Wringing the Bell

Not so sure about this Elf on the Shelf tradition…I am so out of ideas. And you know they will remember everything she did for next year, so repeats aren't possible. Although, the girls really thought Bell would like to play in the Barbie house more than she did.

Anyway, here are the remaining photos of her visit:

After Baby's birthday party, Bell attempted to use the leftover balloons to fly back to the North Pole.

Here she is, reading my book. It wasn't that scary so I had no worries about it giving her nightmares.

Bell must have been smacking her head against the floor after witnessing the children's less than stellar behavior during the first couple days of Christmas break. 

Hey! No peeking!

Here, she's switched out the Christmas stockings for actual footwear. (I think she might have been reading Jessica's Joys over my shoulder…)

We'd received an early gift in this package. Maybe she was trying to make sure there wasn't anything else hidden under those packing peanuts.

Seems like the kids aren't the only ones trying to eat the strawberries in the fridge. Kids thought this was hilarious, that she stayed in the fridge all day.

Then Bell disappeared. The kids couldn't find her for the entire day. But the next morning, there she was, sitting in a candy bouquet we got from friends. She had a letter from Santa, explaining that she'd stayed in the North Pole to help Santa get their presents ready. Santa had sent Bell back with a special gift for the kids, too.

In that little bag she's carrying were magic elf seeds. They looked like tiny Christmas trees. The kids were instructed to "plant them in sugar, sprinkle with snow, wait for the magic to see what would grow." Even though there was plenty of the real thing just outside. I explained that we use magic snow instead because that was what would help the seeds grow faster. They took a pinch, made a wish, and then sprinkled it over the bowl of sugar.

This is what appeared the nest morning! The Boy said he knew they were magic because there was no way I could make cookies that good. Thanks a lot, Boy.

Bell got together a few of the other toys for a game of Uno Attack. Looks like she's winning!

Bell spent her last night with us the evening before Christmas Eve, reminding us what the true meaning of Christmas is. When Santa dropped off the gifts, he took his little elf back home with him. She'll return next year, with lots of new ideas for playing in our house!

Week 1

Week 2

Hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

Elf Invasion - Week 2

 Last time, I talked about Bell, our Elf on the Shelf. The first week was hard. Mainly because I kept forgetting that she leaves every night to report to the North Pole and then returns to a different location. Nothing like running downstairs before the kids in the morning to "make sure" she's back. So here's where Bell went the second week at our house.

Bell really likes being up high. I can relate. I'm pretty short and prefer to wear high heels. Unfortunately, she was so preoccupied with being up so high that she didn't change positions for the next morning. So when she heard the kids coming downstairs, she took a flying leap from her shelf…

…and landed in the Christmas tree.

The Barbies have all kinds of great clothes to try on. Too bad the shoes don't fit.

And shooting Nerf darts is really fun. Even if she did make a little mess on the Boy's floor.

Time to brush her teeth! I wonder if she has to floss…

Then, unfortunately, Bell caught the sniffles. She was in bed for two nights, until she felt better. Baby even snuck in to periodically check on her. Having just had a cold herself, she made sure to be really quiet so she didn't disturb Bell.

This was the end of Week 2. Things got more complicated the following week, when it seems that Bell was running out of ideas…

Week 1
Week 3

So Be Good For Goodness Sake

I gave in to peer pressure and allowed a new family tradition: the Elf on the Shelf. (If you've never heard of these, go here.) We decided to ask for a girl elf because that seemed like more fun. The kids named her Bell, like jiggle bell. From her first night here, Bell was helping us get into the Christmas Spirit. Baby had made a countdown chain at school but it was severely mangled during a spontaneous wrestling match. I promised to help her fix it the next day, since it was already bed time. Bell had other ideas.

She taped the whole thing together while Baby was sleeping.

The next night was a little less serious...

She must have enjoyed watching the Boy play the Wii so she tried it out after the kids went to bed.

Not sure why she was playing in the dog's kennel but the dog was not going in there with Bell still inside. Oh, come on! The elf isn't that creepy looking...

