Celebrating Differently

Our Christmases are always controlled chaos. It is a day we spend running around town visiting all our family. It is really fun, but also very exhausting.

This year we spent most of our day at home. The kids woke up to find Santa had come! They explored their stockings and unwrapped gifts from each other and then we moved on to breakfast. We had cinnamon rolls, orange rolls, pancakes with homemade syrup, Æbleskivers (little round Danish pancakes), orange juice, grape juice, and fresh berries. Yes, the kids were in charge of the menu. Why do you ask?

After breakfast, we headed back into the living room to unwrap more gifts. Gifts from Michael and I, gifts from aunts and uncles; many many gifts.

Aunt Amy sent cards with money. It was happily received.

Aunt Kristal bought the gifts their parents wouldn't.

Like a personal blender for each girl. Grace was a little pleased.

Ethan turned animalistic with his unwrapping.

Sam was a little more controlled but just as happy.

After all the unwrapping the kids had time to play with their gifts, a first for them. Ethan put together the Lego VW Beetle he got from Santa. And installed the light kit his aunt provided. 

We did go for a masked visit with the grandparents in the late afternoon and enjoyed seeing them for the holiday. It was much quieter than it usually is, as it was just us visiting. It was a little lonely, but also a lot less stressful. 

We came home to a festive dinner of crackers and fancy cheeses. This is becoming a favorite meal for holiday occasions. The next day we realized we forgot to set out the British Christmas Crackers (you know those little tubes with jokes, hats, and cheap toys?). We had to break them out for dinner a few days later, when they were finally remembered. They were a fun novelty!

Merry Christmas to all and we'll see you next year!

Another Year Older

Seventeen! How does that even happen?!

Whether I believe it or not, here we are. He is a junior in this most unique of years, taking AP History, Pre-Calc, AP Physics, mostly online but occasionally in person. He's learning basic car repair on the 23-year-old family truck. He's looking for a very part-time job, as his others became too intense to keep juggling. It's been a hectic year, but he had been pretty flexible about all the changes. I just can't believe how close he is to adulthood! 

This year we just celebrated his birthday as a family. He was content to have it so. I imagine we will try to make it up for his 18th. 

It was a nice celebration. He requested eggnog cheesecake, and I made a peppermint one as well. Not all of us think eggnog is fit for human consumption. Ethan and Michael LOVED the eggnog cheesecake. There is no accounting for taste. The rest of us with taste buds thoroughly enjoyed the peppermint one.

Grace gave him a jar of peanut butter. Your guess is as good as mine. He seemed happy, though.

He also got a few items of requested clothing.

and the backpack he wanted. Yep, he's pretty much an adult. He was excited about socks.

He even got his non-alcoholic beverage of ginger beer. He's committed to trying as many varieties as he can find. Libby found him a new one. It was deemed good.

Happy 17th birthday, Ethan! I am in shock that next year we will be celebrating his adulthood.

Craft Madness

Every year my sister, Heidi, hosts all her nieces and nephews for an overnight crafting extravaganza during the month of December.  This year she decided, with full support, that it was not a wise plan to gather so many people in one place. Instead she spent more hours than I care to think about creating craft activities to drop off at various homes. CJ was able to join us at our house for the event, seeing as we watch him several days a week already.

The kids painted sleighs (and my rug, floor, and piano bench).

The baby was thoroughly dedicated to his craft.

Everyone working on their sleds. Ethan and Libby still haven't finished theirs. Grace and Sam found the project quite fun though. The finished masterpieces are gracing our front porch.

Sam's masterpiece. He loved this giant star.

Grace's ended up looking like a smiling face with crazy hair. She has no regrets.

They then moved on to gnome making:

It was quite late. Ethan was quite punchy. His gnome reflects that. 

Grace made numerous, numerous gnomes. So many gnomes. I finally sent her to bed at 11 p.m. and started digging out the mess. I vacuumed at least four times over the next 24 hours and am still finding stuffing beads and beard scraps all over. Libby and Sam made a few as well, but I was exhausted and did not get photographic proof.

In the morning the kids ate pancakes from a mix their aunt provided. Grace thought it was fabulously fancy. Imagine, making pancakes from a mix. They then covered my kitchen table with ink and ceramic tiles and I have not one scrap of photographic proof. They really enjoyed painting the tiles with ink and I enjoyed the disposable table cloth under the disaster.

