Fall Carnival Birthday

Lucky's birthday was back in July and Ace's is coming up in November. It's also about 100 degrees every day in the summer so I figured I would wait until the weather cooled off a bit and have their party together.

So that's what we did last weekend. We had a fall carnival birthday party in our backyard for all of our friends and family. It was a hit with the kids and everything was so inexpensive, all we really had to spend money on was the food.

Here are some pics:

When each child arrived Ace and Lucky gave them a little bag of popcorn. Then they ran around and played while the adults got a chance to chit-chat. We grilled hot dogs and made some homemade bbq pork sandwiches with lots of fixin's.

Then we started the games. Ace and my nephew Michael passed out tickets to all the kids who played each game and the winners earned extra tickets.

First they bobbed for apples...


Then they had a potato sack race and then played a fun game of pin the tale on the donkey...

They used them to "buy" cotton candy, soft pretzels, and candy apples.

Some rain clouds hovered overhead for awhile and I got a little worried it would rain but it never did. It was a beautiful day.

Later on that night we had a hayride and a campfire where we roasted marshmallows and read stories.

It was a great day. The boys were plumb tuckered out by the end of the night. They took their baths and fell right to sleep.

Happy birthday boys!!

NaNoWriMo Day 3

Well, today is day 3 of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and I am almost finished with my 1667 words for today! On Mondays and Fridays my goal is 3334 words and Tuesday-Thursday it's 1667 (I chose not to write on the weekends, so I double up on M's and F's).

So far it's been easy but I know come Monday I'm going to be stuck. This is what always happens to me, I start off strong having plenty of ideas and plot twists...and then it stops. Everything just fades away and I freeze.

BUT...I'm not going to do that this time! I am going to complete my 50,000 words by the end of the month and that is that! There, I've said it for the whole world to hear. So come December 1st, if you don't hear me bragging--hunt me down and pull me out of my closet (I may come more willingly if you bring chocolates).

Luckily for me there are some incredible resources on the forums of the NaNoWriMo site that help you build character profiles and thicken plots.

I am currently at 4459 words. Wow! 50,000 seems so far away! Weeks 2 and 3 are bound to be the most difficult but hopefully by week 4 there will be light at the end of the tunnel!

Here are some of the things that helped move me along these first few days:

01. I researched ahead of time. I am writing a historical fiction novel and so I researched my settings, character traits, and as many things from that time period as I could think of and wrote them in my writer's notebook to save writing time.

02. Designate a certain hour each day and make sure all you do during that time is write. During non-writing time, read books like The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing and continuously think of ways to keep your words flowing.

03. Don't revise! This is definitely the hardest part for me, I always want to go back and proofread and revise paragraphs, etc. but I keep reminding myself that I only have an hour to write what I need and I force myself to let it go. Revising is for December.

I'm very psyched about this and hope some of you are too!

Even Ace has joined the Young Writer's Program and we have set a word-count goal of 150 for him. He's done 27 words so far and I have to say, he's really enjoying his story. Today he even asked to bring his teacher one of the "I eat novels for breakfast" pins that I ordered. I am overjoyed to see him so anxious to come home and write. I promised him we'll go to Starbucks for green tea cappuccino's (a treat even I don't indulge in often!) if we both meet our goals.

I hope to finish up the week at 10,000 words! I'll keep you posted!

A Gift of Honor

Last weekend a close friend of ours, and one of the troops from Operation Cookie Drop, came by for dinner. He was home for a short time for training before going 0verseas again. He came bearing gifts and among them was this flag and certificate that reads, "This flag was flown over the skies of Irag & Afghanistan...". It is such an honor to receive such a gift! I wanted to cry when he told me that they took it with them on their flight missions.

It was a thank you gift from him and his squad for organizing Operation Cookie Drop so I wanted to post it and thank all of you again who participated in the project.

I was humbled by how grateful they were to receive packages from home and I felt guilty accepting a thank you from them; the brave men who are risking their lives for our country.

Please remember them, and all the men and women serving our country, in your prayers.

"Be mindful, 0 Lord, of all civil Authorities, of our Armed Forces, of this city in which we dwell, and of every city and land; grant us peaceful times, that we may lead a calm and tranquil life in all godliness and sanctity. " -from the petitions of the Divine Liturgy

National Novel Writing Month

November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I am typically a freelance and children's writer. Not a novelist. I have thought about writing a novel many times only to end up talking myself out of it. I envision that lovely book cover with the words "A novel written by" with my name printed in a lovely script font underneath. Then I either discourage myself by thinking about how much time I would need or I write a few pages and give up after seeing all the sentences that need editing already. You're just not good enough, that taunting little voice whispers. So I quit and begin writing something I am good at.

