Camille has decided that she will only sleep with the light on.
Ben insists that isn't healthy and he goes in every night and turns her light off when we go to bed. He put a night light in her room. One would think that would solve the problem.
But last night at 2 AM she woke up and began kicking her door (her way of wakening the entire household). I go to her room. She has the light turned on. She hands me the night light, closes the door, and goes back to bed.
I think it is time we leave the light on all night long.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Gingerbread Houses
Tonight was the annual gingerbread house making. The girls were SOOOO excited! Audra has been counting down for weeks. Which was a shame because we originally planned on doing it Monday, but it got pushed back because of the clothing and toy drive service project.
But, tonight it happened!
We did our usual Bed Bath and Beyond gingerbread kit. I admit, they are small and not the greatest thing ever but it is easy. And that is what I need!
Very intense:
Audra snacking on the supplies, and Camille presenting us with our only epic collapse:
Audra's house, My house, Ben's house, Claire's house, Camille's house:
But, tonight it happened!
We did our usual Bed Bath and Beyond gingerbread kit. I admit, they are small and not the greatest thing ever but it is easy. And that is what I need!
Very intense:
Audra snacking on the supplies, and Camille presenting us with our only epic collapse:
Audra's house, My house, Ben's house, Claire's house, Camille's house:
Monday, December 15, 2014
A Heart Changing Experience
As you all know, a few weeks ago I vented about my frustration in service opportunities out here in the Burbs. And by service, I mean actually DOING something- not just buying a tube of toothpaste to put in a box in the foyer.
My sister Stephanie commented that I could make homeless kits to hand out. I thought that was brilliant! I'm working with a couple of friends and we're going to put together a night to put some kits together after the holidays.
I also have a couple of other ideas- I'll post more about those as they happen.
But, a strange series of events (including Stephanie's comment) led to an incredible thing happening.
I was talking to a friend of mine from church. This friend used to organize a used clothes/toys/household good drive every year with the scouts and our congregation. Donated items were given to some pretty impoverished people living in the Hispanic community close to downtown. She was a leader with the scouts, and they did all the work. After she stopped working with the scouts, the drive also stopped.
I happened to be talking to her and she said, "I miss doing the drive." Then, a few days later I was cleaning out some toys to make room for Santa. On top of all this, another friend from church was organizing this huge project to help kids at a super, super poor elementary school. She made an ambitious goal to buy every kid (over 750!) a new book for Christmas. This is a person who, herself, does not have a lot of money or resources. She simply saw a need and decided to try and fill it. Her work was really inspiring.
As all of this came to a head, it clicked: I should organize the drive. Why wait for the church to do it? Why did I need the approval of the Bishop (pastor) or anybody else? I could just do it.
So, I talked to my friend Cindy who had organized it before. She was skeptical. Her husband was even more skeptical. We only had a little over a week to get it organized- how would we get the word out? How would we get people to help? How on earth would we put this together and pull it off?
I had absolutely no idea. But I didn't care. I just got to work.
I sent out e-mails, posted on Facebook, and made a zillion phone calls.
And slowly, small miracles started to happen. Somebody called and said they had a twin sized bed to donate. She asked if we had room. I texted Cindy and said, "I don't know how we will get this all down to Denver, but I trust the Lord will provide." Sure enough, just 3 hours later, a woman who I was e-mailing (who I never met before) said she had a trailer. Problem solved!
I asked for families to join us to take things down to the building we needed to get to. A lot of people said they could come- all of them super excited for an opportunity to get their kids to do service (which tells me people WANT to DO service, they just don't know how or where or what). We needed people to help us carry the items down and also to sort and set up the items for when the people came to pick up the items and families from church stepped up to the place.
The donations started to pour in. (Side note: Yes, I realize this is another donation drive- like every other donation drive we do. Perhaps I am a hypocrite. However, this was slightly different: I got to talk to the girls about giving to the poor, and they went through their own toys and clothes and picked out things they could give. It was very sweet, and I hope it taught them a lesson. Plus, I selfishly wanted to organize it because I knew the girls could help me to collect the items. Sure enough, they had jobs of carrying the donations to the garage, answering the door when people brought items, and they were awesome in helping to set things up once we dropped it off. So, it wasn't quite the same)
Somebody came over and saw our donations and said, "normally when we did this in the past we filled up an entire garage." My garage wasn't nearly filled up. But, I figured whatever we got was better than nothing.
Tonight we met at my house. About 8 families showed up. All of them came with pretty full cars, but thanks to the trailer we were able to load everything up (no twin bed ever showed up, BTW).
We were about 10 minutes behind everybody else because we had to meet to pick up one last donation. By the time we got there, everything was in full swing.
