Sledding!!

Backstory:  I hate the cold.  Thus, I don't take my kids sledding.  That's daddy's job.

Backstory #2: I have an extremely sweet Belarusian friend who I absolutely cannot say no to. It is impossible to say no to someone so sweet, friendly, and amazing. She has two boys who are very close in age to my kids. Story: So, my Belarusian friend says to me, "Nichole, you will want to take your kids sledding today at the church by my apartment?" I think to myself, um, no. However, as stated before I can't say no to her. Ugh. "Yes, Iryna, sledding sounds great!" So, we bundled up and off we went. I ended up surviving an entire HOUR in the 20 degree weather.

"You will want to sled, too, Nichole. This sled is very soft and warm," Iryna says. Gahd! "Okay, I'll get on the sled." And I did. And I survived. And I sort of had fun.

After we were all sufficiently cold, we headed back to Iryna's for snacks and tea. Iryna always has some Russian cookies and fancy tea for us. She's a lovely hostess. Thank goodness she's also a good influence, because I'm pretty sure she could convince me to just about anything.

Two Christmases

With our Countdown to Christmas in Norfolk complete, it was time to load up the van and head out of town.  I taught yoga on Christmas Eve morning, so as soon as I was showered we left.  The kids could hardly stand it knowing that they would have two straight days of grandparents and food and presents.  Of course, grandparents did not disappoint.  It was the year of hunting, with all the kids receiving fake machine guns and real archery sets.  Soren got two electronic dogs.  The boys got lots of video games.  Oh, what joyful faces!

But Mama got the best gifts of all:

That's right, a mixer and some mace.  It's a Vescapades Christmas.

In all seriousness, Christmas this year was filled with smiles and joy, especially for our children, who are more oblivious to all the turmoil in our family.  We try to make their lives as normal as possible even though Mom and Dad are unbelievably stressed out.  It was hard for us to find Christmas joy this year, even though the world went on as normal around us.  Still, my husband has no job, we have no security, and my ability to work a job that supports six people is basically zero.

We are not religious folk, but the prayers of others have been appreciated.  I can surely feel all of the positive energy created in the universe by our friends and family.  Let's hope 2013 brings us many blessings, especially a new job.

Fun With Kittens

I post a lot about our kittens, and it's mainly because they are so funny.  Well, they are funny to us anyway.  While I was wrapping up all of our Christmas presents with a huge roll of brown paper, the kittens were all over it like it was the best thing ever.  In an effort to keep them away from the paper I was using to actually wrap the presents, I cut the kittens a few squares of their own.  Nichole: 1, Cats: 0.

Hanukkah, Vescapades Style

No, we're not Jewish.  We aren't Christian either.  However, our kids enjoy the holiday stories from many different cultures and religions, and Evelyn is particularly interested in Hanukkah.  She checked out lots of books detailing the story of Hanukkah, and when she saw this menorah on clearance last year, she had to have it.  I figured for $2, it's no big deal if it never gets used.  Little did I know that the menorah would find a home on Evie's dresser for the next year just waiting to be used this season.

When I went to Target to buy candles for the menorah, they were all gone. I was quite confident Wal Mart would not carry the candles, so I decided to just use some old birthday candles instead of hunting all over town and burning gas. We ended up with a very festive (if not a bit gay-pride) menorah that Evelyn was very excited about. We lit all the candles each night and the girls took turns blowing them out.

Although we didn't stay true to the Hanukkah traditions so beloved by our Jewish friends, the kids loved seeing the stories they read come to life with their menorah.

Christmas Countdown Continued

The kids have been enjoying opening their special treats each night during our countdown to Christmas Eve.  Mostly they've found candy canes and processed food treats that I never buy them otherwise, but they've also received a game called Suspend.  It's pretty fun but a little difficult for the younger kids in the family.  Here are some photos from our continuing countdown:

The countdown isn't the only exciting event taking place at the Vescapades home.  Dade also had his winter concert.  He and the freshman band did a great job!

Christmas Eve Countdown

Many folks have advent calendars or Santa countdown calendars.  Here at the Vescapades house we have a countdown to Christmas Eve/Day in Norfolk.  Why countdown to Santa when grandpas and grandmas are way more generous with the Christmas gifts?  This year, I found a neat idea on Pinterest to put little treats in numbered lunch sacks counting down to Christmas.  So, I threw together some treat bags at placed them up on the pantry.

Soren got to open the first bag because she's the youngest.  Trust me, this was not without a series of complaints from the others.  "Why does SHE get to open the first one???!!"  Seriously, I'm over this whole sibling rivalry thing, and I have lots more years left.  Anyhow, here's the baby with the bag:

She was quite excited when she opened it up and found the soundtrack to our favorite Christmas movie, Elf.

