Winter Fun!!

We've been home from Kamp Kinship for the 1st Annual Moeller family Winter Fest and I STILL haven't made it to the computer to upload my photos OR chronicle a single happening!!

It truely was a wonderful family weekend!!! You'll hear that about 100 more times... but I think I'll wait with the details until I have the photos ready. Pics speak 1000 words... so I can type a LOT LESS! ha ha !!

I was a little "under the weather" the first few days after the Kamp trip, so I'm still catching up on laundry... and sleep.... I'm starting to feel back to normal now. :)

Just have a quick little story about Liv....
She has decided she doesn't like eating what the rest of us are eating at meals. (thor jr. in the making so far :) ... so we try to take it in stride, not making too big of a deal about it, but only having healthy options around the house.

She said she was hungry as I was working in the kitchen one afternoon. I said, OK... what would you like.
Liv: I want a bicycle
Mom: what? a what?
Liv: a bicycle
Mom: ummm... can you show me
Liv (goes to the freezer and pulls open the door)
Mom: OH... a Popcicle!!! Ok sweetie! :)

This is why I love MOPS!!

Montessori. I thought I knew enough about the philosophies behind the program/school/etc. to pass judgement that it wasn't for us... Boy was I wrong!! Now, I'm not saying I'm pulling my kids out of private school to enroll them in the Montessori program... But I am saying there is a LOT of good to be learned from the method that fits into Christ-centered parenting!! It really was inspirational...

#1: Never do for your child what they can do for themselves... (thought I already knew that, and was doing that.... but it never hurts to see what others are doing... and challenge yourself in a new way!!)

#2: Toy Bins are EVIL (well, not her words exactly... that is my paraphrase) But the idea behind toy bins is not conducive to the way a child works... a FEW toys on shelves provides a much better play area. They learn to be more imaginative with the toys they do have... and easier to teach them that each thing has it's own "spot."

#3: As children learn the responsibility, they can be allowed more freedom... When they can pick up toys after they are done playing, they can play with something else.

So I came home INSPIRED!!

I was ready to tear into the girl's bedroom & toy bin in the family room in the basement!! But I had to get grociers and then hockey.... So this morning I began!! What fun!!

I should have taken "before" and "after" pictures... but who wants to see our big mess??


The new closet, now with toys shelves where Liv can easily reach items. The clothes are OK on the middle row for me because Liv doesn't pick out her own clothes, and Anika can reach the clothes easily with our little step stool. The highest shelf has the girls keepsake boxes, the girls games, and other itmes Liv cannot have access too without mommy supervision. These toys were previoulsy tossed into one of 4 different toy bins (along with many, many others. These were the only ones I ever saw ANY of the kids playing with... so why keep the rest?? I purged out 2 garbage sacks of junk, and 2 garbage sacks of donate-able stuff!! There is still toys in our family room downstairs... and a whole bin of American Girls clothes and accessories under the bed...



These dress up clothes, and small basket full of "accesories" used to be in a huge tub... it was a struggle to have them put away... and real clothes kept dissappearing into the play clothes bin... Now they have a real "Closet" of clothes, much more like real life... with the doll & kitchen right there, it's almsot like a little play "house" in the closet!

This spool & yarn "snake" has been one of Liv's favorite toys... frankly I hadn't seen it in months. Now I know why... The pieces were in 3 different toy bins, in two different rooms!! Now it has a place, "just for it"... I'm hoping this will keep all of us on the road to keeping things where they belong! :) (starts with mom, right?! :)
Now he has a cute little basket to live in...

And his own little spot on the shelf! :)

Last but not least -- the Hair Pretties... With two growing girls, we have a plethora of Hair and misc. accessories !!!

I have found 101 uses for these shoe organizers... this one came from Target for $8.


Each variet of hair do-dads has their own pocket...


Combs, brushes, etc. each have their own place



as well as the detangler spray !

