Merry Christmas 2008!

No Christmas celebration is completed without building a gingerbread house, baking many many desserts and eating too much! We have all of that successfully accomplished this jolly season.

We have a full house this year, ten people in total, so I have lots of cooking and cleaning to do all day long, but I don't mind. It's more fun with a house filled with noises.

Kids stayed up a little too late on Christmas Eve (past midnight). Dad told them in the morning that he had chased Santa away with a snow shovel the night before because of that, and they also found a little note next to the cookie plate...

Note reads:
"Thanks for the cookie & milk kids! Santa.
PS: Next year, please hide the shovels. I had to sneak back in after your Dad fell asleep".

We had a wonderful time, played many fun games and laughed a lot on a Christmas Eve. But, best of all, I got to try many new recipes (I finally had someone who would eat my new creations). I would have to say that of all the new things I made, shortbread cookies and jello filled orange slices were my favorite. Plus, it was a sugar-free jello, so no guilt there :-)

We took many walks in the snow, got our feet cold and wet, but that just made it all feel that much better, coming back to a warm house and a hot cup of chocolate.

Ice, ice and then some more ice.

What a "wonderful" weather we got in OR this week. I blame it all on my family! LOL

They kept saying "I wish we had a white Christmas" over and over, and they got it! A little early though. Now, of course, they don't drive either, so getting snow is all that matters to them. Plus, schools are cancelled, so double the bonus.

With a bird feeder hanging outside, we now see many more birds visiting us. Even a Blue Heron stooped by, from a distance though. Poor thing probably didn't know what to do with all the snow and cold. I had to check a few times to make sure id wasn't frozen to the ground. Then it was gone... I hope it finds a warm place to hide.

Larissa got a chance to work on her crafts:Here is the (almost) finished product:

December 13th weekend

In spirit of the upcoming Christmas, kids talked me into joining our neighbors in going around the neighborhoods, singing Christmas carols...
Ok, so I am not under any impressions of having any ability of caring a musical note, so I figured, I will just go meet the neighbors, and some lip-singing (or humming), make the kids happy.

We went to the meeting house, got to know the neighbors, then went out through the neighborhood. It was quite beautiful, full moon, cold night. I pulled out my camera to take a picture, and guess what? I took the memory card out earlier to transfer some pictures, so I got no pictures of that night :-( Grrrr!!!

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On Saturday kids got haircuts and Larissa, Jon and I went to meet Santa at the local retirement center.

Kids looked so festive, but Jon absolutely hates any formal clothing. When we go in line to see Santa he looked very nice, by the time we got to the front of the line, his jacket was on the floor and he was working on tearing his tie off... Then he refused to sit on Santa's lap, etc.

I gave him some time to adjust and with in 30 minutes he was back in line, eager to tell Santa what he wants. It's all about patience with Jon!

Sunday we woke up to a much cooler temperature and a light snow. It started out slow and not too cold, then stopped for a little bit, but then restarted with big snow flakes and a temperature drop. We enjoyed playing in the snow. A couple of neighbor boys came over and we had a snowball fight. Then for the rest of the night we stayed indoors and watched Weather Alerts on TV, waiting for the school closure announcement (fingers crossed), and drinking hot chocolate.

Jon was surprised by a snowball when he stepped out to play:

And we started working on our Christmas Pinata (Tim said we are silly, and it's a kids' game...):

December 11th

Today was Jonathan's school Christmas performance.

Knowing how shy Jon gets around stranger and how he tends to shut down under pressure, I didn't expect much at all. As a matter of fact, I told myself "be prepared to see and hear nothing from him on stage" and be happy if he even goes on stage...

Little that I knew, he is quite a performer, when in a group of friends! Not only he didn't have any trouble getting on stage, he started waiving to us (once he figured out where we were in the audience), then he approached one of the two mics and tried singing a "la-la-la!" solo into it!!

We all had a really good time watching little kids trying to sing. There is always one stand out kid that steals the show in each group. Jon was almost there.

