Last month I did “A Week of Mornings” by posting one photo a day for a week.  Each picture was taken sometime during the morning.  For November I am going to do “A Week of Afternoons” and post pictures taken during the afternoon.  I love this time of year and the photo ops are plentiful.  In fact, I love the fall colors so much, I think I will post two photos a day instead of one. 

I urge you to notice the beauty around you, even in the smallest details.  It is a glorious world we live in, and we have a lot to be thankful for.

Enjoy your week!

At the beginning of October I listed some of the traditions our family has for that month.  Though our family doesn’t have as many traditions for November, we do have some.  Here they are:

*I decorate the house with Thanksgiving decorations.  I’m one of those people who is saddened by the fact that Thanksgiving seems to get pushed aside in favor of the Christmas season.  I don’t listen to Christmas music or put up Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving.  Though I don’t have as many Thanksgiving decorations as I do Halloween or Christmas decorations, the decorations I do have please me.  I have a collection of turkeys and a collection of pumpkins, a few Pilgrims and Indians, and fall foliage.  They are placed throughout the house and, because of their cheery fall colors, help to brighten the house.

*I keep a bowl full of mixed nuts (with a nutcracker) or pistachios on the kitchen counter for snacking.

*On Thanksgiving Day our blended family has worked out a visiting schedule that works for us.  On the “even” years we visit my parents and extended family for Thanksgiving dinner.  Later in the evening my kids leave to go with their father to visit his family for dessert and Hub and I, and his kids, go visit Hub’s family and siblings for dessert.  On the odd years we do just the opposite.  My kids go with their father to his family dinner while the rest of us go to Hub’s family dinner.  We join up with my kids later in the evening and go visit my parents and siblings for dessert.  We like this schedule because everyone gets to see both sides of their family. 

This year, being an “odd” year, we are hosting Hub’s family dinner at our house.  My kids will leave with their father mid-morning to go to his family dinner.  After hosting Hub’s family for dinner and cleaning up, we will pick my kids up so that we can go visit my family for dessert. 

For whatever reason, Hub’s ex never expresses a desire to have her kids for Thanksgiving, so his kids are always with us on Thanksgiving and they follow the schedule Hub and I are doing.  

*Whether we are having dinner at my Mom’s house, or only seeing her for dessert on Thanksgiving, we all make sure to sample her sweet potatoes, homemade fudge and caramel, and pumpkin pie.  They are to die for!

*Last year my daughters, step-daughter, and I participated in Black Friday.  It was the first time for the girls to experience it.  They liked it so much they have decided that Black Friday is our newest November tradition.  We will bring the newspaper with us when we go to my parent’s house for dessert on Thanksgiving and will peruse the ads to decide on what deal(s) we will try to get.  My sisters and Mom also like looking at the ads with us, though they participate in Black Friday activities in their own towns.

*A tradition I keep, just for me, is to continue to walk our dog on the local trails for as long as the weather permits.  I love the fall colors and our weather here has been gorgeous!  Pics to come next week!

This is my favorite time of year.  Family, pretty scenery, good food, focusing on the good in my life and giving thanks for it–it all adds up to a season of satisfaction.

“I’ve lived in this state for all of my 65 years, and I can’t believe I never came here before this.”

So said my dad while experiencing Moab this past weekend for the first time ever.  Hub and I took my parents on some ATV trails and hiking in Arches National Park.  They wished we were staying longer than just a weekend.

Here are a few images from our Moab excursion over Halloween weekend:

Colorado River

Hub walking out for a "Photo Op."

Dad taking a picture of Delicate Arch

Hiking back down after seeing Delicate Arch.

Moonrise

Isn’t it amazing how we sometimes don’t appreciate what is in our own backyard?

Part of divorce means sharing the kids with your ex-spouse at times you would rather have them all to yourself.  Such is the case this weekend.   Halloween isn’t one of the standard “holidays” that divorced couples take turns having the kids on, but because Halloween falls on a weekend this year, and because our kids visit their “other” parents every other weekend, our kids are not scheduled to be with us this Halloween. 

Sooooo, since the kids will be gone and I won’t get to see them dressed up in their costumes as they head out to Halloween activities with their friends, and since opening the door to trick-or-treaters doesn’t seem as fun without my kids being around, and since it doesn’t take much of an excuse to get us to go…Hub and I are going to Moab for the weekend.

We are going to take my parents with us because they have never been to Moab before and, dang it, it is about time they went!  My parents are hauling their atv’s down and we are going to show them some of the trails.  We will also be hiking in Arches National Park.  I will have my camera and so will post pics soon!

Happy Halloween!

The following exchange recently occurred on Facebook:

Juju (my stepdaughter) wrote at 10:20 p.m. – I’M MOVING OUT ASAP!  Last time i’ll ever do the dishes…

L (a friend) wrote:  Wow…bummer

Juju:  Yeah…My dad made me do the stupid dishes and laughed…

L:  haha!  I’m sorry.

Juju:  It’s ok.  I’m moving into a box, I guess.

M.G. (an aunt) wrote:    What…washing dishes???  They never go away.  They follow you like the plague.

Juju:  Yeah, I’ll do my own dishes…Not other peoples.  Psh.

