My favorite dish

I'm going to wax poetical about one of my favorite dishes on earth.

Risotto.

If you're not familiar, risotto is a simple rice dish of Italian origin. At the heart of the recipe, all you really need is some medium grain rice, a bit of olive oil or butter, broth (water is ok too), Parmesan and a pan and spoon. What emerges after about 20 minutes of adding liquid, stirring, adding more liquid, etc. is a creamy, delicious, inexpensive (1 cup rice produces enough for 4) and filling dish. The stirring releases the starch from the rice, creating a saucy consistency.

There are endless variations and techniques. One of our favorites is made with sun-dried tomatoes. Another favorite is made with sausage.

The texture is probably the hardest thing to figure out, especially if you've never had it before. You want it somewhere between a liquid and a solid. I prefer mine on the more liquid side, with just a bit of the starchy, golden liquid to pool around the edges. Soft enough that you have to eat it with a spoon. Others like theirs more on the dry side... its just something you need to figure out for yourself with experience.

To me, risotto is the ultimate comfort food. Replacing things like mashed potatoes or grilled cheese sandwiches. I can't think of anything I'd rather eat.

Leftover risotto is a pleasure in itself if you make it into arancini, a popular street food in Italy. Leftover risotto is rolled into a ball (ranging in size from an orange to a walnut) and something special is tucked inside. Mozzarella cheese, a meat filling, sometimes just a bit of tomato sauce. Then the ball of rice is rolled in flour or breadcrumbs and fried. The outside is crispy and golden, the inside is hot and molten, containing just a little of that filling to add to the enjoyment. Truly delicious!

Anyway, I'm not sure why I had the urge to share this love of mine except that so few people make risotto and are missing out :) I also haven't blogged about food in awhile and after making risotto last night, I was inspired.

Here are my very few pics from Christmas. I think there might be some on the other camera... I'll check that one later.

Waiting for everyone to arrive.



















You can still see how sleepy Ethan was!



















Just for fun, our Toby-dog














Gwen trying, unsuccessfully, to hop on her uninflated ball



















I put in this poor picture of myself only because it shows the doll house. This picture doesn't include the attic and roof. Its huge.














Someone inflated the ball for Gwen and she was able to hop correctly :)

Sooooooo tired.

Mom and Jenni came by today and helped us. Jenni watched the kids, Jason (and I in parts) painted the rest of Gwen's room, while Mom and I tackled the sewing room. If anyone needs organizational help, hire my mother. She's fast and good and not sentimental. I didn't think we'd finish the room today, but we not only finished it, but took down all the furniture, moved in the stuff that needed to go in the closet, vacuumed, taped, and painted. Its about 1/3 done. Gwen's room is entirely done. Now I just have to finish painting Ethan's room, wait for their light blocking curtains to arrive, install, and then this move will be done!

Every muscle in my body aches and creaks at present. Bed is sounding mighty nice... but still an hour to go.

Thanks Mom and Jen, this would have taken us 100x longer without you!

I forgot to mention the other stuff about the ultrasound.

Baby girl was measuring 19 weeks, 1 day. As you can see from my ticker over there, I'm just over 18 weeks. The discrepancy is because no one can agree on my due date. The midwives are using the latest possible date, but the radiology department is using the one they established based on the ultrasound.There is about a week difference between the two. They also estimated her size at 9 oz.

It was interesting because my placenta is anterior (meaning on my stomach side instead of the back side) and you could see it really well on the ultrasound pics. Its big! It made it hard for the ultrasound tech to get good pictures because baby tends to smoosh against it.

Jason wanted me to blog about something I did today. While the kids were napping I ran some errands. During one of those errands, I managed to somehow slam my leg in the door and get a nasty scrape which will likely bruise badly. Jason thinks this is bizarre and kinda funny. I don't think its funny at all, but I agree with the bizarreness of it as the car door isn't set up for easy leg entrapment. Just another incident to add to the list of strange things Kristi is doing while pregnant :)

We had our ultrasound today and did decide to find out the gender.

Ethan and Gwen will be getting a.... little sister!

Ethan isn't happy about it. In fact, when the tech told us he started crying and said he wanted a boy. We had a talk about how God decided to give us a girl this time around and maybe if we had another baby it would be a boy. This seems to have helped.

