Post Thanksgiving - We gotta have Snow!

People around here are glad not to have snow. Crazy. That is what winter is. Not the fakey stuff on Snowflake Lane. The stuff that is cold. That freezes your ankles till they are red, because you didn't pull your boot straps tight. The stuff that makes cheeks rosy and red.

We love the snow. We had to go find some. Yup, we like to eat it too.

Plus we had some new sleds to test for speed.

We ask a guy, "Are there any good hills around here to go sledding?"

"Sure, about a 1/2 mile up it gets real steep." He points.

We walk for about 1 1/2 miles. I carry Makenzy bundled in her snowsuit. Heavy. Refuses to ride in sled. Then we find IT.

Lame, lame sledding hill. Everyone around us confirmed this was it! We had to push to get going.

Finally, found a little place OFF the path, that some other family had worked to build up that had some umph and speed to it. "Good times, baby, good times," as Cayden likes to put it. Cade has great balance on his board. I think he is leaving his sledding days in the dust.

At our pretty rustic cabin. Warm and cozy. Randy woke up during the middle of the night to stoke the fire. Kept us warm but we all went home smelling smokey. Ahh, the smell of getting away.

Target practice. He loves Cade's bb gun. Heck, have fun, blow the paper target to bits, but don't shoot your eye out or hit the truck.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving company - Roos family (minus their twin girls who were off playing), White family, and Julie's parents, the stand in photographers. The meal was delicious, the ambiance wonderful, the company enjoyable, clean up committee a breeze, and conversation great. The kids had a great time playing and jelled very well. Thank you again Roos family.

In the next few years, I expect to cook less and less. Why? Because my kids will doing most of it. I hope. I really hope. Already, they have perfected some pretty tasty bites. Pancakes, eggs, fudgies, shakes, and more recently eggnog. This is Makayla's signature drink so far. Madalyn helps, but Makayla is head chef on this one.

Homemade Eggnog Recipe

6 fresh eggs
1 cup sugar, divided
2 cups cream (or substitute with 2 cups whole milk, also makes it a bit lower in fat)
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 tablespoon freshly grated nutmeg (or just the nutmeg in the bottle)

Separate egg yolks and whites. In large bowl beat egg whites until fluffy; add 1/2 cup sugar.

In 2nd bowl, beat yoks until creamy; add 1/2 cup sugar. Fold in beaten egg whites.
Carefully stir in the cream, milk, vanilla, and nutmeg. Pour into container. When serving, garnish with nutmeg.

Randy and his cousin Brian. Their momma's are sisters, Bonnie and Jerri. Also, if anyone in the area needs orthodondist work, go see Brian Roos. He'll help make your smile!

My first year making homemade cranberry jelly. Beautiful. the kids thought I was crazy to take a picture, but I thought the red berries were a delectable contrast to the gray saucepan. And the result, good. I used the recipe on the back of the bag and added a bit or orange zest.

Stuffed mushrooms. Makayla's fetal craving. Marianne Emerson made a huge batch of stuffed mushrooms at Thanksgiving when I was pregnant with Makayla. That year, I definitely had my fair share. Since then I have confiscated her recipe, and these oh so yummy indulgences. Tradition.

We also got Oma hooked on these. A batch of stuffed mushrooms has served as her birthday present a time or two.

Our Stuffed Mushroom Recipe -

This came from Marianne who probably got it from someone else. I don't have exact measurements because I just make it up to taste and/or ingredients. But the basic is....

2 Jimmy Dean regular sausage rolls (16 oz. each)

2 Philadelphia cream cheese blocks

2 bunches green onions, thinly cut

1 package bacon cooked and crumbled, or cut up depending on how crunchy you like your bacon

While making, don't freak if you have a little more of one ingredient than another. It all smooshes together and tastes good.

Cook sausage and bacon. Mix in with cream cheese and green onions. Scoop into 20-30 white mushrooms that were previously de-stemmed. I use my pampered chef tomato corer to remove a little of the inside of the mushroom as well. Place on a slotted pan with water underneath to help steam the mushrooms. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. If I have more mix than mushrooms, it is also great to throw into scrambled eggs or on a sandwich.

Before we left, Cayleb was worried the Roos boys might not know about Star Wars and playing "army guy" with guns and stuff. It has been awhile since we saw them last. Lucky for him, they were equipped with the goods. The boys had an awesome time playing inside and night games outside too!

Makenzy was so excited to play with Sally and Jane's new girl stuff. However, when one of the girls showed an interest in her squeaky shoes, Kenzie wasn't ready to share. No way, no how. Girls and shoes, it starts early.

