Tag - Holidays

Christmas is Coming

Christmas is coming
The goose is getting  fat
Please to put a penny in the old man’s hat

Yes dear friends, Christmas is coming.  With all the back to school, back to scouts, sports, and dance chaos, time is going to fly by and December will arrive before you know it.  Is all your shopping done?  Are all your presents wrapped and labeled and well hidden through out the house?  Are you Christmas cards addressed and stamped, because of course, you bought your cards at an end of season clearance sale last year?  Are your cookies baked and carefully frozen?  Are you Ready For Christmas?

Me neither.

But I’ve gotten a good start.  Our holiday season actually starts at the end of September, when the Halloween decorations come out, and then we get hit with 3 birthdays, our anniversary (#15 this year!), Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Throw in our cruise at the beginning of December, so if I don’t start planning now, I will totally lose my mind around mid-October.  It won’t be pretty.

My planning starts with gift ideas.  Somebody is getting something handmade this year, but I can’t tell you who.  That project is about halfway done.  I still need to think on the female members of my extended family.  But I think I’ve got the kids all figured out.

In our never ending battle against the toy room, we have decided to limit our children’s gifts to things that are 1) consumable, 2) very small, or 3) additions to play sets that they already have.  With that in mind, Pumpkin Girl is going to get some craft kits.  I’ve already bought a couple of beginning sewing projects and a scrapbook kit. Doll clothes are on the list, too.  Boo is getting a Lego Chess computer game, which can be stored in a binder with the rest of the CD-ROMS.  I’m also thinking about a magician’s hat and cape to go with last year’s magic set.  Boo’s Rescue Heroes and fire truck are being recycled into gifts for Bip.  Probably some new Thomas trains, too.

Pumpkin and Boo both want an Easy Bake Oven.  I’m not too sure about that one.  They’ll be 9 and 7 by the end of the year and I’m wondering how long this will hold its appeal for them.  They can pretty much just bake with me, but they might have lots of fun “baking” on their own.  They’ve been asking for it for almost a year now.  What do you think?

I’m going to try to have my Christmas shopping for the children done by the end of September.  That’ll include birthday shopping for the older ones, too.  This year I plan to print labels for our Christmas cards and have those done, early, too.  As for our cards, the Disney ship will be decorated for Christmas and we can get our formal portrait turned into Christmas cards before we even leave the ship.  So I won’t worry about that.

How about you?  Have you started any Christmas planning yet? Do you prefer to shop early or wait until the last minute?

Fourth of July

dc_fireworks.jpgSo did you hear what happened in Washington, DC on the 4th of July?

Our weather forecast was for scattered thunderstorms, but that itself was not cause for worry. It’s pretty much the forecast everyday during the summer, but it certainly doesn’t rain everyday. The day looked pretty decent in the morning. We hung up our flag, the kids rode their bikes, all was well. I made pasta salad for the party we’d being going to later. After lunch I put Bip down for a nap, Philip took Boo and Pumpkin Girl to the Freedom Fest on base. I snuck away from Bip and came downstairs. I happened to glance at our computer…ok, I was checking my email…and I saw that our Weather Channel alert button was blinking. Not good.

Turns out we were under a tornado watch until 10 pm! I checked the radar and it was clear, but still. I am terrified by tornadoes. I don’t like knowing that a day holds the potential for deadly destruction. I worry all day. Then the sky darkens with the approaching storm and my stomach gets in knots. The severe weather alert signals start sounding and I’m glued to the tv, watching the Super Cell of Death approaching. I watch the sky for signs it’s about to puke. I try to figure out where in my hastily built, WWII era, basement-less house I’m supposed to hide. Children? I have children? Sorry, it’s every coward for themselves.

I tend to panic during tornado watches. Tornado warnings? Let’s not go there.

By the time I met up with Philip and the children at our friends’ house, the sky had darkened and the radar was showing a couple of big red storm cells heading our way.

The other adults at the party were a little less concerned than I was, but were still monitoring the weather radio. By now a tornado warning had been issued for a county north of us and an even larger, angrier storm was coming at us.

By 5pm we decided to start grilling while we still had a grill before the storm arrived so that the kids (15 of them) could eat outside. By 5:45 a tornado warning had been issued for the country directly to the west of us, for a storm heading…East! And now the National Mall was being evacuated for the storms.

Evacuated – as in run for your lives, Big Killer Storm on the Way! OK, it was a little more orderly than that. Park police in golf carts telling people who’d staked their prime firework viewing spot hours ago to pack it up and move it out. People were put into 21 surrounding buildings to wait out the storm. They were anticipating letting people back on to the Mall by 7:30, if we weren’t all swept away to Oz, and have the fireworks display as scheduled.

As for me, I was quite anxious. Being around other, calmer adults helped. Listening to them tell their tornado horror stories didn’t help at all. Two different people separately suggested that perhaps I’d feel better with an amaretto slush.

Since everyone at the party was Catholic, we prayed a decade of the Rosary.

