Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland!  Riley was determined NOT to miss out on this snow fall like he did the last one.  As soon as the kids were awake I was putting on their snow pants, coats, boots, gloves and hats!  It was hardly even light out, but they were too anxious to wait for the sun!  I can't blame them, I was just as excited for them to go play in the snow!  There's something magical waking up to a world of white!

Here's what I was able to capture of them:

Topics of Conversation

Today on the way home, we were listening to our Veggie Tales Sunday Morning Songs CD and there is a song about shoes and when you get to Heaven you can walk all over God's Heaven with your shoes.  I think this song is what sparked Riley's question below:

Riley:  "Mom, when we get to Heaven, will we become angels?"
Me:  "I think so Riley."
Riley:  "Cool!  I can't wait to fly!"

Don't you just love their innocence and enthusiasm?

A Victim of Ring and Run

I have a friend out here who has decided that she and her five kids are going on a mission to deliver 100 homemade yummy treats without repeating recipes to friends and neighbors.  They are moving away from the busyness of activities and practices and focusing on character and relationships.  Yesterday we fell victim to the Flour Fehries.  And what a treat it is to become one of their victims!  She and her little ones made the most delicious cranberry oatmeal cookies and delivered them to our door yesterday after school.  Her kids are in charge of the deliveries...They snap a pic of the treat at your door, then ring your doorbell and run like the wind back to the gettaway van!  Boy her kids are FAST!

This is such a great way to involve your children in giving, service and spending quality time together in the kitchen...I think her idea might be something we take with us whenever we have to leave Utah and remember her and her family by carrying it on somewhere else.

If you want to make some of these yummy cookies for yourself, you can find the recipe here: Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Thanks Flour Fehries!

Not So Intimidated Anymore...

Using my sewing machine for anything other than a quick repair, attaching scout patches or sewing straight lines for the past 14+ years was about all it was good for until today...

I've been wanting to create a skirt with coordinating material and a matching applique shirt for Christmas.  I finally figured out what I wanted to do and created a "protype" for it.  My first version is decent, but sloppy.  I had to figure it out on my own with some cheap/scrap material before spending money on the good stuff!  Today I was brave and started cutting the expensive material, daring myself to try something new.  The most I've done is create a pillowcase dress - creating a pattern from one I had bought.  They were pretty simple, but it's mostly straight lines!

This skirt is mostly straight lines, but it required gathering, some top stitching, numerous french seams, and a waist band.  Still pretty simple for even the newbie seamstress.  My mom said she gets intimidated by her computer...that's how I feel when I sit down in front of my sewing machine.  I use to sew with my mom as a kid, but her machine is so different than mine and we haven't been able to sew together for a few years now.

Well, I've kept you in suspense long enough...Here's my finished product:

Kendall and I made a trip to the Fabric Center on Monday and I was overwhelmed by the number of choices...and good choices.  Lots of designer fabrics!  I was in sewing heaven!

The shirt was pretty simple to create as well.  I traced letters I printed off the computer and then sewed them on the front of the shirt so it would coordinate with her skirt.

I'm so happy to have been able to complete this simple one.  The best part is that I didn't even have a pattern.  I just followed some written instructions...the ideas are flowing now...The next one will probably have more panels or twirl or have layers...the possibilities are endless!

You've Got Mail!

For those of you who know me well, you'll understand why I had to take this picture...It's packaged in a John Herr's bag too!

My mother-in-law was sweet enough to send me some Cope's Toasted Dried Sweet Corn and it arrived in the mail today!  I was down to just one bag and that won't get me through both Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I have THE best recipe for this stuff, and as much as I'd like to share it, it's a family secret.  There are only a few of us Hershocks left who know Nanny's tricks to making it delicious.  I just love the way the house smells on Thanksgiving and Christmas days...and leftovers are just as good if not better!  It will be my job to pass the family recipe down to Kendall (and Riley's future bride) someday so the tradition can carry on.

If you can't be "home" for the holidays, at least you can have a piece of "home" wherever you are!  (NOTE - I am cautious talking about "home" in front of the kids because I want them to feel like wherever we are currently parking our cars is our home...Unfortunately for Kendall, Lancaster will never be her home since she was born in Florida and has only been there 3 times)

Thanks to Nancy for making collecting the mail today an exciting experience!  Whoo Hoo!  Bring on Turkey Day!  (I know, I'm a simple girl...doesn't take much to make me happy!)

BEST NON-PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN SALT LAKE CITY

If you want to learn more about the school Riley attends, this is a great video that shares a lot about Grace and the other Lutheran schools in Salt Lake county.

I read an interesting article the other day that spoke to the point that Utah spends the least per student than any other state and test scores are at the national average...well that sounds great except for the fact that few students in Utah come from poverty, most come from well educated parents and there are very few minorty students here...Hmm...all that being said shouldn't students being doing better?  Here's the article if you are interested in reading it.

We've Got New Shirts!

