To Grandmother’s house we go January 5, 2008

*music sounds* “The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh”…oh, wait. Husband’s allergic.

So on to the second leg of our trip. We drove way up nort’ to where the wind gets a 300-mile running start (across North Dakota) before it blasts through the Red River Valley. Seriously, it’s like living on top of a mountain but without the view. Blech.

We celebrated on Sunday with my immediate family. I was surprised that, at just shy of 4 mos. old, Anja was interested in ripping the paper off her gifts. She couldn’t care less about seeing what was inside, of course, just liked ripping paper.

To further make a point about how “Christmas throws up all over my mom’s house,” I snapped a few more photos.

I especially love these little treats behind the toilet. Watch out or those reindeer will fly right up your you-know-what!

Christmas Day was spent with my dad’s side of the family. There’s a lot of people around, and it’s always a fun day. We play games (namely Taboo), eat lots of food, go caroling (much to the neighbors’ dismay delight)…Apparently caroling is a lost art, because people often don’t know how to react to carolers anymore. Where one houseful came and listened appreciatively at their door, then gave us treats and told us to come back next year, another guy opened his front door, walked away, and never came back. We finished the song, puzzled, and my cousin closed the guy’s front door himself before we left. Bizarre. Anyway, Anja got all foufed up in her girlie Christmas dress. Fun. Before I was a tomboy I had lots of girlie dresses, too.

That night was Anja’s last in her bassinet (what a big girl!), as we left it with Grandma to store for the next baby in the family. Sigh…I think it was almost as hard for me as for her!

She looks a little wistful, doesn’t she?

Over the River and Through the Woods… January 3, 2008

So I know it’s a little late for this, but I wanted to post a review of our Christmas trip. Every year so far we’ve celebrated with both our families. It’s a lot of driving (especially with a new baby!), but we really love our families and want to be with them during the holidays.

We started off with a trip to Husband’s family’s home. They are great fun. Here’s their traditional Christmas dessert: rice pudding!

 

The next morning, we woke up to THIS! Lovely, but not that fun to drive in.

 

Anyway, Anja got rocked in this special cradle before we left. Why’s it special? Husband’s grandma, father, uncle, aunt, himself, his sister and his brother were all rocked in it as infants, and it’s over 100 years old. Pretty cool, eh?

 

Good thing father-in-law chained that bucket to a tree—someone might wander off with it, you know?

 

Swerved around this ol’ log in the road. Heavy snow will do that.

 

Driving on…Horse stores (you can tell how many I’ve ridden by the fact that I have no idea what they’re called) are pretty fancy around here, as you can tell.

 

Doesn’t this “Inn” just make you want to drive a little faster as you go by? Nothin’ says good marketing like liquor and pizza and lots of junk in your yard.

 

Next stop…MY HOUSE (where I grew up, that is)!

Last Post of 2007…actually posted in 2008 January 1, 2008

Didn’t. Get. The. Time.

Oh, the pressure. I feel the need to post something extremely wonderful to close out the year. I didn’t feel this sort of pressure at other holidays. What gives?

Some sort of reflection seems in order…Hmm…I don’t make resolutions, or I could post about that. I don’t have any hilarious pets, or that would make good fodder. I have hopes and dreams, but that seems awfully personal. This is SO HARD!

Okay, I’m going to steal an idea from Antique Mommy here, and go with “Best of 2007” comments from my (yes, all 5 of you!) readers. Since I didn’t start blogging until November, the pickins’ are a little slim, but I’m going to give it a go. So…here they are, in no particular order:

Best Comments of 2007

“So what did you take and what was the result?” - Paula

“You know what isn’t a last minute gift?… A fart! (no matter what my husband says)” – Scarlett

“Do they really only put your husband’s brother out on Christmas?” – Charlie

“We went and I told my husband I wanted our server boy to quit his job and be my pool boy. We don’t have a pool! heehee.” – Lisa

Thanks, friends! And here’s to a lot more fun blogging in 2008!

