Christmas events

Christmas Eve was spent with the Bores and Raineys and gobs of yummy, fattening party foods (since each family has their traditional favorites). We read Christmas stories to the kids, they opened PJs, we sang songs; great fun. (best picture I got of the girl's PJs was the next morning playing their harmonica and kazoo)

After we got home we were up till 2 am wrapping gifts and laying out the Fisher Price village we got them on Craigslist. We are night owls and definitely could have had all this done quite a bit earlier!! 4:43 am: Odessa is shouting next to our bed "Santa brought us a bunch of new toys!" Stephen apparently did not even register this event. Somehow I managed to get her back to bed quickly. I was EXTREMELY lucky that she was ok with it still being night and that she needed to sleep some more. 7:32 am Ada comes out of her room and I intercept her before she heads into the living room. We had to keep her busy for almost an hour while we waited for Odessa to wake up. Needless to say, we went to bed by 10pm that night and slept till 8:30 the next morning!!!
Opening presents took forever since the girls wanted to play with things as they opened them. We just took it slow. We even broke for breakfast in the middle. Yum. Sticky buns and cream cheese eggs and special bacon : ). Don't forget hot chocolate with a candy cane in it.
We took it easy the whole day, took a short walk and a drive to drop off treats to a friend, it was a beautiful sunny day.
Saturday we spent moving more stuff: Stephen's co-worker and his friend brought a truck and they loaded our car and their truck twice. I am really starting to think this move will be more smooth than Queen Anne to here. Stephen has been great and taking loads every day.
In the afternoon we needed to get out of the house and since the ham that I was too lazy to cook on Christmas (we had all those Eve leftovers) was going to take 3 1/2 hours to cook, we decided to just go down to the Seattle Center so the girls could ride the carousel and see the train and village. We ended up at Yummy Teriyaki (that's really the name) for dinner (long story involving a craving for sandwiches and closed Quiznos- grrr). The girls begged to use our chopsticks and amazing!- they actually did ok with them.









They had a TV in the restaurant with a football game on. Odessa really made the owner laugh when she started shouting during a play: "go! go! go! Oh no, he MISSED!" when the ball sailed out of a players reach.
To wrap up this much too long post: Today we finally cooked the ham and made the awesome Cooks Illustrated scalloped potatoes (thanks Beth!) and took them to our friend's on Capitol Hill for a much belated Christmas dinner. What a great way to finish the weekend. Although this weekend had many moments when we wished we were with extended family, our lonely times were filled by friends.

be seeing ya

So, I might as well post that we are moving. Not far. Very soon. We'll be renting the upper level of a house here in Magnolia, just a block and half away actually. Easy move or hard move? lol.
The owner of the house rents the basement to her son who is kind of the one who swayed her in our direction, nice, huh? He met the girls and I gave him an out before we signed papers. "Are you sure you want these 2 dancing on your ceilings?" Turns out he has 2 little kids (about the same age) who live with their mother in Spokane and he visits most weekends. Not home a lot, understands kids- this should work out.

I was telling my friend that the kitchen is probably 3 times the size of my current kitchen. She candidly pointed out "well Tara, that's not hard to do". tu che. There is a lot more space for not a lot more money which is the clincher for renting houses around here. We are very excited. But not excited to be out by Jan 1st. What a rotten time to be up and hauling the Christmas tree to the dumpster, the day after Christmas? Our landlord was a doll and let us out of our lease a little early- yes, we have been here almost a year! So there may be a quick post after Christmas while I procrastinate packing, but the blogosphere may not hear much from me for a while. You know how it is to get connected on the other end . . . . . sigh . . . . why do I do this myself?

I kid you not and "oh crap"

And you thought I was exaggerating about the tree. Shame on you.

This is what happened when I tried to WATER it. Ungrateful bush.