I posted about this turkey shirt last week and have since gotten myself organized to finally make it over the weekend.  After Riley got a peek at it, he wanted me to make him one, but I can't see a 6 1/2 yr. old boy walking around with this shirt on and not getting beat up, so I made him a different shirt so he'd feel included.

Here's Kendall's Turkey Shirt:

The feathers are made from tracings of her hands.  A plus is that this shirt required NO SEWING!  Unfortunately, she's been trying to feed her turkey at meal times...It's gotten pretty dirty and she freaked when I had to take it off to wash it...She's even slept in it!

This is what I created for Riley:

He really wanted a turkey shirt of some type and I had a different idea in mind for him, but the more I thought about it, it didn't make sense to spend the time or money...He wears uniforms to school everyday so he would only be able to wear his shirt when he's home or on weekends.  Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away so once turkey day has come and gone, it would hang in his closet collecting dust.  The boy loves lizards (and all things reptile) so I made him this shirt from a freezer paper stencil.  I cut the stencil on my cricut and then ironed the paper to his shirt and painted the stencil with some brown fabric paint and voila...a new shirt for my boy that he can wear all winter long!

Wait till you see what I have in mind for Christmas shirts this year!  Last year was freezer paper stenciled snowflakes...Even better ideas swirling around in my head for this year!  Stay tuned!

I'm Ready This Time...

They are calling for the possibility of the white stuff tomorrow.  Let me clarify that, they have issued a winter storm warning for heavy snow in effect for our area until tomorrow at noon.  Snow accumulations of 14-22 inches with more expected on the Wasatch front (including Brighton and Alta!).

This is the view from the webcam at Sugarloaf at Alta...Lots of white in this shot!

So I made sure I have all the necessary ingredients on hand...just in case!  If we don't get enough to enjoy some ice cream, I may have to drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon after school tomorrow with a cooler and scoop some up!  That's a dangerous benefit to Riley's school being so close to the canyon!

The funny thing is that I'm all ready to make snow ice cream, but I just realized that we don't even own a shovel to remove all the white powdery goodness from my sidewalk!  We actually gave our snowblower and shovel to our neighbors in Jax who had family in Maryland.  Andy was convinced we'd never need both items ever again!  I begged him to keep them, but he argued we didn't have the storage space in our garage.  At least when we lived in upstate NY, we owned a shovel!  Guess I'll be stopping at Homer's between my trips to Little Gym and Dance class tomorrow!  Thank goodness for all-wheel drive!

I Wanna Whoopie Pie Mom!

In unison from my two munchkins today.  Here's the scene afterwards:

Two happy children enjoying the sunshine and pumpkin whoopie pies.  One still in jammies and one in a leotard, tutu and fairy wings...This is how we roll at the Chunko house!

The Right Message At The Right Time

Have you ever sat in church and felt like the pastor's message was directed right at you and your situation?  That's how I felt today.  I've been spending a lot of time praying over something dear to me and today I felt God's presence through Pastor Paul's message.  It was as if God was letting me know that He hears what is on my heart and that since I've given it up to Him, that He'll take care of it.  What a blessing to know that we have a God who will take care of all our needs if we just turn them over to Him!

 

This is a song called Undone by FFH.  The lyrics to this song are included in the video and have been speaking to me a lot lately (I even have this song in my workout mix on my ipod!).  

If you've never heard of FFH, you are missing out.  This group started out as "Four For Harmony" in Lancaster, PA and then became "Far From Home" before changing their name once again to "FFH."  One of my dearest high school friends was an original member.  This group has come a long way from singing harmony in elementary school auditoriums and local church sanctuaries on a Sunday night!  

It's amazing how God can speak to you through a number of different ways...like today's message at church.  Back when we were living in Albany, NY, we struggled to find a church so we decided to just send our tithing back to our home church in Lancaster.  In the meantime, we also were donating money to FFH when we had extra.  We believed in their ministry and knew they were going to change hearts and lives.  One day, Andy felt lead to send them more.  No reason, just the Holy Spirit nudging him in that direction.  So, he sent them a check for more than what we had budgeted.  A few weeks later I received a call from my dear high school friend who told us how much that check was appreciated.  We'd never received a call from them while they were out touring before, but this one was under special circumstances.  The band had just had a speaker blow out and the check we had sent was for the EXACT amount that a new speaker would cost.  They didn't have the money for a new speaker but trusted that God would provide.  God works in the most amazing ways...That's why I believe that if I give my problems to Him, He'll figure out the solution that I can't see right now.  

 

Dinner Conversation

Tonight at dinner it was just me and the kids...Andy's been gone for a majority of the day and I've got a killer migraine.  I've actually had it since yesterday afternoon.  So you can imagine how much patience I have at this point in the day.  The kids have been playing nicely today, but their volume was on full blast!

At dinner, Kendall was sitting across from me and said "Momma, do you have a headache?"  I replied, "Yes, I do."  She then asked, "You need a band aid Momma?"  I said, "Do you think I should put one on my forehead to make my head feel better?"  She said, "Yes, you need a princess band aid.  You need Ariel!"

