Magic Washcloths

When we were at Disneyland, we bought some magic growing washcloths for the kids. We have found some at the dollar store in the past, so the kids knew what to do. We had held onto them for a later surprise, and decided to do them tonight. Ben was first to unwrap his washcloth and put it in the water. With much excitement, we watched it grow taller and soon into a full Nemo washcloth.

Sarah was glad to have a turn with her Mickey Mouse shaped cloth. We watched it grow and change to be a Disneyland 2008 washcloth. It's fun to see how something simple, like a washcloth, can fill an evening with delighted kids. We shared some of these as gifts to friends and cousins, and we're hoping they enjoyed them too. Now, if we can just remind the kids to actually use the washcloths.

Boxy Boy

At our house, you just never know what might come around the corner. Today a box we left in the living room grew some striped legs and started to move about the house. It seemed to mean us no harm, and even made its way into the restroom to use a toothbrush on some unknown interior portion of the box. There was a bit of confusion as we watched the box crash into the wall and furniture, but it was quiet and seemed to fit in relatively well with our family.

Too bad Ben wasn't around to see the walking box. I'm sure he would have enjoyed it! Later we discovered the box had returned to its original empty state.

Please let us know if you have seen anything similar in your house!

Learning Experience

As a mother, I clearly have a lot to learn. Today I learned something which would be useful to share with all of you with children in your lives. Please feel free to learn from my experience!

Sarah and I were driving to the orthodontist. She needed to have her retainer adjusted because a loose tooth had been twisting and was pushing against the retainer in a painful way. This tooth has been quite stubborn about coming out in a timely way, and we're being as patient and encouraging as possible. Anyway, as we're driving to the orthodontist, we're talking about the retainer adjustment and how her teeth are doing. She expresses concern about her tooth and wonders what the orthodontist will do. Feeling confident that this adjustment will greatly improve the fit of her retainer, I reassure her and finish with a joke about how he'll probably just pull out the troublesome tooth! Ha ha... Well, for some reason this added to her anxiety, but I somehow persuaded her to go into the friendly orthodontist office.

They all welcome us and invite us to sit while they look at her mouth and her retainer. Hmm... What to do... They look again and then they propose the best solution would be to pull the bothersome tooth out! Oh no! Sarah's eyes grew much too large for her face as she looked to me for comfort. Unfortunately, my eyes had also grown much too large for my face!

We held hands, said a quick prayer, and braced ourselves for what turned out to be a quick pull but with a bit of bleeding. They stuck some cotton in her mouth to stop the bleeding and gave us a coupon for Dairy Queen to help her recover. So the apologies began as I drove from the office to Dairy Queen, and will probably continue for awhile.

Now I'm sure it is clear to all of you that she will never trust me again as we drive to a doctor appointment. Would you? Perhaps it is not the best idea to joke around about pulling teeth, shots or surgeries. Just make a note for future reference!

Scooter Boys

Ben and Kristian were able to get together to play this afternoon, and couldn't wait to get out on their scooters! It was getting dark and we finally had to stop. They go to homeschool classes together twice each week, and have become such very close friends over the past couple of years. It would be handy if they could just live next door! Then we wouldn't have to schedule times to get together. Maybe we'll work on that...

Pathfinder Rally

Today was the regional Pathfinder Rally. Clint was working in his role as teen boys counselor and Sarah was busy with all the programs and activities. Becky volunteered in the kitchen to help with the spaghetti lunch and hot dog supper, and Ben was a kitchen helper too!

Their afternoon activity was to put together flower arrangements and deliver them to locations around town. Sarah went with a group to a retirement home. We continue to be inspired by the Pathfinder leaders, counselors, and kids in our region. We're so thankful Sarah has this opportunity.

They ended the day with roller skating and swimming. How do they do it all?

Christmas Band Concert

Sarah's first band concert was scheduled for mid-December with a Christmas theme, but it was cancelled due to the big snow which buried our city.

So we were invited to a recheduled Christmas concert tonight with Sarah's beginning band, along with the orchestra, handbells, junior high girl's choir, and advanced band.

We were delighted to watch her playing her flute with the band! She was front row, near center, often behind the conductor. Ben was wishing it had been a marching band, but maybe next time...

Fun to be 8

Ben is a perfect example of how much fun an eight-year-old kid could have on an ordinary Monday morning. Today he took his math workbook to his room and put on a "thinking" hat. Toss in a smidge of silly, and you get the picture. Life is never dull around here!

Ice Skating Night

We enjoyed a night of ice skating with a lot of our church families tonight. Becky was in charge of the outing, and we were delighted to see so many smiling faces out on the ice.

Sarah and Ben have really improved their skating, and it was a treat to skate with so many friends. Clint was the designated skating photographer. We'll definitely plan this again next year.

Ben's New Braces

It was an exciting day for Ben. After wearing an expander across the roof of his mouth for several months, his mouth is spread out to the right position.

Today he got braces on his four front teeth to pull them back to center and straighten them. He chose purple and orange rubber bands. He was surprised that he really couldn't feel anything when they put on the braces. One of his friends asked if they had to put him to sleep to put them on his teeth. He's quite excited and happy to show off his shiny mouth to any interested parties.

Of course we felt a celebration was in order, so we stopped at Baskin-Robbins for some ice cream. Yummy! Now he can practice brushing that ice cream off with his new toothbrush kit at home!

Ski Day

Today Clint took the kids for a ski day. They took a refresher class since they had only skiied once before last year, so Clint got some snowboarding time in the morning.

After lunch they braved the COLD and decided to try going on the big ski lift for the first time ever. Ben said it was scary on the lift, but Clint reported both kids did a great job and had a lot of fun. They met up with Ben's friend, Kristen, and skiied with them a couple of times. The snow was great, the skies were blue, but the temps were bitter cold.

Sledding with Grandparents

We couldn't resist the urge to drive over to see Grandma and Grandpa Steffen to celebrate the new year. The weather has been really snowy and icy, so we decided to wait for a relatively clear day for travel. We just drove for the day to be sure we made it home before tonight's anticipated snowfall. We thought their home looked like a wintery wonderland!

Shirlee, their trusty dog, greated us with love as usual. After a big lunch, we grabbed sleds and snow clothes, and went sledding down the roads by their house. What a blast! The kids had fun trying the sleds with runners, and we kept going until the sun went down. Then we went back to warm up, have supper, share photos and stories, and watch some videos.


We drove home late at night and were happy to have the memories of a snow-fun day tucked in our heads as we rolled into bed.