Stay-at-Home Moms' Company Christmas Party

Last Saturday, we had our 3rd Annual Stay-at-Home Moms' Company Christmas Party and this year it was Village Tavern. We had about 33 people and had a wonderful time!
Our waiter was wonderful, but not the best photographer...



I think everyone had a good time.

Did you guys hear about this?

Woman's Craigslist Offer Solicits Full Thanksgiving Table

32 Strangers To Gather At Whites' House

LITTLETON, Colo. -- This time last year, Monique White was living in a tiny motel room and looking for work, pining for the Thanksgivings of her childhood when dozens gathered for the holiday feast.

On Thursday, White will fulfill her holiday wish. She has a home and a job, and thanks to an impromptu Craigslist posting, 32 strangers are gathering at her house to share a banquet of six turkeys, four hams, 16 boxes of stuffing and a dozen or so pies.

White, 36, posted a two-sentence invitation on the Internet classifieds site last week.

"So I got on Craigslist, and posted -- three or four people, we have room for you, give us a call. And they did, 32 of them," White said.

White, a receptionist at a dentist's office, was feeling a little lonely with her two sons spending the holiday with their dad. So she figured maybe four or five strangers would reply to her ad and join her and her husband, Doug White, at their Littleton home for Thanksgiving dinner.

Instead, dozens replied. People laid off work. People with no family. People ashamed to bring their children to a charity Thanksgiving dinner at a soup kitchen. Single mothers with kids, and an elderly couple.

"I thought there was no way I could judge who is worthy of sitting at my table. I have to invite them all," White said, sitting at her dining room table as she went over some of the e-mails.

One of them read, "My 5-year-old son and I would like to come celebrate Thanksgiving and we have no family here so I would appreciate it if you have time for us."

So all 32 people who responded are coming over for Thanksgiving dinner. White's boss heard what she was doing and said he'd pay for the food. A local hotel is bringing over tables and chairs. A professional magician in the area replied and offered to come perform for the kids. National media outlets including ABC's Good Morning America have shuffled through the Whites' modest town house writing and filming the story about her unusual offer.

It's a far cry from last year, when the Whites were living in a motel room. They had a long-haul trucking business that had gone out of business. Doug White was working construction; Monique White was still looking. Their holiday got worse when the window in their motel room caved in after a heavy snow, leaving them with little to give thanks for but a soggy mess.

"Last year it was just us two. It was horrible," she said. "I feel very fortunate getting out of that situation. We wanted to pay back.

"Things have turned around. Both are now working, and they've bought the town house. With the economy as it is, the Whites say they're barely making ends meet. But they feel compelled to share what they do have with others.

"That's what Thanksgiving is about: Helping other people out however you can," Doug White said. He's had little time to contemplate the meaning of Monique's craigslist gesture. He was busy making the first turkeys, putting one in the oven as soon as another came out. But there's truly plenty to give thanks for over the past year. "Looking back then to now, it's night and day," Doug White said. "People need to stop being so worried about me, me, me, my bills, my life. You stop worrying, and look what happens?"

"This is ordinary people doing a little something extra; making it an extraordinary thin," said Doug. "But everybody is ordinary. So what is the harm of doing something extra?"

"This will be the most memorable Thanksgiving I've ever had in my entire life," Monique said.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/18151810/detail.html#-

How I Make Turkey for Thanksgiving

First, you thaw it.

Then you brine it.

Then you roast it.

and I like making a fancy stuffing, cranberry sauce from scratch and multigrain loaf from scratch. Yum. This year, I'm making an apple pie too.

Yum.

A Season of Giving

I love love love to give people gifts. I love to find things that remind me of someone and bring them joy in a tangible way. But, like everyone else, I'm burdened by the economy -- the world economy, my economy, the lack of economy in others.

The other day, I was thinking about making eye pillows or neck warmers as gifts. These are simple crafts where you sew a small bag, fill it with rice, and seal it. I thought I could just pick up one of those huge bags of rice from Costco and it'd be a relatively inexpensive gift. And then I started thinking about the prosperity of America, that we can buy rice to make little crafts. We can buy beans for our kids to play in or make tambourines with paper plates.

