Lucky Leprechaun!

This masterpiece was created by Maddie and Nick and our cousins (via Ted and his cousin Jen, married to Ben) Tyler, Ryan, Evan, and with a little help from tiny tykes: Sam and Douey. They spend hours on St. Patrick's Eve, collecting stuff from all over Jen's house (in Austin, which by the way we love! We looked at model homes for my sister, Holly's family, and are in HIGH hopes they will move down; then I'm afraid we'll have to move down, too! Eek! because we are signing on our new home here in TeenyTown near Fort Worth on Monday!! rats! Austin will have to wait!)

Back to the story; (I haven't blogged for so long that I have a lot of random things to share)

The kids went online and found this design for a leprechaun trap. He uses the white rocks to rock-climb the box to the top where he'll see gold coins (goody!) and a sign saying "keep out" which the kids are smart enough to know about 'reverse psychology' so they put that up there. Just before he walks across the tops of the box to get the gold coins, the box has a sly gash cut into it and the plan was that he would fall in and be stuck down there...

But he got away.

Lucky Leprechaun became his name.

He did leave the kids sparkly green hats, green licorice, green m&ms, green, minty kisses, and jellybeans.

It was so fun! This is a fun holiday to get creative. Sometimes they come visit your classroom at school while you're at PE and they wreck up the room and leave green dust and gold coins. That happened to Maddie in 2nd grade. Green guys (and gals) are groovy!

Then Maddie made some rainbow cupcakes to celebrate the ole' leprechaun's searh for the pot of gold: where? under the rainbow.

These were awesome! WE loved them! Some 60s revolutionary cupcakes. Groovy cooking, Mads!

Thanksgiving week of fun!

This year, we decided to do something FUN every day of the Thanksgiving vacation, which for our kids' school lasts the ENTIRE week of Thanksgiving. Here is a photo tour of our week:

SUNDAY

The kids spent several hours after church making costumes and practicing four dances from the Christmas music of Manheim Steamroller. They LOVE the fast songs and it gets them dancing without fail. I'll take the credit for this gene (as will my mom and her mom!) :)

Up above is the Robot Dance

Below, is the Ballet Dance Yes, Nick IS wearing Maddie's clothes (including her leggings) and Ted's Elvis 'helmet' (it's rubber, so we can't call it a wig). This was a total crack up!!! We had an audience of 6 neighborhood kids and I video-taped a section of each dance. We even had refreshments of cheese, grapes, crackers, cake from a dinner party the night before. MONDAY We visited our local fire dept (all volunteers, as our town in so small!) with Nicks' Cub Scout pack. The men showed us where they live, their clothes, some intense photos of their rescues, and of course, the ins-and-outs of their trucks! TUESDAY

We drove to downtown Fort Worth to the newly renovated Science Museum, which we usually have yearly passes for--there is so much to do and it is only about 25 minutes away; when it's cold/icy or super HOT, a fun indoor option with plenty to do.

The past 2 years, it has been transformed, enlarged, and super-charged, so we couldn't wait to go. We went some wonderful friends, the Becans, who we met the first year we lived here through the kids' school classes. Water Zone

The new CSI exhibit was completely interactive: crime scene, draw all your observations, go to various labs and test your information, make conclusions, check out what the autopsy showed, make your case, and see if you figured out who did it!

More Water Zone; even though it was quite chilly, the kids loved this part--they got pretty wet, but luckily, we did this last, so they had a heated car to warm up in on the way home.

Maddie making sand art on a spinning wheel; where the sand it, it was spinning slowly so that each design she made in the sand would go around and around. It was cool.

Nick and Michael at the outdoor Dino Dig.

This museum has a huge section for studying real dino bones and facts as many, many recent discoveries of dinosaurs and oceanic creatures have been made right here in north Fort Worth!

Nick in the Science Experiment Zone putting paper objects in a wind tunnel and seeing them fly up and out--

We took some of Nick's friends and went to our town park for sports, swings, and some sun.

