kandas-adventures

New Year 2012

We spent New Year's Eve at home, as we always have.  Many board games were played. 

We even broke out some old games the girls hadn't played in years, like this German game called Shwuppdibus with little wooden buses and people that hop on and off at bus stops and towns.  After a few more "preschool" games that were entirely chance-based, we moved on to the complex strategy games.

At 10:00 our game was interrupted by loud booms.  Our neighbor had visited the Indian Reservation and stocked up on illegal pyrotechnics, and was treating the neighborhood to some arial firework displays.  Sparklers were passed around to the all the kids, and after the show the kids ran wild from lawn to lawn in the darkness, squealing and enjoying the special treat of racing through the neighborhood long after bedtime.  by 10:30 we were back inside and back to the board game.  At 11:55 we turned on the TV to watch the firework show in Seattle, then we headed to bed.

The next morning we celebrated with scissors.  It had been almost 3 years since A's last haircut, and it was time again to donate her hair to Locks of Love.

Her new haircut is so cute!  After A's cut, my husband cut my hair, although not as severely.  I just had 2 or 3 inches off my hair, not enough to donate.  I'd cut Little K's hair a few days prior as well, though hers was just a little trim of 3 or 4 inches.  A new haircut is a great way to start a new year!

Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's a flashback photo from the 70's (can you tell by the wallpaper and my plaid pants?).  I'm six, and that pine cone and pipe cleaner turkey is something I proudly crafted in school.  My brother is 3, and making a silly face.  Back in 1975 we headed into the holiday season with a little less joy.  My parents had split up over the summer and the ongoing negotiations were ugly.  I didn't know when or if I'd see my Daddy again, my Mommy was crying much of the time, and there was talk that we might lose the house and end up homeless.  My dad had racked up huge debt and drained our bank accounts when he left, and our future was very uncertain.  It was a scary time.  I still believed that Santa could make things better, though, that perhaps he could bring my Daddy home for Christmas and make everyone happy, but it was not to be.

Today I am very grateful for the family that I have, most of all my long-suffering husband.  He is a devoted dad and a loving partner.  He has given me something my poor mother never knew: unconditional love and commitment.  I am so thankful.

A Scavenger Hunt at the Mall 12th Birthday Party

What kind of birthday party do you throw for pre-teens?  The trend in our area is sleepovers -- a house full of hyper kids drinking pop and scarfing down junk food while watching movies and playing loud music through the night. Lots of squealing and tossing of pillows, with some pranks and dares mixed in.  Not much sleep, and a totally trashed house the next morning, with popcorn found in the hanging light fixtures, and puddles of soda behind the couch.  I've heard the horror stories from other parents.  I didn't want to go there.  Plus, our house is too small, yeah, that's my excuse.  No rec room or basement to banish the kids to.

So I decided to have a Scavenger Hunt at the Mall party.  What pre-teen girl doesn't like the mall?  We had 10 girls gather at our house for pizza, sliced apples (from our tree), rootbeer, hawaiian fruit drinks, and apple cider.  Pizza & beverages for 10 girls and 2 moms: $50.00.

Then we opened presents.  A got a lot of accessories, such as mittens, hats, fragrant hand sanitizers, and this wallet.  She also got 3 great games: SET, apples to apples, and Bop-it.  Rounding out the gifts was a stamp making kit, where you carve our your design into a rubbery block with sharp tools, then apply paint and stamp.

After lunch and presents, we loaded into two vehicles (one of the moms helped me run the party) and headed to the mall.  It was a Friday.  11-11-11.  Veteran's Day, so no school.  In the days previous when I'd scouted out the mall for things the girls had to find, the mall was deserted.  I forgot that there were big sales for Veteran's Day.  Even though only bankers, teachers, and government employees usually got Veteran's Day off, the mall was PACKED!  Where did all these people come from?  It took us nearly 30 minutes just to find a parking place, on the very top level of the parking garage, way off in the furthest corner!  

When we arrived at the mall we broke the girls into 2 teams and went over the rules:  No entering shops, except for the big department stores.  No running and watch out for other people.  Be polite.  Take turns and work as a team.  It's a test of observation, not a race, so don't rush or you'll miss things.