After about 2 months, the chart is complete! Does that mean she's potty trained? Not really. Pretty close though . . .
Does that mean that mom has to cough up and fulfill her side of the promise that she could get all the rest of the Princess dolls? Yes. Totally does.

feeling like Alice in Wonderland . . .

because my apartment keeps getting smaller and smaller with additions like the biggest tree we have ever had (in the smallest apartment). It's also the spikiest tree in existence and leaves red welts and draws blood on contact (keeps the girls out of it). Of course Paul Bunyan insisted on cutting down a live tree and since funds were short, I opted for the $10 permit to get a tree of our own verses the $40 tree farm tree. Of course we could not hike far with the kiddies. I remember having the exact same thought last year "they are too young for this!!"The Christmas season keeps getting better and better. On the drive home from Boise, Stephen and I mused that it felt like we'd had Christmas while there. There were presents, good food, good football, family and trees and decorations. Christmas candy topped off the holiday. How fun to have weeks more to celebrate!

Thursday was the busiest day ever . . . . I got up early to make a casserole for Stephen's pot luck only to have him call in sick with a terrible head cold . . . but I took it down to work anyway. Then I snagged the kids and raced to the church to join in the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Christmas party (I am thinking of joining and went to check it out . . . ). I left the party early to arrive late to a friend's surprise birthday party . . . . nacho bar! She'd been craving them, best birthday food ever. Later that night Sarah hosted a Favorite Things party for all the ladies. You bring 4 of your favorite thing under $5. You explain it and also any brilliant gift ideas you have received or given so we can glean gift ideas from each other. Then everyone draws a number 4 times as the bowl circulates the room and you get 4 different other favorite things!! SO FUN. Highly recommended party idea. Everyone goes home happy with most, if not all, their gifts. Food and lots of laughter rounded out the night.

Saturday we attended a fun party hosted at a lovely condo downtown overlooking the water and the lights of the city. It was a fun night to visit with friends and make some new ones. . . . I love the water and watching the ferries. I got teased that there is a character on Grey's Anatomy who is ferry obsessed. I am not surprised they weaved that into the show. They are lovely to watch at night.

on a completely different note: (a religious one, so be forewarned)
I recently bore my testimony at church that I used to think trials were a sure fire way for me to draw closer to God. I have been cruising along so well for so long, God feels a bit distant. We have been blessed in so many ways the last 5 years . . . .
Well, I have had a few trials in the last few months that I thought for sure would humble me. But it appears that my theory was flawed. Turns out that when I previously drew closer to God through my trials, I was doing a lot more spiritual things like reading more scriptures, taking religion classes, serving more people, praying with more fervor. Turns out you can't just hope the trial will make you feel closer to God, you have to take the steps closer to Him first. And maybe you can feel closer to him without the trials after all.That's my thought on God this Christmas Season. Have a nice week before Christmas . . .

Thankful for . . . .

We were in Boise Tuesday-Sunday and it was a fun trip. I got to hold my niece Finley for about 45 minutes straight one day, we went to Festival of Trees and I got white chocolate mousse TCBY (no trip to Boise is complete without it). Odessa's birthday was the day after Thanksgiving, so we had a little doggie-themed party with her cousins. Here is the week in review- too bad I was too busy eating to take pictures of the delicious dinner my mom, sister and I prepared.

I'm thankful I found someone on Craigslist who had tickets to the BSU Nevada game. It was Stephen's Christmas gift. (note brother-in-law Ryan's envious eye in the photo). Go Broncos. We heart BSU.

I'm thankful even 8 yr old cousins are willing to craft doggie collars and pose as puppies

I'm thankful doggie breadstick bone relay races were a hit. But "Cat, Cat, Dog" was way more popular.

I'm thankful my mom has kept the 1970's booklet that shows you how to make any animal out of a 9x13 cake. (his 3-D ear is hard to see through the coconut)

I'm thankful for a mom who was willing to have 5 cousins have a sleepover and wake up and make a graham cracker gingerbread houses (Ada's house had just experienced a candy avalanche)

I'm thankful Odessa likes meat. She is not a big breakfast or lunch eater, but loves meat. She always wants a bone to chew on. This turkey was baked Monday night after we got home so I would have leftovers and really, you can't get cheaper meat all year long.
Tonight when we read a farm animals book Odessa pointed to the turkey and shouted, "hey, we ate him!" A discussion then ensued about how if we were to eat that turkey he would have to be killed first (wanting her to understand the circle of life and all). She was fine with this: "Maybe we could chase him with a knife. We would have to run fast."

