October in Colorado = Glorious!

October 29, 2014 By

I had an epiphany: October is my favorite month of the year. Between cooler yet still mild temperatures and gorgeous fall colors, Colorado had its most delicious October ever and all I wanted to do was hike every day.

Unfortunately I have this thing called work.

That didn’t stop me from occasionally sneaking out for some fun.

Hiking Pence Park

Last year, my friend Tina and I loved hiking 6.4- mile Carpenter Peak in Roxborough Park so much we decided to make it an annual tradition.

Hadley recently had a day off school so we took the opportunity check-out Staunton State Park, which opened just over a year ago. When I hike by myself, I stick to the trail. When I’m with Hadley, we forge through the forest, find large granite outcroppings, bushwhack to the summit and discover secret caves.

She’s waaaay more exciting than I.

One Sunday evening, we took a leisurely stroll around glistening Crown Hill Park, whereupon I imparted the following wisdom to my children: “Life is too short to live somewhere ugly.”

This is how we do walks, Johnson-style.

It’s no wonder Bode has trust issues.

Filed Under: Colorado, Family travel, hiking, outdoors, travel

The Halloween Party of Death

October 28, 2014 By

When the kids were younger, I threw blowout Halloween parties. Just look at these cuties back in 2006 (Hadley is the Broncos cheerleader, bottom right).

And yes, she’d DIE now to ever be dressed as one of those “silly girls.”

My kids loved those parties but since we implemented the Giant Pumpkin Party four years ago, I disbanded those Halloween bashes because there was no way I was going to throw two of them in October.

So, what’s the first thing my opportunistic kids begged me to do when the Pumpkin Party was canceled?

See below.

The coolest hosts ever (before we lost our minds)

Hanging doughnuts (30 doughnuts were eaten in 30 seconds flat)

Bode’s make-up artist, Alex. Pumpkin Man photobomb.

I knew we were in trouble during the invitation stage. I didn’t want anyone to feel left out but when people started asking if siblings could come, I kindly told them “yes” if the parent would come help. A couple did, most didn’t and I ended up with waaaaaaaay too many kids. They are all well-behaved, awesome kids but the sheer number (25 of ‘em) about did us in.



We had plenty of fun games to keep them occupied, like a candy corn relay I made up. Essentially, they had to put a spoon in their mouth, scoop up candy corn with it and race to the other side of the yard and deposit the candy into a jar. On the way back, they had to do silly challenges like  “Pretend you are Elsa and sing ‘Let it Go’ at the top of your lungs as you skate back.”

As you can imagine, there was a whole lotta silliness.

The excessive amounts of sugar certainly helped.

My friend Julie outdid herself by making “Poison Punch” and personalizing a cup for each kid.

She is what I call a “Pinterest Overachiever” and the kids loved it!

Out of everyone, I am most indebted to my friend “Witch Terry” who made a surprise appearance halfway through the party. I had asked her to pull together some magical science experiments and we got together during the week to practice.

Overachiever that she is (it runs in my circles), she went above-and-beyond with some awesome tricks but the mere chaos almost sent us to our graves. Fortunately, the kids were AWED by every single one.

Fun with dry ice

Witch Terry in her element

Baking soda+vinegar+balloons+water bottle= an awesome Fizz Inflator

This is my favorite picture of the evening: seeing the children’s awed faces at our successful dry ice crystal ball! (Find out how to make it here; our ghostly screaming balloons were another hit).

As kids were arriving at the party, we had our disco light swirling and fog making machine chugging. And the fire alarm going off.

It started with chaos, it ended with chaos, and according to the party goers, it was “the best Halloween party ever.”

At least someone had a good time. Remind me of this post the next time they beg me for an over-the-top party.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, holidays

Going “professional” at the Arvada Scarecrow Festival

October 23, 2014 By

If the giant pumpkin growers were poorly received at the Jared’s Nursery weigh-off, they were treated like royalty at the Arvada Scarecrow Festival. Jamie’s buddy Joe grew the biggest pumpkin in Colorado this year (1,292 pounds) and instead of putting it on display after the weigh-off, he merely cuts it up. I asked his wife if they could donate the pumpkin for a great cause (us!) and they were kind to give us their pumpkin.