We taught their family the swinging game "one for the money, two for the show...". But it is a little tricky grabbing six little legs and arms. So a bed sheet was the answer. All 3 girls climbed in and we swung them from side to side.

Pure Gut, Gurgling, Giggling

Nothing beats your daddy tickling and "eating" up his baby girl.

"Artsy-Smartsy" Birthday Party

On December 29th we celebrate her birthday as a family. But for anything else, my little artist has a roving birthday party date. I urged January she wanted November.

Theme? PARTY. Artist - Madalyn, Gallery - Our house, Art Show - November.

Dinner, paint, brushes, colors, smocks, crafty stuff, googly eyes, lipstick = Art Party Fun!

We made penguin water bottles. To expedite the project and minimize paint, I painted the bodies ahead of time. We were so crazy busy, I didn't get a pic of the girls, but this is how they looked. Cute idea from Family Fun.

Created dry-erase frames for the girlie's rooms.

Custom paint job on these! Hot cocoa anyone?

Painted edible one of a kind masterpieces on a sugar cookie canvas.

Universal idea for lots of occasions.

Edible paint -

2 egg whites

1 tsp. water

food coloring

Presto!

Friendship. A fine art form indeed.

Friend picture keepsakes. Afterward, we gave a copy to each girl.

Classic "face art". Closed eyes. Crimson lipstick. Lot of giggles. Nail art, pictionary while eating donuts on a string, more giggles, more lipstick.

Smile!

One creative cake. One creative wish. One creative girl.

Birthday Me!

As a kid, I remember my parents saying they didn't really need or want anything for their birthday. Rather all they really wanted was for us kids to get along, to make our beds without being asked, to wait our turn for the bathroom instead of pound on the door, and not leave fingerprints on dad's car windows - simple stuff.

When we really pressed my dad for birthday ideas, he would say new socks or black combs. Liar, I thought. Deep down I knew they wanted some grand gift. A trip. A spa retreat. An exotic and expensive dinner with 50 of their closest and best friends. Something big.

Now that I am a grown up, my kids think I am a birthday liar too. (Sometimes I really do, lie, but then I call it stretching the truth and there is a good reason for doing it but my parental hypocrisy is up for discussion another time).

When they asked me what I wanted, I really didn't want anything. A nice day that created a memory. And that is what I got.

Belgian chocolates all over my nightstand, dresser, and bathroom counter. One caveat, I didn't have to share with anyone. Extra sleep, school lunches already packed, a gourmet breakfast that even took some pre-birthday preparations, my own custom birthday crown, some new clothes, lot of birthday wishes (thanks to my facebook page) and phone calls and cards, no cooking all day, Thai dinner with whole family at our fave place, The Royal Orchid, birthday cake #1 mango and coconut milk and fried bananas, birthday gifts, my kids massage coupons, and an individual candle blowing out session 34 times with my boys who stayed awake until it was officially my birthday (we were laughing so hard because we did it the snort way, the old lady way, the hyper way, and lots of ways, and of course, with boys, the fart way), birthday cake #2, and cake in my face.

Thank you to everyone who celebrated my birthday with me. It was exactly what I wanted. No lie!

Turkey Bowl

Husky Stadium on a sunny, dry day. Some great ball is played here, not so much this year, but the only game I really follow anyway is the annual turkey bowl game,

when my son plays

alongside his dad.

Randy, Malcolm, Cayden, Ethan

Annual Turkey Bowl at Husky Stadium.

Each year the Institute reserves the field for the students to have an amazing game night.

One of the perks of Randy's job is that our family can come too.

The girls and I like tossing the ball around a little bit, but hours on end in the cold doesn't entice us more than a night by the fire watching a chic flic and eating ice cream.

Cayden looks forward to this every year. It is big for a kid to pretty much have free run of a collegiate football field for hours on end. He invited some of his football loving friends to come spend the night with him. They played football, but also had fun running up the bleachers, having kicking contests, and downing tons of hot chocolate.

A little more hot chocolate to keep them going,

6 hours of play and you need some sugar.

Disney on Ice - Worlds of Fantasy

The family at the Princess pre-show. Cayden said he would be in one princess picture and after that, he was "all good."

My fantasy, everyone smiling in one picture in one shot-

Almost.

After she turns 2, maybe our chances will increase.

Opening Curtain-

Overpriced popcorn always taste better in a Disney themed bucket.

