Amber | Life Elevated Mom

This Family’s Week of Thanksgiving Gratitudes

November 22, 2011 by Amber

I’ve been forthcoming about my “Bah Humbug” Thanksgiving attitude and I’m continually peeved that day has become an excuse to stuff our faces and watch football instead of making it a meaningful time of self-reflection and gratitude.

This year, I decided to do something about it.

I designated last week my family’s week to serve because I can’t think of a better way to express gratitude than to give back. I started with just a few things on our schedule and I was astounded at the onslaught of opportunities we were given.

It was a humbling lesson that when we look beyond ourselves and stop making excuses like “I don’t have enough money or time,” that there are so many people in need. And we, in turn, didn’t spend a dime, were blessed 100-fold, and feel closer together than ever. Last week I/we:

Visited a widow in our congregation.

Babysat four kids throughout the week, giving their mamas a much-needed break.

Volunteered with Hadley at the local food bank and helped prep for Thanksgiving baskets.

Gave a large box of Bode’s old clothes to a little guy in need (I’ve been holding off on donating them to the thrift store because I felt someone needed them and I’m so glad I waited).

Organized a large blogging event at Sephora and asked all those in attendance to bring a contribution to a mama who recently lost her husband. I was inspired by the many women who reached out to help, many of whom did not have much to spare.

Found a way through Haddie’s beautiful artwork to uplift and fellowship a man who has severe social anxieties. We have set a weekly goal to continue this service.

The culmination of our week was on Saturday when we volunteered to serve Thanksgiving dinner at the Irving Street Women’s Residence, a residential and support program designed to serve chronically homeless women. Volunteers of America recently implemented a family program where kids of all ages are invited to serve and I jumped at the chance because most community service opportunities are for older kids.

I’m so glad I did because I gained a new appreciation for each member of my family.

I get a bit teary-eyed thinking about Jamie (slightly out of his comfort zone) reaching out and entertaining these women. And yes, pumpkin stories were in abundance.

I relished preparing our portion of the meal with Hadley and watching her pride whenever she received compliments on her hard work. She also made some of the most beautiful holiday cards we later gave to the patrons.

I laughed when Bode volunteered to be the caller in BINGO and blazed through those numbers like a seasoned pro. As the youngest volunteer, he carried himself with a maturity beyond his years.

At least to age 7. 🙂

Our crummy year was forgotten as we uplifted and entertained these women so down on their luck. Many were mothers and grandmothers. Others were single and will probably only know loneliness. But we had one thing in common: gratitude for being brought together that afternoon.

“I’ll never forget you guys,” one of the women promised as we said our good-byes.

And this is one Thanksgiving we’ll never forget.

Filed Under: Family, holidays

Why Hadley will be a supreme ruler

November 17, 2011 by Amber

Hadley has had the exact same personality since the day she was born: spirited, fun and oh so stubborn.

She is so headstrong and has a great ability to read people to get what she wants. This can be both a good and a bad thing. In fact, when she was just a few months old my pediatrician picked up on this and said it would be tough to parent her at times but it would serve her well in the boardroom later.

Is this supposed to be a comfort?

I love to snuggle and much to my chagrin, Hadley has never been a warm ‘n fuzzy kinda child. My resolution? Ever since she was a baby, I’ve always held her down and forced Family Snuggles out of her. This has become a nightly ritual as she giggles her objections to us.

When she was 1 year old, she and I were bouncing around on my bed before bedtime when she stopped, plopped herself down on my pillow, put her arm out and announced, “SNUGGLE!” Shocked, I asked, “Did you say ‘snuggle?'” She nodded and repeated herself again. I didn’t hesitate a moment longer and dove right on in like an attention-starved puppy. With tail wagging.

Now, lest you think I had converted her to Family Snuggles, think again. She laid there for her obligatory 10-second snuggle as if she was counting down the moments. She then plopped back up and announced we were:

“Alllllll twue.” (through)

In Haddie speak: “I gave you what you want so can you pul-ease stop attacking me, Woman?”