Is this a new chapter in maturity? Is this a place that all people (esp parents) eventually reach so that they can nag their kids to finish their dinner?

I want to return to simplicity (was I ever there?). I read an article once that suggested that you follow the example of the gifts Jesus received from the Wise Men (this isn't the article, but it's the same concept)(oh wait, I found it).

I'm amazed at the sense of privilege my kids have. They think they don't have to work hard for anything and that when they're bored, it's my job to entertain them or that we should drive to the toy store and buy a new toy (please don't think I give into these demands. I don't). Brian and I try very hard to encourage independence, responsibility, respect and other wonderful character traits that we catch glimpses of from time to time in our boys. I'm just so surprised by how much of a battle it is! Charlie asked if a magazine came in the paper that he could use to make his Christmas list like he did last year. That really brought it all home to me. I suggested that he make a list of gifts that he would like instead of flipping through a catalog that would plant ideas in his head.

Creativity is a lot harder to foster than I thought.

So, here's a picture of my son Isaac doing what boys should do with presents:

Thank Goodness That's Over

I voted for McCain. I wasn't crazy about him as a candidate and I didn't really think he would win. I don't know how Obama couldn't win with the media love-fest and the money that drips from his pores. It'll be a really exciting 4 years with Obama as president, and even though I could not vote for him (because I think he's as slick as a salesman and because I can't trust him and because I think he'll say whatever you want to hear...), I'm really interested in how he is planning on "changing" everything.
I've recently been reading through Randy Alcorn's book Heaven, which has really changed my outlook on my faith. It's refreshing and freeing to be secure in my belief that Jesus is the son of God and that his death on the cross gives me a relationship with the Almighty God. To know that I will be a part of the New Heaven and the New Earth and that the time I spend now is going to be as close to Hell as I will ever get.
So when I read scare tactics like the "letter" Focus on the Family wrote to make Obama seem like the most evil man on the earth, I just remind myself that, yeah, we know our world is going to get worse. It doesn't matter who's in charge because God appointed him anyway. We know that things are going to spiral into chaos and we know that Jesus will come on a white horse and rescue his bride when it's time to end this time.
All that to say, I will honor Obama as my president, but I will first serve the one and only true God.

Ah, it must be fall

We had a delightful Halloween. It was a Norman Rockwell sort of a night with little crowds of kids running from house to house shouting "Trick or Treat!" The weather was perfect -- probably mid-60s, just beautiful.
Charlie was Indiana Jones and Isaac was a yellow and brown bird.

Lisa's wedding

I've never been to a nicer wedding. The weather was perfect. The location was beautiful. Lisa was radiant. Both Chris and Lisa were beaming.
Oh, and Charlie and Isaac had a nice time too :)

Did you know that I'm a State Quarter Nerd?

I've got a booklet with almost all of the state quarters, both from the Denver Mint and the Philadelphia mint (I'm missing about 10 from Philly, not including Hawaii).
Anyway, I'm disappointed with the design that Wyoming picked to represent their state. Their state with miles and miles of nothing and then a notch of one of the most interesting places in the United States -- Yellowstone.
So, here's the quarter design they decided to go with:


Ugh. Come on. Look at some of the other designs that they passed over in favor of the above coin.





I like the detail of the rider and bucking horse, but I don't really care for the one with the picture of the state in the background (really. If your state looks like a rectangle, don't go out of your way to celebrate it). But the Old Faithful is pretty cool!

Who are these people? Why on earth pick a quarter so boring? Have they no desire to boost their tourism? Even Nebraska and Kansas are more attractive.

Look at my Boys' Bedroom!!

My mom came out for a 4-day visit and we put her to work! I had painted the room blue and let the boys have their own time of creativity but then, wow, then my mom came and painted a WAY COOL astronaut on the wall!

Arrrrr You Ready?

It's Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Look what Brian Found in our Garage

yikes!
look! It's a real Black Widow spider! From our garage!

While Big Brother is Away, Isaac Shall Play...

with Legos! Isaac came up to me today and showed me the "soda truck" he built. "I built it allbymyself!"


He's certainly learned a lot from his older brother. His soda truck has a trunk that opens. I know I'm impressed!