Great show. Everyone, except Makezny who had some wiggle and attention span issues, really enjoyed the show. Great costumes. The shows really did come to life on the ice.

Love Cinderella, but Sleeping Beauty is my favorite. When I was pregnant with Makayla, and we were mulling around names, I offered up Aurora like Sleeping Beauty, Randy laughed, a-"roared" back at me and asked incredulously, could I really be serious? Believe it or not, I was.

By the end, "Ms. Minnie Makenzy" was done, even Disney couldn't 100% captivate Makenzy's attention.

As for the rest of us, we enjoyed the performance. Disney's marketing works on me, I am ready to head back to Disneyland or some other fantasy world where time and money are no object and sugar has no effect on my energy level or my bottom line.

Cross off list - one more family memory.

Activity Day Mom and Me

A little R and R at the M and M, Mom and Me

Activity Day Leaders: Makay, Shawna, (9 yr. old leaders) Barb, Melissa, (10/11 yr. old leaders) Me, Bridgette (not pictured, 8 yr. old leaders). This is my 3rd go around in activity days, I keep getting put in because I've just had a baby and/or Randy has a time consuming calling, or I am lucky.

I'd seriously do activity days over a lot of other callings, especially compassionate service. Topic for another blog, but seriously when I was asked to pull someones weeds for a family that had older kids when I was big ole pregnant with little toddlers to boot, among other stories, well......

let's just say this is a much better fit for moi!

Barb is the master mind behind our lists, e-mail updates, and anything else that needs secretarial type skills, thank you!! The rest, the creative force.

We hosted a potluck dinner. Each age group brought in a part of the meal that they made with their mom. Madalyn and I made

• easy peaches and cream salad.

2 packages peach flavored jello.

2 cups boiling water.

1 gallon softened vanilla ice cream.

Soften ice cream. Mix up both jello packets with hot water. Mix jello mix and ice cream together. Put back in freezer to re-set. Optional, garnish with fresh peaches and whip cream.

This is seriously the bang of molly Mormon recipes; ice cream and jello!

Barb took pics of the girls, had and A-Z worksheet for things we are thankful for a great filler while waiting for everyone to show up, had a yumma dinner, the momma's shared loving, special notes with their daughters, and then we had dessert. Easy peasey, but achieved the main goal of spending time with mom and daughter.

My most favorite Madalyn, ever!

Salmon Run

Northwest Salmon. A part of 3rd grade curriculum up here. Cayden's salmon picture from last year.

Madalyn's class visited the Issaquah salmon hatchery. Madalyn took her camera on her field trip and captured all these salmon. The Cedar River is mostly full of sockeye salmon.

Madalyn and some of her friends.

Swimming upstream.

Soccer

Two boys. 3 days practice. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday. 2 games Saturdays. Often overlapping. Lots of stinky socks. This was Cayden's first year playing soccer since "soccer groupie" age; the group chases the soccer ball. He wanted to play football. However, the football teams around here play on Sunday, have major time commitment (4 days a week for several hours) which doesn't gel with our family balance, and I think he could get injured more easily. So....he agreed to soccer.

He played on the U-11 recreational league. Opposite of his brother, he is one of the younger players. The team has been together for about 3-4 years. During one of their games, the referee stated that he thought this was a select team because they played so well.

His coaches were awesome. Very committed and great with the boys. Great conditioning program. They played them all well and played to their strengths.

One incredible moment of the season was during an early October game. Minutes into the game, Cayden playing mid-field took a leftie shot and scored a goal. The only goal by either team that game.

Randy really got into the games. He said it is so great to finally see real play happening.



His team took 2nd place.

Their league involved some traveling to other cities to play teams in their division.

Cayleb is a 2nd year soccer veteran in the 3-5 year old league. As a 5 year old, he dominated. Why they put 3, 4, and 5 year olds on the same team, I do not know. In fact, I even called the city just to make sure. Sure enough, they seemed to think that the was the right division. So he bowled right over the other kids, less aggressive, holding onto their parents, playing with the grass, and looking over at the snack mom's stash.

Cayleb was literally the whole teams defense and offense.

As such, he played all games the whole time.

No subbing.

He was indispensable. If your going to watch kids run after the ball in a little short, legged throng, your kid might as well be the ring leader. So for us, it was fun to watch this year.

His team, Chaos, so aptly named was ran by him and "the 2 girls". He was the defense and offense all the way. He got the ball to and from the goals. They set it up at the net and scored. He also ended up with 2 visits to Dairy Queen for scoring goals.

His team won all their games, except 1.

Big brother's athletic supporter.