Procrastinate

I want to post but got myself into a big ol' sewing project.  I always do this (like last month and the Christmas calendars).  Truth is, I love projects.  I love planning them, finding the perfect stuff for them, making them, and giving them away (I usually am too critical of my own work to make it for myself).  But I also love posting...  

Happy Birthday Dennis

Happy Birthday to My Big Brother Dennis...

the best Settlers player in the family.

New Years Eve

For New Years Eve we took a quick (even though the drive is never ever quick enough for me) trip up to Logan for a basketball game.

Samuel, just like his mom, was only there for the food:

hot dog, popcorn, chocolate covered pretzels, and, of course, Aggie Ice cream.

As soon as the game was over we rushed to the car and drove (Karl drove, I slept like I always do during that drive) to try and make it to my parent's house before midnight. I woke up to, "Wake up! We are three minutes away!" Cutting it too close like we always do, we pulled up to their neighborhood as the clock turned 12 and we could hear fireworks.

Ever since I could remember, we have banged pots and pans to welcome in the new year. The kids didn't care what the occasion was or that our timing was a little off, they liked making the noise.

New Years is a huge deal in Japan. The biggest holiday of the year. I am grateful that my parents have kept up some of the traditions with us. One of them is to eat "Toshikoshi-soba" at midnight. Soba is buckwheat noodles and there are a ton of ways to prepare them. There are many stories that tell why we eat them. One of them says that the long noodles symbolize longevity. I like the one that says that the soba maker guy started the tradition to boost business. Whatever the reason, I am glad for the tradition because I love the hot noodles at midnight. My mom topped them with shrimp tempura this year. Yum. Eva loved them. She is getting pretty good with chopsticks.

The Last Christmas Post... Finally.

After doing the Christmas thing in Logan and at home, we moved on to my parents house. Here is Uncle Dennis hoarding Eva's Christmas present. Completely class, nephew is entertained with a box.

I got my parents these blanket sleeping bag things to use when watch TV. A few weeks before Christmas, my dad showed me the Cabella's catalog and said that is what he wanted. Just like a little kid. They are actually perfect for vegging out. Here, my mom happily models hers.

This has been tradition for as long as I can remember... everyone hangs out in the front room playing with their Christmas presents. Even though there are places to sit, most of us choose the floor. There are always lots of naps and tons of junk food.

Alvey's chocolates, and a crab dinner are also tradition.

There were also a few new additions to the dinner table... all of it super delicious and super beautiful. My mom is an amazing cook. Man, I love eating at her house.

A few bonuses this year:

We always drink a ton of root beer during the holidays. This year we found this keg, it was perfect. Bo made a great pho dinner with chicken wings, (one of my favorite salads ever) green papaya salad, and fried bananas and mangoes. We are always excited for Dennis and Bo to come visit, and we always hope that she will cook for us. My whole family loves food. It isn't just me.

I have no idea how the topic came up but Dennis somehow got the kids excited about a "clean room contest" that he invented. Samuel, Eva, and Katie, were especially excited. I just kind of thought Katie would be a shoe in (she seriously has asked me to wipe my counter off before she sat at it, the whole family is totally tidy). Dennis calls and says he is stopping by. I don't think anything of it and, and mention it to my kids. They move faster than I have ever seen them move and the start cleaning their rooms like mad. Samuel piled everything he owned onto his desk. As Dennis and Bo were "inspecting" Eva's room, Eva kept pushing the lid of her desk down. Any ideas where she stashed all her stuff?

Dennis then took it even further. During dessert he stands up with envelopes and starts giving awards like, "the biggest room," "second place," and, in case the winner is not able to keep her room clean the, "first runner up." In each envelope he put cash and the winner got $10 in the envelope and a trophy! He went a got a trophy made with "UNCLE DENNIS cleanest room award 2008" engraved on it. Eva won. Samuel got second place. Katie, who got first runner up, felt totally cheated (I think it has to do with the fact that she has probably never seen Eva's room clean and hers is almost always clean). Samuel was so mad that he didn't get a trophy. Every time Dennis walked by he would say, "I hate dollars."

And last but not least... in all the holiday celebrations, we seemed to end most nights with a little (or a lot) of Settlers of Catan. Dennis was the champion, with four wins. I wanted to beat him so bad.

I love games. Games are my favorite.

What do you mean Christmas was almost a month ago? Oh, well, I guess that just kind of shows how my life is.

Christimas, Our House

Sporting their PJ's from the elves, the kids put out cookies for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer. How long are these kids going to get this excited about a pack of gum?

I don't know why we thought it was a good idea to get these cap guns for the kids, but we did. Samuel was amazed, Eva said, "What is this?" It didn't take long for Samuel to get hit on the forehead with a spark. He still loved it. With my help, they are both "lost" now. Samuel loved his "socking" and carried it around for days.

All those gifts took hours to wrap and just minutes to unwrap.

I love this picture... Samuel is just as excited about his present that cost $1 as Eva is about her present that cost, uh, a lot more than that. Money isn't everything, is it?

Christmas Decorations

Yep, still posting about Christmas.

You spend all that time putting them up. Then you spend all that time taking it down...

The mud room.

I love Christmas cards. I know some people think it is dumb and not worth but I am like a little kid when I check the mailbox to see if there are any new cards. I love hearing from friends and family.

We hung (and they are still up) snowflakes up. Samuel LOVED cutting them out and he was really good at it. Eva made the tree at school. The kids decorated the house. I am always impressed with people that make them from scratch.