Rutabaga Dreams

Ok, so I’m a day late.  But still, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  Ours was the usual whirlwind, but it was a good whirlwind, filled with presents, yummy food, Mass, Christmas carols, and of course time with family and friends.  Christmas is fun too because it is about the only time when we cook any of the old recipes from my Danish great-grandmother.  The two that we still cook every Christmas were ones she always made at Christmas - aebleskivers and klejners.  The recipes I have are both as dictated to my grandmother over twenty years ago, which makes me cherish them all the more.  I found myself wondering this year how far back these recipes go, and how much further they will end up travelling.  I hope I can pass them on to at least one of my children!

We tried to do a bit too much on Christmas Eve, so it ended up being a little more busy and rushed (and late!) than we would have liked, but it worked out reasonably well.  My wonderful husband told me “Merry Christmas” and let me go to Mass on Christmas Eve rather than work with him on our disaster of a kitchen - a Christmas gift for which I am extremely grateful.  The Mass was wonderful and the choir was especially lovely.  The most amazing moment came after everyone had returned to their seats from receiving communion and the choir and congregation sang “O Holy Night”.  It was absolutely beautiful and undescribably amazing.  Everyone put everything into it and the song came to life - it swelled to fill the room and to fill all of us.  I have never sung like that before in my life, nor have I been present for an experience like that.  It was like we were all joined together, singing beyond ourselves with one voice.  It was so beautiful and powerful it brought everyone I could see - people in the choir, the priest, the choir leader, people in the congregation - to tears.  It was phenomenal.  I don’t think I will ever be able to hear that carol again without thinking of that experience.

Ah, I should go to bed.  I’ve spent far longer writing this than I meant to.  I wish all of you a Merry Christmas (and I can still do that since it is the Christmas season, right?  )!

I just finished the Christmas stockings, and it isn’t even Christmas Eve!

I’m pretty pleased with how they all came out, although I think they could use a little cord or trim or something. Oh well, maybe some other year. We are still short two stocking hangers (we had three, but a cat knocked one off the mantle so now we are down to two) but I’m not sure if I’ll do anything about that this year. Here’s a picture for you all, so you can see the fruits of my labors.

Christmas cards? Check (finally!) they will go out in the mail tomorrow. I did not do a Christmas letter this year, but oh well. Maybe next year… if anyone misses it! BTW, I have lots of extras so if you want me to mail you one just email me your address.

Package for my father in southern CA? Check - it went out today

Stockings? Two down, two to go - but at least I think I have the hang of it

Nativity scene? Mary and Jesus are there, surrounded by plastic farm animals. I think Joseph will make an appearance before Christmas, but I don’t think there will be any shepherds this year. Oh well. There might be a Magi or two by Ephinany, but I make no promises.

Christmas shopping? Check!!

Wrapping? Everything except Matt’s presents are wrapped, so at least I’m getting close.

Christmas baking? Well, we did make the truffles (and they are rich and yummy but not exactly beautiful - I think they will require more practice!) I still have several things to make in that department, and I need to pin my Mom down on what I should bring for Christmas dinner and dessert.

Christmas decorations? Yes, we did that all last week, although Emma thinks our house needs more Christmas cheer. I am inclined to agree with her, but I have a hard time justifying the money we would need to spend to buy decorations. I did show Emma how to make snowflakes and Christmas trees out of paper, so that’s been keeping her busy and decorating our windows.

Jesse Tree? Hmm… well, we got to David and the beginning of Christmas vacation and kind of petered out. Oh well, there is always next year… I think she got the idea at least.

Let’s see, what else have I talked about doing. Oh yes, doll clothes for Emma. Well, I have a jacket done, but it needs some finishing work. I am not sure if that will happen, as I need to go to Jo-Ann’s to get some stuff. I may try to make a dress tomorrow night, but we shall see. I need to get these stockings done first!!

I hope you all are doing well on your Christmas preparations and that you aren’t too stressed about it all! Thankfully, I don’t feel stressed about any of it - I feel like I am just chugging along, chipping away at it all and taking plenty of time to enjoy the season with my family.

Our little Gregory turned one yesterday! Where does the time go??

We had a very nice, quiet birthday party for Gregory.  We had dinner with some family, opened presents, and let Gregory have a little bit of his birthday cake.  We made some of Gregory’s favorite foods - turkey meatloaf, roasted broccoli, crockpot stuffing, and bread.  I made an applesauce cake with vanilla pudding for dessert, and it all was well received by everyone.  A great birthday, all around, and just how we like to do birthdays around here.
This week Gregory has figured out two big things - he can now say “uh oh” and he’s figured out how to go up and down the stairs. He can now go anywhere in the house without assistance! He does a great job on the stairs. He can crawl up them quite rapidly, and while he looks a bit more precarious going down he seems to be quite sturdy and balanced. Here’s a couple pictures:

Gregory going up

Gregory going down

He also really likes saying “uh oh”, and it is so cute! It really is quite an expressive word because it can be used when he’s about to do something he shouldn’t (like pull papers off of Emma’s table), or when he’s done something he shouldn’t (like drop his sippy cup from his high chair), or when something is out that shouldn’t be (like when the vacuum cleaner was left out in the entry). It is really neat to get a little glimpse into the inner workings of his mind.

