Rewind: Christmastime 2013

I'd like to start by pointing out that the post for Christmas 2012 didn't make it up until early April of 2013...this time around, I'm beating time by about 3 weeks. We're talking real progress here, folks!

 

We'll just go in order and start with my trip to Zoo Lights with the kids.  The kids and I bundled up one weeknight and headed into SLC, arriving at the zoo just after the gates opened for the evening.  To say that we were in the middle of a cold snap would be putting it nicely.  We were all bundled up head-to-toe...and completely freezing the entire time we were there.  We arrived just as Santa was headed to get his reindeer and got a quick picture with him before going to a nearby building where Mr. and Mrs. Claus would be available for visiting.  We were only 2nd or 3rd in line to see them and even though we'd only been at the zoo for less than 15 minutes, we welcomed the chance to warm up inside while we waited. After hanging out with the Clauses for a few minutes, we went on to see the light displays and animal exhibits, take a few rides on the carousel (unlimited rides on my pass...awesome), and duck into buildings for warmth whenever we could.  When we were good and close to being frostbitten, we left the zoo and went out to dinner at The Olive Garden (one of the kids' favorites - the basically inhale the salad there).

Sub-freezing fun at Zoo Lights! 

About a week after going to Zoo Lights, we took another jaunt into SLC to visit Temple Square.  Going in the late afternoon/early evening, traffic and parking were great and we actually arrived prior to the lights turning on for the evening.  We started out with a stop to see the candy window displays at Macy's and walked up the block just in time for the lights to turn on.  It was bit chilly but NOTHING like the temperatures we had braved at the zoo the week before.  It was nice to be able to take our time and enjoy the displays.  We started at the Reflection Pool and then went on through Temple Square, making a stop at one of the sets of big east facing doors (a real thrill for the kids).  It was so nice to be there before the big evening crowds.  Afterwards was another dinner at The Olive Garden.  I tired for Blue Lemon and a couple of other places but they begged and I'm a sucker.  At least I knew the kids were getting their vegetables.

Temple Square and the candy windows at Macy's (top and bottom corners on the right).

 

Last - but not least - was Christmas.  We had a very quiet Christmas Eve at home.  The kids received their traditional Christmas pajamas - dog/puppy themed this year - and new slippers.  We sang Christmas carols and hymns, read the nativity story from the Bible, and sent the kids off to bed where they struggled to fall asleep.  For the first time in years, I got almost everything done earlier in the day and evening (final wrapping, baking cookies, making our Christmas morning pastry, etc.) and Max and I actually made it to bed before midnight.  It was a miracle and it felt so good!  Christmas day was also very laid back.  We enjoyed the morning and early afternoon with just the four of us and then had my little brother and his family over for Christmas dinner.  It really was a wonderful day.

Top four pics are from Christmas Eve (kids insisted on silly-faced pictures) and bottom pics are from the big day.

Well, there you go...our Christmas season in a nutshell.  I'm already looking forward to the holidays this year - less than 9 months away!

Rewind: Thanksgiving 2013

I've posted before about how much I love the Thanksgiving holiday and I would love to write more about it now but it's kind of off-season and for the sake of getting a bunch of posts knocked out, I'm going to try to forgo my usual wordiness. This year, Thanksgiving gets its own post for one reason alone: a family snapshot.

My hubby is not a big fan of the camera and we very rarely have our picture taken together as a family. As we were getting ready to leave his parents' place after Thanksgiving dinner, I made a quick move to have a picture taken. Max didn't know it but I was hoping to get something that we could use for our family Christmas card as we usually just do pics of the kids. While the background wasn't ideal, Claire had undone her cute hairdo, and Hudson had a fever (we found out the next day that he had a raging sinus infection), I was overall very happy with how it turned out. I ordered our cards from Shutterfly that night and didn't tell Max until I showed one to him when they came in the mail....and he liked them. Hallelujah!!

 

Sneaky move. Good results. Thankful wife/mom.

Halloween 2013

It's almost been a month since Halloween (better than several months since, right?) so I figured I should knock out a post with pictures before Thanksgiving hits us this week...

 

The Saturday before Halloween, the kiddies and I went to the home of my oldest brother and his family for their annual Halloween party.  Hudson was a banana, Claire was Belle (from Disney's Beauty & The Beast), and not having any kind of costume on hand, I threw together my best attempt at a goth-inspired look in the 24 hours before the party.  We had a great time at the shindig and I'm already excited for next year.  I just need to put my thinking cap on now for a better costume next time around (though I did get comments from a few people that they didn't recognize me...not too shabby!).

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know why Picasa has chosen to hate some of my iPhone pictures from the night of the party and not others. I would have made a collage but most of the pics weren't showing up in folders like they should have.  Whatever, Picasa.  Above you can see my Belle and Banana, me with brothers and with my sisters-in-law, my pirate nephew with Claire, my cute pirate niece with my oldest brother, my baby bro with his wife and their darling baby elephant, and a selfie of me as the kids and I were leaving home for the party.  I was SO not meant to have bangs.  My favorite costume of the night was my 6'7" brother in lederhosen...those shorts were extra special.  I'm not including the best pic of the night (which may or may not have shown him pulling up on the leg of his shorts) for the sake of his keeping some sort of dignity.

As for the big candy-begging night the next week, I didn't get as many pictures as I did in past years but I got a couple of good ones of my kids in their costumes so I'll just offer the best pre-trick-or-treating shot I got on our front porch:

 

Claire obviously opted out of being a princess again and was a super hero.  Hudson LOVES his banana costume and stuck with it for the big night.  We had a great time zipping around our neighborhood and the kids came home with WAY too much candy.  After allowing them to slowly consume it over the past few weeks, I allowed them to select a few final pieces last night and confiscated the rest.  We'll have plenty of goodies this week with Thanksgiving and in the next several weeks with the Christmas holiday.  Oh, the sugar comas!

