Chillin'

I was going to complain that it's 1 degree outside & feels like -12, but then my friend, Gina shared that it's -41 with the windchill in WI.  She's got a pile of snow in their bathtub for the kids to play with...she's always been a super fun and resourceful mom.  So, I'm done complaining about freezing.  I could be in Wisconsin or Alaska or Canada right now...all of which I'd love to visit on a warm, sunny day!

I'm doing a well-being challenge for the next 12 weeks and one of the tasks is to drink 64 oz of water each day.  After running kids to school, I mixed 16 oz of piping hot water with cocoa.  Does that count?  It sure was perfect.

Cozy Warm wishes!

PS.  Have you used the Pioneer Woman photoshop Actions yet?  The actions to download (for free) are on her right sidebar.  They're super easy to use; essentially you just press "play," but you can make adjustments if you want to.  Directions are easy to follow.  I used BOOST for the first photo and SUNSHINE for the second photo.  

Our Family Calendar--over the years

Soon after my mom passed away, my dad married my stepmom, Ilene, a widow with four grown children who were all married and had kids of their own.  At the time only two of my siblings were married...so the stats of our blended family were:  14 children, & I believe there were 19 grandchildren.

A few Christmases later, I decided to pick up something my mom started back in 1989.   Mom asked me to help her make a calendar for our grandparents with photos of us kids on each month.  We cut and pasted recent photos to an actual calendar.  Check out the authentic 80's look....

>>>Fast forward to I think it was 1997 when I made our first "blended" family calendar.  Between my dad's side of the family & Ilene's, there were probably no more than 50 of us at that time...totally manageable, right?  Because our family lived all over the US (still do), I collected photos through email mostly, and scanned some prints, including some old family photos just for fun.  The deal was if you didn't send in a photo of yourself then you didn't know what I'd dig up FOR you (this threat only worked with my side of the family since I had no access to such delicious bribery goods for Ilene's family---lucky them!).  Wayne had a nice printer & a binding machine at work so he did the printing and binding himself.  He's always been a great support, even when it's clear with a project that I've bitten off way more than I can chew.  The family calendar evolved with technology and became easier in that sense, but harder in the sense that our family grew by leaps and bounds, and obtaining photos of every single family member every year was always a challenge. Here's a page from last years' calendar that my SIL, Ange made using Costco photo... 

I love having SIL's and sisters who took on the calendar some years when my life was too crazy.  It's one thing I love about our large family; someone is always there for you.

Current family stats:

14 children + 12 spouses

52 grandchildren + 10 spouses

10 great-grandchildren

Do the math & we're looking at nearly 100 individuals!  It's a wonderful large family, but the calendar has busted at the seams.  I had to revert to just my side of the family this year, and honestly it was hard letting go of what I started.   It felt good to have a visual gathering of this family that started because my dad & Ilene fell in love, wed, and have been committed to this family ever since.  When I've made the calendar I've tried to include photos that show what extended family togetherness there was that year, and photos that celebrate special events...births, baptisms, weddings, etc. One year I threw in a photo of our old golden retriever, Samantha, asleep on the family room floor with my 2 brothers.

One issue that I ran into with this project that comes with any digital photo project....the photos had to be certain size or resolution, otherwise they print blurry.  This was easy to overcome if I was getting photos from Picasa albums, but not everyone had them, so I still had issues with lots of photos and chose to only use photos that would print clearly.

>>>Fast forward to the present...  I just got my family calendar for 2009.  I made it on my Mac using iPhoto & loved it.  Have a peak...

I was going to put a photo of all 4 babies born in 2008 on the cover, but had resolution issues, so the babies were well represented in the calendar instead.  The space at the top is for the coil binding & delete in your mind the "(" at the end.  The "I am important..." quote is something my mom wrote, framed, and hung in our homes growing up.  It stuck. 

I chose the iPhoto "picture calendar." Each page is about 10 1/2 x13" & lets you put up to 7 photos on each month.  The print quality is awesome.  This is a photo I took of the January page (edited a bit)...
 

I love how the calendar turned out, but now I'm on the lookout for something else to do for my dad & stepmom.  If they have wall space somewhere I was thinking of asking everyone to send them a family photo and they can have a family photo collage.  As a family grows they can just update the photo in that frame.  Do you have a blended family?  Is there something you do that unites your blended family in a way other than an actual reunion?  I'd love to hear your ideas.  

Today's Joy

Pres. Monson's words, "find joy in the journey---now" are more than sound advice, they are good medicine.  Some days like today when stress seems thick, JOY is found in the simple everyday things---

• a husband adjusting his tight schedule so that I don't have to take 3 kids to the dentist at 8am
  
• a son who got a burst of energy an hour before bedtime and did nothing but happily clean (seriously miraculous!)
• a daughter who noticed my furrowed brow and kindly asked, "What's wrong?" 
• a daughter who rushed up to say, "I love you" and gave me a kiss on the cheek (countless times throughout the day)
• a daughter who found scores of things to ("WooHoo!") cheer about
• a son who sat on my lap and forced me to have a moment of calm & happy in between long stretches of housework
• a "thank you" note from a neighbor
  
• glancing over the 2009 family calendar in iPhoto I spent many late nights creating (it should arrive tomorrow) and feeling so blessed to belong to a wonderful, supportive extended family
• making black bean soup (with plenty of bacon) for dinner, and loving that together time, silliness and all.

