Holidays

For Your Labor Day Pinterest Board

September 4, 2015 by Kathryn

It’s the most magical time of year. No doubt you’ve spent the last several months preparing for your Labor Day celebrations. If you’ve still got a few holes in your festivities, you might want to try fitting in one of these super-fun Labor-Day-Themed activities on Monday. From my family to yours, enjoy!

1. Clean Something – Nothing puts the “Labor” in Labor Day like some good old-fashioned elbow grease. Make sure the workers get breaks at regular intervals and that the labor is fairly divided.

2. Fly a Flag – RE: Patriotism

3. Watch Newsies – I find there’s no better way to introduce children to the Labor Movement than watching a movie starring Batman dressed as a musical newspaper boy. The boy wants more papes! GIVE HIM MORE PAPES!

4. Protest Something – You don’t even have to all protest the same thing. Choose coordinating poster boards, sharpie out all your feels, and congregate on a street corner somewhere. You like adding cherries on top of things? Teach them an epic call-and-response chant. WHAT DO WE WANT? MORE REALISTIC LIGHTSABERS! WHEN DO WE WANT THEM? YEAH!

5. Create Your Own Labor Union Seal – Let the creativity flow as your children join their brothers and sisters and work together to create a symbol of their solidarity and ambition.

6. Hold a Charter-Writing Contest – Every Labor Union needs a manifesto. Hold a contest to see who can write the best Labor Union charter. We usually cap ours at about 30,000 words just because it takes so long to review all the material and we need to choose a winner and pay him or her. Our parent/child agreement requires that all compensation is delivered within 24 hours of work completion. For younger kids, have them make a list of Rights and Duties as we did this year with young Wanda.

7. Build a Human Pyramid – Make a physical manifestation of the workplace dynamic in your home. Our youngest child’s privileged status is represented here by her placement on the backs of the common people. No, she doesn’t have to clean toilets. But she wears her one-percentishness with such grace.

8. Crack open a Drink – When the work is done, sit back, pass around the soda, and think about how your combined labor makes the world go around. Cheers!

Happy Labor Day!

Memorial

May 25, 2015 by Kathryn

We aren’t good at Memorial Day around here. It’s not one of our greatest talents.

I feel Memorial Day but I don’t Pinterecize it. There are no patriotically-colored layered drinks or jello molds. I don’t have deceased family nearby to visit.

And every year when it comes, I am in that end-of-school frenzy and I’m so relieved to have a day off.

I plan food and we play games and in the back of my mind is a vague guilt. I think about death and sacrifice and I feel like I should do more. But I don’t know how.

We talk to our kids about the men and women who hold up our freedoms with their lives. We honor them. We try to live our lives in a way that would make them proud, that would show we never take one day of our freedom for granted.

We thank them. We know it’s not enough.

Hooked on a Feeling – A Peace Resolution

January 9, 2015 by Kathryn

I love pressing reset at the beginning of the new year. I’ve heard a lot of people going off about New Year’s resolutions the past couple of weeks.

“They never work.”

“They’re too much pressure and then you just feel like a failure when you don’t accomplish them.”

“Pass the chocolate.”

And you know how I like to get all Drops-of-Awesomey up in here. And chocolate. BUT. I still really like the feeling of making a fresh start on January One, or rather on the first day the kids go back to school after January One.

So, this year as I thought about why so many people are skipping out on resolutions, it occurred to me that the reason resolutions stress us out is because we’re perfectionists and we’re not resolving to be better, we’re resolving to be perfect immediately and our lack of flexibility and self-mercy put us in a mental place to feel like failures because we’re improving our lives but not COMPLETELY. NOW. And therefore we suck.

This is dumb. And stressful. And counter-productive. And un-Awesome.

For 2015, I have one resolution. And it’s not about what I’m going to do perfectly or stop doing completely. It’s about how I’m going to feel. And that feeling is peaceful.

For 2015 I am resolving to increase the level of peace in my heart and therefore in my home and thusly in the world. I am resolving to make peace on earth in 2015.

