New Year's Eve

Two days ago we had planned a spur-of-the-moment trip to Idaho for a New Year's Eve Gala with Min, Dan & Benji. The girls were looking forward to playing with their little cousin and being doted over by the aunt and uncle. However, today we heard some bad news: Benji Bear has come down with bronchiolitis!

Chloë, Jess, Ashley and I were all down-hearted thinking of the party that almost was. Marta had some great ideas for a New York themed party. Serendipity and Miracle on 34th Street would have been perfect movies for the occasion.

I could have spent the rest of this snowy day with a gray cloud over my head, but the girls bounced back with a brilliant New Year's Eve theme that would be easy to pull together. They sent the following invitation to Sco and I:

PENGUIN PARTY!!!

You are invited to celebrate the new year with the penguins in Antarctica.

Please wear winter clothes and be ready to celebrate at eight o'clock pm.

5:00 - Dinner

5:30 - Dessert & Movie

6:30 - Play Apples to Apples, Quiddler, or Sorry

6:50 - Resolutions

7:00 - Movie & More Games until eight

8:00 - Celebrate!

They are so cute. These three determined girls are a force to be reckoned with! In honor of our Penguin Party, we created this placemat. Please feel free to print some out on U.S. Legal sized paper, color to your heart's content and celebrate with us!

So although we will miss our special visit with relatives up north, the theme will be saved until we can get together after the thaw!

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ~Norman Vincent Peale

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis
One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly. ~Andy Rooney

We had a very merry and memorable Christmas this year. We took the girls iceskating for the first time. I think that is quickly going to become a family tradition. We spent time with aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents, and even got to visit all the great-grandparents! We had a magical Christmas morning full of squeals, ahhhhs and hugs.

Christmas Scrapbook Page

Each year, each family in the Halverson Heroes clan exchange scrapbook pages. I've got quite a collection of pages that have created an awesome scrapbook of cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. I absolutely love receiving each family's page in the mail and then flipping through past years' memories. Here's our contribution for this year.

Comfort & Joy

Star-struck

Hi, I'm your BiGGEST fan!

How can you be when you're so little!?

Please dont

Chloe's Writing

I'm please to announce that our little girl is now a published writer. Her writing was selected to be part of the Literary Learners Magazine on the Jordan School District website. For any of you Chloe fans out there, click here to read her entry. We are so proud of Chloe's hard work and determination to follow her dream.

Second Star To The Right. . .

This week I got to be a kid again.

"So come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned. Just think of happy things, and your heart will fly on wings, forever, in Never Never Land!"

— J.M. Barrie (Peter Pan)

I Am Full

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
-- Melody Beattie

This year I spent Thanksgiving with my favorite people: Sco, Chlo e, Jessica and Ashley. It was so fun to spend the whole day together. We started the morning off slowly. Sco made pancakes for breakfast (I love topping mine with pure maple syrup and cottage cheese). The girls let me do their hair like the hairdos I have seen online.

Blessing #1

By 1:00 pm we were all dressed and ready for the day. Sco and I took the girls to see Tangled. We all enjoyed the movie while snacking on Red Vines and popcorn. It was such a darling show with great songs and beautiful design (the floating lanterns scene was unbelievably spectacular). I think going to a movie will now be a Thanksgiving tradition.

Blessing #2

After the show we headed home to prepare our small Thanksgiving feast. I had found all the fixin's for a 5-star dining experience at my local Costco. Roasted turkey breast, cornbread stuffing with turkey sausage and cranberries, mashed Yukon Gold potatoes and Rhodes rolls were on the menu. We only had to cook the turkey for 90 minutes and then heat up all the side dishes.

While we waited for the bird, we took time to play our favorite family games: Magikus, a small game made by Lego; Chicken Cha Cha; and Quiddler. We finished up by putting a Care Bear puzzle together.

Blessing #3

When we sat down to eat, we toasted our good fortune with Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider. During dinner we listed what we were each thankful for and why we were thankful for each other and ourselves. A short 20 minutes later we rolled our full bellies over to the couch to snuggle up, watch another movie and enjoy Cheesecake Factory's variety pack of delights. Later we tucked the girlies in bed and read Percy Jackson while enjoying the effect of a good meal, a warm home and a family full of love.