All the kids made a lot of crafts. They were happy and creative. Heidi was able to get her craft on, albeit it long distance. Even though it was different, it was still fun. We are looking forward to being able to meet in person next year. 

Gingerbread Houses 2020 Edition

What can I say, it's just been that kind of year. The gingerbread softened instead of hardened, the royal icing (house glue) almost broke my beloved Bosch mixer. Then it was crazy runny.

The houses this year couldn't even stand on their own. Above you see the load-bearing peppermint sticks of mine and Ethan's house. He also tried rubber cement and on the inside is a pile of saltines trying valiantly to keep the walls from caving in. It was all futile.

Grace and Libby tried frosting and melted marshmallows with no better effects. Their house stood for as long as it takes to inhale. Then it just slid slowly apart, leaving marshmallow strings behind.

The walls just kept tumbling down.

Michael and Sam shot for simplicity and managed to make a house that stood strong, if slightly crooked. It was still standing the next morning.

They were even proud enough to sign their creation. None of the rest of us felt such pride.

We attempted. We persevered. We kinda made some houses. It's just been that kind of year. We keep trying, and it keeps falling apart. Next year will be better.

On Pause

Life is currently paused, yet again. School is entirely virtual and will be until mid January. The library also had to re-close. Church is still a couple times a month for forty minutes, but we have been watching from home, due to a lot of our members contacting COVID (although it doesn't appear to be from church attendance). We are getting very familiar with home this year. Last year at this time I attended six concerts in one week. Six! This year we are looking for ways to create opportunities to get out of the house. With this in mind I spent thirty bucks to go to a drive-through Christmas light show. We got there at our assigned time slot and proceeded to wait half an hour to enter the exhibit. 

Hey kids, lets take a photo while we wait. There are four kids back there, I promise. It's like a game of "I Spy."

A couple more children halfway humoring me. 

The beginning finally came into sight. We were finally be able to drive through the lights. At this point we had already listened to the entire playlist the music was set to, twice.

Once we finally entered the light show, a good time was had by all. We laughed at the creepy singing elves, we cheered as the lights guided us through tunnels. We enjoyed the musical syncopation. We enjoyed the novelty of the entire experience. 

Twenty minutes later when we exited, at least half of the car occupants had a splitting headache from the flashing lights. We decided the lights were fun as a one-off experience, and we are glad we went. It was also universally agreed that we do not need to make it a tradition.

Deck the Hall

Once again Christmas is upon us. Thankfully, none of my children were eligible for a free Christmas tree cutting permit this year. The last two years were plenty. Instead of digging out warm clothes, driving for an hour, and then getting stuck in the snow, we simply had to drag our new to us fake Christmas tree out of the crawl space and set it up. It's the first nice looking tree we have had in at least five years. The kids didn't even bother naming it. Can you get any more vanilla?

After we got the tree set up, we had to check who's turn it was to put the topper on. Libby was more terrified than excited to find it was her turn. See the fear in her eyes. For those looking closely, she started with the star but ended up using the angel. The star wouldn't stay up. There was lot of screeching and begging while I traded her tree toppers. She was living in fear.

Mission accomplished. Everyone still alive.

 The tree (and the children) in all their holiday splendor.

Thanksgiving at Home - A First

We made a decision to follow the advice of local government and health leaders and celebrate Thanksgiving at home this year. 

On Wednesday Libby and I made pies. We made all the pies. We made pumpkin, pumpkin chiffon, apple, pecan, and walnut brownie. Then Michael had to hide them because bits of crust and bits of filling kept disappearing. They all came back out for Thanksgiving dinner, though, and mostly unscathed.

Thursday I spent all day in the kitchen while Michael and Ethan replaced the ball joint on the truck. I think Ethan is developing an unhealthy relationship with the truck, but at least he is learning new skills.

The olives and pickles didn't last long enough to make it in the food spread picture, but they did start out full. They ate an entire jar of baby dills before dinner even started. We had a fabulous spread. Libby made the mashed potatoes and baked mac and cheese, Ethan made deviled eggs, my father-in-law dropped off (another) pie. Everything turned out incredibly well with the notable exception of the ham.

I threw the ham in the Instant Pot to free up oven space. For the first time in its history, it refused to come to pressure, even after multiple attempts.  I cut off a few pieces of ham to heat for dinner and told Michael about the problem when he came in from fixing the truck. I was about to pull my hair out. Michael started poking and prodding at the Instant Pot, trying to diagnose the problem. Then he asked, "What happened to the water in the bottom of the pot?"  At which point my brain finally turned back on. I had put everything but water in the pot, meaning it couldn't come to pressure, because, you know, the lack of liquid. I'm an idiot. Thankfully, the pressure cooker still works and we have plenty of leftover ham.

