Summer Reading Kids Art Gala

Orem Library had a Kids Art Gala during the Summer Reading Program. Jeremy and Lucky volunteered and taught simple balloon animals to people there.

Here's Lucky with one of the librarians teaching her how to make a flower.

 

In order to prepare, we had balloons all over our living room and Jeremy had a big balloon box that worked like a tent for Jet. He and I had some fun playing in it and reading books. 

December Holidays

Let's talk some December holidays that weren't Christmas and New Year's Eve.

There were a lot we didn't end up celebrating because of sickness. Nobody found treats in their shoes on St. Nicholas Day. Sigh.

We did get back to our tradition of someone being sick during the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, though. Woohoo?

And since that day, December 8, was also National Brownie Day, somebody did make brownies for us to eat during the devotional. 

December 11 was International Mountain Day and I did take a sunrise picture with mountains.

I also managed to make Teriyaki chicken because that day was also National Teriyaki Chicken Day.

Jet helped me make waffle batter for National Maple Syrup Day on December 17. I love that he's my kitchen helper.

Jet loves decorations and lights as you know so he and I were able to go for a walk in City Center Park in Orem on December 18. Jeremy called us when he was going to pick us up but I totally forgot to "answer the phone like Buddy the Elf," even though that was the holiday and I knew it.

When we got home I was telling the story to the kids when my phone rang. Jr. Jr. had called me so I could answer the phone the right way that night. Thanks, Jr. Jr. We of course then had our traditional Buddy the Elf breakfast for dinner.

We used our Fablehaven Cookbook and followed one suggestion for making Tanu's Heartening Soup (shelf cooking style with substitutions) the night before the Winter Solstice.

Then I got out on the Winter Solstice, December 21, for a morning walk around City Center Park while the lights were on. I love doing that in December/early January when I'm up for it (which I wasn't much up for it before January- just those two times).

 We celebrated Lucky's birthday in December. He took balloons to his classmates and we "partied" at home. Jet helped me make Lucky's birthday cake (and put the candles in) and luckily Lucky asked for a really simple dinner. 

Summertime Means...

Summertime means more Summer Reading, of course. One of the things we like to do is Provo Story Trails. Different Provo parks have signs set up that tell a story based on a fairy tale of folktale. It's fun to see the similarities between stories we're familiar with and how they are told in other countries and cultures.

Things have been busy so Lucky, Jet, and I went to one story trail and I went to two more on my own. Luckily there's a new one every week through the end of July so we'll have more opportunities. They are left up for two weeks before being taken down.

The Story of the Five Heads at Lions Park, Maui's Fish or The Creation of New Zealand at Riverside Park, Catherine and Her Destiny at Kiwanis Park.

 

It's harder getting the start and end pictures when I go by myself. Tee Hee.

Summertime also means fairs and that sometimes means dropping off and picking up Jeremy so he can do balloon animals. Jet and I are big helpers when it comes to supporting Jeremy in this way.

Summertime also means Summer parties. Lucky's school teacher invited all her former students for a little get together at the park next to the school. Lucky had fun connecting with friends, eating treats, and getting to see his teacher again since she won't be his teacher next school year.

When Jet and I went to pick him up, we stayed for a while ourselves and joined in the fun.

Spinach Days

March 26 was National Spinach Day. It was also Make Up Your Own Holiday Day and Jeremy wanted to make up the holiday, I Don't Have To Go In To Work Day, but it didn't work. Poor guy.

But we did celebrate Spinach Day. To go along with Spinach and salad dressing (our kids are into simple salads- spinach with or without dressing, lettuce with or without dressing), I made Creamy Garlic Pork Chops, Classic Mashed Potatoes (both from "A Season of Family Meal Plans" volume 1), and applesauce. 

I don't make pork chops (I didn't even know pork chops could come boneless, I never look for them in the store), I don't make mashed potatoes from scratch (I am an instant mashed potatoes person- they're so much easier), but I made both for this meal. I am definitely trying new things with these books by Jordan Page and The Page Company. And we're actually getting through the bags of potatoes that we buy from the store. Yay.

I'll tell you my true opinion. Pork chops were yummy. Mashed potatoes weren't as good. They were easy but I need to do a better job at seasoning them. More garlic, that's what we need. And the spinach wasn't part of the meal plan, but it was a good side dish and fit the holiday.

