This is a post just for all of you fellow facebookers out there in blog world (don't you feel special?). Yesterday, I joined a Facebook group called "365 day Ashlland Challenge". I highly recommend joining it, if you haven't already. The group was organized by J & T Ashlland Photography, and is meant to inspire us all to look for the good in everyday, instead of being consumed by all the negativity in our world. First, join the group, then open a new album on your profile called "365 day Ashlland Challenge". Each day (for a year- obviously), post a new picture to your album that displays something positive, uplifting, beautiful, etc.
So as not to neglect my non-Facebook friends, I'll encourage you to take the challenge to your blog, and post just one picture every day to your blog. I'll do the same. Here is my first picture from yesterday, and I'll post my "day 2" picture later today. Are you up for the challenge?
Ok, this is offically a catch up post. I realized that there are some important things going on that I have neglected to post, so here you have it:
First up, we have the famous Stayton Ward annual chili feed. This is THE ward event of the year. Many pots of chili are homemade by the members, brought to the church, and judged. After the awards are announced, everyone piles their plates with varying selections of chili, rolls, and salad. Once the food has settled into digestive mode, the auction begins. Every year, the young women make desserts to sell in order to raise money for girls camp. Some desserts go for over $100 in order to aid the girls in attending. Since we had a previously scheduled activity, we had to duck out a little early, and missed most of the auction though.
Apparently, this is Rogue's cowboy face
Trying to be silly, as always
Next up, Elijah's first basketball season came to an end last weekend. After the game (during which, everyone on the team scored, and Eli scored twice- GO ELI!), we all hit up Padington's Pizza for some grub and certificates passed out by the coach. It was so fun going to these games, and I'm so sad it's over. I'm greatly looking forward to next year!
Guarding his guy
Continuing to rock out while Eli plays
All smiles, and so excited
After the pizza, we headed to the pine wood derby. Eli had made a derby car the night before, and was entered in the "friends and family" division, since he's not yet a cub scout. His car didn't win, in fact it came in last both times down the track (notes were taken for next year, I assure you), but he still grined, and said he had a good time. Way to go, Eli :)
Ready to build his derby car
Filing down the edges
Ready for the paint job
Awaiting his car's decent
Friday was an attempt at a "fort day", since they so enjoy "fort nights". I made each of them their own fort in the living room. Unfortunately, it was a total bust, and only served to create more fights- mostly over the possessiveness of their own forts. We'll have to sit down for a talk before we attempt that again.
A fort-littered living room
Rogue curled up in his
Eli reading in his
Lex hiding away in hers
Yesterday was a family gathering at my parents' house. Mike & Lizzie were, of course, unable to make it, since they live in Utah, and Matt & Kathleen had to cancel last minute because of illness. So, it was actually more of a "half" family gathering, I suppose. Anyhow, we had a scrumptious meal of homemade guacamole (made by Eric and Elijah) with chips, taco soup, and some steamer clams to top it all off. After our hearty meal, we played a little basketball, and did a little exploring. The kids just love it there, and could spend hours on end playing outside. It was a wonderful place to grow up, and I only hope that someday we'll be able to provide our kids with a similar acreage to live on.
Preparing the guac
Yummy lunch
Climbing the wood pile
Dad assisting in Lexi's retrieval of her stick
Well, that's all folks. I tried to keep each section as brief as possible, and I hope you enjoyed this lengthy catch-up post.
AGH! I almost missed it again. I'm getting this in right under the wire! Once again, sorry for the ridiculous lack of posts lately. I am a complete addict. I get into one thing, and completely immerse myself in it for a long time, then finally the need will fade, and I'll search for something new, and completely lose myself in it again. Lately, I've been on a ridiculous, relentless reading frenzy. Although I thoroughly enjoy fascinating nonfiction stories and fact-based fiction stories, I have a senseless current addiction to http://www.fanfiction.net/. It's full of original stories written by regular people, based upon characters from other books, movies, TV show, etc. For example, you could search under "Harry Potter", and you'll find over 300,000 stories that have been written about the characters. Anyway, I'm hooked. My poor blog and Facebook have been neglected. As per the usual, I'm sure I'll snap out of it soon, and I'll be back to more regular updates. For now, I'll give you what you've all been waiting for (my "way back when-sday" pic, in case you forgot):
So, I was feeling a little... I don't know-maternal? And I decided to post one of my prego pics. Seeing these kinda make me miss being pregnant. I never had REALLY difficult pregnancies (although that first one was a bit of a doosy), and I loved feeling the life growing inside of me, and having a pretty prego body. Ahhhh.....
All too often, the AOL headliners that grace my screen when I sit down to the computer are filled with hate, violence, and rediculous gossip. Today, however, my heart just melted at this story:
I know, it's been far too long since I posted! I was sitting here, contemplating what I could write about, when something popped into my head. It actually happened a couple of months ago, but here you have it:
I happened across "The Lorax" on the TV schedule one day, and decided to record it. The original release was about 20 years ago, but nevertheless, it quickly became a favorite of the kids'. One day, I heard them watching it, and Eli instructing Rogue, "Ok, get ready, here comes your part. Remember, you have to lift yourself by the seat of your pants."* Sure enough, as I peaked around the corner, Eli finished his part (they had apparently been acting out the whole show as they watched it), Rogue stood in front of the TV, leaned forward, grabbed the back of his underwear (the only thing he was wearing at the time), and hitched them up as high as he could. I whipped back around the corner and tried my best (although, ultimately unsuccessful) to contain my laughter. Afterwards, he moved aside, and the two of them continued to act out the rest of the show, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. As for me, I was nearly rolling on the floor, because I have to say- it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen them do!
One of my best friends, Desiree, is expecting her first baby (Yay Des!). Last night, when we got together for the usual dinner, chat, and movie, I took a few pics of her beautiful prego self. I really wish that I had some better photo editting software, but made do with what I have. I really enjoyed doing it for her, and if I can just manage to take some classes to help get good at it, I'd love to do more photography. Anyhow, here's one of the pics I took of her:
A friend of mine just wrote a post about Will.i.am's "Chunky" song from Madagascar II, and it compelled me to post this video of "I like to Move it". This new version by Will.i.am is awesome, and the kids will sit and watch this video about 20 times in a row without getting sick of it. (scroll down to pause the music playlist first)
We have never been a big hot dog eating family, but we do have them on occasion, and Rogue LOVES them. Lately, he's been begging me to help him make hot dog soup. Apparently, he's already a master chef when it comes to this dish. He knows all the steps to take, and all of the ingredients. He just needs my help with putting it all together. I'm considering doing it someday, and seeing what we end up with. The problem is, the ingredients and techniques change from day to day (although he is still always VERY confident in the way it is to be prepared each time he tells it), therefore, I need to strategically choose the day we make it. Today, for instance, would not have been a good day to do it, because these were the instructions for Sunday, March 1st:
"Put the hot dogs in the freezer. Take them out and cut them up into tiny-sized pieces. Then, add milk, milkshake, ice cream and cookies."
He insists that it would have been delicious, but I'm not so sure....
*****FYI- To my surprise, there are actually several hot dog soup recipes available on the internet- who knew?*****