Liv loves her doll, and got busy "taking care of her" while I was cleaning the room... Note the pink bean bag under her head for a "pilllow" :) Now I just have to convince her that baby doesn't need to take a nap in the middle of the hall?!!! She has a perfectly good crib in her room... but will she put her in there.... noooooo....

I keep writing the year as 01, instead of 10!

Good Monday morning Family & friends!

Mondays seem to be our Laundry day! Now, if I just had a little home-helper fairy to come put the clean clothes away the world would be perfect.... What am I saying! I want a home-helper fairy to do ALL the chores!!

I certainly can't complain -- Thor & Anika do very well with their home-chores. They earn good money every week for the chores too. Thor has the system figured out completely... when ever he is trying to save up for something specific (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull DVD this week) he offers to do ANY chore I can think of -- even making MY bed for me!! I discovered this week Anika is a SUPER stairway vacuum-er! I don't mind vacuuming as a whole, but like the stair-vacuuming the LEAST of it all. I had her do the two half-stair sections going from the kitchen to our lowest level, TV room area... and they are spotless!! YEAH!! That is going to become her chore EVERY Thursday afternoon!!

Dirk was home this past weekend, so we really did work some over-time on the household chores. We have learned with our new family schedule, that if all the homework and household (regular) duties are done by the time dad gets home on Friday, he will probably come up with some "fun" free time plans while he is here!! I think he's the biggest kid of us all!

Saturday morning started pretty early - leaving the house by 8 a.m. for Thor's Hockey game. The usual routine for the 4 squads of boys, is for two teams to have an hour of "stick practice" then a "positional scrimmage" (read: GAME) for an hour each.

A Side Note: We have been SO much happier wtih the hockey program this year, I can't stop telling other moms how impressed I am with the skills the boys are building! Not to mention, they are getting 3-4 hrs on the ice each week, compared to 1-2 hrs last year. It has everything to do with the coaching plan! Not to say that they last 2 years were a bad program... but it just shows how much better a good program can be with a little innovation! Because the boys are still playing only "1/2" ice for the games, it leaves the other half of the ice open for the stick-work practice ... so everyone gets 2 hrs on the ice, instead of taking turns using the whole rink for 2 teams to play a "game." 2nd: the coaches focus more on positional training during the "scrimmage" ... even stopping the game mid-play when someone has done something wrong, like "off-sides" and bringing the whole group of boys in for a "huddle" to make sure they understand what "off=sides" means... and what they need to do to prevent it. The also (probably the MOST important element) have 3 or more coaches on the ice all the time... one with the defensive players... one with the offensive players, trying to help them understand what their "job" is while playing the particular position. Thor plays defense a lot -- and is doing a really good job in that position, not that he can't do offensive play. He's bigger than most of the other boys -- not necessarily quicker!! :)

This weekend, however, 70% of the kids were gone to Pierre for a hockey tournament! There were just enough for 2 "squads" of kids left here in RC, which gave the coaches a fun opportunity. They did stick work for about 20 minutes -- then "game/scrimmage" the rest of the 2 hours of ice time!! Thor was POOPED when he got in the car... not to mention dripping with sweat and HUNGRY!!

The next stop after Hockey was going out to eat... not a usual treat, and since we are trying to eat "better" not "quicker" we opted for Olive Garden -- soup, salad, meat and pasta. Everyone was very satisfied -- even Liv who fell alseep in the booth while snuggled up next to me!

A few shopping errands took longer than we expected, even window shopping at Best Buy for a new lap-top for me for work (at church)... trying to stay within my Children's Ministry budget, plus a little extra from the leadership for the purpose of a lap-top. Still a challenge... not sure what is the best option yet? I guess my problem is that I have fallen in love the the Mac/Apple company (again) and have a hard time purchasing anything in the PC world. When you compare "apples" to "lemons" (pun intended!!) the PC's come up short every time. But the "good apples" are always a bit more expensive... so the questions is, how will I use the aforementioned budget to the best of it's ability!? :) I'll let you know what I decide.