Dade has his winter band concert tonight, so we won't get to watch Elf.  However, I did pop the cd into the stereo while I got supper ready (and typed this blog post). 

It's hard to believe that it's time for a Christmas countdown!  Where did the year go?  We are very excited to begin a new year with a fresh start.   The usual requests of Christmas have long been forgotten by the grown-ups in the Vescapades house.  I didn't get to fill my Etsy cart with ideas for Colby.  All we want in our Christmas stocking this year is a job.  How wonderful it would be to wake up Christmas morning with the prospect of a paycheck and health insurance.  I guess we'll see if we have been good or bad this year; perhaps a lump of coal awaits us on Christmas morning.  Either way, we'll be waking up with four little kiddos eager to see what Santa has brought for them (and thanks to our generous neighbors Santa can still come!).  

I Make Breakfast

In an earlier post, I bragged about the amazing breakfast my man makes.  Today, I made the weekend breakfast.  What else would a chocolate-lover like myself make??  Chocolate donuts with chocolate glaze, of course!  Store-bought donuts are no longer in our budget.  Besides, who knows what's in them?  These homemade ones have only a few ingredients, they are baked, and they are really easy.  Best of all, the kids loved them!!

Here's the recipe. It makes about 11 donuts in my donut pan. Enjoy!

Healthy Body Challenge Revisited

 A few years ago I found myself needing to lose some weight.  Once I started working out, I also realized that what I put into my body (food and drink) was also important to my fitness and health.  I couldn't just work out and expect to be healthy.  Plus, my bad diet was sabotaging my workouts.  So, I changed my diet and the diets of everyone else who lives under my roof.  We cut out tons of processed foods...which meant that I had to learn to cook.

And I did.

Now that I am confident in my ability to both motivate myself to work out and to make healthy food for my family, I've decided to move on to the next healthy step: changing what goes ON my body.  Everyone in the house uses whatever shampoo and conditioner I can get on sale.  The boys in the house like manly-scented body soap and shampoo and are quite partial to the 3-in-1 soap that washes and conditions hair AND skin.  It's a dream come true!

However, I had never really thought about what goes in to all our soaps and cleaning supplies.  Some of it (like propylene glycol) is also an ingredient in antifreeze...and some foods.  O.M.G.  Thanks to Pinterest, I found so many helpful tips and recipes for body soaps, shampoos, conditioner, cleaning supplies, and face wash. 

So, I started with making some cleaning supplies: dusting spray, mirror cleaner, room deodorizer, etc.  Apparently, there is some pretty nasty stuff in my beloved room fragrance spray that shouldn't be inhaled. I still have a few bottles left to use up, but I am already experimenting with room sprays made with vinegar water and essential oil.  The homemade dusting spray?  Well, I prefer the deliciously scented store-bought variety, but it is also apparently laden with chemicals that one should NOT inhale.  The homemade kind?  It smells nice (lemon essential oil), but it will definitely take some getting used to as far as the way it cleans.

My beauty routine is changing drastically.  I'm not going to dye my hair anymore.  There.  I said it.

I've switched to the oil method of washing my face.  Who would've thought to use oil to clean my oily skin??  But...it works!!  I use a mixture of cold-pressed castor oil and olive oil.   I haven't yet been able to give up my oil-absorbing cream that goes on under my makeup, and the ingredients in that stuff are terrible.  I really need to stop.  Baby steps, baby steps.

I've switched to Castile soap for my hair and use apple cider vinegar as a conditioner.  I add Moroccan oil to my hair after the shower, but I hear that coconut oil is the way to go for a deep conditioning.  I will try it soon.  I miss the luxurious-feeling hair I get from commercial shampoo and conditioner but know that stuff isn't necessary for healthy hair.  Just like I love to eat fried stuff with cheese, I also know it isn't part of a healthy diet.  Castile soap can also be used on the body, but I prefer Chandrika's Ayurvedic body soap.  It is made of all-natural ingredients and smells like the most amazing mix of patchouli and sandalwood and amazingness.  Colby and I won't use anything else.  The smell is like crack for the shower.  Yes, I compared the smell of soap to crack.  It's that good.  (Side note: Ayurveda is an old-timey yoga-like religious belief system.  It's pretty interesting if you're into that kind of stuff.) 

I've used organic lotion and Burt's Bees lotion for a few years now, so I'll keep them in my beauty routine.  There are still a few crazy ingredients in the Burt's Bees stuff, but it's a lot better than most.  Someday soon I hope to make my own lotion.

