Oh, Christmas Tree!

Yesterday, we were going to go on a walk downtown. But then we changed our minds. we remembered that it was the day after Thanksgiving, and that's the perfect day to start Christmas.

So off we went to the tree farm. We took a hay ride to get out to the trees. Have you ever seen a 9-month pregnant woman try to get on the back of a tractor? It's funny.

We walked and examined for a very long time. I wanted a smaller tree this year. Curly agreed that it needed to be more narrow so that we can keep our dining room table in the same room as the tree.

Curly is very strong and was able to saw that bad boy down in record time.

And here it is! Objects in nature always seem smaller than actual size. That thing may look super skinny, but inside, it is a little bigger than we thought.

Do you have your tree up yet?

Gobble, Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a wonderfully delicious day. How was yours?

The day started bright and early, with the kids being put to work before they were even allowed to dress. Mini-me and Patch love making pies.

Curly played in the Turkey Bowl at Baker Park. Every year he comes back and asks that next year, I remind him that he shouldn't play anymore because he gets hurt. Maybe next year he'll actually listen.

Aunt Becky took care of the appetizers. They were set out at about 11:30 and we grazed all day long. My favorite? The cheese..

Flower made the place cards. I wanted a kids table this year, but Flower was intent on having some "Adult Conversation," so Curly figured out that we could all fit in the dining room with just a card table at the end. I hope Flower wasn't disappointed. I didn't hear much conversation, just a lot of chewing.

Thank goodness the food table was labeled...The kids and I made two pumpkin pies and one apricot cranberry pie. Both types were so good. Mini-me inhaled her piece of pumpkin pie. It made my heart swell.

We made one turkey in the grill. It requires brining the turkey for 24 hours in a delicious smelling concoction of apple juice, oranges, salt, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and cloves. It makes a divine bird.We also did one turkey in the oven, which was stuffed with rice stuffing. It's an O'Kigin tradition. Again, Aunt Becky came through and provided it. Otherwise, we would just have bread stuffing. That would have been tragic. We also had green beans with shallots, sweet potato casserole, and mashed potatoes and gravy.

I could not have done this holiday without Curly's sisters. Becky helped with the prep, Colleen helped with the cleanup. I had clean counter tops this morning. It made me happy.

We had great company for dinner. Uncle Ryan, Auntie Lissa, and Parker,

Mini-me, Wyatt, Patch, and Flower,

Geoff,
and Miss Bobbie.

It was a wonderful day, and today is a great day to recover from it. I have much to be thankful for. I have a belly full of food and baby, I have fabulous kids and a wonderful husband, and I have a support staff that I couldn't do without. Truly, my life is blessed.

Late-Over

I am not a fan of sleep-overs, especially for my young kids. So, on Tuesday, Ro came over for a late-over. We watched a movie and had snacks in our pjs. It was a great start to our Thanksgiving break.

Hot Chocolate

We love hot chocolate at our house. And, because I like to cook, I make the mix myself. It is so fun and so easy and so tasty, too! Here is the recipe I use, courtesy of the Better Homes and Gardens plaid cookbook:

3 1/2 c nonfat dry milk powder

2 c sifted powdered sugar

1 c powdered nondairy creamer

1/2 c sifted unsweetened cocoa powder

• In a bowl combine all ingredients. Store in an airtight container.
• For each serving, place 1/3 cup of the mix in a mug and add 3/4 cup boiling water.

Now here is where you can have fun. Nondairy creamers come in all sorts of flavors. The mix pictured above is Pumpkin Spice Cocoa. I've also made Hazelnut, French Vanilla, and Caramel. When I bought the Pumpkin Spice creamer, they also had Gingerbread. Now that would be festive.

Wouldn't this make a great teacher or neighbor gift? Make up some delicious cocoa mix, make a cute bag to put it in, and then put it in a darling mug. How great is that?

Personally, I like to drink it from my favorite mug with some marshmallows on top. Yum.

Thursday Already?

I just got home from the doctor. The baby has turned and is face down, which is a worry off my mind. My belly is still measuring right on schedule, so the doctor is wondering if the huge baby in the ultrasound a few weeks ago wasn't just the result of a growth spurt. If so, that follows closely with the other O'Kigin kids, who grow for a couple of days, and then stay that way for months and months.

In non baby news, we have colds at our house. Scratchy throats, runny noses, and coughs are just par for the course right now. So far, I am untouched. Let's hope it stays that way! I am drinking plenty of fluids (and chomping tons of ice), and trying to get enough rest. And, between my studio space in the basement and Flower's new attic bedroom, I get a lot of exercise going up and down 3 flights of stairs.

I have been busy filling all my Christmas Molly Patch orders. I have also had a little time to work on some Christmas things for my kids. The Molly Patch things will be done around Thanksgiving, and hopefully the rest will follow quickly. But, if not, Christmas comes without packages, boxes, or bags. Do you think my kids will be content to just join hands around the Christmas tree and sing "Davoo doores" a la the Whos down in Whoville? Me neither.

Photography

Have you met Amelia? She is fantastic. Go to her site, and give her some love. And not because she did an entire post on me. Actually, that's a pretty decent reason. She is a talented photographer and has a way with words.

Happy Veteran's Day!

This is my Mother-in-law in 1968. She was an Army Physical Therapist stationed in Japan during the Vietnam War. That's where she met my Father-in-law. He was an accountant, also stationed in Japan. Sorry the picture is so small, but hopefully you can see how young and in love they were. And don't you just love Judy's uniforms? So stylish!

Good Looking Kids

Before church on Sunday, I took a few pics of the kids. They were stylin' in their shades. I just love how you can see my reflection in the lenses.

Kid's Room

Even though I wouldn't count the kid's room as "done," I thought I would post some "almost there" shots.

We need to hang some hooks on the back of the door for the towels. Also, the green dresser doesn't seem so dark in person.

The bedspreads from the former room (which was pink/purple) look really good against the French Silver. It is a tad unfortunate that Patch is sleeping under a girlie bedspread, but he'll survive. I have plans of making two bed quilts using the same pattern and 3 colors that are the same, and then each one would have 2-3 other colors to make it more gender specific. I think it could be really cool.

Still to do in this room:

Organize clothes

Hang things on the wall

Take out green check chair, which will go in the nursery

Put shelves and books in bookshelf

Other than that, it's good to go!

Mini-me, the Dancer

Just Popping In...

Just popping in to say hello. Hi! We have had a busy week here. Curly has taken vacation this week and is working hard to get bedrooms in order. Flower is upstairs in the attic, Mini-me and Patch will share the room that currently belongs to Patch, and the baby will be in the girl's old room. Flower's room needs trim, and the other two rooms are getting a lovely coat of paint known as French Silver. I'm in love with it.

I am starting to plan for Christmas gifts. I don't have much time left! Getting around my sewing room is getting a little challenging. Being in a delicate condition, my belly likes to knock things over, and then get in the way when I try to pick things up.

I hope to post some updated pictures soon!

Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween was spooktacular. How was yours?

The kids worked very hard on their pumpkins. Patch got to use a knife this year. It made me nervous.

The most clever costume we saw was our neighbor, Big Patch. Flower thinks he's kind of cute, so we took the opportunity to embarrass her.

We had a couple of crew members from Deadliest Catch. They were well behaved, for the most part. Patch and Mini-me just enjoyed eating on the floor. We had the traditional Halloween Hot-dogs and two different kinds of chili.

I downloaded two new Halloween songs: Little Red Riding Hood (for Flower), and Black Cat (for Mini-me). Mini-me showed us her moves. Video coming soon.