TEEBS' BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION - 2015

Teebs has been talking for months about a little group of friends he wanted to have over for his birthday party and today was the long anticipated celebration. It was his first birthday party with friends and between them, their families, our family, one set of grandparents, and a great-grandparent, we had twenty people here to celebrate his little life.

As the starting time approached, he kept peeking out the window to see if any one had pulled up yet.

Two of his guests couldn't make it, but three came and they all chowed down on some pizza and produce together. It's nearly impossible to get a picture of multiple kids in this age group to all look at the camera at the same time and have real smiles on their faces, but that's fine.

Because it's our house, we had to throw in a silly face pose.

I didn't get any good pictures of the adults and I think Silas is the only kid I didn't get a picture of, but here are some of the other guests.

Smiling older girls.

Silly older girls.

Silly older boys.

Teebs opened presents after lunch, giggling his way through the whole thing.

Then we had cake. He'd asked for a Thor and Flash cake when I talked to him last weekend. I know nothing about those superheroes and all the cakes I found online to try copying were waaaaay beyond my skill set. I was already having a rough day and that just sent me over the edge. I cried my eyes out, then Devon sat down with me and we came up with a realistic plan of attack. One little cake with Thor's hammer.

And one with Flash's emblem.

Teebs was able to identify them and liked them, which was my only goal. We visited with friends for a little while longer, they all left, we quickly cleaned up, Teebs called Papa, and now we're enjoying a mellow, post-party afternoon.

12/3/15 - THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for opportunities to get to know people.

What is something you're thankful for?

BOOKS I FINISHED - NOVEMBER 2015

Secret of the Andes, written by Ann Nolan Clark
I read this for school with Naomi. Third time through and I like it more each time I read it. An ancient culture, coming of age, and the meaning of family. Good stuff.

Dad is Fat, written by Jim Gaffigan
While this book did have several funny parts, it wasn't as funny as I expected it to be. Maybe it's the book, maybe I had unrealistic expectations. Either way, it was an easy ready with short chapters that were able to squeeze in during little breaks in my days.

Illegitimate: How a Loving God Rescued a Son of Polygamy, written by Brian Mackert with Susan Martins Miller
Brian was raised as part of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, which is most easily described as a radical form of Mormonism, despite the mainline LDS church completely separating themselves from the FLDS group. While his book does explain a lot of about the history of the FLDS community, it's primary focus is really on the impact that lifestyle has on the kids being raised in it. Like Escape, written by Carolyn Jessop, which I read several years ago, this book was a little too long for me and I skimmed a bit in the last third or so, but it's a rare glimpse into a very private world. I find it both fascinating and scary.

Money Making Mom: How Every Woman Can Earn More and Make a Difference, written by Crystal Paine
While this book is clearly written for women who want to increase their income and has tons of valuable information in that regard, I think it would also be a good book for men who are considering starting a business of their own or looking for other ways to increase their income. The ideas shared are certainly not gender specific. Plus, there are many ideas in it that apply to areas of life outside of business and finances. One of the things I've always appreciated about Crystal is that she places a high priority on generosity, leading by humble example as she encourages others to live with their arms outstretched. Here are a few highlights.

p. 37, Do what you can do and don't stress about what you can't do. Tiny steps in the right direction can add up to big change over time. Keep at it, keep counting your blessings, and keep moving forward.

p.160, Your worth is not established in how successful or smart you are or how much debt you're able to pay off in two months or how quickly you can grow your blog or business. You have a unique perspective, experience, and insight that can bless and impact others in a way that someone else with a different story might not be able to.

p.164, But we weren't created to be consumers. We were made for more. We are destined to be stewards, wise managers of not just our money but also our time, our values, and our priorities.

p.208, I need to stop comparing things to what they once were and start creating new goals and projections based upon where things are right now. Otherwise, I'm going to feel overwhelmed, constantly behind, and like I'm perpetually failing.

p.216, Remember, friend, you are an instrument of blessing. You were made for a purpose. You have unique gifts, skills, knowledge, passions, and experience.

Humans of New York: Stories, written by Brandon Stanton
I love the HONY Facebook page and read Brandon's first book in October, so it goes without saying that I loved his new release. I don't agree with every person's thoughts and beliefs, understand all of their choices, or relate to all their circumstances, but that's what appeals to me about the book. If only we could see all the joys and pains, challenges and accomplishments, or desires and fears of the people whose paths cross ours each day. I know Brandon does this as a job, but it's an encouragement to me to reach out to those around me, ask questions that help me to know those people better ... to see people as people, regardless of how similar or different we are.

THE BOOKS I BAILED ON

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, written by Daniel James Brown
I've heard nothing but good things about this book and I really wanted to like it, but I gave up at page 80 of 370. I didn't actually dislike it, but for some reason it was taking me for.e.ver. to get through it. I need my reading time to be something I enjoy and I was just getting discouraged at my slow progress, so I bailed. I'd love to see a movie made from it, though. I'd definitely watch it!