 

Rewind: Easter 2013

We had a very nice Easter this year and it was a pretty low key day all around.  The kids found their baskets from the Easter Bunny in the morning and then the bunny came back and hid the hard boiled eggs that we had dyed the day or two before.

 

I had the kids wear new duds to church that day (of course).  Hudson is getting a little old to be forced into cute little outfits with multiple pieces so he just got a cool new tie.  Claire, on the other hand, is all over getting new outfits so she got a dress with a cardigan shrug and new shoes.  Between her willingness and desire to have new clothes and the fact that I'm a sucker for them, she definitely makes out better than her brother on holidays.

 

 

We were joined by my little brother and his family along with his mother-in-law for dinner that evening.  We had a delicious spread of ham (recipe from my hubby's mom...BEST ever), sour cream scalloped potatoes, fresh fruit, green salad, and sugared orange rolls for dinner and fresh lemon cake for dessert.  I just love holiday dinners.  I'm glad they don't occur more often than they do because if I ate like that every day, you'd have to get a forklift to get me out of the house.

Rewind: New Years Eve 2012

Most years we stay home on New Years Eve and party like nothing you've ever seen.  Some years we have maybe one other family over and enjoy a bit of food, bed before midnight for the kids, maybe some games or a movie, and a quiet, "Woo-hoo...Happy New Years." when the clock strikes twelve (because the kids are asleep).  Very thrilling indeed.

This year we headed to my the home of my oldest brother and his family to join them and my wee baby brother and his family for the big night.  It was fairly low key overall and we had a great time.

Food is key to my family's gatherings and I must say that the food was awesome.  We all provided snackies and appetizers for the spread...baked brie, shrimp with cocktail sauce, fruit, cream cheese with jalapeno red pepper jelly, veggies and dip, hot artichoke dip, candy/cookies/dessert, etc.  If anyone left hungry then either a) there was something seriously wrong with them or b) they didn't get to the kitchen before the rest of us inhaled all the tasty vittles.  I think I gained 10 pounds that night.

The kids spent much of the night downstairs playing and watching a movie (or movies) while we adults were upstairs watching a movie, chatting, and playing poker (using Horse-opoly money).  My one sister-in-law was pregnant at the time and that got the three men talking about the babies that they carry in their tummies.  We all had a good laugh as they stood and compared the abdomens that they obviously so tenderly care for and nurture (Matt's stance and face are my favorite...I laugh every time I see the picture).

I am so glad that we all got together that night...nothing like family and laughter to make one's heart happy.

Rewind: Christmas 2012

Here I go...time to play catch up.

 

While hubby was recovering from his hip surgery in December (which he did quite nicely...much faster and better recovery than when he had the other hip done almost five years ago), I tried to keep the holiday season as normal as possible for the kiddies.

 

I took them to Temple Square to see the lights one evening.  We enjoyed walking around and seeing the lights, watching/listening to the nativity display, and seeing the Christus statue.

As long as we were downtown, we went to Macy's and saw the holiday window displays - all made out of CANDY.  Each giant ornament was different and it was amazing to see all the fine detail.  I can't imagine putting one of those things together!  After seeing the candy windows, we went and waited forever for a table at The Olive Garden.  Dinner was tasty, though, and we all went home tired, full, and happy.

On two other nights, there were Christmas parties to attend.  One was at church (which Hudson opted out of as he was concerned about leaving Max at home alone) and the other was our annual neighborhood progressive/rotating dinner party.  Both kids came along on the latter and as always, we had a great time.  Santa Claus made an appearance at both and Claire was a little apprehensive before the first party so we decided to clue her in that the Santa Claus that comes to the parties is a helper to the REAL Santa Claus and....she knows said helper.  We told her who the special helper is and she was thrilled to be in on the big secret.  She was in awe that this man that we know is actually a real Santa's helper.  Holy smokes.  No more Santa visit nerves for our girl.  Hudson is a very good older brother and encourages his sister in her excitement and happily sits on Santa's lap, too.  I think he still has fun with it (too smart for us...figured EVERYTHING about EVERYONE on his own out when he was 6 years old).

Christmas day itself was pretty quiet and very nice to spend together as a family.  We had a yummy breakfast (homemade Danish Almond Puff, blueberry muffins, fruit, etc.) before heading into the living room to open presents.  We've got two amazingly patient kids who are always good about waiting until it's officially time to go in.  This year we tried to cut back on the gifts (we even stuck a couple of things out in the garage to save for another time).  It wasn't that they didn't get plenty but the kids didn't notice the difference and were thrilled with what they received.  I also love seeing how excited they are to give to others...it's one of those reward moments as a parent (at least for me).  It felt great to tone it down and enjoy the holiday without such a huge emphasis on presents.

 

That evening it was just us again as we enjoyed a massive spread of prime rib roast and all the fixin's for Christmas dinner.  My brother's family was going to join us but his wife became sick on Christmas Eve so they cancelled the morning of.  We were sad that they couldn't join us but appreciated the gift they gave us by not bringing her "bug" to our house.

 

I always love the holidays and this year was no different.  I'm just looking forward to this year when Max will join us for some of our outings!

 

Now watch out...another post coming tomorrow morning (not joking!).

