in the closet, why not hang them?  My two girls have been involved in a lot of things in school - bands, honors ensembles, plays, musicals, film fests, etc.  We are always proud of their hard work, effort and achievements so why not show them?  We have a staircase with bare walls and I have not known what to decorate that with.  We purchased very inexpensive black frames from Walmart and we used the Command strips to hang everything -- so my husband didn't have to hammer a ton of nails into the wall (he was thrilled!!)!  This is one of my favorite projects that we have done in the house - I love seeing it everyday and these important moments are on display to be remembered instead of cluttered in a closet.  But the best part of all is that the girls love seeing their hard work on display!

Picture Perfect

Middle School Concert

Let me start by saying I grew up in a Kodak family living in Kodak's original city - EVERYONE in my family, including myself, worked at Kodak at one time or another.  My dad was an engineer that designed and tested film.  After my dad retired from Kodak, he started a second career as a photographer.  We take a LOT of pictures in my family...  A lot.  And I LOVE pictures -- to me those are captured memories and when my memory is not as great as it once was, I will still have those photos for myself, for my girls, and someday for their children.

So here is the thing -- I love beautiful portraits of my girls!  I learned a lot from my dad being a photographer - I am much more aware of "busy-ness" in a picture and if I'm taking a portrait of my girls or helping them pick out an outfit for school picture day, I will encourage them to wear something that matches each other or at least goes nicely together.  I never want what they are wearing to take the focus away from their beautiful faces!  (They, btw, have completely different styles and so coordinating is sometimes a struggle...  But we manage!)  I also love taking pictures at events or on trips, etc., and I like to make sure that I have a nice background so you can see where we were but also see the girls (if they are in the picture).  I will wait until other people walk through so that I don't have a whole bunch of other people in the picture.

And over the years my girls have learned that I will wait for them to compose themselves so that I can get that beautiful portrait picture.  I remember years ago while trying to get the "perfect" picture for our Christmas card I said, "Here's the thing, this can take as little or as much time as you want -- the quicker you give me one nice smile, the quicker we can get a good picture and move on!"  I think I posted some of the outtakes of that photo shoot on here!

But in addition to learning what makes a "good" portrait or a "good" vacation photo, I've learned that some of the very BEST pictures are the candid ones!  My girls get each other laughing and they act goofy and I cherish those sometimes more than the actual picture that I was aiming for!  Those are the snapshots of life - not them frozen in a pose, prim and proper, but real glimpses of who they are and full of their personalities.  I love the camera function that allows me to hold the button down and just shoot continuously and see what I captured later!  And you know what?  I've started adding some of those to the photo cards we create for the holidays!  It's good to loosen up and let the kids be who they are - they'll have more fun, you'll get great photos and most importantly you'll make great memories!

"Don't hit your sister!"

Where Have I Been Lately?

My Girls on Concert & Science Fair Night!

Life has been pretty darn busy.  When we moved from NY to NH, and I went from working 35 hours a week outside of the house (and spending an additional hour commuting) to working 20 hours a week IN the home, I thought, "Oh hooray, I'll have more time to write on my blog!"  Yeah, right...  We've been here for almost 5 years now, and in the beginning, I volunteered for a lot of things because a) I was more of a stay-at-home mom now and when I worked away from home I missed out on helping at school, and b) it was a good way to meet people and make connections in our new town where we knew absolutely no one!  Those things kept me busy, got me involved in the community and most importantly in my kiddos lives!  And so, my blog was one of the things that got put on the back burner.  

Fast forward to this past week, when my girls and I were eating dinner together two nights in a row while my husband had to work late, and my eldest pulled up my blog on her phone and started entertaining us with stories of when they were younger!  We laughed so hard at some of the stories - my 11-year-old briefly reverted back to a 2-year-old for 24 hours, repeating some of the cute things that she had heard that she had said 9 years prior...  But mostly we just really enjoyed having that record of our family.  The girls both told me that I should write the blog again and I said they should make a list of things they want me to catch up on and I will do my best!  If for no one else's entertainment than theirs -- and my mom who always read my blog posts!  (Love you, Mom!)

This reinvigoration for my blog is coming during one of my busiest times of the year - Pops Concert Raffle Time!  To catch up on what I / we are up to these days, I have an 11-year-old who is in middle school and is in band, jazz band and drama club.  I have a 17-year-old who is in high school and is in too many bands to name (I believe it's 5 at school and 1 community band in a neighboring town).  This year I have opted to drive them to school, instead of having them take the bus that arrives at 6:25am (if I drive we leave the house at 7!) and because they have so many after-school activities, I pick them up every day.  Our schools are about 7 minutes from our house and I am happy to be able to do this - it is a little extra time with them each day, an opportunity to make sure we all know the afternoon pick up schedule on the way to school, and an opportunity to hear about their days a little before we get home and have homework to do.  I still work from home, but I have a new job that I love - back in human services which is my favorite type of work!  In addition, I still work a few hours a week for my other virtual job, which helps them and also helps support all of the extra activities, lessons, school trips, proms...  I also (from year 1 here) still teach Sunday school at church during the year -- I am excited for next year when I will be back helping with my youngest daughter's class!  And I volunteer for End 68 Hours a couple of times a month and as I mentioned - it's Pops Concert Raffle Time - I am the committee of one for the big year-end raffle at the high school's end of year concert.  