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Oh, on Monday Jon got into an argument with his classmate (a girl!) and she "showed him", as you can clearly see from his forehead. All of this over his favorite hat, that he insists on wearing indoors. Apparently, she threw it behind a bookshelf and when he informed her "I will tell my Mom!", she pushed his head against a table...

December 6th weekend

Jon made a "Christmas tree" at school and could hardly wait to get home and eat it. First, he insisted I take a picture of it though! My kids know me too well!!!**********

We didn't do much this weekend. Weather was mostly gray and rainy. Which means that I didn't get a chance to mow the lawn. No biggie...

This Saturday we put up the Christmas tree and decorated it. We then decided to put up some lights outside, despite an earlier decision not to. Our house just looked to lonely surrounded by all the pretty neighbors' lights. Of course that meant that I had to run to the store because, magically, I was missing an outdoor extension cord.

Our house now looks like we are actually ready for Christmas. There might even be some snow this weekend. I like the snow, I just don't like driving on it...

Suddenly it dawned on me "we don't have our Christmas card picture", so I tried my hardest to corral the kids and have something decent, without much success though. So, I went "creative"! Now, you will all have to wait and see what I came up with (on your 2008 Christmas card)!

Ok, Ok, here is a hint:

On Sunday we all went to the swimming pool and had a blast. I only wish I didn't get a migraine toward the end, which totally spoiled any fond memory I have of the swim. I think we might do this as our new weekly family activity (minus the headache).

Thanksgivings Day weekend

Last weekend was a big blur. With my Mom's late arrival on a Sunday night and getting everything ready for Thanksgivings Day...

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Kids school had a kids' book reading event on a Tuesday night, where we met the book writer (Mike Thaler) and each kid got a FREE autographed book! What a great deal, and what a great night for the kids.

This week is going by a little slower. Perhaps because I don't have to go to work for five days straight! Yahoo for that!

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We had a great traditional feast this Thursday. With the turkey, the pies, and all the fixings. The only thing I did different this year is cooking turkey in a slow cooker. I tell you what, I think I will stick with it! I got a 13 lb turkey, all defrosted, spiced and looking pretty into a cooker at a low temperature the night before, switched to high temperature first thing in the morning and it was pretty much ready by noon. I let it sit there on low for a bit longer though. By the time I served it, it was falling off the bones. Yummy!! Also, a few hours before being all done, I put a bunch of vegetables inside of it (the turkey opened up like a treasure chest), drained some excess liquids and that just made it that much better!

I also finished my crocheting project that I started last weekend. I super-monkey for Jon. I like the way it came out and I learned quite a lot too ;-)
Now, I have to keep my promise to make a cat for Gabe and a (hmm... I am not sure WHAT it is...) creature by the name of Strawbeary for Larissa. I suppose it is a bear, but I question that ;-)

November 15th weekend

After two weeks of on again, off again raining, we got a sunny breakthrough. Chilly, but gorgeous. Red and yellow colors added to the Fall mood.On Saturday Larissa got tired of having to share her time with "the boys" and held a demonstration, demanding a Girls Day Out with me. It was pretty funny. She made a sign, climbed on a rock across the street, and stood there holding up her sign.

Jon got upset because he just couldn't keep up with the big kids. That only lasted a few minutes and he was right back to his happy self.

Gabe and I had lots of fun jumping over the hula hoop.

I think I had a little too much fun though... (Gabe took this picture of me)

Mission Accomplished!

I finally got around and baked Larissa the kind of cake she has been asking for. For the past few birthdays I got away with something else, but this year I decided it's time. I watched an instruction video on the web and off I went.
Result? I great cake, just the way she wanted it!

Happy 8th Birthday Larissa!

Another mission accomplished was teaching Jon about doing laundry. We had to move a step stool next to the washer and he was pretty excited to drop dirty laundry into it. Yeah!

Other than that, just another rainy weekend in Oregon. We stayed mostly indoors, watched lots of movies and played a lot of video games.

Happy Birthday Tim!

Another year, another birthday.

Happy Birthday Tim!

Due to the very high risk of setting our house on fire we opted out of having the actual amount of candles on the cake, and went with just "a bunch".