Missed My Quota

Here we are.  Less than two days before 2012 is outta here and I have totally failed to meet my goal of 50 posts this year.  I did sit down to write a post once this month. Yes, once. But I got less than one sentence into it and ran out of time.  In my defense, I was planning on writing a bunch and getting the remaining posts up this month but in the past 4-5 weeks alone, I've had a bunch of totally legitimate and great excuses.  I may try to knock out a number of posts in the next day and see how close I can get (do I get a prize if I do it?) but in the meantime, here's a list of some of the reasons why I didn't put out one measly post in December before tonight:

• I've been busy.
• Max had a pretty rough recovery from his surgery for the first couple of weeks and I was his main helper.  He didn't need me with him 24-7 but that definitely took up a good chunk of my time.
• My parents came in town for a visit.  They didn't stay with us but I spent as much time as I could with them while they were here.
• On December 4th, I went and picked up a very darling almost 10-week-old yellow lab mix that we named Sally.
• Every day since December 4th, I've felt like I have been caring for a furry newborn that can't wear diapers and needs a whole lot more attention than I remembered puppies need.
• Ran a lot of errands.
• Did lots of laundry but I was so busy with other stuff that more than anything, I excelled at falling behind in it.  Let's just say my kids had to pull things out of their hampers a time or two.  Thankfully I was on top of it just enough to make sure that we all had clean underwear the whole time.
• Got back to volunteering in the kids' classrooms the week or two before Christmas.
• Went to the dermatologist.
• Being a creature of habit, I simply had to make three batches of caramels over the couple of weeks before Christmas.  This involves standing over the stove for a good 30-40 minutes during the cooking process (which I did at midnight one night) and then cutting and wrapping each batch on my own (well over 100 caramels per batch).
• Went to Hudson's last two basketball games of the season...new season starts in January.
• Delivered goodies to neighbors and friends with Hudson's help (I drove and he ran up to each door).
• Took the kids to Temple Square and City Creek to see the lights and then out to dinner afterwards.
• Headed up and coordinated Hudson's class holiday/winter/Christmas party.
• Finished up Christmas shopping, wrapping gifts, etc.
• Shoveled snow a number of times on Christmas Eve (kudos to my little bro for doing the brunt of it!) and in the days after Christmas.  On Christmas Eve I managed to slip on our horrendous sealed driveway and seriously hurt my pride and my hip.  I have a killer bruise to show for it.

To make myself feel a little better about not succeeding in my 50 post goal, here are a few of the other things that I didn't get done this month:

• Our annual Christmas card complete with a current picture (or pictures) of the kids.  I bought stamps for the cards because I happened to be at Costco one day but that's as far as I got.  Maybe New Year's cards this year?  Maybe...
• Never finished getting my neighbor/friend gifts out to everyone...still have a couple of things sitting on the kitchen counter.
• My kids didn't have ANYTHING prepared to give their friends this year.  They both have a few friends to give something to.  Maybe New Year's gifts?
• Get enough sleep.
• I haven't written an e-mail to my family since the 11th of November...I usually write at least twice a month.  The thought of catching up there makes me shudder.
• Take my kids to Zoo Lights (annual tradition)...need to put it on my must-do list for December 2013.
• Check my e-mail on a regular basis...when I finally peeked at my shopping e-mail account yesterday, I had over 900 messages.  Thank goodness I was able to delete about 99.75% of them without having to look at them.
• Not a single thank you note has been written for Christmas gifts (by me or anyone else in our house).

Now that I've succeeded in talking about how crazy busy my life has been, I have to say that I have had a lot of help over the past several weeks.  Meals were brought in by great friends and neighbors, kids were given rides to basketball practice and dance, friends came to play with the kids so that they were occupied while I got things done, a couple of people came to spend time with Max towards the beginning of his recovery so that I could get out of the house, and my hubby did everything he could to help me each day in spite of his condition.

I may be busy but I'm one lucky girl.

Happy Halloween 2012

We had a very nice Halloween this year.  I was more organized than usual and that led to things running a bit more smoothly and quickly...weird.  We had tacos for dinner with orange & black tortilla chips, a peach flavored brain Jell-O with Cool Whip mixed in (you can see last year's brain Jell-O pics here...just imagine a very pale shade of pink instead of the dark red), and sliced apples.  Our drink was "Witches' Brew": lime sherbet with grape soda.  It's really quite tasty.  I also made devil's food cupcakes with white frosting and orange sugar crystal sprinkles for dessert....because the evening's haul of coma-inducing sugar just wouldn't have been enough.  I failed to take pictures of any of our semi-festive meal so you'll just have to imagine it.

 

As for trick-or-treating, Claire was dressed up as Disney's Belle and Hudson was a Clone Trooper from Star Wars.  Thanks to my good friend, neighbor, and hair genius, Melinda, Claire's hair was as perfect as it could have been.  And thanks to my sister-in-law, Heather, Hudson had a great costume that fit perfectly when his original costume plans (he wanted to be a miner) fell through.

 

Both kids loved their costumes and while I thought they looked great, I have one complaint about each:

• Hudson's: the Star Wars gun he used (came from another Star Wars costume I purchased a few years back) makes noise.  A lot of obnoxiously loud and annoying noise.  Why I haven't yet permanently confiscated it and sent it to the land of misfit toys is beyond me.

• Claire's: Holy freaking gold glitter.  Her beautiful dress/costume came from the Disney store, complete with a lifetime supply of glittery trim that sheds off like you wouldn't believe.  I thoroughly tape-rolled the back seats of my car the next day.  And there's still some left.  Glitter is of the devil.

Immediately after dinner we took the kids to see Max's parents across town.  We made it a quick stop so that we could get home and go trick-or-treating before it got too late.  This year I took the kids out on my own while hubby stayed home to 1) pass out candy, 2) save his poor hip from unnecessary pain, and 3) finish up his CE hours that were due by morning.  The kids and I took a spin around our little neighborhood "loop" and then drove a couple of blocks away to go to the homes of a few other friends.  While we were hitting those last few houses, Claire stated that she was just too tired, that she wanted to be done, and that besides, she already had "too much candy".  What?!  Strange, strange child.  However, in spite of said "too much candy", when Hudson decided to go to the homes of another friend or two, Claire would yell from the back seat, "Get me some candy, too, Huds!"  I couldn't help but chuckle.