I am super busy these days, but through all of this I get to spend a lot of time with my girls, I know a lot of their friends, their friends' parents, their teachers, and I definitely feel involved in our adopted community -- and I wouldn't change any of that!  (Although if anyone wants to help me make calls for raffle prize donations or help with writing Thank You cards at the end of May, let me know!  ;)

Movie Night Negotiations

It’s April Recess here and I’m listening to my girls negotiate for movie nights...  “I’ll watch a Harry Potter if you watch a Star Wars”. “Ok, but which Star Wars?”  “The Last Jedi - which Harry Potter?”  “The first one” “Nope - I just watched that in film class!” And on and on...  They found common ground on not watching Harry Potter Goblet of Fire — because no one cut their hair in that movie!

Back to School Routine

Off to school on their first day!

I honestly do not know where the summer went this year!  It seems like I was just picking the girls up from their last day of school, and now they've been back to school a little over a week!!  The last week of their summer vacation, I was feeling like we didn't do enough, or we didn't do anything too exciting, or I worked too much (20 hours a week from home).  Also, with my "baby" leaving elementary school and moving up to 5th grade at the middle school, and my eldest entering 10th grade (!!) I was having the pangs of the rapid passage of time and how did this two little munchkins grow up so quickly?  A funny thing happened though on the first day of school - I had a distinct feeling of "there is nothing I can do about it now, today is a new day" and I have quickly gotten into the school routine again!  

But our routine has changed a lot this year!  My girls both ride the same bus - at the same time - last year the bus & driver made the route at 6:30am to pick my eldest up, and then did the route again to pick my youngest up at 8:00am!  This year, with one in middle school and one in high school, they are on the same bus, so my youngest and I are getting up at 5:45am every morning to make the 6:30 bus!  My eldest still gets up at 5:30am as she has the past few years, but now she has to share the bathroom with her little sister -- she is not thrilled about that!  Last year my older daughter had a routine of getting up, eating breakfast, relaxing for a few minutes whether back in bed or on the computer or on her iPod, then getting ready for school.  Her make-up routine involved mascara.  Over the summer, when her cousin and best friend came to visit for a week she was introduced to the larger world of make-up (tasteful, of course!) and so that takes a little more mirror time in the morning!  Last year, I would get up about 20 minutes before my daughter left on the bus -- she is more than capable of getting herself ready and out the door, but I wanted her to have some company in the morning and also wanted to make sure that she got on the bus safely.  

I had planned to get up earlier this year and help my little one get ready.  All summer she begged to have an alarm clock -- panicking about how would she wake up on her own at 5:00 (really 5:45, but she had 5 in her head) without an alarm clock?  I promised I would wake her, but she insisted, so I found a little white alarm clock with multi-colored numbers -- for $5.99 at Target!  Can't beat that!  We got that the week before school started and every night at bedtime she wanted to set it for "5:00" the next morning!  I convinced her that we could wait, no need to wake up so early when we didn't have to!  A few days before school we began getting her back to an earlier bedtime.  The first day of school, at 5:45am her alarm made the first "blip" of it's little song, and she bounced out of bed and shut it off, ready to start the day!  This summer, we cleaned out the clothes in both girls' closets and set them up with one of those hanging fabric shelves that has about 6 "pockets" (shelves).  My eldest is not quite using it the way I had in mind, but my youngest and I have gone through her clothes and picked out a week's worth of outfits at a time and we put one complete outfit in each "pocket."  In the morning, her alarm goes off, she gets up, opens her closet and takes out her outfit to get dressed!  This has been working WONDERFULLY for both her and me!  It saves both of us time in the morning!

I am not normally a morning person, but this past week in particular, I have found myself enjoying staying up (I really could go back to bed for a little bit if I wanted) and getting work done earlier, straightening things up around the house, etc.  Yesterday, I had pot roast in the crock pot at 6:00am, had made beds, done the dishes, folded some laundry, and put 4 hours of work in by 11:00am!  What a great feeling!!  I was lucky to find a part-time, 20 hour a week job as a virtual executive assistant, and so I am able to work from home which really is a blessing!  It can be a stressful job, in spite of the fact that I work at home and can work in my pj's if I want...  I am trying to better manage my time so that when the girls get home around 2:30pm, I am done with work and available to help with homework and hear about their day with no work distractions!  So far so good since school started last week!

What types of things do you do to help ease back into the school routine?

First Day of School!

Holding up the "stop" sign!

Today is the first day of school!  (We start early here...)  My girls are off to 5th and 10th grades this year!  Where did the time go?  My youngest is now in the middle school, so Mommy will not be invited to help out in class any more!  (Sniff, sniff -- I really loved that!!)  And, they ride the bus together as the middle school and high school share the buses.  Of course, they have already stated they will not sit together -- they each have a friend they want to sit with.  Last year, I would wait in the driveway with my youngest and frequently walk her to the bus (our stop is at the end of our driveway).  This year, of course with her sharing the bus with her high school aged sister, I am watching from the door.  I did come out to take pictures of them on their first day, but it was suggested (by my eldest) that I not come too close.  My little one told me later that she would let me come within "hug distance" - bless her heart!

I hope this is the start of a wonderful year for both of them!

