I can't decide whether I want to laugh or cry, so I'm going to go watch Sydney Bristow blow stuff up instead.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Birthdays are lame.
When S asked me what I wanted for my birthday, the one thing on the top of my list was a cherry cheesecake. I am not a cake decorator, but given the right tools and an oven I know, I can make a fantastic cheesecake. #1 and I spent a good portion of the day getting everything ready- letting the ingredients warm up to room temperature, mixing, prepping, doing a bain-marie, letting the cheesecake cool for several hours before moving it to avoid cracks. It was a masterpiece. And I dropped it. On the floor. Tomorrow we'll be having volcano cheesecake, complete with cherry lava. If this is any sign as to how my 28th year, I think I'll pass.
I can't decide whether I want to laugh or cry, so I'm going to go watch Sydney Bristow blow stuff up instead.
I can't decide whether I want to laugh or cry, so I'm going to go watch Sydney Bristow blow stuff up instead.
Christmas Break Synopsis/Saga PART ONE
One three-week long vacation. Two states. Two birthdays. Christmas. 7th year anniversary. 312 pictures taken. Consider yourself forewarned.
The Good
#1's face the moment we entered our hotel room after a long day of travel. Grandma D had it fully stocked with toys, books, snacks, a little mini Christmas tree and most importantly, root beer. He had been so tired, but once he saw everything he didn't stop jumping on the bed for at least an hour. Each new discovery thrilled him.
It's amazing the things kids find to do for entertainment in a hotel room. #1 had a blast keeping a balloon afloat with the window fan and then shooting it with a dart gun. Baby N was thrilled to run down the hotel's endless hallways and took off at every opportunity.
Seeing baby Caroline and marveling at what an extremely good- and sleepy!- baby she was.
Seeing #1 play with his cousins- priceless.
Going back and forth from our hotel room to Grandma's. It was like Grandma's house was 10 feet away- something very desirable when the kids wake up at 5am and you need a babysitter so you can go back to sleep.
Just a cute moment in our hotel room. One nice thing about staying at a hotel is not having to worry too much about cleanup. Which was a very good thing due to the throwup- see below- and the havoc kids can do in a small space over 7 days.
After some trial and error, we made an excursion to a nearby children's museum. The three cousins took off in different directions- good thing there was three adults to follow them!
Payton preferred the construction area.
Viktoria got up close and personal with the water features.
Three generations. I love these two.
Grandma rocks!
We ate dinner on Christmas Eve at Golden Corral. It was a very pleasant dinner filled with a large quantity of food. We sat across from the dessert bar, which caused the kids to hold a stakeout at a nearby table.
The kids had a lot of fun at Aunt V's house. Playing computer games and playing with toys.
The Bad
We were supposed to go play with our friends the Bybees before we left, but their kids came down with strep throat. Maybe next time... although we missed out on some sledding and a huge holiday feast. Sad!
Babies who don't watch movies on a portable DVD player + long airplane trips= misery
24 hour stomach flu that we acquired on Christmas day.
We played musical beds a lot on this trip. Sick kids don't sleep well and as a result, neither do their parents.
Even Grandma wasn't immune to having visitors at obscene hours.
#1 is not a morning person and he doesn't react well to being unexpectedly overstimulated. This has created some rather unpleasant Christmas morning memories. This year was a little more tempered than last year, but still not the greatest.
At least he sucked it up in the end.
The fire alarms in the hotel went off the morning after Christmas. Apparently it wasn't enough that we had been throwing up all night- someone thought pulling the fire alarm as a prank would top off the experience for us.
Grandma bought this giggling cat for Viktoria. Unfortunately, #1 liked it and requested one of his own. Luckily, we dodged that bullet.
Cute Christmas jammies courtesy of Aunt V and Uncle R.
We went on this trip with 3 suitcases and came back with 5. The difference is largely due to toys which took some fangling when we got back to fit into our house.
The Funny
The first hotel we stayed at was more a long term stay facility where they rented out by the week. One amenity we found hilarious was the toilet paper in the vending machine. Just in case of emergency.
At the children's museum we went to with the twins, #1 had the most fun gardening. Apparently we haven't sufficiently taught our son that canned goods and chemicals are not ideal seeds to be planted. He had a blast though.