Six years later, the girl still knows how to work it.

Filed Under: Hadley, Humor

Our home’s crime scene

November 16, 2011 by Amber

We’re the lazy people on our newspaper carrier’s route who request that he delivers our paper to our porch.

It’s our nice way of not flashing our neighbors in our skivvies every morning by walking out to the driveway.

Either our carrier has been slacking the last couple of weeks or we have a rookie because our newspaper has not be porched, but rather “sidewalked.” Meaning, he only makes it as far as the sidewalk in front of our porch. This has only resulted in minor public exhibitions but didn’t seem like a big enough issue to complain about.

Until the dude took out our pathway light.

Jamie: “Amber, please come outside.”
Me: “OK, what?”
Jamie: “Did you or the children do this (pointing to the broken light).”
Me: “Nope.”
Sherlock Jamie: “Just as I suspected.”

He then started taking photographs.

Me: “What are you doing?”
Jamie: “Taking pictures to send to the newspaper’s circulation department as evidence. You will notice that the angle which the light was broken off corresponds perfectly with where the newspaper landed behind the rose bush. We have our man.”

C.S.I., watch out.

Or at least poor, lazy newspaper carrier.

Filed Under: Humor, Jamie

How to do the mega resort, Dominican Republic-style!

November 15, 2011 by Amber

For months, Jamie has been so overworked and burned out he has complained, “I JUST WANT TO BE BORED!”

Boredom is not a common occurrence at our house and some quality R&R was our primary goal for our trip to the Dominican Republic.

My mother-in-law Linda generously watched the kids (A BIG THANK YOU TO HER!) as Jamie and I spent five days having fun under the sun at the 1,366 room mega resort Barcelo Bavaro Palace Deluxe, our compensation for battling it out over The Great Pumpkin on the Marriage Ref.

We flew in on Wednesday afternoon and after a couple of hours of lounging on the white-sand beach the very next morning, Jamie proclaimed, “I am bored.”

Apparently we don’t do boredom well.

But we were just swell at a lot of other things:

1) Sea kayaking, paddle boating, snorkeling, long beach walks, swimming and lots of eating at the resort’s nine restaurants. All activities were inclusive so we didn’t spend a dime.

2) I become bilingual. At least I like to think I did. The other patrons at Barcelo were primarily Europeans and South Americans so we were in the minority.

While most of the staff spoke at least some broken English, we occasionally had to crank out our espanol. We were frequently asked our room number–1323–and imagine my excitement when I realized THAT was something I could say in Spanish!

“Uno…..tres………dos….tres!!!!”I carefully exclaimed.
“You sound like a 4-year-old,” Jamie retorted.

I credit Dora the Explorer for my prowess.

3) I made some observations about our fellow patrons, who were so very different from our American neighbors.
a) I don’t care how perfect your body is. Th0ngs are offensive and Speedos on men are even less flattering. I won’t talk about the 60-year-old grandma who opted to go topless. #StillRecovering
b) No one there had tattoos. After going to Water World this summer, I realized just how pervasive American’s views of body art really are. It was strangely refreshing to see people’s bodies devoid of them.

4) We hung out a lot in our hotel room. All the rooms at the Palace Deluxe were recently remodeled and we scored a junior suite, which had a generous sitting room, comfy king-sized bed with a pillow top mattress and even a hot tub on the deck. In the afternoons, we had a Harry Potter marathon. After nap time, of course. #Priorities.

5) The weather was agreeable. I wasn’t thrilled for this trip because Denver’s weather is finally to my liking (read: brisk) and the thought of returning to my dreaded heat was depressing. Though the Domincan Republic was hot and humid, we had reprieves with rain and clouds. I only complained about the heat 12 times (a new record for me over a 5-day period).