Kweenmama (me):  Ah, methinks we’ve done plenty of YOUR dirty dishes here…

 Juju:  Psh.  I’m making a separate pile of my own dishes!  And they will be handwashed clean.  With soap…

***********************

Juju then went and handwashed a bowl, cup, and spoon and placed them on the counter with a note that said, “For Kweenmama.  Handwashed by Juju!”  She showed Hub the dishes and told him about the exchange that had been happening on Facebook for a couple of days.  She told Hub not to put the dishes away until I’d seen them. 

I laughed when I saw the dishes and note.  I wrote on the note, “You missed a spot.”

Juju’s response?  “Psh!  Whatever”

I once wrote a post about connecting with your teens by texting.  The same works for social networking sites.  Know the sites your teens frequent and join them yourself.  Keep things lighthearted and fun.  Comment on their posts.  Joke with them.  You will find that connecting with them on these sites is pretty easy…and fun! 

And you just might learn that they are a little peeved about having to do the dishes!

If your sister asks your 17-year-old daughter to do her hair for her wedding in Las Vegas…

and if your daughter does your sister’s hair so well that your sister asks her to do her hair for the reception the next weekend…

and if you make the 30 minute drive back to your hometown the next weekend so that your daughter can do your sister’s hair for her wedding reception…

and if you arrive on time, only to find out that none of the veggies for the reception have been sliced by those who said they would do it…

and if you decide to pitch in and help by slicing cucumbers…

and if your daughter leaves with your sister to go back to her house to help her do her hair for the reception…

and if you rush to get all the veggies over to the wedding hall only to discover that those who said they would help in the kitchen aren’t going to do it after all…

and if you decide to be nice and stuff the chicken salad sandwiches so that your sister will have chicken salad sandwiches for her guests at her wedding reception…

and if you get the sandwiches all stuffed and placed on the buffet table and then look around to find your sister, the bride, and your daughter who did her hair, missing…

and if you find out that they haven’t arrived yet because they have been pulled over by some cop…

and if you hear that they were pulled over because they illegally crossed a yellow line…

and if you hear that your sister’s car registration is expired…

and if you hear that it was your daughter that was driving the car so that your sister could sit in the passenger seat to prevent her wedding dress from getting wrinkled…

and if you hear that your daughter didn’t have her driver’s license with her because she’d left it in your car…

and if you hear that your daughter crossed the yellow line because your sister told her to do it so that they wouldn’t have to wait for a stopped train…

and if your daughter and sister, the bride, finally arrive at the wedding reception 45 minutes late…

and if you learn that your daughter will have to come back to your hometown, which is 30 minutes away from where you live, some time during the following week to show her driver’s license to the powers-that-be in City Hall…

and if the day she needs to go back to your hometown, which is 30 minutes away from where you live, to show her driver’s license to the powers-that-be in City Hall, is a day you had 1 million other things planned and so it is inconvenient for you to take your daughter back to your hometown which is 30 minutes away from where you live…

And if the inconvenience of it all makes you grumble to your husband…

And if you hear your husband say, as you are walking out the door, “Turn it into something fun!”  Maybe you should pause, take a deep breath, and do just what he says.

Then you will be able to smile at your daughter when you pick her up from school, and you will be able to tell her a funny story as you make the 30 minute drive back to your hometown, and you will be able to show your daughter the picture of her great-grandfather that hangs in City Hall as one of the former mayors of your hometown, and you will be able to show her the plaque that has his name showing he was the Mayor who built the City Hall that you are visiting so that your daughter can show her driver’s license to the powers-that-be in the City Hall…

and the two of you will have created a new memory to be written in your journals…

and your daughter and her aunt, your sister, will have had a shared moment that helped them to bond. 

Something they can laugh about years down the road.

While I was looking for photo ops for “A Week of Mornings” I also paid more attention to my morning rituals.  Each morning I wake about 30 minutes before the family so that I can have some “me” time.  I use the time for journaling, praying, and reading scriptures and other inspirational materials.  Once “me” time is over I walk through the house and open blinds, I light a few candles or open windows (depending on the time of year), and I get things ready for breakfast.

It is breakfast preparation that got me thinking about this post.  This is a household of cold cereal lovers.  If I let them, my family would have cold cereal every single morning.  I like them to have a bit of variety in the mornings though, so I have deemed it “cereal day” only every other day.  On the “off” days we have something other than cereal.  Sometimes I fix omelets, or crepes, or pancakes.  Other mornings I simply place on the counter some bagels and cream cheese or  oatmeal packets and toast.  As long as it’s not cold cereal it counts for the “off” days. 

 Today was “cereal day” so everyone munched down on their cereal of choice.  Tomorrow we will be having eggs over-easy, bacon, toast, and juice or milk.  Wednesday we will be back to cereal.  Thursday I am fixing french toast.  And Friday?  Yup, cereal.  I haven’t decided Saturday’s breakfast yet.

This system works for us and gets everyone eating the most important meal of the day.  Even more important than the food is the time spent with the family before everyone heads out the door for school and work.  I think breakfast with the family is a great way to start the day! 

I am interested in hearing how others do breakfast.  Do you have a system in place?  Or is it a free-for-all in the kitchen?  Maybe you skip breakfast?  I would also love to receive any yummy breakfast recipes you have.  We love to try new recipes!

Enjoy your day!