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THANKSGIVING - 2015

We had an unusual Thanksgiving this year. Tim, Silas, and Naomi headed out first thing this morning to watch our church's Turkey Bowl while I stayed home with Devon and Teebs to bake sweet green muffins for breakfast and prep a few things for dinner.

However, Devon came down with a fever of 102+ last night. That meant he and I backed out of today's festivities and the rest of the Ws headed off to spend the day with the pseudo-inlaws, as per usual. It was the first Thanksgiving we haven't spent together as a family, but it was still a good day for everyone.

Devon and I sent everyone else off with rolls (thank you, Costco), Leslie's salad (salad of the little Ws' choice), and everything prepped for roasted brussels sprouts with balsamic vinegar. They had a great day playing games, jumping on the trampoline, eating lots of food, and visiting with everyone. They did not, however, take a single picture. Life goes on. They brought Devon and I each back a plate of Thanksgiving dinner and dessert, which we'll eat tomorrow, and the fun place markers made out of chocolate that my sister-in-law and her kids created this year.

Isn't mine cute? They do such a great job of making fun ones every Thanksgiving!

Meanwhile, this is what the day looked like for Devon and I. He came into my room after the Turkey Bowl people left and confirmed he still had a fever, so we decided to document the start of our non-traditional Thanksgiving with a picture. I wasn't sure if he'd get out of bed at all at that point, but he eventually did.

This what a big chunk of our day looked like. Me reading, him playing Kindle games.

I have things I could have worked on and was tempted to get some stuff taken care of while I was home, but I'd have been relaxing with everyone else if Devon had been healthy. So I decided to take it easy, even though there was work to do. I pulled slow-cooked coconut chicken out of the freezer and tossed it in the crockpot, since we couldn't eat the dinner we'd planned on having. We'll just do a little meal swap tomorrow and the other Ws can eat our leftovers while we eat Thanksgiving leftovers.

Devon and I each did our own thing for much of the day, but we also found Momo together and laughed our way through Cake Wrecks for a really long time. There was a little bit of editing/skipping on the fly to keep it kid-friendly, but it was so fun to just immerse ourselves in some humor for a while. This was his expression through most of our time scrolling through sarcasm and funny pictures. Good times!

Now two kids are in bed, two more are heading that way soon, Devon's fever has slowly dropped throughout the day (99.8 the last time we checked), he's feeling way better than he was last night, and we all enjoyed our day. It's not the Thanksgiving we anticipated, but it was still a great one!

BOUND FOR BEND-ISH

Tim and I made a decision about 9:00 on Saturday night to take the fam on a road trip the next day. I'm not one who does spontaneous things, but I'd seen Sonja a week earlier when she stopped by my place for a couple hours and I just wanted a little more time with her. She and I tried coordinating schedules and Monday was an option, so we went for it. Except we didn't tell the kids.

Sunday morning was business as usual, until we blitzed as soon as church was done. We usually loiter until the second service starts, so the kids weren't thrilled to leave right away. Silas and Devon both passed notes to me during the drive home because they were suspicious about what was going on and wanted to figure out what was happening, but I just smiled and let them wonder. After lunch I told everyone to grab backpacks and fill them with a change of clothes. Then card games or books. Then jammies. Then toothbrushes. With each addition their guesses about what was happening got changed. It wasn't until we pulled out of the driveway that we told them our plan. So fun!

Here they are at our one pit stop on the way out of town. Ready to roll!

We drove for about three hours and settled into a yurt at Tumalo State Park. We've never stayed in a yurt before, but I loved it! All the pros of tent camping, but none of the downsides. We'd actually stayed at that campground once before, way back in the summer of 2010. It's fun to look at the pictures from that trip because Teebs didn't exist and Naomi was exactly a year younger than Teebs is now. Time flies.

Anyway, when we'd made the reservation the previous night we'd mentioned how we should try to connect with some of the other people we know in that area while we were there. There was no way to see everyone in a 24 hour period and it was all last minute planning, but Tim and I each contacted one friend to see if they could squeeze in time for a little visit.

My friend was Robin and she ended up inviting all 6 Ws over for dinner with her family. She and I have been friends for almost ten years and I've shown you pictures over the years of cool things she's made for me (aprons, quilted bag, baby blanket/quilt), but with the exception of a two minute exchange more than four years ago, I haven't seen her since a baby shower in 2010. We headed to her home as soon as we'd gotten settled into our yurt. It was so good to give her a big hug, eat good food (including my first gouda experience) together with our families, see all her creative/artistic endeavors, and catch up on life in face-to-face conversations.

Due to their respective professions, I figured her husband and Sonja's brother were probably acquainted (they are), but in a small world moment discovered she lives about two blocks away from Sonja's parents. I love it when worlds collide.

Anyway, we headed back to our yurt after a few hours and the kids wanted a campfire. It was really cold, though, so we decided to wait and build a fire in the morning. Not as fun as one in the dark, but this campground stay was more about lodging and less about camping. We did spend a little bit of time playing Quiddler before bed, though.