5) I achieved my life’s goal. On one rainy afternoon, we ambled over to the thatched-hut activity center overlooking the ocean and played games. We started with ping pong (Jamie killed me), then checkers (another win) but then victory was mine. Much to Jamie’s chagrin, the staffer passed out BINGO cards.

Now, here’s my history with BINGO. Since we started taking cruises almost seven years ago, I’ve been dying to play BINGO and Jamie has turned me down. “It’s for a bunch of old people.”

Now, he had no choice and begrudgingly played. And do you know what?

I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could go pro.

In the end, we had a fabulous, restful vacation as we reconnected in a meaningful way. This trip was such a departure from our regular action-packed experiences (in fact, my first trip to the Dominican Republic you can read about here was an adventure tour where we mountain biked, hiked and white water rafted).

But our latest trip was just what the doctor ordered.

And I have The Great Pumpkin to thank for it.

Filed Under: Humor, Jamie, pumpkins, travel

Validation and the cutest little American ever

November 11, 2011 by Amber

It’s no secret I was hesitant to enroll Bode in kindergarten because of the pressure I felt from my peers to hold him back.

One of the reasons was I felt he was small for his age but at a recent pediatric appointment, I learned he’s actually in the 50th percentile (average) but he only seems smaller because he’s lumped with boys who should be in first grade but were held back.

Go figure.

The New York Times article about how delaying school could be a detriment to your child was definitely a validation for our decision to enroll him but it wasn’t until I volunteered in his class that I was pleased to see he’s in the advanced group with a bunch of girls.

But then I got the biggest validation of all: his teacher called to say he’s the best reader in the class and will join the first graders for their reading time so he can be more challenged.

My reaction was not pride but rather, relief. We had made the correct decision. I’ve fastidiously worked with him daily on his reading for over a year and our efforts have paid off. Lest you think I’ve gone all Tiger Mom on him, that is not the case.

I’m much too lazy for that.

Several of his classmates have made comments about his reading and we found out why at his parent-teacher conference. As an explanation for Bode going with the “bigger kids,” the teacher told the class it wasn’t fair for him to always give them the answers and that they need to work harder to catch up to him. Now, a lot of the kids want to go to the “big-kid class” and Bode has become the benchmark for reading literacy.

In any other class, this strategy could significantly backfire with mean kids bullying him but it’s had the opposite effect and the kids think he’s cool. His buddy Timmie stopped us and admiringly said, “You know how to read, Bode?”

If only brainiacs were always deemed popular.

Now, lest you think Bode is some kind of child prodigy he’s not. But this whole experience has confirmed that as parent, we should regularly work with our kids and in the end, don’t push them too much (but just enough) and always listen to our gut.

The gut that tells you to do the right thing. Not the one that tells you to eat that third chocolate cookie.

There is, however, one problem. His teacher says she sometimes has a difficult time understanding him.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrJwwzRP5RY]

Pledge of Allegiance, kindergarten-style

I’m cutting my losses on this one. In his defense, this Canuck can’t pronounce half those words, either.

Filed Under: Bode, Humor

Down for the count (and a killer Windex giveaway)

November 8, 2011 by Amber

If the world seems unusually peaceful and quiet today, it is because I’ve lost my voice.

Because I somehow manage to get sick 99 percent of the time I travel.

Details of our Dominican Republic trip are forthcoming but this pic I took pretty much sums it up.
Also, I don’t ever do giveaways on my personal blog but I just have to share a killer one we’re doing at Mile High Mamas. I teamed up with Windex to celebrate their 75th anniversary and we’re giving away oodles of Windex products, a video camera, $50 gift card and a photo album. Go here to enter!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

My ’50s tranformation to pin-up: revealed!

November 7, 2011 by Amber

A couple of weeks ago, I had the most killer mom’s afternoon out with some of my fellow Mile High Mamas: we were transformed into ’50s pin-up girls by Iman Woods!

I’m talking about our hilarious, empowering and FUN experience at Mile High Mamas so be sure to check out the behind-the-scenes action.