I am thankful that out of necessity I discovered mashed potatoes are even better when you throw in a sweet potato and even a yam.


I'm thankful I was slightly crazy enough to dye my hair while in Boise. I like it! this particular photo is for my sisters, you know why.

Side note: We had a not so nice experience when we arrived home Sunday night about 8:30. I opened up the fridge and discovered you should never leave a turkey thawing without a big pan under it. I almost closed the door and pretended I didn't see it. I am thankful I had enough bleach to make the kitchen and whole apartment smell like a cheap motel pool and wipe out all lurking turkey juices. Bletcchhh.

Dancing for Joy and movies

Ada got to change into her Cinderella dress when she got home from Church. However, it was also time for her nap.

Me: Ada, it's time for your nap.

Ada: (holding out her skirt and twirling) Princesses don't take naps, they dance . . . . for joy!

later, after the nap, prepping for dinner

Stephen: Ada, can you come help Odessa and I snap these beans?

Ada: (holding out her skirt and twirling) No! Cinderella is too busy dancing . . . . for joy!

Movies
We saw a smattering of movies this weekend. The first was Mississippi Burning, we happened upon it on PBS and it's about the 3 civil rights workers who were killed in Mississippi in July 1964. This movie affected me a great deal, my head was buzzing for an hour after I tried to go to bed. It's not a happy movie, but history has to be dealt with and as an American History major, Stephen is helping me figure out how I will deal with it personally. I think everyone should see this movie for various reasons, even just to understand better how people felt (both sides) and what they went through less than 50 years ago. It amazes me.

Had a girls night out to see New Moon. Rolled my eyes through most of it. Did not expect it to be very good because the actors they picked for this whole series are terrible and who can go to that many acting lessons in a year? Not them. I will still see the next one and the 4th if they have the gumption to make it. It's human nature to want to see how bad the train wreck really is. Liked Jacob a WHOLE lot better than anyone else on screen and not just because of his abs, ha ha - he can actually act. Came home and caught most of a Hallmark Christmas movie with Stephen just to cheer me up. It was cheesy and cute and had better acting. For real. But the company for girls night out was too much fun. Women need each other, that is for certain- even if it's just to listen to each other moan about kids or grocery shopping or a bad movie!

Leaving on Tuesday morning for Boise. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

No Kleenex in bed

Last night Ada had a hard time going to sleep (and I was at the store). She called for a Kleenex 40 minutes after she should have been asleep. Stephen brought her one. Forty five minutes later she called from the bedroom again:

Ada: Da-ad. I can't breathe, there's Kleenex in my nose.

At this point, I walk in as Stephen is taking her to the bathroom to investigate. I hold her head back while he gets the tweezers. With some breakage and multiple tries, the first wad comes out. There is another one. "Ada" we both breathe out. Stephen works carefully pulling the 2nd wad out, but there is a third behind it. "ADA!" we both mutter. How far back can tweezers go? Not that far. We sit her up and try and get her to blow it out. "See? huffffmmmphhh" we keep repeating over and over, demonstrating how to blow air through our noses (looking quite like elephants I am sure). Finally I pinch one nostril closed and she somehow dislodges the remaining wad.
I just read an article earlier this week about kids swallowing things, putting them in their nostrils, ears. NEVER say to yourself after reading such an article "boy, am I glad my kids don't do that!" You are just asking for it.

whatever

I live next door to Albertsons with a fence separating their parking lot and the back entrance to my building. Usually I don't buy more than a bag of items and can carry it home. Today I stocked up on all their holiday sales and had to push my loaded cart into the alley and to the top of the steps leading into our back "yard".

Odessa: (pausing as if just realizing something was amiss) Mom, did you REALIZE you are taking the cart home??!