Naomi and I were Quiddler teammates.

Teebs and Devon hung out on the top bunk at first, but eventually joined the game.

Silas and Tim were ready to get pictures done so we could just play the game.

Those pictures were taken while everyone was still happy, but some of us (mostly yours truly, but also the totally amped and over-tired Ws) were pretty much ready for the day to be done a short time later.

This morning we started our fire at about 7:30 when temps were in the low-mid 20s. Seriously. It was cold.

Eventually these Teebs and Naomi came inside and, despite the somewhat pained look on Teebs' face, had fun playing some game they made up while eating cereal. The cereal alone was a big deal because I never buy it, so they were excited for the treat.

Devon and Silas weren't going to let sub-freezing temps keep them from enjoying the small amount of time we had at the campground, so they took off exploring for a while.

They climbed up a hill and found a great view. Upon their return to the campsite, which is probably where the smoke in the lower left corner of the next picture is coming from, Silas grabbed Tim (wanted to show him the view) and a camera (wanted to show the rest of us), then headed back up. Here's one of the pictures he took.

We snapped a quick family picture before we left the campground. We were blinded by the sun, but at least we have proof that we were there.

Yes, I was wearing slippers. If you've known me very long at all, then you know I wear flip flops almost every single day of the year, regardless of the weather. I knew it was going to be below freezing, though, so I packed real shoes to wear today. At least I meant to pack them. About two hours from home yesterday I realized I'd left my shoes in my bedroom. Given the choice of flip flops or slippers when temps were in the twenties, I opted for slippers. You know me, always a slave to fashion!

We headed to Sonja's parents' home after we left the campground and I got to see this sweet baby face again. Is she cute or what?!

Two of Sonja's nephews were also there, so they played with the little Ws. So strange to think that their dad was 15 when I met him, just two years older than Silas is now. Again, time flies.

Naomi brought Candy Land and asked Susan to play with her, so Susan grabbed Teebs and spent some time gaming with the two littlest Ws.

Susan also made cinnamon rolls for everyone and we all visited for a while. Then she and Tim took all the kids (except Ella, who was about to go down for a nap) and walked them down to the neighborhood park. They burned off steam for well over an hour, which meant Sonja and I had a chance to just sit and chat without any disruptions. So nice!

I, of course, asked for a picture of all the adults before we left. We had some issues with getting clear pictures on this trip, but an imperfect picture is better than none at all. Right? Temps were in the mid-fifties by this time. Thirty degrees in about four hours. Crazy.

Other than a couple minutes when they dropped off and picked up Sonja last weekend, we hadn't seen Susan since she stopped by in August 2009 and it had been years longer since we'd seen Lane. Oh, the warm fuzzies that came with spending time with this family whose home I spent so much time in during college, and even beyond! It was wonderful.

We finally wrapped up our visit there and made one more stop before heading home. Remember how Tim and I each contacted one friend, other than Sonja, to try and visit? Tim's friend was Greg. Greg and I were both part of a Christian club on our college campus, but weren't particularly close. However, he also happened to live in the same dorm as Tim and invited him to a regressive dinner our group was having one night. That night was the first page in the story of the 6 Ws. Greg was our unintentional matchmaker.

Tim's seen Greg once in at least ten years, just for a brief visit, so they obviously needed picture proof of their time together today.

I'm Facebook friends with Greg's wife, Stacy, but hadn't met her until today. It was fun to get to know her a little bit. She and I jumped in the next picture, but we couldn't get a clear picture on our camera to save our lives. Thankfully, Stacy busted out her phone and got one that works.

Two of their girls were gone when we came by, but I got to hold their baby for almost the whole time we were there. She's such a cutie! I did, however, let Naomi hold her a little while for fun, Devon hold her when we were doing a picture of all the adults, Stacy hold her because she needed to eat, and Tim hold her just because he is Greg's friend and she is Greg's daughter. Wasn't that nice of me?

It was a whirlwind couple of days, but it was so great to see old friends!

We came home to no internet and I'm completely non-techy, but Tim eventually figured out how to fix it and I was able to get all these pictures loaded. Good thing, because I loved seeing everyone and wanted to tell people about our little trip.

THURSDAY SCHOOL

Thursdays are our hardest day of the week because we're up late on Wednesday nights. While we still get some traditional schooling done, it's a lighter day and sometimes education takes on different forms. Yesterday we spent a chunk of our morning working on The Global Puzzle, a gift from a friend who knew we were going to buy it a while back, and listening to Geography Songs, which we got as part of our curriculum with Sonlight, but is also available on Amazon and Spotify.

This is our first time doing the puzzle and I think it's going to be really helpful in understanding geography, an area we're not so good at ... despite having a great wall map. We almost always have a puzzle in progress, so I'm sure this one will be done over and over again as time goes by.

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11/19/15 - THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for kids that are helpful.

What's something that you're thankful for?