Untraditional Thanksgiving Traditions and Bathroom Habit Relevations

November 23, 2012 By

I’ll admit it: Thanksgiving is starting to grow on me. Traditionally, it has been my least favorite holiday and the reason revolved around football (a sport I don’t like) and slaving all day in the kitchen for a meal I don’t really like, only to be rewarded with more football.

This year’s festivities were partially the same but a lot different. Our tradition has been to drag our butterball butts up the Turkey Trot trail at Mount Falcon Park since 2005. My, how times have changed. Especially for the fact my kiddos can rock this really steep hike. As a side note, Bode is holding up his pant leg because early in the hike he started running, tripped and skinned his knee. He brushed himself off and appeared to be fine until I made a Rookie Mom error: I asked if he was bleeding. Sure enough, he had a nice scrape and he then dramatically limped the rest of the way. Until we reached the summit and he forgot he was supposed to be injured as he raced around.

The weather was gorgeous and in the 50s. Everyone ditched their outer layers and I stuffed them in my backpack. I noticed something hard in Jamie’s pocket so pulled it out. Glasses. And not just any glasses but 3D glasses. Because you’ll never know when you’ll need ‘em on a mountaintop.

My favorite activity with my favorite guy

And what would hiking be without a great game of hide ‘n go seek around precipitous ledges? Can you spot expert hider Jamie? He’s going pro next year.

Usually our hike is rushed because we race back to cook but this year, I’m not sure who came up with the brilliant plan to ditch the traditional meal and instead serve everyone’s favorite foods. Best of all, prep and clean-up were minimal and we took the informality one step further by grazing as we watched football.
Sorry, Mom. We’ll use all that fancy china next year.

We cuddled up to The Amazing Spider-man…

With Aunt Lisa and Uncle Chris

…and wrapped Thanksgiving up with the kids’ first-ever game of charades. They loved it and I’m sure it will become a family staple. I’d show pictures of the antics but they are not blog-approved.

Suffice it to say in addition to great food and family, the mental image of Lisa acting out “toilet paper” will forever live on in our memories.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Filed Under: Bode, Colorado, hiking, holidays

Thanksgiving Gratitude: My Favorite Time of the Day

November 22, 2012 By

I have so much for which to be grateful but this Thanksgiving, it’s about my little family.

I feel like we’ve hit the golden age with both of our kids. A few things I appreciate:

  • They are becoming independent (Haddie made me apple-cinnamon pancakes with caramel sea salt butter completely by herself and Bode is rocking the shoe-tying).
  • They are coming into their own spiritually (sweet Bode gives the most insightful prayers and Hadley sometimes brings her scriptures to school for her reading block).
  • They love to travel and are learning that exploring our world is not something we do, it is the essence of who we are. I love snuggling up to them on Sunday nights as we watch the Amazing Race. We bring out Haddie’s globe, chart their worldwide course and dream of our own adventures together.
  • They would rather spend time with Jamie and me than any of their friends (believe me, I know that gift is fleeting).

    Razor racing over Thanksgiving break

My favorite time of the day with them is bedtime. After they have showered, changed into their PJs and brushed their teeth, we snuggle up into our king-sized bed to talk about our day, read the scriptures and a book. Last month, we finished off the Wizard of Oz, 100th Anniversary Edition that I bought in Coronado. This month, we’re tackling the Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm.

After we read, we kneel in prayer and immediately following the “amen,” the kids wrestle with Jamie. Giggling and screaming, he scoops them up and gives them both a piggy-back ride to their bedrooms where they say their own prayers before we tuck them in. On Monday night, I sentimentally snapped a picture.

This is my favorite moment because despite what kind of a day we had–whether there were arguments or stress or frustrations or chaos–life’s imperfections are finally made perfect as we come together. Jamie won’t be able to carry them to bed forever and figuratively, someday they will be carrying us.

But it’s my little reminder that there is magic in ordinary days and life sure is golden.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, holidays, Jamie, LDS

Thanksgiving Service and the Woman’s Shelter Take-down

November 21, 2012 By

Happy Thanksgiving!

If there is one cause I feel passionate about, it is fighting child hunger. One out of every four children in Colorado goes hungry…a very daunting statistic and I commend those who are working so closely to fight this battle. A couple of weeks ago, I met with the Food Bank of the Rockies to brainstorm a new initiative they hope to launch for educating kids about it. I’m so excited to be a part of the new program!

A couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to join our Young Women at our local food bank to sort food for Thanksgiving.

Though she’s a few years too young for YW, Haddie begged me to come. No complaints here if she wants to help!