If I was a good blogger, there would be pictures from Christmas up. But I'm a very bad blogger and am lazy.

You know what is really bothering me lately? That I just can't pick a home improvement project and start it and finish it to completion by myself in a reasonable time frame. I have to rely on someone to come and watch the kids, or wait until they nap. Napping isn't that great either... it only gives me a few hours and I can't just run to the store and get what I need and come back. I get so frustrated by that, I can't even tell you. I hate starting to paint and then having to stop an hour later, then repeat the next day. I'd rather have it all done in a 4 hour stretch.

Anyway, its making me feel really irate.

This is just a quick post... one with pics will be coming later.

We had a wonderful (if exhausting) holiday. On Sunday, Grandpa Les and Grandma Karen stopped by for a visit. The kids opened their gifts and loved them! Unfortunately, we didn't get to visit long before they had to leave, but we so appreciated them coming way up to our neck of the woods for a visit.

Monday we went over to my Mom's around 12, put the kids down for nap and visited until later in the day when (great) Grandma Betty and my cousins Shawn and Charlie showed up. I'd not seen any of them in AGES. Its strange to see my cousins grown up. I suppose because I still see myself as a kid its a shocker to see that my dear ones are adults now. Weird :) We had a good dinner, a good visit, and a good time. We left around 7pm so that we could get home and do Santa stuff before bed.

There was a shadow cast over our night though. Mom's neighbor called with some sad news. Phil, the guy who hosts the enormous 4th of July parties we go to almost every year and lives just up the driveway from my parents, and who has helped many in our family with free roofing and other assistance, had died suddenly of a heart attack. It was completely unexpected. He was a close friend of my Dad's and a kind and generous man. To recount all he'd done for his friends and family and neighbors and family of his neighbors would take more room than I have here. I didn't know him well, but was greatly saddened at his passing.

The kids left out cookies, a mandarin orange and some chocolate milk, along with a note. We got in our jammies and read "The Night Before Christmas", twice (thanks for that book Grammy!).

In the morning, Santa left crumbs, an orange peel and an empty glass. He wrote a little note back thanking them for the cookies and milk and said that Rudolph really loved the orange. The kids thought that was pretty awesome.

We were up early for Christmas and the kids loved the doll house! Its so much bigger now that its downstairs. Gwen can't even reach the attic! We opened our stockings... candy, books, and popcorn for the kids, and the same for Daddy and I, except Santa snuck an extra present in mine. A Canon PowerShot camera! Its the size of a credit card and only about 1 1/2 inches thick. I LOVE it and it was a total surprise.

Ethan got a Matchbox car racing track and some Geo-Track parts. Gwen got a teddy bear that she can color on and a V-Tech thingy that does colors, shapes and foods. Its shaped like a refrigerator and, as you can imagine, a favorite in this house already :)

I got Jason a really cool toy he's wanted for a long time. A Lego Mindstorm. Its basically an advanced Lego set for building robots. It comes with a computer program and everything. He's already built two robots and is anxious to try more. I also got him a Rubix cube (inside joke!).

He got me the camera, and a Thermapen, which I've been wanting for an age.

At around 10am, the family started arriving. Becki, Jenni, Mom, Dad, Michael, his girlfriend Melissa, and Grandma Betty. The kids were anxious to do presents, so we started right away. The kids got hop balls, really nice pajamas, Marble Run, personalized tote bags and each got a plush horse (Gwennie named hers Cream and Ethan named his Cocoa), and I feel like there is more but I'm forgetting something :)

Becki drew my name this year and went our spending limit, I'm sure. She got me a really nice study Bible and "Rhett Butler's People". Both things I'd wanted badly! My Dad gave Jason a new computer game and then played it most the day himself :) I don't have the time or memory to recount what everyone got, but there were two huge black bags of garbage when we were done.

Michelle and Grammy both called and it was nice to hear from them. Dinner went well and was delicious... Rib Roast with red Wine, roasted garlic and thyme sauce, mashed potatoes, corn and rolls. Becki made a very rich and delicious brownie desert. Everyone left around 5, thoroughly stuffed and tired. Kids went down at 7 and me not long after. What a day!

