Gorillas and Oranges—or What Christmas Means to Me

My dad often tells a story about a past December, one when I was probably very young or maybe not even around yet. He is a psychologist and sees many suffering people on a regular basis, and during this particular December, he made it a point to come home and tell the family about some of the hard things these people were dealing with: death, hurt, betrayal, guilt, regret, addiction, sorrow, etc. He told story after story, and it was quite sobering and depressing. After a few days of this, my mom finally asked him why he was sharing all of this ugliness, and he said it was because this is the month and the season when we celebrate the one person who can heal all of these wounds. For any pain, suffering, or sorrow—even the worst kind you can imagine—Jesus Christ is the solution.

That story has been on my mind this month. And it got even more real when I flipped open the Smithsonian magazine and glanced at an article about gorillas one day as I ate my lunch. I didn't even read much of the article because my eyes were drawn to a picture of a female gorilla cradling her stillborn baby. The caption said this gorilla repeatedly tried to revive the baby and cradled it and groomed it for two days. You could see the sorrow in the picture, and I felt my heart break for her, as a fellow mother.

Then I popped an orange slice into my mouth and smiled to myself, thinking it was a little bit silly that I was getting teary over gorillas while I was eating an orange. But it's not silly. That's the kind of anguish and sorrow the Savior can heal. Even gorillas feel this sorrow. We can cast our burdens on Him—He already knows how they feel—and as we try to be more like Him, we get better at handling life and finding true happiness.

Whether it's the death of a loved one, wrong choices (ours or someone else's), or whatever the case, Jesus Christ is the solution.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) 

I can't get over the love God has for us all, to give us such a gift.

Cookie Day 2012

Some people train for a marathon. Others train for a triathlon. But I train all year for Cookie Day. I hone my whisking skills, I fine tune my mixing "just until combined," and I become an expert at identifying "soft ball stage." (For the record, I burned the first batch of caramel and had to scrap it and start over. But the second batch deserves a medal.)

This year's selection, starting at the top-ish and going clockwise:

• Raspberry Shortbread Cookies
• Gumdrop Cookies (just like my grandmother used to make)
• Raspberry Macaroons
• Layered Caramel Candy (which is kind of a lame name for such a delicious treat; it's more like a homemade Snickers)
• Apricot and Black Raspberry Rugelach
• Homemade Caramel

 

I know what you're thinking. It does look almost identical to last year and the year before. But we had to include the favorites and add a couple new ones. And I'm glad we did. I'll totally be making the homemade snickers thing again. The day was a success and so fun. My stomach is very happy indeed.

Messages that weren't meant for me

Most of the time, spam is spam—despicable and worthless. But sometimes, inadvertent emails and texts amuse me. Especially when you can tell they're real and not sent by a robot. Here are a few I have received, of late:

BY EMAIL
From a highly suspicious-sounding "Mr. Spickle":

Hey. It's J—— from the club. I said I would email you and here it is. Ta da!

I could tell by the recipient list that this wasn't spam, just an email sent to two hotties from the club, one of whom happened to share my name. I should tell this Mr. Spickle it's on!


Recently, I also started getting several personal emails sent to an old email address of mine. Turns out, a woman with the same name that I used to have got a new email address and used that name but put an S as the middle initial, which apparently half the world does not notice. She has since written me to let me know what happened and to see if I could forward the emails on to her, which I happily do. I am glad to know they have a place to go instead of my trash when people were expecting them to arrive at the right place. This woman and I have sent several emails back and forth, trying to sort out what's hers and what's for another Ashley, and now we're friends because I know so many personal details about her life—like she IS getting married, but not in Vegas (so that email was for another Ashley). I know what activities her kids are involved in, that she went to coffee with a old friend from work and covered the bill. She sounds like a keeper. I would expect nothing less from my namesake.


BY TEXT
From an unknown number:

January 13: "Hey patch"

January 16: "Is the war still on?"

February 6: "Hey patch it's j—— do you remember drawing an animal cell and a plant cell in science? i did it but she says it isn't turned in"

Even though Patch as a new nickname would be awesome (and I would be friends with anyone who sent texts like the one from January 16th), I think the last one finally let me know that this fellow is not in the same grade as I am.

Know any good Thanksgiving books?

I know of approximately one, which I posted on the writing blog.

Grandpa Names

I thought at first that it made sense that the male version of the Old Lady Game would be called the Old Man Game, but somehow that seems less respectful to me. So I changed it to Grandpa Names. We've covered quite a few old lady names here in these posts, but we've never really given grandpa names the attention they deserve. And it's high time because there are some AMAZING ones out there.

Now there are some wonderfully unique yet quintessential grandpa names like Leroy or Marvin or even the odd Shirley (who, of course, goes by Shirl), meaning you know by the name that it's not referring to anyone under the age of 60. These kinds of names we're pretty used to or at least we've happened upon them one or twice before. But the ones on this list are definitely one of a kind. Here are just a few we've recently come across in the obits.

Errald

BenOrlo

Avard

Graig

Harden

Murlin
LaRell

Vean

Gaymore

Larvin

Now for the commentary. Errald is just plain funny because it's like you're intentionally forcing everyone to say poor Harold's name cockney style. Graig brings up pronunciation questions. Harden . . . makes me think of harden your heart, which probably isn't something you want to advocate. Murlin gets a spot just for its unique spelling. LaRell is just another example of the undesirable mid-name capitalization. Vean also makes me wonder how to say it. At first I thought it was like "Veen," which is totally weird, but then I thought maybe they just got creative and changed one letter of Sean so it would be like "Vaughn." Gaymore, besides the obvious modern-day implications, is just strange. Why put "more" in a name? Maybe it was a family name, like Fillmore, or something. That I could understand.

But worst of all, I think, is Larvin. Because it obviously sounds like larva, and I'm fairly certain that breaks one of the naming rules we've discussed before. It's a little like naming your son Wormin, or something.