Now, if I am challenged to do something–well, that is another story. I immediately feel the rush of adrenaline permeating through my body and my mind begins to stir with all the things I could accomplish by completing the challenge.

Write a 50, 000 word novel in 30 days? No problem. Most novels are twice that length and if I am writing on a such a tight deadline, I won't have time to spend articulating over every word, sentence or paragraph. I will just write. And ultimately that is exactly what I want to be doing.

So it's on…beginning in 3 days. Want to join me? Find me under ThePrude so we could be writing buddies!

NaNoWriMo also sponsors an incredible Young Writer's Program. Schools from all over the nation participate, starting as young as Kindergarten. School participants receive badges, buttons, stickers, and more! Each child who completes their challenge, their word count is determined by their teacher, receives a FREE paperback copy of their very own book! Each child who participates receives a certificate and other incentives from their teacher.

So, who's with me?? If you are up for this challenge, leave a comment telling me about what you hope to accomplish!

Pumpkin Pie Playdough

image found here

I love this idea from Pepper Paints for pumpkin pie playdough! Last year we made gingerbread and peppermint playdough for Christmas time and the kids loved it!

We're going to try this recipe tonight and I'll let you know how it turns out!

Ingredients:

5 1/2 cups flour

2 cups salt

8 teaspoons cream of tartar

3/4 cup oil

1 container (1 1/12 ounces) pumpkin pie spice

orange food coloring (2 parts yellow, 1 part red)

4 cups water

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together. Cook and stir constantly over medium heat until lumps disappear. Knead the dough on floured surface until smooth.

Our Camping Trip

We had a fantastic time on our camping trip this past weekend. The weather was beautiful and the fellowship was truly a blessing.

We awoke to the quietude of the forest and the fresh smells of nature. It amazed me how many scents brought back memories from my camping days as a child, like the smell from the inside of the tent. Each morning the sun would poke through the trees and there was a chill in the air each morning that just made you smile.

We read morning prayers outside as a group and then we cooked up some breakfast treats and enjoyed a hearty first meal of the day. We brought fresh eggs from the chickens, fruit, home fries, hot dogs and more. We brewed fresh coffee and started the day...

Then the men took the kids canoeing while us womenfolk stayed behind to clean up and enjoy a quiet cup of coffee together. It was so relaxing. It was nice knowing the children were having fun with their fathers out on the lake while we got a chance to chit-chat. There was such a special feeling in the air the entire time. I really love that we were able to begin and end the day in prayer together.

When the kids got back we made lunch and then took a little walk around the park. Later on that night we made S'mores. As much as I hate all the garbage in most of the food the kids ate this weekend, I have to admit I loved watching them get all gooey and chocolatey. Especially these two with their toothless smiles...


During the day we hid the marshmallows because they would've passed on meals to stuff their bellies full of fluff, but somehow Lucky kept coming up with mouthfuls of 'shmallows. He definitely has a nose for sugar...

It was altogether a perfect weekend and we are all so excited about planning our next trip. We may have several other families join in next time too which would be terrific!

Here we are on our last day, the boys still giddy with excitement (and sugar) and me hoping that coffee would kick in soon... :)

Campfire Grub

On our camping trip this weekend we got to try some delicious campfire treats. Some were old recipes and some were new but all were totally scrumptious!

We made the classic banana chocolate chip boats. You slice through the banana, leaving the peel on, and stuff it with mini chocolate chips. Then wrap it in foil and place on the fire until warm and gooey. These are not very messy either because you just eat it with a spoon!

Next we made Orange Cranberry Cakes. You cut the top third of the orange off and eat the entire inside. Then fill it with Cranberry Orange cake mix, wrap with foil and place on coals until done.

We also made a couple different foil dinners. We made little foil pockets and filled them with beef, chicken & potatoes topped with onions, butter, and seasonings. We also grilled some corn on the cob. Everything turned out delicious and it was so easy!

And of course my all-time favorite campfire treat, S'mores...

I wanted to try slicing apples and covering them with Snickers and letting them cook on the fire but we didn't get a chance. I definitely plan on making them for the boy's birthday party coming up this weekend. More details on that to come...