Whew, grocery shopping is exhausting. Ok, maybe just grocery shopping two days before Christmas is exhausting.

I stopped at Safeway to pick up the rib roast for Christmas dinner. They had hardly any out and the ones they did have were far too small for what I needed. There was a group of maybe 5-7 people milling about the roast area picking over what they had and waiting for more to come out. As I was walking towards the butcher to ask if I could get a larger peice, the door swings open and out comes a guy pushing a rack stacked with rib roasts. I stop, conveniently, right in front of him so he can't move and ask, "Can I please grab one right off your rack? Those people over there are vultures and I need a big roast!". He told me I could, then said that they couldn't put these roasts out fast enough... Rather pleased with myself for grabbing the biggest one before anyone else, I sauntered over to the veggies. I returned past the beef area a few minutes later to find all the roasts gone again. That guy was not kidding!

After getting out of the store (and it was more crowded than I've ever seen any grocery store), I couldn't find the car. It was a little embarrassing. I had parked on the espresso side of the store, but when I came out I thought I'd parked on the produce side. So I splosh through the puddles and drenching rain to the other end of the parking lot... and of course don't find my car. I think, "Shoot, I'm such a fool, I must have parked on the other side" so I splash back to the espresso side, but still can't find the car. Now starting to worry that if I call Jason I'll be admitted to a hospital for mental issues and that people might be wondering why a pregnant lady is absently wandering the parking lot in the middle of a rainstorm, I panic. Out loud I say to myself, "Why can I NOT find the Explorer?". Well, saying it out loud must have given my brain a little jump start and I realized that I'd been looking for a car I don't own. I don't drive an Explorer, and haven't since September. Maybe I do need to be admitted for mental instability.

Don't worry, I did find the car (amazing how simple it is when you look for a car you drove in) and get home without further issue.

Here is the video from Ethan's Christmas program on Thursday. This version would be ideal for those who have a high speed connection. Jason is making one for dial-up that I'll upload later. Its about 5 minutes long. Ethan is the one on the far left, in the stripes.

The first night in the new beds went well. We put the kids down very early as they'd had no nap (we eventually got them up) and they slept till almost 7am. Now if it only goes smoothly from here on out.

Yesterday I also pulled out a gallon of paint I had considered using for the kitchen in our old house but decided against because it seemed too pinkish. I painted a few spots with it in the nursery/Gwen's room wall and it was a pleasing lavender (maybe a hair darker) so I think I will paint her room next week sometime. I also want to get Ethan's room painted (he's requested blue), but all the sewing stuff will have to come out first (Mom is gonna help me, bless her) and I may not have the energy. We'll see. As my long time readers know, no pregnancy is complete without me painting or taking on some other home improvement project. With Ethan, I laid our wood flooring when I was 6 months pregnant (hard on the knees and back. Yikes) and painted Ethan's room. With Gwen, I painted the bathroom, and more difficult, our bedroom. I chose orange, but it was too orange so I washed it with white paint. It looked like a peeled orange on the walls because of the gosh darn texture. It was actually a very cheery room but so much work.

Anyway, there is no reason that this pregnancy should be any different! I suppose this is my form of nesting :)

Good heavens.

Do you have any idea how complicated it is to unpack and assemble two beds? It took two adults nearly 3 hours and the mess we left... Shoot. Its gonna take days to get all the little pieces of styrofoam Ethan and Gwen broke off. It was not technically complicated, but many pieces and screwing in things. We are quite pleased with the (unbunked) beds. They seem sturdy and well made. The kids look tiny in them though. A twin is much larger than a crib!

We just laid them down about 15 minutes ago and they are still bouncing off the walls up there. The whole process of un-assembling their cribs (well, we left one up for the new baby), then the delivery of the beds and assembly has got them all worked up. I think nap might be a pipe dream. At least they are getting comfortable with the idea of the bigger beds and such now instead of at bedtime when Mommy and Daddy will be really tired.

After running out to Target to get some sheets and blankets for their beds, Gwen and I stopped by McDonalds to get lunch. It was there I looked in the mirror and noticed how instead of my eyes looking puffy, it looked like I had a black eye. Greaaaaat. Abused woman... not quite the look I'm going for.

