Snow and cold.

Sleigh rides have become a tradition for us.  When my parents come to visit for Christmas the kids know that we'll be going sleigh riding.  After getting snow for Christmas and more snow again...we knew that a sleigh ride was going to be beautiful.  It had been overcast and snowing for days but the day we had planned for our fun the clouds broke and we had a gorgeous blue sky.  That seems wonderful and it was nice to see the sun shining again...except it was 9 degrees. 

We bundled everyone up but I have to say we totally underestimated the cold.  The first time you go out in that kind of cold you forget how cold it really was the year before...and then you don't forget for the rest of the season.  Even though we all had scarves and mittens and hats and blankets we had forgotten about layers and more layers and extra pairs of socks.   Gracie ended up with popsicle fingers and Miriam had icicle toes.  The thawing out was painful...but thank goodness for the hot chocolate!  The steaming hot chocolate was a life saver.  We were all grateful for the chance to warm our hands on the cups and and have the chocolate take away the chill on the inside. 

Despite the cold we had a great time and the view was gorgeous.  We couldn't have asked for a prettier day. 

And the door on that barn...is that not the wildest looking thing?  It looks like it's moving but it isn't.  I loved the texture of building and the smoothness of the door.  It's such an amazing contrast.

This is one of the many fun times we had over the holiday...get ready, because I have a bunch of posts coming. lol

fun.  LIFE.

The Happy Christmas tree search....

Okay...so maybe we had a little fussing at how cold it was and the snowballs that hit people in the side of the head and everybody hopped up on way too much candy after our gingerbread party (coming soon....).  Even with all of that if was still fun to finally get our Christmas tree.

People say that pregnant women know where all of the bathrooms in town are in every building...I'd say that's true, too, if you have a three year old.

Fun tradition.

Every year at the beginning of December we put together a Christmas chain.  We make a list of all of the things we'd like to do together and for other people and each link gets an activity.  The links count down the days until Christmas and every morning the kids race to see what well be the activity of the day and to be the first to take a link off of the chain.  It's a big part of Christmas for us and the kids look forward to everyday.

So far we have:

Gone to the resuce mission twice.

Gone to a matinee movie.

Eat dinner by the tree while we watch a Christmas movie.

Make gingerbread houses

Go Christmas shopping for each other.

Play a Christmas game (we make a family Christmas game and book each year).

Go get our Christmas tree.

Decorate the Christmas tree.

Ride in the car and look at Christmas lights.

We still want to:

Take food to the Utah Food Bank.

Go ice skating.

Make toffee for school teachers.

Make a Christmas game.

Go to Salt Lake and meet up with Louis Palos and his sweet family for Temple Square lights, dinner, and hot chocolate.

Take soup to the homeless.

Make a Christmas book.

I'm going to be posting our fun gingerbread party very soon!

enjoy. LIFE.

Take a Vacation.

....a real one.

This means no cell phone, no lap top, no meetings, no business whatsoever.  Just you and whoever is important to you.  That's it.

I took my first real vacation this past summer for the first time in four years.  I really wish I hadn't waited so long.  It was wonderful and worth every minute and more of being away from my cell phone.  No matter what it takes or what kind of planning...Just Do It!

Planning our vacation wasn't easy and with 6 people it's bound to be difficult.  Because my son had a commitment to football when we decided to take our vacation we couldn't be gone for more than about 4 days and three nights, at the most, in a row.  We wanted to do something fun but it needed to be fairly local.  So we decided to have an at home vacation.  These can be difficult if you are not committed to a real vacation.  Here is how we did it:

1. We told everyone we were going on vacation because we were.

2.  We didn't take any phone calls and left messages everywhere we could that we would be on vacation.

3.  We made a list of all of the fun things that we would like to do or have wanted to do for a long time.

4.  Everyone got to choose one thing that they wanted to do from the list.

5.  Each day we did something that one person wanted to do. 

6.  We all wanted to go camping so we went on two camping trips.

7.  We had a great time and went to the best swimming pool/park in the area for a whole day (I didn't take pictures of that...I need a water proof camera.)

8.  Miniature golf was one evening.

9. Mike loves the nature center so we went hiking on trails and ate lunch there.

10. The Drive-In Movie was my favorite.  The kids thought is was extremely cool to put our lawn chairs and air mattress on the gravel at the back of our mini van and open up the hatch on the back so we could get all the speakers loud and clear.  We brought lots of pillows and blankets and pizza.   At the break between movies we went and got some snacks at the very vintage looking snack area. 

11. We were together doing things we all loved and sleeping in our own beds at night.  Perfect all around.

Plan when you will take your next vacation right now.  Get it on the calendar and then plan everything around it.  Don't let anything get in your way of a little time away from everything else but those you love.