Oh, if a princess band aid would only do the trick!  But how kind of her to share her princess band aids.  She's always manipulating a way to get one to put on her body.  She treasures them.  What a sweetie!

Funny Quotes Heard 'Round Our House

"Momma!  I want one of Ra Ra's giggles!"
Translated means "Mom, I want one of Riley's skittles!"

"I wanna a whippy pie Mom!"
Translated means "May I please have a whoopie pie?"

"I wanna have a newto."
Translated means "I want to have a tattoo."

Bedtime Story

Last night I was putting my Little Man to bed and I reminded him that the next day was PE at school.  He told me he doesn't like PE...Uh oh!  This is how our conversation went:

Mom:  Tomorrow is PE Buddy!
Little Man:  Awhh!  I don't like PE.
Mom:  Why don't you like PE?
Little Man:  I don't like to do jacking jumps.  They make me tired.  And I don't like stretching because I can't touch my toes without bending my knees! (an example of his lack of flexibility was demonstrated)
Mom:  You've got to practice Bud.  You'll get better at it.  I always loved PE class.  You know, Mom use to teach PE, right?
Little Man:  Yeah, but I just don't like it.
Mom:  Are you sure you're my kid?  You couldn't have come from me, you must have come from your Dad!
Little Man:  I didn't come from Dad, I came from Pennsylvania silly!

I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants!

On a side note...maybe this is a sign that Momma needs to go into school and help revamp the PE curriculum!  Everyone should LOVE PE!  ;)

More Thankful Ideas...

After I posted yesterday's Thanksgiving ideas, I came across a few more that I thought I'd share...

I don't know where I snagged this picture...someone's blog last year and I've archived it for future projects so I can't give credit where credit is due, but I think these shirts are adorable:

You have to cut out the hand shape from the tee shirt and then use material from the underside and stitch around the opening.  What a fun idea.  I have an orange shirt for Riley just waiting for a project like this one!

Here is another cute shirt idea to celebrate Thanksgiving.  This one might require a little more work, but it looks like it would be worth the effort!

The details for this turkey shirt can be found at Treasures for Tots.  According to the tutorial, you don't actually have to sew this one, I believe they just used Heat and Bond...I still like to sew around my appliques to make sure they don't start to peel off at the edges.

I also found this at Better Homes and Gardens website:

How adorable would that look on your dining room table?  So cute and simple to make!

Last year we made these to send out as cards to our family members:

The larger hand is Riley's and the smaller hand is Kendall's.  What a great way to show everyone how big they are getting!

This is another take on that same idea...This one just uses feet as well as the handprints.  I found the idea at Crafts Kaboose:

So many projects...so little time...Maybe if I weren't such a craftaholic I would have a cleaner, more organized house?  Yeah, right!

Happy Crafting!

Thankful Ideas

I've been so excited for Thanksgiving...I have no clue what we're doing this year, but I love a traditional "Hershock" Thanksgiving meal and sharing it with my family.  Since we no longer live near our families, we'll figure out something.

I have been coming up with some fun ideas to do around our house to celebrate Thanksgiving and all that it means.  Riley has a family tree that is due next week and I decided that I like the idea of using a tree and instead of leaves for family members, we will include what we are thankful for on each leaf.

I got the idea from here at Roots and Wings Co :

If you want something more for your kids to create, you could do something like this one from Crafts By Amanda :

Kendall and I have already done a masterpiece like the one posted on Room Mom 101 :

Another one that I may consider is to create a "thankful" garland like this one from Blogging With Us :

Here are some other blogs containing fun ideas for you to use to celebrate Thanksgiving with your family:

Learning Development Activities

Tip Junkie

Sometimes I feel like Thanksgiving gets overlooked these days.  I don't remember such a fuss over Halloween when I was a kid...maybe it had something to do with growing up in the Bible Belt of Pennsylvania...maybe it was because our parents didn't spend money like it was going out of style and we just didn't go crazy with decorations and parties...who knows.  But as a kid I have fonder memories of Thanksgiving than of Halloween.  Maybe it was because Thanksgiving meant aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, my Nanny's famous family recipe for dried corn, pumpkin pie, football, etc.  My Nanny's house was always warm from all the bodies crammed into her little house and the smells of food that was cooking all day in preparation for the big meal.  The same smells now take me back to those days.

I know the stores all have their Christmas stuff out already and some of my neighbors will be putting up their lights soon, but I'm pretty firm on not digging out the Christmas decorations until Black Friday - or at least that weekend.  We typically decorate a tree that weekend too so we can enjoy it longer, but I don't like how people forget about being thankful for everything God has given us.

It's a wonderful holiday to remember all that we have in our lives, people who love us, a roof over our heads, a steady income and healthy family members.  My family has been so blessed over the years and will make an effort even if it's during half time of the Dallas game (If Andy can even stand to WATCH the game after the season they've been having!  Ha!  Sorry, Babe, but as an avid Eagles fan, I'm loving it!) to make sure that we share all that we are thankful for this year.

I hope you find time this Thanksgiving to remember what you are thankful for...