Winter Games

We've had a good amount of snow this year, and although the first half of the winter gave us temperatures too low to go camping in, it also gave us excellent ice.

Geared up and blazing a trail.

The kids started out with some skating props, but they caught on quickly. 

We bought sticks and a puck and Mike made some hockey goals as Christmas gifts. 

Pond hockey goal.

Taking a rest between games.

Sometimes we opted for inside activities, but a week didn't pass that we weren't outside doing something on the ice for probably two months. It was great!

The temps were also perfect for snuggle sessions.

Playing with our new bocce set. We took it to the church and set up a mini bocce court with the tables.

Happy Birthday, Mike!

There he is, Mr. Amazing. Mr. I'll-Take-The-Kids-Camping-in-January. Mr. I'll-Just-Run-to-Work-Today. Mr. Sure-Honey-I'll-Watch-The-Kids-And-Hold-The-Baby-And-Sing-in-The-Choir-All-At-Once-For-You.

Happy Birthday!

Snuggling in the double hammock. The most recent picture of us with no kids is October. I was telling him while I sought for a picture of just him or us together that we really needed to take more.

He chose a pecan pie as his "cake" this year. It is hard to beat a fresh pie with vanilla ice cream. 

Thanksgiving

This is a little late, but better than never, yes? We celebrated Thanksgiving at home again this year, and it was delightful. We were tired at the end of it, but food tired is always more of a blessing than a curse. We also introduced the kids to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year. I always watched it growing up, until we moved to Saipan anyway, and it was always fun to see the balloons and bands and shows. I also love seeing where different bands and squads come from. The kids really liked it. I also borrowed a great book from the library called Balloons over Broadway. It has great pictures and tells the story of the man who invented and designed the first balloons used in the Macy's Parade and why the Parade was started.

This year we had our friends the Axtells over for dinner. They usually go down to Boston but because their toddler has such a time in the car, they didn't want to risk five hours of screaming. It was fun to get together. Between dinner and dessert we went outside and kicked a ball around and the kids balanced on the slackline.

Let me introduce you to the stars, from L-R: Mal's Secret Pecan Pie, flourless chocolate torte, buttermilk pie, grapefruit merengue pie, pumpkin pie, and peanut butter brownies.

Friday morning breakfast.

The kids enjoying leftover cheese ball, nuts, fruit, and rolls for lunch on Friday.

The past few months have been an opportunity to learn to be thankful for everything and everyone in my life. I've been trying to complain less and smile more. I'm always telling the kids to be thankful for what we have--because it really is way, way more than we need; but the best way to teach is by example.

Sugar Cookies

For Family Night last night Madie had the treat. I think every Family Night of the summer that Mike or I weren't in charge of treats we had ice cream. Finally, half-way through October, when Finn said that he wanted ice cream for Family Night and Mike rolled his eyes at me, I realized we had achieved the previously-thought unachievable: Mike had grown tired of ice cream. I mean, he still ate it, but he took to listing all the other treats we were missing out on:

"Pie, short cake, brownies, blondies, pudding, clouds, cheesecake--come on man! You could have anything you want!"

But Finn wanted ice cream, so ice cream we had.

Last night though, Madie finally broke and chose sugar cookies she saw in the Hannaford food magazine. She asked Petya if she wanted to frost them for the activity (which was Petya's choice this week) and she agreed, which was great for me!

Remembering Grandma Clark

Amity was born the morning of August 7th. After she was safely nestled in Mal's arms, I headed home to relieve Julie Axtell who had been staying with our kids all night. I got the kids squared away on a play date, and made a couple of phone calls to close family members before taking a nap and prepping the house for Grammy Conner to arrive. One of the family members I called was Grandma Clark. We spoke briefly, mostly to notify her about Amity. She was very pleased to hear the outcome, and that everyone was happy and healthy. Little did I know, Grandma would pass away sometime in the next 24 hours. Thankfully, she passed away peacefully in her chair.

I flew out to the funeral and took Madie and Finn with me. The timing of everything was pretty crazy with just welcoming Amity into the family, but thankfully MariLou had just arrived and was able to help Mal and the girls while I flew out. Years before her death, she had nearly every detail of her funeral planned, from who would speak at her funeral to who she would want to attend. She even set aside a large sum of money to ensure all of her family would be present. She wanted us to reunite as a family one last time to celebrate her life.

