Christmas: a time for "giving" kids a world perspective

I encountered several major obstacles in my commute recently. A basket overflowing with Halloween costumes, a bazillion little Lego blocks, some Barbie and doll accessories, library books, a multitude of shoes, and overturned laundry bins once filled with clean but unfolded clothing were a few of the obstructions I had to detour around on the way to my basement office.

I struggle with keeping the house picked up, partly because there are more parties helping undo the clean, but also because we have so much stuff. As Christmas approaches, we struggle with wanting to give our kids everything they ever dreamed, yet wanting to be disciplined so we don't create greedy monsters who have little appreciation for what they already have. I've seen the photos of people in other countries wearing two-liter bottles and duct tape for shoes, and I think about this as I trip over at least four pairs of shoes left in the living room and kitchen by one daughter.

For this reason, among others, my husband Dan and I like doing the Operation Christmas Child boxes with the girls. An organization called Samaritans Purse, led by Billy Graham's son Franklin, spearheads a program each year which enables people to fill a simple shoebox with small Christmas gifts for a child in another country. A lot of times these children have very little and may never have received a Christmas gift--such a contrast to what our kids receive each year from us, their 14 immediate aunts and uncles, and six sets of grandparents. This project enables us to talk to our kids about the difference between wants and needs.

For the last few years, we've let each of our four daughters choose what age and gender child they wanted to fill a shoebox for. And each year, they choose to shop for a girl their own ages which is great since we have a pretty good idea of what girls their age like!

This year, we planned ahead and bought different items when they were on sale instead of buying all the items at Christmastime. This enabled us to get quality items worth more than $70 for about $15. (When we tallied the retail price of our items and compared that to what we actually paid, I was really impressed with how well we'd done with our bargain shopping and staying within budget.) When we would go shopping, I would find the product, such as Colgate toothbrushes for $1, and the girls would get to choose which color and style they wanted to put in their shoebox.

This year, we were able to get long-sleeve shirts for $1.79, 10 percent of the original purchase price. We keep our eye on the end-of-season sales, and ShopKo often puts their clearance items as low as 90 percent off. We also got gloves last season and paid 69 cents for two pairs, originally $6.99.

Stuffed animals after holidays also are great buys. My girls love these wide-eyed Beanie stuffed animals. A few weeks after Valentine's Day, ShopKo had these same Beanies with hearts in their hands on clearance for $1.29, down from $12.99. We snatched up four of them. In addition, we bought coloring books or notebooks, color crayons or markers, tennis shoes (on clearance for $2-$7), toothpaste and a ZhuZhu pet toy for each box.

Of course, once October comes and we actually fill our boxes, we do have to do some negotiating among the girls because they can't remember exactly which color toy or style toothbrush they chose, but in the end it works out.

Sometimes my kids will still ask that horrifying question Christmas morning, "Is this all there is?" as mountainous piles of ripped Christmas paper lay about, but I pray Dan and I are making a difference as we talk to our kids about being good stewards and helping them look beyond themselves to see how they can help others.

If you'd like more information about Operation Christmas Child, you can go to www.SamaritansPurse.org. 

Erin Bankson helping Meg fill out a sheet about Meg to include in an Operation Christmas Child box at our church's annual OCC box-packing party last year.

Lauren and Caitlin Parsley as they fill out the right age and gender tag for the box Lauren filled with toys, general hygiene products and more.

Nice pic of our friend Mary with her granddaughter.

Emily turning her filled OCC box in at the packing party.

Meg choosing carefully which toothbrush, toothpaste and writing utensils to include in her box.

Dan messing around with a young friend : )

Annika filling her form out to include in the box.

The Year in Review: 2012

I'm going all multimedia on you and doing a slideshow as my blog post for this month. It's samplings of the many things we did this year--from baby showers for twins (two showers for two sets, the second set of which was born this morning!) to waterskiing and then watching waterskiing, to fishing, to a lot of museums. Great memories. So grateful for the invention of the camera!