Mom-isms

My eldest came home from school and was excited to tell me about a conversation that took place in math class today.  A friend asked "How many times do I need to sing "Satisfied" from Hamilton before this class is over?" Another friend asked, "How long is that song?" 5 minutes.  "Then you need to sing it 7 times."  My daughter shared with them (likely as a "fun fact" as she says to us at home all of the time...) that when she was little her mother (me) would tell her how long things were in terms of a Disney show (something she could relate to).  How long until we get to Grandma's house?  "Two Hannah Montana's" or "Two Kim Possible's."  Her singing friend said, "My mom used to do that too!!"  My girl was then reminded me about her school trip to Washington DC last year, and how a friend of her's said, "I don't have to go to the bathroom, but I'm going to try before we leave, like my mother always tells me I should!"  And of course, my girl said, "My mom tells me that ALL the time too!!"  She told me, "You know, I think all moms think alike!"  

Hey, at least my girl must be listening to me and absorbing some of these "pearls of wisdom"!  ;)  

Growing So Fast!

Where does the time go?  My girls are growing up so fast!  My eldest is a freshman in high school -- college is closer than my husband and I want to think about!  And my "baby" is in 4th grade, going into Middle School next year!  Our girls are pretty tall and are constantly outgrowing their clothes or shoes.  Thankfully, our eldest has probably stopped growing (don't tell her I said that -- she is about 5'10" and desperately wants to make it to 6'! ;) -- she's been in the same shoe size for a few years now (hooray!!), not so for the little one.  Today, she came home from school and because the weather was colder than it has been (I thought we were in Spring now, folks!) we had her wear a zip-up hoodie over a long sleeved shirt, a tank top and jeans.  The hoodie seems to be bordering on being too tight now, so when she got home I said, "Is that hoodie getting too tight?"  Yes.  "Are we done with it?"  Yes.  So I say, "Here" and hold out my hand and she takes the hoodie off and hands it to me.  Then as I watch her tug the sleeves of her shirt down, I say, "Is that shirt getting too tight?"  Yes.  "Are we done with that too?"  And she says, "Yes, but don't say 'Here' because I still need to WEAR this tonight!!"  

This took place in the dining room and she was probably having a flashback to this weekend when we were getting ready to go outside for a little picnic and I took the opportunity to have her try on last year's summer stuff to see what still fits.  Her sister and I were in her bedroom with her and I had the front window shade pulled down so drivers-by wouldn't catch the show of her changing.  She had me and her sister in hysterics putting on crazy mismatched outfits.  We had piles of clothes for "wear it around the house", "wear it in public" and "give away."  At one point we settled on a pair or shorts to wear outside and I found a shirt for her to wear with them.  I must have thought she was a quick change artist, because I pulled the window shade up just when she's standing in the middle of her room, one arm up in the air putting on deodorant, no shirt!  Up goes the blind and she yells, "HEY!"  and ran behind me to hide.  Her sister was laughing hysterically -- mostly because I didn't pull the shade back down!  I was too busy apologizing and laughing -- it was a funny sight!  Good thing our house is set back from the road!!  Anyway, we got through the pile of last year's shorts -- have to work on sorting through last year's shirts next -- I feel like we just cleaned out her clothes and now we are back at it again!  

Don't get me started on shoes... 

At Last, Spring?

It was a beautiful day here in Southern NH, and while Daddy was working, the girls and I were feeling like we should be out enjoying the fresh air and sunshine!  What a lengthy process to get us out the door (into our own yard...).  First, we had to find appropriate warm weather clothing.  That took longer for my little girlie, because I thought this would be the perfect time to go through her piles of shorts from last summer to see which ones still fit!  Hilarity ensued, as it seems to, when my two girls and I spend any amount of time working on project together.  More on that in another post.  We finally found an outfit!

Now, lunch -- we'd decided on "munchy picnic-style" food for lunch.  I pulled out two plastic serving trays -- went searching for the one large one that I like to use for just such an occasion.  In the kitchen, no.  In the laundry room, no.  In the storage closet, no.  Then I remembered -- it's in the playroom with every large Lego creation my little girlie has made!  Moving on to find something else...  Got my trays, pulled out pita chips and hummus, pulled out dipping pretzels and fancy mustard, sliced up cheese, pulled out crackers, grapes, beverages...  Finally, we are ready to walk out the door!  We rearrange some furniture to allow everyone a seat near the food.  We sit, and start to eat, and enjoy the sunshine!

And two minutes pass...  And my girls are ready to go inside because there are bugs outside!  Oh the horror!  Seriously?  We've been prepping for over an hour and you give it two minutes!  Somehow we pushed through had a bite to eat and then we moved onto outdoor projects.  My husband is having back surgery soon and he must avoid any lifting for 4 - 6 weeks, so I told the girls we are going to have to pitch in more than usual.  They worked together to put out our pretty collection of painted garden stones, and I worked on trimming up my hydrangea and raking leaves leftover from the fall.  My little one pulled her bike out of the shed.  It was a fun and fairly productive day!  I was very happy that my girls were able to find their inner outdoorswomen and "tough it out" in spite of the bugs!  (Although, they both abandoned me when I moved out front to rake...  Baby steps!)

How are you enjoying the nice Spring weather?