When we arrived at the festival, we were literally mobbed and two hours later, were barely able to pull away because so many people were taking pictures. Now I know what the Beatles felt like.

Just imagine how much more popular they would have been if they grew giant pumpkins.

Side note: I just realized as I posted this picture that someone put their dog to pose with Lucille the giant pumpkin. Just when I thought I had seen everything.

Hadley was still feeling crummy from pneumonia so laid low. Bode, on the other hand? He was a Proud Pumpkin Papa.
As I was was tending to Hadley’s needs, I looked up to see Bode mingling with the crowd answering questions about his pumpkin.

I should probably start calling him Pumpkin Man Jr. (apologies to his future wife).

Hadley and Bode won the children’s division and I was thrilled to see a kid from our neighborhood grinning ear-to-ear about his pumpkin. I’d talked to him a few weeks prior and encouraged him to enter and was so glad to see him there!

The children’s competition (neighbor on the left)

Despite the fact that “Lucille” stopping growing mid-August when he cut her off the vine, Jamie still won the adult division and is always awesome with giving advice, encouragement and seeds to aspiring pumpkin growers.

We had a great time at our hometown festival but I had to chuckle at the end. Hadley, Bode and Jamie had the three biggest pumpkins at the weigh-off, causing a disgruntled member of the Arvada Gardners to mutter that “they should have their own professional division.”

Please shoot me if they ever go “professional.”

See the write-up about the competition: Giant pumpkins rule in Olde Town Arvada.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Humor, Jamie, pumpkins

It’s Pumpkin Season!

October 22, 2014 By

Despite the fact that Jamie didn’t “grow big” this year, we are still in the throes of pumpkin season. In case you missed that tragic announcement, Jamie lost both his plants to yellow vine disease in August.  He chopped up “Bo” but for some reason, he cut “Lucille” off the vine and let her sit there for a month and a half, hoping she’d last ’til the weigh-off.

And wonder of wonders, she did make it (despite the fact that she hasn’t grown and has been essentially rotting for a month and a half).

Lovely Lucille. Photo credit: Denver Post’s Seth McConnell

Because we didn’t have “large” pumpkins, we opted not to throw a pumpkin party but that posed a big problem: we usually have several people on-hand to help us move the pumpkins.

For the giants, we need a backhoe and lifting straps but for the “smaller” pumpkins like Lucille and the kids’ pumpkins, we have a lifting tarp but needed able-bodies.

Enter: our good friends and neighbors the Haymonds who, much to their misfortune, were home at the time we came knocking.

Hadley cutting her pumpkin off the vine

Sadie is smiling because she didn’t have to lift after Uncle Chris arrived


Pumpkin Man photobomb.

Despite the fact that Bode’s pumpkin got taken out by hail (twice) and didn’t pollinate until two weeks after Hadley’s, his pumpkin weighed a whopping 325 lbs while Hadley’s weighed 401 lbs, a personal best.

Don’t get me started how the lazy organizers at Jared’s Nursery in Littleton didn’t even bother to give them ribbons or any acknowledgment for all their hard work. Dear Jared’s Nursery: we will not be wasting out time at your weigh-off next year.

Despite their lack of prizes, I was so proud that they dominated the children’s division.

Of course, it helped they were the only two who entered.

Stay tuned for details on the Arvada Scarecrow Festival.

 

 

 

Filed Under: pumpkins

Breaking Bad and the Giant Pumpkin

October 21, 2014 By

We’re calling this a twofer. Fox 31 asked to come to my house to interview me about crystal meth action figures yesterday, they saw my husband Jamie’s giant pumpkins and interviewed him after.

Jamie is now claiming the media is going through me to get to him.

File this under ‪#‎YouCan‬‘tMakeThisStuffUp.

Fox 31 aired the story last night. The one with me in it; I’m sure the giant pumpkins will appear on some breaking news story sometime.

CLICK TO KEEP READING

Filed Under: 9News

My (spooky) nighttime confession

October 20, 2014 By

In preparation for a Halloween party last Friday, I trolled music videos on YouTube. I found many classics like Monster Mash and Ghostbusters but the king of them all is, of course, Michael Jackson’s Thriller. 