I baked a carrot cake and added creamcheese icing on it. Yummy!

Halloween 2008

What is worse than getting sick on Halloween?.. Nothing!

I got a call from Gabe's school, right around when I was heading out to attend his and Larissa's classroom activities, letting me know that after complaining of a headache he is now throwing up.
Needless to say, Gabe didn't go trick or treating that night. Poor kids stayed in bed, rolled into a human ball, only getting up to throw up more. I am kind of glad we didn't spend any money on his Halloween costume...

Larissa, Jon and I had to go out by ourselves. Dad stayed home, taking care of Gabe. Our lute was not large at all. It was probably the smallest we had in years. For some reason most of the houses in our are had their porch lights turned off and weren't giving out the candies. My only guess is that they were out with their kids too...

Saturday and Sunday was better for Gabe, who finally got over being sick, but worse for me because I got a terrible headache. Probably because of the weather changes, rain and all...

Let's just say that there was a lot of baked goodies by the end of the weekend, because that's what I do when I am stuck in the house :-)

October 25th weekend.

Have you ever had a day when you wish you could either start over or just fast forward through and be done with it?.. That was my Saturday.

It all started off when I got a "stink eye" and some unfriendly words from a car full of teenagers when they failed to yield to me at a three way stop intersection. I had no stop sign on my side, but the other three sites did. The driver went through, right in front of me, forcing me to slam the breaks, then I get yelled it! Life is unfair.

On Saturday night we went to a Gales Creek Camp fundraiser. We got there 20 minutes later then we planned, paid $25 for a spaghetti dinner, stayed in one looooong line to get the food. I have to say that food was pretty bad. Overcooked noodles, no butter or cheese option (which made kids sad), only one bread stick per person and a salad that was literally three tiny pieces of lettuce.

All in all though, it's for a good cause, so that part didn't bother us. However, what we didn't realize is that the silent auctions were closing as we were eating and by the time we decided to look for something to bid on, it was pretty much all done (mic quality was barely understandable, all I heard was "blah-blah-blah"...). Again, may be for the best.

I tried bidding at the regular auction, but announcer didn't even notice our table waiving the yellow numbers, and we got outbid anyway... Oh, well...

Sunday was quite the opposite of Saturday. May be my bad karma was trying to balance the day before. It was a "Girls Day Out" for me and Larissa. I got two tickets to see High School Musical on Ice as a surprise, so Larissa had no idea what we were going to do. We stopped by Albertson's and got a pack of MAX train tickets, since you never know when those thicket machines will work and when they will not at the train station.
As we parked the car at Park and Ride, the train was already arriving. We barely made it. But the rest of the ride was nice. Sipping our hot drinks, having a small talk.

The show was enjoyable even though predictable. We got our bottle of water confiscated on the way in, but refused to buy one at a concession stand for $3.75 later on. That is just plain rip off!!

After the show we had lunch at the mall, walked around quite a bit, enjoyed a trolley ride around downtown and came across some a Zombie Convention. There were hundreds of people dressed up in zombie customs at the Pioneer Square. Very entertaining!Quick stop at Saturday Market finished up our day out. We saw the same guy we always see there. He isn't really good (terrible juggler...), but I think he is getting better. This time he had a scorpion in a mouth act. We stayed for that, but once he pulled out a small sward (for swallowing), we dropped our $ donation and left. We can only stand so much of gross factor for one day!

October 18th weekend

It's Fall time, it's almost Halloween and Thanksgivings Day time, and it's definitely time for the pumpkins!

On Saturday we went to the Baggenstos Farm. One of a few remaining farms that don't charge for the every single thing. There was no admission fee or any fee for riding a hey ride. We did get three large pumpkins for the kids, and that's about three more than I really wanted to get, ha ha.

The more pumpkins we have, the more I have to carve out!
Kids were dressed up in their play costumes and really enjoyed running through a mini hey stack maze. We were not brave enough this year to go into a real corn maze. I don't think Jon is big enough to walk that much. Plus, he has been complaining about an earache again. Probably another ear infection. Hopefully his surgery on Monday helps with that!