Re-Organizing a Child's Room

Here's the "After"

It is February recess here and we have friends traveling to Florida, friends traveling to Africa -- what exciting locale did we travel to?  My youngest daughter's bedroom!  Woo hoo!  ;)  I work part-time from home and still needed to get my hours in, and my husband had Mon & Tues off, so we had hoped to do some fun things while he was off.  Unfortunately, he got a 24-hour flu bug and we quarantined him away from the rest of us all day on Monday!  While he was in quarantine ;) I got a burst of Spring (overly optimistic at this point) cleaning energy, and talked the girls into tackling my youngest daughter's room! I had a flash the other night of a different furniture set up in her room that I thought might give her more space.  We moved here almost 3 years ago and her room was the first one painted and one of the first to be set up.  At the time, I thought I was arranging her furniture in the best way possible with the configuration of door, windows, closet.  It worked for a long time, but lately I've been feeling like it was getting cluttered and feeling tight.  

Previously, when you entered the room, the bed was placed opposite the door, horizontally.  There was a small area to the right of that (where her bed is now) that was open floor space for her to play.  Recently I had a thought of, "I wonder if I can fit the bed in between the windows?"  I measured it out first -- ALWAYS a good idea before you start moving heavy furniture!!  It looked like it would fit and so we got started!  My eldest daughter, bless her heart, was up for helping Mom with the heavy lifting!  The worst thing to move was her little white dresser (right side of the picture).  It was awkward to move and HEAVY!  The carpets were also a pain to move!  Ideally, you would take everything out of the room, lay down the area rugs, and then bring the furniture back in.  But, there was no way that I was taking her bed apart -- that would have been a project in itself!  So, we moved as much stuff out as possible, leaving the bed (largest item) and the dresser (heaviest item).  We rolled the carpets up and moved the bed first -- piece of cake!  It is a beautiful, sturdy bed, but thankfully it is also super easy to move!!  Then we rolled out 1 area rug and vacuumed it thoroughly and then did the same with the second area rug (the rug is actually 2 identical area rugs that I bought at Target for $100 each.  We've had them since before she was born (she's 9) and I still love them!  Thankfully, so does my girlie!  She likes to try to play hopscotch on the squares...).  We slid one into place under the bed -- not too tricky, just had to lift up one corner of the bed.  Then the second rug...  In our first attempt, we had the HEAVY dresser on the wall to the left of the picture, facing the bed, and so all of the dresser legs had to be on the rug -- VERY difficult to maneuver!  We left it that way for the night, and in the morning I still did not love the way it looked and thankfully my husband was up and feeling better and he moved the dresser to where it is now.  That made a big difference!  

"Before"

The biggest change in the room was the bed -- just flipping it to the opposite side, I cannot even tell you how much larger her room looks now!  My "before" picture is from the first week we moved -- I think it looks roomier here due to a combo of the camera angle and the fact that over the past 3 years she's accumulated a lot more -- including a big toy box!  In addition to rearranging her furniture and giving her room a good Spring cleaning, we also took the opportunity to go through everything to de-clutter!  My eldest daughter was so helpful with this -- the 3 of us sat on the floor and started with the stuffed animals.  My youngest LOVES stuffed animals and they seem to multiply quickly in her room!  We went through all of her stuffed animals and made piles of things that we are keeping in her room, things that we want to keep in her "special box" as a keepsake, things that are broken and could be thrown away, and things that we don't need and we can give away to someone else.  We followed the same process with her closet, in particular with her box of dress up things!  With both groups of items, my eldest would hold something up and ask her little sister, "Do you need this?"  Immediately, "YES!"  And if it was something that was in good shape, we know that she loves it, have seen her wear or use it, we would put it in the "keep" pile.  There was a large number of items in both groups that my eldest and I knew right away could go in the trash or giveaway piles, but still, my little girlie's first answer was KEEP!  My eldest would then say, "Really?  You really need to keep (fill in the blank)?"  Yes!  "But I never even see you playing with it!" or, tease her gently, "Really?  You need to keep stuffed BAT?"  The 3 of us had lots of laughs during the process -- watching my eldest grab various crazy dress up items and put them on -- light up sunglasses, boa, you name it!  She reached in her little sister's toy box and then screamed when her hand laid on a stuffed rat!!  (Beanie Baby)  But at first glance she thought it was a real rat!  We laughed hysterically over that and it went right into the giveaway pile!  We got everything de-cluttered and organized and into place on the first day and by the end of the second day we also had everything re-hung on her walls,  

It was not a relaxing, tropical vacation, but we all felt like we had accomplished something, my girlie loves her "new" room, has a fresh start when school is back in session, and we all had a surprisingly fun time with lots of laughs!!  Now my eldest wants us to work on her room next!!

Make Time for Quality Time!

Every year I have the best intentions for what I think will make a special holiday season for myself and my family.  Newsflash -- nothing ever works out the way I plan!  This year, one of my big goals has been to try not to get too caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday and make sure that we are making time for quality time together.  For example, while I would love to get my gift wrapping done as soon as possible, I am choosing to NOT lock myself up in my room wrapping while my kids are downstairs playing.  (That happened last year...)  So I still have wrapping to do, BUT, I had fun yesterday afternoon baking with my littlest cutie pie!  And then last night, after dinner, we all sat down as a family to watch "A Christmas Story" which we watch once a year and we all find it entertaining (my little dolly relates to the boy who can't bend his arms because his mother has him so bundled with snow clothes to keep him warm!).  While we did that, my little one and I sat at the coffee table and colored in a Christmas coloring book that she found in her book case -- I always love to color, and we don't do it as often as we should!

