Christmas in July

Although the crazy of Christmas is upon us, I am trying to slow down and reflect on the amazing year that my family had. We moved into a wonderful new home with more room to grow, my son started kindergarten, and we welcomed our daughter into this world.

It was a mild summer day when our little girl was born. I was so overwhelmed with the move (pregnant full-term) that I hardly had time to think about how much she would change our lives. But bringing her home felt natural and easy.

We loved our sweet little girl the minute we found out I was expecting. For years I had hoped to have a sibling for our son, a little partner in crime, someone he could share his childhood with. Watching our son fall for her, protect her, make her laugh, and comfort her has been nothing short of watching a miracle unfold. That brotherly love is something special. Despite him asking to launch her from the bouncy seat, more often he wants to hold her, smoother her with kisses, and give tickles to make her giggle.

Now that there are two little cubs, my life is full in the most wonderful (though hectic) ways. As much as I enjoy carols, mint cocoa and twinkle lights, the most precious gifts of the season are the ones that I call my husband and children. For us, Christmas definitely came in July.

beach baby

I still can't wrap my brain around the fact that my baby isn't a baby anymore. From the flip flops, to the undies, to the toddler bed - it's more than I can stand!

Luckily he loves mommy's "millions of kisses!" and let's me refer to him as a "baby panda" sometimes. He is such a little cutie!

Here are some pics of my beach baby from the weekend. He insisted that he needed to wear his sunglasses!

yucky boy

"I is a yucky boy."

"Yes, you ARE a lucky boy. You live in America! It took a lot of hard work to make America our country. And do you know what? Today is America's birthday!"

"She is not here? Mare-ka is not here today."

"Well sweetie, America isn't a person, it's the place where we live. We live in America. We love America, that's why we have a special party and light our sparklers."

"It's Mare-ka's happy burf-day!"

Not sure how else I could have explained the idea of country or the 4th of July to my two-and-a-half year old. But thinking about it now, I don't know that I needed to.

Much of what shapes my love of America is centered around childhood memories like these: eating watermelon, lighting sparklers, smelling food on the grill, climbing trees, and catching fire flies. I never realized how these memories are inseparable from the freedom, peace, and safety we enjoy America.

Just like people, America isn't perfect and there's always more work to do. I hope my boy will learn that he can make a difference. He can make our world an even better place. His ideas and dreams matter. And they can come true...in part, because he is an American.

aww!

This little man is keeping me on my toes! See what we've been up to in the last couple of weeks. E's first Easter egg hunt photos are here too.

Yes, mom. I'll help you make bread!

Who cares if my jammies don't match?

Raw bread dough...yum.

I found slate tiles on clearance in packages of 9 (I'm talking $3 bucks a set.)
For less than $10, I got enough to paint an outdoor alphabet set for E.
I'm gonna make these for my students, too.

E liked organizing the slate into a grid pattern.
Kinda related to his love for puzzles, I guess.

Bubbles!

Hand over those bubbles, mom!

Why does everyone have a basket again? Are you sure about whole "hunt" thing?

Ah-ha! I put the eggs in the basket!

Look there's something in these eggs, mom!

Once he figured out there was candy inside, he was all about gathering the eggs!

The egg hunt was hoppin'!
With any luck the Easter bunny will visit our house tonight....

my bloggiversary! I'm one!

Another new year is about to ring in. This is a time of reflection for me, so I can't help but think about where my head was at the same time last year.

It was this time last year I had the incurable urge to begin this blog. I don't know what my main goal was. I knew I wanted to share details about raising my son and life with my hubby like so many other mommy bloggers I admire. But I didn't realize how many other petals of my life were waiting to unfurl. Recipes, outings, arts and crafts, gardening - and all kinds of other "hot mess" topics - all right there to share.

So go ahead and laugh at my expense, offer up your advice or, well, just acknowledge that you get where I'm coming from. It helps me keep both feet on the ground.

I love polar bears! I'll give this one a kiss!
(Thanks to our neighbors for the amusement all month!)

Looks like these snow people could use some kissing, too.

Ethan shoots some hoops... Thanks for the b-ball hoop, Gram and Pop!