So I did it again. I broke my face :(

Last night my skin was dry so I applied some eye cream (gotta keep those wrinkles at bay). I've used this eye cream many times without incident.

I woke up swollen and itchy, reminiscent of my incident back in August. Right before Christmas! Right before I'm likely to be photographed and I still have shopping to do! We have people coming over tomorrow and my face looks like it aged 80 years.

I could just cry. I've taken a Benadryl, and still have the cream the doctor prescribed me last time, so I'll take that later today. Why did I react this time and not the 50 times I've used it previously? Argh!

Ethan had his pre-school Christmas program today and it was so sweet.

Mom and Jenni joined us and when we were all assembled outside the classroom, per teachers instruction, each kid came out and invited their family to "the party" and asked us to follow them. We followed Ethan into the room and he led us to some seats. After we were seated, he eagerly ran and brought us all cookies that they had made on Tuesday.









































After we all had cookies, he ran to bring us juice




















After eating and drinking for a bit, the kids were called up front. Ethan did his typical, "I don't wanna!" act, but Miss Paula was able to talk him out of it.

They recited John 3:16, along with foot stomps and hand claps.

Then they did a song about snowmen that was kinda like "I'm a little teapot"














One guess on what song this was!
















Jingle bells was sung with extreme vigor.



















After the singing was over, the kids presented their parents with a gift. It was a picture set onto some highly fragrant cinnamon dough. Doesn't he look grown up?



















Then they were given a present from their teachers... some candy and a book.














Gwen was very jealous, but was soothed somewhat by Ethan's generosity in sharing his loot.




















Hopefully we'll have the video up shortly of the actual program!

There were lots of pics from Spokane, so I made them into a slide show.

If you click on a picture, it will take you to the album and you can see all the pictures and the one you clicked in full size.

We had a great time in Spokane, other than the grueling drive of course :)

We left the house around 7:30, got coffee and breakfast and were headed towards the trestle at 7:45. At 9:15, we finally got out of Everett. Yep. Traffic was a disaster, the trestle was all backed up, we detoured around the accident through downtown Everett but so was everyone else. We were highly aggravated by traveling before we'd even left our town!

After that delay, we made good time and cruised into Moses Lake for lunch. Gwen acquainted herself with everyone sitting within 5 feet of our table (as is normal for her!) and the kids had their first chance to throw and stomp in snow. We had a mini-snowball fight in front of everyone at McDonalds, then loaded back into the car and took off. We ended up in Spokane at around 2. We went to visit Jason's Mom, then took the kids to Red Robin for dinner, which, all things considered, went fairly painlessly.

Back to the hotel, where Ethan and I shared a sofa bed and J and Gwen got the king bed. We had restless sleep because the kids aren't used to sharing beds and they are little bed hogs. They spread out and push their parents into the corners!

We were up at 5 on Saturday (painful!) and ventured out into the snow for breakfast. The snow had been coming down all night and everything was white and fresh. It covered up all the dirty slush from the night before. Very pretty. Breakfast was rough. Syrup + wound up kids + tired parents = *sigh*. After we escaped the restaurant, we stopped at Target to buy Mommy a coat because she was very smart and left her coat (and snow boots) at home. Then back to the hotel where the kids zoned out for a bit on the tv.

Around lunch time we headed out to David and Christy's house in Coeur D'Alene. They had more snow and after the kids played around inside with Tyler for a bit, everyone headed outside to sled down a small hill close to their house. The kids LOVED sledding. Jason helped make a huge snowman and the kids just had a blast. It was nice for them to have another kid to play with as we don't typically like loitering around long in the snow. Their second hand snow clothes held up splendidly and after we un-bundled them, they were dry and warm. I got such a deal on those!

Later that evening, everyone else showed up. Angela, Chris, Matthew and Jamie, Donny and Mary (Jason's Mom). We had a really good time seeing them all and catching up. It was interesting to see the kids interact. Matthew and Tyler, being very similar in age, naturally stuck together. Gwen and Jamie, being the only girls and similar in age, also stuck together. This left Ethan going back and forth between the groups. Too old for the girls, too young for the boys. He really noticed too that he didn't fit in. Broke my heart. I know these things are good for growing and learning, but it still hurts a little bit.