Our town does a lot of fun things this time of year and sadly, we seemed to miss most of them this year!  I was sick the day the town did their annual tree lighting, and we were out of town celebrating an early Christmas with family when the town had caroling, hay rides with Santa, a holiday tree festival and activities for the kids.  But, the weekend before that we took a drive up North to meet my aunt and to go to a Holiday Stroll!  The girls and I went and it was fun to see the live nativity scene, the lights and our favorite -- a tiny horse!  So adorable!!  Lots of people there, so my little one opted not to see Santa, but we were all glad that we made the trip to spend some time with our aunt and just to enjoy a nice night of Christmas music and Christmas lights and holiday cheer!

It's good to stop and remind ourselves that the season is not about the gift giving, and that long after the kids have forgotten what is under the tree, hopefully they will still remember the special times shared with loved ones!

    

Christmas Card Photo Outtakes

We have made it a tradition to send a photo card out as our annual Christmas card.  Some years I get a great idea and a great photo and I get the cards ordered and out early to mid-December.  Some years, we are lucky to get it all together before Christmas!  This was one of those years...  We have had no snow here and for some reason it has left me less than inspired for the Christmas card picture -- which is funny, because we almost never do an outdoor photo, so what does it matter if we have snow or not?  Anyway, last night I finally got a burst of energy and had the girls put something mildly holiday-ish on (red sweater, "Smile it's a snow day shirt", Santa hats) and set them up by the tree to get some pictures.  Here are some of the outtakes -- I did get some good ones and ordered the card online last night, so we're getting there!!

Nothing like a little holiday wrestling match for the Christmas card!

I was trying something -- did not look as good in reality!  And my eldest daughter looks like "Elf on a Shelf" here!

 Hope you have better luck with your cards!  :)

Happy 9th Birthday!

Happy 9th Birthday to the sweetest little princess that I know!  ;)  This year our little dolly wanted to spend her actual birthday at home with her family -- lots of fun activities were offered: a children's play in town, a fairy house tour in town (we loved that last year!), candlepin bowling, a movie...  She picked breakfast in bed (a tradition for a few years now), opening gifts and playing with the one gift that she had been longing for -- Disney Infinity!  Then she wanted Mommy's roast chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner, and finally, red velvet cake for dessert!  Mommy was going to be spending the entire day in the kitchen -- which I would have happily done for my girl -- but Daddy, who had unexpectedly surprised us with having the day off, went to the store and bought a red velvet cake!  That save a bunch of time!  It was a very relaxed day but lovely to have the 4 of us all together all day celebrating our new 9 year old!

Out of Hibernation - Welcome, Spring!

My pretty girls at the big party!

I see looking back at my January posts that I have been failing my 2015 New Year's Resolutions...  Diet was going GREAT for a month, as was the writing on my blog!  Then things kind of fell by the wayside...  We are all thawed out here from a particularly long, cold, hard winter -- one TINY little pile of snow left (about 1 foot by 1 foot) and LOTS of yard clean-up to do!  Winter was chugging along just fine and then my husband had an accident which was very traumatic for our little family, BUT, thank God he made it out virtually unscathed!  We were so blessed and are so thankful, but it took us a while to shake that off and get back to normal.  We are happy to say adios to the snow for this year, that is for sure!!

In spite of all of that, we have been busy with work and school and this and that!  Valentine's weekend we had all of my in-law's up to visit for the weekend -- 18 of us in all!  16 people stayed at our house, including 8 children between the ages of 1 - 14, and 4 dogs!  The weather was terrible -- snow storm, cold -- my husband had to work the day everyone arrived.  I found myself saying things like, "WHY is there a toy bird in the glass chandelier?" and arrived home from church to find the POLICE in my driveway (my sister- and brother-in-law called Animal Control because a dog had been wandering around out in the bitter cold for over an hour!).  The house was a wreck and I did take a sip or two of wine (medicinal), but we always have lots of laughs when the whole family is together and it was wonderful that they made that trip in spite of the weather!  It also was a week before my husband's accident, and so I think we were all so thankful that we had that time together, because you just never know what life will throw you -- great example of jumping at every opportunity, making the most of every moment! 

In March, we traveled to Long Island for a whirlwind weekend to attend a magnificent surprise party for my brother-in-law.  It was a wonderful party and it came about 3 weeks after my husband's accident, so it was therapeutic for everyone in his family to see him and for him to see his family.  And my sister-in-law threw an amazing party -- it was like a wedding!  Beautiful venue, dj playing great music all night, dancing, wonderful food.  So good to see everyone and my girls, as always had a fabulous time with their cousins -- dancing and chatting the night away!

My girls had a fun weekend in CT with their cousins, and then the CT cousins and one of my aunt's from NH joined us for a lovely Easter!  