Then, last weekend our family signed up through Volunteers of America to serve Thanksgiving dinner at a local woman’s shelter. This is the second year we’ve done it and I’m grateful for the learning experience it is for my kids. I hope to make it an annual tradition.
All the volunteers sign up to bring various items of a Thanksgiving meal. We then dined with the residents, made cards for VOA’s annual Basket of Joy fundraiser where they deliver baskets to seniors and then the apex of the event: BINGO. We’re highly competitive but only Jamie got the win, which he will never let me forget.

For the kids, the highlight is being The Caller. They patiently waited and when it was their turn, I accompanied them. “Why do you always have to come with us?” Miss Independence whined.

The reason is evidenced in what unfolded next.

I told the kids they needed to take turns pulling the numbers from the BINGO cage, call out the number and place it on the tally board.

At least that’s how it would happen in a Perfect BINGO World.

But alas, both kids fought as they jockeyed for position and I seethed threats at both of them. As they furiously spun the cage, BINGO balls were flying everywhere off the table and I subtly tried to retrieve them as I smiled sweetly at the residents. “Look at us! Just one big, happy, BINGO-calling family!”

Lies. All lies. I breathed a sigh of relief when our turn was over, though I had serious doubts I had recovered all the wayward balls.

Next year’s gift for the shelter: a new BINGO set.

And a better BINGO-calling attitude. :-)

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, holidays, Humor, LDS

It’s Christmastime (NOW) In This City–Confessions of a Rebel

November 20, 2012 By

I’m on the cusp of four really crazy weeks. My in-laws arrived yesterday and we’re going to spend a  few glorious days at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. Next week, I’m off to Park City Mountain Resort and right after I return, I will be speaking at a single adult fireside and will also MC a “What Not to Wear” event for Young Women in Excellence (don’t ask me if I’ve ever watched the show). Oh, and then I’m appearing on 9News with all my holiday picks (and still need to wrap up the gift guide), and we’re then whisking the kiddos off for a surprise four-day trip, which will result in a lot of subsequent writing deadlines.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget all the holiday shopping that goes with it.

So, I’m kinda busy.

I am not a procrastinator and hate leaving things until the last minute. If I were to wait until the week before Christmas to shop or put up decorations, it wouldn’t happen. This year, I have taken a now-or-never approach and last week was dedicated to getting Christmas cards ready. Traditionally, we set-up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving but since we’ll be MIA, I announced we’d do it on Sunday. Yes, for you stalwart DO NOT DECORATE UNTIL AFTER THANKSGIVING-TYPES, this was four days before T-day. And with the amount of decorations we have, it takes hours.

This isn’t even including our outdoor decorations, which we’ll hold off on for another week.

Jamie is a  Grinch when it comes to decorating and limits his efforts to the outdoor lights. But this year when I hesitatingly asked if he and Bode could be in charge of putting up the tree, I was shocked when he agreed. I’ve been a longtime advocate of real trees but after several years of choosing ones that lose their needles mere days after purchase, we went artificial (it helped when my in-laws gifted us their old tree). There’s a definite system to putting on the branches and I usually organize them in piles and systematically start from the bottom (longest) and work my way up.

The boys had a different system, which is a nice way of saying they had no system at all.  A half-hour later, I walked into the room to find the mostly-completed tree with a large gaping hole in the middle and several small branches still on the ground. Problem was all the slots at the top were taken.

Wives everywhere know this is the ultimate dilemma. How do you handle it when you FINALLY get your husband to do something and it is not done correctly? The answer: you tread very lightly with your criticism otherwise they’ll never do it again. Ultimately they figured it out.

We got in the Christmas spirit by baking this snickerdoodle bread with cinnamon chips and blasted Josh Groban’s CD “Noel.” I’m relieved the bulk of the work is done and to the naysayers like Jamie who say we’re not allowed to decorate until Thanksgiving, this Canuck says IT ALREADY HAPPENED IN OCT.

The end.

Filed Under: holidays, Humor, Jamie

Scrumptious Snickerdoodle Bread with Cinnamon Chips Recipe

November 19, 2012 By

I first stumbled upon a recipe for Snickerdoodle Bread on Pinterest several months ago. As a lover of all-things snickerdoodle and cinnamon, I was dying to try this recipe.

The problem was I couldn’t find the requisite Hershey’s cinnamon chips. Anywhere.

Now, here’s a lesson for all you Walmart haters: don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Though I can’t say I’m a regular Walmart shopper, I swung by the other day looking for (what else) cheap Christmas gifts and there on the holiday baking end cap were cinnamon chips. A lot of them!

On Sunday, we prematurely set-up our holiday decorations and to celebrate the season, I made this bread. We’ve declared it our new kick-off-to-the-holiday tradition. Even my husband (who is not a fan of snickerdoodles) is a fan.

