Our week of sweet nothings…

Our goal this week was really just to do nothing - no plans, no commitments, no schedules…and that is just what we did! It has  been relaxing and refreshing. Tate, I suspect, is ready to get back into our normal routine. He misses his friends and all the energy-expending activities they do at school. However, Tyler and I could use another week or two. Here are some fun moments from the week.

The boys did some backyard explorin’.

We finally got around to taking Tate’s birthday tie picture, and then Chase and Daddy wanted to get in on the photo-fun!

 

 

Thanksgiving was fun and relaxing. I started preparing food on Tuesday, so when Thursday rolled around, there was only a few things left to throw together. We had the works, turkey, gravy, stuffing, sweet potato cranberry casserole and cranberry sauce. I forgot about a green veggie, but decided at the last minute to just let it go, we had plenty. Today the boys started enjoying turkey sandwiches with the leftovers.

This morning (Friday) we took off around 9 AM for our tree-cutting tradition. This year was easy, we spotted the tree from the side of the road and just went with it. Usually, we are trudging through the forest humming and hawing over the “last tree we saw.” It is easy to get sucked into the “there has to be something better a little further” trap. It worked out perfectly, as the boys were a bit antsy anyway from the 45 minute drive there and we still needed to drive home.

Tree cutting tradition

For the past 6 years we have purchased a permit to cut down our Christmas tree in a designated portion of the National Forest. It is a tree thinning program that is good to support, but also gives an extra special feel to the season. In fact, we have never purchased a tree from a lot. When we first were married our "Christmas tree" was a tree-like plant that could barely hold the weight of two ointments. Then not too long after we moved up to the mountains, we started our tree cutting tradition. It snowed last night, which made it seem even more Christmasey during the tree-hunting.

Here we are before and after we found our tree...well, when Tyler and Tate found the tree while Carmen (my friend who is literally hours away from having her third child) and I stayed back to chat. Chase cuddled up with me in my jacket all snug in our totally-worth-every penny Ergo!

Getting READYYYYY

Everyone knows we are taking the plunge with car travel...we drive to Texas early Sept. It is mere 16 hours away. I have been told the "Allbritton way" is driving all the way through...that tradition may end at this generation. Our "plan" is to pack the night before, get up at 2:45 AM (YES AM), sneak the kids out of their beds, softly transport them into the car, drive and drive until we need to stop for feedings and blood flow. Then we will see how it goes, stop at some parks to play and stretch, drive, stop, drive, and stop until we either make it to Grandmommy and Granddaddy's house or mommy calls it quits.

We made a countdown string of rings today that we will pull off every day until "the day!"

Everyone knows I am a planner, so I started creating my activities list for the car about two weeks ago. According to Tyler there is something called "being over-prepared", I totally disagree. Here is my activities list (which of course will be in a folder in the front so I can pick and choose when the going gets crazy). If anyone has ANY other ideas, please let me know!!!

Travel Activities List

NEW SURPRISE EACH HOUR

NEW SNACK EVERY HOUR (alternate with surprise)

CDs – Bible, Christopher Churchmouse, Pooh, Dr. Seuss, Wee Sing, homemade books on CD

Cards – crazy 8s, go fish, old maid, rummy

Books – read alouds, picture books, homemade Thomas book

Homemade map with landmarks (parks we will stop at, buildings to look for, cities coming up, and happy faces at final destination, tunnels)

Tix-tac toe –travel size magnetic

Make up stories - have Tate pick creature/animal to be main character and maybe an object that is involved and take it from there

Practice sign language

Legos – build a car, truck, bridge, car wash, tower, crane, etc.

Cars/trucks in shoebox that has race track drawn on and it makes a great holder for the cars

I-spy: “I spy with my little eyes, something red” – then the others have to guess what it is

Syllable game – say a word and have them clap it out and tell you how many syllables are in the word. Then try to say a number and have them come up with a word with that many syllables.

Crocodile Dentist – plastic toy from Amazon

Find 10/20/30 – choose a color or an object and then count them until you find 10 or 20 or whatever number they can count to. Popular Find items are American flags, statues, rivers, water falls, churches, red cars, etc. A competitive variation has each person choose a different item or color of car that passes you, and have a race to get to the final number.

The Rainbow Game - call out a color and they have to find something that color. Make the older kids find five things while the 2 year old looks for one.

Tape – let him go crazy, make a ball, tap on paper,

Treasure bottle – homemade before trip. In a jar with taped lid fill it no more than 2/3 full  with uncooked rice, cornmeal or birdseed and hide 20-25 small objects (safety pin, plastic bugs, button, M&M, nut, bolt, paper clip, penny, bead, piece of macaroni, tiny lego, and other misc. toy pieces or stuff that is probably rolling around in your kitchen junk drawer.)  Keep a count of the items and write down the number of items on the outside of the bottle. Let the kids roll them around to find all the goodies. Make a list of all the items to have them tell you what they have found and see if they have missed anything.

Magnetic Playboards – purchased boards that come with themed magnets – construction, plane and cars (of course)

Small magnadoodle – plastic drawing toy

Have Tate make up stories with plastic small animals and people (purchased plastic elephant and lion)

Aluminum foil art - give everyone a sheet of aluminum foil. Have them mold it into anything they want: animal shapes, Frisbees, balls, jewelry, crowns, headband, necklaces and masks. Hats, body armor, goofy eyeglasses, bowl for nuts.

Car bingo – magnetic boards to look for signs, animals, etc.

Movies – Thomas, home video DVD, Are we There Yet? (travel DVD for kids)

Family Traditions

Recently I have been mulling over the idea of family traditions. While we have some that have just naturally taken root into our daily lives and holidays, the concept of "intentional' living has motivated me to look into some other traditions we might want to add. I know that many traditions just develop as children grow. A family picnic and hike at a park may become a first day of Spring habit (that is if we are not knee deep in snow like this year) or an innocent request for a mug of hot chocolate and a read-a-load book in front of the pellet stove on a blistery night may become a regular Winter occurrence. However, it is fun for me to spin my wheels thinking about other ideas we can celebrate life!

 

This very cute, Tate-made, Mothers Day gift tealight holder is really what sparked my fire on this subject. A few days after Tate brought this home from school I decided to light it at dinner...POW! Tate loved it and I have to say, it did give the table a little something special. Then, of course, the highlight of the dinner was blowing the tiny tea candle out. So ever since that night, the candle has been lit (of course we are now onto another tea light). Thus begins my exploration into all the fun and exciting ways to intentionally add fun traditions into our day-to-day lives. Some initial thoughts and ideas from a few books on the subject, include:

• Sibling Day - a day of the year our boys will celebrate having each other!
• Home-made centerpieces for the table...maybe change them up every few weeks with a new craft project or just an arrangement of things found outside (probably sticks and pine cones)