(back to MONDAY)

WEDNESDAY

This was my favorite: ROLLERSKATING!

From a girl who spent most weekends rollerskating (from about '77-80), who loves disco & soul music, I am loving that my kids love to skate, too! We went with a few friends and had a blast!

Nick counted how many rounds he made (105) before we left. He was doing his dance moves on his favorite songs; and I requested Abba and the BeeGees to get my fix. A new friend of mine requested KC and the Sunshine Band...now that is making my day. I think I'm going to go back during the day (homeschool hours...if there's not too many tiny tots) and just skate for 2 hours! Great workout, so much pure enjoyment for me.

Wednesday night we took the kids to dinner and to see the new Christmas Carol movie. We absolutely loved it! Especially Ted and I. Such a beautiful story about life and sharing, happiness, selflessness, and forgiveness. Loved the new 3-D--it's amazing how technology is improving each year. We love to see a movie on Thanksgiving Day or Eve.

THURSDAY

Turkey Day and Turkey Bowl.

Every year, Ted helps organize a bunch of guys at church to a turkey bowl football game. He and Nick went this year (though Ted took the year off from organizing it) and both boys got to play as there weren't too many dads.

Maddie and I watched the NYC Macy's Day Parade while I cooked up a couple of Chocolate Mousse Pies, a chocolate chip cheesecake pie, and prepared some veggie dishes for our meal with our Texas 'family' -- the Ballards, whom we met at church. We are thankful for them as they invite the four of us to join their EIGHT person family (plus 3 other families this year) to dine on deluxe food at their home. The weather was terrific and Nick got to play lots of football and basketball with the boys at this gathering. The adults laughed and told great stories; the dining was delish! (I have no photos of this event; too busy eating!)

FRIDAY

Our youth from church, ages 12 to 18, had a trip to the LDS Dallas Temple all afternoon; lunch beforehand at the church and then Ted, Maddie, and I left for most of the day. Nick stayed with his good buddy, Ben, and enjoyed lots of sports and Wii I suspect. Thanks, Sharla!

SATURDAY

Clean the house! It's up for sale and it was a mess. Then we went to do some Christmas shopping for each other; we all split up at Walmart and took the kids to get each other gifts. Maddie and I like doing this, the boys are not as excited; or I should say, they are enjoy it and are ready to do it and be done, while Maddie and I could keep on looking and going for a few hours.

That night was the highly, very anticipated BYU-University of Utah game. The boys watched that (their delight, BYU won) and the girls went out for a movie night.

........................................................................................................................................ Maddie was in charge our "Family Night Activity" and we had a crazy experience...

She gave us notes printed up on the computer that said,

"Wear some beat up clothes, bring a small bag of two items and meet your guide out at the mailbox."

So, as we went to put on our shoes, she says, "NO SHOES...you have to have a real experience!" and so out we went in barefeet and raggy, painted up (for me) clothes to the dark streets of low 50s or high 40 degree weather. Maddie tells us we are homeless and we are on a journey to the shelter. She asked us to 'introduce' ourselves to each other: Ted was "Jimmy Stevenson" and Nick was "Bob Johansen" and I was "Slyvia Longbottom" and Maddie was an unnamed lady from Kentucky. :) "Bob" and "Jimmy" were vying for my affections (hee hee). We walked around our street for awhile and sat by the fire hydrant, under a street lamp and talked about the warmth of Thanksgiving and had to count our 'homeless blessings'...wow! Maddie was in character, this one she had just made up, the whole night!

Finally (relief for our cold feet), she led us to the "soup kitchen" (our house) and we went in and sat down. Blankets never felt so good! She helped us think about pioneers and the homeless and hungry. She passed out paper and markers and said that we would make turkeys and write our blessings on the feathers and hang them up for a few days til Thanksgiving:

Notice a couple of BYU turkey fans...