This may sound abstract and it could be, but I spent some time thinking about what peace looks like for me, what choices I make that lead to peace. Basically the practical side of this resolution is to ask myself as often as I can remember to be mindful, which of course won’t be all the time, “Is this choice adding to or subtracting from my personal peace?”

There are a few things I know will help me feel peaceful:

1. More spiritual devotional time
2. Less desire to control situations or people other than myself
3. More love
4. Fewer comments I regret
5. Less time spent in the bad hotel, or as Queen El-to-the-Sa would say, more “Let it Go!”
6. More gratitude.
7. More love – I know I have this one on the list twice, but I need to not only love others more, but also love myself.

In practical use, those might look like:

1. Pour my heart out to God in prayer, rather than watch one more episode of Gilmore Girls tonight.
2. When one of my kids does poorly on a report card, try to guide her gently without feeling personally injured by the setback.
3. If Dan is grumpy, give him a hug, rather than being annoyed. After all, that’s what I expect him to do for me.
4. Say one less TMI comment at the next book club.
5. When I share TMI at the next book club, I won’t obsess about it for days.
6. Be grateful that my 80s cabinets are sturdy enough to have lasted since the 80s.
7. Spend time tonight thinking about all the good I’ve contributed to the world today.

Any time I make one of those peaceful choices, I am adding to that feeling, I am succeeding in my resolution. Any time I make a choice that slurps the peace from my life, I can always make a different choice and add some peace back in.

How do you want to feel this year?

Santa Sent Me a Letter – Discount Code

November 13, 2014 by Kathryn

I never wondered why Santa didn’t write back to me. I knew. That guy was WAY WAY WAY too busy to write letters to every single kid. Sure, Christmas Eve magic could allow him to break into the home of every kid in the world, reverse-robbery-style, but I thought letter writing would be a waste of that power. I didn’t expect a letter. But it would have made my DECADE if I had gotten one.

Well, things have changed. We’re in the digital age now and Santa’s got mad skills and communication tactics. For the past several years, the fat man has sent a free personalized video message to my kids using the PNP. When they’re 70 and I’m 90, I will still be making sure they get a video from Santa. We love these so bad.

This year I discovered a new way to hear from Santa and I’m excited about it. SantaSentMeALetter.com. It’s digital world meets old school Christmas charm, internet form meets sealing wax. The company let me go through the process and request a Santa letter for my youngest and it was a HUGE hit.

The girl who begs for mail every day and shouts with glee when I tell her that the political smear flyer with a picture of our state senator behind bars stomping on puppies is special mail for her was overjoyed to get a real letter addressed to her from one of her favorite superheroes.

It came in an envelope with a postmark from the North Pole and the letter inside was sealed with red sealing wax. She couldn’t rip it open fast enough.

Then the letter itself was personalized, talking about our family, her big life goal to stay in bed ever, our faith, and her favorite toys and friends. She proceeded to carry it around with her all night, periodically asking any literate person in her path to read it again.

It was sweet and we loved it. If you’d like to try sending your child a letter from Santa, they’re about ten bucks and well worth it, but you can get 15% off now through December 1st, if you use the code DARING2014. It seems early, but it’s really not if you think about prep and shipping time. Christmas is coming, you guys!!

So how do you best communicate with the fat man in red?

The Scary Thing About Halloween – FedEx Safety Kit Giveaway

October 22, 2014 by Kathryn

Who loves free stuff? Tell me what you’re going to be for Halloween in the comments section and FedEx will send five of you Trick-Or-Treat Bags full of stuff to keep your little ghosts and goblins safe this October 31st.

I’m pretty much done with scary movies. There came a point in my adult life when I decided that there were enough legitimately scary things in the world so maybe self-induced terror for fun wasn’t gonna be a priority for me anymore.

BUT

I like the cute, pretend terror of Halloween.

Creepy ghosts with inexplicable werewolf teeth.