Saturday evening we were happy to stay home, watch the Winter X Games and play "Guess Who" (Anika & Dirk) ... and just relax for a couple hours. I don't even remember falling asleep... but apparently I did, before 10 p.m.??

Sunday was a great morning at Dove -- worshiping with our church family, I taught Kids Worship for the Elementary room. It's always a fun time with those kids. They are old enough to really talk about how the Bible stories apply to our lives. This year we are stretching the usual Bible stories into lessons called "Doing What Jesus Did." Our lesson on the life of Sampson then led to a short lesson on How to Listen to the Holy Spirit in our own lives... how does He speak to us? What do we do with "it" when He does...? Sampson didn't do a very good job of following God's directions... He's a good example of what happens when God Blesses us, and we let ourselves do whatever feels good at the moment.

Mom & dad had Sunday dinner ready for us at their house - Campfire Stew (a Moeller family specialty) homemade bread, salad, and ice cream with or without bread pudding on the side. :) There wasn't too much down time afterward -- we all had haircut appointments at Amy's at 3p.m. 5 haircut/trims later -- YEP, every single one of us!! We were on our way to Cabellas for a winter-sale shopping trip. :) Then a quick lunch at Taco Bell... and we surprised the kids with one last "outing" for the evening...

Family Swim Night at the swim center!! As we were driving over, none of the kids had any idea Dirk was even considering it... Thor said "We can't go, we don't have our swim suit along." To which I replied "we don't?" Then they realized we had been planning it all along! :) Surprising them is almost as much fun as planning to go 2 days ahead of time... but you don't have to hear the constant "can we go NOW.... how much longer until we can GO??!"

We always have fun swimming together -- this time even more fun to find friends there unexpectedly. Two families we know from MOPS and Zion school were there. :) Liv found herself VERY comfortable in the water... a bit TOO comfortable for mom... She was walking/running everywhere and would find herself in water over her head. When I tried to "hold/carry" her around she would wiggle out and say "I walk... I go."

Then we tried the little kid's blue slide -- and the rest of the evening was OVER! She LOVED the blue slide! The first two times down she went on my lap... The third time at the top she sat down and went, without any warning or hesitation! I had to yell across the pool for Dirk to get to the bottom QUICK! She was ready for independence... Which means I have to enroll her in swim lessons NOW!!!

That put us home at 8:45p.m. BED TIME!! Just enough time for me to pack a few dinners for Dirk to heat up on the job-site in WY, and get to sleep.

3AM today - Dirk left for WY for work :( We'll be happier when he gets home in 2 weeks. :)

Is it really Wednesday?

Bethany & Chris drove out from MPLS for the long weekend! Yeah!! What fun! We had been planning a visit with them over Christmas, but the holiday weather was NOT cooperating for long road trips... So the January holiday of MLKJ became the "new" Morrison-Moeller-Fletcher gathering date!

Saturday we planned a family outing to Deer Mountain and the Tubing Hill! We weren't really sure what to expect, and after raiding our extra supplies of cold weather gear, we were all "dressed" and read for some SNOW FUN! (except Liv who was graciously invited for a play-date at the Welch home) After a quick lunch in the "chalet" (can you call it that in SD, when it's really just a snack bar and picnic tables?) we braved the lines at the tubing hill.

40 degree weather and bright sunshine made for some interesting conditions... It certainly wasn't cold enough to be a bother... Dirk & Chris ended up shedding a few layers. One "path" of the 6 available was out of commission because the snow melted down to the grass and gravel beneath. One path had melted and frozen a few times too many and was slick (read: HARD) ice over much of the way.... but also made for the most adventuresome of the 5 remaining trails!!

Anika, the youngest and least adventuresome of the group loved EVERY trail, but preferred the icy-er quicker trails. She really didn't want to get up and have to pull her tube very far -- back to the rope-tow line! She would give us the "princess commentary" about every 5 minutes of the 3 hours we were there:
- This is the BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!
- This is SO MUCH FUN!!
- I LOVE THIS!
- Daddy I want to go down the spiny-around-in-circles one!
- I want to go with Bethany this time.
- I LOVE TUBING!

