So, my mom was supposed to be here yesterday but they are snowed in. Portland is getting a huge dump of snow and ice. Who knows if they will make it here or not. Here are some of the pictures I have gotten from her snow situation.

The hazards of sending a three year old up to brush her teeth by herself. They don't always make it all the way up the stairs.

Elf

I was talking to my friend Bethany about Christmas movies the other day. I was shocked to learn she hasn't seen Elf! Elf is our all time favorite when it comes to hilarious Christmas movies.

If you haven't seen Elf, please, please, please watch it. You won't be sorry.

Two of my many favorite scenes:

Chloe had her recital as well. Here she is playing her solo. She does such a good job here but when they played their group song, she froze and could only sing the words. Such pressure! And if you listen, you will hear Freya humming to the song.

Freya had a fun day at preschool. Everyone dressed in PJs and got to make lots of fun holiday items. Here she is putting some kind of marshmallow on an ice cream cone to in the end make a decorated tree. So cute.

Jonah had his piano recital yesterday. He did a great job playing with the other students and fabulous with his solo. I love this picture of him getting down with his bad self. We even watched him dance - in front of people! Seriously out of his comfort zone but I am glad that this group piano class is getting him comfortable with playing. He use to be so shy that he wouldn't even play if I was in the room!

We bought these antlers yesterday to wear when we go caroling. Since then Freya hasn't taken them off. She has also been putting the other pair we have on everything that will sit still. All her stuffed animals have worn them, they pair nicely with a Santa hat and if the cats would sit still long enough I am sure they would look adorable too.

If you decide to purchase some antlers to add to the holiday spirit, might I suggest the jingle bell-LESS version?

Suki says Merry Christmas!

OK, we practiced a few more times and look what beef jerky can get her to do!

Santa was a success!

Everyone is smiling, there's no crying, I am so happy :)

I could not get them to wear their PJ'S though, it was hard enough trying to get Jonah to put on the red shirt.

Sewing for gifts.

It seemed like a good idea. I have a few things done but my list hasn't gotten smaller as I finish because I keep adding things to it!

I am making lots of these cute little things. I just really wish my embroidery were better.





This lunch bag was just finished. I really like how it turned out.







I also made a few other things like the grocery bag. I love this pattern, I highly recommend it, it is brilliant. Patterned after those plastic bags you get groceries in now.














A sassy apron, a zippered pouch, some crayon rolls (these just about killed my patience) and more to come.

Next I am going to start the Altoids tin survival kit for Jonah. Gonna get crafty with the outside and decoupage something cool on it.

After that, I'll be making a cool Nancy Drew detective kit (don't get me started as to why I can't just buy one at the frickin' store when they have EVERY other crappy character out there.) I am thinking of making a bag that folds open with lots of little pockets and such for all the notebooks, fingerprint kits, magnifying glass etc that a good detective needs.

And these super cute cupcakes area must. Geeze how many days are left before X-mas?

That crayon roll is really short a crayon. Oops.

Thanks Grammy! We love the jammies!

Do you think I can get them to wear these to visit Santa?

The Cinnamon Bear

We started listening to this story. It is an old radio show and super exciting. Freya is loving it and her expressions are priceless.

The story is about two children who are trying to find their missing star for the Christmas tree. They discover the Cinnamon Bear who tells them that the "crazy quilt dragon" stole the star. They go on all these adventures in search of the stolen star. Of course they go to the North Pole and Santa makes an appearance.

This website also has a coloring book to go along with the story. I am planning on making cinnamon bear ornaments to go with when we're done listening to the story.

Today is Raita's Birthday. I made him a lemon meringue pie and a margarita. He isn't too hard to please.

He has been talking about this T-shirt he wants to make. So, I went ahead and made one for him. He is all about the stacation or staycation which ever you prefer.....

I AM FULL

We had the usual and a few new items. One being these sweet potato stuffed oranges.

Very sweet but I will totally make them again as they were delish. We also had twice baked potatoes instead of mashed. And the ever popular broccoli corn casserole instead of the green bean.

My grandma Thela always makes this jello salad that she refers to as Delicious Salad. I had to make it so that the kids wouldn't miss out! It is very similar to this recipe only she uses 1 large box of raspberry jello and sprinkles sliced almonds on top.

We drank cranberry bellinis and the kids had cranberry cider.

Suki even had a plate of Turkey and dressing. She ate it in 2 and 2.




After all that, we all sat in the hot tub for a bit. It's in the upper 70s and so nice to sit outside. Imagine doing all this baking and cooking in an 80 degree house!

Off to make the whipped cream for the pumpkin pie! I hope everyone is as full as I am.

Random items of cuteness.

I sent Freya up to her room to put away some of her discarded clothes. Yes, she is in that stage where she must change her outfits 3 times a day. We went through this with Chloe too....Anyway, she didn't clean anything up because she evidently was too tired. So was the cat, as I'm sure he did most of the work in her room.


And in case you're wondering what my 7 year old would like for Christmas, here you go.

Can you say Turkey Trot?








The big kids had their turkey trot today. It was a grueling 2 miles but the weather was perfect for the race. Jonah placed 6th and Chloe was 10th! I am pretty proud of them both. Jonah has been waking up early twice a week for running club and I think it paid off. Chloe went in there cold turkey and still got in the top 10 for her age/gender! That's not bad considering there are at least 100 kids in each of their grades!

Last year I did the Austin Turkey trot which is a 5 miler with many hills. It was fun but I think this year I will have my own Turkey trot and just run the 5 miles around my house. The thought of getting up at 5am to stand in the frigid weather doesn't sound appealing to me this year.

Five miles means I can eat 500 extra calories Thursday. Not sure if it will do much good since the average T-day meal comes in around 4000 calories! Yep, that's not a typo this time, it really says 4000. Then add to that our anniversary meal the day before and Raita's birthday meal/cake the day after and I should really be running a marathon, not some measly 5 miler.

We have been working hard making Thanksgiving crafts. The owl is from Freya and says she is Thankful for her "heart, Mamma, Raita, Brother and Sister." I asked her about the heart comment and she said she is glad that she can care and love with her heart. How cute is that?

Jonah is not into the craftiness lately. I need to find something for an almost 10 year old boy to do.

So tell me, at 6:00am, would you be able to tell the difference between these two?

Yeah, me either.

That is why my kids all experienced soy sauce over waffles this morning. A true East meets West recipe....Lovely.

This time the Girl Scouts went to a bank! We got to see a $1000 bill, entered a real live vault and even went behind the scenes and watched the tellers use the air tubes. It was amazing how many questions the girls had about money and the bank. I learned quite a bit myself.

Chloe, the Early Years.

I was looking through a huge box of art by the kids. Here are some of my favorites by Chloe.

We did a little music and play at Bethany's house yesterday. Freya had fun and it's always nice to chat with other moms.