Well, this is how Jeff left his things when he went on his mission. But it was time to prepare for vacation, so I didn't worry about his boxes of "things to store" and "things to get rid of."
Monday, August 31, 2009
August UFO's
Well, this is how Jeff left his things when he went on his mission. But it was time to prepare for vacation, so I didn't worry about his boxes of "things to store" and "things to get rid of."
Friday, August 28, 2009
Glacier National Park
Once again, this vacation wasn't an "official" national park vacation. It was really a mini family reunion that just happened to be near Glacier National Park. So, one day we drove over and spent a little bit of time at the visitor's center and took a short hike. The boys favorite part was watching the groundhogs play with each other.
This was also the year (1988) where both Wayne and I forgot our anniversary. Let's just say it was a touch stressful preparing for this vacation, and neither one of us was paying attention to the calendar once we actually left home. We were too busy having fun - eating at McDonald's, playing at the lake, teaching Weston and David how to swim, and enjoying a happy baby - all with the added fun of Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Julie. It really was a great vacation.
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
WFMW - Breakfast Menu Plan
Breakfast Ideas
To be honest, I would have preferred fixing cold cereal for breakfast every morning - quick and easy and the kids love it. However, it was too expensive for our budget, so we alternated between pancakes, oatmeal, and scrambled eggs. (Our family tradition is to have cold cereal on Saturday, but that story deserves its own post.)Several years ago I devised a breakfast schedule as part of our summer planning, and that worked so well we've kept it ever since. Here's the basic outline:
Saturday - cold cereal
Sunday - eggs
Monday - pancakes/waffles
Tuesday - hot cereal/muffins
Wednesday - cold cereal
Thursday - eggs
Friday - French toast/Dutch babies
(Yes, we added a second day of cold cereal, but that works for us now.)
It's a very flexible plan. For instance, there are so many ways to cook eggs - scrambled, fried, omelets, soft-boiled, poached. One variation I called "reject eggs" and it was my standard breakfast for quite a while. I'd fix easy-over eggs for the kids and serve them with toast. After they used the toast to eat all the yolk, they'd leave the whites. Then I'd take their leftovers, sprinkle on a bit of cheese, reheat it and eat it myself. (What can I say? I was raised with the "think of all the starving kids in Africa" mentality, and germs don't particularly bother me. Besides, all the calories are in the yolk anyway, so that helps my diet.)
Another version we used a lot for "I'm running late" days. Cook the egg, but break the yolk just before flipping. Top with cheese and bacon bits and serve as a sandwich between two slices of toast. This is particularly delicious using a bagel and ham slices.Michelle doesn't like anything with syrup (waffles/french toast/Dutch babies/pancakes) and since those aren't particularly healthy, I'm not going to insist that she eat them. So on "pancake" day, she usually has a smoothie or a piece of fruit. Since our school district serves free breakfast to all students, I don't have to worry too much about breakfast now; they can always get something from the cafeteria. But breakfast is still a very important part of the day and I love the chance to experiment with new ideas, fall back on old ones, and send my family off into the world knowing they're prepared with a satisfied tummy.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Another New Beginning
5:39 AM before leaving for seminary
As mentioned last year, one of our family traditions is to have father's blessings** before school starts. This year our family night was short and sweet because there were only two to give, but it was still a wonderful experience. And it was so nice of the school district to cooperate and start on a Tuesday this year so that the timing was perfect.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Canyonlands National Park


Thursday, August 20, 2009
27 Years Ago



Last fall I did a series on "how we met" - here's the link to that last post which has links to all the other ones. I'm adding it here so it will be easy for me to find in the future.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Family Motto
Family Motto
This weekend Wayne was assigned to give a talk on reverence and respect. That reminded him of one of our "memorable family nights." As he remembers it, the suggested family night lesson was to come up with a family motto. The kids were young (I'm thinking the oldest was about 8) so we wanted something short and easy to remember, and after much discussion we decided on "Show Respect". At that time we just posted it on a paper on the fridge, but several years later we made a wall hanging that was a bit more permanent.
It's interesting, but I remember coming up with "show respect" a bit differently. I thought the idea for that early family night lesson was to come up with some family rules. The same parameters were in place - the rules needed to be short, simple, and easy to understand. We also wanted them to be positive affirmations instead of a list of don'ts, and we didn't want to have a giant list of rules. Sounds like a tall order! We talked about how we needed to obey Mom and Dad, we needed to be kind to brothers, we needed to keep our rooms clean and help with chores, etc. And we figured that that one phrase - Show Respect - covered all those things. Then later, one of the kids had a kindergarten assignment to make a family coat of arms which included a family motto. At that family night we decided our one family rule equaled our family motto.
It really doesn't matter whose version is correct. The important thing is we have a family motto and it really works!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Bryce Canyon National Park
National Park Series #3

Friday, August 7, 2009
Arches National Park







Wednesday, August 5, 2009
July UFO's
We worked together to clean out the kitchen cupboards and drawers. Several of them were done in January, but this time ALL of them were done. Thanks for the help kids!
In addition, they helped with some outside projects - more weeding, repairing a screen panel, and de-vining a tree. While traveling I was able to complete a baby afghan. To me that doesn't really count, because it's such an enjoyable activity, but it WAS on the list.

WFMW - School Lunches



