The Christmas Card Will Not Bring Me Down

I'm late, as usual, but I'm up at the 11th hour getting in my order for Christmas cards. I don't know why I wait so long, maybe its anxiety that I'll take the perfect family photo tomorrow. This has never happened. My optimism gets the best of me every single year. I (of course) love my family, but they/we are not photo-takers, posers, cheesy. Whatever the reason, I'll just have to stick with the "collage" style every year.

And that's (of course), perfect.

Snow Flurries Christmas Card

Create Christmas cards for the 2011 holiday season.

View the entire collection of cards.

Rhubarb Springs Eternal…

…at least for the next couple months. When the rhubarb is ready to pick before my birthday (this Saturday) I know its going to be a good season.

The cilantro, chives and parsley are sprouting up. The daffodils are in full bloom and tulips are starting to dotting the yards. I love Spring. The smell of hyacinth, fresh cut grass, the smell or rain right before it rains and when its drying in the late afternoon sun on the cold pavement.

And there’s my birthday too. Its going to be a great season.

A New Hobby

The rain and tax season is underway. Birthdays are on a hiatus until May (except for mine). What shall we do while dad is working on the weekends? Years ago there was a piece on NPR about letterboxing and I've been patiently waiting for my kids to be old enough to understand the concept of following clues and walking (a short) distance without getting bored or sidetracked. Letterboxing is, in a nutshell, a hidden waterproof box with a logbook and a stamp that you find by following clues. You can read more about it here or here.

I was intrigued by this covert hobby and how to make it attractive to a 3- and 5-year old. Is it a treasure hunt? No, sadly no treasure. Is there pirate booty? Again, nothing but a stamp and a tiny little journal. Aha, its a mystery box. My house has succumbed to Scooby Doo on Saturday mornings and there are few things that I dislike more that the sound of Velma's voice and "Zoinks", but the boys understand solving mysteries. The last two weekends we have gone on mystery box hunts. Granted, the hunt only lasts about 30 minutes and we have had to call off both hunts briefly for a potty break, we have recorded a find for both of our boxes and the kids are still interested in finding more.

Here is a shot from our first find last weekend: Timothy with the clues, Ryan with "more clues" (a printer test page, thankfully he can't read).

Our steps so far to becoming expert letterboxers mystery box hunters and some lessons learned:

1. Search online for an easily accessible box (print 2 copies of the clues next time).
2. Find box #1. Employ lots of whispering and secrecy so as not to attract attention of any the "muggles" nearby.
3. Never underestimate the impatience, small bladder, or short attention span of a 3-year old. Go to the bathroom beforehand. Bring a camera.
4. Unearth box #1 in addition to a few spiders and pill bugs hiding within. Vow to return the following weekend to clean the box and replace plastic bag.
5. Create your own hunting kit: logbook, stamp, ink pad and pen all inside a ziploc bag. Snack and treasure optional.
   
6. Print out clues for box #2. Wear boots. Bring a snack.
7. Halfway through hunt, detour to the grocery store to go to the bathroom.
8. Resume hunt. Download compass application on cell phone.
9. Creep around some rocks and trees while not looking suspicious. Partially ignore 3-year old complaints about being sick, having a broken leg and being tired.
10. Discover box among the rocks and flee the site quietly to break it open at a nearby picnic bench.
11. Eat snack. Poke at some slugs that were patronizing the cracks of the container.
12. Trade stamps, write some details about the hunt in the boys logbook and carefully re-hide the box.
13. Make a snow shower with the cherry tree by our car...

So far its been a fun hobby. I've now visited two local park-ish places that I've never been. The hunt is on...where will box #3 take us?