Grandma was always so patient, respectful, and loving. She loves being organized, and had a pragmatic approach. She really took the time to get to know each of us grand kids, and loved to visit. My favorite memory of grandma is her cooking. If she was expecting us for a visit, we could count on a warm soup being ready when we got to Grandma and Grandpas. I remember putting down at least 12 of those chicken biscuit things during a single meal! Pancakes shaped into letters of the alphabet, French toast. And desserts, don't get me started. Ice cream roll, brownies, and my favorite: Oreo cookies. Growing up in CA, I didn't get to spend many Christmas's with Grandma and Grandpa, but I do remember those being particularly exciting with Grandmas cooking. Lots of treats and goodies to eat. All of these memories of Grandma and her cooking warm my soul. She did it all for love. 

It was a lot of fun catching up with family that I hadn't seen in years, and learning more about Grandma's life. She was a great woman, and lived a very good life. She was always faithful to the gospel and to her family. It was interesting to bring Finn and Madie along and get their impressions. Madie was impressed by Grandma's homemaking skills. Finn was happy to see family. It was a very quick trip, but we were happy to be together as a family. That's what she wanted, and I think it went pretty well. Towards the end of the trip, we worked together as a family to take a few things from Grandma's house to help us remember her. The kids took some pretty random and ridiculous things, packed in a brief case.

One blessing that came from Grandma's passing was that we got to see Grampy Conner. The kids hadn't seen him since 2014. The kids got to wrestle around with him a bit, which was mostly welcomed. At one point, Finn said, "I don't wrestle with fat guys!" He was pretty intimidated by Grampy's large stature. Madie, on the other hand, was loving it. She warmed right up to Grampy, and loved to wrestle him. On a side note, we had carne asada tacos at Levi and Raquel's. I ate 14...that should tell you how much I loved them!

Killian and Finn

Madie and Grampy

Watkins cousins unite!

We were happy that Grandma could be reunited with Grandpa. She lived a great life, influenced so many in her family with her shining example, and it deserved to be celebrated. 

The Clark family, after the funeral. Most everyone was able to make it

Finn playing with just a few of his mementos from Grandma's house

Family Night

Tonight Petya picked out a lesson for us on forgiveness. It had a few options of what to do--some stories to tell, some poems--we settled on a finger-play game of two little friends who get in a fight and forgive each other. It was cute, if not smoothly run. And Petya liked asking the other kids questions. I whispered in her ear, "Ask them, 'what does it mean in the scripture we just read.'" She repeated it and charged at Madie with a pointed finger, which we all agreed meant she was looking for an answer from her. She's cute--and very full of character.

Mike picked our newly-arrived Girl Scout cookies as a treat, and Madie decided we would play a round of Yahtzee. The best part of being a Girl Scout mum is that the cookies get to my house before anyone else's.

Dad and Finn were on a team.

Madie, adding up some numbers.

Finn has been in a Calvin and Hobbes mood lately. I mean, he always enjoys the books, but he goes in bouts where he carries his Hobbes everywhere he goes and plays games with him (after being scolded about playing "Pounce" with Petya). He took him to a talent show at the church last night, although most of the night Hobbes just sat in a chair. He has also attended Scouts with Dad this week, and many shopping trips. And he always gets buckled into the car.

Thanksgiving Break Week

We spent yesterday up to Gram's. It's always fun visiting with Grammy and Alexa. It's even more fun teasing Alexa and Sean. I was surprised Uncle Shawn didn't join us, but Gram said he did spend Thanksgiving evening with them. 

They held off on the traditional feast until we came, which wasn't my intention, but we enjoyed a second turkey dinner! 

We walked to Bob's Hardware, always a hit. Petya wanted to walk like the big kids--she walked the whole way back.

The day before we went up to Gram's was wet and gray, and we knew the next day we'd be spending 4 hours in the car, so Mike met us at the Y after work to run around a bit. Petya loves to sit on the trucks and scoot herself all over the floor. She's getting pretty big for them--not that they were ever meant for someone to sit on them. 

We took family pictures back in October, but, as is typical, Madie spent the time fooling around and pulling faces. I promised Mike I would try to get a shot of her before it snowed. With no school, this was the week to do it. I asked her to go pick something out to wear and she pouted. I told her to pick long-sleeved so she'd be warm (our other pictures were taken outside, so I was looking for continuity--in November). We couldn't agree on anything, so I finally just pulled out this short-sleeved dress and she blanched.