Needless to say, Thor was having a great day too -- just with less adjectives. :)

I think I broke a couple of "distance" records for the afternoon -- there was a 5 or 6 ft high embankment covered in snow at the bottom of the icy run, meant to stop riders if they got up a bit too much speed. However, most people saw this as a challenge to hurdle the embankment -- which happened many times with riders young and old. One of my first runs I sped over the embankment, across the road behind it and into the snow pile on the other side! One of my last runs of the day, I went over again.. at a different angle, and ended up running into the light pole on the other side road at well. I didn't run into it with much speed, and the tube was the only part that actually hit the pole... so either way I was just fine... but it did remind me that perhaps putting ones feet down to slow yourself might not be a bad idea! :)

We ALL had a great day. The last 3 or 4 runs we tried to make a group run, by holding onto each other, or the handles of the tube next to us (instead of just our own tubes handles). Other groups had been going down with as many as 15 tubes together... giving great speed and momentum... not to mention camaraderie! It took a few runs for us to realize what we needed to do. One attempt ended up in a tube sliding down the mtn. without a rider, as we were trying to position ourselves for the group run... and Chris lost hold of his tube. No worries, he just shared a tube with Bethany!

The last run we finally made it down, all together, with Thor & Anika riding on the same tubes with Bethany & Chris respectively, (on purpose). It was a great way to finish the day!

Sunday we went to church at Dove together; then brought home Golden Phoenix Chinese food for lunch (so Dirk could watch the Cowboys lose to the Vikings...:( ) The afternoon was not meant for resting (as usual Sundays are around here)... but found us going in two directions. Bethany, Chris, Mom, Dad and Bethany went to Hot Springs for Theo's 2nd birthday party. Dirk, Thor, Liv and myself went to Thor's hockey game against the Black Hawks.

We couldn't just leave well enough alone for the day... and stayed up until 1:30 a.m. playing Settler's of Catan... and Catan Germany. (why do we always stay up WAY too late when company comes? because we just don't want to waste a second of the time together!!)

Monday Bethany & Chris had massage appointments scheduled (good idea for a vacation weekend!!) with Tanya... so I did some errands with the kids while they relaxed (or were they being tortured? Just not sure yet...? ha ha ha :) We went out for sushi (their first time) and then shopped at the kitchen store for a few basics they needed for their newly-wed home. (is it still a newly-wed home when it's more than 1 yr?... well, anyway) With new pots, pans and a good knife, I think they are one step better prepared for "good cookin!"

Tuesday morning they left for home, and I sent the big kids back to school. I wasn't sure how I was going to start my day: laundry, picking up and reorganizing, dishes, sorting through left-overs in the fridge.... and then I remembered... Today is MOPS! I had 30 minutes to get myself and Liv out the door... we made it just in time! A vacation moment for ME!! How fun! We made beaded bookmarks with ribbon and pretty beads hanging from silver clasps... But the girl-chat time was even MORE fun!

Long weekends are HUGE fun... I just need an extra day before and after to get everything done. You'd think I'd have figured out how to do that being in my (cough) thirty_(something-th)_ year... Seems like every time I'm confident we have the life organization stuff down I end up in a ball of craziness -- must be to keep me humble?? Or maybe I'm just not as good as I think I am (ha ha ha ... ) Or at least not as PREPARED as I think I am!!

Wow how the time flies!

I think adding a blackberry was just one electronic device too many for this stay-at-home mommie.

Just watched an episode of Oprah, "A Family Striped Down." Whatever else you think about the big "o" (I don't agree with her stance on faith or politics) the woman does know how to produce a thought provoking relevant TV show.

The premise was a family that spent so much time using the best of technology (to make thier lives easier... better(?)... and more fulfilled) and the result was a family that was disconnected from each other...

They didn't know how to BE where ever they were....

Wow... was I convicted.