We had two very industrious tomato plants this year. At the end of the season, our grape tomato plant just kept chugging away, so when Stephen cleared out our plants, he harvested a bag of little green tomatoes. I tried cooking them in a pork Verde like tomatillos, but they didn't taste as good. I saw no signs of ripening for 2 weeks. So they stayed in the brown paper sack in a corner of the kitchen- forgotten. Fast forward a month and I couldn't remember what was in the bag! I opened it up and all the tomatoes had ripened. It was like some kind of magical Easter egg hunt where the reward was not having to buy tomatoes at the store for a couple of weeks.

The girls and I are having more and more "skirmishes" about what to wear- the only reason I object to their choices is that they want to wear dresses everyday (or shorts) and I have 30 pairs of perfectly good pants between them that I hunted high and low in thrift stores for! After one such "discussion" Odessa came back in to the living room and told Stephen and I how to fix all our parenting problems now and in the future.

Odessa: Mom, I have to tell you something. You just need to let me do whatever I want to do, that's all! (repeat 3 times and place hands on hips)

"Oh, I LOVE this!"

I kept saying the above over and over at the Best of the Northwest Art Alliance Show on Friday night. Our friends the Coles met us there and I had so much fun ooooouuuuing and ahhhhhhing over the art with Becky while our husbands stood there talking about biking and work. I don't think they saw more than 2 pieces of art, we could have left them in the lobby and saved on their entrance fees! LOL. But I am always over the top when it comes to vendors of any sort. I have done a few "craft fairs" when I sold Scentsy and so I know what it's like to be on the other side of the table. These artists were REALLY good though, and their stuff was so unique. I could have easily spent a couple hundred to thousand dollars there. Good thing I had $0 to spend! One woman (Alice Macdonald) crotchets wire into these beautiful necklaces.
I'm sorry the picture I could find is so small, but hopefully you get the idea. Some of her necklaces look like scenes, like this garden scene with a dragonfly. I loved another that had bead grape bunches dripping off it and another with a peacock feather made from beads.

After the show we walked over to the Bahn Thai which was good, but disappointing Spring Rolls. As with many meals, the conversation was the best part anyway (I think we were shushed at one point!). Here's to good art and good friends!

Something new

Stephen's boss has given us a variety of fun things from his garden this summer. When I sent a thank you note detailing the 3 items I had made with one gigantic zucchini along with a piece of decadent chocolate zucchini cake, the donations increased. The latest was a bag of quince. He wanted to "see what I could do with them". What else? I made it into a quince blueberry crumble cake and sent it back to work. Bags of produce come home, tupperwares of baked goods go back.

We were then invited down to the horse ranch to collect the remaining quince since he was done trying to make stuff from them. What is a quince? (click on the word and you will find out)Well, it's related to the apple and pear, but it much harder and grainy. It really should be cooked to be eaten. It gives off a strong floral and tropical scent, kind of like pineapple. One of those fruits you generally want to add a lot of sugar to. He mentioned it has roots in the Middle East and some speculate it was the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Hmmmmm. . . . . . . .
So this week I spent trying to get rid of this bushel of quince by cooking them down to juice. Then last night some friends came over and we made a stock pot of jelly. And some quince sauce which I was calling quapplesauce. We started out at 16 cups of juice and added 13 cups of sugar and I was planning on having quince jelly coming out my ears. Well, several hours later of constant stirring, I had EIGHT MEASLY PINTS.

It seemed like such a slap in the face. I had washed and heated all these jars and was simmering a bunch of lids just waiting to cap off my jars. And I only used EIGHT. Some will go to our friends that helped with the stirring and the sauce, some will go to Stephen's boss. (with a flashlight behind it)

It's a beautiful pink color when juiced and turns ruby when jellied. I had a little bit of the leftover jelly on a sharp white cheddar cheese grilled sandwich for lunch and thought "dang, maybe that was worth it after all".

