Food Fun Family

Snow…And More Snow! #PSF Give Me Your Best Shot

Lolli — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 05:01:09 +0000

I have a confession. I got home from my youngest son’s Blue and Gold banquet about 2 1/2 hours ago, and the goal was to come straight up to my computer to get this post ready. But I have become completely distracted by a photo of a dress that most of you have probably seen by now. My daughter showed me the dress tonight at the Blue and Gold Banquet. She asked me what colors I saw.

Blue and faded black, I said.

She ran away, with a crazy look on her face and no explanation for me. She proceeded to ask EVERYONE what colors they saw. White and Gold. I kept hearing it. I was convinced that all of these people were trying to trick me, that there was some weird conspiracy to get those of us not in on the joke to change our minds about what we saw.

I could not be convinced, and I still can’t be convinced. As many times as I’ve seen the photo, and as many times as I’ve tried to squint and cross my eyes to see a different effect, the result is the same for me.

The dress is unmistakably blue and black. (By the way, the real dress IS, in fact, blue and black, in case anyone is wondering). I don’t understand it. I don’t know why this has caused such a controversy on and offline tonight. But it’s time to move on, don’t you think?

This week brought us LOTS of snow. And more snow. My youngest, AJ, was thrilled for our big storm on Saturday and used the opportunity to build an amazing snow cave behind our house. His big brother, T, built a mountain of snow just a short distance away. They were cold, wet….and happy. I stayed inside and baked and made soaps and lotions.

All photos were taken with my Nokia Lumia 830 Windows Phone, which I am currently reviewing (the pics are not edited!). I got the phone for free, and each week I’m doing different challenges on Twitter. Follow the hashtag #LumiaSwitch to see the conversation.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

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An InLinkz Link-up

Slipping on Ice – Recreating the Viral Video

Lolli — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 02:32:21 +0000

I kid you not. After I had fallen flat on my butt not once but twice before I made it to the cross walk at the back of the elementary school, the crossing guard mentioned that I reminded her of the “slipping on ice” viral video she had seen the night before. She described the video to me: Dad is sitting in car with his phone. Notices that a good majority of the kids coming around the corner right in front of his car are tumbling on the ice. Turns the video camera on and captures 5+ minutes of hilarious falls.

My story…

I left the house at the regular time this morning. AJ commented to me that the sky looked like it was going to rain and wondered out loud if it would start anytime soon. It did. Before we had gotten out of our court, the rain started to fall.

As we approached the cross walk just beyond our court, AJ and I slipped on our first patch of ice together. We laughed, we stood up, and we kept going. 3 feet later, I slipped again. I’m sure I looked just as graceful as the kids slipping on the patch of ice on the video. One minute I was standing tall, the next minute, I was sprawled on the melty-frozen, muddy ground.

By the time we had made the typically-seven-minute-walk to school, the light rain had turned into heavy freezing rain, and before I could make it home, I had slipped on the ice 3 additional times. After the last tumble, I lost all confidence in my ability to get home safely and walked at a snail’s pace, one foot in front of the other, so I could remain upright for as long as possible.

Incredibly, I didn’t feel the pain at that point. I knew that my bad knee would not fare well after 5 falls, but on my way home the only thing hurting was my bruised ego. All I wanted was a long, hot bath and my mom to tuck me in bed.

If ever there was a viral video to recreate, THIS video was the wrong one to choose.

I am not looking forward to getting out of bed tomorrow morning.

Enjoy the Moment, With Snow and All

Lolli — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 12:00:45 +0000

Guest post by Katja Presnal

I laughed at the snowy day post last week, because I love snow! In fact, skiing in Colorado is one of my favorite things to do in the entire world, that’s why I named my lifestyle brand “skimbaco”, combining a Finnish slang word “skimba” meaning skis and skiing, and CO for Colorado. Oddly, my brand has very little to do with skiing, or snow, but it has everything to do with enjoying the moment and doing what you love.

See, my take on everything in life is that I want to experience the cold blizzards every now and then, because then the sunny days and rainbows are even more spectacular after that. Better yet – I think the key to happiness in life IS to learn to love the snowy days and enjoy the heck out of the bad weather.

I currently live in Sweden where they have a saying “there is no bad weather, only bad clothing” and it’s not really a metaphor, but literally means that you can enjoy the outdoors in any weather, as long as you are equipped for it. I think it works as a great metaphor as well. Maybe it can mean that when you are just prepared enough for something, it won’t actually be bad at all, but in fact the opposite: a lot of fun, like skiing.

If you are not the outdoorsy-type winter sports person, try these ways to enjoy the snowy days.

1. Go to a museum, no lines!
2. Make some tea, coffee or hot cocoa. Hot drinks never tasted this good.
3. Take the Christmas photos – for once you have card photos done on time, who cares your kids will be bigger and your hair color has changed by Christmas, but you’ve got winter wonderland in your cards.
4. Take some me-time, and have a spa day at home.