So what do you think? Which one is the worst? Do you have any grandpa names to share?

This week on Writing With Ashley

I post some thoughts about names. I had to name a lot of characters and places in my novel, and it was hard, hard to get them to feel right. But in National Geographic, of all places, I found something very useful. Go check it out!

Also, do you have any favorite names from literature? What makes a good name?

Annacdotes 25

Since it's the twenty-fifth postiversary of Annacdotes (or we could call this an "Annaversary"—her name works with everything!), I thought I would celebrate by sharing twenty five stories. So either I'm obsessed with her, or she's delightfully brilliant. Either way, it was not that hard to come up with twenty five. She gives me a lot of material.

1. We were telling knock-knock jokes the other day, and here was Anna's:

Anna: Knock knock.
me: Who's there?
Anna: Grass.
me: Grass who?
Anna: Grass Grass.

After a courtesy laugh by me and a contemplative pause by Anna, she finally said, "Wait. Are knock knock jokes supposed to make sense?"

2. "I'm not very happy with Satan." I, of course, asked her why. Her reply: "He doesn't make very good choices."

3. Anna keeps trying to paint my nails with white out.

4. Eating lunch one day (just so you know how out of the blue this was), Anna said, "Mom, what if 'temple' in German meant 'break dancing class'?"

What if, Anna? What if?

5. Anna was calling for me to come outside, but I could tell she didn't really need anything. After several failed attempts, I heard her yell, "Ow!" Again, I knew it wasn't serious so I didn't do anything. She was just after some attention. She yelled again for me to come out, and I told her to come in if she needed something. She started to insist that I come outside because she was injured. I asked her what happened, and she said she scraped her toe. I asked her what it was that I could do to help her out there. She spluttered desperately, "Just . . . come out here and . . . and give me a hug!"

6. I was headed out one evening to watch a movie at a friend's house and therefore wearing comfy clothes and flip flops. Anna looked me over and then pleaded with me to wear some earrings or at least a bracelet because I looked "too dull." Isn't she precious?

7. We were talking about haircuts one day, and Anna said she wished a long-haired friend of hers would cut her hair up to her shoulders so that she (Anna) would be the queen of the long-hair world. I didn't know she was so cutthroat.

8. Before Anna had to do something she really didn't want to do, she tried to ask me a bunch of questions in an attempt to delay the inevitable. One question was, "Mom, when you had me, was I nine months late or nine months early?" I was sad I had to tell her it was only nine days late. It makes the story way less cool.

9. Anna checked the time on a digital clock and said, extremely excitedly, "It's 8:59!" She kept staring at it and then said in a lower, more dramatic voice, "I've got to see the magic happen."

10. In a prayer: "I hope tomorrow can be swell, swell, swell indeed, even spectacular, and the best day in the whole world."

11. Anna and a couple of cousins were busy playing in her room. When I went in, I saw that they were pretending to have laptops (using picture books opened up and turned sideways on their laps), and they were "texting" each other, they told me. Precious.


12. Around the time of the recent BYU/Utah football game, Anna came home from school horrified and said that a boy in her class is actually a Utes fan. She said, "Mom, he said, 'Utes rock!' I'm going to have to cut him out." (This included making an X and a slicing motion with her arms.) I laughed because I didn't know she felt so strongly. Sure, we root for BYU in our house, but we're not die-hard, violent fans. Then a few days later, she related how this same boy made up a rhyme: "BYU stinks like poo." So she said one back: "The Utes stink like roots."

13. One night, I asked Anna which of her two music boxes she wanted me to wind up and play as she's going to sleep. She laughed and said, "Both of them." When they were both playing ("You Are My Sunshine" and "Music Box Dancer," to be specific), she said with glee over the ruckus, "It sounds like a horrible masterpiece!"

doing "mermaid hair "in the bath

14. One morning, I sat a plate of scrambled eggs in front of Anna, and she said, "How about some ham and cheese too?" (This is her favorite way to eat scrambled eggs, but it wasn't happening that particular morning.)

I said, "How about 'Thanks, Mom, for the delicious breakfast'?"

She said, "I already said thank you."

"When?"

"Last year."

15. One afternoon, I asked Anna how her day was at school, and she passionately told me about how they had to do the run walk in P.E. She said, "It was the WORST thing EVER! Well, except for avocado and asparagus [her two least favorite foods] . . . and Satan."

(Interestingly, I could probably do a whole post of Annacdotes strictly about Satan. She's got a lot to say about him.)

16. My sister makes this caramel treat out of corn puffs that is highly addictive. She has named it Caramel Evil. In the same vein, Anna laughs wickedly whenever she gets some and calls it "nasty goodness."

17. In a prayer: "I'm thankful for everything in the universe." That was awesome on its own, but then there was this part: "I hope things go well tomorrow and the next day . . . and the next, until the death of . . . the death of . . . well, never mind."

18. Anna: Mom, do you think Adam and Eve came up with the?

Me: 'The'? 'The' what?
Anna: No, the word 'the.' Because it's so common.

19. We were relishing some warm peach cobbler I had just made. After a delicious bite, I said, "Nothing beats a warm dessert with vanilla ice cream." Anna said, "Except maybe love."

20. When discussing dreams one day, I told Anna that they say that even though dreams seem long, they really only last for a short time, maybe thirty seconds, or something. Skeptical, she replied, "Hmmm. Maybe that's fake science."

21. I found Anna playing in her room one morning, and I asked her if she was ready for breakfast. With a slightly annoyed voice, she said, "Can't you see I'm sorting?"

22. "Would you rather have the last name 'Liar' or 'Pants on Fire'?"

When Anna had strep on Halloween, she wore this mask around for part of the day in the hopes that she could still dress up in the evening. But she didn't say much, since it hurt her throat to talk, so she just lazed about silently and regally, which made for an adorable picture.

