Christmas

Christmas Break 2012 was lovely.  The past two years, school has kept me busy right up until Christmas Eve. (As in, we barely managed to put the tree up.  Or didn't.)  But this year...ah, this year!  I finished finals the first week of December.  We decorated the tree.  I made the kids each an advent calendar.  We baked gingerbread cookies.  We hand-stamped our own wrapping paper.  Craig aptly observed that I clearly have some creative needs that aren't being met by doing legal research.  (Hard to believe, I know!)  

 

Our wrapping paper.  We cut the star stamps from a potato.

 My little elf making chocolate-covered pretzels.  Isn't she adorable in her little apron?  My mom got both the kids chef hats for Christmas and they love to wear them and help us out in the kitchen.

Downtown at the Christmas Parade.  The Doodlebug just sort of sat there until Miss Winter Parade or whoever came by in her dress and tiara, waving.  Then he jumped up and waved at her and yelled, "Merry Christmas!!!!  Merry Christmas!!!"  For some inexplicable reason, he also stood up and started applauding like mad for the motorcycles.

***

Two days after Christmas.  We are finishing our breakfast.  Snow is still on the ground.  

"Atticus, go get dressed," I say.  

He speeds off and strides back in like this less than two minutes later, leans up against the counter like he's Mr. Joe Cool, casually crosses his legs, and looks at us like, "What's up? I'm ready to go play in the snow."

Two more pictures of smiling faces:

Happy Halloween!

Franny announced back in July or August that she wanted an alligator costume for Halloween.  I wasn't sure how we were going to pull that off, but when Atticus decided that sounded like a good idea to him as well, we decided to make it work.

They ended up going as Mr. and Mrs. Green, the characters from this wonderful little series by Keith Baker.  They are adorable and smart stories about this little alligator couple who are always so excited about life and so nice and supportive of each other.  Mr. Green always wears a necktie and Mrs. Green always wears a pearl necklace and watch.

This was the first year we went trick-or-treating with friends, and it was soooo much fun.  The kids getting to be the perfect age to enjoy trick-or-treating.  We did have to restrain Franny, who was totally working the "scoring tons of candy" strategies (i.e. taking an extra handful while the neighbor was talking to the other kids). 

I made these costumes, and I do not sew at all or own a sewing machine, so they weren't anything fancy but they were fun.  I wanted to post them because when I googled "homemade alligator costume" I couldn't really find anything close to what I was looking for (which was sort of surprising, considering it's the Internet and all). 

The main part of the costume is exactly how you would make a ghost costume from a sheet: just a hole for their heads.  I used some thick fabric that was on sale and didn't seem like it would need hemmed.  The tail is stuffed with newspaper and has two straps, so it ties on like a belt.  Then I cut a slit in the back of the costume to pull the tail through. 

For the heads, I cut a piece of a cereal box and duct-taped it to a baseball cap (fancy, huh?), then covered it with the fabric.  I used a needle and thread to tack it to the inside of the hat (glue probably would have worked too).  The teeth and the eyes are felt.  I put straps on the hats that tied under the kids' chins so they would stay on.

I realized once we were trick-or-treating that these costumes break every Halloween costume rule in the book.  They were walking choking hazards, long enough that the kids might have tripped, probably obstructed their vision, and were dark at night (not covered in that reflective tape they used to pass out to us in elementary school).  Alas, we all made it home in one piece.

Little Chef and the Alligator

I just have a few random pictures so I thought I'd post a life here the past few weeks.  First, the Doodlebug thinks he's this guy from the movie Ratatouille:

 In case you haven't seen the movie, this kid who works in a restaurant but can't cook meets a rat who is a great cook but can't work in a restaurant because, you know, he's a rat.  So the rat hides in the kid's chef's hat and helps him cook, propelling him into a career as a celebrity chef.  The kid calls the rat "Little Chef."

So the Doodle has this little plastic lion that he carries around and calls Little Chef.  I guess because it has whiskers like a rat?  Anyway, Craig made him this chef's hat from posterboard.  The Doodle keeps the Little Chef in his hat.  It's mildly hilarious.

 
Now Lady Frances.  I post this picture even though her eyes are closed for two reasons.  One, because she insisted on wearing this ensemble all day, including at the dinner table.  Two, her eyes are closed because she is preparing to jump.  Which she did, off of the rim of the wagon.  I don't know how it didn't turn over on top of her.

