Christmas is over, already?

Yes, Christmas is over. I love the excitement, activities and preparation leading up to the event, but never the cleaning up to follow. Our house is still decorated. As V says, "We'll take down the decorations next weekend, to make it worth the effort". It always seems to be more of an "effort" to clean it up than it is to decorate, right? I did most of my shopping online this year. It really made things more pleasurable. Although my neck, shoulders and wrists were sore for most of the month, at least I didn't have to find parking, walk the gauntlet, and fight the crowds at the mall, which I'm still avoiding. The rain is gone, the weather spectacular, kids are occupied with their new toys. We had Christmas dinner with friends (turkey, prime rib, mashed potatoes, stuffing, 5-cup salad, asparagus, corn, green salad and three different cake/pie desserts). They had lots of appetizers before we got there. Vu and I cooked prime rib for the first time! The outside looked overcooked, but the thermometer never lies. When we cut into it, the blood started pooling on the cutting board. Stacey's mom took the "end piece", I wasn't too sure, so I took a slice from somewhere between the middle and the edge.

Oh, the (sticky) joy of Christmas!

Christmas eve the kids made a birthday cake for Jesus. The pink blob in the corner is a heart! One candle for each kid to blow out.


"Elmo Live" for A


Baby Alive goes on the potty now! Kinda freaky looking doll (Chucky-like).


Nascar race track was a dud (Thanks Santa)


Some tears over the Little Pony stuff

First Barbie-surprise, she's a princess!

A's new PlasmaCar- I just noticed today it was red! I ordered pink!

The rest of the weekend was spent putting away stray toys, picking up wrapping paper, taking pictures (both the girls got digital cameras-talk about candid shots!), drying tears (the cheaper toys didn't last long) and "practicing" tennis and bowling on our new Wii. We needed lots of "practice". I had to brave the stores in order to buy two more remotes and steering wheels, so we could play together with the kids. There are still more toys and games to play with. N got a dart board, now we just need to find a (safe) place to mount it. Santa got him a chess game and book, but Mom will probably be the one to play with him. Yesterday A's gift from her aunt showed up. She received a lovely ballerina jewelry box. Something I would have died for as a child. Believe me, there were many tears from the other one. So I think she'll be getting a similar one from V's parents with the money they sent her for Christmas. What a pleasant surprise opening another gift! Next year we'll have to hold back a few gifts until the morning after, or the morning after the morning after.


A pleasant surprise, the most beautiful musical ballerina jewelry box.

I've never had such a great showing on my birthday before! I received a couple of cards, 6 phone calls and 10 email wishes. Usually it slips by without much notice. Here at home we had our own little birthday party. Probably sick of cake, V opted for a cheesecake assortment instead (boy was he dead-on with that one...mmmmm!). I got my requisite Starbuck's gift card and coffee, a beautiful (and spacious) new Dooney & Bourke purse from my sister, an Animal Crossing game for the Wii, and a KitchenAid hand mixer to replace my burned out one. (We've been doing a lot of baking around here).

My cheesecake "assortment". Ah look, it's my sweet 16!

Made more cookies this morning!

Rain! It's coming!

We made snowflakes and little men too!

We are supposed to be getting more rain here today and tomorrow. 70% chance, so you know what that means. It reminds me of Oregon and Washington, except the people here love it when it rains. I suppose friends and family up there will be getting more snow and having a white Christmas this year. So I guess you could say the rain is our version of a "white Christmas". So far the skies are clear, but we'll see what happens later. I suppose I should be out doing errands before the rains come. Then there's all the wrapping to be done, and then we need to make a birthday cake for Jesus. It's his birthday tomorrow.

Sunday E's friend Paige came over for a play date in the afternoon. Paige recently changed schools, and now Elise "doesn't have anybody to play with or eat lunch with at school." Heartbreaking, really. We attempted to construct a gingerbread house. We could have used my dad at this point, as the engineering was not thought out well. I knew the thing was going to fall over any minute, so I suggested the kids have a piece of it right away. Personally, I like my gingerbread thick and chewy, not tooth-breaking hard. I also tried to do some crafts with the kids like card-making and making a winter scene (too difficult). Meanwhile, I started to notice a tug-o-war going on between the kids over Paige. It seems they all wanted to play with her, or talk to her, or show her something. After Paige left, A made her a Christmas card and we made our annual Old-fashioned Sugar Cookies. I like this recipe, because the cookies are not too sweet, then after the kids went to bed, we adults iced them and decorated them. N stayed up to make a few "for Santa." They taste just sweet enough with the icing.