And then the approaching storm just sort of fell apart. It passed just north of us, hitting the abandoned Mall, but it was much smaller and we got only a few drops of rain. I’m telling you, prayers worked.

The rest of the evening passed without drama. We had a wonderful view of the fireworks from a grassy spot along the river, just 2 blocks from our house. We listened to the simulcast music on the radio and ooh and ahhed appropriately. The storm brought cooler temperatures and bit of a breeze. We returned to the party for round 3 of desserts and finally came home and put the kids to bed much too late.

Another Fourth of July not to be forgotten. I’m hoping next year will be far less stressful.

Happy Fourth of July

pcrocket4.gifWhat are you doing to celebrate Independence Day?

We’re going to Freedom Fest here on base. Water slides, moon bounces, food and entertainment are all on the list of fun. Then we’ll be heading off to a BBQ at a neighbor’s house – 4 families, 15 kids. We will be able to see the fireworks from anywhere on base, but I think we’ll walk down to the Potomac for the best, unobstructed view. This year I’m toting along a portable radio and so we can listen to the simulcast music. Anything will be better than last year, when I was sick and stayed in bed all day with a fever. I watched the fireworks from one of our upstairs windows while wrapped in a blanket.

If you’re interested, you can catch watch the fireworks display on PBS.pcsamhat.gif

Whatever your plans, have a safe and happy Fourth of July!

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Happy Easter

Happy Easter! Christ is Risen, just like he said he would!

Even though being without internet service for almost a week almost killed me, the fact that the outage occurred during Holy Week was not lost on me. Sometimes I wish the Lord would speak a little louder when He wants me to do something. Sometimes He speaks loudly enough. I guess He thought I’ve been spending a bit too much time on the computer.

On Holy Thursday we got a chance to attend Mass. We’ve got a great pastor who explains many of our traditions to us. I had never realized that at Holy Thursday Mass, the Blessed Sacrament is removed from the church and that mass will not be celebrated again until the Easter Vigil. The significance of the empty church really hit me.

Pumpkin Girl has been using her new subscription to Magnifikids to follow along with not only the usual parts of the Mass, but with the readings, too. I’m hoping this helps her focus on the Mass more. I always enjoyed following the readings in the missalet as a kid. Actually, I still do, but more and more churches have stopped supplying them. I know they want us to be listening to the readings, but hey, some of us learn best by reading! Our family has a Missal that I like to use, but it’s hard to use while I’m in exile in the crying room with Bip.

I’ve actually seen a real increase in Pumpkin’s faith over the last year. She has a new notebook that she uses to write stories and draw pictures in. Most of her pictures during Holy Week were of scenes of Jesus’ life – His cruficixion and Resurrection, the story of Lazurus (complete with Him saying “Open the toom”), Jesus sleeping on the boat during the storm and the shephard going after the lost lamb. Today, while reading Leading Little Ones to Mary, I let her draw while she listened and her pictures were of the life of Mary. Well, that is, Pumpkin’s idea of the life of Mary. You know, Mary swinging from monkey bars, jumping rope and helping her teacher clean the white board.

So anyway…On Good Friday, our parish had an outdoor Stations of the Cross. The adults took turns carrying the large, wooden cross from station to station, while the children held pictures of each station. It was bitterly cold, and I felt bad for our poor pastor who came dressed as a priest, not as a soldier, so he had no hat. It was a nice to walk the stations, even if it was cold.

Saturday morning, we woke up to…
spring snow

Just ten days earlier it was 80 degrees. Gotta love Spring!

We braved the elements to go in search of dressy sandals for Pumpkin Girl. Good dressy shoes for little girls are getting as hard to find as modest clothing is. Why in the world do shoe makers think that heels on a girl of 6 is a good idea? The same shoes, heel and all, are even available for toddlers! Fortunately, we did find a suitable pair – in her size even! We then came home and decorated our Easter cookies.
Easter cookies

Yes, we make chicken and bunny Easter cookies. This year I took the time to explain to the children why we see things like bunnies saying Happy Easter and how we can look at these things as symbols of Christ’s Resurrection. We also talked about how some children enjoy the Easter Bunny and we should never ruin the game for them by telling them that he doesn’t really exist. However, it is OK to tell them that the Easter Bunny isn’t really what Easter is all about.

Philip went to sing in the choir for the Easter Vigil and Boo went bowling with his best friend, leaving Pumpkin Girl, Bip and I to watch “The Sound of Music” on TV. When Boo returned around 8pm, we made Resurrection cookies. We were interrupted by several loud bangs and then I remembered that Saturday was the firework display for the Cherry Blossum Festival! We grabbed coats and shoes and ran out to enjoy the rest of the fireworks!

