Studio711.com – Ben Martens

We pick up one or two ornaments every year as a family and this year, we decided to get one from our Montana trip. Not surprisingly, we didn’t find a lot of Montana ornaments as we drove across the state so I decided to make one myself. This ornament is cherry plywood cut on a laser cutter. It’s a map of Washington, Idaho and Montana with our route highlighted and “Fort Peck 2017” written across the bottom.

You can see our past ornaments in these posts: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2008-2010

As we think about what to get Elijah for Christmas, it’s interesting to think back to my own childhood and remember various gifts that I received. I thought it might be fun to list out a few of the more memorable ones:

• Around 1992, we got a family Christmas gift which was a CD-ROM drive for the computer. *mind blown* I spent hours being amazed at how much data could fit on a single disc and watching every tiny little 160×120 resolution video that was on the encyclopedia disc that came along with it. I’m pretty sure it was The New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia.
• I had an enormous Lego set on my Christmas list. In retrospect, it was probably twice as expensive as our normal Christmas gifts. But low and behold, a wrapped package ended up under the tree that was about the size I expected the Lego set would be, and when I shook it, it sounded a LOT let Legos. I proceeded to comment endlessly about how I knew what that present was and I was very excited to open it. On Christmas morning I ripped open the paper and… not Legos. It ended up being Domino Rally (here’s a great 80s ad for it) which was actually pretty fun, but wow, did I feel horrible for incessantly guessing the wrong present. That gift changed my life. I will never ever again guess what is in a present before I open it. That declaration was quickly put to the test when there was a BB gun under the tree for me the next year, but I stuck to my guns and refused to guess what it was. Pun intended.
• When I was 4, Rachel and I each got Big Wheels. We got a lot of use out of those things but that gift really sticks out because we were permitted to ride through the house! This was the first Christmas in our new house and we rode all the way down the hallway, through the living room and into the dining room. It was quite a thrill mostly because we were clearly doing an outdoor activity inside.

At this point in writing the post, I looked back through our old Christmas photos (thanks for doing all that scanning Mom!) and remembered a bunch of other great gifts like laser tag, various Lego sets, a safe, a skateboard and various models. Hopefully Elijah ends up with lots of happy Christmas memories too.

We headed down to Auburn (about 45 minutes south) for a Veteran’s Day parade. It was supposed to be “huge” but we didn’t really know what to expect. We kind of hung out towards the end of the parade route but supposedly there were 30,000 spectators.

There were a couple cool flyovers and lots of interesting military stuff in the parade (mixed in with way too many “random” people in cars donated by local dealerships.) It was also a marching band competition with over 30 bands from around the Pacific Northwest. There were around 200 entries and it took about 2.5 hours to get through them all. I think we all agreed it was too long, but it was fun for the most part. The rain held off and we weren’t too cold so we’ll call it a win.

We have a year-round indoor ice rink less than a mile from our house. Elijah and Tyla have killed quite a few hours during the day sitting in the stands and watching random hockey games and watching the Zamboni do laps.

This year, we figured he was finally big enough to fit into some skates and give it a shot. I was pretty sure he could do it, but this trip also meant that I had to dig ice skates out of a box for Tyla and me.

I’ll cut to the chase… we were able to come straight home without stopping at the hospital on the way. So that means it was a victory!

Kidding aside, Elijah did great. I figured we’d get about 5 minutes in and he’d be done, but he stuck with it for about 1.5 hours, never taking a break. I think he probably did about seven total laps, but by the end he was getting more bold. He did have a walker to push around, but he also liked to skate holding my hand.

Tyla and I would take turns doing laps by ourselves. I hadn’t skated for probably about 6 years and before that it was college, but I was surprised at how well it came back. I’m not at the same level I was way back when, but I was a lot closer than I thought I’d be.

Elijah was all smiles the whole time, and he’s already asking when we can go back and try it again.

Last year our church/school hosted its first ever Trunk or Treat. It was a big success so we decided to try it again. The weather was gorgeous last year but this year, there was a lot of rain in the forecast so the event was moved inside and it became “Table or Treat.”

The turnout was great again and I don’t think having it indoors spoiled it too much. I was asked to snap a bunch of photos. You can find the full set on the Calvary Facebook page, but I’ve included a few below as well. Our little man is Tigger this year.

My sister and I never had an allowance when we were growing up, but I also remember having a few bucks here and there so it worked out fine. I’m it would have worked out fine for Elijah too, but Tyla and I have really enjoyed having our own individual allowances (we call it a “fun budget”) so I liked the idea of doing one for Elijah too and using it as an educational tool.

Natali Morris has a couple great posts on the topic and I’m largely stealing the ideas from her, but here is how we set it up for now:

• We’re not paying him to do chores. Everyone in our house does chores. It’s expected, not rewarded.
• Each Saturday, he’ll get $4. $1 goes in the piggy bank for long term savings. (Eventually we’ll migrate that to an actual child bank account.) $1 is for donating to church. And the remaining $2 go in his spending jar.
• For now, everything in his spending jar is a one dollar bill. That makes it easier to explain how much money he has and how much he needs for a particular toy.

There are a few ideas for expanding this in the future beyond what I mentioned above:

• If he wants to earn additional money, we’ll find some jobs for him to do around the house (not chores!)
• After he has a few purchases under his belt, I’m willing to let him buy something that he doesn’t have money for, but I will charge him interest on that loan.

It seems like a lot for a four year old to grasp, but so far so good. If this works out, we have a chance at raising a kid who understands the value of money, saving, and staying out of debt. And oh yeah the “Can I have X? PLEEEEEAAAASE?” questions while in the toy aisle have a very easy answer now: “You can spend your own money on this if you want it.”

P.S. I walked into the bank and asked for $100 in one dollar bills. As soon as those words came out of my mouth, I said, “Oh. Wow. That sounded way more dirty than I thought it would. Honestly, it’s for an allowance for my kid.” The teller got a good laugh out of it and said she sees lots of interesting stuff.