Blessing #4

I'm thankful for all that is mine, especially my sweet family. We missed seeing cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles, but we enjoyed the time we could spend as a family. It was truly a unique Thanksgiving and it will be one of my favorite memories.

Chloe in the spotlight

Chloe's 9th birthday is this Thursday. This whole week she is the spotlight for her 3rd grade class. Today she took the challenge to describe herself with only objects she could fit in a shoebox. Both Sco and I are invited to come and share something with the class this week. Mrs. Kennan gave us a list of suggestions from having a mini career day to reading your favorite picture book to the class. I decided to create a crossword puzzle all about Chloe. I'm going to split the kids up into teams and have a race to see who can answer it the fastest. For those of you who know Chloe, take the "How Well Do You Know Chloe" crossword challenge.

http://www.variety-games.com/CW/Puzzles/20646429541742318970-puzzle.htm

Back in Focus

Ever since school started this year I have had a little identity crisis. The girlies have fallen into a great schedule and routine everyday. As for me, I have become somewhat of a blurry mess (aka, out of focus).

My children, being school-aged kids, don't need the kind of mothering that I have been used to for the last nine years. They don't need me to lay on the floor and play Mega-blocks. They don't need me to create a craft project and give them step by step directions. They are, thankfully, becoming more independent.

After school it has been a race to see if we can finish homework, chores, ballet, and music practice in time to play with friends or watch a show before dinner, showers and bedtime. It seemed to me that my mothering hours were limited from 3:30 until 8:00 p.m. Because my hours on duty had changed drastically, I lost my sense of self. I was starting to feel unneeded and retreated into my room to try and find something else to fill up my time.

And I'll tell you what: There are so many things that I can do to fill up my time. So much so, that I started to shirk my duties after school as well because I was involved in "my stuff." Many of these activities have blurred my vision of successful motherhood:

1. Reading celebrity gossip online.

2. Taking hours to design one scrapbook page.

3. Shopping bargains at Landsend.com (everyday).

4. Thinking non-stop about how happy I will be when I'm a size 8.

5. Wishing and listing all the upgrades I want my house to have.

Don't get me wrong, a little day-dreaming and shopping can be good for the soul. Reading about Lindsay Lohan's rehab and being ungrateful for what I have is not. I was starting to spend more and more time on these things and less and less time on studying my scriptures, exercising, talking to friends and family, and genuinely living (instead of always observing). I was choosing good things over the best things. And what was the consequence? I felt depressed, lonely and blurry. I felt unfulfilled.

About four weeks ago I saw the consequences of my choices. I was shirking my responsibilities as a mother. There was a lack of order in our family life. I needed to refocus. I started to remember that even though my kids weren't at home with me 24/7, I still needed to use most of my day fulfilling my role as the mom.

I was reminded of what my Church leaders have said about mothering. It's a divine and ETERNAL role. It doesn't end once my kids are potty-trained. I am excited to redefine motherhood and start this new chapter of our family's life. I restudied the Proclamation to the Family and the Gospel Principles Manual and have been reminded of the following ways to regain my focus:

1. Study scriptures and pray every morning.

2. Invite the Spirit into my home by choosing good media, keeping the home in order, and finding ways to serve.

3. Preparing myself and anything needed for the time when my kids get home from school. (ie. since I only have them from 3:30 until 8:00, why should I spend my time vacuuming instead of being available to my girlies?)

4. Show love and respect to each member of the family. (I have found that there are many ways to show my love through service while the family is absent during the day. Make dinner, write them a note, finish their laundry, etc.)

5. Read scriptures, pray and eat dinner as a family.

Isn't it amazing how these simple things are the keys to success? Through these small adjustments I have turned my lens a few degrees and quickly been put back into focus! "Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. . ." (Alma 37:6)

Please tell me what you do to be an ETERNAL mother. I'd love the advice!

Halloween Rocks!