I would like to invite you to read my first issue of Skimbaco Lifestyle magazine with a theme “coffee, tea or me” and get a Scandinavian recipe of sweet buns, which we eat on a “sledding day”. Or get a DIY coffee scrub recipe for your spa day at home and 16 shades of Valentine’s Day gift ideas to keep your relationship hot.

Guest post by Katja Presnal, editor-in-chief of Skimbaco Lifestyle, global lifestyle magazine. You can connect with Katja on Instagram as Skimbaco

The 5-Day Weekend {PSF Give Me Your Best Shot}

Lolli — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 02:25:56 +0000

The other day, I posted this quote on my Facebook page:

I loved the idea of the quote, even though I never had a snow day growing up in California. I imagine I would have loved snow days for the same reason I love them now – the chance to sleep in and stay in comfy, warm clothes all day. We have had 5 of those sleep-in, comfy-clothes days in a row, with the MLK JR holiday weekend, a teacher work day to compute grades, and a snow day all piled on top of each other. The break has felt longer than Winter Vacation, I swear. We certainly had more snow and colder temps in the last few days than we did during Winter Break.

I’ll skip playing in the snow (otherwise known as freezing my fingers and toes off) and stay in the warm house, thank you very much. In the time that it took me to take these pictures of AJ building his snow fort, I became very uncomfortable, to say the least. I don’t understand the draw of playing outside on days like this…

Funny thing about these pictures…just a few minutes after taking all of these happy, productive shots, the neighbor boy (who was just outside of the frame in all of these pictures) kicked a side of the fort in. AJ didn’t take it well. After throwing quite a tantrum (not pleasant for me to deal with while managing the snow, the uncomfortable cold and the camera around my neck) he finally made it inside, where he spread snow through the kitchen and all the way down to the basement.

But the pictures only capture the happy part. Pictures are funny that way.

What photos have you taken this week? Please share on this week’s linky.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

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Snowy Day #WW

Lolli — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 04:17:04 +0000

I’m convinced more and more that the attitudes and opinions of parents really do rub off on their kids. Because my kids seem to hold my opinion on snow – It’s pretty, I enjoy having a day to sleep in (although technically, today was an already-on-the-calendar teacher work day that just happened to be snowy), but I’d rather “enjoy” it via pictures and movies.

How do you feel about snow?

What have you been up to lately?

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Decembers Gone By {PSF – Give Me Your Best Shot}

Lolli — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 00:01:33 +0000

Another week gone by, another memory card filled with pictures of food. This week, I’ve been busy baking all of my traditional Christmas treats: caramels, English toffee, Minty cookies, butterscotch bars, fudge…

And yes, all of the recipes were posted or linked earlier this week. That’s what I’m all about, you know.

And so I started looking back at Decembers gone by…when the kids were smaller, there was more snow on the ground, and, yes, things were a little more simple.

I’m looking forward to this coming week. To time with family. Lazy mornings with the kids, late nights watching Christmas movies and wrapping presents. Christmas songs and Christmas lights. And more baking.

Until next week….Have a very Merry Christmas!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

First Snow Day of the Year {PSF- Give Me Your Best Shot}

Lolli — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 21:44:47 +0000

It was rather amusing to see my kids’ reactions to the snow this week. On Sunday, when we were sent home early from church so that we wouldn’t get stuck away from home when the storm was at it’s worse, the kids were almost indifferent. When we realized that school would be cancelled for Monday because of the freezing rain and sleet, there were audible groans.

Everyone made the most of Monday’s day off school, though, surprisingly, no one seemed all that excited about it. AJ even got all bundled up to go outside and came back in a while later declaring, “Freezing rain makes the snow not fun. It’s all crunchy now. Not soft and smooshy.”

But when school was cancelled on Tuesday as well because of a new snow storm, no one was happy about it (and that included Mom and Dad).

I guess we were meant to live in a warmer climate.

I know one boy – a certain teenager who is now taller than his mother – who would wear shorts every day of the year (here he is shoveling snow on Monday):

Were you hit by one of the storms that seemed to cover the entire country last week? How do your kids react to a snow day?

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Morning Inspiration – Wordless Wednesday

Lolli — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:30:17 +0000

It has been COLD here lately, but the snow has been nearly non-existent, which means that the view most mornings when I walk the kids to school is quite drab.

A few days ago, we had a light dusting of snow overnight. The snow was uncommonly dry (our snow here is always wet and mushy). As we walked to school, the elements combined for a nearly heavenly setting – dry snow, bright morning sunlight, and a strong breeze. I slipped the gloves off my hands so that I could capture the moment with my cell phone camera.

How’s that for a little morning inspiration? Too bad not every Winter morning looks this beautiful and serene.

Linked up to Wordful Wednesday and Wordless Wednesdays all over.

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