"Just remember, the less you fool around, the faster we'll get inside."

After 10 minutes I knew I had some good ones. She was happy to take the dress off and get back into pajamas. And I was happy to have a decent picture of her.

Mike took Finn canoeing and fishing this week. He has his license, but he's only been able to get out a few times all year, and they haven't caught anything yet. Still, Finn loves to go out on the boat. 

Madie refuses to get in "until we get a boat without duct tape."

We've spent the week teaching the kids a couple of new games. I think I mentioned in the last post chess and Chinese checkers. They kept complaining regular checkers is more fun. ?? Who likes checkers? Is there a more boring game?

I think it was good for P to join in. She didn't really play, she just moved her pieces around in her corner, but she did learn to wait her turn. Both Chinese checkers and chess have really helped Madie to think a couple of moves ahead.

Tomorrow is back to the grind.

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Thanksgiving 2016

Ahhh, the kick-off to the holiday season. And what a way to get it started! It makes you happy to be a New Worlder. (Canada gets it.)

Thanksgiving in Maine is even better, because it starts on Tuesday evening. Pie Night at the church. It's a beautiful thing. Pies pies pies. This year, I decided I would pull a MariLou and make a pie for everyone in my family. I thought I'd make some of them for Pie Night and some for Thanksgiving. So I asked Mike what he wanted and he lead with "Boston cream pie," followed by, "or that strawberry pie Grammy made a while back. That was amazing." So, a layer cake or a pie made from November (i.e. tasteless) strawberries. Thanks. The kids asked for an Oreo pie. I made the Boston cream and the Oreo pie (which my kids didn't like) and a sausage pie. Thankfully they were all eaten. Next year I think I'll just make one or two simple pies for Pie Night and the rest on Thanksgiving.

The remains of a million blueberries.

Last night I made our pies, a lime cheese pie and pumpkin. I also prepped the fruit for the fruit bowl. I was prepared for doing Thanksgiving like I remember my mum doing Thanksgiving: getting up at 5:30 or 6, setting up the table with the fruit bowl, drinks, and even deviled eggs until I realized we had no mayonnaise. Then setting to work, Mike peeling, me cooking, non-stop until 2 pm when we would sit to a feast and subsequently crawl to the couch/bed/dog bed where we could sleep off the tryptophan.

One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions in my parents' home was breakfast/brunch. It was a large fruit basket filled with pears, oranges, bananas, grapes, nuts, apples, and a big bowl of sherbet punch and a platter of deviled eggs. This being our first Thanksgiving at home, I was excited to do the same for my kids--it was a bigger hit than I thought. Even Madie (my picky eater) enjoyed it!

As it turned out, I had large stretches of nothing. I did get up early, and I'm glad because I had left the kitchen a wreck from the night before, so I cleaned up and set up the table. But when I turned to decide what to do next, I realized, I couldn't do much for a few hours. I didn't really start doing anything until 11. We did end up eating a little later than I anticipated--3:40 or so--but it wasn't bad.

When they weren't busy cracking nuts, the kids spent the majority of their time in the basement learning chess. They've been asking to learn, and Mike finally gave in. He taught them checkers and then Chinese checkers a couple weeks ago and they have loved it. Checkers is especially nice since they can play it themselves with no "advisors." Every day this week they have gone down to play checkers--Finn and Madie will keep busy at it for an hour or more! 

At the beginning of the chess lesson today, I overheard Mike trying to get them calm enough to explain the rules. They were both very excited he had agreed to teach them. Finn asked, "Do you get to jump people and take their pieces?" Mike responded with a yes, to which Finn exclaimed, "Yes! I love this game!"

Not everyone was playing chess. Obviously, these two were at a rave and just about passed out from the excitement.

While the turkey was roasting, I took the kids out to gather clippings and trimmings for some wreaths. We were out for maybe 15 minutes, but they loved it. They kept saying, "This is so much fun! I love this! This is a great Thanksgiving activity!" I'm glad, because Madie especially was not very happy to learn we had decided to stay home for Thanksgiving this year and go up to my grandmother's on Saturday instead. She was set for a dull day, indeed.

After we had plated the turkey and used what we needed of the drippings for gravy, I prepped Elvis' Thanksgiving dinner.