With Halloween being on Sunday this year, it seems that the holiday has been stretched over the whole week! We went to a Spooktacular Carnival at our church on Thursday, costume parade and parties at school on Friday, ballet with costumes, trick-or-treating at Sco's work, a family Halloween party on Saturday. . . And now, here we are on Halloween Sunday ready for another party with the Halverson clan. The fun never stops for these little ghoulies!

I've loved having the girls wear their costumes around the house. I hear them say things like, "I bet this is the first time The Statue of Liberty has cleaned the mirrors in this house." "This is the first Girl from Paris to wash the sinks here!" "You've got a Pirate with no teeth waiting for the Tooth Fairy to come. Arrrggghh."

In an alternate universe, this would be Bizzaro Sco. Love it.

Halloween Rocks!

Thoughts at the Bottom of a Beanstalk

(Story given to me by Mrs. Van Den Akker)

Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Jack who was about to climb his very first beanstalk. He had a fresh haircut and a brand-new book bag.

Even though his friends in the neighborhood had climbed this beanstalk almost every day last year, this was Jack’s first day and he was a little nervous. So was his mother.

Early in the morning she brought him to the foot of the beanstalk. She talked encouragingly to Jack about all the fun he would have that day and how nice his giant would be. She reassured him that she would be back to pick him up at the end of the day. For a moment they stood together, silently holding hands, gazing up at the beanstalk. To Jack it seemed much bigger than it had when his mother had pointed it out on the way to the store last week. His mother thought it looked big, too. She swallowed. Maybe she should have held Jack out a year.

Jack’s mother straightened his shirt one last time, patted his shoulder and smiled down at him. She promised to stay and wave while he started climbing. Jack didn’t say a word.

He walked forward, grabbed a low-growing stem and slowly pulled himself up to the first leaf. He balanced there for a moment and then climbed more eagerly to the second leaf, then to the third and soon he had vanished into a high tangle of leaves and stems with never a backward glance at his mother.

She stood alone at the bottom of the beanstalk, gazing up at the spot where Jack had disappeared. There was no rustle, no movement, and no sound to indicate that he was anywhere inside.

“Sometimes,” she thought, “it’s harder to be the one who waves good-bye than it is to be the one who climbs the beanstalk.”

She wondered how Jack would do. Would he miss her? How would he behave? Did his giant understand that little boys sometimes acted silly when they felt unsure? She fought down an urge to spring up the stalk after Jack and maybe duck behind a bean to take a peek at how he was doing.

“I’d better not, what if he saw me?” She knew Jack was really old enough to handle this on his own. She reminded herself that after all, this was thought to be an excellent beanstalk and that everyone said his giant was not only kind, but had outstanding qualifications.

“It’s not so much that I’m worried about him,” she thought, rubbing the back of her neck. “It’s just that he’s growing up and I’m going to miss him.”

Jack’s mother turned to leave. “Jack’s going to have lots of bigger beanstalks to climb in his life,” she told herself. “Today’s the day he starts practicing for them. And today’s the day I start practicing something too: cheering him on and waving good-bye.”

Summer Days

Sunny days

Up on the lake

Making memories

Moments flee

Everyone's happy

Rolling along

Dive in the water

All the time you want

Young kids laugh

Sweet summer days

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time. ~John Lubbock

Summer Passport: Boredom Busters

There have been and will be many days when I need the girlies to entertain themselves. With help from many lists I found online and activities I know my girls love to do, I have created a list of activities to cure those summertime blues. The favorites so far: making your own newspaper, taking pictures and playing the name game.

Rules for the Name Game:
Write a famous person's name on a piece of masking tape. Don't let the player see the name. Tape it on either the player's back or forehead. After everyone has a name you begin youngest to oldest and ask a yes-or-no type question to help you figure out what name is on your forehead. With kids I like to have them ask a question and then you also give them a hint. This way the game goes quickly enough for those with short attention spans. The first person to guess their name wins. We've had lots of giggles while playing this.