No lie: the stylist SEWED victory rolls into my hair.

And if you’re in Denver: GO.

For details, go here.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

What a difference a week makes

November 2, 2011 by Amber

Last week started out with mountain biking in glorious 80-degree temperatures at Community Ditch in Boulder.
Trust Boulder to have a ditch that looks this gorgeous.

The next day, it was upper-50s biking Standley Lake.And then came the big cooldown–a 50-degree drop since Monday.

Hiking a much different scene at Standley Lake.

To this place today while Denver has yet another snowstorm.

Goal: R&R.

See you next week!

Filed Under: biking, Colorado

Halloween defined chez nous

November 1, 2011 by Amber

It was a pumpkin carvin’

Jell-o competition eatin’

White Witch and dinosaur posin’

Fire station partying

Neighborhood parade strolling

And candy dreamin’ kind of Halloween.
Hope you had a happy one!

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, holidays Tagged With: Halloween

Halloween partying, popularity, horror & my insanity

October 31, 2011 by Amber

Halloween Partying

I did double-duty at the school on Friday that started with the costume parade and class parties.
I’ll have better pictures of the kiddos later but we opted on a dinosaur costume for Bode and Hadley went as the White Witch (Narnia is her favorite movie).

Jamie would like me to add he was not a part of the dinosaur choice because he said it was too “cutesy.”

I say what is a KINDERGARTNER if not cute?!

My horror

As I was waiting for the kids’ costume parade in the gym, I struck up a conversation to the gal next to me whom I swear I’ve never seen before. A few minutes into talking, she mentioned her twins–one boy and one girl.

And then it slowly started coming to me. You know the one: the dreadful feeling when you realize you somehow know that person but had forgotten them. I tried to cover my tracks by saying, “Wait a minute. You live in my neighborhood and our kids were at the same bus stop last year.” Nice.

But it got worse. The woman knew everything about me. “I saw you on The Marriage Ref and you totally should have won etc. etc. etc.”

My bad memory and Jamie’s pumpkin are ruining my life.

Norm

And the most popular kid in second grade is…

Bode.

You know. My kindergartner.

Going to school with that kid is like going to school with Norm from Cheers. His besties in kindergarten adore him and after volunteering in Haddie’s class, he and I eat in the lunchroom with her. This time, I kid you not, the second grade boys fought over who got to sit with him. Then, afterward, they begged me to let him stay and play Yoshi on the playground. As they were lining up, they insisted Bode give them all high-fives.

I guess sometimes, nice guys do finish first.

My Insanity

My friend posted a fabulous tutorial on how to make Halloween cake pops. If you’ve never heard of them, allow me to enlighten you: these little cakes on a stick are nothing short of moist and amazing (this, from a non-cake eater). And so I thought they’d be fun to make for the kids’ Halloween party.

There was nothing fun about making them.

Really, it was my fault. Between the kids’ two classes, there were 50 pops. And then my ward’s trunk-or-treat was that night and I’d signed up to bring a treat. Add in the women I visit teach and I was well over a hundred.

And so I made three different cakes: red velvet, vanilla and spice and spent the entire day slaving in the kitchen. I’m not exaggerating: THESE LITTLE GHOSTS TOOK ME SEVEN HOURS TO MAKE.
The positive: They were met with many rave reviews.
The negative: Some kids took them but didn’t bother eating them. I wanted to grab their little sugar-stuffed cheeks and scream,”DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG THOSE TOOK ME TO MAKE?”

Perhaps becoming emotionally invested in a treat is dangerous on many levels.

After spending seven hours on my still-recovering knee, I could barely walk. But the caveat came when I was carrying the laundry down the stairs later that day. Workers had been there cleaning our carpet and the floors were still damp. I slipped. I slammed. I slid. I threw out my back and injured my arm.

I’m going as myself for Halloween this year.

Because that is scary enough.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, holidays, Humor Tagged With: Halloween