A Star is Born

Well, for fun, Annika and I went to auditions for a radio program. Sort of. It's a radio adaptation of Miracle on 34th Street, but it won't actually be on the radio. Not that I can tell, anyway. It's going to be performed in one of the restored historic buildings here in Fairmont in front of a live audience.

So we got there on time (a first!) and got our mug shots taken so the director could remember which name went with which face. The director was kind of a jolly looking fellow himself, only without the white beard.

We then proceeded to the main room where the "radio program" will take place. The director first had all the young girls stand in front and introduce themselves and say part of the Pledge of Allegiance. The girls ranged in ages from nine to about 14. One of them was an exchange student from Italy--so you even had a mix of voices and accents!

At this point, the director said the kids could go home if they wanted. A handful did, and a handful stayed.

Then he had the women introduce themselves, and lastly the men. Then he had people volunteer to do readings of the script. Annika volunteered for the part of Suzie, the nine-year-old who doesn't believe in Santa Claus. While Annika's introduction was a bit soft and her Pledge unconvincing, her reading of the script was completely believable and easy to hear from the back. I was really impressed!

After she finished, the director mentioned she was a tough act to follow. A few other girls read the part, but Annika ended up being awarded the lead role! Very exciting! The director only had roles for three other kids, but because four of them stayed the whole time, he awarded each of them a role. One of these girls is a classmate of Annika. It was so much fun to see her face light up when she heard she'd get to read lines!

Then the director began filling out the rest of the cast. He said, really, that since I was related to Annika I could be in it too. Backhanded compliment. If it was a compliment! Oh, well. I'm in it! And Annika and I will have fun!

The show is December 2, 2012 at 2 p.m. at the Red Rock Center in Fairmont, Minn. Hope we break some legs! Or something...

Kid quotes:
A friend of ours was diagnosed with shingles, poor lady. Once she heard this, one of our daughter's responded, "Did she get that because she helped Daddy with our roof?"

Meg many times refers to Dan's Apple tablet as his iPatch. Love it!

Listening to Meg sing--amazing repertoire. Goes from "Jake the Halls" (a version of Deck the Halls from Annika's choir concert last Christmas) to "Fruit Salad," to classic 80s tunes.

I swear my kids are the only k-garteners, 2nd graders, and 4th graders who understand the literary device "puns" and can use them humorously. I so appreciate this!

Meg chilling at Grandma Yvonne's while her hair dries

What my daughter takes pictures of at family gatherings--not the family

Annika looking tough with a toy policeman set

My bro John has this look on his face in every family pic, it seems.

My brother-in-law and his fam on Veterans Day--Steve is a "lite" colonel. Very cool.

Johnny Boy, Rob and Steve

A lot of the grands...good pic. Love Meg's "smile"

My sis-in-law (Johnny Boy's bride) is obviously expecting twins,
hence the two outfits. My Gramma Pat is to her right.

Johnny Boy went to London and so far all I got was
this not-so-lousy pic of St. Paul's Cathedral (and 40 other pics)

John's pic of the Tower of London, I think.

The girls at the Walk for Pets to benefit the Animal Shelter.
We borrowed a dog for the occasion! (I may have posted this already...)

Back to School

Back to school pic time. One of the photographers here in town, Richard Carlson, does a great job of coaxing real smiles out of the girls! Sigh--the girls are growing up. Unfortunately, here's photographic proof. Annika (4th grade), Lauren (2nd grade)

Emily (K), Megan (preschool)

And now, for some random summer memories...

Megan on the train ride at the county fair. She got to be the engineer, a task she took very seriously!

Another self portrait of Emily. We have a TON of these!

 An endearing pic of Meg on her first day of school for preschool-4s. Next year--kindergarten!

Lauren felt it was a good idea to practice safe corn eating by 

wearing protective eyewear--avoid those juices!

Annika's first day of school

Lauren and Em's first day of school (Emily's first real day of real school ever!) 