 

Had to take a picture of the table actually set for once. We are usually content with a plate and fork each, but we decided to go all out for Thanksgiving. We even got some festive plates.

Ready to eat. Just patiently waiting for dad. We actually had a very enjoyable dinner and all the pie we could hold. Two days later and we are still eating pie. And ham. And, actually everything. It seems I made extended-family size portions of everything. The fridge looks like a crazy game of Jenga. And I have not a single regret. We loved our holiday at home, and we are looking forward to holidays with extended family next year.

Giving Thanks

With most of our activities canceled this year, we have had the most free time we have had in years. We used a few of those hours to volunteer. Michael and I helped assemble care packages for the United Way (no pictures taken) and a week later we dragged everyone to the Foodbank.

Where we bagged carrots. Lots and lots of carrots. Our family and three other volunteers bagged somewhere around a ton of carrots to be packaged for food boxes destined for Payette. We were stiff and sore when we finished, but it was also crazy satisfying to empty out these huge bins of carrots into usable portions. Our group sorted four bins worth.

We are thankful for the extra family time this year. We are grateful we are healthy and strong. We are grateful we are able to help others. We have a bounty of blessings, although sometimes we forget. It's nice to take a moment to remember.

Spooky Day in a Spooky Year

For my birthday dinner I decided on a crudités platter. Initially we were calling it a charcuterie board, but then discovered that term referred to an assortment of meat. We did not have any meat. It became a crudités platter. I bought all the expensive fancy cheese and it was amazing. Libby did all the dinner prep, which is why it is cute. She loves to make things fancy. I love that about her.

Crackers, cheese, veggies, Greek olives, fresh veggies, roasted veggies, and pickled asparagus. Nobody walked away from the table hungry.

The pickled plate is on the right. Learned I am not a fan of pickled cauliflower.

After dinner we sent the kids around the neighborhood on a photo scavenger hunt. Libby fell down and scraped herself and Sam came home early, but they still enjoyed themselves. The kids even found some neighbors with no contact treats outside, so they came home with their pockets full.

Michael and I ensured their candy coma was complete by giving them a bucket of treats. This is Grace's haul for the day. The bucket was from us and her neighborhood haul. The pink treasures are from her friend. Nobody was feeling deprived at the end of the night. 

After the kids came home we broke out the new chocolate fountain for my birthday dessert. It was enjoyed by all.

Everyone hovering around waiting for a turn. During the celebration I looked particularly fetching in my paint splattered shirt. For my birthday this year I decided to paint the bathroom wall and cabinets and replace the light fixture, hence breaking out my fashionable painting shirt.

After dessert we finally watched the 2016 Ghostbusters (deemed Ghostbusties by Ethan several years ago). The movie was just okay, but we still had a lovely evening. 

Everyone pitched in to help, but it still took most of the day. I was screwing cupboard doors back on at 11:00 o'clock at night and finished putting the caulking strip on the tub at midnight, after which I finally went to bed. The bathroom isn't finished but it looks SO much better. Happy birthday to me!

All the Pumpkins

We can't celebrate without the annual pumpkin carving. Thursday we got out the knives, pumpkin scoopers and mini saws and got to work. Everybody found their own design, carved their own pumpkin, needed only minimal assistance, and no blood was shed. Huzzah! 

All finished!

Lighting up the dark.

Michael's masked jack-o-lantern.

Grace's bat. This one took the longest by far. Her perfectionism took over.

A truck. Yes, this is Ethan's. It's hauling a pumpkin, which is a little hard to see. He made modifications later so the pumpkin lit up.

My cannibalistic pumpkin. He actually looks like he is smoking a fat one. C'est la vie.

Libby's standard pumpkin. She was done first. She also made the biggest mess. How is that even possible? I think the lines are smoke from the candle. Mentally edit them out, please, I haven't the energy to do it digitally. (Editor's note: they're lens flares.)

Sam's cyclops. After Ethan and I used a mini pumpkin, Sam needed one as well. Inside his cyclops in a mini cyclops who had been eaten.

I may have spent way too much money on pumpkins. The house may have ended up covered with orange guts. But I don't care. The pumpkins are cute. The seeds are roasted. Fall is celebrated. Life is good.