Thanksgiving Gratitude: My Favorite Time of the Day

November 22, 2012 by

I have so much for which to be grateful but this Thanksgiving, it’s about my little family.

I feel like we’ve hit the golden age with both of our kids. A few things I appreciate:

  • They are becoming independent (Haddie made me apple-cinnamon pancakes with caramel sea salt butter completely by herself and Bode is rocking the shoe-tying).
  • They are coming into their own spiritually (sweet Bode gives the most insightful prayers and Hadley sometimes brings her scriptures to school for her reading block).
  • They love to travel and are learning that exploring our world is not something we do, it is the essence of who we are. I love snuggling up to them on Sunday nights as we watch the Amazing Race. We bring out Haddie’s globe, chart their worldwide course and dream of our own adventures together.
  • They would rather spend time with Jamie and me than any of their friends (believe me, I know that gift is fleeting).

    Razor racing over Thanksgiving break

My favorite time of the day with them is bedtime. After they have showered, changed into their PJs and brushed their teeth, we snuggle up into our king-sized bed to talk about our day, read the scriptures and a book. Last month, we finished off the Wizard of Oz, 100th Anniversary Edition that I bought in Coronado. This month, we’re tackling the Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm.

After we read, we kneel in prayer and immediately following the “amen,” the kids wrestle with Jamie. Giggling and screaming, he scoops them up and gives them both a piggy-back ride to their bedrooms where they say their own prayers before we tuck them in. On Monday night, I sentimentally snapped a picture.

This is my favorite moment because despite what kind of a day we had–whether there were arguments or stress or frustrations or chaos–life’s imperfections are finally made perfect as we come together. Jamie won’t be able to carry them to bed forever and figuratively, someday they will be carrying us.

But it’s my little reminder that there is magic in ordinary days and life sure is golden.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, holidays, Jamie, LDS

Thanksgiving Service and the Woman’s Shelter Take-down

November 21, 2012 by

Happy Thanksgiving!

If there is one cause I feel passionate about, it is fighting child hunger. One out of every four children in Colorado goes hungry…a very daunting statistic and I commend those who are working so closely to fight this battle. A couple of weeks ago, I met with the Food Bank of the Rockies to brainstorm a new initiative they hope to launch for educating kids about it. I’m so excited to be a part of the new program!

A couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to join our Young Women at our local food bank to sort food for Thanksgiving.

Though she’s a few years too young for YW, Haddie begged me to come. No complaints here if she wants to help!

Then, last weekend our family signed up through Volunteers of America to serve Thanksgiving dinner at a local woman’s shelter. This is the second year we’ve done it and I’m grateful for the learning experience it is for my kids. I hope to make it an annual tradition.
All the volunteers sign up to bring various items of a Thanksgiving meal. We then dined with the residents, made cards for VOA’s annual Basket of Joy fundraiser where they deliver baskets to seniors and then the apex of the event: BINGO. We’re highly competitive but only Jamie got the win, which he will never let me forget.

For the kids, the highlight is being The Caller. They patiently waited and when it was their turn, I accompanied them. “Why do you always have to come with us?” Miss Independence whined.

The reason is evidenced in what unfolded next.

I told the kids they needed to take turns pulling the numbers from the BINGO cage, call out the number and place it on the tally board.

At least that’s how it would happen in a Perfect BINGO World.

But alas, both kids fought as they jockeyed for position and I seethed threats at both of them. As they furiously spun the cage, BINGO balls were flying everywhere off the table and I subtly tried to retrieve them as I smiled sweetly at the residents. “Look at us! Just one big, happy, BINGO-calling family!”

Lies. All lies. I breathed a sigh of relief when our turn was over, though I had serious doubts I had recovered all the wayward balls.

Next year’s gift for the shelter: a new BINGO set.

