Christmas 2008

Christmas at our house was all about 4 things this year:
"1 blue light saber so I can be Luke,
1 green light saber so Joren can be OB1-Wan Kenobi
1 red light saber so Daddy can be "Dar Thader"
and a horse"

We even got Grandma in on the action! Way to be cool grandma!

This is what Eirik asked Santa for for Christmas in mid November. That's all he wanted and I think he repeated it to everyone he met for the next month and a half. I think his world would have crumbled if he had not received these 4 items. Christmas morning was a lot of fun because 2 year olds are awesome on Christmas. I made costumes to go with the light sabers. Eirik, I mean Luke, has not taken his off since he received it.

As Paul and I were standing in Target looking for Christmas presents for our boys I found this little knight uniform that I thought Eirik would be ecstatic about. Suddenly I was just overwhelmed with giddiness like I was the little kid at Christmas again. I was standing there, plenty of Christmas money rationed away for this very moment to buy our kids exactly what their hearts desired, and my little heart was beating with excitement to think that we could make their little dreams come true. How delightful it was to be able to buy them whatever they wanted and for that one moment I was able to overcome all of my stinginess, frugality, and tendency to withhold for the sake of living simply and "within our means" and just spoil those little sweeties rotten. Eirik is easy to buy for and we all had fun spoiling him, but we had the most fun being spoiled by my sister Katie who drew our name this year.
Can I just say that NOTHING could have prepared me for how cool her gifts were this year. She went so above and beyond that I'm still trying to conceive of a way to properly thank her and it's already mid Jan.
Here is the amazing hobby horse that she MADE without a pattern!and this is the darling blanket/ floor mat in the shape of a turtle that, again, she MADE with no pattern.
BTW it's double sided. yes people, she is so talented.On top of that she bought us some childrens books that are perfect since they are about dragons and horses and rescues, not to mention an awesome childrens dictionary.. so fun.
The Anthropoligie journal she found for me could not be more perfect.Paul helped me spend all my Christmas money on new clothes. What a great treat.
I bought myself a new necklace that says "Create" on in that I am crazy about.

My mom sewed this awesome apron for me. She let me design it 100% which made it wonderfully custom and just right for me.

She also painted this painting for us called "The Doctor". It's a copy of a Sir Luke Fildes painting. Paul hired her to paint it for us. We love it. Thanks MOM! (Isn't she adorable!)

If anyone else out there wants a painting just like this for their husband, I can give you my mom's contact info. She would love to do more. Paul will hang it in his office when he has his own practice someday... in the far distant future... (the year 2000 .. for you Flight of the Concords fans)

Sorry to be all braggy about our new stuff. I hope no one minds. I'm just really worldly and vain like that so that's what you get. If you don't like it stick it out your wazoo.

Besides the gifts, Christmas was fun because I did tons of cooking. I basically picked all my favorite recipes and didn't give anyone else a say in the matter. It was pretty selfish of me, but I didn't see anyone complaining.

These were some of the highlights of the menu plan... for the month..

Cranberry Salsa dip

This is a surprisingly delicious dip - great for anytime, but especially around the holidays due to the red and green colors

Ingredients:

3 c fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained (12. oz bag)

4 minced green onions (1/4 c.)

2 small jalapeño peppers seeded and minced (about 2 T)

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c fresh cilantro, minced

2 T fresh ginger finely grated

2 T fresh lemon juice

2 9 oz. pkgs (lowfat) cream cheese

garnish- cranberries and or cilantro springs

Directions:

Rinse, drain and pick over cranberries discarding all that are soft or bruised. Pace them in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped but not mushy. Place in a bowl and mix with the remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours so flavor develops (it's too sharp and tart to begin with).

Place cream cheese on a plate and cover with the dip. Garnish if desired and serve with crackers. Water Table crackers work well.

Mexican Spinach Dip (Thanks Charyce)

Many friends have asked me for this spinach dip recipe since the Bunko party on my birthday- so here it is!