Our 14-year-old went to Washington DC for her school's 8th grade trip -- she was very nervous leading up to it -- would NOT let her mother pack her any pictures of her family or any notes to read on her trip, for fear that she might cry if she saw them!  The kids were not allowed to bring any electronics, so no phones, no iPods, etc. (My cousin teased that since my girl has an old-fashioned "flip phone" surely that did not count as an "electronic" - ha, ha, ha!)  She and the other kids survived without all of that, and I as a mom survived because her school put up a website and her band director (and one of the chaperones) posted pictures of the trip every day, so I got to go on the website and catch glimpses of my girl!  I also reminded myself that back in the Dark Ages (before cell phones...)  when I was in school, I went on two band trips one to VA and one to Canada and I also went to Girl Scout camp for a week or two every summer -- all without a cell phone or any other electronic device.  And lived to tell the tale!  She was gone for a week and had a fabulous time, saw a lot of wonderful things, learned a lot, had fun with friends, took wonderful pictures and came home with lots of stories to tell us!  She's been home since Friday and has already created a DVD of pictures of her trip set to music.

We are winding down with Girl Scouts for my little one this year, and this past Sunday my girls and I had the last Sunday School class for this year (YAY!  I survived teaching the 3rd grade class!!!)  My 14-year-old is practicing for her All-State Band Concert -- we're so proud that she was picked! -- and my 8-year-old signed up to be in the elementary school talent show with a group of 20 girls performing "It's the Hard-Knock Life" from Annie, so she is attending rehearsals for that.  We have a trip to NY for my dad's birthday coming up, a Girl Scout day trip, my mom is coming up for the All-State concert and Mother's Day, and then my mother-in-law and her sister are coming out for Memorial Day (my girl is in the marching band!).  And that's just in the next 5 - 6 weeks!  Summer is starting to book up too!

In the meantime, we are looking forward to cleaning up the patio, cleaning up the gardens, and opening up the windows for some fresh air!  (We've done that off and on this week, but the past two days have felt more like fall than spring!)

How are you and your family celebrating Spring?

Menu Planning Helper

I don't know about you, but I tend to feel like we get into a rut with dinners in our house.  As each season moves along, I find myself looking forward to the next season and the different types of meals we will have -- right now, I'm so looking forward to Spring and Summer when the snow will melt and we'll be able to find the grill again!  Halfway through Summer, I'll be longing for comfort foods and my beloved Crock-Pot!  I have been looking for some ways to get out of this food rut and here is what I have come up with:

- I bought a little whiteboard that I put up on the inside of one of my kitchen cupboards.  This helps me in two ways.  Actually, three!  1) I post a list of meals on the board so that I can keep track of what we have eaten recently, so I am not boring everyone with the same thing over and over.  2) Having my meals planned out and listed there helps to keep me on track with grocery shopping - I know that I only need to get things for the meals on the board - and keeps me from wavering and deciding to order a pizza or other take-out -- it's on the board, that's what we're eating!  And 3) My girls used to ask me SEVERAL times a day "What's for dinner?"  I could tell them, and then 10 minutes later they would forget and ask again...  "Go check the board!"

- I think I mentioned this a few posts ago, but I recently blew the cobwebs (not really, my house is a little cleaner than that...  a little...) off of my recipe box and pulled out a few recipes that I had not made in a while, and even found one or two that I had NEVER made yet!  It's fun to go through and find recipes that you forgot you had, or maybe you have Grandma's famous recipe for (fill in the blank) and your kids have never had the pleasure of trying that!  And of course, my favorite place to look things up -- Pinterest!  I have literally over 1,000 recipes pinned on there...  I am trying to use those more when I am feeling tapped out of ideas.  I found an amazing roasted chicken recipe on there that has become a family favorite and this weekend I am making "Dirt Cake" for my teen's birthday sleepover (Dirt Cake was her request -- went on Pinterest, found the recipe!).

- And finally, my new favorite idea that came to me last week!  Do you ever go grocery shopping and you are standing by the meat case and you are thinking, "Ugh, what can I do different to chicken this week?"  Or, pork chops, or beef...  I tend to draw a total blank, especially if I don't have a great shopping list.  I will stand there and feel compelled to buy meat knowing that I will have to make dinners for my family, but have NO idea what I'm using it for, serving with it, etc.  And frequently, because I don't know what I'm making, I won't end up buying the other things that I need to make the meal and then I'm running to the grocery store 3 times a week (or sending hubby...).  That is not only a waste of time, it's super expensive!  Here's what I came up with -- I made a list of all of the meals that I could remember that are in my "repertoire" and then I sorted them by whether they were a pasta dish, a fish dish, chicken, beef, pork, etc.  I LOVE LISTS!  I put this one in the "Notes" section of my iPhone, but if I didn't have that, I could easily write it on a piece of paper and put it in my purse.  Now, when I am planning the meals for the week, or the grocery list, or if I'm in the store and see that something's on sale, I can quickly look at my list and see all of the possibilities of things I can make!  Love it!  And, by the way, I was pretty impressed with my list!  I have a lot of recipes that I make -- I can really mix things up to get my family out of the dinner doldrums!

What ideas do you have for menu planning?  Do you have a favorite recipe you would like to share?  

Happy 14th Birthday!

My sweet girl, my first born, turned 14 years old today!  How did that happen?  Where did that time go?  As my girls grow older, I sometimes miss them as the tiny infants they were, or the adorable little toddlers, but I also find that I can't dwell on the passage of time and need to enjoy every minute we have together!  My sweet girl is 14 and I am thoroughly enjoying this time in her life.  I love that she thinks of me as her friend and that she confides in me, asks for my opinion and advice, and enjoys following me around the house to tell me the stories of her day.  Recently, we enjoyed sitting at the island in the kitchen, me with my coffee, her with her hot cocoa, sitting and talking -- it practically could have been me and a friend at a coffee house!  I love the person she has become, smart, caring, funny, talented (I'm her mom, a little biased, but not too much!), pretty confident and comfortable in her own skin.  She has blossomed here in our new town, in her new school.  She had a wonderful birthday because she had close friends at school that made her day enjoyable and her loving family together with her tonight.  I look forward to many more years of long talks and laughter with her, and many, many, many more wonderful birthdays for her!