And a better BINGO-calling attitude. 🙂

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, holidays, Humor, LDS

It’s Christmastime (NOW) In This City–Confessions of a Rebel

November 20, 2012 by

I’m on the cusp of four really crazy weeks. My in-laws arrived yesterday and we’re going to spend a  few glorious days at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. Next week, I’m off to Park City Mountain Resort and right after I return, I will be speaking at a single adult fireside and will also MC a “What Not to Wear” event for Young Women in Excellence (don’t ask me if I’ve ever watched the show). Oh, and then I’m appearing on 9News with all my holiday picks (and still need to wrap up the gift guide), and we’re then whisking the kiddos off for a surprise four-day trip, which will result in a lot of subsequent writing deadlines.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget all the holiday shopping that goes with it.

So, I’m kinda busy.

I am not a procrastinator and hate leaving things until the last minute. If I were to wait until the week before Christmas to shop or put up decorations, it wouldn’t happen. This year, I have taken a now-or-never approach and last week was dedicated to getting Christmas cards ready. Traditionally, we set-up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving but since we’ll be MIA, I announced we’d do it on Sunday. Yes, for you stalwart DO NOT DECORATE UNTIL AFTER THANKSGIVING-TYPES, this was four days before T-day. And with the amount of decorations we have, it takes hours.

This isn’t even including our outdoor decorations, which we’ll hold off on for another week.

Jamie is a  Grinch when it comes to decorating and limits his efforts to the outdoor lights. But this year when I hesitatingly asked if he and Bode could be in charge of putting up the tree, I was shocked when he agreed. I’ve been a longtime advocate of real trees but after several years of choosing ones that lose their needles mere days after purchase, we went artificial (it helped when my in-laws gifted us their old tree). There’s a definite system to putting on the branches and I usually organize them in piles and systematically start from the bottom (longest) and work my way up.

The boys had a different system, which is a nice way of saying they had no system at all.  A half-hour later, I walked into the room to find the mostly-completed tree with a large gaping hole in the middle and several small branches still on the ground. Problem was all the slots at the top were taken.

Wives everywhere know this is the ultimate dilemma. How do you handle it when you FINALLY get your husband to do something and it is not done correctly? The answer: you tread very lightly with your criticism otherwise they’ll never do it again. Ultimately they figured it out.

We got in the Christmas spirit by baking this snickerdoodle bread with cinnamon chips and blasted Josh Groban’s CD “Noel.” I’m relieved the bulk of the work is done and to the naysayers like Jamie who say we’re not allowed to decorate until Thanksgiving, this Canuck says IT ALREADY HAPPENED IN OCT.

The end.

Filed Under: holidays, Humor, Jamie

Scrumptious Snickerdoodle Bread with Cinnamon Chips Recipe

November 19, 2012 by

I first stumbled upon a recipe for Snickerdoodle Bread on Pinterest several months ago. As a lover of all-things snickerdoodle and cinnamon, I was dying to try this recipe.

The problem was I couldn’t find the requisite Hershey’s cinnamon chips. Anywhere.

Now, here’s a lesson for all you Walmart haters: don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Though I can’t say I’m a regular Walmart shopper, I swung by the other day looking for (what else) cheap Christmas gifts and there on the holiday baking end cap were cinnamon chips. A lot of them!

On Sunday, we prematurely set-up our holiday decorations and to celebrate the season, I made this bread. We’ve declared it our new kick-off-to-the-holiday tradition. Even my husband (who is not a fan of snickerdoodles) is a fan.

Snickerdoodle Bread

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour (high-altitude add 1/4 cup)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2.5 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup butter softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream (next time I’m going to substitute a bit of cream cheese)
1 pkg. Hershey’s cinnamon chips

Topping:
3 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon

Instructions

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs
Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix well.
Mix flour and with the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add to wet ingredients and mix until all combined.
Add cinnamon chips and stir into batter.
Spoon batter into mini loaf pans or cupcake tins until about 2/3 full.
Mix 3 T. sugar and 3 t. cinnamon in a bowl and sprinkle over the batter in each loaf pan.
Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Let cool before removing from pan.P.S. And yes, I do have a cinnamon-chip hoarding problem.

Filed Under: Foodie, holidays

Why you should totally feel sorry for Bode

November 19, 2012 by

Bode is pretty darn delightful these days–he is always humming or singing a song he’s learning in music class and is a happy kid. I’m convinced kindergarten/grade 1 are about the best years ever of a kid’s life. You’re old enough to really do things for yourself yet young enough to not shoulder the responsibility of any real demands or homework.

