Category Archives: Holidays

A Cousin, Once Removed

May 25, 2015 Tim 2 Comments

We spent the Memorial Day holiday with my nephew and his bride, and their new baby, my Grand Nephew. We ate delicious burgers, played games, went for a walk, scrounged a casual dinner and watched the beginning of the third Hobbit movie.

A ‘quick’ game of Robo Rally with my niece and nephew.

It was a delightful day, much enjoyed. I managed to win all three of the games, although not without a certain amount of mercy when I forgot to take my entire turn (or took an obviously-foolish action). We played Robo Rally, Star Realms and the DC Comics Deck Building game — an excellent way to spend a day off.

John spent some quality time with Rachel, who sprained her ankle yesterday.

I needed to talk a walk before supper to earn some extra calories (and to make sure I don’t have to pay Daniel a forfeit for missing out on our exercise challenge). We did two laps around a nearby lake, and managed to put John to sleep (in spite of my wild driving). It has been a long time since I drove one of those stroller things.

A mostly-staged photo for the blog.

During the walk, there was much discussion about whether little John Mark was a second cousin or a cousin once-removed to my children. Fortunately, the interweb helped us understand that my kids (Joshua, for example) are cousins once-removed from Little John (as Joshua calls him). I removed Joshua into the underbrush to underscore the point.

We are so thankful to have Tim and Sunny and little John with us here in Washington!

Project 365, Day 145
Tim

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Aslan's Country

Do the Puyallup

Tuesday Tips for Parenting - Cooking Creates Memories

Daniel, Holidays, Project 365

Excellent Eighteen

April 15, 2015 Tim 8 Comments

Today, we celebrated Daniel’s birthday. It is hard to believe that my middle boy is legally an adult. I suppose it is about time I made my peace with it, since he has towered over me these last several years.

We bought Daniel an older black VW Jetta Wagon (2003) to celebrate this momentous occasion. He was rather surprised, as you can imagine. After the little Honda was rear-ended and totaled (not Daniel’s fault), I had promised Daniel a share of the insurance money toward a replacement car, with the understanding that he would save a matching amount. But as his birthday approached, Kathy and I determined to surprise him with a car of his own.

Daniel was quick to embrace his surprise birthday gift.

We’ve had the car for more than a week, craftily parked at our friends’ house. I ran around replacing one of the tires and getting the radio antenna fixed. Then this morning we wrote a birthday message on the car and parked it in the driveway.

Kathy sent Daniel out with some recycling — his reaction was priceless.

Daniel’s reaction

We are so proud of Daniel. He is making good choices, being faithful in attendance to his classes at Clover Park Technical College, pursuing his relationship with the Lord and cheerfully helping around the house.

And now he has his own wheels. No more waking up at the crack of dawn to drop me off at the train station. No more sharing a van with Kathy.

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

Project 365, Day 105
Tim

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Gotta Tell Somebody

WFMW--Homeschool Faves

Tuesday Tips for Parenting - Throw Out Your TV!

Grandparents, Holidays

He is Risen, Indeed!

April 5, 2015 Tim 3 Comments

We spent most of the day at The Refuge, visiting my parents. Daniel got up and went to the early service, and then David and Sarah volunteered at church during the middle service. (This was in response to the “Sit One, Serve One” initiative — our church had five Easter services, two on Saturday evening, and three today).

Kathy and I stayed home, having been to one of the services last night. Kathy had a bunch of food items she wanted to contribute to the feast, so we spent a couple of hours assembling those dishes. Then off to the Duckabush!

Arriving at the Duckabush, this was the sight that greeted us at the top of the driveway.

We had a lovely visit — feasted on ham and lamb and a host of other things. We chatted with my folks, helped them get their new cellphone set up, and even had time to film some of David’s student government commercial. It was sad not to have Joshua and Rachel with us, but I hear that they spent time with Aunt Liz and the cousins, so they were not neglected.

Mom made her traditional lamb cake for dessert, which was warmly appreciated.

Now we’re home again, and the new week starts tomorrow — back to work, back to school, back to regular life.

At lunch, my Dad asked this question: “What difference does it make to you, that Jesus rose again from the dead?”

We spent quite a bit of time talking and thinking about that. I guess it is no surprise, that one of the not-so-secret code phrases that Christians around the world exchange at Easter is:

“He is Risen!”

“He is Risen, indeed!”

If Jesus did not rise, then we would have no assurance of being resurrected ourselves. We would not know that God had accepted Jesus’ death on the cross as payment-in-full for our sins. We would presumably have no relationship with God, and no reason for hope.

But He is risen, indeed. So everything is different.

Project 365, Day 95
Tim

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P365 - Day 104

Tuesday Tips for Parenting - Christmas Gift Ideas

Thanksgiving Recipes

Holidays, Project 365

Happy Valentine’s Day

February 14, 2015 KME 4 Comments

Tim surprised me with a lovely evening out last night. Saturdays are often crazy in our house these days with VERY frequent teen overnight guests, kids who like to go to youth group, and other activities, so, Tim was clever to pick Friday (Valentine’s Day Eve) as our date night. A long drive in our Valentine Red car, a thoughtful movie, and some delicious Mexican food, what more could a girl ask for?

Presents from Daniel and David

This morning, on Valentine’s Day itself, I slept in. Ah, it was wonderful. When I finally meandered downstairs, Tim told me David and Daniel were off on a secret mission. Shortly after they walked in with a Venti Americano and beautiful red roses for me and pink carnations for their sister Sarah. Such thoughtful boys!! They win the prize for sure.