Happy birthday, Liv!!  XOXO

Encouraging Your Children to Try Different Activities

Are you a parent that gives a gentle nudge to encourage your child or are you a "shover?"  My husband and I are definitely more nudgers, but that nudge can go from gentle to firm depending on the situation.  (Speaking metaphorically of course, not advocating actually physically nudging or shoving your child...)

When our teenager was younger, she was not necessarily interested in any activities, but my husband and I both feel that if it is at all possible, we want to encourage our kids to try different things to see where their interests and passions lie.  When her younger sister was born, we wanted our elder daughter to have something special to do that summer and not feel like the whole world revolved around the new baby, so we signed her up for a dance summer camp.  Week-long summer camps are a GREAT way to try things out -- they are not as big a time or financial commitment and it gives your child a chance to test the waters and see if they would be interested in doing something long term.  Our daughter loved dance camp, made a friend who ended up going to elementary school with her, and both girls signed up for dance in the fall.  Our girl loved dance at first, but then she seemed to find it a drag and she was not as interested.  We "nudged" her (firmly) into staying through the year (she had been in for months) because we explained that there was a recital and they were counting on her to be there.  It was mildly torturous for all of us because she did not want to be in dance and frankly, we did not want to hear her whine and complain, BUT, we are sticklers about honoring your commitments and we all suffered through.  The recital day arrives and lo and behold she LOVED it -- had a great time, wanted to do dance again!  She stuck with dance for two more years and then decided she was no longer interested and ready to try something else. 

She became a Girl Scout and loved that and stuck with that until we moved, and now she helps out her sister's Brownie troop when she can. Thanks to the generosity of Gramby and Grandpa, she (and our little one) took swimming lessons for a number of years, and she also thanks to G & G took a couple of years of sailing lessons which she really loved until the last day of the last year she did it and some boys were really nasty (with comments) to her and made her cry.  There was no getting her to try again the next year. 

In the 4th grade in NY, it was time to pick an instrument and have the opportunity to learn to play and join the band.  She wanted to play and we nudged her toward clarinet because I had one already.  She got into band but hated to practice and there were some fits and tears and again she wanted to quit but again, we firmly nudged her into sticking it out because of her commitment to the band concert.  In 5th and 6th grade in NY she was in band and jazz band and enjoyed that more than she had in 4th grade.  When I researched towns in NH for our move, I made sure to look to see if the schools had band and in particular jazz bands because she really enjoyed that!  Before we moved to NH, she was a little hesitant about starting up with band here, but we gently nudged saying that's the best way to make friends -- you instantly have something in common with them!  She joined band here last year and impressed everyone immediately, because she started school here one week before the holiday concert but she was ready (the band director - now her very favorite teacher - said she was more prepared than some of the kids who had been here the whole year!).  We nudged and nudged to get her to try out for jazz band this year and guess what?  She got in, she loves it, and her very best friends (5!) are girls in the bands!  Sometimes we parents know what we are doing!  ;)  

One thing that she has always done, is write.  She is a very talented writer (teachers have told us for years -- it's not just a mom's bias...) but since we moved, she had really gotten out of writing.  I had a long talk with her last week about picking it up again.  She had wanted to be a writer since 3rd grade and then this past year switched her goal to screen writer and was saying that she doesn't like writing any more because scripts are easier, she sees things in her head of how she would film them, etc.  I told her that she's a talented writer and it's like a muscle that you should keep exercising and that regardless or what type of writer she wants to be, the best thing is to write, write, write -- anything!  I told her that we've never been the type of parents to shove our kids into things (I used the example that her dad would never force sports on the girls if they weren't interested), but when things are important for them we will give a gentle or firm nudge if need be.  I reminded her about band and how we nudged and how well that turned out.  I also reminded her that her dad is an excellent skater -- played hockey for years, used to teach "Ice Babies " (skating for little kids), ice skates and roller skates / blades -- but when he had tried to get her on the ice or on roller skates she adamantly refused, so now she does not know how to do those things.  And she wishes that she COULD do those things.  I wish my parents had pushed me to continue to take piano lessons -- I took them for  awhile, hated to practice, whined, and they (Dad?) let me quit (after the recital!).  I would dearly love to really be able to play!

After that conversation, my girl grabbed a notebook and started writing about the daily happenings at school.  She wrote and wrote that first night and the next night she decided to type all of that up on the computer and she's been writing just about every day since, adding to her original story.  It's quite entertaining, and she's really excited about it!  I'm glad I nudged!

We're parents, we know our kids, we know what it's like to be a kid, and we know what life brings as an adult.  I have no problem nudging a little to make sure my girls get opportunities to discover what is really important to them, and where their interests lie.  Being a well-rounded individual will only benefit them in life.  And my little one?  She's in Girl Scouts now, and in two years she will be nudged into trying an instrument (doesn't have to be a clarinet -- that one's occupied these days!  Did I mention she's first chair, first clarinet?  ;) or joining the chorus, or trying out for a sport!  Nudged with love and the best intentions for a full life! 

