OUCH!

One really cool bandaid found in a drawer
+
One boy anxious to display it prominently

=

Two eyebrows experiencing greater adhesive power than they ever expected!

20-30 eyebrow hairs seen by boy on a partially removed bandaid (in the mirror) 

+

Many tears

+

 Exclamations of "I'm going to die...or at least be really embarassed"

 +

 Much soaking with a wet washcloth on a bandaid while hanging boy's head over the sink

 =

One relieved boy
 +
One tired mom
+
Two eyebrows mostly still intact

(When I said to Nathan part way through, "Honestly, Nathan, I just really want to take your picture."  He said, "Yeah, so we can remember it forever or at least blog about it.  O.K.  But, I've got to wipe off my tears first."  What a boy!  What a time!)

Princess on her Perch

Our little helper...Sunday after church.

Olympic Finale--Courtesy of the Boys

"Olympic Sledding" -- Inspired by Nathan

I sent Nathan and Joshua out into the snow with their squirt bottles again today.  But Nathan soon got a better idea. 

"The Food of Olympians" -- Inspired and Funded by Greg

McDonald's has been advertising a new dipping sauce for their chicken nuggets...available for a limited time.  They say, "[It's] the very same sauce enjoyed at the Olympic village. So, now you don't have to be an Olympic athlete to eat like one." 

We haven't come this far on our "Olympic Journey" to miss out on an opportunity like that!  So tonight we headed to McDonald's for our chance at their "Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce".  (Ironically only the drive-thru was open at both of the places we tried...because of the weather.)  So, we brought it home for a picnic in the family room.   

We actually all really loved the sauce!  Greg calls it, "A little bit of country...a little rock and roll."  So, don't miss your chance.  =)

How Quickly Things Can Change...

It's good we enjoyed our "warmer weather" while we could. 

We woke up this morning to bikes covered in snow and the phone call that school has been canceled. 

Did We Teach THAT in Family Home Evening?!

Part of Primary today was having each child write in a “scripture journal”. We’re having them write one page each month and then compiling them at the end of the year. The idea of today’s was:

“What has Jesus given you? How can He help you in your life?”

The music leader saw what Nathan wrote on his and had to tell me. I hoped that meant he’d thought of something sweetly spiritual. He had carefully written (well enough for her to read—at least we can be proud of that)

“Jesus has given me pizza. He can help me not get heartburn when I eat it.”

I asked him about it after church…thinking we’d have a little laugh about it. But, he was totally serious! I guess if that’s the biggest trouble of his “heart”…life must be pretty o.k.

Making the Most of Our Weather Warm-up!

You know it's February in Michigan when a partly cloudy, 41 degree day means Nathan and Joshua are begging to play outside!  As we pulled in from church, we let them make the most of the "warmer weather" out on the bikes they got for Christmas.  (The first time they've gotten to ride them besides trips to the church gym.)  

Of course Greg had to make the most of the moment himself...by treating them like the moving targets they were.  =)  No mercy with his snowballs!

The Villain.

The none-to-pleased targets. 

(Please note one's best strategy is to get away...the other's is the "stare down" we see all too often.)

I'd taken Elizabeth inside and put her by some of her toys in the front room.  Soon we saw her standing, pounding on the window.  She is not one to miss out on the fun!  (The times she had to be taken out during church today were when she just would stop cackle-laughing.)  It's hard to be convincing that your family really is taking sacrament meeting seriously when your 10 month-old baby is laughing randomly...but consistently all through the meeting!

Olympics--Flags and Country Dinners

A fun and easy Olympic craft project is making an the Olympic flag. 

If you want to make your own...my sister does a great job of explaining it here.

One other fun thing we've loved doing during the Olympics is "Country Dinners".  

We've chosen 5 or 6 countries (whose cuisine I think I can try to produce at some level) and are focusing on one a night--spreading them out over the two weeks the Olympics lasts.  

Here are some of the ideas--courtesy of Carol (my sister who's brain child this really is)

China – will post more later on this combined with Chinese New Year

France--not exactly authentic...but still kind of fun!

• French-Bread, French Toast
• French Fries

Germany

• Bratwurst
• Sauerkraut
• German Chocolate Cake

Mexico--we've like calling it a "fiesta" and playing some of Greg's spanish-speaking music from his mission

• Tacos
• Burritos
• Enchiladas
• Nachos
• Sopapillas (scones for fun!)

Italy

• Spaghetti
• Raviolli
• French Bread with Olive Oil and Seasoning for added fun

In our family I only manage one or two of the foods and then have had Nathan and Joshua help create out of construction paper the flag from the country to display at dinner.

This is a picture of our "Japan" night we added because Nathan studied it in school this week. (We called it a Japanese dinner because it had one teaspoon of "curry powder" in it.) Works for me! =) 

Olympic Celebration!

Today, Nathan had school off for mid-winter break.  So, we had some friends over to help us enjoy an old "Olympic" favorite and a new one!

One of our Olympic traditions is to make "edible torches".  Sugar cones with orange/rainbow sherbet and red sprinkles. 

This year we've been noticing the blue lines on the "half pipe" for the snowboarders.  We've even read up on why they are there...see here.  So, we decided to do a bit of our own snow coloring...and had quite good success with squirt bottles filled with warm water and food coloring.  I was amazed how long and hard they worked!  We went through bottles and bottle of water.

Our little spraying army.

Joshua tried to do it with his mittens on, but it was hard to aim.  (He mostly sprayed his own face.)

Long Time, No See!

Well, after "being away" for too long, I'm taking a tentative step back into the blogging world!  This last month or two have been filled with life prioritizing, goal setting, home organizing and a lot of survival with sick kids!  But, I'm hoping we're on our way back to a pretty "regular" day by day around here.

I've been following and loving to read a lot of craft and cooking blogs in the last several weeks.  But, I've gone from feeling totally inspired...to a bit overwhelmed by what everyone else is doing that I'm not managing!  So, I've deleted by blog reader and have decided to focus on what is happening around here instead of what's not.  Hence...a blog title change...finding "Joy in (our own) Journey"!

May the days to come bring a bit more of enjoying the moment around here...and maybe a little blogging about it too!

Miriam   

Downtown Lights

Every year our city's downtown gets "decked out" with lights. It really is amazing. They cover every building...top to bottom...with strands and strands of lights. Tonight we headed down to stroll the streets, and then stopped for donuts and hot chocolate at a little corner shop before we headed home.

You can see in the background...Santa and his sleigh with Rudolf taking off at the front.

You can see behind us some of the strands of lights on the building.

Whenever Elizabeth gets hold of a cup...she puts it to her mouth and uses her loudest voice to say many "words" into it.  It's fun she's in the process of discovering she can do many great "tricks".