If the blog Cake Wrecks took submissions from non-professionals, I'd have a true winner. Two days before Christmas, I tried to start planning #1's birthday cake. #1's only request was to have a jet plane cake. I looked all over for a plane cake pan with no luck and my sister even continued the quest with no hits. I guess it didn't really matter since baking a cake at the hotel was out of the question because there was no oven and I really didn't want to mess up my sister's kitchen. Walmart didn't have cakes you could order with planes on them, so we decided to order one from Dairy Queen. Unfortunately they didn't have enough time to make one for us so I sent S to get a plain cake and we'd just ice on a plane- like the word play? The only one S could find was one with a Christmas tree on it. Not a big deal...just scrape off the Christmas tree and you have a blank slate...right? Wrong. Ice cream cakes are not as easy to mold as I had thought.
The first problem...
Once we got the plane on, it didn't look that bad. I think it would have taken less time just to make a cake from scratch though. The big problem came when we all got stomach flu and so the birthday celebration was postponed to the next day. By that time the food coloring had bled out causing the jet to look like it had a bad case of diarrhea instead of dropping bombs as #1 requested.
A cake decorator I am not...
To make matters worse, the candles died on the way to the table- perhaps they were ashamed that the pinnacle of their creation was to end on this disastrous cake. At least 4 held on until #1 blew them out.
It's no wonder I asked Aunt Chandra to take care of baby N's cake...
I love that kids are easily impressed. #1, you are the best- we love you!
One more state to go...
The Good
#1's face the moment we entered our hotel room after a long day of travel. Grandma D had it fully stocked with toys, books, snacks, a little mini Christmas tree and most importantly, root beer. He had been so tired, but once he saw everything he didn't stop jumping on the bed for at least an hour. Each new discovery thrilled him.
It's amazing the things kids find to do for entertainment in a hotel room. #1 had a blast keeping a balloon afloat with the window fan and then shooting it with a dart gun. Baby N was thrilled to run down the hotel's endless hallways and took off at every opportunity.
Seeing baby Caroline and marveling at what an extremely good- and sleepy!- baby she was.
Seeing #1 play with his cousins- priceless.
Going back and forth from our hotel room to Grandma's. It was like Grandma's house was 10 feet away- something very desirable when the kids wake up at 5am and you need a babysitter so you can go back to sleep.
Just a cute moment in our hotel room. One nice thing about staying at a hotel is not having to worry too much about cleanup. Which was a very good thing due to the throwup- see below- and the havoc kids can do in a small space over 7 days.
After some trial and error, we made an excursion to a nearby children's museum. The three cousins took off in different directions- good thing there was three adults to follow them!
Payton preferred the construction area.
Viktoria got up close and personal with the water features.
Three generations. I love these two.
Grandma rocks!
We ate dinner on Christmas Eve at Golden Corral. It was a very pleasant dinner filled with a large quantity of food. We sat across from the dessert bar, which caused the kids to hold a stakeout at a nearby table.
The kids had a lot of fun at Aunt V's house. Playing computer games and playing with toys.
The Bad
We were supposed to go play with our friends the Bybees before we left, but their kids came down with strep throat. Maybe next time... although we missed out on some sledding and a huge holiday feast. Sad!
Babies who don't watch movies on a portable DVD player + long airplane trips= misery
24 hour stomach flu that we acquired on Christmas day.
We played musical beds a lot on this trip. Sick kids don't sleep well and as a result, neither do their parents.
Even Grandma wasn't immune to having visitors at obscene hours.
#1 is not a morning person and he doesn't react well to being unexpectedly overstimulated. This has created some rather unpleasant Christmas morning memories. This year was a little more tempered than last year, but still not the greatest.
At least he sucked it up in the end.
The fire alarms in the hotel went off the morning after Christmas. Apparently it wasn't enough that we had been throwing up all night- someone thought pulling the fire alarm as a prank would top off the experience for us.
Grandma bought this giggling cat for Viktoria. Unfortunately, #1 liked it and requested one of his own. Luckily, we dodged that bullet.
Cute Christmas jammies courtesy of Aunt V and Uncle R.
We went on this trip with 3 suitcases and came back with 5. The difference is largely due to toys which took some fangling when we got back to fit into our house.
The Funny
The first hotel we stayed at was more a long term stay facility where they rented out by the week. One amenity we found hilarious was the toilet paper in the vending machine. Just in case of emergency.