He is always extra good when he gets a special treat. He knows we'll make him start over if he jumps before he's told.

Haha!

Madie always groans when we light candles to eat. I'm not exactly sure why, but it makes her the only child I know who doesn't like eating by candlelight. Maybe it started after I told her the story of Kaitlyn melting her ear almost off when her hair caught fire at Christmas Eve when she was a kid. I don't know.

Finn told me, not for the first time this week, he was thankful for "friends and lots of toys to give to them, because we have too many toys." Amen, Son. 

I thought for a while of dressing up--I like to dress up for occasions like this, but often I don't just out of convenience. Obviously, convenience won out again this year.

After dinner we went for a flashlit stroll through the woods. Finn was interested in going at first, but as soon as we started he asked how long we would be. I said not long, and he suggested that we walk until we come to the "rocky path, then turn back." That "rocky path" is a gravel road, big enough for two cars to carefully pass, and meticulously maintained by the club groundskeeper. We walked all the way down that road to the club house that overlooks the ocean. There we turned off our lights and let our eyes adjust. Madie was particularly enthralled with this. She was amazed that our eyes could actually work fairly well in the dark. She kept telling me about all the colors in the sky. "I see green and purple and gold." Mike and I  agreed on the description "overcast," but to each her own. 

When we spotted our house lights from the woods, Finn--who, at 5 minutes in, told us (not whining, just informing) he was tired and hungry and thirsty--added to his gratitude. "You know what I'm thankful for? Our house. I'm really glad we don't have to live outside in a cave." Again, man, I'm with you.

When we returned it was pie time, then Harry Potter and baths and a final game of chess. Finn and Mike played downstairs and I asked Madie if she wanted to play against me on the tablet. "Oh! Sure! That'll be fun! You know how to play?" 

"Yes, I know how to play." After the game, the 7-year-old novice told me, "Oh, man! You know,  you were good. You were better than I thought you'd be." Thanks, Madie. You're a great coach.

Look at this face?

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! What a wonderful holiday. The older I get, the more I enjoy Easter. And no, it's still not the baskets. It's the beautiful reminder of the Savior's over-arching love for us and the example of love He set for us. And the safety I feel in His Atonement for me.

Of course, we did have some fun. On Saturday the YWCA in town held an egg hunt for kids starting at 3 years--or almost 3, in Finn's case. They had a different hunt for each age and lots of crafts and games to keep waiting kids occupied. 

Madie is in the pink dress with her hands primly in front of her--a princess if there ever was one.

Mike and I saw children's baseball mitts and balls at Marden's for like $7! We bought one for each of the kids and a big chocolate bunny and called it good. We don't usually do gifts at Easter--in the past we've just stuck to the typical candy baskets--but I'd much rather have something active like this! And they love playing with them. It's been too chilly to be outside tossing a ball with a kid who can't catch one yet, so we've been playing Grounders in the living room. Sometimes Mike does take them downstairs and they toss gently back and forth in the basement, but they like Grounders and Madie, especially, is getting pretty good at it.

Playing Grounders with Dad. And Elvis.

On Sunday we went to "Uncle" Seth's house. I love being there. Seth is just the nicest guy, despite his teasing. He reminds me a lot of my dad. And there's always music and people singing or playing, and of course, food. And I always look forward to catching up with Ashley, his wife, and Ashleigh, my cousin--and my other cousins and my Aunt Rinda and Gram when they all make it. But I can always count on a good chat with the Ash's, or Ashleiygh, as I've decided to name them. It makes me feel like being at my parents' house. 

When we left Madie and Finn both said it was fun. Finn was really disappointed when we had to leave. When we were saying goodbye and Finn was slow to come put on his boots, Seth teased, "Why don't you just stay here, Finn? You wanna live with me?" For the first time as a parent I watched one of my children seriously consider the offer. I told him his cousin Pip was going to leave soon, too. He still wasn't convinced. Finally I said, "Finn, we need to go home." Reluctantly he came into the mudroom and said goodbye. The whole way down the road he kept asking if we could come back tomorrow. 

Madie helped decorate the carrot cakes I made for Seth's.

