Thursday, November 22, 2012
I Am Thankful Artwork
We had our annual "I Am Thankful" Family Home Evening Activity on Monday. Here's what we came up this year:
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Emma's 12th Birthday
Our beautiful and sweet Emma turned 12 years old today. We celebrated her birthday over the weekend with our extended family at Grandpa North's house. The party was Harry Potter themed, due to Emma being on a Harry Potter kick lately. Emma recently finished reading the entire Harry Potter series with her dad a couple of weeks ago. The two of them spent the last couple of years reading through all the books out-loud together. Emma loved hearing her dad's Harry Potter voices, especially Hagrid's and Dumbledore's. They are reading The Hobbit together now, and Emma is loving it so far.
We had beef stew and shepherd's pie for dinner at Emma's birthday party on Saturday. Emma loves those entrees, and it helped that they were both mentioned in the Harry Potter books to go along with the theme. For dessert we had butter-beer, chocolate frogs, golden snitches, snowy owl cupcakes, jelly beans, and a candy cake that Emma designed and decorated herself.
We had beef stew and shepherd's pie for dinner at Emma's birthday party on Saturday. Emma loves those entrees, and it helped that they were both mentioned in the Harry Potter books to go along with the theme. For dessert we had butter-beer, chocolate frogs, golden snitches, snowy owl cupcakes, jelly beans, and a candy cake that Emma designed and decorated herself.
Emma's 12-Year-Old Interview
Emma woke up bright and early on her birthday, because her feline roommate, Miss Sushi, was meowing in her bedroom quite loudly. As soon as Emma opened the door, Sushi leaped out of the room at full speed, making her way downstairs to use the litter box as fast as her four little paws could take her. Emma followed not far behind, rubbing her sleepy eyes. Brad and I greeted her by singing Happy Birthday as she descended the stairs, and then we bombarded her with hugs. I decided to take advantage of Emma being up early by interviewing her for her birthday.
Here is what Emma has to say about herself this year:
Me: What makes "12" such a special age?
I'm going to be in Young Womens, and I will have bigger responsibilities and do things I couldn't do before, like baptisms for the dead.
Me: Who are your best friends?
Makenna Torgesen, Brooklyn Roper, and my cousins Kaylie, Rachel, and Jessica.
Me: What do you like to do when you are with your friends?
Play Minecraft, play outside, or just talk.
Me: What makes you laugh?
A funny episode from Rhett & Link, and crazy Scott and Lizzy.
Me: What is your favorite subject in school? Why?
Art, because I love drawing cats, and because I don't always get to draw whenever I want.
Me: What are your favorite books?
Warriors, Harry Potter, The Hobbit, Alice and Wonderland, Batman comic books, Foxtrot, and Garfield.
Me: What are your favorite movies?
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Gravity Falls, My Little Pony Friendship and Magic, Napoleon Dynamite, Brave, Toy Story 3, and Monsters Inc.
Me: If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?
I would give at least half of it to Makenna and my family, and the rest of it to buy Warrior Books and My Little Pony, and to buy a forest and have lots and lots of cats.
Me: Describe your perfect day.
I would wear my super Nyan Cat shirt and I would go ahead and go downstairs and eat breakfast, which would be Nyan Cat shaped bacon and eggs. Then I would go to school riding on a cheetah, and it would run me to school. I wouldn't be wearing a uniform. Instead of learning, we would get a million dollars for not wearing uniforms. You could play on the computer, or you could go outside on the super slides. They would say, "You can have a brand new Microsoft 4000 for not wearing uniforms."
Me: What do you want to do when you grow up?
I want to be an author, because I have a lot of good ideas, like The Golden Sand Island, and The Black Cat series.
Me: What is your favorite family activity?
Going to Aunt Marian's house and having a swimming party.
Me: What is your favorite holiday? Why?
My favorite holiday is my birthday, because it's the day I was born, and I get to celebrate it, and I know lots of people care about me.
What I Have to Say About Emma
Emma is the sweetest most tenderhearted girl I have ever met. She cares deeply about others and what others think of her, and she always wants to do her best to make things right. She is very honest and trustworthy. Emma and I have always gotten along well together. We are both easy-going people, and we like to be in each others company. I have been a part of Emma's life since she was four years old. During the first three years of my marriage to Brad, I was Emma's main caregiver, and I spent all of my free time with her teaching her how to read and write, and helping her build up her self-confidence. I feel very attached to her, and very proud her. I feel very grateful to be a part of her life and for what she has taught me as a mother. I love you, Emma!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Spooktacular Month of October
Halloween often gets left behind at our house. Everything usually waits until the last minute, and then it's over in a blink of an eye. Most of the time I don't mind Halloween zipping by, but this year I decided I wanted to get into the Halloween spirit more and do more activities with the kids. I wanted to create some fun memories, and create some possible traditions for the future. This is what we did for Family Home Evening in October:
October 1st-- Witch Hunt
Gardner Village is such a great {free} place to go in October. The decorations are suburb, and they are quite famous for their large witch collection. We found a witch riding a bike over a pond, one rafting down the river with TNT, one with a cat and mouse chasing under her skirt, one that had crashed into a barn, one playing the piano, and one pretending to be a fireman. We loved seeing the fall decorations up at Gardner Village and seeing the cute shops. Lizzy was fascinated with the pumpkins everywhere, including some that fell into the creek.