At the children's museum we went to with the twins, #1 had the most fun gardening. Apparently we haven't sufficiently taught our son that canned goods and chemicals are not ideal seeds to be planted. He had a blast though.
If the blog Cake Wrecks took submissions from non-professionals, I'd have a true winner. Two days before Christmas, I tried to start planning #1's birthday cake. #1's only request was to have a jet plane cake. I looked all over for a plane cake pan with no luck and my sister even continued the quest with no hits. I guess it didn't really matter since baking a cake at the hotel was out of the question because there was no oven and I really didn't want to mess up my sister's kitchen. Walmart didn't have cakes you could order with planes on them, so we decided to order one from Dairy Queen. Unfortunately they didn't have enough time to make one for us so I sent S to get a plain cake and we'd just ice on a plane- like the word play? The only one S could find was one with a Christmas tree on it. Not a big deal...just scrape off the Christmas tree and you have a blank slate...right? Wrong. Ice cream cakes are not as easy to mold as I had thought.
The first problem...
Once we got the plane on, it didn't look that bad. I think it would have taken less time just to make a cake from scratch though. The big problem came when we all got stomach flu and so the birthday celebration was postponed to the next day. By that time the food coloring had bled out causing the jet to look like it had a bad case of diarrhea instead of dropping bombs as #1 requested.
A cake decorator I am not...
To make matters worse, the candles died on the way to the table- perhaps they were ashamed that the pinnacle of their creation was to end on this disastrous cake. At least 4 held on until #1 blew them out.
It's no wonder I asked Aunt Chandra to take care of baby N's cake...
I love that kids are easily impressed. #1, you are the best- we love you!
One more state to go...
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
These are a few of my favorite things
Caught snuggling during TV time.
#1ism
#1: Mommy the bulldozer on my backpack is supposed to light up!
For the record- it isn't
Me: Oh yeah #1? Who told you that?
#1: My brain.
Nism:
NO!
Wonder where she picked that up...
This is one of her favorite books. At the end there are two birds with egg flaps- one says "yes" and one says "no" to answer whether you want to read the book again. Apparently she wanted one to permanently say her new favorite word.
#1ism
#1: Mommy the bulldozer on my backpack is supposed to light up!
For the record- it isn't
Me: Oh yeah #1? Who told you that?
#1: My brain.
Nism:
NO!
Wonder where she picked that up...
This is one of her favorite books. At the end there are two birds with egg flaps- one says "yes" and one says "no" to answer whether you want to read the book again. Apparently she wanted one to permanently say her new favorite word.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The Neverending Story(s)
Time to tackle the last few weeks.
Thanksgiving
So nice. We combined dinner with our friends the Petersons and their parents. I don't think I ever want to have to cook Thanksgiving dinner all by myself- the dishes, the stress, and the workload just aren't worth it. Anyways, we did two turkeys this year- two different brines and two different cooking methods. In retrospect, I've decided that the type of brine you use doesn't really matter. The brine recipes we used were vastly different, but we ended up not really being able to tell which was which. If you are interested in brining a turkey, I suggest you use the cheapest recipe- fancy herbs and spices need not apply. Also I think next year we'll try to brine for longer than 24 hours to see if that influences the taste even more. Don't get me wrong, the turkeys tasted divine and I will never not brine again. I'm just curious to see if there would be a change with a 48 hour marinade. I've also decided that rotisserie turkey is the way to go- no more roasting turkeys in the oven. One day I'll try deep-fried turkey and see if that's any better, but by using the rotisserie you get such an even brown and it was a little more juicy in my opinion.
Quinn's mom made the most wonderful rolls, side dishes, and pies- lemon cream and pear- in addition to my pumpkin and french silk. It reminded me of food that you can only get from someone who has had a lot of experience cooking. I hope by the time I'm a grandma, I can cook that well. Also I learned that Boston Market has the best sweet potato casserole. I shouldn't write about this right before dinner because now our meal is going to feel substandard. Anyways, good food and good company made for a wonderful holiday.
The rotisserie turkey is on the left, roasted on the right.
