This past weekend we had an enrichment activity about food storage... now I'll admit that it's been hard to store food in New York... we just haven't had the space... and now we have this huge home and the "what if" we move in a year has hindered me from doing much even with the space...
But I've decided there is something I can do... so my wish list for the holidays looks like this...
1st - A wheat grinder (if you have one and can recommend it, please, give me the type you have)
2nd- Home Canning supplies... I loved to do this with my grandmother and picking up an extra case or two from Costco every couple of weeks can really help stock my pantry.
3rd-Selfishly I really want one of those Fancy Waffle makers that you actually spin upside down... my sister Jaqui has one and I used in while visiting... I love it :)
So Mike and I have really started to think ahead to the holidays... for the past few years we've really tried to scale Christmas down... but I think that with the economy in such a rut... it's the perfect year to help our children realize that Christmas isn't about what's under the tree... so I'm going to do my best to implement the 3 gifts idea that my mom told me about years ago...
Each of the children will wake up on Christmas morning with one toy, a clothing item, and a book or something they can use in school... And of course a full stocking... that's it!
My previous post about Holiday's being out of control has left me soul searching and as much as I love a pile of gifts on Christmas morning and watching my kids... that's not what it's all about... so my goal is to keep the focus of Christmas where it should be. Wish me luck.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Holidays... they are getting out of control!
Does anyone else ever feel like the holidays are just a huge nightmare.... whatever happened to just simple family holidays? Halloween has turned into such a joke... when I was a kid we dressed up for school (On Halloween) and went trick or treating.... that was it... now let me make you a list of what our Halloween this year "could" be...
A Halloween party
Trunk or treating (but not on Halloween, so let's do trick or treating twice.... never agreed with it being on any day except Halloween, wasn't the point to make it a safe enviornment, not another party?)!
Church party
Adult Halloween Party
Trick or treating in town, down main street
Jack-o-lantern Blaze (yes, I love it)
Legends night in Sleepy Hollow (yes we live just minutes from Sleepy Hollow, NY, so they do the reenactment of the headless horseman)
School Parade
school parties
School dressing up contests
Neighborhood dinner and trick or treating
It just seems to be too much... can you imagine what the holidays will be like for our grand kids if this is what has happened in the past 15 years???? Why even have holidays... they last for days and even a week for what used to be one simple act (trick or treating)... it just seems like the "Americanized" holidays have become a joke... other countries mock and laugh at us... and in my opinion... they are right... we put so much into our celebrations... but how often do you find yourself spending day after day or week after week out working on a great "Cause" ... it just seems ironic that we find so much time and energy for something that was meant to me simple and one evening of fun. Sometimes it makes sense that other Faith's don't celebrate Holidays... they seem to take over our lives and we lose focus. I personally think we live in a world of over indulged and selfish people... and this to me just adds to that for the children who get whatever they want, there is no waiting for special occasions... because it seems like every day has turned into that "special occasion" and then we wonder why our world's economy is crumbling... too much self indulgence not enough accountability or self reliance... and yes this tangent started with a simple Halloween invite today that just made me think out loud.... IT'S JUST TOO MUCH!
Oh, and one more thought... It's NOT just Halloween... Thanksgiving, Christmas (don't even get me started), Valentines Day, St Patricks day (did we ever do anything more than just wear green?), Easter (another very commercial day for most), 4th of July, the list just never ends... where is our focus? Family first, don't over do it... that's my goal from this point forward... don't lose focus!
A Halloween party
Trunk or treating (but not on Halloween, so let's do trick or treating twice.... never agreed with it being on any day except Halloween, wasn't the point to make it a safe enviornment, not another party?)!