23. When I told Anna she couldn't watch a movie, she turned and whispered to herself, "Ah, defeated."

24. At the park one day, Anna started chatting with a little boy, the only other kid there. I heard him tell her what his name was and that his dad's name was Chris. Anna excitedly told him that she had an aunt named Chris, and I heard her repeat this a couple times. Finally, the boy went down the slide, and I heard Anna call after him, with feeling, "Do you even know what a connection is?"

25. Another mind-bending What If.
Anna: "What if my last name was 'From New Jersey'?"
Me (after a pause to process this): As in, Anna From New Jersey?
Anna: Yeah, and then what if you really named me Oklahoma Girl?
Me (laughing): So your name would be Oklahoma Girl From New Jersey?

*   *   *

Whew. Twenty five, done. Did we overdose? Maybe, maybe not.

The costume

Whelp, the holiday took an interesting turn. Anna has been under the weather but we were holding our breath to see if she'd be better by today. Turns out, she has strep. So the dinner plans got rearranged and we were going to give trick or treating the boot, but she was surprisingly chipper by the time evening rolled around. So we dressed her up and I pulled her in the wagon to exactly five houses. One lady gave Anna several handfuls of candy, because she loves her, so it was like she was out all night. Almost the perfect Halloween.

Here's her three-part bird costume (part peacock, swan, and phoenix):

I love all of the poses she selected. As for my tooth fairy costume, I rocked it. Too bad I don't have a good picture of me rocking it. You'll just have to imagine how amazing my giant-toothbrush-for-a-wand was.

*   *   *   *   *

And don't forget to visit Writing With Ashley. This week, I post about dealing with distractions, like what to do when you're becoming more familiar with IMDB than your current work in progress.

Halloween Haberdashery

After I stopped being a kid, Halloween was decidedly less fun. Still fun, but less so. But now that Anna's getting older and getting into it, it has become super fun again. She loves planning her costume and scheming about all the candy she's going to get. She's even sort of into the scary stuff, which is new this year. Not like full-blown haunted houses, but she's totally loving the spiders and bats and creepy food.

In fact, here's the dinner menu we dreamed up for tomorrow:

• blood and guts (spaghetti)
• hairy witch fingers (parmesan breadsticks)
• broccoli (because it's good for you)
• and used q-tips (mini marshmallows dipped in melted butterscotch or peanut butter chips)

I can't wait. It's going to be awesome. There are so many good things about this holiday: the fact that it's really focused on going house to house and getting candy, apple uglies (click here if you don't know what awesomeness I'm referring to), other good food, eating all of the halloween candy before Halloween, costumes, movies, getting more candy when your child goes trick or treating . . . The list could go on and on.

Speaking of apple uglies, here are the apples we did this year, just so we have a record of the annual awesomeness.

If my hunches are correct and that red licorice rope is supposed to be head gear (like she even knows what that is), I think Anna's totally wins for ugliest. Mine might win for most inedible (since the paper got stuck to the caramel), but what was I supposed to do? He needed a cape!

Now for a bit about movies. Like I said, we're not fully into the scary stuff of Halloween yet, but I look forward to the day when we can watch Wait Until Dark or some Hitchcock together.

But that's as far as I go because I'm a complete pansy when it comes to scary movies. I hate them. Being haunted by the images from The Ring for the next month after I saw it really solidified this decision. There is just no reason to make myself sit through something like that.

So that's creepy/demented scary, but what about movies that are surprise scary? Still hate them. I made this decision around the time I saw What Lies Beneath. I even went to see When a Stranger Calls a few years later when I doubted this decision, but that was the last "scary" movie I've seen (besides the mild ones I can handle). I'm serious about it.

Anyhow, that's a little bit of fun we've had so far. More to be had tomorrow. Check back soon to see how mondo cool our costumes turned out.

Thrilling Thursdays, remember?

This week on Writing With Ashley, I share a part of the revising process that was rather eye opening, for me: words I used too much. You can use the link below or click on the typewriter in the sidebar.

Go there now.

80s Pop Quiz

I know there are a lot of "You Know You're a Child of the 80s if . . . " posts and email forwards out there (back when people forwarded emails), but three specific things happened this last week that transported me back to my very own 80s childhood. To see if you had the same one I did, how about a quiz?

1. When was the last time you said the word "grody"?

I don't really remember ever saying this, but I heard it often enough. (And, to be honest, it was probably more 90s.) But Anna used it the other day and asked me if it was a real word, and it was SO weird to be reminded of it.

2. Do you remember Popples? The stuffed bear/marsupial (?) toys that could tuck themselves into their own little pouch? Better yet, did you own a Popple?

Not only did I own a popple (the lavender one, I believe), I also owned a Popple lunch box. Total awesomeness. This came up in a conversation about cool lunch boxes, which I haven't had the need to think about since about third grade.

3. Do you remember the show Lady Lovely Locks?

I don't remember the show so much as an awesome coloring book I had. But I'm pretty sure I haven't even thought of her since 1988. Anna and I were searching for something on Youtube, and a clip of the show came up and it was like I was Christopher Reeve looking at the penny. So we watched it, and she's a new fan.

Big News

I mean, BIG NEWS. I decided my writing posts needed a home of their own, so I created a blog just about my writing. Fancy that. Meet writingwithashley.blogspot.com.

I will be posting weekly on this new blog, so now your Thursdays will be even more thrilling. Writing with Ashley definitely won't have as many cute pictures of Anna or as many names of old ladies, but it will still be fun. 

Go on over and check it out and get an update on how THE BOOK is going (and find out its title!) and where I am on the road to publishing awesomedom. (And yes, I will be using this phrase anywhere and everywhere I can. Probably until I arrive at said place and people tell me not to use it anymore because it's a little embarrassing and it wasn't even that cool in the first place.)