Summer Passport: Places to Go

I included a map of Utah in the girlies' Summer Passport. It's always fun to see your destination on a map. After they have been to a certain place, the girlies can put a stamp or a check mark on the destination. We've never been to Antelope Island. Do any of you have any suggestions?

Las Vegas. . . check

Salt Lake City. . . check

Next stop: Ogden

Summer Passport: BUGS

On Monday we had a morning full of bugs. We learned about arthropods. Exoskeleton was the word for the day. We looked closely at arachnids and insects. Did you know a cockroach's body lives after it's decapitated? The only reason the body dies (after a few hours) is because it can't get any water. Yuck! And in Japan, beetles are the most common pet. You can purchase them in department stores over there! I found all my teaching resources at Orkin and Terminix.

My girlies took the theme of "BUGS" and flew with it. They begged to use my camera without any explanation. Since our activity was done for the day (after only 1 hour), I gave in and said, Go for it! They came back with a photo shoot ready for a gallery. They wanted to capture the world as a bug would see it.

I'm so proud of my creative daughters.

Summer Passport: Lemonade Stand

Image from our lemonade stand in 2009

Since the beginning of March, my girlies have been begging to have a Lemonade Stand. I told them to have patience and we'd have one when the weather was warm enough. I included this activity in our Summer Passport, on both the BOREDOM BUSTERS page and also on the calendar. They love jumping rope to get the attention of passing cars and then pointing the way to their stand. With colorful umbrellas and homemade signs they pulled in a lot of business. Thank goodness kids were out bike riding and friendly moms were carpooling that day!

Summer Passport: Help the Humane Society

I have two guest bloggers today. My girlies wanted to share what they wrote about their experience helping the animal shelter. I hope this activity helped introduce my girlies to a life of service.

Chloe wrote: "The activity for Monday was HELP ANIMAL SHELTER. So we went to Wal-Mart, bought some flannel, tennis balls, and dog treats to make things for the animal shelter. With the flannel we made 8 knotted blankets. With the tennis balls and dog treats we made fetch toys(we sliced the balls open and stuffed it with treats)."

Jess wrote: "Did you know that we we're helping animals yesterday? Well we we're. It was so fun. We went to the Humane Society and made all these cute things, like we made little blankets that had Puppies and Kittens on them and we cut the sides with just lines, and we cut tennis balls in the middle and we put Doggie treats in them. Now it's time to talk about the Humane Society.I thought that it would be a little, old animal shelter, But you have to see the size of that thing!It was about twice the size of what I imagined.When we walk in we see these big, furry Guinea pigs. There where cats behind the Guinea pigs. My favorite cat was Kelly, She was furry and she was black."

Making blankets for the cats and dogs was an easy craft for the girlies to master. Cutting open the tennis balls took a little more elbow grease than expected, but it was a quick way to create cheap dog toys. We had a good experience at the Humane Society. We weren't able to go back and see the dogs, but the girlies were able to enjoy the smaller animals up front.

Our Summer Passport

"What are we going to do now, mom?"

That is the dreaded question every mom hears during the summer. In the past, this question would turn me into either Oscar the Grouch or a nervous Snuffleupagus.

But not this summer! I was determined to be so on top of things that I would never hear that horrible question again. Not to toot my own flute, but I came up with a brilliant plan. I call it our Summer Passport.

I created a booklet that the girlies can refer to daily. It's a cross between a vacation itinerary and a checklist. I've listed all the relatives they might see this summer. I've listed the day trip destinations we will visit. We have certain days designated for service projects, learning about different countries and field trips. Most essentially, I included two full pages of single-spaced boredom buster ideas.

Each morning if the girlies have done their assigned chores we start the activity for the day. And thankfully, since I've thought ahead, I'm not frantically putting stuff together. So far this plan has been working well. I admit that I have still been asked (many times), "What are we going to do now?" But I can effortlessly refer them to their Summer Passport and all is well. Love it! I'm sure I am not the first mom to do something like this in order to have a sane summer. I just wish that someone had given me the idea sooner!

Along with this Summer Passport, I now have plenty of things to blog about! I'll fill you in on our activity for the day and review it for anyone who's interested.