Unless you’re Bode who begs me to make up homework for him. (While I can’t force Haddie to do hers).

And of course, there is play. After a brief hiatus from sleepovers (likely recovering from the previous ones) Jamie’s sister Lisa generously offered to host each of the kids on their very own sleepover. Haddie’s was a few weeks ago and Bode has been chomping at the bit for his turn. The problem is, our travel schedule will be starting to heat up with some pretty epic trips.

Bode’s uphill climb

Last week, Lisa sent this email:

Would Bode like to come over for a sleepover on Friday?  Let me know.

Jamie’s response:

Bode I know would love to come over for a sleepover.  He has a B-day party on that Saturday at 11:30 a.m. that he needs to go to.  Will that be a problem?  Other than this Friday Bode is booked until mid-December.  It is hard to be the Bode.  So very hard.

 

 

Filed Under: Bode, Family, Humor, Jamie

One prayer I REALLY want answered

November 16, 2012 by

Today is the most dreaded day of the year. Not because I’m getting sick but due to the kids’ annual physical. I’ve never been one who is afraid of doctors or shots but in the last few years, Hadley has developed a paralyzing fear of needles.

Actually, a fear that resulted in paralysis would not be a bad thing thing compared to her violent reaction.

I bribed offered a reward to both of the kids if they were brave and strong: a large gingerbread shake from Burger King!

Her nightly prayer summed it up best:

“Please bless me that I won’t be scared when I see the doctor. And that my shot won’t hurt too much. Oh, and that two nurses and Mommy won’t need to hold me down this time to get it.”

AMEN.

Hadley before her fear of needles & when food bribery still worked

 

Filed Under: Hadley

Loews Coronado Bay Resort Loves Kids (and me!)

November 15, 2012 by

Confession: when I was invited on a recent trip to Loews Coronado Bay Resort, I had never heard of Loews and figured the hotel must cater to business-folk. Then I saw their “Loews Loves Kids” program, their expansive deck area with three pools (one of them just for kids), ping pong, humungous Connect Four game and over-sized chess board. For the first time in my life (cough), I was wrong.

Check-out all the fun and more confessionals at Travel Mamas today!

Filed Under: Family travel, travel

The Pumpkin Murderer

November 14, 2012 by

The pumpkin season ain’t over until the Fat Lady sings. Or rather, The Pumpkin Man takes a shovel to dismantle The Great Pumpkin.

We usually destroy it shortly after Halloween but Jamie has had some health problems lately and hasn’t been up to the task. And really, there was no rush. Usually the pumpkin is oozing down the driveway rotting out because he cuts it off the vine late-September. But Christine the Pumpkin held together marvelously well and only started decomposing this week. It was time.

That’s a nice way of saying the wife was going to start nagging him very soon.We invited Jamie’s brother over and first fattened him up with Chicken Tikka Masala  (think cannibalistic witch strategy in Hansel and Gretel). He and Jamie then annihilated the pumpkin, loaded it in his truck and hauled it over to the pumpkin patch to compost. Allegedly. For all I know they could have made it into a delicious, rotting 837-pound pumpkin pie.

Just so long as there weren’t any children inside.

Filed Under: Humor, Jamie, pumpkins

Berry Patch Farms: A Glimpse of the Simple Life

November 13, 2012 by

A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to accompany Haddie’s class on yet another field trip…this time to the Berry Patch Farms in Brighton. I’m convinced I’m the only person in Colorado who had yet to visit this 40-acre working farm.

Popular in the summer months for its abundance of pick-it-yourself currants, raspberries and strawberries, their certified organic farm’s market is infamous for their abundance of just-picked produce. They also sell their own honey and eggs as well as grass-fed beef and naturally-raised chicken from the neighbors. Their fresh fruit pies are allegedly drool-worthy.

We were one of the final school groups to come through because they’ll only be open on Saturdays through the winter. Now that the growing season is over, I wondered what on earth we would do there.

Turns out, there was plenty. We learned about honey-making and toured the hives. We made gourd necklaces. We went on a hay ride and played in the hay maze.