INGREDIENTS:
1 (16 oz.) jar salsa
1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1 (8 0z.) package cream cheese, diced and softened
1 (2.25 oz.) can chopped black olives, drained
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F .
In a medium baking dish, mix together salsa, chopped spinach, Monterey Jack Cheese, cream cheese, black olives, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
Bake mixture in the preheated oven 12- 15 minutes, or until bubbly.

Serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

PREP TIME: 15 minutes
COOK TIME: 15 minutes

Norwegian Pancakes- Thanks Zach and Arrin

1 ½ c. flour

2 T sugar

½ tsp salt

2 eggs- beaten

2 c milk

2 T butter, melted

Mix first three ingredients. Add ingredients on the right. Pour on skillet with a little butter. These will be very thin and you can make it as one huge pancake and cut it into smaller pieces or in whatever size or shape you want. Serve with fruit, syrup or whatever you want.

Crockpot Lasagna- Thanks Janese!

1 lb. ground beef

1 med. onion chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

29 oz. can tomato sauce

1 c. water

6 oz. can tomato paste

1 tsp salt

1 tsp. dried oregano

8 oz pkg. lasagna noodles (uncooked)

4 c. (16 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese

16 ox cottage cheese

1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

Cook beef, onion, and garlic together in saucepan until browned. Drain. Stir in tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, salt and oregano. Mix Well. Spread 1/4 of meat sauce in an ungreased slow cooker. Arrange 1/3 of noodles over sauce. combine the cheeses. Spoon 1/3 of mixture over noodles. Repeat leayers twice. Top with remaining meat sauce. Cover. cook on low 4-5 hours.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding - Thanks Eugena. We loved it!

This Bread Pudding taste just like pumpkin pie. It sooo good and can feed an army...it would be great for a Thanksgiving morning breakfast.

6 large eggs
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin or squash
2 cups (16 ounces) light cream
1 cup (8 ounces) milk
3/4 cup (5 7/8 ounces) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) brown sugar
1/4 cup (2 ounces) rum, optional
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons vanilla
8 cups (about 18 ounces) bread*, cut in 3⁄4" cubes

Use any non-savory bread: brioche, a sweet bread, or plain white or whole wheat bread.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin, half and half, milk, sugars, rum, salt, spices, and vanilla, stirring to blend.

Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish or a 9" x 13" pan; if you’re going to refrigerate the pudding before baking, be sure to use a dish that can go from the fridge to a hot oven. Place the cubed bread in the dish in an even layer, and pour the liquid mixture over it. Let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, or for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
When you're ready to bake the pudding, stir it together to redistribute the custard; quite a bit of it will have been absorbed by the bread. Sprinkle with grated nutmeg, if desired; and bake in a preheated 350°F oven till set and beginning to brown, about 40 to 50 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream; garnish with minced crystallized ginger, if desired.
Yield: 2 dozen small servings, or fewer larger servings.

Rice Pudding

1 c. whipping cream

3/4 c sugar

1/2 c uncooked white rice

4 c 2% milk

cinnamon and orange zest for garnish (optional)

Heat the oven to 325. Combine all ing. except the garnish, in a 2 1/2 quart casserole (low and wide is better than tall and deep). Bake the pudding for 2 hours without stirring. Let it sit half an hour to set. Serve the pudding warm or cold, with garnish. Serves 12

Christmas Eve
Large fresh shrimp steamed in Old Bay Seasoning:

1 lb shelled shrimp

combine:

2 T Old Bay seasoning

1/2 c vinegar

1/2 c water

boil-

add shrimp

stir gently

cover- steam until tender 3-5 minutes

Don't overcook!

