Saturday, December 19, 2009

Preschool Christmas Program

The annual Forest Hill Christmas program was this past week. This has got to be the time of the year where those teachers really earn their money because, wow, wrangling 150 (?) 2, 3, 4 and 5 year olds into a believable half-hour program takes more patience and energy than I have. The differences in Makena and Reese were so obvious this year. First, the 15 months Makena has over Reese make a substantial difference but, more interesting, is the first-child/second-child difference.
Makena did as she was told, stood with her class, smiled, sang her little heart out and absolutely ate up the applause and adoration. Reese, on the other hand, had better things to do...like reorganize where everyone was standing; collect all the props after various songs (jingle bells, etc); and convince her little buddies to be her accomplices. She started on the third riser, decided the view might be better from the top, wandered up there...didn't like that, stepped back down one row at a time and eventually settled on standing in front of the first row of kids directly under a microphone.
Makena giving it her all (yes, she's a cow with a rubber glove for an udder)
Reese's initial location (purple shirt, yellow shepherd's "hat")
Reese's preferred spot (note that the performer in her came out once she found center stage)

Ahhh...the Mall Santa

....our annual expenditure of $20 for the opportunity to take our own pictures. Because, really, even my somewhere-south-of-amateur photography skills turn out better pictures than the ones the Elves take.

Loberg Christmas Cookies

Growing up, we were a household of seasonal culinary predictability. For the past 35 (and more, I assume) our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners have consisted of the same basics. At this stage in my life, I try to throw in something new every year and, every year, whatever-it-is is met with "oh- this is good" but nothing seems to make an entry into the annual hall-of-fame. This could be a silent commentary on my mad cooking skillz. Hm. I'll have to think about that.
The one constant in our baking world was a cookie recipe that came from my dad's mother. Pressed cookies are apparently a Scandinavian thing. Those clever Norwegians...calling them "pressed" cookies almost makes you forget that the main ingredient is butter. Ooof. Like 6 sticks of butter for one batch. But they're good. And little. Deceptive little buggers- it's not hard to eat 6 or 8 (or 10) in one sitting. 98% of my running miles after Christmas will be dedicated to these:
Let me tell you a little about the procedure. To make a large batch in my single oven is at least a three hour ordeal. Once the dough is made, you can't refrigerate it or it ruins. I have no idea why, but it's true. I learned it the hard way. Every year, as I put the 6 sticks of butter, 7 1/4 cups of flour and other ingredients into my mixer, I think "really?? is it all going to fit??". Then I risk a finger or two trying to keep the dough from rolling out the top of the mixing bowl.
Then the pressing part comes in. I am the proud owner of one Mirro pastry press whose design hasn't changed since its inception back in the 50s. Seriously- I look at the instructional pamphlet sometimes and the little peach and gray stylized drawings of happy, apron-clad, daintily-coiffed housewives are so dated. They should almost have little speech bubbles above their heads that say "I love to cook in my GE Electric oven and then clean up with my automatic dishwasher".
But, every year, my mixer wins the battle against the massive volume of dough (barely); I satisfy myself with the ancient cookie press even though there are much improved models advertised at the beginning of every season; and this year, I had helpers!
The end result: about 250 cookies (about half of which fit into this picture). I've done this twice so far this Christmas. If you didn't get any, tough luck. Wait until next year.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

A few pictures

I've been remiss on posting pictures lately. Here are a few from the last week or so.
The great Christmas Tree hunt of 2009. We haven't braved the drive to the mountains to cut our own yet so we just trek down the street to...oddly enough...the same place we buy pumpkins every fall. And buy our pre-cut tree from...oddly enough...the same people we buy pumpkins from every fall.
Here are some of the annual leaf jumping episode. This was a much-awaited event this year and the pile did not disappoint. Reese, mind you, insisted on wearing brown flip flops. I had never previously considered how similar her shoe size is to Bradford Pear leaves.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Campout

As I'm finishing cleaning up from breakfast this morning, Reese runs into the kitchen and declares "we're camping out!!". Sure enough, there are blankets and pillows spread all over the living room. Fabulous! As I round the corner to check on the campsite, I notice Reese leaning up against a wall essentially doing a wall squat. My legs hurt at the sight of it, no thanks to Tony Horton.
Anyway, I asked her what she was doing and she responded "peeing in the woods."
OK.
(thankfully, she was not being literal)

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Lies

We have lied to our children more in the last 6 days than we have in the last 4.5 years. We finally got an Elf-on-the-Shelf. Our elf, please note, is straight from my Grandmother's trunk-o-Christmas-deocrations and he's been around since at least my childhood. A friend described him as "like one of those dried-apple people they sell at Cracker Barrel". He wasn't far off.
Esmerelda (who is a boy, mind you) makes his appearance somewhere in the house every morning, observes the kids and their behavior all day, then goes back to the North Pole each night to report to Santa. The next morning, he magically appears back in the house...ideally in a different spot from where he was the previous day. Makena doesn't quite buy it, but she hasn't decided how to express it. Please note how the lies just roll off the tongue...
Makena: how does he get here every morning?
Me: he flies.
Makena: when does he get here?
Me: while you're asleep.
Makena: does he wear the same clothes every day?
Me: yes.
Makena: when does he wash them?
Me: Oh, Mrs. Claus washes them every Sunday (Betty Friedan just rolled over)
Makena: well...when does he eat?
Me: when he's at the North Pole. He only has to eat a little bit every day. He eats elf bread.
Makena: (eyeing her dinner roll) will he fall off the shelf (or window cornice, Christmas Tree, mantle, etc)?
Me: no. He's very good at balancing. He practices yoga.

upon observing the other few elves that Grandmother has displayed at her house
Makena: you have elves, too, GG??
GG: yes (not quite sure how to answer)
Makena: well...what children are those elves watching?
Me: those are retired elves. They used to watch children every year, but they got too old. Now they hang out here with GG & Honey's friends.
Makena: do they play Wii Bowling with Honey?
Me: I don't know- you'll have to ask Honey.

Regardless of whether they buy it or whether their behavior is affected by it, they have a BALL racing down the hall first thing in the morning trying to find him in his new spot.
Merry Christmas to all and remember...a wrinkled old (potentially cross dressing) elf named Esmerelda is watching!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

One day, I'll find my gift

I'm almost 35 and I still find myself wondering what my special talent is. I can't paint, can't draw worth a flip, am not patient enough to be a teacher...I guess if you count Excel skills as a gift, I might qualify. Do you see my dilemma?
Our friends Jen and Chris Hunt have an incredible talent: they're real friends. I mean true, genuine, honest-when-they're-happy, honest-when-they're-sad, be-angry-with-them, drink-with-them, celebrate-with-them, cry-with-them friends. For some strange reason, they choose (voluntarily!) to love our family. I mean, I can see loving Makena and Reese, but Brett and I are another story. We're one big mess of people, yet they continue to brighten our lives by being part of it.
Their secondary talent is that they're fantastic photographers. Jen took a leap of faith a year ago and started her own photography business. Chris joined the party. They're good. Really good. It's hard to take this big mess of people and make it look this good.

Follow this link to see more pictures
Jen Hunt Photography Pictures