Here's a thought....find at least one joy (as a recipient or giver of kindness) every day this year and see how 2009 turns out to be.  I may not blog my "joys" every day, but I do plan on finding joy every day and seeing where that leads me.  My guess is that the economy will continue to be the pits for some time, but life is going to feel meaningful, and even better over time.  I think it's no small thing that Pres. Monson spoke these words when he did.   "Find joy in the journey...now."

Wesley started it!

Just a few tablespoons of flour + 5 minutes + 1 pint sized instigator & 2 tots happy to join in= TROUBLE

Yep, I run a tight ship, and yes, the only one who didn't dress themselves was Wes.  I love this nutty bunch.

My awesome Giveaway win & a note on parenthood

I've mentioned this before, and most importantly to my sweetheart just before Christmas & my upcoming birthday....I'm in the Angela Henrie Designs fan club.  Her sister, Amy used to live near us and taught Christina piano for some time.  Amy and her daughter would sport the coolest necklaces made by her sister, Angela.  I missed Amy's jewelry party and then she moved west.  To my delight, I caught up with Amy via the blog world, and was excited to see that her sister, Angela started a blog including her jewelry for sale.  If you have something special in mind, she's mentioned doing custom work.

If you've read Angela's blog, you know this mom of 8 not only makes unique jewelry, but she also has fun decorating ideas, and every now and then a gorgeous giveaway.  Just before Christmas, Angela had a giveaway for a necklace from her "mini" line of jewelry.  I put my name in the mix and had to pinch myself when I found I won!!!  I never win!  What a win!  The necklace arrived and I fully admit trying it on to see if it was for sure a mini, and if so, could I pass as a mini model?...ha!  Nope.  This baby was made for one of my "mini"s., so I wrapped it up and put it on the Christmas tree for my sweet Nina to open on Christmas day.  She's not so mini anymore, as she's on the brink of teen years, but when she opened her gift and put it immediately on, it fit nicely, and she hasn't taken it off since.

Just the other day I felt the need to have a heart-to-heart with Christina. I felt that she needed to hear again why so much is asked of her compared to her siblings, and that the weight of responsibility will pass to the next in line when she leaves for college, and so on.  She needed to hear that I was once her age and that I remember how hard it was to find confidence and self-worth.  She needed to hear that we are all a work in progress; that her strength might be her brother's weakness, and vice-versa.  We are equals in that sense, and should be each other's best support.  I told her that I can be tough because some things like name calling are not acceptable in our family and in our home.  I told her that I can be tough because I love her deeply and I have loved her every day since the day she was born....."and I hope that necklace around your neck is a constant reminder that I love you every day, more than you know."

It's a gorgeous necklace now worn by my beautiful daughter who introduced me to the love of motherhood, even when a heart-to-heart is called for following the difficult task of disciplining.  I really couldn't have asked for a better start to motherhood, and I have a hard time watching time fly by with her and the rest of my mini's.

Proof that she even sleeps in her necklace....here Nina is last Saturday morning when the YW leaders came and "kidnapped her for a YW breakfast. Her leader has an embroidery gadget on her sewing machine and she embroidered a small "YW" & design on sweatshirts for the girls. Each girl was described using a YW value and they visited and played a mixer game. It was really nice. I tagged along because I have to say being kidnapped for breakfast (on my birthday) was one of my favorite YW memories...silly, I know!

Happy New Year!

We got nearly a foot of snow on New Years Eve, so our celebrating was cozy and homebound.  We had a ball.

We got things going with a celebratory shrimp & pasta dinner, which received thumbs up from the whole crew.  We reminisced about 2008, and agreed it was a GREAT year for our family.  Christina's favorite experience was going to the temple on her 12th birthday.  Thomas said it was a tie between Disney World and "catching [his] first blue gill with dad."  Grace & Caroline loved time spent with cousins.  Yes, 2008 was a wonderful year for our family, and we're grateful for each beautiful memory made.
After dinner we cleaned up and our annual New Years Eve party began. We played the Wii, board games, sipped on Wayne's awesome cookies and cream milkshakes, munched on peppermint Joe Joe's, and some chocolates. Wesley went to bed, and a couple hours later Grace conked out, followed by Thomas.  So the remaining revelers...Wayne, Caroline, Christina and I, rang in the New Year with Dick Clark, of course {& sparkling cider-of course}!

We wish you JOY, peace, HEALTH, & beautiful memories made in 2009!