On the way back to the hotel, Gwen was out immediately, but Ethan conveniently woke up just as Daddy was pulling into McD's to get Mommy an ice cream cone, so he ordered some nuggets and we all had a late evening snack. The kids fell asleep easily together in the sofa bed and we thought that we'd have a comfy nights sleep in the king. Not so much. A few hours in, Gwen woke up crying and saying her head hurt. So Jason went onto the sofa bed and I snuggled with Gwen until she fell back asleep. Neither J or I slept well after that and I woke up a very bad mood.

We ate breakfast in the hotel and Gwen just couldn't stop talking. We were all sitting there and she starts shrieking, "Mommy! Mommy! Look!". Thinking there must be a guy in a Santa costume or something very shocking going on, I look. Only there was nothing there but a guy at a table. Gwen continues, "Mommy, look, A GUY!". Its so loud that no one can ignore it and the guy cracks up, we crack up and the guys wife cracks up as she returns to the table. A few minutes later, Gwen pushes back her plate and says, "So, Daddy, how are you today?" Jason looks rather bewildered and says he's fine and she says, "Good" and continues eating. Where did this come from?

The drive home was rough. No one was rested, Ethan wanted to go back to the hotel (he kept telling people that we lived in a hotel) and Gwen just wanted out! We pulled out the DVD player and that seemed to do the trick. We got home around 3, the kids pulled out all their presents and started playing, Daddy started playing his game (Mass Effect) and I alternated between zoning out and doing chores.

Later today, or maybe tomorrow, I'll wade through the masses of pictures we took and post.

So today I had a midwifery appointment. It was the best one I've had to date. I saw a very nice lady and she spent quite a long time discussing my wants for this pregnancy and birth, recommended some books for me AND Jason and told me how to get a tour of the Pavilion.

For the first time this pregnancy, they were able to pick up the heartbeat on the doppler, so that was nice. We also heard a few kicks, though I can't feel them yet due to the placenta being in front like it is.

The one downer was that my blood pressure was high... 130/110. Usually I'm around 90/70. I wasn't feeling overly stressed and had been sitting quietly in the waiting room for 30 minutes prior. I just hope it was a fluke and not a sign that I might be having blood pressure issues again this early :(

My mid-pregnancy ultrasound was scheduled... for the 28th! I didn't expect to get in so early. Now to decide if we want to know the sex. I'm leaning towards no, but Jason wants to know. It would certainly help us narrow down names. We're having a tough go this time.

We leave early tomorrow for Spokane so I will have a batch of pictures and stories when we return.

I'm so tired right now that I can barely keep my eyes open!

Today we attended AJ's part at the Snohomish Indoor Soccer Dome

The kids had a great time running around, though they were having a heating problem with the field and it was icy cold! The party was finished off with ice cream cake and very tired children. They were up at 6am, again, so its no surprise that by 3 they were way overdone. So was I, having also been up at 6!

Sunday we took the kids shopping for bunk beds. We found something we liked, but it wasn't in stock so we held off. Came home, googled for about an hour and found a set of bunk beds we really liked that had free shipping AND free mattresses and, due to a sale, was cheaper than the the frame we had almost bought at the store. Sold! Here's what they look like:




















They shipped out today, and will be here sometime before Christmas. While we don't plan on using them as bunk beds immediately, we thought it best to buy ones that could be bunked, as we'll likely need them in the future. I'm anxious to get the kids into their own rooms, so family, keep an eye out for an email asking if you'd like to help me paint and re-organize.

Well, off to make dinner. We're having Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Capers over couscous.

Much has been going on, too tired to blog. When will I wear out that excuse? Probably when its not true anymore :)

On Wednesday, the kids and I visited our friend Alyssa and her two boys, AJ and Andrew. I met Alyssa on my message board and she lives so close to us! Just on the other side of Hwy 9. The kids played hard for a couple hours, and on our departure, I picked up a swag made of Noble branches and an appallingly long cedar garland that I had bought from AJ's pre-school fund raiser. Both are beautiful and fragrant.