Monday I decided it was haircut day, and all the kids got haircuts. They were so well-behaved at the salon, but it could only last so long. So much for the trip to the grocery store. They were so fidgety I had to get the %$#*&@! out of Dodge.

We have (six) oranges on our dwarf tree!


OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES
1/3c Shortening
1/3c Margarine or Butter
2c Flour
3/4c Sugar
1 Egg
1T Milk
1t Baking powder
1t Vanilla extract
In large bowl, beat shortening and margarine with electric mixer on medium to high speed until well mixed. Add half of flour and all other remaining ingredients. Beat until combined. Stir in remaining flour and mix well. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill 2 hours.
Roll dough out to 1/8-inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut into desired shapes. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet and bake in 375-degree oven for 7-9 minutes.


SUGAR COOKIE ICING
1c Confectioners sugar
2t Milk
2t Light corn syrup
1/4t Almond extract
3 drops food coloring, any color
In small bowl, stir together sugar and milk until smooth. Add corn syrup and almond extract, mixing well. If icing appears too thick, add more corn syrup. Divide mix into separate bowls and add food colorings to desired intensity. Paint mixture on cookies or dip cookies into bowl.

I was tagged...

I was tagged

I am posting the fourth picture in the fourth folder (of the fourth folder) on my computer. Here it is...

N at 2 years one month old (Walmart photo package). Taken in March of 2003. It was stored on a floppy disk, which I transferred to my computer at some point.

Since I don't have four blogging friends who actually read this blog, I am tagging Marci and Jennifer. You're it!

The object of the picture tag is to:

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer

2) Select the 4th picture in the folder

3) Explain the picture

4) Tag 4 people to do the same NO CHEATING! (cropping, editing, etc!)

Dance Recital

Today A (finally) had her dance recital. She was placed front and center in the lineup. But she picked 2 pm on Saturday (recital time) to stand still, watching all the other girls, while fiddling with her dress and fingers. Don't get me wrong, she was cute, but moved very little. I certainly wouldn't call it dancing. But there was that cute little (adlib) spin in the middle of the performance, and her costume was as sweet as candy. (Though perhaps a little like the Whos in Whoville.)

Taking a bow

After the recital, roses, candy and teddy bear, we headed over to the Asia buffet for an early dinner, then on down to the Festival of Lights at the Animal Park. We met Stacey and E's friend Hannah and family. I haven't seen E so giddy in ages. After hot chocolate and goodbyes, we headed off for home. The three kids fell asleep in their carseats on the way home. We carried them up to bed.

Making sand bracelets-a craft at the Festival

Wow! Check out that snow!

Family picture at the Festival of Lights

The week was studded with the kids' class plays. E played the flower in "A Flea on Santa's Tree". N played an elf in "A Gift for Mrs. Claus". There was a "Polar Express" parade for the kindergarteners. They got to wear their pajamas and "boxcars" and parade around the school several times. We've been having some wet and cold weather this week, so they decided to do the parade (mostly) indoors.

A Flower on Santa's Tree

The Candy Cane Express

Elf in "A Gift for Mrs. Claus"

The Big Gymnastics Recital

Today E had her gymnastics recital. She had a full 4 minutes to change and get ready for her performance after our cub scout service project today (where we spent the day "building character" and cleaning bunkhouses top to bottom). Still, that girl managed to wow us with her her talents, and her gleaming trophy.

A was completely upset by this event. She misunderstood and thought it was finally her turn to be the center of attention. No...that's next week at the big dance recital. Ok- she's three! N didn't mind a bit, because he remembered to bring his Nintendo DS. (I had to remind him to turn the volume off). He did keep whispering something to me over and over about cookies and hot chocolate during the performance (they were having a bake sale in the lobby).