Hot fudge from heaven

One of my all-time favorite desserts is a simple one: really good vanilla ice cream topped with really good hot fudge. (Some might call it a hot fudge sundae.) You can go fancy with the vanilla, but for everyday use, I like Breyers' extra creamy all natural vanilla. Regular Breyers ice cream sometimes has an airy texture that I find less appealing, but the extra creamy version takes care of this and the "all natural" bit is just an extra pat on the back. They have a pretty good vanilla bean version too.

But the best part about this vanilla ice cream is the layer of homemade hot fudge you drizzle on top. Here's a favorite recipe.

HEAVENLY HOT FUDGE

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
• 3/4 cups heavy or whipping cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons butter (no substitutions)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

---

DIRECTIONS

1. Chop chocolate. In 2-quart saucepan, combine cream, sugar, honey, butter, salt, and half of chocolate. Heat on medium 5 minutes or until bubbles form at edge, stirring with wire whisk. Reduce heat to low; simmer 10 minutes, whisking often.
2. Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla and remaining chocolate until mixture is smooth. Cool 5 minutes or until thickened slightly, whisking often. Serve warm over ice cream.

Annacdotes 24

Anna told me she chose this outfit because she knew the colors and the two patterns would make it look kind of wild and crazy. Such a good reason.

1. Anna was cold one morning while I was fixing her hair, so I grabbed a blanket for her. While I wrapped it around her, she looked up at me and said, "You're heavenly to have around."

2. In a very solemn voice, Anna said in a prayer in Primary, "Please, please help all of us . . .  including the teachers . . . to be kind." A subtle message.

3. I think in that same prayer, she said, "Help our holy sabbath day to be . . . " and then she paused because she already said 'holy,' so she finished it with " . . . great and even awesome."

4. Whenever I wear my white jeans or a belt on the outside of a shirt, Anna gets super excited and says I look like a rock star. She's not a bad one to have around.

first day of 1st grade

5. When a friend of Anna's talked about someone she didn't like, Anna said, "You still have to be nice because we're all God's children."

6. After walking around the zoo for a while on a very warm day, I asked Anna if she needed a drink of water. She paused for a moment, put her hand on her chest, and said, "Well bless my heart, I don't know."

7. Anna has decided that my new nickname is Smoked Gouda.

8. How Anna describes being tired: having a lazy head.

9. After the first day of school, Anna came home and told me about a game they played called Farmer Sam in "K.P."

"K.P.?" I asked. "You mean, P.E.?"

"No, K.P.," she said. "Wait, no. It was E.P."

"I think you mean P.E."

She remained unconvinced.

On a hike up to Bridal Veil Falls. I'm glad she purposefully picked out some pearls to wear for the occasion.

10. She has decided, and is not budging, to be a bird for Halloween—a bird that's half peacock and half phoenix. I've also heard talk about throwing "part swan" in there too. She is convinced I can make an amazing costume, so ... I'll let you know how that turns out.

Boys Over Flowers

Well, it's back to real life now. I just finished the last episode of the Korean TV show Boys Over Flowers on Netflix, and now I'm resurfacing . . . and going through withdrawals. I'll admit, it wasn't just watching, it was binging. I started watching the show after a friend recommended it, and, in the beginning, I started to wonder what all the fuss was about. Some of the first episodes were filled with such cartoonish expressions and sound effects, and I almost stopped. (Let this be a lesson in not judging a series by the first few episodes. Just power through.)

But after I got over the somewhat silly beginning, I was hooked. The story drew me in and I couldn't get enough. Apparently the show is based on a Japanese comic book, and it made me chuckle when I would open it on Netflix and see that it was recommended to me based on my interest in Elizabeth Gaskell's North & South and My Little Pony. That's probably the most apt way to describe this show.

It was very melodramatic (imagine a depressed boy playing the violin in slow motion in the snow), a little bit of a soap opera, and sometimes ridiculous. It's a cinderella story (rich guy falls for poor girl), and the main girl gets about 10 makeovers, she gets rescued multiple times from various dangers (including two muggings—in the same episode), and a boy asks his friend to break his arm so he can get out of something he doesn't want to do—and they all seriously consider it. Despite all of that, I almost embarrassingly devoured all 25 hours. I think the extremely repetitive soundtrack put me in a trance, or something.

Korean culture is not something I am super familiar with, so it was interesting to see family dynamics, unusual food (the main girl works at a porridge restaurant?), class system issues, schooling, the clothes of the fashionably—and sometimes femininely—dressed rich boys, etc. (I also read somewhere that this show led Korean males to start dressing more like "pretty boys" and wearing cosmetics. Yakes!)

But the thing that fascinated me the most was the language, more specifically their use of English. I think there was some English in every single episode. I was surprised both in the amount and in the words they were using. It made me think about how we use words from other languages in our everyday speech. Sure, there are words like "fiancée" that are totally French but we use them as our own. (The Koreans use it too, by the way.) And I guess it would be sort of normal to hear someone say "adios muchachos" or "capiche," or something. At least if you were in a mob movie.

But Boys Over Flowers was more than that. Their English usage was frequent and full of catch phrases and pop culture. And because I'm a giant nerd (especially when it comes to words), I started making a list. And yes, I'd be happy to share what was on it:

Hey, buddy
play ball
shopping
family (this was interesting because they obviously have their own word for family, but they used both)
Hey man, whoa, whoa
double date
lipstick
chocolate
fighting! (used as a cheer before they did something challenging)
fan
star concept (a weird one from an episode with a male model)
bingo
IQ
hurry
baking powder
OK
let's go
don't worry, buddy
check out (as in leaving a hotel)
goodnight
game
What's up, man?

I started the list only partway through the series, so you can imagine how many more there were. Anyway, it was interesting stuff. It kind of reminded of me of this post about how easy it was to find Neutrogena facewash and other American products when I lived in Poland, and I'm still not really sure about how I feel about this. Is it cool that Koreans use a lot of English phrases, or is it weird? I dunno.