Speaking of spinach, the next day we had spinach again with our dinner, this time with more than just dressing. We had Best Ever Fettuccine Alfredo (with spaghetti instead of fettucine) and Butter Lettuce Salad (with spinach instead of butter lettuce). We also had some homemade wheat bread to go along with it.

I'll tell you my true opinion. I definitely did some shelf cooking with the alfredo sauce recipe. I combined cream, half and half, and powdered milk with water. Used up the rest of the cream that we had in the fridge and the rest of a container of half and half we had in the fridge. We still have another unopened container of half and half that Jr. Jr. brought home from a youth activity where they were making ice cream, so no hurry on that. Anyway, the alfredo sauce was good. I still prefer the alfredo sauce we usually make and will probably stick to that one, but it's okay to try new things, especially when you have ingredients you need to use up. The recipe I usually use is Guiltless Alfredo Sauce from ourbestbites.com and most of us in the family love it. O.K. About the salad. It was good. The green olives in it were a pleasant surprise for some people. Honestly, I got myself a bowl of the olives to munch on while I was making dinner. I like green olives. It was a good salad but not craveworthy.

As far as the homemade bread goes, we did the traditional tear into one loaf to snack on and slice the others after they've cooled. I know we're not the only family that does that. Jet used to tear into all the loaves. A little bit of this loaf. A little bit of this one. Thinking about that makes me laugh. So many fun memories with this family.

On a different note, March 27 was Manatee Appreciation Day. I did sing, "Barbara Manatee" to celebrate. And thinking ahead when a picture of a manatee popped up on the laptop a few days before, I took a picture of it so I could look at it on the holiday. Celebrating in simple ways. Tee Hee.

It's a blessing to be able to celebrate what we do. We have friends in Haiti who are dealing with things that we don't even have to think about dealing with. 

To take their children's minds off of what they are going through at this time, our friends set up Google Meets with people to take time to talk to the girls, read books, or whatever. Jeremy signed us up so we got to chat with them, show them silly Jet. Jeremy put together a presentation about animals and birds of Utah so they could learn about them and find out what birds Utah has in common with Haiti. Then he made a couple of balloon animals for them to see since that's what we do. I hope it helped. They seemed to enjoy it.

Other Celebrating in December

We celebrated Lucky's birthday in December. I told him he had a free pass and didn't have to do chores on his birthday. He got up that morning and helped with dishes anyway. What a sweetie.

For his birthday, he got foods he wasn't picky about for dinner. And cake and ice cream and presents and cards.

Earlier in the day he came home with a balloon penguin on his shoulder (he gave out balloon animals to his classmates) and some treats someone gave him.

A few days before his birthday, a schoolmate brought over a Christmas gift for him. His own 2-liter bottle of strawberry lemonade. He enjoyed that.

 

December 28 was Chocolate Candy Day. It's a good thing we had plenty of Christmas candy left. Jr. Jr. even put a piece of his candy in my mouth for a picture. Aww, thanks, Jr. Jr. 

December 29 was Tick Tock Day. Jeremy gave a balloon gold watch to a fellow employee who as leaving their job. 

I also blogged about the Giving Machine on that day.

 

December 30 was Mercer Mayer's 80th birthday. Jeremy and I went to the library and picked up some Mercer Mayer books. It was also Bacon Day. I made carbonara for dinner.

That morning I got out for a nice walk around the City Center Park because they still had lights up on the trees and it was quite pleasant. I miss going out for walks.

3rd and 4th of July 2023

Let's start catching up on July by talking about the 3rd and 4th of July since not much celebrating happened the first two days.

Balloon Fest happens for a few days around the 4th of July, so Monday, July 3rd, Nichole and I went for a drive to see the hot air balloons and to drive under some of them.

That evening we celebrated Eat Beans Day and Drop a Rock Day by having with our dinner jelly beans and chocolate rocks that we dropped onto our plates.

Tuesday, July 4th, Jr. Jr. and Jr. went to help set up flags in the neighborhood. Jr. Jr. and I ended up with a selfie that day like on Memorial Day and Flag Day this year. I think it might turn into a running theme. Selfies with the American Flag instead of pictures of the kids with them.

We ate Caesar salad because it was also Caesar Salad Day.

That night, some of us watched fireworks with neighbors and Jeremy made balloon animals for kids (and adults) who were out watching fireworks. It was a pleasant night.