 

I don't recall what time the kids and I finished up for the night.  I do know it wasn't the latest we'd been out on Halloween but we all welcomed the end of our fun.  Trick-or-treating is positively exhausting.  I don't know what it is, but I was plumb tuckered when we got home and I honestly had a hard time deciding whether to head to bed at the same time as the kids or to stay up for a while and relax.  Relaxation won.

 

I vote that next year, I stay home and pass out candy while hubby and the kids make the rounds.

June & July Catch-Up

Did you miss me?

I'm behind on posting as usual and falling behind on my monthly quota.  In sitting down to write just now, I was really tempted to do several posts about what we've done since I last wrote.  I would have caught up on my numbers really fast.  However, I'm no cheat.  So I'm going to do one post with a paragraph or description about all our noteworthy happenings since June 26th to get it all out there.  I much prefer to cheat that way instead.

June 25th: So I'm starting one day before...  Kids and I went down to my brother Matt's house in Highland for his 40th birthday party.  We had fun seeing their new place, visiting with family and some of their friends that I hadn't seen in ages, eating tasty food, and exploring the pond and golf course that's just beyond their backyard.  Took his middle child home with us for a sleepover.

June 26th: Took the kids and their cousin to see Brave...totally loved it.  Took the kids to the zoo at the end of the day.  Hardly anyone was there and we got our own little show of the polar bear swimming and diving right by the underwater viewing area.

June 29th: Kids both finished a session of swimming lessons.

July 4th: Spent the evening with hubby's brother and his family.  Tasty grilled steak and all sorts of sides for dinner and cupcakes and ice cream for dessert.  I made red, white and blue cupcakes - they were very cute.  I took a picture of the batter in the cups before baking then failed to get any shots of the finished products (blue frosting with white pearls on top) before they were gobbled up.  After dinner we played games and hung out until fireworks time.  We all drove over to my in-law's place to light them off there as fireworks are currently illegal up where we live and down at my bro-in-law's place due to the high fire danger this year.  It was a great evening that we all thoroughly enjoyed.

July 6th: One of my BFF's that I grew up with in California (Kim) moved here from Virginia.  I got to see her briefly the next day, we had them over for dinner that Sunday and then we got together a few times that following week.  Our friendship is the best kind there is - no matter how long we've been out of touch or whether we haven't talked in days or years, we can always pick up like no time has passed.  So thrilled to have her living a quick 7 minute/3 mile drive away!  The cherry on top is that our kids have all hit it off and absolutely love playing together.

July 13th: Busy day...  First the kiddies had swimming lessons followed by lunch at Kim's place with playtime for the kids and a little move-in work for us.  Later that afternoon we went to the zoo with my middle brother, Dave, his wife and most of their kids (5 our of 6) and my little brother's wife and their two kids.  It was a nice way to spend a little more time together before Dave and his family move to CT at the end of the month.  Afterwards I forced myself to take my kids to Tepanyaki for dinner.  It was fun, delicious and totally awesome and I managed okay in the end.  My daughter, on the other hand, did not manage okay and had a meltdown at the end of the meal as she whined over and over (and over), "I never get to do ANYTHING!"  It was my favorite part of the day.

July 14th: Kids finished another session of swimming lessons. The only thing Hudson had needed to master to pass his level was his freestyle with rotary breathing and he finally did it! Claire had a number of things to get done to move up and she really seemed to pick up a lot this time around. She can now jump off the diving board and swim to the side unassisted. Like her older brother, she's especially good at backstroke and easily switches from her tummy to her back then cruises along. Both kids advanced to their respective next levels.

July 17th: My sister and her three kids came in town for a good, long visit.

And that's where this re-cap post stops.  I want to do at least one separate post about the fun we had!

Easter Weekend 2012

If you ask me, our Easter weekend was just about perfect this year.  For me it started Friday night when I hard boiled about 18 eggs in preparation for dyeing them Saturday and making them into deviled eggs on Sunday.  For the first time ever I had one egg partially split open during the process.  I've had eggs crack before but this was different...it  ended up with about 1/4 of its contents pouring out of a crack but said contents were still cooked and attached to the crack/shell.  It was weird.  Another failed egg was floating in the pot when I went to run cold water over them.  You can guess where that one went!

Saturday afternoon we went ahead with the candy & Easter egg hunt that was supposed to happen Friday morning.  There was still plenty of snow on the ground up here but we all put our kids in their snow boots and let them "hunt" anyway.  We had candy all over the sidewalks and candy-filled eggs on plants and bushes and all over the yards both in and out of the snow.  The whole thing only lasted a little over 30 minutes but the kids had a blast.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate better next year so we can do it the right way!

After the egg/candy hunt, the kiddies and I dyed the hard boiled eggs.  I know that there are some people who dread the process but I look forward to it every year.  I think it's so much fun!  I failed to take pictures of of the finished products this year but I was very happy with how they all turned out.  The kids had fun experimenting with dipping their eggs in different colors (I always do just that with a few of my eggs as well) but I think my favorite one this year was a pretty deep but kind of bright purple one that I turned out.  I left it sitting in the water/vinegar/dye for a good 30 minutes and it was so pretty!  The only egg that didn't turn out like I hoped was my "death egg" (dipped in and dyed every color until its good and ugly).  It's tradition in our family to do one (or more) every year and for whatever reason, mine didn't live up to expectations this year.