Snickerdoodle Bread

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour (high-altitude add 1/4 cup)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2.5 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup butter softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream (next time I’m going to substitute a bit of cream cheese)
1 pkg. Hershey’s cinnamon chips

Topping:
3 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon

Instructions

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs
Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix well.
Mix flour and with the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add to wet ingredients and mix until all combined.
Add cinnamon chips and stir into batter.
Spoon batter into mini loaf pans or cupcake tins until about 2/3 full.
Mix 3 T. sugar and 3 t. cinnamon in a bowl and sprinkle over the batter in each loaf pan.
Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Let cool before removing from pan.P.S. And yes, I do have a cinnamon-chip hoarding problem.

Filed Under: Foodie, holidays

Halloween 2012: The Slime Bucket, Digging for Eyeballs and the Pumpkin’s Celebrity Encounter

November 2, 2012 By

This year, Jamie was delighted when The Great Pumpkin had an encounter with celebrity. TaRhonda Thomas of 9News fame was at our house interviewing me for an unrelated story and was flabbergasted with what she found when she pulled up to the house. And unlike some broadcast journalists I’ve worked with in the past (read: snobby), she’s every bit as fun and lovely as she appears in the picture.

One of the bonuses of having kids at different schools is they had their Halloween parties at different times so I was able to give each of them my undivided attention. I started with little B. The volunteers were divided up into different stations. The Room Mom asked if I wanted to do the craft.

“Err, no thanks,” I politely declined.
“Really? You look like the crafty type,” she responded.

I assure you that’s the first time THAT has ever happened.

I instead volunteered for the messy slime bucket, which was green jello that was refrigerated with plastic body parts. To demonstrate, I stuck my hand in it and pretended it was getting devoured. What’s Halloween without a bit of traumatizing?

For Dorothy’s party, she was thrilled she was the kid who got to put the finishing touches on her teacher’s mummy wrap and did a muzzle over her mouth.
I’m sure she was thinking, “That’s for all that miserable math homework.”

They did plenty of crafts and games and once again, I volunteered for the messiest of them all (sensing a pattern here?): Searching for eyeballs (marbles) in a mass of brains (spaghetti) with their feet. Disgusting. Especially when the brains got accidentally flicked down my shirt.

That evening, we met at our fire station where they handed out drinks, cupcakes, cookies, free HarperCollins children’s books and then a fire truck led a parade.

From the archives: 3-yr-old Bode at the parade. #Love

Our neighborhood pretty much rocks Halloween.

This is the first year we’ve been able to carve The Great Pumpkin because it’s usually rotting down the driveway. Since the weather was so nice (it’s been 70 degrees), we sat on the porch to hand out candy and could hear the stunned reactions of the trick-or-treaters. A large crowd was usually congregated around the pumpkin to take pictures. The Pumpkin Man was in his element.

Our neighbor Steve told us his wife Angella took a picture of their family with The Great Pumpkin. She’s a pharmaceutical rep and made it into a card to hand out to various doctor’s offices and clients. He said it was an awesome conversation-starter and opened a lot of doors.

Next year, I’m demanding a commission.

Filed Under: 9News, Bode, Hadley, holidays, Humor, pumpkins Tagged With: ,

Apple Dunking and Halloween Bashing!

October 31, 2012 By

Saturday was our ward’s annual Halloween party. The youth were in charge, which means as a youth leader I was a part of the planning and implementation.
Pretty much, I have the best calling ever working with these beautiful young women.

Jamie and I wore our annual costumes. I was the pumpkin widow dressed in black (see my shirt) and Jamie was (what else?) a pumpkin.
It’s like art imitating real life. Every. Single. Day.

We just finished reading the 100th Anniversary edition of Wizard of Oz that I bought as a souvenir in Coronado Island. Much to my delight, Hadley shunned the pop culture costumes of many of her peers and opted to be Dorothy.

Bode, on the other hand? He spotted a Mario costume at the thrift store and the begging began. “Bode, you were Mario two years ago. Don’t you want to be _______” and I listed off a number of costumes. Obviously, I lost.

Blurry action shot eating doughnuts on a string

We had a spookiest appetizer/dessert contest so I whipped up a graveyard 7-Layer Dip. I got a ton of compliments on it but it was a result of improvisation. We didn’t have any refried beans so I used Madras Lentils (my fave wintertime lunch) and layered sour cream, cheese, green onions, salsa and guacamole. For the graveyard, I cut and baked some red chile tortillas into tombstones, a cat and a ghost.
I thought I did a pretty good job until I saw my friend Wendy’s entry.
Overachiever.

The young men were in charge of a haunted grove in the forest behind the church.

Teenagers with a real chainsaw = terrifying.

The young women stayed inside and oversaw all the carnival games.

Best. Bean bag toss. Ever.