When I'm driving home with a car full of kids and I spend the whole drive on the cell phone just so I don't have to listen to the constant chatter... what am I missing? (A LOT!! 4th graders have plenty of gossip to catch up on!)

When we get home the TV and the computer are the first two places occupied by someone... instead of talking to each other... and finding out how our day went.

I'm more aware, so now I have the tools I need to make a change. I really didn't NEED a phone where I could check Facebook anywhere... anytime...

On the fip side, if I can get my "social web networking" done while washing the dishes (with said blackberry propped up on the kitchen window sill)... perhaps I'll be able to dedicate ALL my attention to my family from 4 to 8 p.m. in the evening.

I recently had a "mentoring" conversation (I'm the mentor... what is wrong with this picture) with a single parent in our church who is coping with the new situation of solo-parenting 4 young kids. The comment came up that there is NO TIME for anything other than the bare basics of life... especially when you have to take care of "issues" every 30 seconds. There was no time left for "quality time."

My suggestion was to plan ahead of time for every moment with the kids... to make a "schedule" (not necessarily drivien by the clock, but perhaps 1st:do this, 2nd: do that; and so forth)... I think perhaps I was supposed to get that message myself.

Those 4 precious hours each day after school with my family... have a plan set in place for what to do... Set "time" for the basics: chores, homework, eating, picking up, getting ready for bed.... MAKE "time" for the quality stuff: reading, praying, talking about life, loving each other, having a little fun together...

We all have the same amount of time -- the question is, what do we do with it?

New fav quote: The grass isn't greener on the other side; the grass is greener where you WATER it! :)

December IS the beginning of WINTER!!

Thanksgiving week was SOOO much fun. I have pictures (coming) from other sources from the holiday, because I'm really bad about taking pictures... but here is a quick run down of my FAVORITE holiday:
Wednesday:
- Dirk arrived home from WY on Tuesday evening.
- The kids had a 1/2 day of school, officially "Grandparents Day" so Grandpa Alan
and Grandma Cleo got the honor of carpooling and attending class!
- Dirk, Liv and I bought our Christmas tree!! Thanks for planning ahead babe!
- Wed evening Lance, Gretchen, Tori and Logan arrived from Fargo, ND
- Logan (3) announced they were here to see his dad's brother... guess the rest
of us didn't count for much!?! (until later... he and Thor are great buds now!)
- Played "Settlers of Caanan" with Lance & Gretchen

Thanksgiving Day!
- We loaded up food, kids and more to Ted's home outside of Hot Springs
- Dinner was GREAT, as usual... Mom's stuffing recipe is the BEST
- Kids got to play a Thanksgiving Day Scavenger hunt... GREAT idea Gramma Jan!
- Ride-giving abounded: 4-wheelers, tractor, horseback...
- With such nice weather it was hard to stay inside long enough to play games
- Turkey Foot Dominoes was accomplished! 2 games at least...
- Someone was watching the football games, but it wasn't me...
- Played "Settlers of Caanan" with Lance & Gretchen

Friday:
- Made Gingerbread house cookie dough, and baked...
- The "boys" went to town for gun-store shopping & etc!
- Played "Settlers of Caanan" with Lance & Gretchen (we are HOOKED!)


Saturday:
- Made frosting for Gingerbread houses... started assembling the 6 houses
- The "boys" went to the RUSH hockey game!! Whoo hoo!! Rush won, of course!!
- Decorated the Gingerbread houses... and ate LOTS of candy...
- who needs supper after all that candy?





Dirk spend this past weekend in WY intending on working... but the temps dropped so fast and so low, he needed to spend a day getting the skirting on the camper. One day after work he came "home" to find the propane had run out... the camper was VERY cold... and the water had nearly froze ... he said the water came out in ice chucks at first, then flowed after a moment!! That was a CLOSE call!! PTL it was OK. But he needed to get the winterization process done! I think it looks pretty good for plain old plywood sheets!