We were joined by our great friends and their kids and had a total blast at the patch. At the end all the kids got a goody bag, courtesy of Miss Mary, filled with toys and candy. Thanks Mary! It made kids' day even better.

When we got home, we made lots of fresh salsa and some brownie bites, then stayed in and enjoyed the movies. Oregon Fall sets a perfect atmosphere for it.

October 11th weekend

This turned into a beautiful sunny weekend. Both Larissa's and Jon's fun classes got cancelled, so we improvised.

On Sunday we went to a great park close to our house and had a mini-photo session with our friends.

Happy 4th Birthday, Jon!

Today Jon turned 4 years old. He is a big boy now! Or so he said.


We baked and decorated some cupcakes last night and took them to his daycare today.

Happy Birthday, Jon!

Rainy October 4th weekend.

Sometimes you just have to slow down and smell the roses!

That's exactly what we did this weekend. Caught up on games, movies & TV shows, did some cleaning and cooking, and just enjoyed spending time together!
It rained on and off all weekend long, so even more reasons to stay indoors. Although, Larissa went out on her scooter, but then she wiped out pretty bad. We had to stop the bleeding and disinfect the scrape. After that, she opted to stay indoors too and make more mess for me to clean up... ahem... I mean make crafts...

September 27 weekend

There is something about busy weekends that makes them go by so fast...

On Friday night we went to my old friend's son's 10th birthday party. We were quite late because it started at the same time I get off work, then I still had to get the kids (and change Larissa's site, before the scheduled time), etc. By the time we got there, at was almost over. The good thing is that I finally got the see their kids that I haven't seen in eight years (!) and we stopped at Uwajimaya store on the way home and got some "marble" soda for the kids.

On Saturday we made the now regular trip to a Saturday Market and loaded up on local fruits and vegetables. There is one vendor that I especially like, they are from a Gales Creek farm (which is coincidentally the same area where Larisa went to a Diabetes Camp this past summer). Their produce is just as good as anyone else around them, but their prices are quite a bit lower.
After we got home We made a batch of mini cupcakes to decorate later, then we decided to head out and do something outside of the house. We took a vote and unanimously decided on OMSI.
There is a new exhibit at OMSI, all about puzzles. Once we got there, that's pretty much where we spent the rest of our day. There was just so much to do!

Sunday was the day of JDRF walk, and I knew something was up when Jon started to tell me that he has an ear infection (yes, not an earache, but an ear infection he insisted). We drove to Oak Park anyway, but as soon as we got there Jon laid down on the grass and fell asleep. (I took him to the Dr on Monday and turns out that Jon does have a terrible ear infection... in both ears!)

I decided against the actual 5K walk, since I didn't think I can carry him all that way, and instead, I just let Gabe and Larissa play in the sun.

Oh, we also got to see the Trailblazers' stunt group perform for us too!

Rain, Rain...

So, I guess the Fall is officially here. It announced itself by a generous portion of H2O falling from the skies.

Sadly, I got a terrible cold at the end of last week, so that pretty much limited my selections of fun things to do this weekend to "what movie should we watch next?" I really didn't feel like going anywhere. Jon, Larissa and I did managed going to a Saturday market and got some wonderful local fruits, vegetables, and honey. There are only a few more weeks left for the market, so skipping it this weekend was not an option for me.

I have to say, I think the local honey I got worked miracles! All Saturday I had cups and cups of hot tea with lemon and honey, and by noon on Sunday I felt like a new person. Back to normal!

Tim and Gabe spent most of the Saturday at the indoor skate park again. I am glad they are really enjoying it!

I tried a new recipe for cupcakes while waiting for the boys' return. It came out great! One thing I learned though... patience is a must if you want to ice your cupcakes! I didn't wait for the second batch to cool off, so what started as pretty pink flowers turned into a funny shaped pink smudge.

Sunday started off as a cool day, then the rain came. It was coming through in patches, rain, sun, rain, sun. Larissa got all geared up for biking, but when it started to rain, instead, she went to town in her rubber boots, jumping in the puddles.

Didn't take long before Jon joined her in the rain, and he finally got to use his umbrella too.