— 1 —
There are certain sounds that strike fear into the heart of a mother. If I were to list the ones I heard this week, they would probably be:
- Baby crying at 5am, just close enough to morning to wake older children up, but much too early for any of them to be decently rested.
- Gigantic bin of Legos being dumped out 5 minutes before you have to go somewhere.
- Squealing of the school bus brakes as your children are still getting their shoes on.
— 2 —
Every fall, I remember something that I've forgotten all spring and summer: I am the least well-adapted organism to the cold that has ever lived.
From November through February I dress for grocery shopping like I'm going on an Arctic expedition. When I talk about winter fashion must-haves, I'm talking about long underwear, people.
Our driveway, Feb 2013. Otherwise known as the winter I almost lost the will to live. |
Yes, I chose to settle in this climate. That's why I question my own ability to make good decisions.
— 3 —
As outdoor temperatures dropped, Phillip busted out his special hot pumpkin drink. This recipe is an excellent cold weather survival strategy. For him.
In the winter my hands and feet are so cold I freeze him half to death when we get in bed. If I hold onto a steaming mug before bedtime, I think it helps us both.
This is the tastiest drink ever, and even though he just made it up on the fly and uses no measurements (that's just how Phillip rolls in the kitchen), he wrote up a recipe so I could share it here. You're welcome.
Pumpkin Drink
1 cup milk (2% or whole is tastiest)
1 Tbsp cream (optional)
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Microwave 'til it's hot (be careful not to curdle it.)
— 4 —
There are two huge old pine trees in our front yard. I'm not really that into pine trees, but whatever. They've been there for about 100 years so they've earned the right to stay.
But here's the kicker about those scraggly, weird-looking pine trees: they shed every fall around this time. So you are looking at 7 wheelbarrows full of pine needles. Seven wheelbarrows, my friend.
— 5 —
Every April and October, my church broadcasts a special meeting called General Conference. The prophet and apostles of my church give talks on different spiritual topics, which after 8 hours is a little like drinking from a spiritual firehose.
My favorite talk (but oh, there were so many great ones) was "Approaching the Throne of God with Confidence" by Jorg Klebingat. I happen to be Mormon, but this talk could be applicable to anyone, of any religion.
I love his question, "What thoughts come to mind if you had a personal interview with the Savior one minute from now?"
— 6 —
Halloween is probably my least favorite holiday. I could take or leave it altogether but the kids like to dress up, so there you have it.
That means every year, I try to steer my children toward costumes that require the smallest investment of my time or money.
This year I can recycle a previous year's costume for the baby, but the older children have decided they want to be a bat, a soldier, a Viking, and an octopus.
Alrighty then.
— 7 —
We usually go the DIY route for costumes, which hasn't been working out too well for one of my daughters lately. She just seems to have really terrible Halloween costume karma.A few years ago we made her a haunted house costume out of a box — which was cool until she realized trick-or-treating that she couldn't reach across to put her candy in her own bag.
She practically fell off someone's front porch and we ended up guiding her around by the elbow all night. A handicapped ghost with a seeing-eye-person is not scary.
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