Still A managed to have her minute of glory, after everyone had left the stage and she was finally able to give her own version of a gymnastics salute. After the big show, and all the attention her sister received, she's decided she too wants to take gymnastics. Hmmm... we'll see.

A and I had a mother/daughter outing earlier in the week at the local pottery studio for a preschool class field trip. A painted an ornament, which will be decorating our tree for years to come, I'm sure. Lucky for me, she picked some semi-decent colors.

Everybody's had their moment in the sun this month. N was in the city parade last Friday night. He got to ride along with the cub scouts on his scooter, decorated by flashing battery-operated lights. Last year the parade was rained out and rescheduled, but this year everything was on time.

Really, all I want to be doing right now is decorating cookies, or painting an ornament myself. But there's very little time. And next week, both the big kids are participating in the school play. Stay tuned for more....

Happy Birthday Gabrielle!

Happy Birthday to my sister! Born in 1979, the year of Le Freak, I Will Survive, Knock on Wood, Ring My Bell, My Sharona, Heart of Glass, and Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?". (All personal favorites). 1979 was the last year that Disco reined supreme. It was the year I first set my wheels inside a skating rink. This year was noted as "International Year of the Child" (how fitting). Jimmy Carter was president. The Iran hostage crisis was happening. A nuclear accident happened at three mile island. This day was also noted by Time Magazine to be one of 80 days that changed the world.

On this day I rode my bike to Katrina's after school and called home to see if it was ok. My Grandma answered the phone told me I should hurry home because my mom was at the hospital. So I rushed home, breathless and shaking, so dad could drive us over to the hospital and meet my little sister for the first time. We kids were so happy "we got a girl!"
She turned out to be so much fun. A real live baby doll.

Little Silver Balls

Now that my little girls are starting to “come of age” for decorating cookies, I set out to buy some little silver balls (otherwise known as dragees) for decorating some snowflake and ice skate cookies this year. I just dream of creating some pretty cookies with pastel icing and those little silver balls that we grew up with as accents, even if I have to stay up late doing it myself. Couldn’t find those balls anywhere, and since I needed to order ice skate, mitten and snowflake cookie cutters, I turned to online sources. Well, it turns out some Napa environmental lawyer started sueing companies that sold dragees (otherwise known as little silver balls) in California, these companies mostly settled out of court, so now nobody sells them for fear of legal action. What a shame. I had no idea they were toxic to eat. I just like the way they look. I wouldn’t be opposed to scraping them off!

I found this disclaimer on Sugarcraft.com (the site I ordered the cookie cutters on)…

DRAGEES ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR DISTRIBUTION OR SALE IN THE STATES OF: CALIFORNIA, TEXAS, COLORADO, NEW JERSEY, ARIZONA, FLORIDA Please check with your local applicable state agencies to ascertain the regulations pertaining to your specific state before purchasing. If any purchase is made illegally, you may be prosecuted to the full extent of your state laws. We will not ship even though you order these if it is illegal for you to get them.

And this from one of their customers:
Opinion from Jennifer (a customer): In the US, all dragees are considered non-edible and for decoration only by the FDA, for the last 10-15 years I think. This is because even though they are primarily made of sugar, they contain minute quantities of heavy metals, usually silver, which are considered inedible. However, in many other countries they are considered edible, and many people do use them on confections and do eat them with no ill effects. I have eaten them and personally don't consider it a big deal. However, for customers, I always tell them they are non-toxic, but considered an inedible decoration which should be removed. Plus those things are awfully hard, and I worry more about someone chipping a tooth than anything else!
Every site I found the silver dragees on were unable to ship to California. Wow, what a big deal. My conclusion: only Californians are unable to decide for themselves whether to use silver dragees as decorations on their cakes and cookies.

Low Down on my (shopping) week

Wow, has it really been so long? You must have missed me! Here's a low down (the facts) on what's happened the last week.
Thanksgiving:
My sister and I were up at our regular time (hers being the crack of dawn with that baby, so she had to wait around for me to get up). Anyhow to make a long-(winded) story short, yes we had turkey (it was fresh), we cooked it in an oven bag, so it was done much faster than "the other way", M slaved away at making flaky layer rolls (wow, that was complicated). I slaved away at the pecan pie and bourbon whipped cream (my obsessive-compulsive version in which every pecan is lined up in ring patterns). The other foods weren't quite so complicated (green beans, 5 cup ambrosia salad, roasted red potatoes, stuffing (Stove-Top with embellishments-yes I know, the sodium!), an already prepared Costco baked yam dish and pumpkin pies. Perhaps I'm forgetting something, I'm not sure, but you get the gist. It was yummy, and yes there are still leftovers (which need to be thrown out at this point). I just haven't gotten around to it. Busy shopping.