I love perfume, and I own a ton of it.  Sadly, perfume is also filled with a bunch of crap we aren't supposed to inhale.  I've been making my own perfume oil using jojoba oil and essential oil.  My favorite is a premade rose-scented perfume oil that I bought online.  However, I realized that I can make my own for a whole lot cheaper.

And I did.

So, here's to new adventures in beauty supplies.  Rest assured that I will NOT be making my own reusable tampons or feminine hygiene pads.  I've seen that stuff on Etsy.  Hell.no.  However, I will let you know about any successes and failures in my new Healthy Body Challenge.  I've already started reusing the containers for my store-bought products, and I'm filling them with my homemade ones.  That bottle of Aveno leave in conditioner is no cider vinegar and water for conditioning my hair in the shower.  The Mason jar is filled with lavender-eucalyptus shower tablets that I made with baking soda and water.  They smell really good!!  

Let me know if you have some awesome homemade cleaning supplies or beauty supplies you'd like to share, or if you have some homemade FAILS.

My Man Makes Breakfast

Colby is the breakfast maker of the family.  He makes famous waffles and has the patience to make crispy hash browns and perfect bacon.  This week he tried something new: sweet potato hash browns.

He shredded one huge sweet potato which made a ton of hash browns.

He also had all four oven burners going making fried eggs in a separate pan from scrambled eggs and two pans of sweet potato hash browns.

The kids did not like the sweet potato hash browns, but I though they were really good. I hope he makes them again. Of course he will. He makes anything his beautiful wife wants because he loves his wifey sooooooo much. I'm so lucky.

The kids enjoyed their morning coffee. Can you tell?

Soren Lost a Tooth!

Soren lost her first tooth!!  She lost it at school during lunch; she swallowed it.  After leaving a note for the tooth fairy explaining the mishap, Soren was left four shiny quarters for her tooth.  Another big kid milestone officially reached.  Sigh.

Tea Party

Soren was invited to her first princess tea party.  Soren's friend is a Jehovah's Witness who doesn't celebrate birthdays (hers or anyone else's).  We invited her to Soren's birthday party, and she had to give us the invitation back and tell us she can't celebrate birthdays.  However, she can obviously have a tea party as long as it isn't on her birthday.  Got that?   So, Soren and I got all dressed up like princesses should and headed to the tea party.

The girls played games, did a few crafts, and ate pizza and cupcakes. But it was NOT a birthday party. Not. I don't mean to sound bitchy and sarcastic, but really?? We did have a really good time, and the family is super friendly and welcoming. I hope we can have another tea party soon!

I Am Thankful for Girl Scouts

Even with all the turmoil and all the tasks I have to complete in a week, I like getting together on Tuesday nights with my Girl Scouts.  I want the girls in my troops to grow up appreciating their importance in the community.  I want them to see that even little girls can make a difference and realize that if a kid can make an impact grown-ups have no excuse not to do the same.  I want them to have memorable experiences, make lasting friendships, and learn life lessons.
I took my Brownie troop (Evie's troop of 2nd graders) to Duncan Aviation for a tour of the airplane hangers and a plan. They earned an aviation patch and had fun along the way.
These are our two Daisy tagalongs, Soren and her friend, who each have big sisters in the Brownie troop:

Here is the whole troop of girls in one of the hangars:

Soren got to see what the pilot sees:

Evelyn after her plane tour:

This is one proud Scout mama!

As Dade said after attending a Girl Scout meeting with me, it's kind of "like herding cats." Yes, it can be! I am thankful for the opportunity to be a good role model for the next generation of girls, and I hope that they see each other as the amazing girls they are...and the amazing women they can become!!

Kitten Kapers

Oh, to be a kitten.  Spending most of the day sleeping, only waking up to eat or lick or play or drink from the fish bowl.  No responsibilities like the dogs have: no barking at strangers, no cleaning up the after-meal mess on the floor (although they'll help), no chasing away rabbits and squirrels and snakes. 

Being a kitten can be lots of fun.  They make a game of tripping me down the steps.  They make sure I am never alone in the laundry room, kitchen, or crapper.  When I had the stomach flu on Thanksgiving Day, the kittens never left my side in bed.  And, my goodness, the mischief they find:

Sheldon resting in our bags hanging on the banister.

Sheldon resting in a toy box.

And, of course, Sheldon resting in a box.

Penny has her share of adventures, too:

Penny was very interested in our Halloween craft.

Penny climbing the Christmas tree for the first of many times.

Having a kitten is like having a toddler that you can spray with a squirt gun when it's naughty.  We do love our kittens, though, and I think they maybe like us a little bit, too.