Santa brought this wooden choo-choo set for Ethan. He stares at the wheels, mesmerized.

Ethan loves his new kitchen set! Thanks to Gram, Pop and assorted aunts and uncles,
our house is overrun with wonderful toys! What a lucky little boy...

Happy one-year bloggiversary to me!

help with the tree and chocolate bon-bons

He helps light the tree...

Okay, he lights up that tree in my mind...but he also helps light this one:

The self-proclaimed tradition, you see, is to put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. That way I can revel in the glow for as long as possible! The tree makes me happy!

And now for the famous chocolate bon-bons. You haven't tasted heaven until you've tasted one of two things: my chocolate babka (at Easter) or my mother's famous bon-bons. If you're allergic to peanut butter you may as well just cry yourself to sleep tonight.

powdered sugar and rice crispies meet

peanut butter and butter in double-boiler - not exactly good for your waist

Chocolate Bon-Bon ingredients:
2 cups peanut butter (16 ounce jar)
1 stick butter
1 box powdered sugar (actually, you'll probably only need to use 3/4 of the box)
3 cups of rice crispies
2 (11.5 ounce) bags of milk chocolate morsels

Combine powdered sugar and rice crispies in a huge bowl. Set aside.

Melt peanut butter and butter in double boiler. After the peanut butter mixture is melted, mix well with the sugar mixture. Let cool. Put butter on your hands then roll into delicious bite-sized nuggets. Place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and let cool in the freezer. Meanwhile, melt milk chocolate in a double boiler. Once cool, dunk the nuggets in chocolate and freeze again on same wax paper.

These insanely delicious bon-bons remind me of the miracle pill that Wesley swallowed on The Princess Bride to bring him back to life. Enough said.

Christmas U-turn

I feel guilty about not writing in the last couple of weeks. I could say that I've been busy (which is true) but I'm always busy. Truth is, I've had a couple of things on my mind.

Firstly, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about Christmas. It's the most stressful time for me in my personal life. Despite my best efforts to remain grounded, I worry about money and giving gifts.

As a little girl, there was always a lot of build up to the holidays. I remember my mom giving me a Sears catalogue to circle things I wanted. I'm sure I wrote a letter or two to Santa. There were Christmas records that we would play and I would belt out "I'm Getting Nothing for Christmas". As I got older, I would sit and rock while listening to "Carol of the Bells" and "Oh Holy Night". Mom would make her dynamite chocolate bon-bons and pecan sandies. She hung these beautiful felt stockings that she made for each of us. They had little faces and hair that looked like me and my brother and sisters. There was also the token advent calendar that we would use each year to countdown to Christmas.

But like most kids, I was focused on receiving gifts. Even at our elementary school, I remember they hosted a fundraiser in December where you went to purchase gifts for your family, as opposed to making something.

My favorite teacher, Ms. Como, led my first ever "Secret Santa" gift exchange. I remember how different it seemed for our class to be seated in a circle instead of behind desks.  The gift could be something from home that you simply didn't want or need, so long as someone else might enjoy it. That seemed like a novel idea.

Other than a beaded candy cane I made in Girl Scouts one year, I don't remember a tradition of making gifts and giving to others.

My mother was always stressed about money and giving gifts. GULP. Now I'm her.

So I had a great ladies night for my dear friend's birthday and she and her sisters got to talking about Christmas. I listened as they shared their family traditions of making gifts for each other. Each child only asked for one gift - not because they were told to - but because it was tough for them to think of anything they want.

This is another reason why television watching can be harmful: commercials. The children mentioned above rarely watch television so they aren't bombarded with things they should want. They aren't immersed in the gimme pop culture that we live in.

Dually noted.

Another dear friend of mine shared with me that she decided she would only give her children four gifts each year. Being a fervent Catholic, she decided that if her Savior only received three gifts, then that is good enough for her children, plus one special gift from her and her husband.

I ask myself: why am I compelled to make a huge list of things I want to buy for my son? The result can only be that he will learn to expect a pile of presents each year and I will continue to stress about it. Of course we feel happy to receive something special, but that is diminished when expectations are sky high. It only leads to disappointment and a skewed outlook of what makes a person happy. My goal is to help him understand that real, lasting happiness doesn't come from things. How's he going to understand that if his happy Christmas is based on us buying him things?