The Bishop of the Spanish Ward had set out a couple of tables in the foyer. He quickly realized the foyer wouldn't work and moved us into the cultural hall.
I walked in and almost started crying. How in the world did we collect this much stuff????? At first I didn't think it was all ours- but it was! I don't know if we all drove clown cars that fit in way more then they should or what, but check this out:
Cindy came up to me and said, "Just so you know- this is as much as we ever collected in the past." Her husband said, "I didn't think this would come together, but it did."
My faith in our community is beginning to be restored. It isn't there yet, but it's coming. Tonight was a really special night. Truly- my heart was touched. We were able to make a difference. My children will remember helping the poor- their hearts were touched. They felt it- and so did I.
I have known this since forever, but I have forgotten: Service is a pretty great cure for a frustrated/angry/bitter heart.
Life is good. Really, really good.
My sister Stephanie commented that I could make homeless kits to hand out. I thought that was brilliant! I'm working with a couple of friends and we're going to put together a night to put some kits together after the holidays.
I also have a couple of other ideas- I'll post more about those as they happen.
But, a strange series of events (including Stephanie's comment) led to an incredible thing happening.
I was talking to a friend of mine from church. This friend used to organize a used clothes/toys/household good drive every year with the scouts and our congregation. Donated items were given to some pretty impoverished people living in the Hispanic community close to downtown. She was a leader with the scouts, and they did all the work. After she stopped working with the scouts, the drive also stopped.
I happened to be talking to her and she said, "I miss doing the drive." Then, a few days later I was cleaning out some toys to make room for Santa. On top of all this, another friend from church was organizing this huge project to help kids at a super, super poor elementary school. She made an ambitious goal to buy every kid (over 750!) a new book for Christmas. This is a person who, herself, does not have a lot of money or resources. She simply saw a need and decided to try and fill it. Her work was really inspiring.
As all of this came to a head, it clicked: I should organize the drive. Why wait for the church to do it? Why did I need the approval of the Bishop (pastor) or anybody else? I could just do it.
So, I talked to my friend Cindy who had organized it before. She was skeptical. Her husband was even more skeptical. We only had a little over a week to get it organized- how would we get the word out? How would we get people to help? How on earth would we put this together and pull it off?
I had absolutely no idea. But I didn't care. I just got to work.
I sent out e-mails, posted on Facebook, and made a zillion phone calls.
And slowly, small miracles started to happen. Somebody called and said they had a twin sized bed to donate. She asked if we had room. I texted Cindy and said, "I don't know how we will get this all down to Denver, but I trust the Lord will provide." Sure enough, just 3 hours later, a woman who I was e-mailing (who I never met before) said she had a trailer. Problem solved!
I asked for families to join us to take things down to the building we needed to get to. A lot of people said they could come- all of them super excited for an opportunity to get their kids to do service (which tells me people WANT to DO service, they just don't know how or where or what). We needed people to help us carry the items down and also to sort and set up the items for when the people came to pick up the items and families from church stepped up to the place.
 |
| Part of the fun of the donations was the kids got to play with them a little bit. They pulled out a big box of Transformers and played with them. Ben overheard them while he was making breakfast and said, "I have been listening to them play with the Transformers. Girls play with them very differently than boys." I said, "Is there a mom, dad, and baby involved?" "Yes. And no fighting." Yes, boys and girls are different. |
The donations started to pour in. (Side note: Yes, I realize this is another donation drive- like every other donation drive we do. Perhaps I am a hypocrite. However, this was slightly different: I got to talk to the girls about giving to the poor, and they went through their own toys and clothes and picked out things they could give. It was very sweet, and I hope it taught them a lesson. Plus, I selfishly wanted to organize it because I knew the girls could help me to collect the items. Sure enough, they had jobs of carrying the donations to the garage, answering the door when people brought items, and they were awesome in helping to set things up once we dropped it off. So, it wasn't quite the same)
Somebody came over and saw our donations and said, "normally when we did this in the past we filled up an entire garage." My garage wasn't nearly filled up. But, I figured whatever we got was better than nothing.
 |
| Our collected items in the garage |
Tonight we met at my house. About 8 families showed up. All of them came with pretty full cars, but thanks to the trailer we were able to load everything up (no twin bed ever showed up, BTW).
We were about 10 minutes behind everybody else because we had to meet to pick up one last donation. By the time we got there, everything was in full swing.
The Bishop of the Spanish Ward had set out a couple of tables in the foyer. He quickly realized the foyer wouldn't work and moved us into the cultural hall.
I walked in and almost started crying. How in the world did we collect this much stuff????? At first I didn't think it was all ours- but it was! I don't know if we all drove clown cars that fit in way more then they should or what, but check this out:
 |
| The girls said their favorite part was folding blankets. |
Cindy came up to me and said, "Just so you know- this is as much as we ever collected in the past." Her husband said, "I didn't think this would come together, but it did."