On Easter Sunday we opted not to let the kids have their Easter baskets until after church.  We toyed with letting them find them beforehand but decided that like Christmas, we wanted the day's initial focus where it should be...on Jesus Christ.  They kids looked great in their Easter duds and were good as gold at church.  We then tortured them even longer once we got home and took several pictures out back before allowing them to go inside and find their baskets (very complexly hidden out in the wide open on the chairs by the fireplace).  While the kids were trying out a few candies, the Easter Bunny came again and hid our dyed eggs all over the backyard so that the kids could hunt for those.

Once the real egg hunt was done, the rest of the afternoon was spent gorging on candy a bit (kids), making deviled eggs (me) and relaxing together as a family.  Can I just say that I LOVE the deviled eggs my mom taught me to make?  Yum.  We then went to hubby's parents' place for dinner and had a really nice time visiting and playing with in-laws, aunts & uncles and cousins.  Dinner was great as always.  My mother-in-law's ham really is the BEST and I feel bad for you if you've never had it.  To cap it off there were two desserts...a homemade from scratch no-bake strawberry cheesecake and a multi-layered chocolate cake/torte with fresh raspberry sauce.  I helped myself to both and counted the calories null, void and non-existent since it was a holiday.  I'm salivating right now just thinking about the cheesecake...

P.S.  Just have to toot my own horn...I just ran spell check and I made zero errors on this post.  This very seldom happens for me as I tend to type fast and check later.  I'm very proud of myself.  Toot, toot!

Merry Christmas...

And a happy leap year to all!

Why do I keep doing this to myself?  I have had more than ample time and plenty of opportunities to sit down and post over the past several weeks.  I spent a good week and a half or so being sick and pretty much doing nothing during that time and I could have written then.  I also fell prey to addiction to Scramble with Friends and Words with Friends on my iPad (okay - and on my iPhone).  Oh - and we can't leave Sudoku on said devices off the list.  Really...I could have left the couch.

Anyway, here we go, back in time yet again...

Just like our Christmas Eve, our Christmas Day was quite laid back and downright wonderful.  Rather than getting into more than all the lengthy nitty-gritty of the whole day like I usually do, I'll just give a quick list of our day and the schedule as it happened to pan out:

• Up and at 'em by a little after 7:00 to get ready for church to start at 9:00.  No presents or anything before church (even thought both kids peeked).
• Arrived at church at 8:30 to find the entire chapel and overflow already filled.  We "lucked out" and ended up in the 1st row of folding chairs in the cultural hall.
• Enjoyed a wonderful church meeting which included a solo of Away In A Manger by my hubby, Max, and a talk from President Eyring (in our ward...special treat!).
• Max rushed home and got "a few things" done while I delayed at the church with the kids.
• Got home, changed out of our church clothes and settled into the living room for gift opening.
• Opened stocking stuffers.
• Opened gifts from under the tree.
• Even gave old Miles a couple of toys, including a red and green gorilla with velcro hands that we secured around his neck.  It drove him crazy.
• Spent the afternoon lounging around and having fun with our presents while eating Danish Almond Puff, goodies from stockings, fruit, etc.
• I set up a semi-formal table in the dining room for our dinner.
• Had a tasty dinner of slow-cooked beef short ribs with mashed potatoes and gravy and one of our favorite drink combos: grape juice with ginger ale (mixed together).  We did eat more than meat and potatoes but those were the stars and after two months, the rest of the meal has escaped my mind.  Maybe a green salad?  Some sort of fruit?  I don't know.
• Most likely had dessert (again - my thighs may recall what I made but I don't) and then called it a night.

Visual proof that we celebrated Christmas:

I'm grateful to have my own little family to celebrate each holiday with and just as I am every year, I'm grateful for the Christmas season when I get to spend extra special time with them.  More than anything, though, I am thankful that I have the opportunity to reflect upon and teach my children about the Savior Jesus Christ and His birth.  We are truly blessed!

Rewind: Christmas Eve 2011

We decided to keep Christmas Eve low-key and easy around here this year.  It was lovely.  We didn't really go anywhere, see anyone, etc.  I wish I had done this post right after Christmas because, well, much of that day has escaped my space cadet memory.

I did make sugar cookies and frosting that day and the kids and I had fun decorating them.  I have a tendency to be a wee meticulous when it comes to decorating my cookies and while I know that they're far from perfect, I can't stand to just slop the frosting on, throw a few sprinkles at it and call it good.  My kids, on the other hand, have not yet learned the whole concept of keeping things neat as you work and trying to keep some sort of balance in decorating.  Frosting and sprinkles were EVERYWHERE.  I must have cleaned sprinkles off the island 4 or 5 times during the decorating process and I know I had to re-vacuum the floor under their work area a couple of times that day after we were done.  It really was a fun (and really super tasty) activity, though, and when we were done, each child had a plate filled with his/her own cookies and there were 2 or 3 large plates with the ones that I decorated.

As is tradition around here, the we each got to open a gift on Christmas Eve.  The kids got Christmas pajamas and Max and I both got new slippers.

After reading the story of Christ's birth from the Bible, it was off to bed for the kiddies and the real work began for us adults.  We wrapped the last couple of presents, got everything moved from hiding places to under the Christmas tree, set up stockings, made Danish Almond Puff for the next day's breakfast and then collapsed into bed.  I commented to Max that night that as much fun as Christmas is for the kids and for me, it's absolutely exhausting as a parent!

Rewind: PRE-CHRISTMAS DECEMBER 2011

Wow...I am on a roll!  Since I blogged precisely ZERO times in January, I now have to write 4.5454545454545454545 (and so on) times per month for the rest of the year to reach my goal of 50 posts for 2012.  Aside from a haircut for my boy late this afternoon I have nothing planned for the day...perfect time to get back on the blogging bandwagon and start chipping away at my 50 posts.

First up is post-wind storm but still pre-Christmas in the month of December...