African Salad Thanks Zach and Arinn

Dressing:

2-3 cloves garlic

salt and pepper (a lot) ½ tsp then add to that to taste

1 T or more sugar

1 T or less mustard

1 T or less lemon juice

vinegar (any kind) put more v. than olive oil

½ c. olive oil or more

Roasted Pecans- brownsugar, butter, milk High heat to dissolve sugar then turn it right down –pour in nuts stir stir stir

Green apples

Dried cranberries

Avocado

Onions

Cucumbers

Mixed greens

Christmas Morning:

Fruit Pizza with sugar cookie dough crust -Kudos to my mom for this great concoction

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter

2 eggs

1 c. sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

3 c flour

1/2 ts salt

2 ts baking powder

1 ts baking soda

spread with cream cheese and strawberry jam mixture

add tons of fruit on top- make sure to include kiwi and blueberries

Quiche: - my very own recipe

6 eggs

2 T Water

salt and pepper

6 slices of ham cut small

3 slices onion diced small

3 large mushrooms diced small

large handful of cheddar cheese

1/4 c. chopped cilantro

mix all ing. together

pour in unbaked pie shell (I use the barefoot Contessa's recipe)

Put another handful of grated cheddar on top then some thinly sliced (not too juicy) tomatoes all over

cover w/ tinfoil for first 30 min

cook at 350 for 40-50 min.

check often for doneness since I made up this recipe and I'm not 100% sure of baking time. :)

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice- Christmas isn't Christmas without this

So Why did I just post all of these recipes?? I don't know. The same question could be asked, "why am I such a freak about record keeping." and the answer is the same, I don't know, I just have this compulsion that gives me unrest until it's all written down. Someone stop me!

New Years 2009

It's always a treat to be with Kit and Basil and this New Year's was no exception. I think I'm starting to feel my age though because this year as soon as we took this picture at 12:00 I thought, "ok, let's go to bed!"

We ate ourselves sick with tons of great dips/ hor d'ouvres, and a HUGE load of spicy chicken wings from Wingers. Yum (and what a mess).

So as we ring in the new Year I'm always frothing with plans and resolutions, ideas and goals. I get my calendar out and I try to plan the whole entire year. On one particular car ride with Paul I was driving him nuts with all of my "planning" and he finally had to say, "woman, would you give me some peace please!" I realize I'm a little obsessive... so my new years resolutions, in an nutshell:

Confessional:

I hit a spiritual slump in December. I was just not feeling it, and I think being in Utah made me feel sort of rebellious. I can’t explain it yet, but I was a cynical sassy molassy. I let some of my doubts and questions surface and I let them fester fester fester until I was just sort of stewing in ickyness. My sister is one of those straight down the line, black is black, white is white, kind of girls. I spewed some of my verbal garbage on her and she said, “If I ever have questions I just read my scriptures.” So here is my official thank you to her. In the face of my BAD attitude, she lovingly bore her testimony to me. I know she has been really diligent in reading her scriptures everyday and she has the spirit with her. So, I took her words to heart and got back on the scripture train. I swam back to the surface and I feel the sun again. I think there will always be questions I can’t answer and things I don’t understand, but what’s great about the gospel is that it makes me a better person, and it’s founded on principles that regardless of anything else always lead to more happiness than sorrow. We had a great ward conference this week. I was reminded that reading the scriptures is not an admonition, but a commandment. We also got very chastised for our poor temple attendance as a ward. Our bishop gave a talk that was outstanding. He reminded us that we covenant to give the Lord everything we have, but he promises that he will give us everything in return, and he started by giving us His only Begotten Son.

My new Year’s resolution last year was to take a dose of hope and get more optimistic. I’m glad to say that it was an appropriate goal and I have worked on it all year and I need to keep working on it. I am keeping this goal for this year and adding a goal to stop allowing myself so many sins of omission. My scriptures are sitting right there by my bed. I commit to open them every day. It’s really the least I can do.

Family shmamily in Snow canyon

My family

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas 2008!

Our little family headed out to Utah for the holidays. 6 weeks is a long time to be away from home, but we love our family and love being with them.

Joren turned 1!