More Old Lady Names

So it's that time again, time for the Old Lady Game. Because the most recent contestants were so delightfully painful, I decided it was time to share the latest with you. So here they are. Some are repeats, but we needed them for comparison. Pick your favorites, and tell me the worst one there and the one you'd pick for yourself, if pressed. I find both are good to know, just in case.

Florence
Clytie (how do you imagine this is pronounced?)
Norma
Viola
Myra (BUT SHE WENT BY LAMAR!!!!)
Joyce
Enid
Delora
Nelda
Norris (whose father happened to be named Paul Revere)
Veloy
Dimple (!!!)
Lynnafred
Gaylie Aloyce
Valeara

Kid Games: A Review

I love games. Like, looooove them — enough to marry them. And I always have, and maybe more than most. I think it must be part of the Youngest Child Syndrome, where you always feel shortchanged because everyone was always too old or too busy to play with you all of your life and you never got to play as much as the other kids.

With that said, my family has always liked games (we take all-play-all-the-time Pictionary to new heights), but I could always handle more. I wanted to continue this tradition with Anna, so I started giving her a book and a game for her birthday and for Christmas so that we could build our collections of both. (I love books too.)  And then I buy several more throughout the year because I can't help myself. Luckily, Anna LOVES games and anyone who will play with her, so we are of like mind in this.

But all games are not created equal. Especially kid games. I have to be in a really good mood to sit down to Candyland, for instance, but Anna loves it because 1) it's set in a land made of candy and 2) Princess Frostine. But there are a few games we've found that are as fun for adults as they are for kids. So I thought I would post a few of my favorites here to spread the joy.

KID GAMES: A REVIEW

1. Cadoo

This is the kid version of Cranium. I like Cranium, and this is the perfect, pared-down version for kids. It has drawing and sculpting challenges, charades (which are nearly impossible a hoot when you're watching a six-year-old), word puzzles, and trivia. And secret word decoder glasses, which are a highlight. There are also fun challenges where you have one minute to get up and find objects in certain categories, like something sticky and something furry. It's good times. Since Anna's still a youngin', we just play without the timer.

2. Quelf Jr. 

This is another kid version of an adult game, but I've never played the adult version. Have any of you? This one's fun because it's totally random and silly. You draw cards that make you do silly things, like pretend your foot is a baby and cuddle with it until your next turn. It's definitely one to let your inhibitions out.

3. The Ugly Doll Card Game 

This is sort of a speed matching game with a very simple premise and one most everyone likes. Plus, if you grab a card at the same time as another player, the first person to say "ugly" three time gets it. Who doesn't like that?

4. Memory 

We have several versions of Memory, but I love this one because of its amazing design. I like the little green discs, but I love the different patterns that you can switch out: animal prints, colors, numbers, letters, etc. I feel like it's giving your brain an extra workout, which is a good feeling. This one is fun and cool.

5. The Scrambled States of America Game

This is a speed game centered around the 50 states, their nicknames, and capitals. Perhaps because of my insistance that she learn how to play every game with me, Anna is a little ahead of her time with this one, which I think is intended for kids 8 and up. But she seriously loves it. She even recently taught my dad how to play. And now she's basically ready for 9th-grade geography.

6. Wig Out 

And the game that probably gets the most playing time at our house is Wig Out. It's easy, it's fast, and everyone likes it, no matter their age or disposition. (Everyone I've made play it, anyway.) I got it on a whim when I went into this magical toy store last year, and it has been a HUGE hit.



A couple of these games came from gamewright.com, which, if I could be their spokesperson, I totally would. I can't think of one game we've gotten from there that we didn't like. Way to be, Gamewright.


Do you have any favorites we might need to try? Current favorites? Favorites from your childhood?

Brownie Coconut Ice Cream Sandwiches

I made these last night and we finally got to eat them today, since they had to freeze overnight. And they were as good as they sound. They were a little time consuming, and waiting several hours for them to freeze took the patience of a saint, but they were worth it. A delicious summer treat.

BROWNIE COCONUT           ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

Ingredients

• 12 ounces raspberries
• 1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cream of coconut (not coconut milk)
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 9- by 13-inch baking pans with nonstick foil, leaving a 3-inch overhang on two sides. In a large bowl, toss the berries with 2 tablespoons sugar. Let sit, tossing occasionally, for at least 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place the butter and the chocolate in a medium saucepan and cook, stirring, over medium-low heat until melted. Remove from heat and whisk in the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar, then the eggs. Add the flour and stir until smooth.
3. Divide the batter between the prepared baking pans. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream of coconut and cream in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the berries and their juices into the coconut-cream mixture; spoon the cream-berry mixture over one pan of brownies.
5. Use the foil overhangs to lift the remaining brownie layer out of the pan. Invert onto a cutting board and gently peel away the foil. Invert again onto a cookie sheet and gently slide on top of the cream-berry mixture. Cover and freeze for at least 6 hours or up to 2 days.
6. Use the foil overhangs to lift and transfer to a cutting board. Let sit for 5 minutes, then cut into bars.

A couple of notes:

1. You might even want to start out with more than 12 oz. of raspberries because we could not resist several taste tests once they were all sugared up. Or maybe they accounted for several snitches when they made the recipe, who knows? All I know is that they were fresh and sweet and delicious, and I ate several.

2. I made a valiant effort to whip the cream and cream of coconut, but it just didn't seem to want to whip. It's true that I didn't use heavy cream, but still. I swear I was at the mixer for like 15 minutes, but it just ended up being a thick creamy liquid. Even so, it was delicious and I had to test that several times as well.