Fun Winter-y Things in Minnesota December 28, 2007

Oh my gosh. I thought I posted this weeks ago. Bummer. Here it is, a little late:

1) Holidazzle Parade*

2) St. Paul Winter Carnival (and ICE PALACE!!!)

Yes, we’re that nuts.

3) Snow (not everyone has this, you know). I can’t imagine having never seen a “white Christmas”!**

4) Hockey (like 1 of every 3 people play…it’s ridiculous)

5) Dayton’s Marshall Field’s Macy’s Christmas Display (this is supposedly the last year for it…bummer…)

6) This year…Figure Skating Championships!!!

I’m sure there’s much more. I’m just too lazy to write about them all. What makes your state great in the winter?

 

*As a complete side note, my friend Amy and I were at the Holidazzle this past weekend. The parade was about to begin, and we decided to run across the street to get a better spot out of the wind. About 2/3 the way across I hit a seam in the concrete with my toe and stumbled a bit. My other foot shot out to catch me, only to hit the same blasted piece of concrete. In complete slow motion, my knees hit the pavement, followed by the rest of me. Flat. On. My. Face. My purse flew out of my hands. Amy turned around and, laughing, said, “Are you alright? I shouldn’t be laughing, but I just turned and was like—where’d she go?” Yup. I was okay. Pride hurt more than anything. I don’t think I’ve had an all-out flat-on-my-face fall since I was about 7. Call me Grace. Guess those dancing lessons (where I’m supposedly learning balance and poise) are a big waste of money. By the way, the next day I had a huge bruise. Normally I’d be mad having that at this time of year, but since starting a blog, injuries have become much more fun. Kind of like a trophy! Because you’re laughing with me, right? Not at me.

**Please forgive my nonparallel structure.

 

Holiday Funk December 27, 2007

Hey Bloggy friends,

I’m pretty new at this, but already I can see that it’s hard to keep up with a blog on holidays. I read all of yours, but a week has gone by and I don’t have a new post up! Craziness.

So…any tips? How do you keep up during busy seasons? Also, do you guys plan your weeks/months as far as what you will write? Or do you just sit down each day and wing it?

Thanks for your advice! Someday I’ll get good at this.

Holiday Gift Guide for Last-Minute Shoppers December 19, 2007

1. Re-gifts. You know these things…that framed, cross-stitched “Moms make the world go ‘round” wall hanging that has been in storage since Great-aunt Francis made it for you (except for when she visits and it occupies the prime spot on the mantle); the beautiful lavender, one-size-too-small angora sweater your husband got you that you’ve been hanging onto (“When I lose 10 lbs it will fit!”); the tartan plaid scarf your Scottish mother-in-law bought you for the 9^th year in a row (joining the other 8, folded nicely on a shelf in your closet)…why not give them new life? Or at least let someone else store them…

2. Food. Right. I didn’t have time to shop, but I have time to cook? No, I’m talking about the pre-packaged delights. Think Harry & David’s, Hillshire Farms, or Starbucks. These places make edible gifts that look great, and better yet, get used. But if you have the time to cook or bake, remember that (normal) people like pie more than fruitcake.

3. Magazine subscriptions. Most people have some sort of hobby, and they now make magazines for pretty much everything you can imagine.

4. Gift Cards. With gift cards to places like Target or Amazon, you really can’t go wrong.

5. IOUs. This is pretty lame, but if you wrap up a little slip of paper mentioning that you intend to get a gift or that it just hasn’t arrived yet, you might be off the hook.

Marrying Traditions December 12, 2007

My family has always made a BIG deal out of holidays…Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, even Valentine’s Day. So you can imagine my shock when I found out my husband’s family’s only real traditions are foods that they make every year.