We had a really fun little party for him at my parents house. Since his favorite thing to do in the world is take a bath we had a bathtub/swimming party. My cute mom bought a carpet remnant and put it in the garage under the swimming pool. We heated the garage and the pool water and had a swimming party for the cousins. I made this little bathtub cake and Joren was SO cute when he saw it because when he realized what it was he got really excited and clapped his hands. I love this kid! He loved swimming and loved all his new bath toys. He is so fun right now. He is learning to immitate sounds and is almost completly walking on his own. (close). He loves his brother and they are so cute together. He loves to be tickeled. He is very brave. He loves to climb on things. He gets so excited when he climbs the stairs and loves to wander off on his own and explore things. His first words were dad and mom followed by Jesus and all done. (my mom and I swear he said Jesus clear as day while we were looking at paintings of him at the museum.) He played peek a boo with me today in the car and was so proud of himself. He kept covering his eyes and peeking at me for about 5 minutes. It was such a sweet moment. He's also a very adept sword fighter. (you have to be at our house)
I have been thinking about all of my friends these past few weeks since I almost always send out Christmas cards and at this time of year, I love to gather up all the names and addresses of the many people that I love and think about the memories we have made and send out a little note of love. ... and this year I made the lists and the plans, and then never got around to sending the cards. My mom is a great example. I'm still trying to grow up to be like her. She sent out a giant stack of cards this year. One was to an 85 year old lady that she hasn't talked to in 25 years, but she has sent and received a card from her every year for all of these years. The lady's name is Harriet, and she helped and befriended my mom when she was a young mother in a new place. We got a card today from a family that lived down the street from us in Denver when I was in high school. The boys in the family were 5 and 7 when we moved away and in their picture we just got they are now grown men. Somehow my mom made a special enough place in their heart that for all these years they have sent her a Christmas card. I love getting Christmas cards. It seems like it's almost an old fashioned sentiment these days. Most of my friends have email and I could email a picture and an update and I do like the Christmas wishes/cards that I get through email, but I also love to have a picture of my friends to hang on my wall. The pictures I got last year are still up in my house. (If I was at home I would take a picture and post it.) And that's why I feel especially bad that I did not get my cards done this year. I think about my high school friends, my college friends, my work friends, my early marriage Provo friends, Missouri friends, Michigan friends and family friends and anyone else I have missed and well.. don't you just sometimes want to send out a great big "thanks for being in my life, that was such a great time, you really made a difference, you've made me who I am now, and Merry Merry Christmas, I hope you know how loved you are" kind of message to everyone you love? Well, it's pretty impossible to send that out to everyone who has touched my life, but if you're reading this you probably know you're someone I love.. so Merry Christmas to you, and sorry you didn't get a card! I'll be more like my awesome mom next year.

Paul did a great job on the Turkey this year. (as usual)

We hope you all have a WONDERFUL holiday! Merry Christmas!

100 Gallon salt water aquarium!

After being in Missouri for two weeks painting I arrived home at 7:00AM after an all night car drive and what was the first thing I saw? My hubby, but 20 lbs less of him! Yes, that's right people, he went on the atkins diet a week before I went to Missouri and in 3 weeks he dropped 20 lbs. I just stood there and stared for 10 minutes with my mouth open. He looks so good and I love it!
He also decided lately that he needed a new hobby and decided enough was enough, he was finally going to go for the 100 gallon salt water aquarium that he has been dreaming about for a long time. It's expensive but when he found an amazing deal from a super cool friend of his in the surgery dept. (Props out to our man Rob for hooking us up. You ROCK!) he decided to go for it. Salt water aquariums are no easy hobby and not cheap either, but when it's up and going you get to watch this whole amazing ecosystem right inside your house.
The corals that we have been researching are so awesome. We love the fish but even more we love the coral. I think of it as sort of an underwater garden or flower arrangement. (I don't think any die hards would like hearing me say that ;) It's like we are now in this whole new guy realm that I never knew existed. Of course there are lots of women who like salt water aquariums too, but I don't know any of them. I just love this new hobby because it is so beautiful, so tranquil and serene and such an awesome learning experience too. Not to mention, it's a hobby that we can both enjoy!
I told Paul he should start an aquarium blog for us. I even named it "Reef Relief" but he's not into it. I want to document our progress so you'll probably get some aquarium shots interspersed in here now.

