2012 Christmas programs

Santa's Belt

Saw this cake at Cub today:

So Santa's belt is enough!

See, my front porch decoration is in fashion!

Deep thoughts about history

The other day, I had an idea for a project for a history major. I would like to see a map of the world and, starting as far back as possible, show the wars throughout the world as time moves forward. Or maybe find a way to show how power, borders, kingdoms shifted over history. I am convinced that violence and power shifts are just a part of life that have always existed and aren't necessarily any worse today. They are just better reported to people in far away places and the weapons can do more damage. But at the same time, perhaps the better reporting, communications, and changing cultural views on basic human rights have offset some of those negatives? I did some Googling and found these two, neither of which is exactly what I was looking for, but both of which are interesting.



This one seems very limited to the history of  Europe and the Middle East. I'm sure there was lots going on in Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas that aren't included (all the A's). But its still interesting.



I think this is very interesting. I wish the time scale at the bottom were consistent so we could get a better impression of how long each empire lasted in comparison with the others. I had no idea some of those empires were so massive.

History is fascinating.

Gingerbread Houses

Both terms, 'gingerbread' and 'house', are used loosely. But fun was had by all!

Brave and Silly

With lots of tears, determination and encouragement, Laura made it to the top of the REI rock wall again. She made it 2 years ago, then had a few bad climbs where she freaked herself out bad enough to not try again for a year. But she wanted to give it another go last weekend. She got stuck up there crying, so an REI associate climbed up to help bring her down, but she was stubborn enough to push the rest of the way up and ring the bell. There was a group of tween girls having a birthday party waiting their turn to climb and they were so supportive and cheered for Laura as she made it to the top.  Outdoorsy people are so nice, even as tweens.

And its a testament to how many times they've been on the MOA roller coaster that they know where the camera is and can time it just right for a silly face.

Tornado Fixation

For maybe 2 years now, Adam has been fixated on tornadoes. 

It started with fear and nightmares, but now they are mostly just cool. For the longest time, he thought they were living things that could be killed ("Do tornadoes have eyes?").

From the moment I asked him in September, a tornado was all he wanted to be for Halloween this year.

And then the movie Tornado Alley came to the Science Museum. As members, we can go to the movies free so he's been twice. They have the specially built tornado chaser car sitting in the lobby, so we've seen and examined that a couple times. So, he has made his own tornado chaser at home a few times. 

The red thing in the middle extends down into the ground so when the tornado blows over him, he won't be blown away (just like the real car). And there are other, various tornado choppers and bonkers to keep him safe. Oh, and a walkie talkie to talk to his crew.

The other day, he asked which way tornadoes go around. 

I'm telling you, this boy is spending some serious time thinking! 

Why I hate snowblowers

Snowblowers are everything snow is not.

Loud

Stinky

Dirty

Lazy

Snow is

Quiet

Peaceful

Clean

Natural Exercise

But I didn't complain much when Jim was blowing the driveway last weekend with a borrowed blower.

Maybe over 6" deep, it becomes worth the noise and stink? 

Glad we have nice, well-equipped neighbors and a willing husband!

Front porch Christmas decorations

OK,  I need a third opinion. I wasn't satisfied with Jim's second opinion.

I think my front porch decorations are cute, subtle, suggestive of the season.

Jim says "When are you going to add 'Christmas' to the sign?"

And, "Why is there a pillow with a belt around it on the chair?"

Your thoughts? Come on, I can take the truth.

More holes in her head!

Miss Laura now has pierced ears. 

Yes, it was a painful ordeal, but we're past that now. And she looks beautiful. And old.

Winter finally arrived

Winter showed up last night. She's making up for lost time.

Borrowed a snow blower

Messing up the clean blower line just because he can. 

Chicken Giggles

A few months ago, we were visiting some good friends who have new chickens. Laura and her friend Mimi spent most of their time playing outside doing who-knows-what. Later, on the drive home, she told me they were marrying the chickens.

Huh?

She said they would stick two of them in the coop and close the door. Then open the door and the two would walk down the little walkway together "married".

I still get the giggles when I imagine this. Chickens are funny enough on their own, but two little girls dreaming of chicken weddings is just too much.

So the giggles were renewed when I told her yesterday that one of Mimi's chickens had laid her first egg and Laura calmly said "It worked. See, the chicken marriage worked!"

Christmas Preparations

Happy 4th Birthday Adam

Happy Birthday buddy!

Sorry your cake was lopsided, but you didn't seem to mind.