That garland was 25 feet. I'm not sure where or what or if I ever thought I'd use so much garland. That night, after dinner, J and I set about trying to find a home for it. First we tried it over the opening from the entry to the living room. This might have worked except that the garland was REALLY heavy and bushy. We couldn't manage a way to keep it up and away from tickling people when they walked in. Jason said it kinda made our entry look like a jungle.

So then I tried wrapping it around the piece of wall that is at the end of the bannister (I know there is a word for it but I don't know the word). Again, due to it being so generously portioned, it was just too bushy and thick to wrap. At this point I was laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. The floor was just covered in cedar needles and branches and I had scratches everywhere. Couldn't stop giggling. My final inspiration was to hang it outside, off the eaves. Long story short... didn't work. Curses were uttered and threats made to the garland that it was going to end up in the easement tomorrow morning. Luckily, before I took out my frustration on the garland I called my Mom and asked if she might want to wrangle the beast and find a home for it. She did and so I threw it on the front bench and there it sits, sprawled and taking up half the porch, waiting to be picked up. If nothing else, it provided a night of entertainment for the family.

Last night we went with April, her husband Gregg, and their two sons Gibson and Grady to The Lights of Christmas. Originally Alyssa and her family were to join us too, but Andrew got sick at the last minute and they couldn't make it :( Boy, were they missed. Ethan talked about them on the way up, on the way back and even this morning... wondering how "Andew" was feeling.

It was cold, but not as cold as it was nearly 2 years ago when we last went. All the kids behaved well, but had their moments. Ethan had his "moment" immediately, by trying to go and touch all the lights which is kind of a no-no.

The entrance to the train was guarded by two penguins. Ethan was bewildered why they wouldn't talk back to him.



















As is somewhat typical of Ethan, he got scared at the last minute and didn't want to get on the train. Started wailing something fierce. So I hefted him up and in and within seconds he was fine. (he's still upset here).














One of the beautiful light arrangements.














They have roaring fires all over the grounds so you can stop and warm yourself. They are pretty big fires and everyone was standing back. One guy came up and chastised us humorously for being "city folk" and "dontcha know you gotta get right up in there to get warm". Gwen took his advice and got close!




















One of the highlights of the night was the horse drawn wagon.














After that, we headed over to the pony rides. Surprisingly, both kids hopped on with nary a complaint. Ethan expressed some concern and the guy loading them on spoke kindly with him for a few seconds and then he was golden!









































Gibson liked it too!



















After a rather funny meltdown by Gibson (I know it wasn't funny for April or Gregg!) we headed back to the main area to get something warm to drink and some freshly made on site donuts. April and I handled the drinks with Grady and Gwen, Gregg had Gibson, and Jason took Ethan for donuts. It ended up taking him over 30 minutes to get them because it was SO crowded (and... the people working there didn't seem to be working with any speed). While we were waiting, and after Gwen had downed her vanilla steamer (milk with vanilla flavoring), she nearly zonked out in the stroller.





















But once Daddy arrived back with donuts for all, the kids perked up enough to wolf them down and make it back to the car.




































All in all, a fun but exhausting night (especially since I missed our turn on the way home and we ended up in the wilds of Stanwood). My Mom has told me a few times that often these outings end up being more work than play, more drudgery than enjoyment, and that is kind of true. But it also makes memories and despite the tantrums and frustrations, all the kids really did enjoy themselves. Thank you Gregg and April for joining us and making the night even better!

I wanted to post this primarily so I don't forget the designer name.

I'm in major love with these diaper bags. It seems wrong to call such beautiful bags diaper bags, but that is their intended purpose.

Take a look:

http://petuniapicklebottom.com/collections/original/

I really want the backpack version in one of those adorable prints.

They are painfully expensive, but off the top of my head I can think of plenty of justifications for such a purchase :)

Anyway, that's all. I keep forgetting the name of the designer so at least now if I forget I can search all my blog posts for "diaper bag" and find it!

Haven't blogged that much lately because the kids have been sick and I've been dead tired. Morning sickness mostly gone, but tiredness, probably here to stay for the rest of this long haul. Someone told me that if you're already wishing for the pregnancy to be over this early, you're done having children. This may very well be true.