Church party
Adult Halloween Party
Trick or treating in town, down main street
Jack-o-lantern Blaze (yes, I love it)
Legends night in Sleepy Hollow (yes we live just minutes from Sleepy Hollow, NY, so they do the reenactment of the headless horseman)
School Parade
school parties
School dressing up contests
Neighborhood dinner and trick or treating
It just seems to be too much... can you imagine what the holidays will be like for our grand kids if this is what has happened in the past 15 years???? Why even have holidays... they last for days and even a week for what used to be one simple act (trick or treating)... it just seems like the "Americanized" holidays have become a joke... other countries mock and laugh at us... and in my opinion... they are right... we put so much into our celebrations... but how often do you find yourself spending day after day or week after week out working on a great "Cause" ... it just seems ironic that we find so much time and energy for something that was meant to me simple and one evening of fun. Sometimes it makes sense that other Faith's don't celebrate Holidays... they seem to take over our lives and we lose focus. I personally think we live in a world of over indulged and selfish people... and this to me just adds to that for the children who get whatever they want, there is no waiting for special occasions... because it seems like every day has turned into that "special occasion" and then we wonder why our world's economy is crumbling... too much self indulgence not enough accountability or self reliance... and yes this tangent started with a simple Halloween invite today that just made me think out loud.... IT'S JUST TOO MUCH!
Oh, and one more thought... It's NOT just Halloween... Thanksgiving, Christmas (don't even get me started), Valentines Day, St Patricks day (did we ever do anything more than just wear green?), Easter (another very commercial day for most), 4th of July, the list just never ends... where is our focus? Family first, don't over do it... that's my goal from this point forward... don't lose focus!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
I Heart On-Star
Can I just say that On-Star has once again saved me!!!! My key less door control for my Yukon is dead.... I couldn't unlock my car this morning to take Noah to school so we were frantically rushing to not miss the bus! Nice calm morning around here :)
I tried to switch the battery from Mike's car control to the Yukon but no luck... they both are dead.... It was after about an hour of "how am I going to run my errands today" that I remembered "we have On-Star service" within 3 minutes my car was unlocked and a smile back on my face.
I HEART ON-STAR!!!!
I tried to switch the battery from Mike's car control to the Yukon but no luck... they both are dead.... It was after about an hour of "how am I going to run my errands today" that I remembered "we have On-Star service" within 3 minutes my car was unlocked and a smile back on my face.
I HEART ON-STAR!!!!
Announcement!
After keeping what Mike and I thought was a secret from our kids... the cat is out of the bag... Connors Baby #5 is Due May 10th, 2009! We are so excited and feel so blessed. I'm still dealing with the normal pregnancy related sickness (well for me it's all day feeling like I'm going to throw up and being so tired that I'm going to bed by 9:00) and hopefully things will go smoothly throughout the next 7 plus months.
It's funny because we thought it was a secret, we wanted to wait until I was 12 plus weeks but a friend of mine called to tell me that her daughter had come home from being at our house over the weekend and informed them that one of my daughters had told her I was having a baby... hum.... not really sure how that information was found but none the less at Family Home Evening last night we came clean.... the girls were dancing with Joy... Noah had many questions (some of which just made me blush, like will the baby you know, drink milk from your, and he points to my chest)... and then sweet Ammon says... I want to name my baby Isabella (his friend who moved in the summer had a baby and they named her Isabella, so I'm sure that's where it came from)... it was sweet. We called both of the grandparents to share the news.... #5 for Mike's parents and #22 for mine!
Life is good!
It's funny because we thought it was a secret, we wanted to wait until I was 12 plus weeks but a friend of mine called to tell me that her daughter had come home from being at our house over the weekend and informed them that one of my daughters had told her I was having a baby... hum.... not really sure how that information was found but none the less at Family Home Evening last night we came clean.... the girls were dancing with Joy... Noah had many questions (some of which just made me blush, like will the baby you know, drink milk from your, and he points to my chest)... and then sweet Ammon says... I want to name my baby Isabella (his friend who moved in the summer had a baby and they named her Isabella, so I'm sure that's where it came from)... it was sweet. We called both of the grandparents to share the news.... #5 for Mike's parents and #22 for mine!
Life is good!
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