1. Christmas Parties

Early on in the month we had our local ward (congregation) Christmas party at the church.  In the past Claire hadn't been a fan of Santa Claus so I geared her up for meeting him again and threw a few bribes and empty threats her way.  She was totally clingy as we waited in line to see the man in red, hiding behind me and sucking her thumb while warily watching the other kids take their turns.  I quietly talked to one of the helpers and asked them to have Santa tone down his normally super jovial act for Claire sake.  When it came time for Hudson and Claire to go up, Santa happily obliged and kept it mellow and Hudson (who figured the whole thing out earlier this year but is a good sport and continues to encourage his sister) was quick to hop on his lap and tried to coax Claire to come closer.  She eventually did but wouldn't really smile for the camera at first and when Santa first put his hand on her shoulder, she looked at it as if it were poisonous and/or alien then looked at me as if to say, "This thing is touching me."  She did eventually smile for the camera but only after Santa gave her a rainbow striped candy cane.  Aside from the whole Santa Claus ordeal, the party had a very nice dinner and then a nativity program put on by the children.  Claire played a shy girl and stayed with me in the audience while Hudson dressed up as a shepherd.  It really was so cute.

The next day, I was talking with my sister on the phone and I told her how scared Claire had been about meeting Santa.  Claire wanted to talk to her and when she got on the phone, I could hear Anne ask, "Why were you afraid of Santa?"  Claire's deadpan response is one for the books: "I thought he was going to eat me."  Anne and I started to giggle, Hudson joined in, and finally Claire realized how ridiculous it was and we all had a good laugh together.

The week before Christmas we went to a smaller neighborhood Christmas party and progressive dinner.  Santa Claus came to the house where appetizers were served and the second he sat down, my previously timid daughter made a beeline for him and wanted to be the first one on his lap.  She was absolutely ecstatic to see him again and was proud to show that she was no longer on the big man's menu.  I had to run home to check on something after that and later learned that when Santa left, Claire ran to him and gave him a huge hug.  I heard it was positively darling and I was sad to miss it but glad that she overcame her St. Nickaphobia.

You'll never guess which party was which...I think she even had her candy cane in hand in the upper picture.  Sheesh!

2.  Christmas Card Pictures

In an effort to make sure I was ready to get our Christmas cards out earlier than past years (there have been years that I've mailed them only a couple of days before Christmas), I made the kids get all dressed up in their Christmas Sunday outfits early in the month and had a quick photo session with them by the Christmas tree.  Nothing much to say here other than I think my children are a couple of good lookers and I was happy with the way a number of the pictures turned out.

3.  Goodbye, Aspen Trees

When our huge pine tree came down in the wind storm last month, it did some damage to a number of the aspen trees as it fell.  Rather than hum and haw over what to do about it for the next several months and/or years, we decided to take them all down while the weather was unusually decent.  Not all of the trees were damaged but a few were, a couple had grown weird due to another pine tree (that we took out years ago) being in the way, and all of them had at least a couple of dead branches that were far too high up for us to trim.  So one Saturday morning Max went out with his trusty chain saw and fell all of the aspens with my brother and a good friend/neighbor helping out with pulling the trees in the right direction(s).  The job of getting them to the ground wasn't too time consuming but cutting the trees into firewood, hauling branches, and stacking logs took hours.  I think they all had at least some fun doing the job, though, and while our front yard looks somewhat barren, it's definitely much cleaner looking!

Thanks to the boys for letting me get a normal picture of them...at first all I could get was Max and Steve tying a noose around Jeff's neck and pretending to take a chain saw to his mid-section.  Is this the type of treatment a bromance consists of?

4.  Downtown SLC & Temple Square 

I took the kiddies downtown SLC to see the lights at Temple Square one evening.  I decided to go early and after parking the car at The Gateway and taking the commuter train into downtown, we got there just as the sun set.  It was the perfect time to go.  There weren't many people out (yet) and we were able to see everything we wanted to and finish up just as it started to get crowded.  I always love seeing the temple at night and the surrounding lighted trees and nativity displays always make it that much more beautiful.

After seeing the lights we walked over to and went inside the Deseret Book flagship store to warm up and see the window display.  It was a really fun gingerbread man/cookie making "machine" and the kids were enthralled with watching how it worked.  i think that at first, both of them were pretty well convinced that it was really pumping out cookies.  Inside the store there was a worker handing out little gingerbread man cookies to all the patrons.  We headed out front with our cookies to see the machine from the window outside and as we did so, Claire managed to drop a piece of her cookie on the sidewalk.  Just as I told her to leave it or throw it away, she swiped that tidbit up as fast as she could, popped it in her mouth and proceeded to chew it down as quickly as possible.  Yum.

Sorry for the super long post...not that you read the whole thing anyway.  In finishing up, I'd just like to point out how good I'm being.  I could have very easily split this into 4 separate posts, thereby almost meeting my quota for the month of February.  But I didn't.

More posts to follow...

Christmastime Quote

Years ago I sent out a darling Mary Englebreit card for Christmas with the following on the front:

"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."

- Charles Dickens

It instantaneously became one of my all-time favorite holiday quotes.  I love it so much that I keep it up in my kitchen year-round as a friendly, heart-warming reminder.  Besides, it lets me keep at least a little bit of Christmas up in my house the other 11 months of the year.

Rewind: NOVEMBER IN A NUTSHELL

Time to play catch up on the month of November...

During the months of October and November, I put Hudson in a 6 week instructional basketball league.  Around here it's called "Jr. Jazz".  I feel like a total weirdo saying this but...this was his first time in any kind of organized sport or instruction outside of P.E. at school.  Thankfully my boy didn't care one bit.  He was just thrilled to learn and play basketball every Tuesday.  He's definitely taller than most kids his age, he's a touch on the lanky/gawky side and there were kids there who had obviously played ball quite a bit in the past but he had a grand time every week.  I guess his excitement and enthusiasm made up for any lack of experience.