Witches.

What-Does-the-Fox-Says.

Shudder.

It’s funny that we play at fear during this holiday but almost no one wants to be actually scared. However, kids are running around in the dark on the street with obstructed vision and children are twice as likely to be killed by a car on Halloween than on any other night. That’s partly because any other night they would be in bed. But since, on the 31st, they won’t be, FedEx is teaming up with Safe Kids to help keep scaring fun this Halloween.

Here are few of their suggestions:

Top safety tips Safe Kids and FedEx recommend for parents:
• Cross the street safely at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks. Look left, right and left again when crossing and keep looking as you cross. Walk, don’t run, across the street.
• Walk on sidewalks or paths. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to the left as possible. Children should walk on direct routes with the fewest street crossings.
• Slow down and stay alert – watch out for cars that are turning or backing up and never dart out into the street or cross in between parked cars.
• Costumes can be both creative and safe. Decorate costumes and bags with reflective tape or stickers and, if possible, choose light colors. Masks can obstruct a child’s vision, so choose non-toxic face paint and make-up whenever possible instead. Have kids carry glow sticks or flashlights in order to see better, as well as be seen by drivers.

Top safety tips Safe Kids and FedEx recommend for drivers:
• Slow down in residential neighborhoods. Remember that popular trick-or-treating hours are 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
• Be especially alert and take extra time to look for kids at intersections, on medians and on curbs. Children are excited on Halloween and may move in unpredictable ways.
• Reduce any distractions inside your car, such as talking on the phone or eating, so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings.

BE SAFE THIS YEAR. (All caps = I’m serious about this.)

If you’d like FedEx and SafeKids.org to send you a Safe Trick-or-Treat bag, leave a comment with your costume idea for this year. I’ll pick the winners on Friday, October 24th at 8pm EST so you can get your bags in time for Halloween!

***Update – And the winners are – comment numbers 8, 7, 16, 11, 20. Becky, AmyRyb, beccalecca, Leslie, and Holly Wright. ***

Glad to Be Dad

June 11, 2014 by Kathryn

As is seasonally appropriate, I’ve been thinking a ton about dads this past week. As part of my mental celebration of all things fatherly, I opened up the book, Glad to Be Dad: A Call to Fatherhood by Tim J. Myers. Tim is writer, songwriter, professional storyteller, and for several years he was a stay-at-home dad. I found out about him through Familius, the publisher for my upcoming Drops of Awesome book.

Glad to Be Dad is a thoughtful look at the joy, pain, and depth of experience that is fatherhood. It’s a call to action for fathers everywhere to recommit to fatherhood as a life’s work and it was beautiful to read.

When I say it was beautiful, I mean that in the most manly, at times laugh-out-loud funny way. The book is full of personal stories, research, and a lifetime of parenting wisdom that doesn’t come off as pompous. Tim Myers has lived life in the trenches and gives a very real perspective on parenting as a daily unending labor of love and somehow manages to capture a glimmer of the truly joyful nature of raising children. It is a book about the importance of “capital F” Fatherhood, fully realized.

Near the beginning of the book, Tim talks about how refreshing it would be to see a nativity scene in which Mary was asleep and Joseph was holding the baby Jesus. I first began reading the book in December and the same day I read that paragraph, I went to see a live nativity and was so pleased when I saw an attentive Joseph bringing Mary water, while tenderly holding the baby.

Reading this book, I often recognized myself or my children in its pages and it motivated me to tune in more as a parent but also to cut myself some slack. There is no perfect way to be a dad [or mom]. It also made me grateful to be married to a non-helpless, non-zombie husband who engages with our kids and who never sees his time with them as “babysitting.”

It’s a book about how to be a more engaged father, but it’s not preachy. It’s a book about women and men better understanding and appreciating each other in family relationships, but it’s not trite. It’s a book about being torn between two worlds, the world dedicated to family and the world of everything else. Mostly, it’s a book about finding joy with the life you have and the people you love most.