Check out the girls' scores on the first frame (right side). All spares!

You're growing so much.

I can't wait to see you what this year brings!

I love you.

Thanksgiving food notes

So here's what I need to remember for the next time I host a Thanksgiving dinner for 9. If I put it here, I can't lose it. If you don't care about my notes, ignore this post.

Roast turkey EARLY - like maybe the day before. 18 pounds took about 6 hours this year. And "fresh" just means they thaw it for you, so it still might have some ice inside.

Meringue pies aren't worth it if you have to make it the day before (and remember to bake crust before filling)

Make a double recipe of potatoes (use 10 pounds next time). These can be made a day early and warmed in the oven.

Make a half recipe of sweet potatoes (use 2-3 big potatoes instead of 5).

Two recipes of rolls (24 total rolls) was a good amount. Some leftover, but not too many.

Single recipe of green bean casserole was enough.

Skip the bag of stuffing. The kids like it a little, but not enough and the leftovers aren't great.

Molasses cookies were a hit.

Thanksgiving 2012: a comedy of errors

It all started with the lemon meringue pie I made yesterday. Lemon and meringue looked and tasted lovely, but as I removed it from the oven, I noticed the crust was much lighter than the pumpkin pie crust and I wondered how it cooked in such a short time. Well, a review of the recipe showed me those special little words "baked pastry shell" and I realized my mistake. So, we had weepy, day-old, raw crusted lemon meringue pie today and everyone raved about it! I have nice family!

Next, my turkey wasn't done until 1 1/2 hours after expected. I could sense unrest, so we actually ate lunch without it after it became painfully clear that waiting that long wasn't really an option. Everyone assured me it wasn't missed too much and we enjoyed the meat with dinner instead. I have nice family!

And lastly (so far), I moved the oven rack for Adam's birthday cake, which is a sheet cake, and accidentally inserted it lopsided. So now he has a ski slope birthday cake with an inch of frosting and crispy cake on one side and moist, chewy cake just barely covered with frosting on the other. Take your pick! We all agreed that Adam wouldn't care a bit and will enjoy it immensely tomorrow. I have nice family!

I am officially thankful for my patient, caring, encouraging family!

picture from a while ago...

New(est) purse

How awesome is my sister? I picked out this material and a pattern and she made me a purse in one afternoon! And she used my machine, which is a huge step down from her fancy one at home. That really blows my mind. I'm really happy with the purse, and it is exactly what I was wanting. She even modified the pattern to add a zipper. What a lucky sister I am! Thank you Kim!

Happy Halloween! 2012

When I asked what they wanted to be for Halloween about 2 months ago, they both knew instantly and never wavered once.

Laura spent one sleepless night anxiously trying to decide between a snowy owl and a great horned owl, but was always going to be an owl. Why? I can't tell you. Its not a favorite character in a book or TV show, never even been an animal she talked about particularly. But there you have it. An OWL!

And just like Laura, Adam knew instantly that he wanted to be a tornado. He's always been fascinated with them. Actually, it started out to be more of a fear of them, but has turned into an interest. For a while, I think he thought they were alive and something that you could talk to or kill. I think he's getting the idea now, though. He wasn't sure he liked wearing it at first because it's pretty poofy. But after his school parade, I think he was proud of it. It is such a novel costume that he got a lot of attention from the adults. Its nice to see him receiving positive attention, and it made him fell really good. I particularly like the houses, cows, cars and trees swirling around him, though I'm not sure he completely understood why they were there. 

Now that Halloween is over, what do I do with homemade owl and tornado costumes?

Uncle Bob and Aunt Kate!

At the end of September, we met Jim's parents at his brother's house in Iowa for his Dad's birthday. It was a great weekend, despite the unexpected cold.

As I said, I didn't pack for the cold. So we borrowed some gear for the 4 wheeler rides.

We spent some time at Bass Pro Shop and Adam stayed at the ATVs for at least 30 minutes while everyone wandered around the rest of the store.

We made a day of it and ate lunch at their yummy restaurant and...

played a game at their bowling alley! Crazy, but everyone had a great time!

Then, since it had warmed a bit, we went to an apple orchard with a ton of fun fall things to do. Giant jumpy pillows, animals to feed, the little tractor pull above...

a giant slide that everyone (young and old!) enjoyed...

an apple slingshot, a corn maze (slightly more scary, but more fun and no one got lost :) ), a hay ride, apple picking if you want, corn pit, and more. It was such a great day.