Running Update
A few weeks ago I went running with a friend. My knee began hurting as soon as I started running, but I didn't want to be a wuss and back out on my friend, so I stubbornly kept running. After a little while the pain went away and I got close to a 2 mile stretch. After I went home and complained about my knee to S, I figured it would go away by morning. I was so wrong. It took several weeks, a knee brace, a doctor's visit and some meds for my knee to finally get to the point where I didn't have immediate pain when I started to run. I've since started running again, but my mileage has gone down quite a bit and my knee still feels less than 100% sometimes. Hopefully it'll work itself out- I'd love to do a 5K this summer if possible.
Christmas Celebrations
A week ago we went with some friends to an event called "Lunch with Santa". We got to ride on a historic train and eat lunch while Santa conversed with the kids. This is the first time the kids and I have ridden a train- S did so on his mission in Russia. It was a very happy, fun event made better by good friends to share it with. #1 was excited to be on the train and a little less so about Santa. Perhaps part of the reason has to do with the fact that he doesn't know what he wants for Christmas besides a puppy.
After the train ride there was a small town parade with LOADS of free candy given away. I think #1 spent most of his time picking up candy instead of looking at the procession. I think we got more candy from this parade than we did at Halloween. When the parade was done there was a little indoor activity nearby where we decorated cookies and warmed up with hot chocolate and apple cider.
He's just not so sure about this.
N wasn't as cautious...never is.
#1's favorite part was when an elf took to hiding behind the seats and popping up to scare you.
Waiting for the parade- don't they look happy? Yes, this is the same Halloween basket I made him use for the Easter egg hunt. I'm a lazy mom.
Baby N chowing down on a candy cane.
Eating cookies after the parade.
I wish we could have entered a contest for worst hat hair. It seriously looked liked a bird's nest.
Hunting for reindeer
As if our Saturday wasn't busy enough, I decided to take #1 out to a local reindeer farm to pick up some extra Christmas presents. It was very quaint and #1 had a lot of fun. I tried to keep up with him by jumping on the hay bales, but my knee brace didn't help much. It was bitterly cold, but a definite stop for next year.
It's also a Christmas tree farm.
Oh yeah, and there were a bunch of these guys too. :)
S Update
S is doing great as far as school goes. We hit a little hiccup this past week with a possible delay in getting the prelim done. There were some stats class requirements that S apparently needed to fulfill to proceed onto his prelim and it almost looked for a while like S might have an extra year tagged onto his program. Luckily he's demonstrated his competence when it comes to stats by publishing some articles already and just being the brainiac that he is. We're pretty sure that he'll score an exemption, and if he doesn't then we'll be here longer than we thought. Here's hoping there's a master plan to all of this and we'll hit the job market at just the right time.
Whew! I'm tired! Well, that's our life in a nutshell. We've been enjoying our pre-Christmas celebrations and look forward to leaving town in a week! Merry Christmas everyone!
Thanksgiving
So nice. We combined dinner with our friends the Petersons and their parents. I don't think I ever want to have to cook Thanksgiving dinner all by myself- the dishes, the stress, and the workload just aren't worth it. Anyways, we did two turkeys this year- two different brines and two different cooking methods. In retrospect, I've decided that the type of brine you use doesn't really matter. The brine recipes we used were vastly different, but we ended up not really being able to tell which was which. If you are interested in brining a turkey, I suggest you use the cheapest recipe- fancy herbs and spices need not apply. Also I think next year we'll try to brine for longer than 24 hours to see if that influences the taste even more. Don't get me wrong, the turkeys tasted divine and I will never not brine again. I'm just curious to see if there would be a change with a 48 hour marinade. I've also decided that rotisserie turkey is the way to go- no more roasting turkeys in the oven. One day I'll try deep-fried turkey and see if that's any better, but by using the rotisserie you get such an even brown and it was a little more juicy in my opinion.
Quinn's mom made the most wonderful rolls, side dishes, and pies- lemon cream and pear- in addition to my pumpkin and french silk. It reminded me of food that you can only get from someone who has had a lot of experience cooking. I hope by the time I'm a grandma, I can cook that well. Also I learned that Boston Market has the best sweet potato casserole. I shouldn't write about this right before dinner because now our meal is going to feel substandard. Anyways, good food and good company made for a wonderful holiday.
The rotisserie turkey is on the left, roasted on the right.