3. Definitely wait the five minutes before you cut and eat the frozen sandwiches. We just couldn't wait to get our mits on them, after having to wait a whole day for our dessert, so we instantly chowed down. But biting into the crunchy frozen raspberries just about did me in. Another option we might try next time is to just add a layer of jam instead of the berries.

A Day in Kid Heaven

Last month, Anna and I joined my brother and his wife and their three kids on an all-day excursion to Salt Lake, which basically turned out to be an entire day spent in kid heaven.

First, we started out at the children's museum. Games were played, knowledge was increased, creations were . . . created. It was magical.

Waitin' on the customers

inside the helicopter, although you'd never know it was a helicopter by my amazing photography skills

Then we went out to lunch and got pizza and kid sundaes. (Let's be honest, I was also in heaven.)

After lunch, we headed over to Liberty Park, where the kids played at the splash pad in their clothes and then played on the super hot playground sets. (It turns out that was the only way to survive. It was 9,000,000 degrees that day.) For some reason, Anna sometimes likes getting wet in her clothes more than in her swimsuit. She must like feeling rebellious, or something. But I'd totally take this over stealing or drugs. Anyhow, she was delighted that I actually encouraged her to get her clothes wet. And it cooled her off nicely.

After some play time, we walked through the park over to the part with a merry-go-round, ferris wheel, and crazy-fast swing ride.

I rode with Anna and my niece Emme on the ferris wheel, and Emme was a little uncertain about the ride. She said anxiously, over and over when we got to the top, "I did not think this through. I did not think this through." She turned out to love it by the end, and Anna loved the whole thing.

Then, after a lot of questions from my other niece about the swing ride (how high does it actually go? how fast?), five of us decided to give it a go.

Now let me explain. I haven't always loved big amusement park rides or roller coasters. I had a pretty substantial fear of them until I finally decided to get over it around age 15. Even now I'll go on them, but they're not my favorite. But I do like swinging.

However.

I have known for some time that I may have reached the age where my equilibrium no longer enjoys swinging, making me a real adult, I guess. I still try it every once in a while, just to make sure, but these days it just kind of makes me want to throw up. So depressing.

Anyhow, the ride probably went faster and higher than any of us planned on, and my swing got turned around so I was flying backwards, so I spent most of the ride trying hard to not throw up. I really wondered how Anna was doing, since she had never been on anything besides a ferris wheel or two and a kiddie ride. But I shouldn't have worried. When I asked her how she was doing in the middle of the ride, she yelled, "This is the best ride ever!!!" She LOVED it. And I couldn't believe it. So I, the scaredy cat, yelled, "Then you're no child of mine!" So crazy. I don't know where she came from.

On our way home, and once our stomachs had returned to normal, we decided to take advantage of the free slurpies at 7-11 since it was, in fact 7/11. I had a lemon creme one, and it was fresh tasting and delightful.

By that time, we had to go home and rest from all the fun. It turns out that games and creativity + pizza + sundaes + splash pad + getting wet in your clothes + amusement park rides + slurpies = a magically fun and totally exhausting day for everyone.

Olympic Ideas

I've been loving the olympics. Obviously. But I had two ideas that I think might need to be added to the program. Organizers, take note.

First, I thought it would be fun to see the olympians compete in an event totally different from the one they've trained for. If not compete, then just try it out . . . and broadcast it so the rest of us can see. They're highly trained athletes, so I think they would be better than the average layman, and it would be interesting to see how much better. Wouldn't you like to see how far Ryan Lochte throws the shot put? He lifts 600-pound tires to warm up, for  heaven's sake. I also think gymnasts, who have to have a very trained eye, would be great at something like archery. That's the kind of reality TV I'd like to see.

Secondly, and speaking of laymen, I think at some point during an event, they need to have an ordinary person swim 100 meters or attempt some cartwheels on the balance beam. Sometimes it's hard to tell how truly exceptional the olympians are, when all the swimmers are amazing swimmers. Sometimes I find myself thinking things like, "4-minute mile? Meh." (Or some other recognizable record in meters.) But occasionally, when certain camera angles make the swimmers seem like they're flying through that water, I feel like I get a more accurate portrayal of how fast they truly are, and I remember that yeah, they're totally amazing. I know swimming 200 meters would probably give me a heart attack, but sometimes I need to see the comparison. I also think it would be a little bit funny to see Bob Johnson swimming in lane 9, finishing his last 50 meters while everyone else has been done for five minutes.

So Rio 2016? Anyone?

Annacdotes 23

At her cousins' birthday party. (And, for the record, my punctuation is correct. Her cousins are twins.)

This look instigated some serious discussions about her being a bird for Halloween.

1. I was flipping through a magazine at the table the other day and Anna caught sight of a bright pink advertisement for crystal light raspberry lemonade. She was bedazzled by the splash of color and wanted to know what it was about. When I told her what Crystal Light was, she said, "It doesn't sound so great, but it looks great on the page." In one sentence, I think she just captured the essence of advertising.

2. Anna's words to the famous "Mr. Sandman" song? "Mr. Salmon, bring me a drink."

3. She still says "conbersation" sometimes. And "inbitation."

4. One morning Anna was up early playing in her room. When she finally made it into mine, she was dressed up in her superhero cape and mask and needed help putting on her arm cuffs. She said she wasn't a superhero, though, but a super fast delivery person. I loved that.


She had also packed a huge bag that she was using for her deliveries, I guess, and she said, "I have like a thousand stuff in here."

Good thing she looks like a solid 10 years old here. Geez...

5. Anna's 9-year-old cousin was over one day, and he made himself a missionary tag out of a post-it note. (His said "Elder Hobo," which delighted me.) Anyway, Anna wanted in on the action and hers said, "Elder Sister Banks." I just liked that.

6. After a prayer, Anna said thoughtfully, "Does Jesus say, 'In the name of I'?"

7. After she stumbled over the dishwasher door that was down, she said vehemently, "That dishwasher is my enemy!" Then, after a moment, she said more calmly, ". . . but also my hero." When I asked her why, she said, "Well, it tripped me, but I could also use it as a seat!"