Black Friday:
No shopping! We did drive by and get a glimpse of the crowded malls on the way to Seaworld. Thank God we weren't there! One of the security guards at Seaworld told us a Walmart security guard in NY was killed by a stampede of frenzied bargain shoppers. They looked pretty spooked. I was stunned. What more reason for us to stay away from the stores on Black Friday?


Jus chillin' wit my homies

The Christmas tree at Seaworld. V says we should have used this one for our Christmas card. (He didn't see it till today)

Yes, indeed, it snows at Seaworld every December
Saturday:
N sick. Threw up first thing in the morning. Refused to stay home with dad while I took his aunt and cousins to the airport. Instead, threw up in bucket in car. Could barely walk in to the airport by the time we got there, so we had to leave them at the door.
Sunday:
N better (activity restricted). Today I decided to do a "little" shopping. When I returned home we decided to go out with a tripod and camera taking pictures at a local park for the Christmas cards. But the sun set so fast, we had very little time. Returned home to decorate the house and trees. This year each child has a tiny-tree they decorated themselves in their rooms. V put up most of the lights. We need a taller ladder! Online research/shopping into the wee hours.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday:
Painted the girls' bathroom yellow. That was quite a bit of work! All those nooks and crannies. You never would have thought! Cyber-Monday traveled to Toys R Us, Linens and Things, Gap, and so forth for shopping. It was a lot less crowded than Black Friday. (Hey, aren't I doing things backwards?) N received an award at school on Tuesday for math. I missed bible study (Christmas party this time) again, instead attending the awards assembly with my camera and my hugs. Well, I wouldn't miss it for the world! See my post below about the math award. Tuesday afternoon squeezed myself into a (canceled) orthopedic surgery appointment. Wednesday morning, while A was at school, I took a little Christmas shopping trip to Costco. Then online research/shopping into the wee hours. Can you see why I haven't had time to blog?
Thursday:
We had to drive to school this morning because N forced us home with an "emergency" bowel movement after we had already walked several blocks to school. So, since I had some extra time before A's dance practice, I made a quick trip to Target for a little in-store shopping. (I'm starting to notice a pattern here, are you?) A received her dance costume this morning and had pro-photos taken this afternoon. She sure can scream! (Combative too). I had to wake her up from her nap to "curl" her hair and get her ready for photos in 20 minutes. I'm sure everyone else did it in an hour. Well, at least the pictures turned out good.
More shopping online (oh my, these kids are going to be spoiled), and now...a neck massage?

Math Wizard

Silly me! How could I forget the awards assembly? N was nominated to receive an award for math. I attended the assembly Tuesday morning, clapped and whistled, and took pictures afterwards.

Little A met her "boyfriend" there and gave him a big hug. N received the award certificate which I promptly stuck in my scrapbook "to do" cart. (That thing is really filling up fast). I really need to get going on scrapbooking again. I've had a three year hiatus now. Poor little A, at 3 years old, has nothing but an empty baby book! What a sad and sorry mommy I am!
This is what hot chocolate looks like on a 3-year-old.

Christmas tree shot

Can you tell we spend a lot of time together?

Thanksgiving eve

Today we spent the day planning and organizing for Thanksgiving. After a morning trip to the grocery store, we decided to catch an early matinee. After much research, we decided upon the movie Bolt, the latest Disney release.

Later that evening, some of the kids enjoyed a group bath (especially the lucky guy pictured in the middle). Then we settled down for Barbie's new release "A Christmas Carol" and another round of popcorn.

Every guy's dream

The aftermath...or should I say afterbath?

When it was all over, I realized I forgot about E's gymnastics lesson. Funny, since this was the reason we stayed close to home today in the first place.