Adapt this for you:

*If you are single plan a trip with a couple of best friends or a best sibling.  Keep your commitment to each other to go on vacation and leave behind your cell phones and laptops.

*JUST GO ON VACATION!  No more excuses.  No more reasons.  No more.  It will be worth it in so many ways.  It ups your creativity, lowers your stress, and helps you gain a little perspective.  And that just the beginning of all the good a vacation will do you.  Let me know how yours goes!

Oh!  and get ready for wayyy too many pictures. lol.

new. LIFE.

Just a few things you  might want to know:

*when you meet an little thing that looks like a small squirrel but not quite a chipmunk, you can call it a squunk.

*if you go to a place with a hole in the ground toliet your 3 year old will probably ask you from now and forever every time she has to go to the bathroom if she will have to use a hole in the ground toliet.  If you take her to a public toliet almost every time you walk into a stall she will say in a loud voice.  "Oh Mom! It's not a hole in the ground toliet."  And sigh in relief.

*When you make foil dinners make sure to put some water in with the potatoes so they don't charcoal.

*Playing mini-golf is a lot more fun when you take kids...who don't know the rules and don't care what they are.

*There's something about the nostalgia of the drive-in movie that takes you back to another era.  If you haven't gone, find one.  It's a time machine.

*You play mini golf better if you dress up like Tiger Woods.

*Vacations give you something nothing else can....GO.

Slideshow.

The Dinners.

After the first Love. Life. Tips. post a number of people are really excited to try the idea.  I thought I would help you along by posting the list of dinners that we came up with that are the kids favorites.  There might be a couple I've sneakily put on there hoping that they'll pick it and find they love it.  Overall, these are the typical faves of the kids. (And yes, some of them are very fattening but I'm thinking fattening at home is better than fattening at Burger King.)

Dinner.

Chicken Noodle Soup & Biscuits (Mike makes the best soups!)

Chicken Tacos & Mexican Rice

Homemade Mac & Cheese, fish sticks/chicken nuggets, & green beans

Shredded Beef Tacos and chips and salsa

Chicken Caesar Salad and French Bread

Fettuccine Alfredo and Raspberry/Walnut Salad

Hamburgers, hotdogs, corn on the cob, pasta salad, and chips

Chili Dogs and corn on the cob

Frito Boats and salad

Milanesa, potatoes, and salad

French Bread pizzas and chips

Spaghetti & meatballs, corn on the cob, salad, and French bread

Spaghetti, salad, and French bread

Chicken Dumplings and green beans

Stroganoff and salad

Sloppy Joe, salad, and chips

London Broil, salad, and mashed potatoes

Potato Soup and bread

Carrot Soup and bread

Pumpkin Soup in bread bowls

Lasagne, salad, and French bread

Chicken Caesar Pitas

Shredded Beef Nachos

Pot Roast, carrots, and potatoes (we use the left over pot roast for shredded beef tacos during the week)

Breakfast.

Vanilla yogurt and strawberries (my fave!)

Cereal, milk, o.j., and toast

Go-gurt

Pumpkin Bread

Banana muffins

Coffee Cake

Eggs with cheese

Grapefruit with toast

Fresh fruit salad with toast (our faves: strawberries, blueberries, bananas, raspberries, and blackberries)

Blueberry muffins

Fruit and bacon with toast

Bagels with cream cheese and fresh strawberries on top

Jamba juice type of smoothie and toast

Lunch. (we don't have a lot of ideas for lunch...)

Grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup

Turkey, tomato, mayo, and pepper sandwich (my fave!!!) and carrots with baked lays chips

Corn Dogs

PB&J

Cabbage Salad

Veggie Sandwich with avocado, tomato, alfalfa sprouts, and cucumbers

Chicken salad lettuce wrap

Snacks.

Fruit

Go-gurts

Chips and salsa

Strawberries

Breadsticks

Chips and Bean Dip

Rice Crispy Treat

Pudding Pops

Cheese crisp

Carmel popcorn

Popcorn

Toast

Cinnamon Toast

Cheese and crackers

Peanut Butter and Crackers

Peanuts and Almonds

Yogurt pretzels

Jello

Pudding

String Cheese

Veggie Tray

Yogurt Parfait (vanilla yogurt, strawberries, and a tablespoon of granola)

Pickles

Apples and peanut butter

Pineapple chunks

Mandarin Oranges

Cupcakes

Fruit juice popsicle

Fruit smoothie

So...as you can see our lists and calendar are nothing special. In fact, they're a total mess.  We usually make a plan for dinners about 10 days in advance.  We'll sit down one day right after school and I'll just ask everyone what they want for dinner next week on their day.  I put it on the calendar.  Then the kids pull it out when they are eating snack and smear peanut butter across it.  Doesn't matter...we have a plan!

Hope this helps you get your own list started and get your dinner time back in a meaningful way!