8. Typing a name into this and then watching the ensuing personalized song (never mind that it's about tampons) is one of Anna's favorite things to do, so much so that she'll use it as a way to put off going to bed. One night, she begged and pleaded for one more and finally convinced me to let her when she said she would pick a funny name. She chose Phyllis, and we giggled the whole way through.

At the rodeo. I'm glad to see my finger and that she was dressed for the occasion.

9. Saying goodnight one evening, Anna said she loved me SO much and that I was right up there with her blanket, Silky Silky Blanket.

The first procedure we had done to start Anna on her way to competing in child pageants. I think it looks really good, don't you? (Okay, okay. So it was a bee sting in the worst place ever.)

Stiches

It was summer, and I was 8. I was riding bikes with my sister along a main road that connected to my neighborhood. I decided to try some lame trick, and I crashed my bike, cutting open my right knee in the process. When I stood up (in the middle of the road), my sister took one look at my knee and said, "Yep, you're going to need stitches." Luckily, no cars came while we were in the middle of the road.

The cut was bleeding a little, there were little bits of gravel inside, and the whole site was pretty gory. I couldn't bend my knee without it hurting, so I had to walk my bike home, hobbling slowly. My sister walked her bike home too so that I wouldn't be alone.

I showed the wound to my mother and she agreed: stitches it would need. So off to the ER we went. I remember laying on the table while the doctor cleaned the grisly mess. After most of the rocks were out, he used a little hose to clean out the nooks and crannies. He said he was "irrigating." Having water sprayed into my body was something I had never felt before, and it actually felt amazing. They also had to cut out some tissue that was pretty messed up. Honestly, it looked like a little brain with some blood on it. (Sorry for all the gore. This post should be rated PG-13.) Strangely, that didn't really hurt either.

But then he had to deaden my knee before he stitched it up, and those shots hurt the very most. "Like little bee stings," the nurse aptly explained. Yes. Thank you.

Once I was stitched up, they had to fit me for a brace to wear for a month so that I wouldn't bend my knee and rip the stitches out. They molded the brace to the back of my leg and then wrapped the whole thing in a bandage. I picked a hot pink one. I can't believe they even had a hot pink one. I guess those doctors were totally up with the times.

So I wore this brace for a month, doing some more hobbling around since I couldn't bend my knee. I'm pretty sure my whole family made fun of me. (Try walking around with one leg straightened the whole time. You'll look awesome.) We also took a trip to Lake Powell in the middle of the month and, luckily, I could take the brace off and swim. But I had to put this salve on and bandage myself back up the minute I got out of the water.

When I got the stitches out, I remember my mom saying, "Well, you'll never be a leg model." Yes. Thanks. I also remember the doctor giving me a couple of suckers. Totally worth it.

And that is the story of how I got stitches. I think maybe because my right knee has less tissue to cushion it, it is more sensitive. And so, like an old arthritic lady, I am always reminded of the stitches and the suckers and the hot pink bandage every time it rains.

Happy 4th of July!

Lunch style.

Which nine states would you keep?

The Family Name Game

I loved it when Lara shared some of the names from her family history in her comment the last time we played the Old Lady Name Game (they were amazing), and I've wanted to do a family-themed, old-person name post ever since.

And then my friend Sandra sent me these treasures she came across when doing some indexing:

Alfereta

Therilonia

Artuda

Arsolene

Two groups of sisters:

Nicey Lee & Honey Bee

Christine, Ernestine, and Frostine

and a man named Uritha

These were also amazing. I mean, Frostine? Come on! You can't get better than that.


And a while back, a good friend of mine shared with me the first and middle names of her aunts on her mom's side. Can you believe these?

Nellie Carolyn

Gladys Louise

Stella Ruth

Bernie Annette

Patsy Wathalene

Norma Colene

Flora Marlene

Now, besides Wathalene, the names themselves aren't all that bizarre, but the combinations are delightful. And I think I have to agree with my friend, who said that "Bernie Annette" is her favorite. WOW.

But it was showing Anna our pedigree chart the other day and seeing a few of the winners on there of our very own that made me put pen to paper. Or keys to board.

Both sides of my family are mostly British (at least for a few generations), with plenty of Anns and Jameses and Hannahs and Williams. But every once in a while, there is a name that's almost unrecognizable as a name. (Most are female, which is interesting. Maybe I'll put a star by the men's names.) So are you ready for these? These are actual, bonafide names in my family line:

Pirene

Elsone

Nielsine (not to mention that she had the last name NIELSEN—can you imagine?)

Thola

Emma Scragg (I've always loved that last name)

Philomelia (what the what?)

Huldah

Delectah

Easter

Pleasant * (this one's definitely recognizable, but I loved that it was a man)

Detmorus * (okay, okay, so he was from Holland...)

Avice (this is a little too close to "avarice," if you ask me)

Comfort

Fernice * (how do you think you pronounce it?)

Gamaliel * (which is a name, there was one in the bible, but it's certainly unusual)

Wheatly *

Kunigunde (from Germany, but still)

Mehitable (?)

I could probably go on and on, but that's enough for now. Some of the coolest names I found? 

Luke Raven, which sounds like a character in a detective story (or am I just thinking of The Maltese Falcon?)

and

Ann Lovelace, whose father and grandfather were named William Lovelace Knight (maybe they were knights? I feel another good story coming on...)

Now what are some of yours?

Birthday Traditions

Obviuosly, birthdays have been on my mind, as of late, and I've been thinking a lot about birthday traditions. With Anna, I have carried over some from my own childhood, and some seem to have developed on their own.

