Annual Father's Day Weekend at Camp Joseph

The Eighth Grader went to Washington D.C.

Tradition in our town dictates that the eighth grade class spends a week each Spring exploring Washington, D.C. It's an adventure that our kids LOVE. Leeli is our fifth child to embark on this journey with her classmates, and was not disappointed. She had a good time and came home exhausted.

 They spent their days touring the museums, monuments and historical sites, and their evenings doing more of the same plus an evening dinner/dance cruise on the Potomac River.

 The only two negatives that she reported were:

 1. School dances are lame compared to church youth dances

-and-

2. The construction on the Capitol building made for a disappointing back drop to their class picture.

She said her favorite part was visiting all the monuments and memorials. She loved the Holocaust Museum and

the memorial to FDR the best. 

We can't wait to go back.

bonus points for creativity

It's a crazy world, we all know it.

In the busy hub of our family life, sit down dinners together feel momentous.

I want to celebrate every time we do it; which is why, I think, we have table traditions. Guests at our table are often taken by surprise when we suddenly yell in unison, fingers on noses, and when we break out the question of the night.

These are moments I never want to take for granted, and also the reason why mixing it up a bit at meal time seems important to me.

Last night we tried something new.

I left six letter tiles (think scrabble) at each place setting.

While we enjoyed our meal, the instructions were to turn the tiles into a word, a phrase or an anagram representing POSITIVE things to say about our individual days' experiences.

This attempt to share instantly became a game of word invention mockery--

['gno-lec': "being kissed by a gnome" although it turned into "something akin to full frontal snogging"]

--which I know to be my family's language of love (the mockery part).

['a-tit-i-a': "an enthusiastic salutation"]

I have teenagers, and I'm married to one as well.

I should have seen the writing on, well, the table.

['get-siq': "you're gonna get siq (accent on SIQ)"]

I will say that there was MUCH laughter. 

['heu-dar': "jumping up and down enthusiastically"]

When the game downgraded to bodily functions, (we laughed hardest, I won't deny it) I stood up to commence the clean up process, which, ironically, went quickly and painlessly because of the residual hysteria that ensued.

['log-ho': "what you proclaim in the bathroom 'ere you make a deposit in the porcelain bank"]

These are my people.

49th annual LHS Competitive Class Plays

 Why Do We Laugh? 

is the play I cheered loudest for this year...

You know, those small town traditions I'm crazy about?

This is one.

Rooney was one of the actresses on the stellar sophomore cast. Their play spotlighted a couple at four different times in their lives: as toddlers, as teens, as middle-aged marrieds, and as seniors.

Rooney played the teenage girl, and rocked the part.

 Mrs. Kimball was their adviser, and she too, was a super star.

 Andy and Meredith were teens in the 1940s.

 By gosh, they were funny.

 And sweet.

Bravo sophomores!

2014 is in the books. Happy 2015!

Before we knew it, it was New Year's Eve!

Again.

And that New Year's Eve party of 2012/2013 at our house that left more than three dozen people staggering into the new year with a stomach virus STILL makes me shudder.

So I'm a little shy about hosting the big one.

The one where many hands paw their way through the chex mix and everyone goes home with a gift.

SO... we celebrated.

 on a much smaller scale.

 Just a couple of cousins

 and our usual line up of activities

 To count down the hours until the new year.

There was plenty to eat

 and so much to do

 that we didn't get to everything on the list.

Paper airplanes,

 paper bags,

and paper dreams

(he TRIED! but just couldn't conquer the bag challenge)

 We baked scones just before midnight.

 We revved up for a fresh start and some new resolutions.

 With seconds to go before the clock strikes 12, we line up at the door in our bare feet and prepare to make a dash into a new year (and ALL the way around the house).

 It's our favorite most invigorating way to ring in the New Year.

HAPPY 2015!!