Running Update
A few weeks ago I went running with a friend. My knee began hurting as soon as I started running, but I didn't want to be a wuss and back out on my friend, so I stubbornly kept running. After a little while the pain went away and I got close to a 2 mile stretch. After I went home and complained about my knee to S, I figured it would go away by morning. I was so wrong. It took several weeks, a knee brace, a doctor's visit and some meds for my knee to finally get to the point where I didn't have immediate pain when I started to run. I've since started running again, but my mileage has gone down quite a bit and my knee still feels less than 100% sometimes. Hopefully it'll work itself out- I'd love to do a 5K this summer if possible.
Christmas Celebrations
A week ago we went with some friends to an event called "Lunch with Santa". We got to ride on a historic train and eat lunch while Santa conversed with the kids. This is the first time the kids and I have ridden a train- S did so on his mission in Russia. It was a very happy, fun event made better by good friends to share it with. #1 was excited to be on the train and a little less so about Santa. Perhaps part of the reason has to do with the fact that he doesn't know what he wants for Christmas besides a puppy.
After the train ride there was a small town parade with LOADS of free candy given away. I think #1 spent most of his time picking up candy instead of looking at the procession. I think we got more candy from this parade than we did at Halloween. When the parade was done there was a little indoor activity nearby where we decorated cookies and warmed up with hot chocolate and apple cider.
He's just not so sure about this.
N wasn't as cautious...never is.
#1's favorite part was when an elf took to hiding behind the seats and popping up to scare you.
Waiting for the parade- don't they look happy? Yes, this is the same Halloween basket I made him use for the Easter egg hunt. I'm a lazy mom.
Baby N chowing down on a candy cane.
Eating cookies after the parade.
I wish we could have entered a contest for worst hat hair. It seriously looked liked a bird's nest.
Hunting for reindeer
As if our Saturday wasn't busy enough, I decided to take #1 out to a local reindeer farm to pick up some extra Christmas presents. It was very quaint and #1 had a lot of fun. I tried to keep up with him by jumping on the hay bales, but my knee brace didn't help much. It was bitterly cold, but a definite stop for next year.
It's also a Christmas tree farm.
Oh yeah, and there were a bunch of these guys too. :)
S Update
S is doing great as far as school goes. We hit a little hiccup this past week with a possible delay in getting the prelim done. There were some stats class requirements that S apparently needed to fulfill to proceed onto his prelim and it almost looked for a while like S might have an extra year tagged onto his program. Luckily he's demonstrated his competence when it comes to stats by publishing some articles already and just being the brainiac that he is. We're pretty sure that he'll score an exemption, and if he doesn't then we'll be here longer than we thought. Here's hoping there's a master plan to all of this and we'll hit the job market at just the right time.
Whew! I'm tired! Well, that's our life in a nutshell. We've been enjoying our pre-Christmas celebrations and look forward to leaving town in a week! Merry Christmas everyone!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Baby N's Resume
Qualities: Has diligence and motivation to learn and grow. Can get along with most anyone and has a happy, easygoing countenance. Is happiest when remodeling her surrounding.
Accomplishments: Can say "mama", "dada", and "uh oh". Loves to walk, dance, clap, wave, and causes trouble wherever she goes. Has moved on to regular foods and even eats enchiladas. Has grown hair long enough to be put into pineapple ponytails.
Personal Interests: People, baths, pulling books off the shelves, eating Christmas ornaments, toilet paper, stairs, being chased, and just being on the move. Life is not complete without emptying the nearest baby wipe container. Hates being left out and is consistently trying to keep up with her brother's latest escapades.
Apologies if you are offended by the hand positioning. She seems to favor her middle finger like her oldest brother. We're still working on how to correct that.
And for your viewing pleasure...
Accomplishments: Can say "mama", "dada", and "uh oh". Loves to walk, dance, clap, wave, and causes trouble wherever she goes. Has moved on to regular foods and even eats enchiladas. Has grown hair long enough to be put into pineapple ponytails.
Personal Interests: People, baths, pulling books off the shelves, eating Christmas ornaments, toilet paper, stairs, being chased, and just being on the move. Life is not complete without emptying the nearest baby wipe container. Hates being left out and is consistently trying to keep up with her brother's latest escapades.
Apologies if you are offended by the hand positioning. She seems to favor her middle finger like her oldest brother. We're still working on how to correct that.
And for your viewing pleasure...
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