Cooking with Dad

Christmas

We had a nice quiet Christmas at home this year. Just the way I like it. Pajamas for Christmas eve, and toys and games to play with Christmas morning. It was nice to spend so much time together just relaxing over the holidays.

Happy birthday to me

I had a wonderful birthday last month. Sam made me a delicous cake, and the boys made me some priceless cards. A couple days later I got a package in the mail from some San Diego friends with book I will cherish forever. Here's to my last year of being in my twenties! (Yes, this is the only picture I have of me on my birthday...)

Christmas in Rockville

Back in December we ventured out to Rockville Town Square for their annual Christmas tree lighting and celebration. With Olivia still having trouble for long distances in the car, we opted for this over going into DC. There was suppose to be fun things for the kids to do, live music, Santa, cookies and cider, and free horse carriage rides. We arrived just as the tree was lit, which was the highlight of the evening. There were some things set up for the kiddos to do, but their wasn't much lighting, so it was pretty impossible to participate. The line for Santa and the carriage rides were miles long, so we opted to wait in line for a cookie and cider. The boys met Elmo (who apparently works for Hollywood Tan...) and got some glowing necklaces. Despite the crowds and bad lighting, we had a fun time, and it was a good way to start off the season, without having to go too far from home.

Thankful

We had a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving this year. We stuck close to home, and John came to visit and share the feast with us. It was fun to have some family around, and it was fun to spend lots of time at home just being together.

This year I did almost all of the meal prep on Wednesday, so Thursday was pretty calm. Just had to heat things through and cook the Turkey. I found some great recipes for rolls and mashed potatoes that you can make the day before.

We have had Turkey for almost every meal ever since. The leftovers are almost all gone, and I'm gearing up for some turkey soup and turkey pot pie to finish them off. I think I'll have had my fill of turkey for a while.

New Tradition

We started a new tradition in our family this year. Making a gingerbread house over Thanksgiving weekend. While visiting teaching earlier in the week, a sister I visit taught mentioned they always decorate gingerbread houses on Thursday night after the Thanksgiving feast. I thought that sounded like fun, but didn't really plan on doing it in our own family. Later that day Harrison was doing a Christmas themed coloring page that happened to be of a gingerbread house. After coloring much of it, he told me that this would serve as our plan when we made our own gingerbread house. And I thought, why not? I found great instructions which took me step by step through how to make a gingerbread house. Don't you just love google??? Since I did almost all of the thanksgiving prep the day before, I was able to whip up some gingerbread dough Wednesday night. I sent Sam to the store with the boys to pick out the candy for decorating. Thursday morning, we rolled out the dough, and cut out the pattern, and cooked up the pieces before the turkey needed to get in the oven. Then after the pieces had cooled, and while the turkey was cooking, we whipped up some royal icing, and put the base together. After dinner, we added the roof. Then on Friday we decorated it. The boys loved it. I had some fun also. Now the only problem is keeping them from eating it before we even get to december...

Awesome book

We picked out this random book at the library, and it is awesome. It starts with, "Daddy, if I got taken by pirates, would you save me?" And it just gets better from there.

Noah absolutely loves the book. He reads it 5 times a day, has it mostly memorized.

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Fall

Fall has arrived; the first time for the boys. There were a few times in San Diego where I raked up a pile of leaves for them, but that might have been in June, or January. But, we have a big oak tree in our front yard (and cherry trees line the street), so we have a bunch of leaves. Mollie got some fun shots of the boys, but didn't get a shot of me raking while holding Olivia.

They're FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the boys have been pouring over the christmas toy fliers every week that come with the Sunday paper. Today Harrison found an ad that had a free light saber with the purchase of a Star Wars toy. Of course Harrison can't read all the tiny print about the obligatory extra purchase. Just the picture of a light saber and the word FREE in huge bold font. "Mom the store has light sabers! for FREE!"

They spent a while one afternoon taking pictures of the magazines, and their favorite pages, etc. They can think of nothing else that makes them happier than looking at a bunch of toys. In fact when Olivia got cranky, Noah would open to the "girls part" and show it to her in an attempt to cheer her up. (photos by Harrison)

Halloween

Here are the happy Halloweeners waiting for Grandpa Brent to arrive. My dad decided to come out for the weekend, and the boys were so excited they marched around the front yard in costume for over an hour waiting for him to get here. He was driving through rush hour traffic on a Friday night. Apparently they told everyone who drove by (only neighbors, we live on a cul-de-sac) that they were waiting for their grandpa.
Noah was a dragon, and and the last minute Harrison switched from being a monkey to being a knight - which worked out nicely with Noah's costume. Sam told Harrison that the dragon on the front of the knight costume meant he was a knight that worked with dragons, not against them. So he refused to act like he was slaying the dragon. Which is probably a good thing. He kept telling me, "He's on my team, mom."

Here's Noah showing off his tail. It had the cutest little wag as he walked.

I love Noah's expression in the photo. He was ready to go and get candy, not smile for the camera. Sam and my dad took them around our street, and then Olivia and I joined them to go trick-or-treat by our church. I didn't bother dressing Olivia up - she was budled up in the baby bjorn the whole time anyway, and most people think she's pretty cute even when she's not in costume.