That inspired Maddie to giver her turkey a purse with green money poking out;

and it inspired me to give my turkey some weights, a yoga mat and a stability ball.

We hung them up around our fireplace for a few weeks.

Just want to thank Maddie for her creativity!! and fun!

We love our new Thanksgiving traditions, making grateful-feathered turkeys and having a Thankful Box, which we fill up with things we're thankful for all month long. Nick and Ted have at least 70% of what they write as 'inside jokes', puns, goofy things, which make us laugh. But they always remember the real blessings, too.

I'm grateful for a family of laughter, spirit, gratitude, and love!

Thanksgiving with Texas friends

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life."

"Gratitude unlocks the very essence of worship. When you walk with gratitude you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism, you walk with a Spirit of Thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your lives."

Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, it also unlocks the doors of heaven and feel God's love.

Gordon B. Hinckley

We were blessed to spend the day with the following families from our church family:

The Ballards (like siblings to Ted and I)

The Sanders (like grandparents for our kids)

The Boss family with great kids (future BYU roommates or dates!)

Relatives of the Ballards

Parents (newly off mission from So. Africa) of the Boss family

We ate a GINORMOUS feast and the tradegy was that there was so much dessert, so many pumpkin pies, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin dips, fruit salad, chocolate moose pie (compliments of me via my sister, Holly), chocolate chip cheesecake pie (moi) and the best pecan pie in Texas, by Lynnette. Her pie will have a special place in my heart and memory because on my first birthday here in Texas, she made me one and brought it over to me on my birthday! I'll always remember how that made me feel; and I'll not forget how it tasted, either!

Ted and Nick spent the morning playing football with Dads and their sons from church as the local middle school. This has been a tradition that Ted started when we moved here: the Turkey Bowl...and the men & boys would start practicing for a couple of weeks beforehand. The men were few this year, so Nick and his little friend, Ben, got to play. Nick said that he sacked Ben, mightily, quite by accident! :)

Maddie got our the Christmas stuff (7 big Tupperwares!) and I was melting chocolate over the double broiler (is it "brioler" or "bioler"?) and whipping up cream and shaving chocolate for the pies. How unbelievable that I FORGOT to take a photo of these gorgeous, rich, chocolate moose pies!! quel dommage!

And finally, at the end of the night, Ted came home and got out all the outside lights and put them up. We will do our bushes later this weekend; we'll get the tree up tomorrow and tidy up in GREAT hopes that someone will come look at our house...

Creative Book Nooks

We love this new idea for making creative places to read---Nick read more in the week we did than ever before!

We grabbed a milk jug covered in aluminum foil (Nick's Cub Scout Twilight camp medieval costume helmet: that's mouthfull) and filled it with about 30 papers that said things like:

read in the tub

make a fort and read in it

read under the (mini) pool table

read on the counter

read on a blanket in the yard

Before I take credit for this idea, I admit to putting it together out of two things: Natasha's summer bingo cards (from a fabulous personal blog called Playful.Productive.Present)

http://stacysbigpicture.typepad.com/altogether_too_happy/2009/06/quote-for-june-18.html

and from Family Fun Magazine which we love! You can read about any fun idea involving kids online at their online magazine.

So the above is when Nick drew out, "Lay on all the couch pillows and read."

This one was "sit on a soccer chair in the big red chair and read" The super cozy place, "Read in mom's tub"

And lastly, but not in the least, "Read in a home-made fort"

Nick had so much fun picking these out and following what they said. I love Creative People who share ideas online with us so we can make more out of everyday life!

Maddie's Birthday weekend

When we asked Maddie what she wanted to do for her oh-so-special 12th birthday, she said, "Go to the Dallas (LDS) temple..."