I had planned on doing our “homeschool block” through the end of the week, but I decided to exercise my perogative as principal and ended the year a couple days early.  (If I’m the principal, then is Matt the superintendent?  Hmm…)  We got our Christmas tree last night and when Emma woke up this morning asking if we could please, please, please decorate the tree I realized that even if we tried to do homeschool block, it probaby wouldn’t go very well.  Who can concentrate on skip counting by two and sounding out words when there is a lovely but undecorated Christmas tree sitting three feet away?

We managed to get the morning chores done and most of the tree trimmed before we had to go out and sort the buying club order.  The tree looks nice, although it is taking a little getting used to.  We decided for Gregory’s safety and his parent’s mental health to just get a short tree this year.  So we have a four and a half foot tree sitting on a table, and I rather like it.  It also was a lot cheaper to go this route!  Next year we are really looking forward to cutting down a tree from our own property to use as our Christmas tree.  I hope we never have to buy a tree again!

I have been really scattered this afternoon, ever since I got back from sorting the order.  After we got back, I brought the order in, got food for the munchkins, found something for myself, then tried to do the next required step with the crockpot dinner I started this morning.  After I did that, I started putting away our order and picking up the Christmas explosion in the family room…  not doing a particularly effective job at either task.  Matt came down, looked in the crockpot, and said, “um, you’re supposed to drain the water before you put the rest of the ingredients in”.  Hmm.  Whoops, missed that step.  I decided to drain the soybeans and add the ingredients in again, to try and salvage the meal.  In draining the soybeans (crock-baked soybeans - a yummy recipe from Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook, btw) I found a teaspoon in the crockpot.  I guess that’s what happened to the one that mysteriously disappeared earlier…  I guess it is just one of those days.

Emma wants to make candy after quiet time this afternoon, and I think that we’ll give it a go.  We received a package of homemade candy from Emily a few days ago, and Emma was quite amazed that you can actually make candy, not just buy it.  I haven’t made any candy for a little while now, and I think it will be fun and perhaps even educational!

I took the munchkins out to a local historical house today and I brought my camera along.  I was kind of half way hoping that I might get a decent picture for the Christmas card, but, well…  you judge for yourself. 

First off, we have Princess Emma

And then we go to Supermodel Emma

I would really like to know what was happening right behind me right about at this point

The tapping on the shoulder trick is always fun…

This one isn’t bad, except for the fact that Gregory really looks disheveled (I really do need to give him a haircut!)

And how about a round of applause for Mom!

Well, yes, I think you get the idea.  OK, I need to go clean the kitchen now.  My timer went off about three minutes ago and now that the sink is fixed I have no more excuses.  I love the fact that I can tell my husband - “um, the sink isn’t draining and it is making funny gurgling sounds” and he’ll just look at it then turn towards the door, saying, “ok, I’ll go get some tools”.  And even better - he’ll actually fix it!  Lets hear it for competent, capable men. 

Matt just came in and showed me the Christmas present he just finished making for Emma. It turned out really well and she’s going to love it. Ok, dishes! Really, this time!

A post in which Amber expresses her insecurities about Christmas card preparation, and then meanders off into Advent, Nativity scenes, and other fun Christmas stuff.

I am beginning to wonder about this whole Christmas card thing this year… I was hoping to take a picture last week, but then Gregory and Emma came down with colds. It was just a minor one, but whenever Emma gets a cold she licks her upper lip so much that it gets red and chapped. She’s completely better now, but that lip is only about 50% healed. I think I should really wait until after that is better before I try to take their picture… and then there’s the fact that Gregory looks like he has a Beatles haircut. It really needs to be trimmed, but I’m afraid I’m going to butcher it, and then how will that look in the Christmas picture?? Humph. Do you think it would be acceptable for me to do a Christmas picture of the kids with bags over their heads? Or maybe I could just spend some time fixing things up in post-production. Hmm. I did so well last year - I had Emma’s photo professionally taken at the beginning of November and everything was ready to go before the beginning of December. This year? Well, it just doesn’t seem very important.

