fa la la la la

it's time to deck the halls and for us that means get the tree decorated, do some holiday baking, and wrap the presents. it's an exciting time in our house; one that brings back precious memories for me. I am doing my very best to continue old traditions and create new ones.

old tradition #1: LEFSE

lef·se

  [lef-suh]

–noun

a round Norwegian flatbread resembling a tortilla, made with mashed potatoes and flour.

read: a little slice of heaven on earth sprinkled with brown sugar. mmm-mmm-good!


my grandma greseth has passed this tradition down from our long line of norwegian ancestry. let me tell you, nothing beats homemade lefse, nothing. sure they sell it in the grocery store, but it sucks. I guess it'll do in a pinch if you are desperate for a little taste in, say, july. but it doesn't even come close to the real thing.

my generation is now learning the art of making lefse. it's not exactly difficult, but it certainly is time-consuming. extra hands and company are certainly welcome! and why not make it into a lovely way to spend time together with those you love? priceless. 

this year's lefse baking day was nearly sidelined by yet another december blizzard, but we plowed our way over to my parents' house and made it happen. it sure was worth it!

old tradition #2: TREE DECORATING

I'll admit that there is definitely a martha stewart wannabe living somewhere inside me and she sneaks out every now and then. keep that in mind as you read about decorating a tree with children. small children. you know, the ones who do a much better job of undecorating the tree?

growing up, we always got to put our own ornaments on the tree. I remember the excitement we felt when mom handed us our big box of ornaments - complete with a handwritten list of each ornament and who gave it to us. we took great pride in placing each ornament on its own special branch. so I started a list for miles and let him hang up his ornaments.

he was precious. he put up the gold balls first and the entire two boxes worth were hanging in a two-square-foot area on the front of the tree. the martha in me cringed, but the mommy in me rejoiced! I silenced the martha and went with it...of course I have since spread them out a bit.

last year miles' ornament for us was one of those recordable little hallmark keepsakes. it plays Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, which is followed by a message from me saying, "merry christmas miles! mommy and daddy love you!" henry and I heard it at least a hundred times that day. it was awesome!

old traditions #3: BAKING
pretzel dipping was the extent of our baking this year. we had every good intention of making lefse in the morning and baking all afternoon. but old man winter had different plans. the massive amounts of snow on saturday made it impossible to get to the grocery store and the need to plow out on sunday scratched our original start time. so we didn't get to enjoy the mile high stacks of containers full of cookies this christmas. I'm sure my waistline is thanking me!

miles and I did do some pretzel dipping. he was such a great little helper! I'm happy to report that more pretzels made it to the freezer than went into his mouth and we only needed to wash the top of the sprinkles a few times.

miles' attention span is quite a bit longer than the average two year old, but when he spotted the iPod, I was doomed. what can I say when he sweetly askes, "can I watch Sound of Music on the iPod mommy?" sure thing little buddy...do-re-mi!

henry napped while we chocolated. he sure was happy to see his big brother when he woke up!

who's hungry?

the leap from milk to cereal is an exciting new adventure, but there is something about starting my little ones on solid foods that is difficult for me. I can't help but want to slow down the clock...keep them tiny for longer. it's as though time fast forwards as soon as that spoon hits their lips. I know it's sounds a little crazy, but it's an oddly emotional moment for this momma. the day was upon us, though, so we embraced it and did it up right. we put on a bib; not an old stained one from his big brother...oh no, we busted out a brand spankin' new one. nothing but the best for little henry bug's big day! he sat looking so smart in the big boy high chair while I warmed up the water and stirred it into a tiny tablespoon of rice cereal.

his little toes were kicking back and forth and his hands were going in circles as I placed the first bite into his mouth. smile.

then the second bite. gag. the rest of the bowl was met with varying funny faces that only our little henry-bug can make. he scrunches up his nose, sniffs, and purses his lips just so. it brings a smile to all of our faces.

miles takes his role as big brother quite seriously and didn't hesitate to help feed henry. he was so gentle and patient with the new little eater. he kept saying "henry is eating cereal!  good job henry bug!!" I love him. 

toward the end, he started to cry when the spoon came close to him, so I took that as a sign that this boy was d-o-n-e. I will welcome back the days of steaming, food processing, and freezing bags upon bags of little cubes of baby food. it's a bit of work, but I secretly love it. and so even though I wish I could keep my baby tiny a little longer, I will embrace this next stage and watch with excitement as he begins to experiment with food.

dee-wish-us

on tuesday, miles and I decided to make cupcakes. he's really starting to like helping out in the kitchen...although I think the opportunity to stand on his stool is what really draws him in. we have to restrict the use of said stool, though. not long ago he used it to microwave his crackers. I realized it when I could smell some sort of cheesy aroma filling up the house. nice. however, I was ecstatic that we are cheap and buy the generic "sharks" instead of actual "goldfish" as the bag was plastic - not lined with foil. just another great reason to shop at ALDI! but I digress. I have found that at some point during our little baking adventures, it is best to put miles in the highchair. for one - he asks to go in there and for two - it contains the messes to a smaller area. his main job was to put the paper liners in each of the cups. I whipped up the mix while he was busy saying "this one here." after I filled them with batter, I stuck a little bit in an extra liner and set it on his tray. he said "don't like it!" (a familiar phrase in our house) and I told him he could try it if he wanted to. I turned around and started washing dishes. I heard him talking, so I shut the water off and asked, "what did you say?" he was licking off his finger and said, "it's dee-wish-us" ahhhh...a child after my own heart! unfortunately, I think he now prefers the batter to the actual cupcake. oh well, just one more reason for cold stone to make "cake batter ice cream." once all of the cupcakes were cooled and frosted, miles declared that he "don't like frosty the snowman" - referring to the frosting, of course. I think the pictures show another story:

dee-wish-us!
got milk?
what you get when you ask miles to show you what "excited" looks like!

the dining room

much to kyle's dismay, our dining room table has rarely been used for more than storing the junk that we bring in from the car: i.e., diaper bags, target bags, camera bags. this fall I decided that we need to start eating in there as a family on a regular basis. I've made it my mission to actually plan ahead for the week's meals. this is a new concept for me, as I normally just grocery shop for the basics and we tend to eat on the fly a lot. well, I busted out my barrage of cookbooks and started meal planning. it's so nice to know what's for dinner and, more importantly, know that all of the ingredients are in the house :) miles can now sit right up to the table after we purchased a little booster seat, brought up the folding chair (his legs didn't fit under the table on the regular chair), and covered the floor with a plastic mat. he thinks he is such a big boy! little did he know that being a big boy means learning some big boy lessons.
lesson one: when I proclaim "all done!" mommy and daddy are not going to drop everything and get me out.
lesson two: do not feed the animals.

on a side note: the funny voice is me with a cold

happy birthday to me!

a big thank you to my parents for the delicious birthday cookout!

josiah got all decked out

the boys trying out our new double stroller

love, love, LOVE the corn

the highlight of miles' day

helping me blow out the candles

ice cream cake is good.

nykki's sling does double duty as entertainment & confinement. I like.

gerber and tide conspiracy

I am convinced that gerber and tide got together to invent a product that will make both companies a hefty profit...behold...the biter biscuit!

loving it!

not so sure about the messy fingers...

this tasty treat must be closely supervised!

aw man...mommy took it away...

...ALL CLEAN!