We took her and she was able to go inside to see the baptismal font resting on the backs of 12 oxen (representing the 12 tribes of Israel). We brought the names of some of our Czech ancestors and she was baptized in their behalf (vicariously) for them. We believe and follow what the apostle Paul referred to in 1 Corinthians 15:29...that people back then were baptized for their dead, knowing it was a required ordinance to return to God. We do that in our temples all over the world. It was a super special and memorable day! Mom and Dad with Maddie at the LDS Dallas Temple

Of course, Maddie also wanted to celebrate all weekend at school and at home.

She made 3 pans of brownies throughout the week; one for her great friend, Jordan's going-away (moving) Wind Ensemble (band) party, one for another school-event, and the last pan on her actual birthday for her homeroom class. She puts extra chips in the batter and once they come out she sprinkles little pieces of Andes mints. Oooh, delectable!

Blowing out her candles! She wanted cupcakes (neon, but they didn't turn out quite as bright as she'd hoped) and she shaped them into a huge peace sign...

She went swimming with her long-time school friends. She has had these friends since 3rd grade when we moved here; in fact, I remember substitute teaching for all of the 3rd grade classes and knew them all then, too. How fun!!

Sunday night, our good friends and neighbors came over to enjoy ice cream cones in chocolate-dipped cones (Maddie's scrumptious choice). They raced on foot and scooter. Then I got the bright idea (from my childhood) to grab our extra balloons from inside and...

tie them around each kids' ankle (and we got Ted out there, too!)

The kids ran around trying to stomp on the other's balloon, while trying to protect their own balloon. It was crazy and perfect birthday fun!

Maddie brings such brightness, compassion, creativity, and fun to our family. We love her like mad and can't wait to see the great things she does in her life!

Peach Pickin'

A kindred-spirit friend (and our kids' piano teacher) invited us to go peach picking with her last month. She is from back east and like us (when we lived in New Hampshire) used to spend summers picking fresh fruit from local farms. We used to go blueberry and strawberry picking every summer. We have missed it much and now had the chance to go peach picking here. Texas peaches are reknown and some towns even have Peach Festivals.

Tons of fat, furry, juicy peaches!!!

Filling our buckets...

They were so delicioso that we dove in before we left the property! Then they serve you up some fresh peach soft-serve ice cream! Deluxe! I topped mine off with some freshly sliced peaches that we had just picked. Super fun tradition that we now have here in Texas. Thanks, Caroline, for inviting us!!

Beautiful Easter Day

We started to celebrate Saturday with our traditional egg hunt (photos to follow) and this delectable dinner that Nick thought up, "Let's eat dinner like a rabbit would!" he cried enthusiastically. Luckily, both kids love raw veggies; Maddie decked out the table in her usual flair for special event-themed tables/meals and we did add some mini-pizzas to this fair table.Even the little "sticks" (fry-looking things on the right) are veggies! And good, too!

Can a carrot get any bigger????

"What's up, Doc?"

Who is old enough to remember that FAMOUS line from either (a) Barbra Steisand in same titled movie from 1972, a huge family favorite at my house, or (b) Elmer Fudd, of Looney Tunes cartoons. Get acquainted with both if you aren't privy to them--the movie, particularly, is hilarious!!

Having 2 guests like these really made the kids' weekend! This is Brax and Jae, the 2 dogs we often babysit for our buddies, the Sedricks. These two hung out with us everywhere, including watching a movie, which was super cozy for all of us.

Ted didn't know that he and I were getting baskets, too...hello? we like a bit of candy now and then, too!

Here's normal guy face...

Here is savage guy face...

Nick on the run for more eggs

A few years ago we got these pink 'camo' eggs -- they are a bit obvious...

Every year we have put on an egg hunt for the kids, since they were tiny. No bunny comes hopping by, I'll admit I'm not a fan of the 'bunny story' but I am a fan of the kids' excitement that comes from 'treasure hunting' for treats, notes, coins, whatever we put in the eggs.

We threw in a couple of pairs of socks for Maddie; Nick's new socks had sports' balls all over and he put them on that moment and wore them for two days...

Doing all this on Saturday, leaves us Sunday for focus on what Easter is and means to us.