The girls each received an envelope with about 30 things to find or do as a team, and a map of the mall.  Each team had a chaperone that had a bag with money and other things, like a pair of shoes they had to take to get shined.

They had to drop off a pair of shoes to be shined, write the name of the shoeshine's name on their questionnaire, and then pick up the shoes, and pay and give a tip.

The girls were free to use the directories and maps, and could also ask at customer service.  Some of the questions they had to answer were:  "What color is the circle in the logo for the gymboree store?"  "What is the height limit for little kids visiting the play area?"  "How many wooden benches are there on the 2nd level of the mall?" and "What store has a gumball machine in their doorway? Your chaperone will give you each a quarter to get a gumball!"

One of the more complicated tasks was to go from the 2nd level of the mall, through a parking garage, across a sky bridge, and over to a movie theater, where they had to write down the names of all the films (11 of them!) playing that day.  

After about 2 hours we met back at a frozen yogurt place and compared answers.  Each team missed only 2 or 3 items.  Each girl got a frozen yogurt with 3 toppings ($45.00) and then we drove home where the parents were waiting to pick up their daughters.

Review:

I thought it was a great party, and so did A.  I spent $95.00, which was less than I would have spent to go to one of those "fun centers" with arcade games or trampolines, and about the same that I would have spent on food for a sleepover.  There were no "goodie bags," which I've always felt were unneccesary.  A said the response from her friends was good, though they probably would have enjoyed buying stuff.

One of the girls we invited had Autism and needed constant supervision and a lot of support.  I've known this girl since she was 3, and I had no trouble accomodating her.  When we invited her, her mother was so happy, because this girl is almost never invited to parties and has few friends.  Being in middle school, A is learning hard lessons about friendship.  Girls she thought were her friends are suddenly teasing and excluding her.  A is starting to worry about who she associates with, and apparently being at all friendly toward the special-needs kids is the kiss-of-death for your social life at middle school.  A was a little concerned about having this girl at her party, and what would be said at school after, but the girls we invited were some of her closest, longest-known friends, so I hoped it would be fine.  I want A to understand that friends who tease you about who your other friends are, aren't really your friends at all.

Halloween Happenings 2011

This year's characters are Professor Layton (from the Nintendo mystery puzzle games) and Jane Goodall as a little girl back in the 1930s.  There was a chimpanzee to go along with the costume, but he was hanging out down in the bag with the candy, looking for banana flavored taffy.

Our first stop was the nursing home that our Girl Scouts have adopted.  We stopped in to see the residents, since most of them don't get out anymore.  I brought candy ahead of time so they would have something to give the children, and then we left the remaining candy behind for them to enjoy.  

After the nursing home we stopped by a little shopping area that is a collection of vintage houses brought together for historical preservation and retail.  Here's where you'll find a knitting shop, an independent bookstore, a toy store selling European and wooden toys, a yoga studio, a chef's store, a clock repair shop, and all those other mom and pop little shops that are struggling to survive in the shadow of the big chain retailers who invade small towns.

The toy store, here giving out Japanese erasers for Halloween, is one of the few tenants doing well.  So many little businesses come and go, destroying their owner's dreams and depleting their savings accounts in the process.  Every year after our visit for Halloween, I return in the weeks leading up to Christmas and open my wallet in as many of these little shops as I can.  Nonetheless, each Halloween it seems like there are more and more vacant storefronts.

We loved this lady outside the kitchen store who was wearing glasses made from metal strainers!

Next we headed to our little town's residential area, where for one block the neighbors are in a competition with each other to see who can outdo the other.  It was truly amazing!

There were animated inflatables, things that flew and screamed, billowing dry-ice "smoke," and little details to discover everywhere you looked.  You really had to spend time looking to notice everything, and of course it was a completely different experience after dark (but we didn't experience that).

Would the prospect of candy lure you through this gate?

This man was fine-tuning his ghosts, which flew above the sidewalk on a loop of fishing wire strung between pulleys mounted to his house and a telephone pole. 