The bow front tank came with this utilitarian table which works great but is pretty ugly.
We decided to paint it and let it be until we can make something gorgeous. Now that I know what a pain it is going to be to move it, we are going to have the base ready to go when we move next. Red seemed like a good choice. I like how the tank looks on our blue wall. I think our new base will be walnut. Since this is not a blog written by the scientist of the family you will get all kinds of talk about how pretty it is and none of how it works which is way more important and would be way more helpful, but oh well. I don't talk the talk yet.

This is how it looked the first day it had water in it. The sand had not settled and the live rock we had was all just set in there to keep it alive.
We spend the next few days aquascaping. We arranged and REarranged and RE arranged them until we felt they were just right for our new little coral friends to make homes.

We made a cool bride and two caves and lots of fun holes for hiding.
This is what it looked like when the sand settled. I think it's already very pretty. I think we even adjusted it quite a bit more after this shot and new it's perfect. ;)
For our initial investment we bought: (this part was at a great deal)
72 gallon bow front
20 gallon sump
30 gallon sump
2 corralias
2 overflow boxes
1 red prism hang on protein skimmer
1 little giant external pump
20 lbs rock
60 lbs live sand
30 lbs live rock
60 lbs lace rock
After I thought we had purchased everything except the livestock and fish we had to buy a LOT more important things I wasnt' expecting like:
6 x 54 W THO Nova extreme light system
MR1 in sump protein skimmer
30 gallon refugium and the glass and silicone to make it into three seperate compartments
water distiller
light for refugium
20 lbs more live sand for refugium
pvc pipe, hose clamps, silicone, primer for new pump
18 hermit crabs

The red stand looks pretty cool doesn't it. for now at least. (This was before the new beautiful black light set came in.
These photos show Paul learning some of his new skills. He now knows how to build things out of PVC pipe which he used to install this new pump he bought. He can now build waterproof stuff with silicone. (very technical language mel)


Our first week cycling the tank we got a huge diatomb bloom that lasted about 3-4 days. That means that we got brown algae everywhere but it quickly died and now we have a big green algae bloom which is happening because we don't have distilled water in there and I guess Michigan tap water is good for growing this not so appealing algae. It's not ugly, it just takes over everything and is not the best for coral. We got some hermit crabs to eat the algae but they are not keeping up. we will have to get distilled water to fix this.

It's good to let a tank cycle for at least a month while everything settles before you add livestock. We are excited because it will be just in time for Christmas. It makes buying for each other really easy since all we want is coral. Cool huh? I never knew I'd be a salt water tank girl, but I love it.
Knowing a lot more about coral and fish is going to make our scuba diving trip a lot more fun! (This isn't planned yet, I'm just dreaming...)

Eirik at 2 years 8 m.

It’s been a long time since I wrote an update about my boys.

I have a bunch of notes here to share of funny things Eirik has said in the past few months.

The biggest news is that Eirik is potty trained. He did it basically by himself without much premeditation on my part. I just said, “let’s try it today and we did.” The first day he had 4 accidents and didn’t make it to the toilet once. The second day he had three accidents and more successful potty trips and the third day he didn’t have any accidents and didn’t want to wear a diaper to bed. (That’s where we are right now.) I guess I’m premature to say he is potty trained, but I think he’s pretty confident now and won’t go back to diapers now. That’s exciting! Yeah!

Eirik was playing legos and singing the transformers song as he worked. Suddenly he said to me, “Mom, have you ever heard of eating eyes?” He was singing to himself, “more than EATS the eye.” He was so confused.

“Ha ha, I forgot the pixie dust!”

Eirik got to spend a day with his friend Preston last week and when he got home he pretended that I was Janese and he was Preston all day long. He loves to play pretend and I am always some character in these complicated role playing games he creates. Well, he didn’t forget all day long. If I called him Eirik he said, “no mom, I’m Preston.”

