Making memories

This year, for my birthday, I got to have my little sister come to play! Okay, so part of it was to help out and be fun while Jeff was out of the country, but I'm sticking with the fact that she was here just for me and my birthday :) While she was here, we tried to give her a taste of the south, literally and figuratively! We took her to
The BEACH . . .

You might think it looked pretty chilly, and you would definitely be right, but Emma Jeanie got to see a porpoise, and pelicans, and sink her chilly toes in the sand and surf. Lil would most likely have drenched herself completely, but settled for her legs up to her knees. I don't know why, but every time I look at the kids on the beach in their coats, it kind of makes me chuckle. We also took in the aquarium and fishes, so there were some warm times, too.
Okay, so I'm adding this after the fact because, hey, why not? After getting home from the beach, I had a wonderful babysitter come over, and Jeanie and I got to go play volleyball at the stake center. It would be nice to say that while we started slow, as the night went on we totally kicked tail, but I think of myself as an honest woman, and that wouldn't be honest AT ALL. Needless to say, we had tons of fun, and developed lots of new bruises on our arms, and when I say OUR arms, I actually mean just mine!
We picked up COOK OUT milk shakes and hush puppies on the way home, it's a staple here, at least every once in a while. During her time here, we also sampled a few of the other local flavors at NOSH and BOJANGLES chicken and biscuits of course :)

Why didn't we go to the beach on the warmest day of the week you might ask? So that Benjamin could show his Pinewood derby skills, that's why! He did great, and had fun with his ultra thin car, just the way he wanted it. This is right after he won his heat. So nice that the Rasmussen's tried to make it so every child was able to experience winning at least one race. Goose was so proud! Way to go bud!

We tried to take in some of our favorite spots around town . . .

I just have to make another aside here, I refer to Emma Jeane just as so, with an occasional Emma Jeanie, or even just Jeanie. On her phone she says "Emma" so I'm thinking that's what she really goes by. To me she has been and will always be Emma Jeane, one name joined together. I asked her several times what she preferred, and she said she went by both, and it didn't really matter, so I figure people who just know me will know her the same way I do? I wonder if her friends know me as Klakleen? ;)

Sunday morning before Church, we got up "early" and went to the gardens. Thanks for coming to spend time with us Jeanie! We sure enjoyed having you, and people somehow knew we were related, even before you were introduced as my sister, crazy! Love you!

Just have to point out that I used the timer function here in Jeff's absence, and we're even all in it!

For some reason, I find the need to truncate the amount of words I put on each blog-post. I love the option of adding things later with a different color of ink. For some reason, it's a bit liberating! (Thanks for the idea Amy S., even if you didn't know you were the one to inspire it ;) So, if from time to time my posts are a bit wordy, just remember I must have needed an outlet for my thoughts, or just skip past all the script and look at the pretty pictures. Either way works just fine for me :)

A lesson from story time.

Today, I thought I'd sit down and read stories with Grace for a bit. We started out with "the pink one" as often is the case, and then I picked up one that caught my eye while in the Library. Angles in the Dust, by Margot Theis Raven. It tells a families' story during the Great Depression while living in the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma. I loved the way the story was told, the illustrations, and the quiet power behind the words, especially the line, "Annie, you make me think nothing's so bad that it isn't good for something." I thought the story was beautiful and brought tears to my eyes (hate it when that happens, but it does so I try to work with it.) Grace stuck with me through almost the entire story, but decided to get down and go in the other room when she looked up and saw the tears coming down my cheeks. Maybe, today, the story was more for me, and that's okay too.

Soft Pretzel Memories . . .

When Jeff and I were first married, we lived in a tiny one bedroom house, and had late afternoon Church on Sundays. In the morning, on more than one occasion, I made soft pretzels for breakfast that we would top with things like: ham, cream cheese, mustard, jam, although not necessarily all at the same time. I'm not sure if the memory of the pretzels is sweet because of their quality, or because of the newness of our life together. Yesterday, Jeff hinted that he thought having soft pretzels would be a fun thing to do this morning, since once again we are having afternoon church. We all enjoyed different combinations of toppings, and spending time together talking about random things, just shooting the breeze over pretzels. I have to say, breakfast this morning was the highlight of my day! Who knows what next Sunday morning brunch will bring . . .

Three, oh so three . . .

As I am learning, each child is completely independent of each other, and full of all these ideas and opinions . . . and while some of the . . . independence. . . may be challenging, it's always an adventure to see what spunk and personality comes along with it. True to form, Grace is totally, and completely three. Opening presents? totally not a problem. Changing her clothes several times a day? piece of cake. Being in love with a princess boxed cake with "Sleeping Bleauty and Bell" decals on top? but of course!

Sure love this little "goose" and all her little, sweet, challenging, wonderfully independent self!

I'd just like to point out that this cake is almost uniform in shape, and doesn't even lean to one side or anything, I know, I know, you're totally impressed! (just don't look too closely!)

10. . . 9 . . . . 8 . . . .7 . . . .

We did our gingerbread houses AFTER Christmas this year, I think I kind of like it that way. Much more relaxed, and made dinner that night so easy. We just made them and ate them, cream cheese frosting, mint and semi-sweet chocolate chips, marshmallows, and gram crackers: dinner of champions, or at least the highly sugared!

New Year's Eve morning, the kids were pretty excited at the prospect of staying up all night long and carried the excitement with them all day! Lily started off the day by losing another tooth. I know this sounds a bit funny, but I think she's even more adorable with one less tooth! She says it's hard to say some words, and I love the off-balanced-ness of her smile. Won't last long . . .

We had an early dinner of Norwegian rice porridge, I do know the name of it, just not how to spell it at the moment, trust me, good stuff. We put parts of a marsipan "gris" or pig in the bottom of the bowl so that everyone gets a taste. I remember the first time I had this dish with the Tessem's, I noticed there was something in the bottom of my bowl, and tried to be very polite about what I thought might have made it mistakenly into my bowl. Turned out I was actually the winner of luck, with an ALMOND at the bottom, who knew? We use marzipan, but the same idea . . .
Oh, and we had smoked salmon on wasa, I think Jeff has been thoroughly spoiled this holiday season, :)

This year, I got the sparkling cider, and tasty treats just for us, so WE were the party (true to Boster form ;) I had to kind of chuckle at the number of times the kids asked if the sparkling cider was really all right to bring into our house. Are you sure mom? Really, we can drink that? It wasn't until Benjamin read for himself the ingredients, and that it was a non-alcoholic beverage that he finally believed me. Good boy. Didn't stop everyone from enjoying their "bubbly." The night was full of movies, gaming, tasty foods, a bit of napping, and ALL of us coming together at midnight to count down, semi-groggily to the new year, before catching some ZZZZZzzzzzzz. So what will the new year bring? Only time will tell . . .