And then there was the most unsanitary game of them all: bobbing for apples. In sixth grade, I had a Halloween party that will go down in infamy as The Best Party Ever and I still wear my Queen Apple Bobber Badge proudly. When the young women taunted me to do it, I rose to the challenge.

Or rather, bent way, way over for it. Haddie and Bode joined me and I dove in preparing to leave them in my salivated-apple-bobbing wake. When all of a sudden, I was being submerged way way way under. I flew up sputtering, only to realize my own husband dunked me.

It’s a good thing we drove separately; otherwise dude would have walked home.

Haddie ended up being the winningest apple bobber of the night. As it turns out, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Literally.

Filed Under: Bode, Foodie, Hadley, holidays, Humor, Jamie, LDS, pumpkins Tagged With: ,

A warning to parents everywhere regarding Halloween candy “taxes”

October 29, 2012 By

I have some bad news for parents who claim a “candy tax” by taking a portion of their kids’ Halloween candy: THEY ARE ONTO US.

On Saturday night, we went to our church’s Halloween party and my kids came home with bucket loads of treats. For the most part, I let them have at it but started putting on the brakes the next day. After all, they have to save their gluttony for The Main Event on Wednesday.

I made a healthy dinner with the one thing my 8-year-old daughter abhors most: eggs. She usually chokes them down but we are entering the tween moody stage (hurray!) and she suddenly thinks she should have a say.

I don’t know when she started thinking this was a democracy, not a dictatorship.

My husband and I have never forced our kids to eat everything on their plates but usually have a bare minimum. If they choose not to eat, they don’t get any food the rest of the night. Period.

So, I gave her our usual ultimatum that she needed to eat five bites and told her I’d later throw in some candy for good measure. But, she’s a stubborn little miss and declared she’d rather go hungry.

That’s when I pulled out the big guns.

I grabbed her bag of candy and started deliberately and methodically eating it. Steam started erupting from her ears and her temperature rose as fast as a thermometer in boiling water.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” she spewed.

“Taking candy taxes,” I calmly responded. “For every minute you sit here, I’m going to have another piece of candy. Oh, look–Butterfinger. Isn’t that your favorite?”

And then her clincher. “YOU KNOW EATING THAT STUFF IS EXACTLY LIKE…STEALING!”

Let’s keep her little revelation just between us.

**The featured pictures is 2-year-old Hadley stuffing her face with suckers at her Halloween party. Girl loves her candy.

Filed Under: Hadley, holidays, Humor Tagged With:

Halloween savings and my cake pop trauma

October 1, 2012 By

This week, my Denver Post column talks about last year’s cake pop trauma and gives great advice on how to save on Halloween..

Not from me, of course. From an expert. :-)

================

I love this time of the year — from the harvest festivals to my obsession with eating all things pumpkin.

My favorite shopping day also arrives in the fall.

Sorry, Black Friday zealots, but I’m referencing Nov. 1, that hallowed day when all of the Halloween items just now beginning to show up in stores get marked down 50 percent or more.

Last year, I decided to save money by making my own Halloween treats. I opted for cake pops. If you’ve never tried them, these little single-serve cakes on a stick are especially delectable, and this from a non-cake lover.

I thought they’d be fun for my kids’ Halloween parties at school. As it turns out, there was nothing fun about making them.

Really, it was

Read more: Johnson: The horror of Halloween past signals lessons in smart holiday planning – The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/smart/ci_21655562/horror-halloween-past-signals-lessons-smart-holiday-planning#ixzz285DbDl9C

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: holidays, Humor Tagged With:

How a Canuck sabotages 4th of July

July 10, 2012 By

After a full 4th of July with a pancake breakfast, biking, seeing Brave and heading down to the fireworks-less festival, we ended our day by going to our friends’ soiree.

 I had a limited amount of time to pull together a dessert so I hastily made our new favorite: this white Texas sheet cake (oh my!)  The problem was it wasn’t very patriotic so I figured I’d dye it blue, spread white frosting and then top it off with a strawberry. Perfect color scheme, non?

Well, remember how I said I was in a hurry? I quickly mixed the cake batter, put in a couple of drops of blue dye, blended and baked it. It wasn’t until I was cleaning out the bowl a few minutes later that I scrutinized the batter for the first time.

It had started out yellow and then I added blue. But in my haste, I didn’t add enough blue dye. Let’s take a moment to reflect upon the lessons learned from preschool:

Blue +yellow=GREEN.

Yep, that’s right. My patriotic cake was better equipped for St. Patty’s Day. I started to spread white frosting and top it off with strawberries but I stopped myself.

Green + white + red = Christmas.

So, there you have it, folks. This Canuck’s Independence Day offering was a veritable dose of Christmas in July.

Too bad we didn’t have the snow to go with it.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: holidays, Humor
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