We asked the homeowner who made this pumpkin how long it took him to carve it, and he said 4 hours.  And this was one of MANY.

Before we knew it, it was 5:30 and time to get home.  Both girls did their homework (crazy teachers, don't they know kids have PLANS on Halloween?) while I whipped up dinner, we hurriedly shoveled it in while popping up to answer the door every 2 minutes, then finally at 7pm we went out into our own neighborhood.

We just LOVE seeing our neighbors all dressed up.  That inflated Sumo wrestler there?  She's a 42 year old mother of 4.  Me?  I just wore my orange pumpkin hat and called myself a pumpkin again -- easy.

After visiting about 15 neighbors, we walked over to the local church that we always go to (Am I going to Hell for only going to church on Halloween?) for their "Harvest Party."  This year they had a "Lion, Witch, & the Wardrobe" theme, run by the teen youth group, and as you arrived you had to wait your turn to go into the wardrobe...

Then you were led down into the "lodge" (which used to be a sprawling private residence, but is now the church offices) in small groups.  Inside you went through a series of decorated rooms, and were told the story by costumed characters.

Here we're in the "Beaver's Den."  After several rooms you were taken to the main party, where carnival games were underway.  Towards the end everyone was gathered and the pastor projected clips from the movie up on a high wall while talking with the kids about Jesus, and the difference between fantasy (dressing up for Halloween) and reality (being a good person at all times no matter what you look like).  

Out back there was an inflatable bouncy house...

And archery, a favorite of the girls.  Hey, watch out, Santa!

A always looks forward to the face paint, which is done by a professional.

A was inspired to be Aslan the Lion from the movie.

It was a good Halloween!  Here are the girls at 9pm, on our porch, with their pumpkins, and 2 of our 5 current foster kittens, "Riley" & "Max".

Christmas 2010

The celebration started with Christmas Eve dinner at my Aunt's house.   She is Martha Stewart when it comes to decor, cooking, and ambiance.  In her mid-70's now, her energy amazes me.
The adults table...
And the kid's table.
The Christmas eve token present: coin banks for the girls, books for my cousin's daughters. Before we knew it, it was Christmas morning.  The girls slept until about 8:30, and we had breakfast and opened presents shortly after 9am.  I LOVE that my daughters sleep in on Christmas morning, despite the excitement.

This is how the tree appeared on Christmas morning.  K's pile is the lighter wrapping to the right, A's is the blue and green wrapping, and the other gifts are between family.  It was a light load this year, mostly board games, books, and little practical things.  Both girls received some cash from family -- K used hers to buy a little camera, and A is still deciding what to get with her cash.  She's learned well that it's better to wait and be sure, than to have buyer's remorse.  For now her money is in the bank.
Big sis was with us for Christmas morning and the girls gave her a board game.
A got a book about knot tying, something she was introduced to through Girl Scouts and has become quite interested in.
K got a Teddy Bear, something she's been wanting for months.  It seems odd that the girl with 100 monkeys has suddenly diversified, but apparently she felt her childhood would not be complete without a Teddy Bear, so here he is.  I love how simple things give my girls such great pleasure.
My husband played with the train.  I really fell down on the decorating job this year.  I let the kids decorate the tree, and only about 1/3 of our ornament collection made it out of the boxes.  My husband set up the train himself the day before Christmas.  I didn't bother to decorate the mantle, the bathroom, the chandelier, or anywhere else.  The month was so busy, that it simply was what it was.  Simple.
Christmas was good this year...
Just look at the jolly elves at our house on Christmas day!

Lead up to Christmas 2010

We've been busy, so here's a look at the week leading up to Christmas... above, a fun Christmas tree maze at a new hospital open house...

 

Checking out the stroke assessment room in the ER.  A is wearing her scrubs, and still hopes to be a doctor someday.  Whenever there is a new medical clinic or hospital opening, we ALWAYS have to attend the open house.  Little K goes along for kid activities. 
Finger casting.  Her pet kiwi bird also got a beak cast.
Checking out the pediatric training dummy.  It has soft pockets in the limbs for giving injections, and a weak computerized voice says "ouch" and "I want my mommy."  It would be more realistic if it screamed at high decibels and kicked and bit.