Jack-O-Lanterns

For FHE on Monday we did Jack-O-Lanterns. The spider creation was Harrison's chosen design, and my hard work, while "Iron Man" as Noah calls it, was the work of Sam. On a side note, the boys have been obsessed with Iron man ever since they saw an ad for the movie while walking through Best Buy. Noah would have no other design but the one that looked like Iron Man. I bought a little carving kit this year - for the mere $3 it cost, I think it really improved our ability to make cool looking pumkins. Note the difference in the thickness of the pumpkins - the flesh of mine was so thin the entire pumpkin glows when it's lit. It was actually fun for me to do this year- I'm not artistic at all, and cutting a pumpkin with kitchen knives has never been a skill of mine. But with a pattern, tracing tool and two "pumpkin saws" I was able to pretend to be artistic, or at least not "graphically challenged" as my mother calls me.

There is hope...

Remember the problems Olivia was having in the car? Well, they're not over, but they're getting better. I decided that maybe her car seat was uncomfortable. Just because even when she was exhausted, she managed to SCREAM for an HOUR. So, I considered purchasing a new carseat, but then decided that I could remedy the problem if I made a cover for her seat in flannel. While she dosen't love the car, she has fallen asleep a couple times. And her cries are more of the complaining fussy type instead of the screaming type. Which is so good, since we are spending quite a bit of time in the car taking Harrison to and from preschool 4 days a week.

First Day of School

This post isn't as late as it may seem. His preschool started just last week. It's a program at a local high school, where the students teach the preschool. It seems to be an excellent program, just what I want in a preschool. Lots of play, learning, fun and social experiences. It's really a pre-K program, focusing on preparing them for kindergarten, which is just what he needs. He goes 4 days a week, and he's loving it. This picture was taken after school on the first day - forgot to take a shot in the morning before we left. Noah is also loving a little more attention at home, although he asks a couple times each day, "Where's Harrison?" Or he'll yell for Harrison to come look at something. The other good thing that has come from this preschool is Noah has found his nap again, after losing it in the move. He falls asleep in the car when we pick Harrison up, and I'm able to get him up to his bed where he contintues to sleep for another couple hours. This is a major plus.

Harrison Turns Five!

Harrison turned 5 a couple weeks ago. Here's some pics from the family party we had here at home. We had another party (for both Noah and Harrison) at my mom's house, but you can't not have cake and presents ON your birthday. So we did some celebrating on Oct. 7th.

He's looking so grown up! I made him a cake in the shape of a dinosaur this time (yes, that is dinosaur cakes for 3 years in a row - never gets old), and he asked that it be purple. The purple turned out kinda grey, but the boys still loved it. Complete with dinosaur shaped sprinkles.

Happy Birthday to Noah

Our Doll

When Olivia's not crying, she's actually very cute. She smiles a lot now, and is getting close to giggling when she's really happy. Here she is on Noah's birthday, just chilling out in her high chair. She is really good during meals, which is nice. She sits and watches us all eat during breakfast and dinner. Now if I could just use that high chair as her carseat...

The Great Move

As I informed you in an earlier post, we made it to Maryland alive. No, really, the move wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There were a few bumps in the road, but nothing some happy meal toys, a shake and a fresh pair of clothes couldn't cure.

When we arrived at the airport, after rushing through final cleaning, turning in our keys and parking permits, and letting the boys get a final round of play with their new dear friend Adelle, we were informed that our plane was 2 hours late due to some bad weather in NY. It was kind of a sad way to spend our last 2 hours in San Diego. But we made the best of it with some happy meals at McDonalds. We usually opt for just getting the boys a burger off the dollar menu - since they don't eat a whole happy meal anyway, but splurged and got them each a happy meal, complete with toy. The little Anakin racers provided entertainment that lasted the whole 2 hours. And annoyed a few travelers as the boys raced them up and down the terminal floor.

We promised the boys an ice cream cone at McDonalds, but finding that they were out, we opted for a shake to share. They loved it.

The boys each toted their own carry-ons and backpacks. Filled with their clothes for the trip. They were very good about wheeling them through the airport, although Noah looks less than happy here. He's just protesting getting his photo taken, not actually pulling his luggage...

Here's Harrison just after arriving at my parents house. He unpacked everything right in their entry hall. Note the PJ's. This is not what he wore on the trip, but due to a bout of air sickness after landing, he changed into some more comfortable and clean clothes. Luckily he had them in his carry-on, so they were very accessible. We stayed at my parents home for just over a week, and had a very relaxing enjoyable time - just what we needed. More on this in later posts.Home at last. Here is Olivia (I know, you can't really see her) just inside the door the night we arrived. This was our first morning here. We "camped out" in our house until the rest of our things arrived.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Last Saturday we went into town to see some DC sites. The boys were really excited to ride the "train." The "metro" did not sound as exciting.

We had planned on visiting the zoo, but that morning I found out that the Smithsonian had an exhibit on Jim Hensen which was ending the next day. So we went to see the Muppets, Fraggle Rock and Sesame Street. Sadly, they didn't allow any pictures anywhere close to the exhibit. But we had a great time. There were some early sketches, videos and interviews. There were some interactive pieces to the exhibit, like a hand puppet theater which was broadcast (to the other side of the room).

One great feature of the Smithsonian is that a lot of museums are located right on the National Mall. So after seeing one, you can just walk across the grass to the next. And as an added bonus, the capitol, national monuments, and White House are also pretty close.


After looking at the Hensen exhibit,we decided to stop by the natural history museum, mostly for the dinosaurs. We stopped outside for a quick snack on the steps, and then went in to see some truly huge skeletons.










































We finished off with a ride on the carrousel, merry-go-round. Noah rode for a while, then decided to opt for the saftey of Dad's arms.