So our snow melted on Sunday due to the very heavy rains. We were up all night with the kids that night because of cold symptoms (coughing, headache, etc). Monday J stayed home because of very bad driving conditions and exhaustion. The kids woke up a little better today, but still with runny noses.

I was glad they were better because Ethan was "Star of the Week" at preschool and we had made a poster all about him and he had things to bring to show and tell. I was worried he'd have to miss it, but nope, he pulled it together. He was so happy when I picked him up today. He couldn't stop talking about how everyone petted his giraffe and they liked his poster and so on and so on.

Well, all for now. Head is aching, body is so tired. Must struggle through for another hour then kids can go to bed and so can I.

First snow of the season!

Here they are!

Bundled in her new snow outfit



















Getting Ethan ready... he was telling me a story about snow and dog and...something. You know how 3 year olds telling a story goes :)














His outfit, minus the Bob the Builder coat.



















"Mommy, my pawprint!"



















Building our snowman













The only one of us brave enough to do a snow angel













See how I'm holding Ethan's coat? That was to prevent what happened exactly one second after this picture was taken. Ethan took down the snowman with a mighty swoop of the arm.

I haven't blogged in awhile because, quite honestly, I've been a mess. I haven't been this stressed and overwrought for a long time. What's vexing about it is that there isn't really anything that I should be all worked up about.

There was the overseeing the MOPPETS thing on Friday, which was stressful, but not as much as I expected. I'm ashamed to admit it but on Thursday, after I had met with the lady who briefed me on what I'd need to do and all, I came home and just cried and cried. Then I prayed and prayed it would snow and MOPS would be canceled. It was such an over-reaction, considering how less difficult the whole thing ended up being.

Today I just about totally lost it after the kids were harassing me during breakfast. I mean, there was screaming and shaking (clarification: I wasn't shaking them, I was the one who had the shakes) and even after going out to get our pictures which normally would have distracted me and lifted my spirits, I was so touchy. Its like I'm just wound tight as I can go right now.

On to a more pleasant topic, its SNOWING! That means that tonight I'll definitely have some kids and snow pics. We have about 1 1/2 inches now, and its still coming down, lightly.

As I previously mentioned, we did get our pictures done. I looked drugged out (just like I did last time, darnit!) but after the morning I was having, I was just lucky that my eye wasn't twitching and I wasn't running around in circles chanting my name or something.

Ugh, I look hunched too. Thank goodness we only have to endure this once a year. The kids were great though. The lady said they were the best kids she's photographed in a long time. It seriously took her 5 minutes to do both of them. They smiled on command and did everything she asked! Another aside... I don't think I'd pick the gray background again. It kinda washed out the kids and really brought out Ethan's allergy eyes. Oh well. Its done, and I'm not gonna fret about it now!

(this is the uncropped pic... the edge of the curtain isn't visible in the real photos)

I generally am quite terrible at doing crafty things with the kids. Its overwhelming to have two of them there at once, and I get frustrated and they get frustrated and it all ends in disaster.

Today, that did not happen! I had picked up these Foamies ornaments (well, we made them into ornaments) and Gwen and I did hers while Ethan was at pre-school.



















Then after lunch, Ethan and I did his.




















Other than a few burnt fingers from the glue gun (quickly soothed by sticking their fingers in their mouth), it went very well!

Both pics are blurry because the kids would not sit still. They couldn't stop playing with their figures and I don't think they will spend much time on the tree! Its already been established that the snowman doesn't have a mommy, so the angel will be its mommy :)

Christmas list for the kids

Per the many requests I've received, here is a list!

Bratz, Barbie or GI Joe size dolls for dollhouse (no Bratz please!)
Farm set (barn, animals, etc) for imaginative play
Simple puzzles
Books, particularly touch and feel or peek-a-boo books
Playdoh kits (zoo, kitchen, doctor, etc, etc)
Geo-Trax sets
Hop Ball (you know, a big ball with a handle on it)
My First LeapPad
My First LeapPad books
Any Bob the Builder or Thomas the Tank Engine stuff (clothes, DVD's, books, action figures, etc)
Ethan - size 5T
Gwen - 2-3T
Any building type activity where they can roll a marble, ball or car down their completed maze (example: Marble Run)

Ok, one last post for the day.