Dirk says he is MUCH warmer now... and shouldn't have to worry about freezing anymore! Usually he's the one keeping ME warm at night!! Imagine how cold I am right now?! (just kidding... :)

Thanksgiving makes me thing of BAKING!!

Have to start with this: dirk is home!! yeah!!
Followed by this: new position in the company will keep him travelling for at least another year... so just get used to it people (I'm speaking to myself here)... He promises to be home more regularly (he keeps his promises very well), and will most likely be working out of WY and or UT for the coming year. We're just happy to have him home for the next week! Nothing too special planned, just family time.

Just put in my Pampered Chef order (way too much)... it will probably be my Christmas present to myself... but I NEED it before the holidays so I have all the right tools to do what I want/need to do!

Lefse: Planning a support group for my other lefse-phile friends... I love eating it, but it's a lot of work to make... so the new plan is to bribe a few friends into coming over to help. Benefits: we all get lefse to take home, and we have a lovely morning together chatting and catching up! We'll see if we can fit it into our schedules now!!

Thanksgiving & Holiday Cooking: My BFF in Seattle asked for holiday suggestions... which reminded me to get out my holiday planner (3 ring binder) I made last year. It was a "smart mommy" idea from Family Fun Magazine (online)... if anyone else wants to start one, the "forms" can be printed from their website.

Notes I made to myself for THIS year are:
- find a good Thanksgiving DVD, like Peanuts or??
Anyone have any suggestions?

- Make pumpkin pancakes & waffles all month! LOVE THEM!

- Lille Norge Fest the Saturday BEFORE Thanksgiving at Canyon Lk Sr. Center

- Take a family photo together sometime this month! Why is this so hard?

- Start collecting fun candies for the Gingerbread houses to be put together
the day after Thanksgiving

- Save some of the Halloween candy for the Gingerbread houses...
not like we need to eat it all now!!


Here are a couple of our new favorite recipes from last year:

Sweet & Sour Braised Cabbage
4 slices bacon
2 cups thinly sliced onion
3 cups chipped & peeled green/sour apples
10 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
1 cup apple cider
1/4 cup Apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 bay leaf
3 whole cloves (optional) (I don't)

Cook bacon in a deep skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat until crisp. Set aside to cool, drain; then chop small. Take out all but 1 Tbs. of bacon grease, add onions; saute 3 minutes. Add apples; saute 2 minutes. Add cabbage; saute 2 minutes. Add cider, vinegar, salt, sugar, bay leaf & cloves. Bring combo to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 1 hour and 15 minutes or until cabbage is tender, stirring occasionally. Discard cloves & bay leaf. Sprinkle w/ bacon and serve hot or warm.

Good leftover and warmed again. Calories: 139 per 1/8 of batch, about 3/4 cup. (from Cooking Light December 2008)

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
10 pounds white potatoes
1 cup sour cream
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
2 tsp. onion salt
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup butter

Cook potatoes & drain. Mash; add remaining ingredients (not butter) and mix well. Place potatoes in a pretty, oven-safe, freezer-safe dish. Dot with small pieces of butter. Keep refrigerated until 1 to 1 1/2 hours before the meal. (Can also be frozen, remove from freezer and set on your counter to thaw overnight). Bake at 350 degrees until heated through, might get slightly brown around the edges, which is kinda nice too. If you REALLY have to, you can warm up in microwave too... but you know what I think about microwaves... so don't do it... bake it in the oven... it's much better!

Carmel Apple Hot Cider
1 gallon Market Pantry(Target) Carmel Apple Apple Cider
2 cups orange juice
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
slices of lemon (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan, covered, over medium heat for 30 minutes, or until steaming. Serve. Makes 16-20 servings.

Optional: Heat all ingredients in a crock-pot, covered on high for 2 hrs until steaming, then turn to LOW to keep it warm all day.

If this isn't sweet enough for you, try this serving option:
Place 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream in a tall mug
fill mug w/ warm Carmel apple cider
drizzle w/ Carmel sauce before serving

YUM-O!!