My faith in our community is beginning to be restored. It isn't there yet, but it's coming. Tonight was a really special night. Truly- my heart was touched. We were able to make a difference. My children will remember helping the poor- their hearts were touched. They felt it- and so did I.
I have known this since forever, but I have forgotten: Service is a pretty great cure for a frustrated/angry/bitter heart.
Life is good. Really, really good.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Merry Christmas!
As we were walking up to Santa, Audra said, "I know this isn't the real Santa." We had a brief discussion about how busy Santa is and how he has helpers to take the kids wishes back to Santa. Audra wished for a "stroller for her baby doll" (she wants a full size one because the little kid stroller hurts her back). Claire loved seeing Santa and talked to him for quite some time. She wished for a Hello Kitty car- one of those kid electric cars. Camille was scared of Santa and just snuggled close to Ben, which was fine.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Funny Story
The other day I was reading a book. From the other room I hear Camille yelling "Stop it! Get off me! Leave me alone!"
Knowing the only possible culprit was Claire, I said, "Claire! Leave her alone- get off of her and stop touching her!"
Claire yelled back, "I am not touching her! I am just lying next to her because I love her so much!"
Hmm...Claire was not "just" lying next to her, I can guarantee that! She loves to annoy Camille! But it was pretty funny.
Knowing the only possible culprit was Claire, I said, "Claire! Leave her alone- get off of her and stop touching her!"
Claire yelled back, "I am not touching her! I am just lying next to her because I love her so much!"
Hmm...Claire was not "just" lying next to her, I can guarantee that! She loves to annoy Camille! But it was pretty funny.
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Art Museum
Colorado has this wonderful program where they have free museum day the first Saturday of every month. The lottery somehow pays for it.
Today we took advantage and took the girls downtown. We rode the train, ate lunch downtown, and headed to the Museum of Art. They were having a Henry Matisse exhibit, and since the girls had done a Matisse co-op and created their own Matisse artwork, we decided they should see his own original work.
At one point Claire said, "This is so BORING! We're just looking at art!" (Apparently everything bores her- we just can't keep her happy) The museum actually did a great job of having lots of kids events, but that is all Claire wanted to do. In our effort to try teach our kids culture, I guess we have to hear the complaints as well.
I suggested to Ben that we should make this a yearly tradition. He said maybe once the kids enjoy art. But, that's the problem in my mind: In order for the kids to enjoy art, they need to be exposed to art- hence the purpose of the trips to the museum.
It will come, I'm not worried. They LOVE doing art, and over time they can appreciate others work as well. Audra and Claire both, in the end, said they had a fantastic time and wanted to do it again. Apparently the train and the restaurant overrode the negative feelings of walking around looking at pictures.
The girls did love the quilts on display:
Today we took advantage and took the girls downtown. We rode the train, ate lunch downtown, and headed to the Museum of Art. They were having a Henry Matisse exhibit, and since the girls had done a Matisse co-op and created their own Matisse artwork, we decided they should see his own original work.
At one point Claire said, "This is so BORING! We're just looking at art!" (Apparently everything bores her- we just can't keep her happy) The museum actually did a great job of having lots of kids events, but that is all Claire wanted to do. In our effort to try teach our kids culture, I guess we have to hear the complaints as well.
I suggested to Ben that we should make this a yearly tradition. He said maybe once the kids enjoy art. But, that's the problem in my mind: In order for the kids to enjoy art, they need to be exposed to art- hence the purpose of the trips to the museum.
It will come, I'm not worried. They LOVE doing art, and over time they can appreciate others work as well. Audra and Claire both, in the end, said they had a fantastic time and wanted to do it again. Apparently the train and the restaurant overrode the negative feelings of walking around looking at pictures.
The girls did love the quilts on display:
Pyramids
What would a unit study of Egyptians be without the building of pyramids?
It's a classic, so we just had to do it. There was a funny moment, though. After they built the first layer, I said, "Isn't this hard- can you imagine how hard it was for the Egyptians who built the real pyramids?" Claire responded in a super chipper, happy voice- "This is hard- I'm really feeling bored right now!" I had to stifle a really big laugh. But, once they got the second layer done and could see what they were building, she ended up having a blast and being quite proud of their pyramid.
It's a classic, so we just had to do it. There was a funny moment, though. After they built the first layer, I said, "Isn't this hard- can you imagine how hard it was for the Egyptians who built the real pyramids?" Claire responded in a super chipper, happy voice- "This is hard- I'm really feeling bored right now!" I had to stifle a really big laugh. But, once they got the second layer done and could see what they were building, she ended up having a blast and being quite proud of their pyramid.
 |
| Claire's friend Striker joined in the fun |
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