My kids gathered around my computer. My 10-year-old Hadley was so engrossed she watched it twice while 8-year-old Bode was nervous but I wasn’t worried. Though he’s never seen a horror movie, he has no problems with Lord of the Rings and that’s way scarier, right?

Wrong.

Here’s how our evening played out:

9:40 p.m. I passed out early from exhaustion.

10:30 p.m. Daughter wake-up call.

Her: “Mom, Bode is crying.”
Me: “Why are you awake?!” (She had just recovered from a two-week stint with enterovirus-turned-pneumonia.)
Her: “I’m not tired.”
Me: “GET TO BED, NOW.”

10:31 p.m. Trudge to Bode’s room. He’s still asleep but obviously freaked out and crying. Soothingly hug and pat his back, whispering “it’s only a dream.” He quiets down.

11:05 p.m. He starts crying again. Mother of the Year lovingly calms him. At least The Daughter is finally asleep.

Midnight-ish Crying con’t. Maybe if I pretend he’s not crying, he’ll stop. Negative.

12:15 a.m. Bring him into my bed. Snuggle him tight as he falls into a feverish, Thriller-induced slumber.

12:20-1:55 a.m. Every 10-15 minutes, he cries out then goes back to sleep.

2 a.m. More crying, more soothing. Resolve I’m too old for this. How do women in the 40s handle newborn all-nighters?

2:15 a.m. He starts kicking me in his sleep. Gently move him away.

2:25 a.m. Fat Kitty abandons us, citing “at least one of us needs to get some sleep.”

2:30 a.m. After yet another shout-out, I am DONE. I scoop him up in his arms and carry him to his bed. Close the door.

2:33 a.m.-6:20 a.m. I finally get some sleep.

7 a.m.  Bode wake-up.

“How are you feeling today? Do you remember your bad dreams?”
“No, not really. But how did I get into your bed last night?”

He was his usual chipper self while I looked like the walking dead the rest of the day.

Now, I finally get why “Thriller” is scary.

Filed Under: Bode, Humor

A weak payback but I’ll take it

October 17, 2014 By

My brother Jade a.k.a. Jeek (a nickname I affectionately gave him when he was younger; a cross between Jade and geek) loves to play practical jokes and his chemical engineering co-workers seem to get the brunt of it.

Fortunately we all live of different sides of the country so proximity usually makes us safe.

However, there is this little thing called the Internet where incriminating pictures don’t disappear. Ever. I should know–he has posted some doozies of me.

That’s why it was a stroke of sheer brilliance when I published a hilarious commentary of the pictures he and my brother-in-law Fred had posted to Facebook that day (in case you missed it, go here).

Jeek’s only response: “You do realize there will be payback for this right?”

His rebuttal?

My brother Pat’s perm years got dragged into the war because (in Jade’s words) “You liked the photo yesterday that was enough for me!!!”

It doesn’t take much for Jeek.

If this is as serious at it gets, I got off easy. Of course, who knows how many more of my tween blackmail pictures are floating around out there.

Filed Under: Family, Humor

Playing catch-up

October 16, 2014 By

Hadley is finally on the mend following her enterovirus-turned-pneumonia. When I say she was sick, I mean it–she barely got out of bed or ate for days on end.

I can’t complain, though. Until recently she has been blessed with great health, with the exception of a bout of RSV when she was a baby. My heart truly goes out to kids with serious, non-curable illnesses.

We met with her teacher this week and her two-week absence is more serious than I thought:

SHE MISSED THE ENTIRETY OF THEIR UNIT ON CANADA.

 

Filed Under: Canada, Hadley, Humor

How to honor pioneers in the easiest way possible-Part II

October 15, 2014 By

Remember when I shared pioneer stories with my kids and tried to get them excited for the Mormon pioneer trek reenactment they will do when they are teenagers?

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you must refresh your memory. Specifically the part when Bode proposes the easiest way possible to honor the pioneers…because his comments just keep getting better (read on).

I’ve pretty much confirmed that manual labor is not on his list of future occupations.

A couple of months after the pioneer trek in our stake, all the youth and their families met together for a “fireside” where they shared their feelings as they watched a video about their experience. The amateur videographer pulled together what must have been hours of footage and interviews–they really captured the spirit, hard work and beautiful theme of how to rescue one another as each of us struggles throughout our lives.