And today we're back to the regular routine. Madie went to school, and brought home the cutest project: they grew grass in baskets and made felted wool eggs with little chicks inside them. I guess her teacher was getting sick of waiting for spring. I picked Madie up from school since we had to go shopping and we were finally ready that late in the day. Normally I go much earlier and use a cart with a carseat carrier and Finn sits down below on the rack underneath--his own discovery and one I am always impressed with and thankful for. Today the carseat carts were all being used so Petya sat down in the basket and Finn AND Madie sat down below.

Exhibit A

Mike says, "See, don't you just want one of those cars [like Target has]?" I still say absolutely not. This method gets them out of the way and the cart isn't disproportionately long or wide, so I can still maneuver it through the aisles. Not to mention, this was my kid's idea, so it's a good exercise in problem-solving. Trophies all around.

Easter Week

 Madie is really excited for Easter this year. She and I have worked on a couple of projects to get ready, and she is raring to do more.

Here she holds up a stretch of paper eggs we colored. This is now decking a shelf in our kitchen. I think we're going to be making a lot more of these. Madie had a blast and they really are wicked cute.

Something I told Mike early on in our marriage was that I wanted to emphasize the reason for our holidays and traditions. Many of us don't know why we do things we do every year or even every day--I didn't want to live that way any longer and I didn't want my kids to live that way. Obviously the fun stuff is great too--despite what people may believe about me, I am not a Santa hater. I love Santa. But I also like to tell the story of St. Nicholas to my kids. 

Easter baskets are a little different--I don't mind if my kids have Easter baskets. I don't mind if my kids do not have Easter baskets. I never remember believing the Easter bunny was real (unlike Santa). The first Easter basket I really remember having was one my "mom," Anne, gave me when I was 14 and living with her family in the States after my own had moved to Saipan. It was great! But not something I have strong nostalgic feelings towards. Mike finds my lack of Easter basket love disturbing. So, we do Easter baskets.

We also decided to do a Holy Week "advent," if you will, starting today with the Triumphant Entry. Madie loves having something to help her count down the days to something, so she is excited. I think she's even more excited about Easter than Christmas because the calendar--which went up yesterday--is significantly shorter.

There is one frivolity I love and will always love about Easter: jelly beans. And here is one for you.

Thanksgiving

We've had the good fortune to spend the last three Thanksgivings with my cousins who live near Belfast. This year was a little smaller than the last two--Levi and Raquel, of course, are back out west; my other cousin was getting together with his wife's family; my aunt and other cousin were going to come down, but Wednesday brought a storm, and on Thursday morning they just didn't feel comfortable with the roads. So it ended up being just our two families. It was small, but I must admit, it was certainly relaxed--at least for us. I don't know how the hosts felt!

Finn and Madie watch some PBSKids with their cousins Lottie and Pip.

Pip got hurt somehow and went right over to Lottie to snuggle on the couch.

Finn is into this.

Finn is thankful for his blankie, gifted by Aunt Holly, and his fingers, gifted by God.

Madie says she is thankful for her new Elsa book--she bought it at Target a couple weeks ago and has been loving it. She is going to a friend's birthday party this Saturday and when we walked into Sherman's to look for a gift on Saturday they had a FROZEN book display in front. She picked one like hers so her friend can have one too.

Funny story: I love squash and stuffing. As much as I love cranberry sauce and turkey, I love squash and stuffing even more. Squash is my absolute favorite vegetable. Even as a little kid I remember loving squash. And stuffing, I mean, c'mon, right?

Well. You remember the aunt I mentioned up there who was supposed to come and ended up not coming?

Now guess who was supposed to bring the squash and the stuffing.

We were literally half-way to my cousins house when I said, "Mike! There's not going to be any squash!" Aaaaand three minutes later: "And the stuffing!" 

Yeah, that story's a lot more sad than funny.

Thankfully my cousins pulled through with some they had at home. Hallelujah. You can guess what I'm thankful for.

I'm also thankful for bacon. This helped me cope with the stress of thinking we'd have no squash.

Ya know what else I'm thankful for? These two. Ashleigh and John are really great. I am so glad we live kind of close to them. We don't get together a whole ton, but I always enjoy their company. In the absence of my siblings, I've really come to see John and Ash as a brother and sister. To me, obviously, not each other. 

I'm helping John here...not just vulturing the bacon.

And we'll just say this is what Mike's thankful for right here:

Nice action shot, honey.

Just kidding! I mean, I'm sure he is, but he says he's "thankful we have a healthy, happy family." Amen.