So on Friday, we were treated to a great visit from Grandpa Les and Grandma Karen. The kids had a blast and we so enjoyed our visit with them! Karen brought a blanket she had made for Ethan, in hopes of replacing the tattered and threadbare blankie that he totes around. While he loves the new blanket, his attachment to the pile of strings that is blankie remains.

Over the weekend I decided on a whim that I wanted custom Christmas stockings for the family. I posted on my message board asking if anyone did them, and some did, but Jason really wanted me to make them myself since my sewing room will be packed away soon. A last hurrah if you will ;) I purchased this excellent e-book online (making only one tiny change) and on Sunday I whipped up all 4 in about 4 hours. I was really surprised at how fast they came together. I'm rather proud of them!

So Thanksgiving went well. It was only 9 people, which is the smallest number we've ever had in remembered history! It was nice to have so few people though... more personal and relaxed.

Thanks to my (apparently) poor reading skills though, Thanksgiving was nearly ruined. On Wednesday I'd stopped at a sporting goods store to buy an injector for the turkey (for the record, injecting a turkey was kinda creepy) and I grabbed a digital probe thermometer (with a nifty portable monitor so you can wander off while still watching your temp) for testing the oil temp. It was made by Weber, so I thought, "Oh, this will be of good quality and reasonable temperature taking".

Thanksgiving day and we walk outside to get the oil heated. We drop in the probe and carry on with our business. Oil temp reaches 199 and... stays there. Forever. Never rising. Well the burner is on, at full blast, so we know its getting hotter. Come to find out, this "nifty" thermometer doesn't go above 200 degrees, making it useless for what we needed it for. Jason gave me a hard time about it and I got defensive because I knew that it had said it went to 425. So I go online and find the manual and find, "Probe is safe up to 425 degrees. Monitor will not display above 200 degrees". Huh? This product CAN take temps up to 425, but to really piss you off, we won't show you above 200. Have fun now!

So panic starts to set in. My Mom doesn't have anything other than a meat thermometer, which won't go high enough. My Aunt Deanne doesn't have one either. She does have a turkey fryer with thermometer, so she calls Aaron home from a friends house to find it, but he has no luck. My Dad does have a heat reading laser thingy, but its somewhere in the abyss of the garage or pole building and no one can find it. Kristi starts to panic and moan about ruining Thanksgiving. Jason refuses to let her wing it on oil temp, fearing a huge explosion or fire. Finally, though we doubted they were still open, my Mom calls the one grocery store in Granite Falls and they ARE open. So Jason and Jenni rush off, praying that they have a good enough thermometer. They did and Jason bought two of them, which turned out to be a good thing.

So, in goes turkey. Then thermometer #1 falls into the oil as well. Fearing that the mercury would break in the thermometer, Becki and I do a fast turkey evacuation while Jason fishes out the thermometer. All is fine, turkey is not radioactive. Turkey goes back in. We fashion a new method with the second thermometer so it dangles more securely in the oil, so we can monitor the temp. 15 minutes later, #2 takes the death plunge as well. Out comes the turkey, out comes the gauge. But now we must continue using it because we have no other, so this slimy, cloudy object must be precariously dangled in and out of the oil. Really, it was quite dramatic, and along with the 30 degree temps and worries about how late our entire meal was being delayed, quite stressful.

Finally 40 minutes later the turkey is done and pulled out and served and the rest of the night went smashingly well. The turkey was actually very good, much better than the last time we fried it.

Now that you've slogged through my epic tale, I'll give you pics :)

Gwen posing in the sun



















Jenni and Ben playing Rock Band.



















Becki slaving away in the kitchen, making what turned out to be a fantastic stuffing :)














Me and Jenni playing Rock Band. Can't believe I didn't get a pic of Michael playing. He, being a guitar player already, did so good!













Preparing for the turkey



















Mere minutes before thermometer #1 would drop














Becki, myself, and Jenni freeeeeeezing... huddled around the fryer for warmth.













Finally, the bird is done and oh so very tasty.













Gwen digging in. She really wanted a piece with a bone, and she got one!



















My not-very-camera-shy girl and Aunt Becki













Ethan and I had a tea-party after dinner.



















Gwen and Mommy after a long day!