What We Did Today

Sundays are days for rest, reading the paper, reflecting on the week to come...

So, what did we do today?

We spent (in shifts) 5 hours and 45 minutes in the bathroom with Isaac, waiting for him to poop. Our efforts, praise God, were NOT in vain. He did the deed at 5:30pm. In the potty.
Over those 5-plus hours we feed him raisins, juice, dried apples, shredded wheat, anything to get things moving. At about 3:00, I (anne) put a pull-up on him with a big hole cut out of the back to allow, well, you know.
All that matters is, albeit 2 hours later, it worked. He's excited about it. We called all the grandparents. He got lots of chocolate chips. We'll see tomorrow whether or not this experience actually made any sort of lasting impression on him.

Maybe he'll get to open his Isaac-pooped-on-the-potty present that's been collecting dust since July.

Colorado is such a beautiful place!

We went camping last week for 3 days, north of Rocky Mountain National Park, about 3 hours from our house. We were at 10,000 feet and I don't think it got above 80 degrees the whole time we were there. It was a little slice of heaven!
a view from our campsite

sun streaming through the trees

my two boys. Notice how Isaac is carrying his back pack.

can you believe this place exists?

a moose. A yearling, however, still huge. She couldn't care less that I was taking pictures of her.

Isaac and his stitches

Isaac is back to normal after smacking his lip on flagstone that we recently put in on the patio. We went to Urgent Care and he got 4 stitches on the inside of his lip, which was a traumatic experience for all involved (Charlie watched TV in the waiting room).

So, here's a picture of him the day after he had the stitches put in:

and here's what he looks like today, 5 1/2 days later.

What happens when you leave sugar on the counter

Isaac came to me today asking if he could have something to eat and he looked as if he was covered in sand... including his face. Then I noticed the ring around his mouth.

"What have you been eating?" I asked. "Brown sugar."

Yeah. I'll be more careful to put the sugar back in the cabinet.

Boundaries

Today we learned how important it is to establish boundaries with 6-year-old boys who can ride a bike. Charlie was going to go move our neighbors' garbage cans up to their houses as an act of service. He said that he was going to ride his bike and I said that I'd be out in about 5 minutes to meet up with him.
Yeah, well, apparently, we had different ideas of what a bike ride meant. I thought he was going to go around the block. You can see the star that's at our house. We picked Charlie up and the other star.
Isaac and I saunter outside to meet up with Charlie. We walked the Cedar loop and saw him not. We returned home, I got the bike, put Isaac in the Burley and we did the loop again. I accepted my neighbor Hilary's help to drive around. Another neighbor, Steve, was sitting outside of his house and I asked him if he had saw Charlie, and he pointed in the direction that he had gone. Later on, Steve drove around in his truck. I called Brian to let him know and he told me to call 911 so then we had 2 patrol cars looking for him. My neighbor Ken drove around, our friend Craig drove around...
Charlie was fine, had no idea he did anything wrong and I was a wreck.
Now would be a great time to talk about specific boundaries with your kids. Use a map.

Oh, I should tell you that when Steve drove up and "found him," Charlie would not get in the truck with him. Good boy.

Brian's Latest Adventure

...and this is the year of the sprinkler system.
before:
during:

Balloon Launch

I thought it might be fun to take Charlie out -- just Charlie -- and watch a balloon launch. I'd never been to one and Charlie and I talk from time to time about going for a ride in a balloon (we're going to wait until he's tall enough to see over the side of the basket).

It was amazing. We had to get up before 6am, but we had a wonderful time. And then we had donuts.

Springtime

Jeff and Jill came to visit for 4 days last week. We got to meet our niece and celebrate her first birthday with her and our family. Brian's grandma was also out visiting for the occasion.

All of my bulbs are coming up! The front of our house is so colorful and it makes me happy. Oh, did I mention the SNOW we're supposed to get on Thursday?

One of the other big events of our springtime is that Charlie is now riding his bike without training wheels. Brian coaxed him into taking them off after his 6th birthday. Charlie's just wired that way -- he makes his mind up to do something, and he just does it. It's pretty amazing.




Charlie also participated in a Run-a-Thon for his school and ran 8 laps in 1/2 hour!