Consider Glad to Be Dad as a last-minute gift for the fathers in your life.

Rainbow Jello Recipe

April 21, 2014 by Kathryn

This Rainbow Jello was a special occasion staple in my house growing up. It takes time but it’s really simple and looks amazing. If you’re feeling adventurous, or wildly immature, you can try to peel off each layer with your fingers and eat them individually… or not. My eleven-year-old made it for Easter this year with no assistance and it was a huge hit. Enjoy!

Rainbow Jello

6 – 6 oz packages of Jello in rainbow colors (the large boxes)
12 Tbsp sour cream
6 Cups boiling water
12 Tbsp Cold Water

Dissolve 1 package of Jello in 1 cup of boiling water. Divide in half. Mix 2 Tbsp of cold water into first half. Pour that into a 9 x 13″ pan. Let set until firm (approximately 20 minutes*).

Whip 2 Tbsp of sour cream into the second half. Pour the cloudy mixture over the clear jello. If you don’t want little pock-marks on the surface of your jello, be careful to remove bubbles before pouring the final layer. Let this layer set until firm (approximately 20 minutes).

Repeat with each additional flavor. Cut into squares to serve.

When halving this recipe, use a 9″ square pan and allow approximately 10 minutes for each layer to set.

*The setting time is up to you. Laylee only let each layer of the large batch set for 10 minutes and had very few problems with the upper layers leaking through.

Santa

November 22, 2013 by Kathryn

My family has a special relationship with the jolly fat man. My dad looks like him. A lot like him. So much so that in his retirement years, he has found himself in Kris Kringle’s employ. This year he’s working as Santa’s special helper/ stunt double mornings at Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood, WA, less than an hour away from where I live. It is so fun to have him and my mom close for the holidays.

My sister, an amazing photographer based in Billings, MT took this shot of him, and my parents printed it up huge on canvas and framed it for each of their kids as an early Christmas present this year.

There is so much I love about this picture.

A. My dad.

B. The image of Santa arranging the nativity, made more tender by the fact that the nativity he’s arranging is the one I grew up with.

C. My dad, who is THE BEST SANTA EVER!

When I got over my delight at the gift, it occurred to me that there may be other people out there who would enjoy a copy of this picture. Even if he’s not your dad, it’s hard to argue that he isn’t the best Santa you’ve ever seen. And the picture is so gorgeous.

So, I convinced my sister to make it available from her website.

Go to VincentArts.com and click on CLIENT PROOFING at the bottom of the page. The password is “santa”. When you select “Santa at the Nativity 2013,” you can click on the little cart above the 8×10 picture and choose whatever size and options you’d like. Becky suggests ordering your large canvas prints without mounting if you’re having them shipped and then getting them mounted at your local craft store. That way you won’t pay the money for mounting and risk them being damaged in the mail.

Merry almost Christmas! I know it’s early but I wanted to get this out there in case anyone was interested in getting a print for this year.

Day of Moms

May 12, 2013 by Kathryn

Dan made breakfast for breakfast and breakfast for dinner. They made me presents at school and I set up the hammock Dan bought me right in the middle of the living room so it wouldn’t get rained on.

We read stories on it all morning, mostly Mo Willems. Wanda’s turn. Then Wanda’s turn. Then Wanda’s turn. Then Magoo.

He said, “My turn,” handing me a copy of Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator.

“Do you want me to read this book to you?”

He cuddled up sheepishly.

“I wasn’t really listening when you read it to Wanda.”

Love that boy. Love them all. Mother’s Day morning makes me want to have babies forever. And then Mother’s Day afternoon and evening make me want to throw them all in the brig and drink things Mormons really shouldn’t drink.

But Dan’s putting them away and I’m back on the hammock, remembering the good morning vibe and the sweetness and knowing that every morning comes with a reset button and more breakfast.

I hope your Mother’s Day was lovely!

Merry Christmas

December 24, 2012 by Kathryn

“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
‘God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.'”

~I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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