Riding the new CT scanner at the hospital.  Our neighbor is the technician who installed it and was proud to hear that we enjoyed his handiwork.

While at the hospital we got to see Santa.  The REAL Santa.  I couldn't help sneaking in the photo, since I love the dear old man so much, and wanted to be near him!
After the event the trees were given away free, so we took our tree home to decorate for the animals in our backyard.

The next day we had an early Christmas at my Dad's 5th ex-wife's boyfriend's house.  My dad, his ex-wife, and her boyfriend were there, as we had the usual blended family celebration.
We know the circumstances are a bit odd, so we all play along as oddballs.

Not hard with my dad around.

As always, the food was spectacular.  We had king crab this year, and even though I'm allergic, I had some and then about 10 antacids as a chaser, because it was too good to pass up.

Grandpa and his girls under the Swiss Christmas tree.

The next day we tried ice skating at the outdoor rink.  It had been 4 years since the girls were on skates, and they did pretty well, despite the crowds, pushing, and obstacles.
We attended the Magical Strings concert and A was selected for the juggling act -- she's at the far right, looking dazed.

My dad joined the fun, too.  Here he is at intermission, being himself.  He was sitting on the end of the handrail cycling his legs, pretending to be a bicycle riding donkey.
I coordinate community service at a nursing home for our Girl Scout service unit, so I arranged for us to sing Christmas carols to the residents.  They are always happy to see us.
A went back to the endodontist and the news is not good.  Her tooth has died and a root canal is scheduled.  Poor kid!
We went to the Pacific Science Center with friends and the kids found an old phone box at a restaurant, made "cell phones" from paper cards, and pretended to make calls.
I took A into the city for some one on one shopping (so she could buy presents for her sisters), and we ended up playing board games at Blue Highway games on Queen Anne Hill for a couple hours.  They have an extensive library of games to play, and we bought 3 games from their salesfloor.
And at home we played lots of games.  We love being able to stay up late and play hour after hour of strategy games.  SO that's our busy week BEFORE Christmas.

Happy Lucia

Family tradition lives on for the next generation.  Seems like just yesterday I was in a gown and wearing a crown, but mine had real candles alight, which left dripped wax in my hair until at least new year's.  These cousins are aged 7 - 13 with the oldest girl wearing a battery operated crown.  Mine made their own crowns with ribbon, straws, and yellow tissue paper flames.  Not the same, but as long as there are delicious cookies passed around by graceful young ladies, the elders are pleased.  Oh my gosh, if I'm no longer in a gown, that means I'm now an elder!  Yikes!