I think she likes to be up high. She also hung from the chandelier.

This is what I get for leaving chocolate laying around...

After the first week, I was starting to struggle, maybe because the elf can only move once the kids are asleep. While looking for other ideas on where to place her -- er, I mean, where she might show up next, I found 101 ideas, which lead to this post on those "other mothers" and their overachieving (because, really, why would I leave a mess on my counters all day or give my preschooler ideas about drawing on family photos?), which lead down a slippery slope to PG-13 ideas. Well, maybe when they're teens.

Any suggestions for a tired mommy?

Week 2
Week 3

The Spirit of Christ(mas)

May your Christmas be filled with joy and happiness as we celebrate the arrival of our Savior here on earth.

Poor Man's Almond Roca

I've been making candy all week. My mom's recipe for caramels. My dad's recipe for fudge. Then my friend Amanda posted about toffee bars. Mmmmm…toffee bars. My mom used to make almond roca that was to die for but I've never attempted it and didn't have her recipe. So I took a look at Amanda's recipe link, made some of my own changes, and came up with this:

Faux Roca
1 pkg graham crackers
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups almonds, ground up in your food processor

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Use aluminum foil to line a 9x13 pan, then spray with cooking spray. 
• Use graham crackers to line the pan as close to the edges as you can get. You might need to break the crackers into smaller or skinnier pieces.
• Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add in brown sugar and stir. 
• Turn up the heat to medium high and bring the sugar to a nice frothy boil while you keep stirring. This should take about 5 minutes.
• Pour sugar mixture over crackers. Use a spatula to spread it out to cover all the crackers.
• Place pan oven for five minutes or until the sugar mixture is bubbling. (Took mine about 7 minutes.)
• Once it's out of the oven, evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top and let them melt. 
• When melted, spread chocolate so it covers everything, making sure to keep it even.
• Before the chocolate cools, sprinkle nuts over the top until all chocolate is covered. Press them down into the chocolate. You may have nuts leftover and that's fine.
• Let cool completely.
• Break into pieces and enjoy!

The crunch from the crackers mixed with the toffee makes for a very similar roca experience and doesn't require a candy thermometer. And you can't go wrong with something smothered in chocolate and nuts.

What are your favorite Christmas treats?

When Gingerbread is Better Than Horoscopes

I like traditions, especially holiday ones. Some times I get a little too focused on keeping them, that I kinda sorta turn into the Traditions Dictator. It's one of the things I'm working on.


Every year, we decorate a gingerbread house. Well, not exactly. Last year, we made a train, or rather, they fought over which sections of the train they got to smear with tasteless frosting and cheap candy. It fell apart before the kids could eat all the candy off it when they thought I wasn't looking. 

This year, I found a gingerbread village, with five little houses. I wouldn't have to split my time between defending property lines and dividing the scant candy offerings. This might actually be a fun family moment instead of kids throwing tantrums and parents' heads exploding.


So we opened the bags of candy, kneaded the bags of prepared frosting, and sat down to build memories. Snowman even joined us. And I saw each of my children's personalities manifested in sugar and stale cookies.

On the far right, we have da Boo's creation. Choosing to not follow the suggestions on the box, she did her own thing, borrowing heavily from what I was doing. And just when she thought she might be finished, she dumped a whole lot more sprinkles on the roof. 

The A-frame belonged to the Boy. He got right to work with the icing, barely letting his sisters get time with the bag. And his visions were grand! Big, big plans he had! Sure, he started out copying me but then decided he had better ideas. Alas, his schemes were more complicated than royal icing and gumdrops could provide. Tears were shed but in the end, he was satisfied with his work. 

Then we get to Baby's house on the far left. The Man attempts to remain an observer but she takes over and gets him to do all the work for her, except when it comes to candy placement. And should she decide that mound of sprinkles doesn't quite work in that location, she moves it. To her mouth. In fact, the following morning, I have the nerve to take a shower, thus leaving my toddler unsupervised for fifteen minutes. And that was all the time she needed to finish off the candy she missed the night before, along with most of the frosting. By the time I got back downstairs, she was the one that needed a shower.

The last two houses belong to me and the Snowman. Can you guess which one is whose? The one on the left is called a "red roof inn" and not the type that normal people know as hotels. These red roofs are all over Philmont Scout Ranch. As a bathroom. If you look inside -- and I don't recommend that you do -- you can see the, uh…seats.

And then I got a little too into decorating my house. Maybe it's because I haven't been able to decorate very many cakes lately.

 

What is your favorite Christmas tradition? 

(The one you'd gotten a bit fanatical about? Come on, people! Help me not feel like such a freak…)

What I Learned On My Christmas Vacation

• As much as I love the GPS system we have, it's rather depressing to get on to the main highway and see that your next turn is in 419 miles.
• There's a reason why there are no smash hit songs, popular movies, or best-selling books about Omaha.
• During the summer, Kansas is full of sunflowers and humidity. During the winter, the sunflowers are all gone and the humidity turns to ice.
• Everything in Texas is bigger. Especially the highway systems.
• Being two hours from your brother's house on your way back to Utah is a really bad time to discover his car keys are still in your purse.
• You know your anxiety medication is working when you see multiple cars sliding off the icy highway and you can still communicate with your spouse in a recognizable form of English.
• If you have to get stranded by the snow and poor road conditions, Moab, UT, is an absolutely beautiful place to do just that this time of year.
• When you finally get home, your messy kitchen will never look so inviting.

What was the best part of your Christmas vacation?

My Creche

Sorry for the lack in posting. Internet access has been less than sparse lately. I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and was able to spend time with loved ones. Blessed enough to be with both sides of the family, my cup definitely runneth over.

I love decorating for the holidays. Easter is all about the Peeps and one day I am going to re-enact my favorite scene from Phantom of the Opera using an all Peep cast. Halloween is perfect for spiders but I also love using candy corn. In my younger days, I even painted my nails to match the trio of stripes. Christmas is all about the candy, too. Candy wreath, candy garland, and gingerbread everything else. But my favorite decorations are the nativities I've collected over the years. Too much focus is placed on material things this time of year and I like to remind myself the real reason for the season: celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

This was a "free with purchase gift" a few years ago. I love it because it is one of the few I've seen that features a cow.

A gift from a friend. It looks like the figures don't have faces but I promise they do.

My oldest set was a wedding gift from the Man's grandmother. It has so many pieces and I find myself always rearranging the animals. Well, I say I'm rearranging...really I'm just playing with them.

Maybe I should just play with this one instead. I leave this set on the kids' table and let them play with it however they'd like (it also keeps their hands off my more delicate sets). This was carefully placed by da Boo for my photo.

My favorite decoration is not a nativity, although it does feature Christ.

Wise men still seek him. Merry Christmas!

To Card or Not to Card

It's the big Christmas Card debate. Really, I'm just debating with myself so it's not much of an argument...more like some whining and getting distracted by chocolate.

I love getting Christmas cards! Love 'em. Even the ones with the "aren't we so much better than you" family letters. And let's be honest, it's not that hard to better than me - you just have to eat less cake. My favorites are the ones with pictures of families that are growing up far away.

Last year, I didn't send cards at all. None. Not even to my parents. The year before, I got a cute bundle of cuddliness during the holiday season so I sent out Christmas cards in the form of a baby announcement. In the years previous to that, I sent handmade cards to around 50 people. Handmade, people. With all sorts of adorable accents and ribbons. By the time I was done with those I'd spent far too much money and even more time. This year, I have found the solution: Shutterfly Christmas Cards. Custom cards using pictures from the photo shoot this summer and I am good to go!

The problem now is trying to decide which one I like best.

First, I started with Sharing the Love.

I like that I can include a little bit of the family letter without having to wax poetic. And the colors are great, too. The hard part is deciding which text box should go with which picture.

Next I found Snowflake Wishes Cranberry.

I love the red and I get to showcase my kiddos' little faces. It was really hard to narrow down my choices. There are several similar formats like this one, in different colors and accents.

And then there was Gifted Tag Christmas.

So simple and so elegant. I have to say that I'm leaning toward this one. Certainly makes my job a lot easier.

Might just have to take that same photo shoot and make it into a calendar. I'm already obsessed with talking about myself, now I can look at pictures of me (oh, and the kids...maybe) all year long. And while I'm at it, I can finish off some hard-to-shop people on my list with a photo book or personalized mug. I can be like some of the mega bloggers and give mugs with my logo and picture as the prize in my next giveaway. You'll just have to promise me that you won't drink Pero out of it...that stuff is nasty.

Are you sending Christmas cards?

Which of these three formats do you like the best?

* I was given 50 free holiday cards by Shutterfly for this post. I picked out the cards and the split modifiers.

*Are you a blogger and interested in participating in this promotion? Go here to get more information.

What Shall We Give?

I loved this video from Mormon Messages. (And once again proved that my mascara is NOT waterproof.) President Monson expresses it far better than me.

Merry Christmas!

May God bless you and yours.

The Twelve Pains of Christmas

Totally stole this from my sister but hey, it's a good one.
Enjoy!

Dear Neighbors...

Please accept this small token (of my sanity) as a gesture of goodwill (and calories) during this, a special (and fattening) Christmas season. Merry Christmas!



Sincerely,
The Cows

P.S.
If you didn't get one, you need to a) move closer, b) give me more chocolate throughout the year, or c) not let your dog poop on my lawn.

P.P.S.
And Heather? I ate yours. It was delicious.

What Would Santa Do?

So this last week opened me up to a new level of frustration and eye-rolling. The Boy took "pain in the royal behind" to heart and made it his personal goal to irritate the snot out of everyone. Don't believe me? Here's a little sample of what he did just in the days before Christmas.

• Stole Baby's pacifier and hid it when he knew she wanted it.
• Tantrums unnumbered over the most seemingly insignificant things (like which chair he got at the dinner table - the actual chair, not the place at the table).
• After first engaging Boo in a hug, he proceeds to bite her arm so hard that not only did it bruise, but it also broke the skin.
• Snuck most of the Christmas fudge. It took me a couple days to catch on that I wasn't the one eating so much of it.
• Swung my painting on the wall until it fell off.
  
• Took any and every opportunity to annoy Boo, making her either cry or yell at him - both of which would result in them getting in trouble.

That's enough for now, but there are more. Even threatening to call Santa and then picking up the phone to do so did not deter his bad behavior. He spent a portion of every day in time out but it didn't seem to affect him. I was at a loss as to what to do. Maybe it is the new baby, the holiday season where his schedule is off, or the influx of sugar. Whatever the cause, his behavior was making me cry daily (that could also be the hormones, as I was already getting weepy over some of the Christmas songs on the radio).

Then I had an idea. Remember how he kept asking Santa for a spiderweb and I had no clue what he meant? I had planned on making one from red yarn but come Christmas Eve, me and the Man stayed up way too late (playing Rock Band) and I decided I just couldn't make it. And to be perfectly honest? I really didn't want to. So I contemplated leaving him a message from Santa, saying something to the effect of "Sorry, but you landed on the naughty list so no spiderweb. And next year, don't bite your sister." I thought it was genius! The Man and I snickered over it for some time but in the end, I didn't leave a note, either. Besides, even a personal letter from Santa himself would be lost on the Boy.

And you know what? He didn't even notice there wasn't a spiderweb on Christmas morning.

Would you have left the letter from Santa?

Christmas Message

President Hunter gave this advice during the first Christmas Devotional in 1994. I received this fabulous rendering of those priceless words many years ago, as part of the Relief Society's Christmas present to all the women. The message touched me so much that I've kept it with my Christmas decorations. I decided I needed to share it with others. And I tried to find out who the artist was but no one would fess up.

Hope you are having a very merry Christmas!

Best Christmas Present Ever

Merry Christmas! And God bless us, every one.

The hospital gave us this stocking when Baby was born, made by their volunteers. After the baby is bathed, prodded and measured, they deliver the baby to the mother tucked inside these stockings. Since Baby spent her first day in the NICU, we missed out on that so I had to re-create it at home. The shirt she's wearing was part of her take-home outfit. The tag reads "Mom and Dad's best present ever" and ain't that the truth!

(I started this post as a Wordless Wednesday, made famous by 5 Minutes for Mom, but this isn't really a wordless post because, frankly, its nearly impossible to get me to shut up.)

Foto Friday #21

Its been a busy week around here with non-stop action every moment - for everyone else, not so much for me. Seems like every event for the kids happens while I am stuck at home. Not that having a wee baby fall asleep on you isn't the best feeling...still, I kinda feel guilty for some of the things I am missing out on.


It SNOWED!! I love the snow. Grandma G bundled up the kiddos and took them outside - along with a random collection of items from the kitchen - to make a snowman. We had to hurry and take a picture before the candy facial features melted. And yes, Boo is wearing pajamas. She went with her class that morning to ride the Polar Express. Pajamas were mandatory, apparently.


Boo made a snow angel. She did a pretty good job of it, not leaving too many footprints when she stood up.


The Boy had his class Christmas program. I stocked up on the pain killers and went. I was a little woozy during the songs but perhaps that made it all the more enjoyable. Afterwards, he got to sit on Santa's lap. He keeps asking for a spider web. Wha...? When I ask him to explain it to me, he says he wants a red spider web he can throw. Any ideas on this one?


And then there's Baby. Boo and Boy went to the mall with Grandma G and Aunt Denise to make Baby a special Build-A-Bear on the day she was born. Here she is with her bear. I wonder how long before she's bigger than that stuffed animal...AND! She slept six hours straight last night! Woot!

FHE: Christmas Story

Yeah, I know I'm late publishing this. I've collected my various excuses for your selection: new baby, no sleep, lots of drugs, no sleep, aching chest, no sleep...

Opening Song: Once There Was A Snowman (in honor of the recent weather)

Opening Prayer: Boo.

Lesson: Since Grandma G is still here for a few more days, we gave her the lesson assignment. For the Christmas, she got the kids a cute book filled with simplified Christmas stories from the scriptures. Easy enough for the kids to understand.

Using the Little People Nativity that we have, Grandma G read them the story of the First Christmas, giving the kids the different figures to place as she came to their parts in the story. Kids really liked it, although there were a couple scuffles over whose turn it was to place the donkey, etc. She kept reading until it was becoming apparent that we had lost their attention. Once again, its somewhat astonishing to discover what they already know (although I don't know why I am so surprised, considering how we attend church every week...).

Closing Song: - everybody say it with me!- Twinkle Little Star.

Closing Prayer: Me (after the Man strongly hinted that da Boo should pick someone who hadn't done anything yet. Yeah, thanks, honey.)

Activity: I had mentioned to Grandma G about the weeping and wailing that happened on a recent shopping trip after I said "no" to getting a gingerbread house kit. Anyone else not feeling like spending $15 for one of these things? Exercising her right to spoil the grandkids, she got one for them. But the candy inside wasn't enough for them. Soon, they were raiding every candy stash in the house (they found my M&Ms!) to supplement their design.


Treat: Since eating their leftover candy wasn't enough sugar to induce a coma, they also got donuts decorated to look like Christmas wreaths. Aren't grandmas the best?

PRESENTS!!! (And Christ's Birth)

For Christmas Eve, we had a delicious tortilla soup that my brother made. Mmmmm...my mouth is watering just remembering it...I am putting it on the menu for this week....MmmmMMmmm...

Where was I? Oh yeah...During dinner, the Boy got a little too excited and attempted to jump on my lap. Unfortunately, I happened to be holding a bowl of soup at the time. Let's just say it's a good thing I had packed two bras, otherwise I would have smelled like lime and cilantro the rest of the trip.

Christmas Eve, my brother and sister-in-law always act out the Nativity, complete with scripture, hymns, costumes and props. Da Boo joined her two young cousins as an angel. The Boy was a wiseman, along with his two teenage cousins. That was funny! We about lost him when he realized the "gold" in his chest was actually gold-wrapped chocolate. Even though it got a little irreverent, I really enjoyed hearing the scriptures and singing the familiar songs. This is Christmas.

Each of us got one main gift. Mine was a sleek, new camera. It's a Canon PowerShot SD1000 with 7.1 mega pixels of love, baby. Here's da Boo acting crazy so I could test it out. She was jumping around and shaking her head so hard her glasses came off!

The Man got an iPod Classic. This year, we didn't keep our gifts a secret. I'm glad he flat out told me that's what he wanted because I had no idea. That man is impossible to shop for? Anyone else have any great ideas for his birthday? It's coming up in a couple weeks...

The Boy is all about trains, currently. His gift was easy enough. When he woke up, Santa had left all of his stuff in a chair at the foot of his bed. He saw the train set and could not believe it. He stared at it for several minutes before the Man picked it up and gave it to him. Even then, he could only hold it and stare with his mouth hanging open. Oh, if only everyone was this easy to please! He didn't even realize he had other things (clothes, slippers, Bob the Builder underwear) until later that night when we came back to the hotel.



Da Boo wanted a "Diego Pet." A what? A search on Google offered up far too many possibilities and I knew she had something very specific in mind. I had her "help" me look for a present for a cousin and oh, look! Do Go Diego Go stuff! Let's take a look! She told me which two she wanted the most. Luckily, Santa was able to find one of them. Christmas morning, da Boo was very pouty. When I asked her what the problem was, she almost teared when she confessed that she thought Santa only brought the Boy presents. Then I pointed across the room to a corner that was filled with pink, sparkly things. Her face lit up and she nearly flew off the bed. She got the dolls pictured from her brother.

After the presents were opened, some assembly and batteries installed, the dads had disappeared. This is where I found them:

The Weekend Before Christmas

We arrived at our hotel that afternoon without further incident, unpacked and relaxed for a bit. Well, not really. Da Boo and the Boy ran around like crazed meercats, the Man was bringing in all our gear and I was changing a messy diaper. We brought a few decorations with us: a mini tree, string of lights, mini ornaments, our stockings, an advent calendar, and snowmen holding a string of lights with clips for our stockings. After the difficult night before, Da Boo got the sofa bed and the Boy got the couch cushions on the corner (and he still managed to end up underneath a nearby chair nearly every morning).


That evening, we got to meet Ben.




Here he is with cousin Dawn (taken with my new camera!). He is such a cutie! And a very cheerful baby. We got to hug my brother and his wife. And then my other brother, his wife and all six of their kids (they don't have blogs, sorry). We ditched the kids - I mean, we left the kids in the loving care of their teenage cousins while the adults went out to dinner. :D

Sunday we went to church with my brother's family. The Man had to open a Christmas present early because I neglected to pack a tie for him. (Must have been hiding with the peanut butter!) We got to harrass my older brother, who was the teacher for Sunday School. Da Boo was pouty after class because she was put with the Sunbeams. Well, she is the same height as 3-year-olds. The nursery workers hadn't been able to remember the Boy's name so they had called him Josh the whole time. That was funny! Later that night, I made a zebra cheesecake. One of these days, I will have to take a picture of it so you can see just how cool this cheesecake looks!


Monday, Christmas Eve, we went to Dave & Buster's to play arcade games. This was pretty fun! Da Boo decided she really likes horse racing (uh oh...) and the Boy just liked seeing all the flashing lights and noises and chaos. They won enough tickets to get them each a prize. Da Boo chose a flipping penguin. The Boy got a kazoo. That was actually my choice because I thought he would like it, as obsessed as he is with musical instruments...yeah, that went over in a big way. I think we had to eventually hide it from him.

I'll get into the Big Event and all the gifts (including my lovely camera...so shiny...) in the next couple posts.

Murphy's Law

Murphy's Law states that whatever can go wrong will. And it hit us pretty hard, starting on that Thursday before Christmas. I had been packing furiously and getting everything ready. We were planning to leave no later than 10 a.m. on Friday, hoping to arrive at my brother's house in time for dinner. (This is going to be a looooooong post...go to the bathroom first, maybe get you some snacks...)

Thursday evening, I was hard at work on a cake when the Man was summoned upstairs by da Boo. Her fingers hurt. Not just her finger, but fingers, plural. What he saw on her fingers raised some serious red flags. It looked like on both hands, her index and thumb tips were covered with a blister or the skin was red and puckered. Also, it was spreading to her other fingertips. For the next couple hours, we were talking to the after-hours pediatrician on the phone and contacting the various doctors in our family for their opinion. The Man even broke out my new camera to take pictures of da Boo's fingers so they could see what it looked like. The after-hours doc's diagnosis didn't fit. Our next option was the Emergency Room or wait for morning and her regular pediatrician. Since she wasn't running a temperature or in great agony, we opted to wait. I was on the phone as soon as the office opened. I described her fingers and the nurse said we should come in...was 3:30 that afternoon okay?

"Well," I tried to explain, "We're supposed to be heading out of town this morning..."
"Oh," she said, shuffled some papers and then "How soon could you get here?"'

The Man and da Boo were immediately sent to the doctor. The diagnosis? She had a strep infection. In her fingertips! I've never heard of such a thing! She came home with antibiotics and lotions. By then, it was lunchtime. We should have left two hours before. I fed the kids and we finished getting packed.

By 2:30, we were on our way! Our route took us through Wyoming. The Man had checked weather and road conditions the night before and all looked good. Things didn't look so good once we got started several hours later than we intended. It was snowing, freezing cold, with strong winds. Along this route, there are electronic billboards that tell you of any problems, like hazardous conditions or road closures. We had been on the road two hours when these billboards reported the road was closed nearly an hour away. No worries, we told each other. We'll keep driving and perhaps they can get the road re-opened. Still, we kept on eye on those billboards. We had just entered a town and I saw that the message on the billboards had changed.

Me: Road Closed at Exit 104.
The Man: Where are we?
Me: Exit 102.

Temptation to use Daddy Words ensues. At this exact moment, my brother calls us to see where we are. It is 5:30 and we had planned to be nearing his house by then. Instead, we have him get online and check the road conditions. He reports that the road is closed...in three other places.

With no choice, we find a hotel for the night. After getting our room, we grab some dinner. Then, we get the kids in their swimming suits and have a fun time in the hotel pool. That evening, the kids are on one double bed and we are on the other.

This delay was actually a good learning experience, for the most part. We did have a good time in the pool (until my swimming suit failed but that is a whole other post - which I will probably never post) and we learned that the kids could not share the same bed without both being hauled from the blankets at some point to be placed in time out for fighting. Also, we learned that when travelers are stranded for the night, the first place they go for breakfast in the morning is the Wal-Mart bakery. There were no donut holes left.

These problems resolved, we got back on the road and resumed our travels*. We had to go about 15 miles under the speed limit as the roads were icy and the wind was still blowing. After driving for a while, we stopped to have lunch made from things we'd packed from home. This was when I realized that in my flurry of packing, I forgot the peanut butter. Mmmmm...jelly sandwiches...

*I hesitate to mention the darkest moment on the trip. We were driving slowly along that highway, when the Man noticed there were no on-coming traffic. Thinking the road was closed again, we continued on carefully. Soon, we came across the reason. There was an accident. A very, very bad one. Since I am no longer on happy pills, I tend to...freak out?...shall we say. It's hard to sob hysterically but keep quiet so as not to alarm your kids, sitting behind you.