This was a fun project! We went looking for alternative "letters" we could use for Cousin Raegan's birthday card. Here's the end result!

Cool silhouette shot at a friend's wedding in June.

Lauren's 8th birthday cake--so fun! And extremely sweet (like 2 inches of frosting!)

Saw Zoltar at Buffalo Phil's in the Dells. Nope, didn't make any wishes! [Can you guess the allusion? Think Big!]

Meg and I got to spend some time at my Uncle Brian's house a few weeks ago, just before he passed away on October 12, 2012. On our way home, we stopped at Buffalo Phil's where they have Thomas the Tank Engine deliver the food. Meg and I had fun!

Licorice, Taffy, Gummy Bears--Oh, My!

Just outside of Jordan, Minn., is the brightest yellow barn I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure even I could hit the broad side.

As you approach the barn with its bright paint and brighter lights, you'll see signs in Burma Shave fashion touting 56 kinds of licorice, homemade lefse and 4,019 puzzles for sale. Calling itself Minnesota's Largest Candy Store (and America's Largest Puzzle Store), the official name is Jim's Apple Farm.

When Herbert "Hippy" Wagner returned from war many years ago, he saw a need to diversify the farm. And now he's the one in the bakery making up homemade apple and peach pies which you know are baking when the 100-watt bulb in the middle of the very large pie sign on the outside of the barn is lit.

The sweet venture is family run as Hippy and his wife, their son Robert and his wife, and granddaughter Christine help behind the counter and with stocking more than 150 types of root beer. But I can't confirm that because Hippy doesn't do interviews. Hippy doesn't even publish the phone number of the candy store. Apparently, Hippy doesn't believe in marketing beyond the signs leading up to the store.

But the barn has become a destination for us at least once every summer where we plunk down our $1.89 for Henry Weinhardt's root beer and some rather odd candies our children find.

The candy store is only open from mid-July through just after Thanksgiving. The staff use some of their off-season to spruce up some of their displays and attend the Sweets and Snacks Expo in Chicago where they find some of the unique goodies.

This year, the store featured an oversized Ferris wheel with seats filled with popcorn. You can find it next to the six-foot bubble gum machine near the check-out.

And you've heard of the unpolitically correct Cigar Store Indian? Well, Jim's has the Native American Indian complete with headdress made out of lollipops.

The store has a lot of the nostalgia candies that my mom and aunts enjoyed like Black Cow Chocolate Caramels and the Bonomo Turkish Taffy. They even have the candy cigarettes I used to get at Snyder Drug.

In addition to these, though, you've got the bacon gumballs, gummy bacon, bacon frosting and bacon mints along with a whole host of other bacony things, including actual bacon. There's the five-pound gummy bear and the five-pound Hershey chocolate bar (for a mere $49.99) along with the world's largest Tootsie Pop which is roughly the size of your head and retails for $9.99 and actually holds 9-13 other lollipops in it, depending on which one you buy.

Of course, where else can you find Bertie Bott's, the nasty flavored jelly beans featured in the Harry Potter books and movies? In case you're not familiar with these, they come in flavors like cut grass, ear wax and vomit. My nine-year-old seriously contemplated getting them. Ewww. Why?

The most surprising "snack" of the day, however, goes to the chocolate-covered insects and the Mexican worm larvae. Really, they aren't delicacies in my world. Instead, I took home Asher's chocolate-covered pretzels. Salty and sweet. Perfect!

If it's the puzzle part of the store that brings you in, be sure you can find just about anything--including a very detailed puzzle of Da Vinci's Last Supper with 13,200 pieces. That should keep you busy this winter.

The store is located on the west side of Hwy. 169 just before you hit Jordan if you're travelling north to the Twin Cities. It's open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and, while they don't take credit cards, they do take cash and checks and have an ATM on-site.

It's a fun place to go and explore if you don't mind saying, "No, you can't get that" a lot and your children are well-rested. We had a lot of fun with our photo ops, but you may find it useful to set a budget before you go in. Things ring up quickly!