Then he asked me to put my hair in a ponytail like Janese and when I said that my hair was too short he cried and said, “I don’t like short hair!”

The next day he told me that my face looked old. Hmmm…

Then he asked me what that nipple thing on my face was. Hmmm, that must be a zit. Nice.

The Rose Gardens in Oregon

Holding his whip threateningly, “It’s not fair and it’s not funny” “What’s not fair Eirik?”

“My cows are not funny Wendy!” (not out of context.) You figure it out.

One day he told me that his penis’s name was Maid Marrian. Another day it was Wendy.

He’s on a new super hero kick. I guess this happens to all boys. I was again, naïve mother, caught off guard about how boyish boys are. He said one day, “I become a superhero and rescue people.” And from then on it has been the new life theme. Actually it’s just a continuation of the “sir knight” theme except that now he can fly and shoot lasers from his eyes.

One day we went to the park. The slides were wet and Eirik said, “I have an idea. I will say here by myself while you go home to get a rag to dry off the slide. I stay here and relax and pretend about daddy, you go.”

“Maid Mariane (me) I just picked a flower for you, but it just died.”

“I have to go to work at the hostibal.”

“Don’t worry mom, Daddy is a good sheriff now and he will take care of you when I am gone and show you pictures of me.”

I offered Eirik a Carmel Ghiradelli brownie. (the very best kind) and he said, “no thanks mom. I don’t like that kind. I think it has snails in it.”

Eirik and I painted a prayer rock for him to put on his pillow in the morning and at the side of his bed at night. One day he came running in to my room in the morning and said, “I just woke up and bumped my toe on my prayer rock and said, “ha ha, I forgot to say my prayers.” So I said a prayer mommy!” I love it.

At the end of one of Eirik’s time out one day, he had just stopped crying when I came in to get him out and he said to me, “mommy I just said a prayer and said to Heavenly Father, “I’m so sorry for making such a big mistake. Will you forgive me?” He learned that in nursery. What good leaders he has.

When I was painting in Missouri I took Eirik to see what I had painted in the under the sea room and when he walked in he said, “Oh mom, It’s beautiful!” It totally made it all worth it. I love that he, as a 2 year old can appreciate my art. How fulfilling! At the end of our long trip I said, “Eirik, what was your favorite part of the trip?” He said, “the sea turtle and the whale from your paintings!” Wow. That’s too sweet!

After our long vacation we saw Benjamin for the first time. He came over to play and had been here for about ½ hour. Eirik suddenly said, “Benjamin I need a big hug.” Ben was a little tentative but then gave in and they had a big hug. Eirik ran to me and said, “I told Benjamin that I needed a big hug and he gave me one!” Good friends.

Eirik loves his brother and is so good about being quiet when he is sleeping and leaving him alone when he is nursing. He is so nice to him. One day he wanted to sleep next to Joren so I let him sleep in the crib. It was so cute to see them next to each other snuggling. I moved him after a few hours so they wouldn’t suffocate each other, but I loved to see their sweet sleeping faces next to each other.

I’ve told Eirik that we don’t say “Oh my gosh” because it just doesn’t sound right coming out of a 2 year old mouth to me. He still says it a lot and one day he said, “can I say Oh my gosh, because I think it’s a fun word.” Then of course he said it over and over and over again laughing. He also started saying hate.

He’s also been extra SPIRITED lately. That means that he doesn’t want that sandwich because it has a different shaped top piece of bread or that that sucker is green not blue, or I wanted to do it myself, or he will only use his favorite blue fork or only a certain kind of sippy cup. If you move something and he can’t find it or he can’t reach something or he can’t get something out or get’s even a little bit frustrated he has a total meltdown. So sensitive! Meltdowns all day long. I know it’s just 2 year old behavior and I have been blessed lately to be aware of how fleeting this time is. What a privilege it is to get woken up every morning at 5:30 AM and be demanded all day long to do things by a little squirt like this. Oh how I love him.