Few Words Friday with Pictures and Captions

I have very little time to write a post here.  In fact, I should probably be making lunches, finishing teacher letters, herding kids, and gearing up for this busy last Friday until Holiday break!!  Seriously, not sure how we will fit it all in today.

Lots of holiday fun (and stress) happening for all of us I'm sure.  I just keep reminding myself that holidays should be joyful, not stressful and that I need to let things go!  Like holiday cards...for the third year in a row.  But my husband really wanted to send a small amount of cards out this year.  So, we made it happen in the 20 minutes we had from getting all three kids home from school right before I needed to leave again to drop my oldest off for gymnastics.  It was hilarious actually.  We found the tripod, got dressed semi-descent, convinced all three kids to mostly cooperate and picked up a plan for the dog (we'd use pine cones as his attention grabber...just like his ball).  One problem.  We couldn't find the camera.  I started to get annoyed but before I could throw a mommy/wife fit and go on a rant about how nobody else did their part to be prepared (yes, I'm kind of in that mode the last few days..poor family), my husband had his phone camera taped onto the tripod and we were kind of ready to roll!   The kids were themselves and the dog sat for the timer (really, he sat for the pine cones he was focused on) after lots of orders to "stay" and "sit".  All five of us were shouting the orders so I'm pretty sure the neighbors wondered what was going on.  It was our version of Christmas Caroling.  We only had time for a handful of shots but we got pictures that were GOOD ENOUGH! In fact, I'm kind of digging the imperfections this year...blurry faces, closed eyes, last minute (I mean really last minute...right down the wire with closing time...and way more stress involved than needed) Costco cards with a print that I really don't like but chose because it worked good enough and I was out of time!

My fourteen mile run yesterday sure does help make these busier days run so much smoother!  Even though I was near tears yesterday with trying to fit everything in with the kids, and the stupid lists (after all the time it took to run), the endorphins were capped off at a nice level!! Oh, and I ran along some of the most beautiful trails I've seen yet since moving to Bend in August so this was SOUL Food!

This spot is around mile 7 of my run yesterday.  Right before I turned around to make my 14.  I'm pretty sure this is darn near at the top of the list when it comes to the most beautiful parts of the trails I've run on since moving to Bend!  I took off at a spot off Hwy 20 near Meadow Camp and ran down to the Deschutes River Trail.  Wow!!  It's almost as if this section had its own mini ecosystem.  More like the lush forests near Portland and down the Oregon coast.  So odd for the high desert Central Oregon trails.  This trail is incredibly diverse..starting at the top and dropping down to meadows, up rocky mountain sides, along the river, and so much more.  So HUMBLING for long run pace...I had my Garmin on for distance and wish I would never look at the pace because it's so so slow!!  My dog was in heaven...he had to have run at least 20 miles to my 14 with all his up and down, back and forth, running off with other dogs, and continuing to run circles around me.  

The starting point to my run.  Much more typical terrain for the trails here in the high desert of Central Oregon.

  Lots of this other stuff going on too:

A beautiful Sunday RunHappy run along the trails at Shevlin Park. This was taken on an icy bridge over Tumalo Creek.

Easiest kid-made ornaments ever.  Air dry clay, fingers for prints to make the heart, a pencil to put the hole for string, and a toothpick to write on the back!  

Thanks to Laura from Mommy Runs Fast, we had a fun recipe for gingerbread cookies.  I wasn't in the mood to do this at all and really kind of dreaded it but as soon as we started, my bad mood faded and I was warmed by the experience!

Final bullet points:

• Kids made mosaic frames and boxes for their teachers this year along with a heartfelt card.  Note to self, wash the grout off BEFORE it dries!!  It really isn't fun to have to sand it down after the fact!  ugh.  
• My gift to the teachers this year was a letter from my heart telling them how thankful I am.  This was so EASY with my oldest daughter's teacher.  Wow, wow, wow, and then some.  The whole school and staff, really. 

I'm officially out of time. Maybe even running late.  But if I kick it into warp speed, we will rock this morning and make it a wonderful day!  Oh, and thank goodness the HAT was invented for days I don't have time to wash my hair (um, that might be more days than not).

Wishing you and yours so much PEACE and JOY!

Amanda

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Runninghood

Instagram:  http://instagram.com/runninghood

Twitter:      https://twitter.com/Runninghood1

The Things That Matter Most

The past few days have been no school days for my daughters.  This has meant loose schedules, lazier days, and plenty of free time for them.  This has also meant more fighting, messes, noise, and the constant popular chorus of "Mom, Mom, Mom..." filling my house.  Don't get me wrong, I cherish these days.  I do.  I love having kids.  I love being a mom.  I know these days will go way. too. fast.  However, when I'm riding the waves of hormones and my nerves feel like someone is pinching them with a wire cutter, I turn into more of a nagging witch-like (perfect for Halloween) mom instead of a patient, creative and bubbly one.  That was yesterday.  But it didn't last.

As I made my way into the dining room mid-nag to ask my oldest daughter to do something I had asked for repeatedly, I was greeted with the sweetest of surprises.  The table was set with my grandmother's china (which we rarely use) and I could see that she was in the process of putting something very special together for the family.  There was a creepy menu being made and the table was decorated in cobwebs, mini pumpkins and spooky looking name cards for all of us.  No wonder she was asking me all morning what dinner was going to be.  Instead of quinoa, it was going to be fish eggs.  Instead of beets, it would be bloody brains.  Lemonade was snake venom.  You get the drill.

Seeing my little girl put this special memory into the making melted my heart.  Not only did it make me smile to see my grandmother's china all set out, but I felt so proud that creating this memory and fun now new tradition was something of value to her.  And she got the other two kids in on the action.  They were decorating the chalk board, picking out Halloween music, and deciding on costumes and decorations for the house.  All I had to do was cook.

By the time dinner rolled around, I was wearing a blue wig and a black dress and I had a little witch and two vampires dancing merrily around the house.  In between grilling the human thighs (chicken) and steaming the worms (green beans) we took turns hitting the spooky dance floor and busting a groovin' move.  I was still a little irritable and low on patience but I was loving the fun everyone was having.

Dinner was ready just as my husband walked in the door with arms full of electrical things, big metal chunks of odds and ends and a smile on his face over how much fun he was going to have making his Whiplash costume (bad guy in Ironman 2) electrical engineer style!  Looks like everyone was in the holiday spirit tonight.

The final dinner menu consisted of fish eggs, thighs (human), tadpoles, octopus, snake venom, blood, bear blood, green worms, huge banana slugs, blood balls, bloody brains and few other appetizers.  

A most spooktacular dinner!

As the dinner progressed and we were sitting around the table giving cheers with our snake venom and bear blood (beer), I knew we were making a lasting memory.  These are the parts in life that matter most someday.  It isn't about having a clean house or making sure all the messes are cleaned up in the bedrooms (although that certainly keeps me from losing my mind).  It isn't about how organized my cupboards and closets are.  Or what kind of car we drive.  It's not about having everything perfect all the time.  What my daughter did for all of us last night was priceless.  It's definitely going down on my list as something that I want to remember forever and a tradition worth continuing for always.


What are some fun family traditions you have, have had, or want to have for the holidays?  
What's one of your best family memories from your childhood?

Amanda 

You can also find Runninghood on:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Runninghood

Instagram:  http://instagram.com/runninghood

Twitter:      https://twitter.com/Runninghood1