Halloween 2010

October just slipped by me, and this year I had no involvement in the girls' pumpkin patch visit, carving, or even roasting the seeds, all traditions I've enjoyed with them for the last 11 years.  Between 2 bad colds, work, shuttling kids to soccer, overseeing homework, and multiple volunteer commitments, I just missed out.  I didn't even retrieve the Halloween decoration bin from the attic.  Thank goodness Daddy stepped up to carry on the pumpkin traditions.
Both of the girls' Halloween costumes were thrift store finds.  A's is an authentic quilted Chinese everyday wear, not really meant to be a costume, but it worked perfectly.  I found it at a thrift in early summer for $4.99, and she's been wearing it as pajamas on cool nights.  K's outfit is beautifully hand tailored, and possibly was a stage costume as it has open armpits.  It cost $8.00 and fits her perfectly, and best of all, she adores it.  So, A is a redheadded Chinese girl, and K is a Bavarian girl.
I did manage to summon the energy and carve out the time for the girls to attend a number of Halloween events.  Above, we're at the LDS meetinghouse party with our neighbors on Saturday (they can't participate in Halloween if it falls on a Sunday, as it did this year, so no trick or treating for those kids.  The parents arranged this big party on the Saturday prior to compensate).  Each room in the meetinghouse was decorated and some carnival type game run by the older kids or a parent.  I love going to church functions for Halloween because they are generally non-violent, non-gorey, and the costumes are often cute and creative.
On Sunday, we went to the Calvary church Harvest party.  They hired a professional face painter this year, who decided to paint A's face like a Geisha.  I didn't have the heart to tell her than Geishas are Japanese, and the outfit A was wearing was Chinese.
The face paint was wonderful in that it wasn't greasy or itchy, and at the end of the night it was very simple to wipe off.  There's a big difference between professional face paint, and the cheap stuff from the craft store.
We had to restock our pantry with lingonberries so a trip to IKEA was in order.  The store just happened to be having a trick-or-treat treasure hunt going on, so the girls picked up some more candy while Mommy drooled over the kitchens (I want a kitchen remodel in the worst way).
Then I'd heard our local mall was having a "little" trick or treat event, so we stopped by there.  BIG MISTAKE.  I'd never seen so many people, not even during the Christmas season.  Shopkeepers were simply standing at their storefronts handing out candy, and very little shopping was happening.  The throngs of people were nerve wracking, and I must say I saw a lot of poor behavior on the part of parents.  I hate to stereotype, but I've been to Asia and I know how pushing and shoving is a cultural norm there, but I was really irritated to see children patiently waiting in line while one mom after another physically pushed other children back so her children could slip into the front of the line.  99% of the time it was Asian moms who were doing this, sorry to say.
We left after about half an hour, only having reached the front of about six stores.  We'd gone there mostly to see the costumes, but it was so crowded we had to focus mostly on not running into the people around us, and we couldn't really "people watch" like I'd hoped.  The favorite costume we saw was actually a trio: a girl about four dressed as two slices of bread, and her twin toddler sisters as jars of peanut butter and jelly.  I would have loved to get a photo of them, but they were running in 3 different directions and their poor mom looked like she was about to have a panic attack trying to keep them from disappearing the crowd.  No way was I going to add any more stress to that mom by asking her if I could photograph her children, so use your imagination.
We did go into three stores (and were the only customers actually in there).  The girls love to go to the Vera Bradley store, which sells quilted cotton handbags and luggage.  Above, Little K found some accessories to match her outfit.  We also went into a newly opened toy store carrying only the finest (and most expensive) European toys.  That store was giving away little animals instead of candy, so we just had to go in.
The other store we always have to visit at the mall is the Lego store.  They have this great new feature where you hold a box up to a screen, and it digitally brings the set to life, in animated 3D, along with an image of you holding it.
It's really fascinating technology that makes you stop and wonder, "How do they DO that?" 
Another day I'd taken A to "Haunted Mini Golf" at a nearby community center.  They set up a putting course in the double gym, completely dark except for glowing golf balls, strobe lights, and glowing bracelets set into the holes of the putting greens.
Fake corpses hung from the basket ball hoops overhead, and there was spooky music playing, and did I mention that it was very nearly completely dark?  A had a good time, but K was too timid to go.
And then there's trick or treating in our neighborhood.  For a time we joined a pack of about 30 neighbor kids, but we quickly dissipated as the preteens were eager to move on, while the toddlers took a long time climbing all the steps.
You never know who is going to be on the other side of the door when you ring that doorbell, but you know from experience that certain neighbors are more into the holiday than others.  Above, three generations were waiting for us behind this door.
It was a good Halloween, and for once it wasn't raining.  The following day it rained nearly 2 inches, so I was grateful the weather held for us.
Now to get rid of all this candy the girls have amassed.