You’re never too young for flowers and chocolate on Valentine’s Day!

Following my family’s tradition, we love to celebrate Valentine’s Day with little gifts for each other. Tim usually buys something sweet or special for the girls and I buy for the boys. The sun was shining today, and we were all glad for a lazy morning.

Daniel loves his Vanilla Clusters from Trader Joe’s.

I think David knew what his gift contained.

Dark chocolate for my Sweetie!

Since it was my turn to take a picture and write today, I couldn’t resist a search on the blog for old Valentine’s Day posts. It turns out Tim and I both like to write about Valentine’s Day. In 2014, Tim shared how Sarah gave him the best Valentine ever. And I blogged in 2007, during our first Project 365, about all our Valentine gifts & God’s LOVE. And how could I forget our romantic Valentine trip to Leavenworth in 2010.

Of course, not all Valentine memories are sweet. In painful, recent history, was the holiday I was far away from Tim and the kids. In 2011, I spent a month (missing both Valentine’s Day and David’s birthday) in Minnesota with my mom at the hospital bedside of my beloved father. Tim, ever the thoughtful husband and son-in-law, had flowers delivered to our hotel. Sigh. Little glimpses of God’s creation and beauty in the midst of our deep, deep sorrow. When we are weak and mourning, we need those around us to bring care, comfort, and sometimes beautiful flowers.

A bouquet for each of us.

Oh the tears we cried that February.

Looking through these old posts, savoring the pictures of our family over the years, and thinking about God’s blessings in our life, I remember why we blog. We want to capture the tapestry of all that God is doing before our eyes, around and through us, amidst the pain and the joy. These simple posts we share are like a living, growing journal of our family. As the Psalmist David cries:

I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all that you have done;
I ponder the work of your hands.
I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Ps 143:5-6

Happy Valentine’s Day 2015

Project 365 – Day 45
Kathy

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Project 365 - Day Thirteen (Sat-T)

Tuesday Tips for Parenting - Play a Game

Tuesday Tips for Parenting - Cooking Creates Memories

David, Holidays, Project 365, Sarah

Nutella Valentine Mailbox

February 12, 2015 KME 4 Comments

Each year our homeschool co-op has a fun Valentine’s Day party. The halls or sides of the gym are lined with creative Valentine Day boxes – from small paper bags covered with hearts to large Dr. Who’s Tardis. Last year we made a tall Starbucks cup out of a laundry basket with a pvc pipe wrapped in green paper as the straw.

And we won a prize, oh yeah we did.

This year we decided to make something chocolately and silly in honor Tim.

A Nutella Valentine’s Day Mailbox

We started with a tall rectangle laundry basket – it was the perfect shape. We searched and searched for brown paper. Who knew that would be the difficult aspect of this venture. We went to The Dollar Store – no brown poster board or table cloths. Next, on to Michaels – no brown poster board or table cloths. Next a trip to Target. We looked again. Nothing. Seriously? Seriously? I suggested Good Will for a brown curtain or random piece of fabric. David thought maybe Hobby Lobby. Sigh. We’d already been to Michaels. Thankfully all of these stores are close by.

Laundry baskets are versatile – useful in so many ways!

Of course, this was AFTER a long day of school, mentor visits, Trader Joe’s shopping, science projects and cooking at a friend’s house.

We decided we’d try Hobby Lobby and, if we couldn’t find anything brown, we’d switch to silver wrapping paper and make a large diet Coke can. Sarah didn’t want us to give up, but David and I needed a Plan B. Ha.

Hobby Lobby proved to be a treasure trove of BROWN products. Who knew! First we found a package of dark brown napkins on clearance. “I think we can wrap the laundry basket in napkins if we have to,” I told the kids. At this point they were ready to agree with anything just to get started. “Mom, you do realize it’s almost time for dinner and we haven’t STARTED making this?”

What’s your point, children? Dinner can wait, we have a mailbox to make! There are prizes on the line here.

After napkins we stumbled on 12×12 pages of scrapbook paper in the PERFECT shade of brown. We gathered enough to cover the basket and matched them to the napkins (just in case). Before checking out, we wandered around the store a little longer. In the clearance section, in the back aisle we found a collection of poster size paper. What color was on the bottom of the stack?? Beautiful brown. And on sale. Hooray. Jumping up and down in the middle of Hobby Lobby is totally normal, right?

We (okay I) designed some Nutella Valentine Day cards and printed them out. Sarah organized them all and then David taped a Pixy Stix to each card.We’ll put them into the mailboxes tomorrow during the party. We didn’t have the time to make homemade Nutella brownies or cookies, or the funds to buy little Nutella single packs for all 69 families (or the 167 kids) at our homeschool co-op. Even I draw the line at some point.

Homemade Valentines are so much fun!

While the boys played computer games, Sarah and I wrapped the basket in the brown poster board. Using some leftover foam board, we made a lid (cutting a hole for Valentines and treats). Sarah divided a piece of white poster board into strips, drew on lines and fashioned an edge to our lid. After taping it all on, we printed out Nutella logos and even found a place where we could request personalized Nutella labels. The kids kept exclaiming over the tape, “Mom, this tape is amazing! It works so well.” Oh dear, I guess that Dollar Store tape we used at Christmas was NOT the best. LOL.

Sarah and David's personalized Nutella labels.

Sadly we are out of real Nutella.

Finally we were all done. So festive! We were all pleased with the final product! Maybe we’ll win some sort of a prize this year. I hope the kids will share it with me.