Here they are at the zoo last week:

What else? We were driving the other day when Craig turned around and looked at Atticus sitting there in his carseat, serious as can be, wearing the chef's hat (yes, I know).  Craig laughs, saying, "He looks like the pope...or a priest...whoever it is that wears those hats."  Atticus says, "What's a BEAST?  I look like a beast?"

As for Franny-bug, she loves to ride the elevator at the museum, but she calls it the alligator.  As in, "Mommy, we went up in the Alligator today."  And she insists on wearing her brother's underwear.  You know, because they have Thomas the Train on them.  Sooo much cooler than her own.  She'll love that story someday.

Happy Halloween Hilarious-ness

We went trick-or-treating tonight and we had a blast.  The kids were hilarious.  Before we even left the house, I explained to the kids what we were going to do, and we practiced saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you."  So the first person opens the door and the kids just stand there, wide-eyed, staring at that giant bowl of candy.  We nudge them to say "trick-or-treat" but instead Atticus holds out his bag and says "Can I HAVE SOME, please?"  At least he was polite. 

The best part of the evening was the last house we stopped at.  A baby who was obviously about to take a bath came toddling up to the front door in his birthday suit, and Franny announced to everyone, "That baby has a penis!"  I almost died.  Luckily, the parents (our across-the-street neighbors) thought it was too funny. 

Our little doctor:

 

My handsome cowboy:

Franny-girl's costume is the same one the Doodle wore two years ago.  She went around all night saying "I'm a doctor!"

His is made of pieces I've been collecting from consignment and thrift stores over the past few months.  I love that pearl-snap shirt on him. 

This picture cracks me up.  Mr. Personality:

When we got home, we sat outside and gave out candy to trick-or-treaters.  The kids were on a mini-sugar rush and were having a blast giving out candy.  Atticus kept trying to "scare" people by shaking his head crazily and going "Bluuuuuhhhh."  Franny gave each person a piece of candy saying, "Here you go!"  One kid walked away without saying thank-you, and she just gave a huff, rolled her eyes, and said "You're welcome..."

She and Atticus ran around the yard in the dark acting like two little goofballs.  They just kept going in circles, Atticus going "Bluuuuhhh!" and her yelling "That's a CAZY (crazy) costume!" over and over.    

We had fun.  Two thumbs up.

Farmer's Market Goodies

 So I have to post some pictures of the deliciousness we picked up at the Farmer's Market last week: sweet potato greens.  I had never heard of eating sweet potato greens, but it turns out they are pretty great.  They cook up like collard or mustard greens, but with none of the bitterness.  Yum!

All we did was sautee some onion in olive oil, add the stems and cook them for about 5 minutes until they were tender, and then add the leaves and cook for a few more minutes, until they were wilted.  If you happen across these, I'd definitely give them a try!

My regular weekly Farmer's Market purchase is a bouquet of flowers for a mere $4 from the adorable 8 year old Rachel, who handles the growing, arranging, and selling herself.  Aren't they beautiful?

And as long as I'm on the food theme for the week, I might as well show off my amazing husband's latest adventure: potato-leek soup in a homemade bread bowl.

He checked out this book from the library called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  It really does seem easy.  You make up the dough and keep it in the 'fridge, and when you want bread it takes about 20 minutes to let it rise and that's that.  The bread is delicious.   

I'm organizing my pictures on the computer and should have some more of the Doodlebug and Ladybug soon!

I really am a smart person, most of the time.

Slightly funny story that has nothing to do with our kids, but does contain instructions on making chicken broth:

We use tons of chicken broth to cook with. Canned chicken broth isn't terribly expensive, but it does add up, and we decided if we made our own it would be cheaper and much better. It's super easy to do, although (as you will see), not foolproof! (You really have to be a fool to screw it up, but here I am.)

For weeks, we've been saving all our chicken bones in a container in the freezer, waiting until we had collected enough to try this out. Making the broth, like I said, is very easy. You throw all the bones in a big pot, cover with plenty of water, and start heating it up. When it gets hot, throw in half an onion, a carrot, and a stick of celery. Bring it to an almost-simmer, and then turn it down as far as it will go, cover, and let it stand. Overnight, or up to 24 hours. You don't even want to simmer it or it will get cloudy. It's just steeping.