Back in the days of yore, when I was growing up, here were our birthday traditions:

• We got to pick our favorite kind of sweet cold cereal (like Cap'n Crunch, or something) because we never got the good stuff, ordinarily.
• We got to choose what we had for dinner.
• We got to pick the kind of birthday cake we wanted.
• The kitchen was always decorated with crepe paper and balloons.
• * UPDATE * I totally forgot about the special birthday plate and goblet! I'm so ashamed. (Thanks for reminding me, Jen.) Anyway, we got to use these fancy things when we ate our birthday dinner. I always looked forward to this part of my birthday.

I think that pretty much covers it, besides getting a few presents, obviously. Way, way back, the kids in my family also got to go out to dinner, just ourselves with our parents, and to a movie. I think I only got to do this once or twice because it became extremely hard with eight kids and the birthday-date tradition was eventually abandoned. I even remember doubling up once with a brother whose birthday was in September because my parents hadn't gotten around to him yet. It was fun while it lasted, though.

Probably 15+ years ago, I made a birthday banner (that we still use to this day) from cardstock, curling ribbon, and scotch tape. With quality supplies like that, it's really kind of a miracle that it has lasted this long. And this thing has traveled to many homes and places. We have even been known to send it to different states once in a while if someone is having a birthday.

For some reason, my sister and I started a tradition of making a birthday sign written backwards and putting it up on the wall opposite the bathroom mirror. This year was the first year I did that for Anna, which she loved (probably now that she can read it).

When you're concentrating so hard on writing backwards, it's easy to forget silly, unnecessary letters like H . . .

Last year, I decided to make Anna a shirt with a 5 on it for her 5th birthday. She got to pick the color of the shirt and the ribbon I used to make the 5. 

Although I hadn't necessarily planned on making one every year, she was excited this year to have a 6 shirt, so we made it happen. And a new tradition was born.

The lace she chose had a string of fake pearls up the middle—very fancy. We'll see how long they last. While I was in the middle of sewing this, I mourned the fact that I hadn't thought to do it when she was 4 (because of the straight lines), but I'm totally looking forward to 7. That's going to be a breeze.

I love the traditions. They make the celebrations that much more fun because, while the presents are fun surprises, you anticipate the traditions and know what to expect. It's fun that Anna's at an age where she can remember last year's birthday and birthday traditions and can look forward to them again. All the traditions don't always show up every single year, but when they do, they're delightful.

So now I want to know about some of your birthday traditions, old or new. Last one to comment is a rotten egg!

Happy Birthday to Anna!

Last week was Anna's 6th birthday. 6 is good, but it's also weird. She's like a full-blown kid now. She has left the toddler years far behind and is using words like "prevent" and "voluntary" all the time. She also corrected herself on the pronunciation of the word "invitation" last week, which is one of the words I was hoping would stick around for a while because she said it with a B: inbitation. So cute.

Anyway, her birthday was a delight—for her and for me. We had a lot of fun. (Although I did feel like I got sucker punched every time I looked at a picture of her I took that day because it seemed like she aged all at once that very day. She looks so old to me here!)

Just for fun, here's her at 5 so we have something to compare it to. 

Do you see what I mean? I can see it, but it could just be the loss-of-childhood tears clouding my vision. (Just kidding. I really am okay that she's getting older. I'm aware that she's aging at the rate everyone else does.)

So here's how the celebrations went down (there were many):

For months, Anna has been requesting breakfast in bed. I don't know where she got the idea, but after shooting down the idea several times, I finally told her that she could have breakfast in bed on her birthday. It was pretty awesome because she was totally awake before me but she had to stay in bed until I made her breakfast so it would be official. I did give her a few books to read so she had something to do.

For breakfast, she requested waffles and ice cream and strawberries, and I obliged. When else can you have ice cream for breakfast, if not your birthday? After breakfast, she finally emerged for presents. She got a lot of presents from so many people that love her and was probably genuinely spoiled, but she was also genuinely gracious about all of them. She called several of them "masterpieces" when she opened them and gave lots of thankful hugs. Giving her presents is partly for her and partly for me. It's just so darn fun to know what she would absolutely love and googly-eyed faint over (which she does often about things she's in love with) and then see it actually happen.

We were planning on having a cousin water party that afternoon, but since the Crazy Wind Storm of 2012 decided to make it super cold (and windy) earlier in the week, we bumped the party to Friday when temperatures were supposed to be warmer. (Friday was warmer, but it was still windy. Good thing I like the wind or else I would have been really mad that the wind made the little swimmers chilly. Instead, I was only a little mad.)

But back to Thursday. For dinner, Anna really wanted to roast hot dogs and make s'mores, so we just up and built a fire in the backyard. It was awesome. We also had some chips and sugar snap peas and carrot sticks (to, you know, balance out the hot dogs), and Anna also picked out a special can of pickled beets for us to eat. (By 6, I meant she was turning 86.)

The next day, we got ready for the party, which was basically kids playing in little pools and sliding down slip 'n' slides. They also painted rocks and beat a pinata to death. We had pina coladas and fruit kabobs, which I enjoyed as I laid back on a lounging chair and watched. Since Anna's birthday happened to be the same day as National Chocolate Ice Cream Day, we had chocolate ice cream sundaes. A delightful addition.

Anna LOVES it when her cousins come over, so I knew she would love this party. I think everybody had a good time. I know I did, sipping my pina colada on the patio. Some pictures to enjoy:

some of the cousins in question

I feel like this picture needs explaining. This is a horse trough that has never been used as a horse trough. (People are always concerned about this point.) It has, however, been our pool since before I was born, I think, and it's super fantastic. We generated some pretty great whirlpools in here, growing up. And I loved seeing it packed with 100 cousins that day.

love this one!

Anyway, that was the birthday. Lots of presents, lots of treats, lots of fun, and I needed lots of sleep to recover from it all. But it has been 6 years well spent. Happy birthday, Annabelle.

(And you know what next year means, since she was born on the 7th? GOLDEN BIRTHDAY!)