No going back now

On Monday I headed out to the thrift stores, hoping to score some deals on leftover halloween costumes I could use for dress up. I tried 2 thrift stores I haven't been before- big mistake. Stick with the ones you know have lots of kids items! I only found new costumes that were way overpriced marked down by 50%- still not the deal I was hoping for, but I got 2 dresses anyway. The girls knew I got them and so there was no holding them off until Christmas. Last night after much begging, the dresses were tried on. Oh my, this is the end. We set some hard, fast rules about how often and where they can be worn. Mozart was put on and much dancing ensued. Stephen introduced the girls to YouTube clips of dancing ballerinas, it's one of their favorite things to watch. Cheaper than taking them to the Ballet- heh heh. I also started thinking we would have a great time in Disneyland next Spring. The girls know all the Mickey Characters from a series of books they have and of course love the princesses. Stephen is a bit hesitant since he hasn't been there before. I told the girls that Cinderella lived in a castle in California. Rotten, aren't I? No turning back now. Think of it- if we drive there it will make the drive so much more manageable to tell them we are going to see Cinderella in her castle and they need to be good!

Two weekends part deux- trick or treat, smell my . . .

What a week! Wednesday night our friends had a great party where the kids did tricks for their treats, the parents had to get a donut off a string as a team (the 4 yr olds cheered us wildly) and we ate pumpkin soup, deviled egg "eyeballs" and dirt cups with worms coming out of them.

Friday night was the Magnolia Village trick or treat where the shop owners hand out candy. It's a wonderful Halloween costume parade, we had such fun- especially when we met up with friends the Goffs and saw Butikofers, Fischers, Thorns and others. Our church is located on the main street, so we had our own booth complete with photo op and bean bag toss.

Odessa wanted to be the Fairy Godmother. They don't make a child size cape- only adult costumes!

Ada: What do I do now mom?

Odessa using the collar to help move things along

Photo op turned into a moment to check out the goods- check out 18 month Jonah in the right hand corner! So cute.

Odessa is still talking about the green monster she was brave enough to stand next to. He was in front of the China store (as in porcelain). The store owners had some of the best costumes. (thanks for the pic Corey)

Halloween night Dad wanted to take the girls to a few houses, but Ada was done being a puppie. Fortunately I had borrowed a few dress up dresses from Mary. You can tell from her face she is DELIGHTED to be a princess (complete with sparkly shoes).


Yes, I was a witch again this year- Elphaba for the party with green face, but next year I will plan earlier and do something else! Stephen got pretty creative making knickers for his Beast costume. We need a navy cape now. (Odessa took this photo).


We walked up to one of the nicest parts of Magnolia to check out a Haunted Alley that people come from all over Seattle to experience (if only I had a picture of the beast pushing the double jogger! Now that was hilarious). Some neighbors put it on each year and if you make it through, you get a whole candy bar. The place was jammed with kids and the conversations on the sidewalk went like this: "are you going, I'm not going, Stephanie's going, can you believe that?" "Well, we'll just take the kids up there and if they don't want to go, we'll see. . . . " Apparently it's pretty scary!

This house was a few blocks down and the last place we trick or treated. I took a picture because it's so beautiful although the photo doesn't do it justice.

Going to the pumpkin patch enables you to get odd shaped pumpkins, not like the ones in the store! Stephen took our butternut squash shaped pumpkin and turned it into Siamese twins, one sad and one happy- you should have seen the shadows on the wall it made! Odessa drew instructions for the pumpkin on the left.

"See my pumpkin, sitting on a post.
Trying hard to scare me, playing it's a ghost!
But I'm not afraid, and I won't run,
'Cause it's Halloween and I'll have fun! BOO!"

(my kids LOVE this song- thanks Mom)

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Two weekends for the price of one, umm part 1

I'll try to keep this brief for my friends who find some of my posts long and tiresome . . . ahem. LOL!
Last weekend Stephen's parents Nancy and Steve were here. They were a blessed distraction from the woes noted in the last post. Friday we went to a pumpkin patch.