So I do that. I've got my bones and vegetables in the pot, non-simmering. By the next morning, it smells amazing. The greatest, most beautiful chicken broth ever. I am as proud as I can be. This is so easy, I'm so awesome, etc., etc. All I have to do is strain it. Then I am going to boil it down so that it is concentrated, and I can freeze it in ice cubes. Then whenever we need broth, we just have to take out a cube, add a cup of hot water, and voila! Homemade chicken broth to add to whatever.

I grab a colander, take my steaming, delicious-smelling pan over to the sink, not really thinking, and dump the contents into the colander over the sink without a pan underneath to catch the broth. Half of my beautiful homemade broth was washing down the sink before I realized what I was doing! Are you kidding me? What was I thinking?! Agh! I stopped immediately, but there was my broth, swirling down the drain. I was bummed out the rest of the day, every time I thought about it.

(I did manage to end up with a little bit of broth. I strained it into a pan, boiled it down, and froze it like I said. It only made six sad little ice cubes. Still, that's 6 cans of chicken broth ($7) that we got for about ten cents, even with me screwing up. We will definitely do this again!)

Merry Christmas, and Happy Potty Training!

Franny-bug says Merry Christmas:



The kids have been having a great time, and I am having so much fun on my break with them. My family came to our house on Christmas Eve, and we had a nice Christmas dinner and opened presents.

I have to show off the homemade play kitchen that my amazing husband built for the kids:



It is so cute! The Doodlebug/Ladybug love to pretend-cook (and real-cook, for that matter), so I know they will have a blast with this. "Santa" brought it on Christmas Eve.

Here is the Doodle with his present from Uncle Andy: a real ukulele. He has been running around pretending everything he owns is a guitar for months now, so he was thrilled with this!



On Christmas morning, we got up and went to Nana and Papas house to celebrate Christmas with Craig's family. We opened Christmas presents in the afternoon and the kids had fun seeing their cousins.

Also, can I mention that potty training is going awesomely? The Doodle is wearing "underwear" (cloth training pants) all day long with almost no accidents, and even though he is sleeping in diapers at night, he has stayed dry for four nights in a row. He is very into it and tells me "I'm SO BIG!" :)

We have had a potty chair and training pants available to him for a long time now, but we didn't pressure him at all. He knew they were there to use when he wanted them, which he did every now and then. Then when he decided he was ready, it was almost like he trained himself. (Daddy did tell him he could have a chocolate chip each time he used the potty, as an extra incentive...) Anyway, I'm very proud of the Doodle and hope this post doesn't jinx us!

Just a few pictures from today. Franny's new look:




She was wearing this around this morning and she thought she was hiLARious! I wasn't really able to capture the fahbulous attitude in just a picture, so you will have to use your imagination.


The Doodle making playdough:



He has played with playdough before but we had never tried making it. He was bored this afternoon and I asked him if he wanted to help me make playdough, and you would have thought I had asked him if he wanted to go to Disneyland.



The finished product. A little sticky, but not bad. He's making "muffins:"



By the way, anyone with a two year old boy who doesn't have a tea set might not realize what fun they are missing. Ladybug got a little teapot and cups for her birthday, and Atticus thinks they are the most wonderful toys in the world. He also puts his blocks in the teacups for ice cubes. The things he might have missed out on if he didn't have a sister!

We can fly, we can fly, we can fly!

We had such a busy day yesterday! Ladybug had her first birthday party, and then we went trick-or-treating. I have tons of pictures so I'm going to do Halloween first, and birthday pictures soon.

Here's Tinkerbell:



Tinkerbell and Peter Pan:



It was impossible to get a good picture of the kids together. The Doodle loved his costume but did NOT want his picture taken, especially with his sister. I was only able to get the above picture because they were both distracted looking at a cat.



Trick-or-treating. They both LOVED it. Atticus loved ringing the doorbells and saying "trick-or-treat." Franny loved riding in the wagon and seeing the other kids in costume. We trick-or-treated past her bedtime, and she did great. Just laughed and laughed the whole time.



Oh, and these costumes were so easy! I made the Peter Pan stuff from clothes I bought at the thrift shop, and I made his hat and Franny's tutu myself for a combined total of about $4. The only thing we bought were the wings. I think doing everything took less than 30 minutes.

Stay tuned for birthday pictures...

Happy Father's Day!

I think this might be the first picture of the four of us since Franny was born.


Atticus about to go down the GIANT homemade water slide at Nana and Papa's house.

So much fun! They did it over and over again.

Ladybug had a blast splashing in her own little pool.