However, we’ve started doing a Jesse Tree, which has lead to some really neat discussions already. We had a 2.5 - 3 ft. fake tree my grandmother gave us a couple years ago, and that is now being used as our Jesse Tree. We *ahem* started a little late (I was thinking it started on the first day of Advent, which I guess some do, and some start on Dec. 1st, just to confuse things) but since it is only December 4th, I think we can catch up. And if not? Well, we’ll just continue for a few days after Christmas. But anyways, I think it is a really neat way to do an overview of the main theme of the Bible - God’s relationship with his people - and the progression of that theme. It also gives us a way to look at how it all comes together to point to Jesus. This ties in really well with the Bible reading we’ve been doing, because we are just about done with the Old Testament and now is a great time for some review. We’ll try and finish up the Old Testament this month (we have 10 more short sections) as well as do the Jesse Tree and I think we’ll be in good shape to start it again at the beginning of the new year. I also like this because it is giving Emma some exposure to the real Bible (other than what she hears at Mass, of course), rather than just the story Bible. I’m reading from my Bible first (which she was very excited about) and then reading the corresponding section in her story Bible. It is a really wonderful activity, and when we get some more ornaments on the tree I’ll post a picture. I’m thinking this is going to be a great Advent tradition, and I hope to continue to do it in future years!

And since I’m talking about Advent, I might as well mention the other things we’re doing… Emma is putting up ornaments on the beautiful Advent calendar that my Mom made for us last year. We also have a small Advent calendar with Bible verses that I got at RCIA and we’re doing as well. I opted not to get a chocolate Advent calendar as we still have a stash of Halloween candy we’re working through, but maybe we’ll do that again next year. Emma doesn’t remember the one we had last year at least. We’ve also started making a Nativity scene, because I would love to have one and I can’t really afford to shell out the money for one I would really like. So we’re making one, and I’m hoping for the best. At least it won’t be boring or generic looking! I’m taking my cues from Wee Felt Folks for the people (because Emma and I are quite enamored with this woman’s work, and her directions really are quite good), and we’re using a stable Matt and Emma made for her plastic farm animals. I’m not sure if the plastic farm animals will end up in the Nativity scene or not, but odds are they will be present. After all, it is their stable, right? No matter how it turns out, it certainly will be unique… and I promise to post a picture. Even if it is just so you all can laugh, I’ll still post a picture.

Wow, it is 11:30. So much for going to bed a little earlier tonight! But at least the mom’s club newsletter is out the door, my menus and week are planned, and I’ve even done a blog post. Yay me.

I thought I would post a few pictures from our SF outing on Tuesday.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day

Here’s the gang out by the bridge

This is me trying to get a picture of Gregory in the sling up at Coit Tower

It works a lot better when I hand the camera to Matt.

(edited to add some spacing and such - I really shouldn’t blog when I’m that tired!)

Yup, still here. Still busier than I’d like to be, but perhaps at some point I’ll just get used to it. Thanksgiving was nice, although quiet - we had quite a few less people this year (only 10) at my parents. We left bright and early on Friday to go up to try and help out at Matt’s Aunt and Uncle’s and came home very late on Saturday. I think we were helpful, but we also had a very nice visit too.

Matt’s brother came on Monday, then we went to San Francisco on Tuesday to do some tourist stuff. I hadn’t been out to the Golden Gate Bridge for ages. It is nice to have someone to show around sometimes, it gives you a chance to go see those iconic things that you don’t tend to venture out to on your own.

Emma got sick on Wednesday, and then Gregory started coming down with it yesterday. Emma is largely better, but still a little stuffy. Trying to get her to do a phonics lesson with a stuffy head is an exercise in frustration for both of us, so that got shelved until next week.

I took Emma to a concert at church tonight - it was really great. We saw a Dominican Sister who plays a mean electric guitar and it was a lot of fun. She’s one of those people who just glow, there’s no other way to describe it. She had some very talented band members as well, and gave Emma a guitar pick after the show. It says “The Rockin’ Sister”.

When we got home Emma started writing an email to my Aunt, spelling out the words herself. She got through “hi ant sosz” (hi Aunt Suzy) before she decided she couldn’t think what else she wanted to say. What’s that saying? foniks wurkd for me? Yeah, anyways, it was neat to see her try - it was the first time she’s done that.

I then tried to get her to bed and it was absolutely impossible to get her to use a quiet voice - she’d remember for a couple words then go right back. *sigh* She woke her brother up twice in the process (he’s sleeping lightly because of his cold) and got me rather worked up in the process too. *sigh* It seems like such a simple thing to keep your voice down, but apparently not when you’re four. I feel like I am finding her more maddening than I used to, either that or I just have less patience (and higher expectations!) with her. I think part of it is that I feel like she should be able to do some of this stuff! And really, there is a lot that she does do, but it is sometimes hard to see that through all the things that we’d like her to remember. I feel like this whole parenting thing with her has gotten a lot harder since about September or so, and I’m not sure what to do about it. My mom said that she always found this age much harder than the so-called “terrible twos” and I’m inclined to agree with her!

Ah, it is 11:30 and I’m still awake. I really should go to bed, but I know it is going to be another restless night because of my stuffy baby so I’m not particularly eager to go.