veggie-mobile

Isabela and Juan Pablo created this Flintstone like car for a school project.


Could be fun if you have bored kids!

the Scribbler

I've dubbed him 'the Scribbler'.

The evidence is undeniable.


And our house is starting to look like a cardboard build-a-bear house. Juan Pablo's solution is to throw all markers away. A little impractical. For now, I've put the most dangerous ones, the Sharpies, in the medicine cabinet.


....And the Scribbler strikes again.

cheap fun

Without a penny to spare, we've been all about cheap fun lately. The best way to do that is usually to stay home...but we spent a good hour in Dick's the other day without buying a thing.

We hit the mini golf course first...my wild kids rushing the green and scaring off a cute father/daughter team that was putting away.

Then the basketballs caught our eye. How do you get these things out?


We stopped and said hi to "the guy".


Then made our way up the escalator to the snow section!


I wondered if that seat belt would be safe if your sled took a dive going down a fast hill...


...but, of course, no need to worry on the carpet.


An action shot of Joaquin.


We wandered through the bikes, camping tents and on to the boxing corner. I was surprised we made it out of there without being kicked out. What a great place!

leaves

Whenever we consider an easier way around the mountains of leaves in our yard... like buying a leaf blower, renting one, or even borrowing one for that matter... we always end up saying 'but raking is good exercise' and pull out the splinter-giving tools every year.

This is our yard. We live in the woods...and come fall, a new chainsaw starts looking like the perfect gift once again.


But with such perfect weather last weekend...we were able to accomplish this: All pumpkins were thrown away, all leaves were meticulously piled and bagged, and the lush green moss carpet that was hidden under the sea of brown was exposed and vibrant. We all stood around admiring the work, smiling with a sense of pride that we had done it.


It's amazing how a clean yard calls us out of our dusty home to do this:


And encouraged by his father, Joaquin even rode down the steps of our porch on his bike. Three times.
Until the wipeout.
A few tears were shed, and several bruises added to the collection, but I'm sure he'll be at it again. After all, it is Evel Knievel we're raising here.

But the winds have stirred, and now the rest of our unraked yard is slowly covering up that beautiful green. Just a few more weekends, and hopefully we'll have it up before the first snow.

scenes of Christmas

It will be another handmade Christmas for us again this year. I've been working around the clock trying to whip up some gifts that my kids will actually play with. I can't wait to share them!

I've also been reading all those tutorials on taking pictures of your Christmas tree...I still haven't gotten one I love yet...although this one is promising :)


We made our annual gingerbread house (kit!) the other day. The best way for me to enjoy this tradition is to step back and take no part in it...except for eating the candy. I laughed to myself as Juan Pablo tried to help the kids make a "perfect" house. That icing never holds together well for us. (I came back in to the kitchen later while we were watching It's a Wonderful Life, and the roof had slid halfway down the house. I just pulled it off and ate it.)


But this activity always brings out the best in the kids. Somehow giving them free reign to make a mess and eat lots of candy helps them become the little angels in this picture.


Here's the finished product. Gone the next day. I do believe we are the only family that will actually eat their entire gingerbread house.


We're very merry.

pueblo, powhatan, AND lakota

I love school projects! OK, I admit I'm a nerd. But what is more fun than making boring old school work come to life with your kids?

Joaquin was only supposed to choose one Native American tribe...but how can you choose just one? So he didn't.

Here's his Pueblo village...painted boxes and popsicle sticks. I think this one's my favorite.


A long house for the Powhatan in winter...the shape of the house comes from a box of butter and half a canister of bread crumbs....yay! for recycling.


And the most unique one...the buffalo jump of the Lakotas. (Our yard overflows with moss which was finally put to good use.)


Could you choose just one?

a walk in Bethlehem

Friday night we headed over to the other side of town to the Bethlehem Walk. We'd never heard of it, but a good friend said it was excellent...plus it was free.

We knew there'd be a wait in a long line in the cold....so we were somewhat prepared. I had brought clementines, bottles of juice and ribs for us to eat...an odd combination, but that's what we had.

And we entertained the kids as best we could. There was 20 questions. Jumping jacks. I spy. And a new game: translate this. I was asked to translate something into Spanish, then they'd check my answer by asking Dad the same thing. (I'm happy to say I got them all right.) At some point, we were reduced to the cheek squeezing game.


We lucked out with some chairs when we got to the 'waiting' tent. A little girl was restless behind us, throwing a small fit for her grandma. I offered her a clementine, which she declined, but that little interaction did stop the tantrum. I always love it when someone speaks to me when my kids are acting up instead of ignoring me. It's so uplifting.


On to the city. We had to pay a shekel to enter the gate and were warned not to give it to the beggars before we got there. I think we were all tempted to give them away....


...but the Roman guards were not to be played with about money.


The streets were bustling with vendors that filled the air with the scents and sounds of the ancient town. Fire pits were around every corner to help us stay warm, while we walked around in awe at how realistic everything was.


There were shepherds, animals, wise men,


...and most importantly, a baby born in a manger. Every now and then, one of the actors would sing out a carol...including my favorite, "Mary Did You Know." If there is one thing we did this season that helps us understand the meaning of Christmas, this was it... and worth the simple sacrifices of warmth and patience.