Mother's Day 2010

I spent Saturday doing the "dutiful daughter thing" over at my mother's house.  I swept out her garage (while secretly tossing 20+ year old cans, jars, and bottles of fermented food), fixed her back door that wouldn't close, changed batteries in her smoke alarms, and performed a number of other chores.  Saturday evening while A had a softball game, Little K and I went to Trader Joe's for a very special reason... 
Little K had won the "Treat your Mommy to dinner" contest!  She filled out the form listing what she'd make me for dinner, and why she felt I should get a Trader Joe's dinner.  It was so sweet what she wrote on her entry about me, and thankfully her menu choices were pretty reasonable!  Apparently the winner was picked based on "menu choices & the story behind their love."   
Little K was so cute in her apron and chef's toque, so excited to be in charge of Mother's Day dinner for me.  She loves to cook, and felt very grown up doing all menu planning and the shopping, too. 
An employee walked her through the store, getting everything on her list.  It was a simple menu, and although the staffer told us we could have as many of each item as we wanted, I insisted we get only enough for the two of us to have a special meal together (K and daddy were at the softball game).  Anyway, we didn't want to take advantage of our favorite store.   
When we got to the register the store manager was there to ring it up "on the house," but before he was done he told K to go get me a bouquet of flowers -- ANY flowers!  There were so many to choose from, but in the end I steered little K toward a simple arrangement, and one of the least expensive, with hearty blooms I knew would last a long time.  Back at the register all the customers were beaming at the sight of Little K having picked out dinner for her Mommy, and Little K was so embarrassed yet so proud at the same time. 

That evening K and I had a great meal together:

Edamame soy beans, fresh artichokes with spinach dip, chicken salad, brioche bread, sweet tea, and for dessert, their newest items: mudd pie and New Orleans coffee. 
There was other fun this weekend, too.  My stepdaughter came for a visit, so we broke out the board games, enjoying a 3 hour battle of "Empire Builder."  The little girls are almost ready to play this competitively, but still need some coaching on the finer points of strategy.  It was a great Mother's Day weekend!  Nothing fancy, but full of family, goofy handmade cards with silly poems, a dinner from Trader Joe's that I didn't have to cook, pastry baked by my husband for breakfast, and time in the garden together with those I love. 

Easter 2010

  The Saturday before Easter I organize and run the Egg Hunt for our community.  There was over an inch of rain the day (and night) before, so I was really worried, but the mud wasn't too bad and the rain abated just long enough for 100-150 kids to comb the grounds for the 2,000 plastic eggs six volunteers and I stuffed with candy and hid.  My third year running the hunt, and another success... each year gets easier. 

Since instituting the recycling of eggs when I took over the role as Egg Hunt coordinator, I've saved the community association $200.00 a year since we don't have to buy new eggs every year.  More rewarding, though, is realizing that all that plastic is being reused instead of tossed in a landfill.  In the past eggs were tossed in the garbage cans at the park, or carried home with the kids, and then tossed in the garbage at home.  Sometimes all it takes is a small suggestion to recycle, and the majority of people rise to the occasion.  Even though we'd had the whole week off of school before Easter, somehow we didn't get around to preparing for Easter until Saturday afternoon (apart from organizing the community hunt).  Little K really wanted to make Pysanky eggs again, with wax relief painstakingly applied with a kistka held over a candle flame to melt the beeswax.  We only made 4 eggs this year.  I didn't have the patience or time for more.  We also tried making "tea eggs," but they didn't quite turn out as expected.  

We weren't hosting the family gathering this year, and instead were going to my brother's for a late afternoon meal, so my husband decided to get up early and go skiing.  The girls and I had a relaxing morning.  They even let me sleep in until almost 9 am (I'd been up earlier...). 
The girls had their hunt outdoors in the front garden.  The sun even made an appearance, although it was pretty wet and muddy still.
As in previous years the eggs were tinier than usual, and each contained a paper with a word, which when arranged properly, gave clues as to where their baskets were hidden... Their baskets were under Kelsey's bed!  Their "loot" this year included books, DVD's they'd been wanting, peeps, gummy candy, shampoo, and some chocolate marshmallow bunnies and eggs.  Later we went to my brother and sister in law's house for a late brunch and egg hunt.
  My niece Sarah enjoyed the egg hunt, which consisted of her cousins racing around finding eggs and then dropping them in front of her, and her 2 year old brother swooping in and grabbing them from her. 
It was a fun day, rather quiet, and a good end to spring break.  When the girls and I got home that evening Daddy was reclined on the couch, ski bibs were hanging up to dry, and soon it was bedtime because there was school bright and early the next morning.