[After I wrote this, I Googled Jim's Apple Farm and what should appear? The only interview Hippy has ever done! In mid-August, KSTP-TV aired an interview Jason Davis did with Hippy. You can see it at http://bit.ly/Jims2012. And, if his name is Herbert, why is it called Jim's Apple Farm? According to the interview, Hippy didn't think Herbert sounded very good as a business name!]

Finding Fun in Your Own Backyard

Good babysitters are a scarce and therefore unnatural resource, in my opinion, and great ones are even harder to find. I know because a) I was not one of those good babysitters (and that's all I'll say to avoid any chance of litigation) and now, as a mom, I have had nine years experience in hiring (and even firing) babysitters let alone trying to schedule them.

So when a great one comes along, his or her identity becomes something of a guarded secret so the sitter's availability is at a maximum.

When we moved to Fairmont, we were blessed with a set of sisters who could tag-team when babysitting for my girls as I did my writing. Alas, that was short-lived as the older sister felt the need to continue her education in college--two hours away.

Fortunately, the "little" sister enjoyed the kids and stayed with us that summer, and the next, and the next. Having the same sitter-nanny for three years is a luxury, let me tell you. And the kids adore her and her creativity. You may know her as Gertrude McFuzz from Seussical the Musical. My kids are probably the only people on the planet that now call her Cait, an abbreviation of her given name, Caitlin Parsley, and she's exceptional at finding fun right at home.

Em, Erin "Green Bird" Bankson, Meg, Caitlin "Gertrude" Parsley,
Annika and Lauren after Seussical the Musical

As I began writing this, Caitlin had my four daughters (ages four to nine) at her house for a water carnival that Caitlin and her mom had created. Water carnivals, of course, include water, squirt guns, relays and shaving cream. Two of Caitlin's nieces are in town so each relay team had six members. Hearing Megan, my four-year-old, give me a play-by-play of the shaving cream relay after the fact was pretty cute.

A few weeks ago, Caitlin helped the girls create their own restaurant in our home: Figlie's (which means "daughter" in Italian). The menu choices were pizza or fettucini--and Caitlin brought the necessary ingredients with her. The girls chose pizza, complete with mini pepperoni. That means the fixings for fettucini were available for the girls to make for me and my husband while he was home for his lunch break. 

Meg, Annika, Caitlin Parsley, Lauren and Em

Great shot of Annika's crimped hair...Meg's face? Not so much.

The girls were totally adorable as they did their best to mimic every waiter and waitress we've ever had, complete with refilling drink glasses. And then, of course, there were the bonus services you typically don't get in restaurants like the back massage from Emily and Lauren climbing on Daddy's lap while he ate.  Great service when it's your kids; awkward when it's a regular server!

And Caitlin isn't afraid to jump right in when dress-up is involved. Over the years, Dan and I have been to various masquerade parties. Dan has a seriously awesome vest and suit pants from the 1970s complete with white Italian loafers. I have some unique gowns, including a knee-length, gold lame' dress from the 1960s. 

Anyway, tucked along with those great wigs, cigarette holder, and elbow-length gloves was a crimper and some fabulous silver shoes that fit Caitlin. She got all the girls dolled up, complete with crimped hair (which may make a re-appearance in school this year), and they created their own storyline to accompany their wardrobe. It never ceases to amuse me that playing dress up in our home requires a British accent.

Meg modeling her dress-up gown

Em doing her best Jackie O impression with the
dress-up sunglasses.

Perhaps one of my favorite memories of this last summer with Caitlin is the tea party the girls had with her and Erin Bankson and a miniature tea set, because history is starting to repeat itself. Caitlin and Erin come from families which only had daughters, like ours. And, on Facebook, Erin posted a picture of the Bankson and Parsley sisters also having a mini tea party. For some reason, that just connects with me--the past being mimicked in the present. I'm excited to see the future.  