Thanksgiving 2014

My girls on Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year!  This was my first year taking over the tradition of hosting Thanksgiving for my mom's side of the family (our New England relatives).  Thanksgiving has traditionally been the big family holiday on Mom's side -- when she was younger, my grandfather's side of the family would have huge celebrations often holding them at the church hall or in the lodge at the ski tow that my grandfather and his brothers ran.  Over the years, family members spread out across the country, some passed away, and the Thanksgiving group got smaller.  I believe the last church hall Thanksgiving was when I was a baby -- I've heard the story of my parents driving with me as a baby from NY to NH in a Volkswagen Beetle through such a terrible snow storm that the windshield wipers couldn't move all of the snow.  My dad, an engineer, got out and rigged string to the wipers and I believe he and Mom each held and string and pulled to move the wipers and clear the snow!  That's dedication to a holiday gathering -- or craziness...  ;)  They made it just in time for dessert!  My childhood memories are of Thanksgiving at my grandparents' house in NH.  Nana took over hosting for a number of years and many of my fondest childhood memories are of traveling Weds to Sun and spending the whole time playing with my cousins and surrounded by my family!  After my grandparents passed away in the '80's, my aunt took over and the celebration moved to her house in CT and then a number of years later she moved back to NH and so did Thanksgiving.  The location changed but the traditions remained the same, as well as my love for that particular holiday.

Last November, when we moved here to NH, Auntie Sandra told me that she was turning the reins over to me and that in 2014 I would get to take over hosting Thanksgiving (when she told me this my kitchen was a sea of moving boxes and I had no fridge for two weeks around Thanksgiving!!).  My family - cousins - teased me all year saying this would be a test run and they'd see how I did before we made it permanent!  We kept some of the same traditions -- we invited everyone to stay, even though almost everyone lives no more than 90 mins from us.  I was excited for my girls to get to experience Thanksgiving the way I remember it -- it's more than just a meal or a day in our family, it's a weekend-long sleepover!  Most everyone was planning to come on Weds and stay until Friday.  Then we got QUITE the storm, so most of the family decided to wait and come on Thursday.  My cousin Matt, who lives the closest at 35 minutes away, decided to leave early and come around noon on Weds.  It took him 2 hours, but he made it -- he walked in at 2:00pm and wouldn't you know, at 2:15pm we LOST POWER!  For FIVE HOURS!!  He is the best person to have around in a power outage though!  He kept the girls and I entertained for hours with stories, funny voices, and he and I even sang a few show tunes!  I absolutely LOVE candles -- some call it an obsession -- so I went around and lit tons of candles.  I had a house FULL of food, although most of it still needed to be cooked -- the power outage really put a kink into my prep plans!  We had ham sandwiches for dinner that night.  In spite of the lack of power, I did what I could to keep plugging along with my preparations, hoping that everyone would still be able to make it for Thanksgiving.  I mixed together a batch of my Nana's pumpkin bread -- realized before it was too late that I had mistakenly put 2/3 cup of sugar in instead of 2-2/3 cups!  I fixed that fortunately -- hey, it was dark!  When the power finally came on, I put a turkey in the oven (I made 2 -- had 15 people with a bunch staying over so I wanted leftovers!) and the pumpkin bread, which I again, in the dark (by candlelight) misread the recipe and put the whole batter into ONE loaf pan instead of TWO...  Matt and I entertained the girls by trying to clean out the horrible, smoking mess that occurred when the pumpkin bread batter spilled over onto the bottom of the oven!  We had a lot of laughs!  The pumpkin bread was a horrible mess but it was tasty!

Turkey Candy Nut Cups by Candlelight

Matt was impressed that I made all of these cute little turkey candy/nut cups (Nana and Auntie Sandra always put out cups with candy and nuts in them for everyone -- I just added my own twist with the beak and feathers!) by candlelight -- 15 of them!  Although he did tease me about turkey part -- said that's why I am hosting, because only I care about those little details!  Hey, they are adorable and festive, and my girls love them!  The rest of the holiday went without a hitch.  We had 15 altogether including my dad and stepmother who came out from NY.  A few family members stayed with us, a few stayed at a nearby inn, and a few headed home after dinner.  The kids had a wonderful time playing with their cousins and they all enjoyed playing out in all of the snow we got -- 13-1/2"!  On Friday, we kept up another tradition of a group of us (usually the women, although my dad joined in!) going shopping -- no "Black Friday" trips to the malls for us -- we stopped that years ago!  We always like to go to the adorable little country stores that are up in our area -- we've been doing that since Thanksgiving was hosted in CT.  This was the first time that some of the family got to go to the cute shops in my town and we also enjoyed lunch at a nice cafe in town.  My daughters stayed home and played with their cousins -- all four of the kids, my two and my cousin's two, were all so sad when it was time for the cousins to go home to CT!  My eldest daughter said she was so sad that Thanksgiving was over because she'd been looking forward to it all year!  Like mother, like daughter!  :)

I guess I did ok because my cousin Brett sent me a text later saying that I passed the preliminary test and can proceed with scheduling next year to further evaluate my capabilities!  ;)  Bunch of jokers in this family -- that's another longstanding tradition!  We only tease the ones we love!
 

Not too shabby for making them in the dark!