Goats and ponies were fed

wheel barrows were ridden in

Pumpkins were selected carefully

industrial sized tubes were slid down

tractors were admired, a good time had by all

Saturday we took an Argosy Cruise boat to Blake Island, a state park that is basically an uninhabited island, you can only reach it by boat. Argosy takes you to Tillicum Village, a recreation of a Native American lodge where they serve you a salmon baked over a fire and do a presentation of native dances complete with legends. SO FUN, GREAT FOOD, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

As usual, grandpa was never far from her sight

We got to see a cargo ship being loaded up close

Pulling up to Tillicum Village

a glance of the dance presentation

Sunday was the Primary Program, the first that Odessa has participated in. She had 2 lines for 2 different parts of the program that grandma helped her memorize. When she was prompted to give her first line, she immediately streamed into her second although she was supposed to give it much later. Too funny. The chorister was exactly blocking Odessa, so I moved pews so I could see her. She pretty much just put her arms down on the railing around the stand and put her head down during the songs. Oh well. You can't expect too much of 3 and 4 yr olds. We had a great time, thanks for coming Grandma and Grandpa Hunt!

Bad week

It's been a terrible, no good, very bad, horrible few days. Murphy's law is in full effect on my life- if it's a bad thing, then it will happen to me. Perspective: no one I love is injured or dead, although I probably may lose my job, we don't count on it for anything but a little spending money and though currently my calling ("church job" for those of you that are not LDS) is more than challenging me, I still believe in Christ. Health: check. Breadwinner: check. Faith: check.

Thankfully, my kids give me lots of perspective and keep me for wailing "woe is me" for very long. (although sometimes they add to my woe!)
During Ada's nap, Odessa is supposed to have quiet time on the couch with library books. Yesterday she informed me she wasn't going to do any such thing. When I got done explaining to her that yes, she was going to have quiet time, she stomped over to the couch with huffy "Fine!"

Odessa: (from the couch) Who gave me to you anyway??

Me: (ignoring comment)

Odessa: Yer crazy, mom. Mom! You are crazy!

Me: (feeling crazy) no I'm not, don't call me crazy.

Odessa: (hopping down from the couch) I need some chapstick.

Me: Don't you go into your room, Ada is asleep.

Odessa: I'm not, I'm getting yours.

Needless to say, there was some discussion about borrowing my things before asking, respecting her mother and the consequences of not staying in quiet time. Sheesh.

Today she was painting and I was again in the kitchen (am I always there??) I bumped her fridge toy and it started singing its' song about a letter (about 10 seconds long) "A says ahhh and A says Ay! Every letter makes a sound and A says ahhhh and Ay!"

Odessa: Mo--om, I can't paint with all that loud music! I just can't concentrate!

Apparently I am living with a 3 yr old turning 14 next month.

Leavenworth Oktoberfest

As before mentioned, Stephen is really into anything German. We've always wanted to visit Leavenworth, a little village done all in Bavarian style. It's about 2 1/2 hours+ Northwest from Seattle. Last weekend we took off early to enjoy Leavenworth's annual Oktoberfest, held each weekend in October. The town is filled with cute shops, but they were jammed with people and even if they hadn't been, they were not kid-friendly. It's the kind of place you want to go with your hubby on a long weekend. The Oktoberfest included access to 3 stages of German polka type music among other kinds and the opportunity to buy lots of beer and really bad bratwurst meals. We decided they probably don't get quality food because after you've had enough beers, it tastes good anyway. Needless to say, since we don't drink, the experience left quite a bit to be desired. We had a good time listening to the music and watching the dancers, but their craft and vendor booths were pitiful. I would never pay to get in again, but that's experience. Later we did the river walk and saw the spawning salmon jumping around in the water! We also ate dinner at a great German place before we left, so some good German food was had all around.

I would love to go back around Christmas time when I understand the whole place is decorated.The drive up there was beautiful, and this was just through the car window

Every shop is in the Bavarian style, even banks and hotels!

Too bad Ada ducked out at the last second, this would have made a great Christmas card- LOL

Bringing in the kegs

Watching the Leavenworth dancers

Doing their own version

Taking the slide upside down

Salmon splashing in the river