We have a nice brunch or dinner (or both depending on what time church is) and often with friends since we don't live by family (bummer!)

We had a "dramatic reading" though it wasn't super dramatic from the New Testament and music (piano man lives here and that really adds to the moment) and singing to match the theme of Jesus' life and resurrection. Having the chance to share the real message and joy of the holiday is what I want the kids to remember; and what brings meaning to the weekend.

This photo of Ted in New Hampshire, 2004, on the year it didn't snow for easter... We never used to have Spring in New Hampshire and our Easter awakening of the earth was never witnessed like it is now in north Texas. We had all our bulbs popping up last month and we always have delightful warm weather for our egg hunt. Bluebonnets and other wildflowers of every color are blooming on all the grassy medians and side roads and in the country where we live. It's gorgeous! Texas has one beautiful season and it's Spring! If you are going to come visit, come in the Spring! We used to bundle the kids to the hilt and hide eggs in the snowy forest behind our last house in NH. Now we worry about the sun melting the chocolates that are in the little plastic eggs we put all over the yard. Sometimes we find one months later that was so camoflauged, that they missed it. Today Ted spoke in church on a scripture found in Mosiah chapter 3 verse 19 about the 'natural man being an enemy to God, unless he(we) yield to the Holy Spirit' and put on 'meekness' and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I have always loved that scripture since my mission, as I have felt the powerlessness of the natural self, o sea, (as the say in Spanish for 'o rather') the human, mortal self when we forget who we are and who wants to guide us. I love yoga's emphasis on "honoring the divine within ourselves and our fellowman" 'namaste' and it seems that life's Greatest Truths have been found by True Seekers throughout all of time. It takes pure humility to see your faults honestly and then true faith to believe that you can be better, stronger, overcome weakness, and yet know, that you'll always be in need of Mercy; but that we can hold our head's high when we let the Lord take the reins in our lives and show us a way we had never considered or thought possible. I love personal revelation more than anything (except my family) and my experiences with it are my most valuable possession. Back to the topic: Mi Amor. He always has a joke or humorous comment to start his talks (which he loves preparing for and giving) and I love to hear and watch him speak; it is where he shines and his talent for the written word/communication is most apparent (well, it is as apparent in his writing, also). I loved it when he said, "As a musician, I..." and then he explained why he used quotes from songs that teach about the Savior's power to heal us. I sometimes forget that he is a musician as our life is too busy for him to play the piano, but I told him tonight, we must make time for him to tickle those keys; he used to when Maddie was 1 and 2 years old and she danced like a wild thing to "Great Balls of Fire" -- those memories are some of the smiliest ones I have...and then Nick would sit on Ted's lap and play for long moments. Anyway, I was inspired by Ted's talk, inspired by the scripture, and touched deep down to my core by the choir's song about the Savior's deep love, suffering, and forgiveness for us; all of us, all the time. I love the message of Easter. Love the colors, love the thought of new life, a new "spring" in my step and a lift up to get closer to living like I want to live: focused, calm, content, and joyful!

Merry Buckwalters

December 2008

Santa comes early!

Meet Jada Rose!

Nick is soooooooooooo (infinity) excited. He has asked for a dog for 3 years! Our friends needed to give this beautiful boxer to the right family... They gave us the dog house and 'Santa' brought a bed/pillow, treats, food, collar, name tag, and even a silver dogtag for Nick which says: I LOVE MY DOG NICK BUCKWALTER TAKE IT EASY! (Nacho Libre quote that Nick and Ted love to use daily)

Here they are out in the backyard on Dec. 23rd. We had hoped to share the holidays with our new dog, so Santa brought her early!

Here she is with pink polka-dotted collar and harness for our walks

She is very loving and puts her paws up on our legs when we kneel, as she "hugs" us. She sleeps with Nick every night, right next to his body; he prefers to now sleep on the floor next to her. By morning both of their heads are on the pillow. For real--photos to come...