Meg and Lauren showing off their "ballerina" hair-dos
that Caitlin created.

Cutest hair model ever

Spontaneity, Surprises and Vikings Training Camp

Some days just don't turn out the way you imagined they would.

Earlier this month, I decided we'd be spontaneous and drive up to St. Peter to play at their really cool "Tree-mendous Playground" next to the St. Peter library. It is one of the more amazing parks we've been to in Southern Minnesota, complete with a lot of tunnels underneath for extensive games of hide and seek or make-believe espionage.

It didn't matter that it was still in the 90-degree range.

With all the stops and starts of life, we finally got to St. Peter around 1 p.m. We headed first to the St. Peter Co-op for lunch since we'd never been there before, and I had read about their seriously yummy deli with homemade foods with all fresh ingredients and no preservatives. We picked up some organic spaghetti sauce for less than $3 (good deal!) for later on in addition to our lunch of homemade pizza, organic chips and salsa, organic fruit, and organic chocolate milk. Then, off to the park we went.

On our way back toward Mankato, we were passed by a very bright canary yellow Thunderbird filled with three male twenty-somethings in Vikings jerseys. Seeing an educational moment, I proceeded to proudly tell the girls that Minnesota Vikings training camp--which was going on now--was always held at Mankato State (which is a lot easier to say in a conversation than the new official name of "Minnesota State University-Mankato") and surmised that the guys in the bright yellow car were probably headed in that direction.

Annika then asked the million dollar question: Why can't we go? Oh, a girl after my own heart!

Well, why not? I called Information--otherwise known as my husband--for details on what time the team practices were. We still had time!

We arrived at MSU for our inaugural visit at about 4 p.m. The girls had a chance to bounce in the bounce-house football while I threw a junior football at a large blow-up Samsung phone with a picture of a wide receiver on it. I connected with the receiver on my first throw, thank you very much. (The other two throws? Let's just say I should have hung up my cleats while at the top of my game.)

As we watched the Vikings during their first full-pad practice, I could answer a few of the girls questions. It's been awhile since I've gotten to see the Vikings play much. For nine years we lived in Wisconsin and Chicago so we only got to see the Vikings play when they were playing the Green Bay Packers or the Bears. And, once we moved back to Minnesota, I got too emotional as my team continuously threw the game in the fourth quarter so I stopped watching. But, I still knew what the "orange thingy" did (kept track of yards as we progressed toward a first down) and that the guy in the red shirt was the quarterback. Surprisingly, the girls didn't ask me what a QB did.

Then there were the questions like "Who's number 26? Who's number 81? Who's number 7? Can we go home now?" to which I responded, "I have no idea, don't know, Christian Ponder, no." A nice gentleman from Truman (his Fairmont Medical Center water jug gave him away) offered us his umbrellas for a bit so that helped extend the girls' patience because, after practice, I really did want to go see the players up close and get a few autographs.

Which is just what we did. At 5:10 p.m., with many of our fellow bleacher-mates, we trooped down Stadium Road to stand by some blockades set up by the field house.

Fans, a lot of whom were pre-teen boys, were clamoring for autographs. We got as close as we could to one of the players when a tall gentleman said to us, "Did you want his autograph? I'll get it for you. That's my son." I was talking to the dad of Brandon Fusco, a rookie center in 2011 who only played in three games. Meeting his very proud dad was pretty cool! Brandon talked a bit to 4-year-old Megan who proudly spelled her name for him as he signed our training camp playbook. From there, the girls' enthusiasm for the experience and the team grew.

We ended up with six autographs (Fusco #63, Kicker Blair Walsh #3, Wide Receiver Jerome Simpson #81, Linebacker Solomon Elimimian #59, Running Back Toby Gerhart #32, Offensive Tackle Phil Loadholt #71) and some good stories and a lot more enthusiasm for the pre-season. Cost? Parking was $7, the Sharpie marker for autographs was $2.50, and a bottle of water was $2.50. Overall experience? Priceless.