We’ll use…oh…Christmas as an example. My mom has honed down her Christmas decorating extensively since I’ve been helping her do the set-up. We now try to find places for collections, not just putting mis-matchy Christmas junk everywhere.

My house (one small corner of the living room, anyway, just to give an example). Not too bad compared to prior years.

 

Husband’s house

 

Note the difference in decorative styles. My house: Christmas threw up all over it. Husband’s house: one simple decoration. The tree.

Christmas with my family follows a rigid schedule:

12:00 – Pretty much everyone has arrived.
12:30 – The women are in the kitchen putting last-minute touches on food.
1:00 – We dish up! Some form of poultry or pork is always served, along with potatoes, corn, mom’s buns, salads, pickled herring (yuck!), and other side dishes.
2:00 – Everyone’s done eating; we take family photos on Grandma and Grandpa’s stairs.
3:00 – After wrangling all the children so that we’re in the same room, we sit down and open gifts, youngest to oldest, one gift at a time, and continue rotations until everyone is done.
4:00 – Grandma puts out goodies. There are always peanut clusters, caramels, Wheatie bars and Mounds bars.
5:00 – We bust out the games. There’s usually a poker game going on in the kitchen and some sort of board game or group game in the dining room.
6:00 – Leftover time! As if we’re hungry…

Husband’s family doesn’t really have a schedule. They might open gifts the day of, the night before, or anytime in between. Eating doesn’t really happen at a regular time. They don’t play games. However, they do always do music. His auntie plays piano and his sister plays violin, so they always put on a show.

Now, it’s been very good for me to learn to be flexible, but I’m still partial to my own traditions (except I have much more moderate decorations). What traditions do you have? Is your family rigid like mine or flexible like Husband’s?

Cookies! November 26, 2007

My favorite food…and in my world, no Christmas preparations are complete without some serious baking. My mom bakes a million kinds of bars and cookies every Christmas (Oh Henry, Caramel Bars, Mounds Bars, Peanut Butter Chocolate balls, Almond Bark drop cookies, Hip Builders, Peanut Butter Bars, Peanut Brittle, Butter Cookies, Sandwich Cookies, and the list goes on…). She has the freezer space to store it all. Someday I will, hopefully, but for now I’ve tried to keep myself to a couple of favorites.

Two I keep making are Giant Ginger Cookies and Spritz.

“Don’t eat me!!” The dough for the Giant Ginger Cookies isn’t that tasty…

But once they’re baked—YUM! So chewy…good warm, room temp, or even frozen.  And they get that great crackly look on top.

Here’s the hubby and Anja enjoying one (well, Anja wishes she was enjoying one). Do you have any holiday baking traditions?

It’s the most wonderful time… November 24, 2007

Today was an exciting day for Anja. She got her first glimpse of a Christmas tree, all lit up!

Today was also an exciting day for my husband and me. You see, just as I was swaddling Anja up to put her to bed, I heard a colossal crash from the living room. I knew exactly what it was and screamed, “(Insert Husband’s name)!”

Every year since we got married, he has complained about having to put up a real tree. This year was the exception! We picked one out quickly, got it set up quickly…all seemed to be going smoothly. Until tonight at a little after 10:00. Sure enough, the tree toppled over.

We purchased a new tree stand last year to hold a larger tree (taking advantage of our new cathedral ceilings) and had a bugger of a time getting the tree to stay steady and straight in it. Apparently we did an even worse job this year, since the stupid thing fell over half a day after we put it up. Thankfully, Goodwill had been unwilling to take our old tree stand (seasonal items don’t sell well, I guess), so we had that as a back-up.

We spent over an hour transferring it, cleaning up shattered glass, needles, water and dirt (it overturned a potted plant as it fell). That said, the accident caused far less damage than it could have. It could have landed on one of us! I think next year I may sincerely consider my husband’s idea of getting an artificial tree. I’ve had a real one for as long as I can remember, but for safety and sanity’s sake, it might be worth it to go fake.