As I do every year, I put up a "Thankful Tree" on our dining room mirror for the month of November.  In the past I had made the tree out of paper but this year I decided to give acrylic paint a try.  It was fabulously easy - took me only 15 minutes or so to brush on - and the paint cost me $1.39...heck of a lot easier and cheaper than the $10+ I spent on paper in past years!    As for the leaves, we used to cut our leaves out by hand or crank them through my small manual die cut machine one-by-one.  It took hours every year.  This time a dear friend of mine saved the day when she took my colored card stock and had her Cricut machine do all the work of cutting out the leaves.   She just pushed some buttons, stuck the paper into her little magic box and let it do the work.  Brilliant!!  We all wrote things that we're thankful for on the leaves over the course of the days leading up to (and including) Thanksgiving.  My only complaint about this year's tree is how time consuming the removal of the acrylic paint was.  However, it's not enough to stop me from doing paint every year from here on out...it was our best looking tree yet!

Thanksgiving was spent here at our home this year.  My parents flew in for the holiday and with the two of them, the four in our family, two of my brothers and their families and my dad's sister, we hosted a total of 18 people here to join in the holiday feast.  We had a huge bird with homemade stuffing (with sausage in it...the best!) , sweet potato souffle, mashed potatoes, green salad, homemade rolls, two kinds of cranberry sauce/relish and my aunt's amazing turkey gravy.  Top it all off with homemade pecan pie and pumpkin pie squares (both with fresh whipped cream, of course) or dessert and what do you have?  Way too much food!  I stopped before I felt full and I still ended up feeling sick to my stomach for a spell that evening.  I guess it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without overeating now, would it?

Lastly we have our little family excursion up on the roof for the sunset a couple of days after Thanksgiving.  I fairly comfortable once I'm up there but the steps onto the roof from the ladder and onto the ladder from the roof seriously freak me out.  I'm getting the heebie jeebies just thinking about it.  Anyway, it started with Max taking the kids up to see the sunset and before I knew it, I was coaxed into joining them.  Claire was positively petrified at first but gradually got her courage up and while sticking close to us in general, she wandered around a bit.  Hudson, on the other hand, is too comfortable (like his dad) and his strutting around and wandering too close to the edge just about gave me a heart attack.   All I could think while standing up there with my kids was that one of them was going to slip or trip, roll down the side and fall down to the concrete below.  They'd crack their head open or break their neck and we'd end up calling 911.  Then my precious little person would spend weeks (if not months) in the hospital while I spent the rest of my life feeling guilty because I shouldn't have allowed them up on the roof.  Over anxious and paranoid?  Perhaps...but it could totally happen!  Anyway, while up on top of the house I snapped a few pics of the kids, of the sunset (trying to hide in the trees) and of the views to the North (picture with the temple) and the East (Great Salt Lake...the pine tree to the left in that shot is now gone thanks to our wind storm).  It really was beautiful up there and I'm glad I took the risk and spent the time with my family.

Well, I think that's about it for November...now to kick it into gear and stay on top of December!

Halloween 2011

We had a fun Halloween this year.  The kids didn't have school so aside from running to the store for a few things, we spent the day at home with them playing and me attempting (key word) to get some things done....

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've kind of gotten on a kick of trying to make somewhat festive or fun things to eat for dinner or dessert on each holiday.  For this year's Halloween dinner, I went crazy with Jell-O.  A while back I got a Jell-O brain mold and with it came instructions for various brains as well as other recipes to use for the holiday.  I ended up making a cherry & evaporated milk brain that turned out a really lovely blood red and layered squares in orange and root beer.  How'd I make root beer Jell-O you ask?  There's a new flavor out there called "Mixcheif" to which you add your own soda for flavor.  Two words: DON'T BOTHER.  The box calls for using either part water and part soda or all soda for the liquids.  I chose the latter hoping to get really good flavor and even with that, it was sub-par to say the least.  Never again.  At least the brain turned out tasty enough (the kids thought it was hysterical to talk about how much they like eating brains) and the orange layered squares were downright yummy.

After our early dinner and a bit of prep time, we headed out the door to beg candy off neighbors and friends.  This year Hudson was a nerd/brainiac/fashion-challenged boy and Claire was a kitty.  Both were happy with their costumes.  I couldn't help but giggle at Hudson and Claire was just downright cute.  I tried to make Miles a real skunk this year with white stripes but he shook the spray off the second I finished then darted through the dog door, thereby wiping off much of what was left after his shake-off.  After pictures on the porch, we had fun doing a loop around our neighborhood and one just north of us and then headed down the hill to see the grandparents nearby.  The weather was absolutely perfect for trick-or-treating this year - in the 60's! - which made it even better than years past.

Both kids came home with way too much candy and both were and have continued to be surprisingly good about sharing some with their parents.  It sure is nice to be in my 30's and benefiting from trick-or-treating without dressing up or going door to door with a bag in my hand!

Carving Pumpkins

As is tradition in every normal family out there, we carved pumpkins for Halloween.  The kids and I each picked a pumpkin out of the many on our front porch (I may or may not have put the kibosh on certain ones...) to do our handy work on.  For the kids' pumpkins, Hudson and I used an online pumpkin template maker to design a face for his and Claire simply asked that I do a "flower face" for her again this year.  My pumpkin was based on an idea I found online.