October 8th- Candy Apples and Paper Ghosts
We attempted to make candy apples for Family Home Evening during the second week in October. I wanted to make the caramel from scratch, so I bought all the ingredients and spent a great deal of time making it, but the caramel overcooked and it came out very hard to chew. It was still yummy, just a little hard on the teeth. We made paper ghosts while the caramel was cooking. The kids and Brad had fun creating character ghosts out of tissue, cotton balls, and string. Scott made a creeper ghost, Emma made a Nyan Cat ghost, and Brad and Emma made Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter battling each other with wands (toothpicks).
Monday, October 15th- "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" and Homemade Pumpkin Bread
I did not expect the pumpkin bread to be such a hit, but we ate that bread in almost one serving while watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It helped that I made honey butter spread to go with it. We decided to watch the first part of Harry Potter, since Emma was almost done reading the book series with Papa at the time.
Monday, October 22nd- "Nightmare Before Christmas" and Dirt with Worms
We introduced Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas" to Lizzy, and she became obsessed with it. She watched it over and over for the next few days and had a number of lines memorized. I just about died of laughter when I gave her a bowl of soup and she told me, "What's this? Frog's breath?" We made some dirt with jello worms while the movie was playing, and it was a big hit. Very, very yummy.
Monday, October 29th- Spooky Dinner, Spiders for Dessert, and Carving Pumpkins
I decided to make a spooky dinner on the Monday before Halloween. I made eyeball meatballs, using ground turkey and olives. I also made some spaghetti and died it green to make it look more spooky. It was a very spooktacular dinner. The spider cookies were yummy, too, and the pumpkins turned out wonderful. I made a Jack Skellington face, Emma made a cat, and Scott made a Gravity Falls jack-o-lantern.
Halloween Night
For our Halloween costumes this year, Emma decided to be Catwoman, Scott was a reaper from a video game, Lizzy was Red Riding Hood, David was a Little Bad Wolf, and Brad was a woodcutter. I was boring this year and decided not to dress up.
We had a wonderful time dressing up and going over to Brad's work in the late afternoon on Halloween. After that, we went over to Bruce and Loralee's house for dinner and trick-or-treating. Loralee made a delicious Halloween-themed dinner with her famous snake sandwiches, witches brew, deviled eggs, and salad. It was fun going trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and seeing our neighbors. I love living here.
October 1st-- Witch Hunt
Gardner Village is such a great {free} place to go in October. The decorations are suburb, and they are quite famous for their large witch collection. We found a witch riding a bike over a pond, one rafting down the river with TNT, one with a cat and mouse chasing under her skirt, one that had crashed into a barn, one playing the piano, and one pretending to be a fireman. We loved seeing the fall decorations up at Gardner Village and seeing the cute shops. Lizzy was fascinated with the pumpkins everywhere, including some that fell into the creek.
October 8th- Candy Apples and Paper Ghosts
We attempted to make candy apples for Family Home Evening during the second week in October. I wanted to make the caramel from scratch, so I bought all the ingredients and spent a great deal of time making it, but the caramel overcooked and it came out very hard to chew. It was still yummy, just a little hard on the teeth. We made paper ghosts while the caramel was cooking. The kids and Brad had fun creating character ghosts out of tissue, cotton balls, and string. Scott made a creeper ghost, Emma made a Nyan Cat ghost, and Brad and Emma made Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter battling each other with wands (toothpicks).
Monday, October 15th- "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" and Homemade Pumpkin Bread
I did not expect the pumpkin bread to be such a hit, but we ate that bread in almost one serving while watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It helped that I made honey butter spread to go with it. We decided to watch the first part of Harry Potter, since Emma was almost done reading the book series with Papa at the time.
Monday, October 22nd- "Nightmare Before Christmas" and Dirt with Worms
We introduced Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas" to Lizzy, and she became obsessed with it. She watched it over and over for the next few days and had a number of lines memorized. I just about died of laughter when I gave her a bowl of soup and she told me, "What's this? Frog's breath?" We made some dirt with jello worms while the movie was playing, and it was a big hit. Very, very yummy.
Monday, October 29th- Spooky Dinner, Spiders for Dessert, and Carving Pumpkins
I decided to make a spooky dinner on the Monday before Halloween. I made eyeball meatballs, using ground turkey and olives. I also made some spaghetti and died it green to make it look more spooky. It was a very spooktacular dinner. The spider cookies were yummy, too, and the pumpkins turned out wonderful. I made a Jack Skellington face, Emma made a cat, and Scott made a Gravity Falls jack-o-lantern.
Halloween Night
For our Halloween costumes this year, Emma decided to be Catwoman, Scott was a reaper from a video game, Lizzy was Red Riding Hood, David was a Little Bad Wolf, and Brad was a woodcutter. I was boring this year and decided not to dress up.
We had a wonderful time dressing up and going over to Brad's work in the late afternoon on Halloween. After that, we went over to Bruce and Loralee's house for dinner and trick-or-treating. Loralee made a delicious Halloween-themed dinner with her famous snake sandwiches, witches brew, deviled eggs, and salad. It was fun going trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and seeing our neighbors. I love living here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)