I shared the story of my childhood when I was at my Grandpa Wilde’s farm playing on the two-story high stack of hay bales. As we raced around, I stepped on what appeared to be an overlay of hay between bales but it was only a false shelf. I shot straight down a chute, trapped between those claustrophobic bales of hay.

I remember my brothers screaming I had fallen and my mother running around like a lunatic trying to find me, only to discover I was deeply submerged IN the heart of them.
Hadley and her friends were properly horrified.

And just when I thought pumpkin season was over, we gathered in a barn and watched the 20-minute video, The Pumpkin Circle, that followed the lifespan of (you guessed it) a pumpkin. The kids were then allowed to pick out their very own pumpkin to take home!

Pumpkins. BECAUSE I NEED MORE OF THOSE.

Regardless, we had a lovely time. Both of my grandparents were farmers and I harbor the romantic notion of moving out to a mountain ranch in the middle of nowhere. Where the kids can roam free and our days would be spent caring for animals, harvesting our huge garden, learning mother nature’s never-ending lessons on the trails and teaching them in the ways they learn best (that don’t include an endless barrage of worksheets and drills). Though I’ve only ever lived in the city, suburbia sometimes suffocates me–hence my almost-daily escapes to the mountains.

Then I woke up and we went home.

“I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chords that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe?” -Kate Chopin

That day at Berry Patch Farms, we all did.

Filed Under: Colorado, Family travel, Hadley, Humor, pumpkins

Mickey and Snowmamas Do Dallas in a Memorable Conference!

November 12, 2012 by

I’m back after a whirlwind four-day trip to Dallas and I’ll admit I haven’t been a big fan of Texas. I remember the first Texan I ever met: Amy Lemon. It was our freshman year of college and she was a loud-talking, big-haired, uproarious gal who boasted about Texas at every turn.

“What makes it so great?” I finally asked. “Do you have amazing beaches? The mountains? World-class destinations?” I then proceeded to expound upon the many virtues of the Motherland.

“Naw,” she said finally said. “It’s great because it is TEXAS!”

That was my first lesson that Texans are not lacking in confidence.

I’ve been to Texas a couple of previous times. We got stuck in Dallas en route home from our Costa Rican honeymoon because there was 0.00000003-inch of snow and the entire city shut down. Following a cruise, we over nighted in Houston and the humidity about killed me.

Suffice to to say, Texas has not been on my must-visit list.

My latest stay was by far my best and I caught a glimpse of why not to mess with Texas. I fell in love with our accommodations at the luxurious Omni Hotel. I was in a group fortunate enough to tour the Presidential Suite and most impressive to me was the bathroom. So, why this picture? Because the bathroom was completely ensconced with floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing a killer view.

Apparently presidential types like to let it all hang out.

I also learned a lot about producing videos at the Family Travel Conference. I met a lot of great bloggers and event sponsors that included Disney (I’m now obsessed with their Adventures by Disney Guided Vacations). These are my beloved Denver blogging friends connecting with Mickey in Dallas. It was all a bit confusing.

Park City Mountain Resort’s Snowmamas sponsored a breakfast and PR ace Krista asked each of us to take a few minutes to share a magical moment we’ve had at PCMR. I enthusiastically shared a condensed version of From Injury-faker to Superstar: How Bode Got His Groove Back, during which time one of the attendees tweeted:

For the Twitter-challenged, @TheMileHighMama is my Twitter ID. And yep, being known as The Mile High Mama has been really swell now that Colorado has legalized marijuana.

And what would a Snowmama event be like without snow?

It should be noted the snow totals in the Omni ballroom exceeded those of when my plane was grounded in Dallas.

As I was driving home from the airport later that day, I realized I was ravenous because I had skipped lunch. I have been craving Burger King’s gingerbread shake so I grabbed one. I was tempted to polish it off but opted to wait and share it with the kids.

Upon entering the door, I was greeted with my loving family who jumped out to surprise me, an immaculate home, beautiful flowers and delicious dinner. I handed over my shake and within moments, the kids were hogtying each other for it.

Nothin’ like bringing a bit of Texas home to Denver.

Filed Under: Disney, Humor, travel Tagged With:
« Previous Page
Next Page »