Proving that he's grown up a bit since last year, Hudson was eager to dig in and help clean out his pumpkin (once he'd gotten a quick feel for the slimy stuff inside)...no disgusted faces or complaining this time!  And he did a decent job to boot!  Claire had no issue helping out and happily helped separate seeds from the goop so that we could roast them.  Both kids wanted to cut the drawn-on faces out and aside from my cleaning up the angle of his cuts a bit, Hudson did really well and pretty much nailed it.  Claire, on the other hand, pitched a fit when I told her it might be too hard and then quickly gave up and settled for watching me when she realized I was right.  As for my pumpkin, I had fun making every little hole with the hubby's drill...power tools to the rescue!  I think all three of our pumpkins turned out quite well.  Amateur, maybe, but great for our Halloween front porch nonetheless.

In addition to the ones shown above, I also etched one of those ginormous pumpkins to last us through the month of November on our front porch (and I have one more to shave/etch).  This year's doesn't have our name on it so I can post pictures but they'll have to come a bit later as I want to get a finished shot of it out on the front porch.  It has been out there for days but it is covered in snow from yesterday...you're just going to have to come see it in person or wait for that snow to melt.

By the way, I never did roast those seeds that Claire helped sort out...  After washing them, I kept putting the job off and left them out in a bowl on the counter for a couple days.  At that point, even after another washing they reeked like nobody's business so into the garbage they went.  Maybe we'll crack open one of the pumpkins on the porch before the month is out and do it right.

Next up: Happy Halloween (over a week later)...

The Scariest Thing...

I can't believe that October is already here.  Halloween is dead ahead, Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and Santa will be here before we know it (and is already in stores!).

I haven't always been a big fan of Halloween.  Of course my love for candy has been there since time began...Reese's PB Cups, 3 Musketeers, Butterfingers, M&M's, etc. (chocolate, anyone?) and as I've gotten older, I've grown to enjoy some of the cuter, less frightening or eerie decor.  I think the most frightening thing I have in my Halloween collection is a darling vintage-looking mounted ghost cut-out that sits on our piano.

Now, all the skeletons, bats, ghouls, and other creepy things aside, there is one thing about this October in particular that really gives me a fright: how little blogging I've done this year and how much I have to catch up on.  As of today, I have barely passed 1/3 of how much I posted last year.  And I thought last year was bad (less than 1/2 of the year before).  Will someone please send the blogging bug my way again so it can give me a good bite?  Or two or three...

Long Overdue Summer Post

Alrighty, folks.  Obviously haven't exactly been on top of blogging this summer.  Grand intentions and pathetic (non-existent?) efforts and results.  So here is our summer in a single photo happy post...

Flowers in our garden in the late spring/early summer.  I'm a touch obsessed with my white peonies and the dark blue delphinium and would check on them daily.  This year, the delphinium got to be over 5 feet tall!

Hubby got out the pressure washer one day in late June to clean off the fence and patio.  The kids had a glorious time playing in the misty spray.  The only problem is that we have irrigation water outside and we had to keep reminding them to keep their mouths closed and resist the urge to take some in (you can see in the bottom left picture that the reminders didn't always stick).

4th of July: We had some of Max's family over for a BBQ and fireworks.  In spite of the warm night, the kids "needed" to wrap up in blankets to watch them.  Maybe they're not the children of this always-warm lady.  My nephew went out and bought aerial fireworks (just became legal here) that we set off at the end of the "show".  Wish I'd had my act together to get some pictures...they were seriously awesome!

I wanted to get a wading pool for this kids this summer and lucked out at Target...a package had been opened for whatever reason and was marked down to $20 (no damage or anything missing).  It's a HUGE pool as far as the wading sort go - when I sit down in it the top edge is up to my armpits.  Unfortunately for the kids, as cool as I am for buying it, we only set it up the once.  It was there on the soft grass for a few days but then we had to empty it and take it off the lawn to avoid damage.  I hate to think of setting it up on the cement with how much they kids love jumping into it on their knees and the possibility of holes or damage on the bottom.  Maybe I'll get something figured out and fill it up for one last hurrah before the weather turns too cool.

A little robin couple set up house in the Japanese maple tree near our front door this year.  Three little chicks hatched and much to the parents' chagrin, I kept tabs on the little cuties and took pictures often.  You can see in a few of the pictures that dad and mom were keeping tabs on me in return (dad has the bright chest, mom is lighter).  Unfortunately one little chick didn't make it through the 2nd week but the other two were alive, healthy, and hopping away last time we saw them.  The chick sitting on the stepping stone in the one picture was my favorite.  It was very calm and happily sat in my hand and snuggled in  the couple of times that I held it (when it had fallen out of the nest). So stinking cute!

 What is summer without swimming lessons?  My kids both LOVE the water and were thrilled to be back in the pool in July.  I also put them in a 2nd session just before school started.  Claire is definitely progressing and easily moved from Preschool Level 1 to Preschool Level 2.  Hudson, on the other hand, is progressing but not so quickly as his little sister.  The biggest hitch for him?  He's tall.  So rather than breathe to the side as he goes, he stops, stands up, and then gets going again when he's ready...time to move this boy to deeper waters!

 Pioneer Day: It was a weekend long celebration for us this year.  We enjoyed the local fireworks show from our neighbors' backyard as always that Friday night and then had family events/dinners the next two nights.  Saturday night was at our house with part of Max's family.  The kids had a grand time lighting sparkler after sparkler after sparkler and we had a little mini fireworks show once it got dark enough (no aerials this time).

Lastly was a joint birthday shindig for Claire and me a couple of weekends ago (and her actual birthday the next night).  Pictures above are from both.  Claire's birthday is just over a week before mine so we often combine them for a little extended family party.  My favorite shot from the weekend is the one on the top right where I caught Claire's reaction when she saw her new pink scooter & helmet.  Operation perfect gift...success!

Well, that's about it in a nutshell.  Posts for Hudson's first day of school and my actual birthday (nothing big...just have to talk about my cake) to follow soon!