I wanted my kids to see them in action so we watched the video for Family Home Evening. Many of the youth shared how they had been particularly touched during the women’s pull, which is beautifully described in this article that I’d highly recommend reading in its entirety.

Later that day we had what many recognize to be called the “women’s pull.” The women’s pull is supposed to remind those trekking of the time in handcart history when the men of the handcart companies were called off to fight with the Mormon Battalion, and the women were left to pull the handcarts. If you can imagine tired and severely underfed women pulling handcarts up a very steep and rocky ridge, your heart might tug a little bit. Mine does, because that’s exactly what all the other women in our group and I did. It was hard and teary. All the fathers and brothers stood off to the side, some crying, and had to watch us as we struggled up the hill. Some women tripped, fell, lost hold of their handcarts, or had to stop….

The women’s pull is found on the video at about 9:39.

One of my favorite parts of the video was the story of pioneers Jens and Elsie Neilson (at the 18:38 mark).

We find one of the most touching stories of sacrifice, faith, and loving charity in the life of Jens Neilson, who was a member of the Willie Handcart Company. Jens, a relatively prosperous Danish farmer, heeded the call to bring his family to Zion. In Iowa he wrote that he had let all of his money go to the Church except enough to buy a handcart and stock it with 15 pounds of belongings per person. Jens wrote, “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” The people for whom Jens was responsible were himself; his wife, Elsie; their six-year-old son, Neils; and a nine-year-old girl, Bodil Mortensen, whom Jens offered to take to Utah. In the early Wyoming blizzard, temperatures plummeted below zero. The Neilsons had consumed their last pound of flour days before, but somehow they made it over the treacherous Rocky Ridge, urged on by their indomitable courage and unconquerable faith. Tragically, 13 of the company died at Rock Creek and were buried in shallow, snow-covered graves—among them, Jens and Elsie’s son, Neils, and young Bodil Mortensen.

President Hinckley describes this portion of the trail as “a trail of tragedy, a trail of faith, a trail of devotion, a trail of consecration, even the consecration of life itself.”

Jens arrived at Rock Creek, 11 miles beyond Rocky Ridge, with both feet frozen. He was unable to walk another step and pleaded with Elsie, “Leave me by the trail in the snow to die, and you go ahead and try to keep up with the company and save your life.” Elsie, with her unfaltering pioneer courage, replied, “Ride, I can’t leave you, I can pull the cart.”Such was the strength and the faith of many pioneer women on the trail.

A couple reenacted the story of Jens and Elsie (at about 20:20). I got teary-eyed as I watched Elsie struggle to pull Jens up that hill. At 22:48, the commentator asked the young men: “If you see someone struggling like this, what should you do? Go now and help if you feel so inclined”

A floodgate of valiant, eager-to-serve teenage boys raced across the field and down the hill, clambering to help pull Elsie pull the handcart with poor Jens inside.

Following the video, I asked Bode to share his thoughts.

“Mom, I can’t wait….”

I was sooooo excited. Had he finally been touched with the pioneer spirit as he watched many of the young men he admires rush in to rescue?

“Yes, Bode?”

“Mom, I can’t wait until I’m the one being pulled up that hill like Jens.”

Filed Under: Bode, Humor, LDS

I solemnly swear that (Jamie) is up to no good!

October 14, 2014 By

The television in our bedroom is on the brink of death, which is the equivalent to the apocalypse for Jamie.

Me? I’ve never ever had a television in my bedroom and certainly didn’t ask for one. But then I married a man who loves to mindlessly watch it after his looong work days and is convinced he needs it to lull him into la la land.

So, I’ve compromised. I’ve learned to fall asleep with that silly thing blaring but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I was actually kinda looking forward to its death so I would have at least a few days of sweet, TV-less slumber.

But noooooooo.

The other night (while the old TV was still functioning), he announced that he and Bode were going “for a boy’s night out shopping.”

I was immediately suspicious, primarily because they don’t shop.

Bode, though technically a dude, is first and foremost a mama’s boy and spilled the beans. “Daddy is taking me to buy a new TV,” he whispered.

I should not have been surprised. I knew their little trip was either:

1) A surprise for me

or

2) He was up to no good.

You’d better believe his next shopping trip will be the former.

Filed Under: Humor, Jamie
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »