Happy (Rainbow) Birthday, Ginger!

Ginger's birthday was Saturday. (THREE! How did that happen?!) She recovered from croup just in time for her super awesome RAINBOW BIRTHDAY PARTY with her Peewee friends. Talk about cuteness.First we played for a little while. Then we had pizza and juice boxes for lunch (seriously, Costco pizza is the best. I could write a whole post about how much I love it.)
Storytime: What Makes a Rainbow by Betty Ann Schwartz.
And while we read it we made our own rainbow. Very, very lucky that there were six kids and six colors to put up. Talk about sidestepping a headache.

And what kind of party would it be without a stick-the-___-on-the-___ game? Of course we played stick-the-cloud-on-the-rainbow. (And for days after the party we left the poster up; Hazel and Ginger played it over and over by themselves.)


Time for cake and ice cream. Rainbow cake with rainbow sherbet - see VGP for the recipe!

An hour and a half isn't that long, and this was a pretty low-key party - no moon bounces or pony rides - but for some reason by the end we were exhausted.

But not too tired to hand out the rainbow goody bags!!! (Each one contained a wind-up toy, 2 lollipops and 2 rainbow cupcake crayons. We tried to go for simplicity and quality - I do hate useless crap in goody bags.)
Happy Happy Happy Birthday, Ginger! We love you!!!

First Talk (featuring more Hazel Art!)

Hazel gave her first talk in Primary last week. When the assignment came a few weeks ago it was one of the few times in my life I felt ready. Thanks to Brook Waddoups.

Brook was in my ward in New York. When they moved in about a year after us we were thrilled to get her 5-year-old son Gideon in our scraggly Primary. Assignment rotations were short in that ward, and Gideon was asked to give a talk right away. As parents usually do, Brook came in to help him when it was time. Gideon stepped up to the podium and Brook knelt down in front and slightly to the side of it, facing him. I was surprised, expecting her to stand next to him and whisper the talk sentence-by-sentence into his ear, as is usually done with young children (and which immediately loses the audience because it makes the talk so disjointed and usually boring.)

Instead, Gideon stood up by himself and looked out confidently at the room. Brook produced a stack of purple index cards which she held up one by one for Gideon to look at. As she did so, Gideon glanced at the cards and spoke several sentences for each, detailing a number of scripture stories to illustrate his points. He concluded by explaining the scriptural origin of his own name and his hopes to become as great as his namesake. He finished with a simple testimony and sat down. I was floored.

I stopped Brook on her way out and asked how the heck I could help my children become so confident - and competent - at the podium at such a young age. She shrugged and said that's how her parents helped her give talks. She showed me the cards - they contained simple stick-figure drawings she and Gideon had created together to give visual cues to each part of the talk. I was totally impressed and tucked that impression away until I should need it.

Fast forward a few years to now. Hazel's giving a talk. She's 4 years old. She's demonstrated a strong ability to memorize but possibly at the cost of comprehension. I happen to have a lot of index cards in one of the office drawers. We'll give it a try.

We took the topic - "I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me" and I brainstormed with her a little during her bath one night. Then I wrote out her ideas into a simple talk structure. After the bath we sat down with the blank cards and I read some sentences to her. She chose which parts of the talk she wanted to draw pictures for, and I drew the rest (that's right, this post features Kari Art as well.) The process of taking ideas and words and interpreting them into art is one of the best ways to achieve comprehension, so by the time we had it all put together she knew exactly what she was talking about.

We practiced a few times. Each time we went through the cards she worded things slightly differently but got the point across. I love that. Sunday came. She stood up to the microphone. I knelt facing her. I flashed her cues. She spoke calmly, clearly, confidently. It was a thing of beauty. She was a thing of beauty. By the end it was clear that she really did know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love her. (And so do I.)

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ Love Me
by Hazel Hickman

I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me.
(Note: Long hair and beards. Wings on the one on the left.)

They have given me my family and good food to eat.
(Note Mommy with baby in tummy, far left. Food on right includes pizza, pear, orange, apple.)

They have given me good friends and I feel good at church.

I also love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 1 John 4:19 says, "We love him because he first loved us."

I try to show my love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ by giving my heart to them.

I try to be reverent in sacrament meeting and Primary, and to share and take turns with my sister.

I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love all of us.

Hazel Art

"Once upon a time there was a princess and the dragon was coming along to the town and the dragon was going to take a house away from an old lady and quickly before he was there...uh, I mean, the princess quickly build a house for him to live in."

The End

(Hazel, 4yrs 10mos)

Spanky Bum Bum and Naming Guidelines

We've chosen a name for the baby. Well, it's like 90% sure. Of course it's a sealed vault so don't ask and don't try to guess, you'll never get it. And no, it's not Martha Bertha.

In the meantime she is being called Spanky Bum Bum. Superfly wasn't sticking, and Ginger suggested one day in the car that we name her Spanky Bum Bum and then erupted into heart-melting belly giggles. And frankly so did I.

We told Hazel when she came home from school and she got the giggles as well. Then when Ed came home from work the girls tried to tell him but got laughing too hard to get it out, so I told him and then we all had a good giggle. I need to try to record Ginger saying it because it's so so cute. And hey, if Spanky sticks a little after she's born, I don't mind. Everyone needs a nickname.

But back to real names. I don't have strict requirements for names - in the end it's more of a feeling. But I don't go throwing a dart at the baby name book either. We've got our guidelines:

1. It has to be a real name, or something that can be a name. It has to be something people have heard of, not a made-up word is what I'm saying. I'm not giving my kid a life of double takes - "What? What did you say your name was? Matroishkalina???"

2. It has to be spelled the way it sounds. Why oh why burden your child with a life of alternate spellings? Like a girl I knew in high school - Kyndness. You know she has to spell it for people EVERY TIME. So do I, but there are a lot of common spellings for Kari/Kerry/Carrie. Luckily mine is only 4 letters so I don't mind too much. But if it's a name or word people know, spell it the way people know, which is why we do not have Hazyl and Jinjir in our family.

3. It has to be UNCOMMON (but not unheard of.) I would like them to have names that other kids their age don't have, like all the poor Jennifers, Amys and Carries in my generation. If I truly felt clueless as to what currently popular names are (hello, Olivia, Sophia), I can always check the social security website, which tells the top 1000 boys and girls names of each year, or Name Voyager, which maps names by usage and year. Ranking high at least 50 years ago, or never, is a good indication I might like to use it.

4. No prefixes or suffixes. Sorry, Hazel. That means "Swanita" is out.

5. This is a loose guideline, but two syllables are good. Just enough to get your point across, to make it sound unique enough as you yell it across the playground so your kid knows you're talking to her, and yet not too long. Not a mouthful. Not a pain to write out.

6. Obviously, it has to sound good with the last name. For example, I like the name Ida, plus it is a family name, but "Ida Hickman" makes it sound a little too much like it's going to be "Idaho", so it doesn't work for me. Less important, but still to be considered, is how it sounds with the other names in the family. "Kari, Ed, Hazel, Ginger and Victoria Elizabeth" might not be the right direction for us.

7. I'm not necessarily against all kids starting with the same letter, or having the same ending, or following some kind of theme, as long as those are all your favorite names anyway. But sticking to a plan just to stick to it (Jason, Janelle, Jana, Jordan, etc.) when there are so many other great names out there is unacceptable to me. I get the spice comment sometimes - "Wow, all your names are spices - next you should use Cinnamon or Sage!" Never mind the blatant ignorance that Hazel has nothing to do with a spice (lamo), but I'm not going to be tied down either way to a perceived pattern. If Cinnamon was my very favorite name I'd use it but if my favorite is Glenda then that's it.

8. No naming her one thing but calling her by her middle name. That's advice from my brother-in-law who is in that situation. He said it's just confusing when people read your name and you have to correct them and tell them what you go by - "Robert?" "No, actually it's Quinn." "Oh." Name the kid what you're going to call her, then give her a middle name that is the name you're NOT going to call her. Duh.

9. It has to be fun to say, because I am going to be saying it 500 times a day until she is 18 years old. It has to have staying power so I'm not kicking myself in two years, and like I said before, not a mouthful please.

10. Not a big fan of the could-be-a-girl-or-a-boy names. You hate to look at a written name and not know if it's a girl or a boy. I was shocked as a young girl to meet a boy named Cary, though that's less common as a boy name these days. But there are a handful of either-way names and I just figure anything to avoid confusion or explanations down the road is best.

I think that's pretty much it. The main thing is, it has to be a real name but currently out of circulation - unfortunately I used Hazel on the upswing (it was #517 when she was born and is now up to #343) but it couldn't be helped. I'd had that name chosen since I was 16. The others have come along more recently but they've all been fun. And I feel pretty satisfied.

So I'm curious - what are your naming guidelines?

FHE: Bowling

Looks like we have a new winter tradition. Maybe next year I can beat Ed.

Quickie Christmas Craft

The last few days we've been mostly staying home. With preschool out, plus all the snow that still hasn't melted, it's been so nice to just make our own schedule...or not. I've been working on all kinds of little projects, plus laundry and cleaning like I haven't done in months.

But I admit, at times, the girls have been bored. So we've done lots of arts & crafts. Lots of painting at the easel. Lots of cutting up magazines and making collages. Lots and lots of drawing. And finally, tired with the usual, Hazel told me she wanted to make a real craft project..."with glitter!"

I immediately turned to my email folder of Kids Craft Weekly, which if you don't subscribe to, you should. (We don't do crafts weekly like she does, but I save the emails so I always have them to turn to when I need help.) The latest had easy Christmas crafts, and yes, there was one with glitter. Bless the woman!

So we went down to the fridge and confiscated two sour cream lids (put the sour cream in a tupperware.) Also grabbed some food coloring. Came back up to the office and got out white glue, sequins, buttons, and GLITTER. We made some red glue and the girls painted it on the lids. We stuck buttons and sequins on and sprinkled with glitter galore. Let dry overnight. In the morning we punched a hole, made a yarn loop, and voila! Two more ornaments for the tree, and the need for glitter satisfied...for now.

Some Christmas Good Stuff

So I've been meaning to get these posted for a few weeks and now it's probably too late to do anybody else any good this year, but that's how it goes.

How Much Ribbon? I read an article on gift-wrapping in the newspaper a few weeks ago and finally learned the invaluable answer to this plaguing question. When you're wrapping a gift with the ribbon going around four sides and a big simple bow, you measure out 7 times the length of the box. I've used this trick all month and it works every time!!! For example, on a shirt box, I measure out about 4 times the long way and 3 times the short way. For a big square like this, I measure 7 times the length from halfway up one side, over the top, to halfway down the other side. Obviously it varies for different size/shapes, but 7 is the magic number!!!

Christmas Card Display Awesomeness - I saw something like this in a store in England last May and thought, That's the perfect way to display Christmas cards! I'll have to find it online and order some when I get home. An intense internet search ensued (just couldn't figure out the right search words!) and I was about to give up when I finally came across a review that led me to Photojojo and The Astounding Magnetic Photo Rope. Displays everything without tape; the wires just hang from a nail or tack; weighted bottom so they don't fly around. Super strong magnets hold even those multi-layered handmade cards. And the ropes couldn't be smaller or easier to store! Best Christmas investment I made this year (except the tree skirt below.) If you don't see your Christmas card in the picture, it's either because

1) It's cut off at the very bottom of the picture,
2) You are LAME and haven't sent me one, or
3) I don't like you enough to hang it up.

The Perfect Tree Skirt - After a few years of searching for THE ONE that I would love year after year, I found it at Land of Nod (where, by the way, you could get me ANY baby gift.) Finally, the absolutely perfect must-have tree skirt. It was expensive so I thought maybe I'd wait until after Christmas and try to get it on sale. Then I realized, this skirt is so darn cute it's not going on sale; it's going to sell out! So I scrounged up some funds and got it full price (but with free shipping!) And sure enough, I went to the website yesterday to get the picture for this post, and it's not there anymore. SOLD OUT. Yay for getting it when I could! Is this not ADORABLE?

(This picture is from the blog of the original designer -

the current skirt says Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays.)

David Archuleta's Christmas CD - It's called Christmas from the Heart and the cover is oh-so-cheesey. And I'm not an Idol fan at all. But I like to get at least one or two new Christmas albums each year and this looked promising from the reviews. Well we got it about a month and a half ago and it's all we've listened to that whole time. We all have our favorites - the girls like "Angels We Have Heard on High" for the Glooooooooooria part (and Hazel goes around the house singing it with the alternative melody he uses.) Me, I usually judge an album by the way they do "Oh Holy Night" and his is fabulous. He's also got a seriously peppy tune I'd never heard called "Pat-a-pan" and we all dance like fools to it in the car.

Snowed In

They're calling it the Blizzard of 2009, breaking all kinds of records. I'm calling it a wonderful weekend. Even though we are sorely under-geared for snow (Hazel had to go out in double pants and rain boots and we had to borrow my sister's snow shovel), we had a fabulous snowed-in weekend around here.

We stayed home, played in the snow, watched movies, baked like crazy, took naps, and had totally uninterrupted family time. Not a single errand was run in two days by anyone - now THAT is a new record!

Back and front snowfall by about mid-day Saturday - check out the drifting on the back of Ed's car (green Honda across the street)

Hazel venturing out in the fresh powder

The girls lounging in snow chairs

Buried in snow

Ed digging a path to our shed Saturday night

Back porch snowfall by 7pm Saturday - we measured about 21 inches

Our van Sunday morning before digging out

Our street Sunday morning - church was cancelled - what a weekend!

It's a...

You know, it could go either way, and I'm OK with that. Hazel and Ginger have been strongly lobbying for a brother, and Ed has been less inhibited this time expressing his wish for a boy. Instinct seems to whisper, "Since you have two girls, it's TIME for a boy," or "Odds are it's a boy this time."

On the other hand, one could just as easily argue, or believe, that with two girls already, we're "on a roll" and will probably have another one. I stare at my wall of Christmas cards and count a disproportionate number of families who have three-in-a-row of the same gender. As if that's some kind of indication.

Of course the fact is that it's pretty much 50/50 each time, especially for anything after your second child. But that hasn't stopped us from trying to guess and reason out who's coming next.

So there was great anticipation by all of us on Wednesday when we went for the big 20-week ultrasound. The tech took her sweet time examining the heart, measuring head and limbs, checking each internal organ. Of course all those things are more important than the sex, and thank heavens everything is normal. But we were all about bursting by the time she got around to it.

Enough with the build-up. It's a girl. The technician got a good look from several angles; later the doctor came in and concurred. Ed teared up a bit but admitted that was what he expected. Ginger flat-out bawled, "But I want a brother!" (I later lectured her on the virtues of Girl Power and she has started to come around.) Like I said, I would have been excited either way; I was just relieved to know.

Three girls! That's it. No longer am I conservatively buying gear, coats and even shoes in neutral colors like gray, brown and green, on the off-chance we have a boy someday and can use them for him. From now on, we are going full-blown pink with abandon. Hearts, dress-ups, princesses. The technician made a joke about buying stock in detangler. That's the spirit!

The thing is, I am a third girl. For that, I feel a deep and special bond with this one that likes to kick me with her own little morse code. To me, she is definitley not just one more in the line-up. She's the one I understand. She's the one I've been waiting for.

Goodies

For your information, there is one holiday treat going up every single day in December over on The Virtual Goody Plate, just like last year. Go check it out once in awhile - you don't want to miss this!

The Party Pots Box

Most families have holiday traditions. Things like caroling to the neighbors, making goody plates, playing Secret Santa, or helping at a soup kitchen. Last year I introduced you to one Younce Christmas tradition, the Horsehead Dirk. Now it's time to tell about the Party Pots.

I'll do my best to explain. The crawl space under the stairs in my parents' house is called The Box Place because that's where empty boxes of all sizes are tossed. Then at Christmas time we would all rummage around in there for boxes to wrap our gifts in. One year, maybe around the late 80's, someone found The Party Pots Box. My mom had gotten the Party Pots at a white elephant party once and promptly left the box - with the pots inside - in the Box Place.

The Party Pots was a set of clear glass dishes shaped to look like flower pots. One was large and had a metal ring that went around the top. A smaller pot hung on that ring, to create a chip-and-dip scenario for all your party needs. The box had pictures on all four sides, in 70's colors and film quality, of different ways you could use the pots. For example, potato chips and onion dip. Shrimp and cocktail sauce. Triscuits and some freaky dip with red dots in it. And of course you could always put flowers in them.

The box was super colorful, the pictures and really the whole idea ridiculous. But it was a great size and shape for wrapping all kinds of things in. So it got used over and over and over, year after year, and became a running joke and eventually a tradition. It was like winning a prize if you unwrapped a gift in it -

"Yay! The Party Pots!" everyone would exclaim. And that's how traditions get started.

After awhile the poor box - it was kind of flimsy - had been taped nearly to death and when we all moved away from home it fell out if circulation. As I wrote this post it was just killing me that I didn't have a picture, or closure, so I called my mom to see if she still had the box. Not only did she, but she knew exactly where it was. The next time I was over there, I took a picture.

I give you...the Party Pots box!

Christmas Book Fest

Ok, ok, ok, geez, it seems like I talk about Christmas books every year. Can't really help it, though. It's not something that gets done and taken care of just once. The kids get older. The collection grows. Comprehension increases, as does selection, each year.

My friend told me about a tradition she read on some blogs, and wants to start this year - that of collecting 25 great children's Christmas books, wrapping them, and opening one each night with her kids, like a book advent. I followed the links she mentioned, which then led to hours and hours of browsing on Amazon, of course.

So a few months ago I started to collect - I bought one or two a week. Sometimes hardcover, sometimes used, sometimes soft. I got many from used sellers and many on 4-for-3 deals. Reading reviews helped me narrow my list. Including the books I already had, I do have twenty-five or more, but I'm not doing the one-a-day thing. As I looked through the stacks critically, I pulled out the books I think are too long or mature for my kids. At 2 and 4 this year they can sit through and understand more complex stories than last year, but we still have to keep the pages turning at a steady clip. So that leaves us with about 15, which I probably will wrap and open one each night until they are all open; then we can spend the rest of the month enjoying and re-reading them.

So here's the list so far. I have a "Still To Get" list that I'll work on over the year, or the next few years since some are for older readers. And as always, I welcome and encourage you to share your favorite Christmas reads so we can all spend more money at Amazon.

My Very Favorites for Kids age 2-6
The Christmas Alphabet by Robert Sabuda (eventually we will probably have to get every Christmas book by him - gorgeous - but we're starting with this one - small pop-ups mean less likely to rip, and each is behind a "door" - fun for kids to open!)
Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (kind of perfectly up my alley - baking and vocabulary combined in a children's book!)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess
The Little Shepherd Girl by Juliann Henry (I love, love, love this book, especially as a mother of daughters)
Mortimer's Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson (one of the few on my list you can get with the 4-for-3 promo as a hardback)
Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
Night Tree by Eve Bunting (after reading this book, my sister in Vermont actually adopted this story as a family Christmas tradition - one of the best I've ever heard)
Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell

Others for age 2-6 that We Will Read This Year
B is for Bethlehem: A Christmas Alphabet Board Book by Bob Harman
Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson (another one that is 4-for-3 eligible in hardback)
Fancy Nancy Spendiferous Christmas by Jane O'Connor (yes, I had to go there)
Humphrey's First Christmas by Carol Heyer
Jingle Bells by Isa Trapani
The Legend of the Poinsetta by Tomie dePaola
The Legend of the Christmas Stocking by Rick Osborne
Santa's Favorite Story by Hisako Aoki
Snowmen at Christmas by Carolyn Buehner
A Wish to be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe
Who Is Coming to Our House? by Joseph Slate

My Other Personal Favs from our Collection
Father and Son: A Nativity Story by Geraldine McCaughrean
The Twelve Terrors of Christmas by John Updike and Edward Gorey (I just can't resist those cynical cold pricklies amongst all the sappy warm fuzzies of the other books!)

Good Ones I'm Saving Until They're a Little Older
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Tooney by Susan Wojciechowski
Christmas Oranges by Linda Bethers
The Little Fir Tree by Margaret Wise Brown
The Night of Las Posadas by Tomie dePaola
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston

"Still To Get"
A Christmas Bell for Anya by Christ Stewart
Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl Buck
A Christmas Dress for Ellen by Thomas S. Monson
The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
Cobweb Christmas: The Tradition of Tinsel by Shirley Climo
The Donkey's Dream by Barbar Berger
The Light of Christmas by Richard Paul Evans
The Miracle of the Wooden Shoes by Deborah Pace Rowley
Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect by Dick Schneider