Easter morning dawned bright and cold! The church was decorated beautifully, and this year Pumpkin Girl was well dosed with her allergy medicine, so the lilies didn’t bother her (the children insist on sitting in the front row). We sang my favorite Easter song – “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” and one that always makes me cry- “I am the Bread of Life.” We sang that one at the first Easter after Rebecca was gone. The last line – “and I will raise you up on the last day” just chokes me up. Sometimes it makes Boo cry too, so I left the crying room early to check up on him. He was fine, but he gave me a big hug, because I was not. I was fighting back sobs during the last verse. Don’t worry, I’m better now.

Back at home, we had our annual family Easter egg hunt…
Bip Eggs

Boo Eggs

Pumpkin eggs

…and dyed eggs.

One of these years I’m going to get organized enough to get those eggs dyed before Easter!

Merry Christmas

I’m signing off until after Christmas.  I have one more batch of cookies to bake, a couple of more presents to wrap and three excitable children to try to contain.  I wish you a joyful, peaceful Christmas. 

Santaandjesus

Busy Little Bakers

We’ve been busy little bakers over the last few days. We started with White Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies for our UPS driver and our mailman. The recipe is from my friend Heidi and they are probably some of the best cookies I’ve ever tasted. The recipe makes around 6 dozen cookies, depending on how much dough you eat. Our UPS driver, Anthony, is the best! He’s friendly, always addresses us by name, sets heavy packages inside the door for me, and waves at us when he sees us around base. I do almost all my shopping on the internet, so if I’ve bought it, chances are, Anthony has delivered it. He definitely deserves some cookies. Our mailman is great, too. First class service all around, if you’ll pardon the pun.

Today we tackled our own Christmas cookies. I usually make 3 different types of cookies: Yum-Yums (aka Seven Layer Cookies), thumbprints and candy canes. Pumpkin Girl was able to do most of the Yum-Yums herself this year. Her favorite part was crushing the graham crackers with a molinillo.

We also made pumpkin bars for our homeschool group tomorrow. I got the recipe off a box of Fiber One right about the time I had Pumpkin Girl. They are so tasty and all that fiber does a great job of getting the ol’ postpartum digestive system back in order, if you know what I mean. They also help get things moving when the children are a bit stuck, too.

Depending on how the rest of the day goes, I’ll get started on the thumbprints and candy canes tonight. If time allows, I’ll make a Cherry Eggnog bread on Saturday. If I run out of time, I’ll save it for New Year’s Eve.

Heidi’s Lorri’s White Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 c butter
1 c sugar
Cream until fluffy. Then add:
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp almond extract
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
3 c flour
Do not over beat once flour is added.
Stir in
1 bag chocolate chips
1 bag white chocolate chips

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Pumpkin Bars
1 1/2 c Fiber One cereal
2 c sugar
2/3 c vegetable oil
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
4 eggs
1 1/2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 c raisins

Grease and flour jelly roll pan (I just use a casserole dish). Crush cereal. Stir together cereal, sugar, oil and pumpkin. Let stand 10 minutes. Stir in eggs until well blended. Stir in remaining ingredients Spread in pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly. Cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. Cut into 7×7 rows. Refrigerate any remaining bars.

Cherry Eggnog Bread
3/4 c maraschino cherries, chopped and well drained
2 1/4 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 tsp salt
1 c sugar
3/4 c butter, softened
3 eggs
1 c eggnog

Glaze:
1/2 c powdered sugar
3 to 4 tsp eggnog
1/4c toasted, sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray bottom only of loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Combine flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt; set aside. In another bowl, beat sugar and butter on high speed of electric mixer until mixture is light and fluffy. On medium speed add eggs, one at a time, beating until blended. Add one third of the flour mixture, beating on low until just blended. Beat in one half of the eggnog. Add another one third of the flour mixture, the remaining eggnog and then the remaining flour mixture, beating after each addition just until combined. Gently stir cherries into batter; pour batter into pan.

Bake 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean and top s golden brown. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Loosen sides of loaf; remove from pan to cooling rack and cool completely.

For glaze, mix powdered sugar and eggnog until smooth. Drizzle half of mixture over cooled loaf. sprinkle evenly with almonds. Drizzle remaining glaze over almonds.

The Nativity, a Play in 5 Acts

Our Catholic Homeschool group on base performed their Christmas play yesterday. The children wrote the play themselves and came up with most of the ideas for the songs and staging. We rehearsed every day last week, with a dress rehearsal in the chapel on Friday afternoon. The children invited their dads to attend an evening performance, followed by a pizza party. We were all so proud of how hard the children worked at learning their lines and stage directions. It wasn’t easy rounding up 15 children and getting them to pay attention, especially with 4 babies/toddlers roaming the set and playing with Baby Jesus. At times it felt like a scene from “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” But in the end, it all came off beautifully and the dads were suitably impressed.

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Real Shepherds Wear Plaid. Pumpkin Girl as a sheep, with Boo, her shepherd and their best friend, Andrew.

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Singing “Silent Night”

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The shepherds have announced that “The Savior has been born, Alleluia, Alleluia” and the entire ensemble sings “Joy to the World.”

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