That's why I've decided to make something of a U-turn, a righting of the ship, if you will. Our focus must be on giving. He's two, so he limited in his understanding of making gifts for others, but there's no better time to start a tradition than now. When he looks back on his holiday memories, I want him to remember that he helped make the cookies for the trash collectors, postal carrier, doctor office, and teachers. He will have a hand in making special ornaments or picture frames or whatever it might be for his loved ones, even as a tot. And I want him to feel that fantastic, unquenchable happiness that comes from giving something special to show gratitude for people that make our lives better.

I know this seems like a no-brainer - I'm always making gifts for others anyhow, so why would this modest gift approach be such a departure? But it truly will be difficult for me not to go crazy and buy him every cute wooden toy I see. I think this is my (mom's) urge to make my child happy with stuff.

I'm going to keep re-reading this post if I have to in order to stay the course. We'll see how it goes...

All I need is my family, mom.

one nap baby



Last summer at the beach 2010, age 8 months old.




July 2011. What a big boy!

Now that my little schnookie is taking one afternoon nap it's seriously cutting into my blogging time!

Lots been going on here, namely we just got back from going 'downee ocean hun'. What a difference a year makes! Last year he hardly noticed the sand or waves (what with being confined on a blanket and all). This year, he had a blast with his daddy and me in the ocean! His cousins and aunts were there, too, which he loved! There was lots of activity every day to wear him out - one day he napped for 3 1/2 hours!

for the hubs

He's the best. He's an incredible father. He loves spending time with our son. Even when he's had a bad day, it doesn't keep him from enjoying E. His patience doesn't waiver when it comes to our little guy. He has the magical ability to make E smile, no matter what the tantrum is about. Our boy is very blessed to have a dad that spends quality time with him every day.

Even though he's my spouse, he's the "daddy" in this house. He takes care of us all, cat included. I am so very grateful to him for his support and love. He's an amazing guy, faults and all. He's not perfect, but a wonderful daddy just the same.

Father's Day means different things to different people. To me, it means taking time to recognize my son's father, the man who loves us unconditionally. Thank you, sweets. We love you! Happy Father's Day!

Heirloom eggs, thanks to our family for kicking off this tradition.



A beautiful spring token from the mother-in-law...

With all the excitement of the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, it already feels like Easter was eons ago. They have their family traditions, and we have ours...so I thought I'd share some of our "firsts" to celebrate spring at Easter this year:

-We have a family Easter basket (I wove it myself - no seriously - I used to teach basket-weaving) complete with silk lining made from leftover scraps of fabric.

-The family basket contains a handmade Easter journal in a silk pouch. The journal is to write down who was at our festivities and what we did. There's also room for photos.

-Each family member painted a wooden egg. Year after year we can use them for egg hunts.

-I decided that chocolate babka will be my staple Easter treat for dessert at brunch each year (husband approved, of course :) It is amazingly delicious, like a chocolate-filled croissant. It was a hit!

So there you have it, a few new traditions of our own. What are some of your favorite Easter traditions?

The dogwoods are blooming! The dogwoods are blooming! Yay for Spring!

new tradition: Chocolate Babka!

Reminds me of a chocolate-filled croissant - I can't believe I made it!

Ooey-gooey chocolate and buttery bread - a match made in Heaven.

As you know from my last post, I'm on a mission to start new traditions. I wanted to find a delicious recipe that I could make and share at our family's Easter brunch - something off the beaten path. That got me thinking about our Eastern European heritage, so I began reading about all sorts of traditions hoping to try one on.

Fast forward to yesterday when I made my first chocolate babka, a yummy bread oozing with chocolate filling. I found the recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/ which is an excellent site for finding any recipe under the sun. You can keep your own virtual recipe box, too! (Now, I would never trade my tattered, true blue cook books, but they can't possibly hold all the recipes that this online site does - no disrespect.) It took nearly 3 hours to make, but worth every minute. YUM!