Tea for Three.

Two years ago, when I first found out I was going to be having a girl, my mind fast-forwarded to many moments I couldn't wait to share with my daughter. One of those moments I envisioned two years ago happened in the flesh today. This morning my mom, Avery, and I attended our local tea room's Teddy Bear Tea. This is our new post-Thanksgiving weekend tradition.


We put on our best tea party outfits and got our Christmas season started with traditional English tea. (OK, maybe PB & J pinwheels can't be considered traditional, but whatever.)


We drank our raspberry and pear tea (one of us drank lemonade), and ate our tea sandwiches and scones (one of us preferred the chocolate chip).


We listened to someone read Christmas classics like Twas the Night Before Christmas and Polar Express (it's a new classic) and sang Christmas carols.


We admired the Christmas decorations on the tree (and tried our best to pull some off the tree so that mommy would be forced to buy them).


We had a lovely time.


Except when Santa came out.


Lovely feeling gone. Instantly.


But...some cuddles from Nana can take the edge off of Santa trauma.


And some leftover gingerbread doesn't hurt either.

Naughty or Nice? Ask the Elf.

Let's face it, Santa is one busy guy. He's responsible for supervising the toy manufacturing, making his list and checking it twice, and keeping track of who has been naughty or nice. Clearly, he needs help. We all know Santa's helpers are dispersed throughout malls and street corners all over the world to help Santa with his December business. Few of you may know about his other helpers, however: the "elves on the shelves". Allow me to explain.

Last year we were given this book:


This book comes with this elf:


According to the book, this elf is the eyes and ears of Santa. He watches over the children and then reports their deeds to the big red-suited man himself. According to the book, the elf changes his look-out post every night. So every night I help the elf find a new spot in our house, and every morning the boys go on a treasure hunt to find him. They love it. And when they start arguing or being generally "naughty", I remind them about the elf. I'm not sure they really buy that he's reporting to Santa, but it does give them pause. That's OK, I'll take all the 'pause' I can get some days.

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On an only semi-related topic, you may remember the dilemma I was having a few weeks back trying to decide between a real or fake Christmas tree. After much discussion (not really), we decided to go with the fake tree this year. It's the first time we've had a pre-lit tree, and all I can say is: I'M IN LOVE. The pre-lit (for us) was definitely the way to go. And in order to deal with the lack of a Christmas tree smell, yesterday I bought a wreath to hang above the fireplace, and today I bought this:


So the house now has a pretty good Christmas tree scent going on, and there's not a single pine needle on my floor. That makes me want to do a happy dance.

I hope the elf reports that to Santa.

It Was a Thanksgiving Miracle.

We had so much to be thankful for yesterday:

-minimal traffic on the way to see our families
-beautiful weather
-TONS of food
-time with family and friends
-children who did not have meltdowns
-only one episode involving blood (Colin : Gary's parents' house : horse-play : brick wall : fat lip)
-quiet car ride home with sleeping children

It was lovely.

BUT, as if all of that was not enough, we did experience our very own Thanksgiving Miracle.

Neither Gary nor I saw it coming.

And it happened, of all places, at the gas station.

We had to fill up after the visit with my family and before the visit with Gary's family.

I thought the price of gas was fantastic. $1.81!! When it was more than double that amount not too long ago!


So imagine our glee when the Thanksgiving Miracle fell upon us.

The pump informed us that we would be receiving a sixty cent/gallon discount.

So the end result was this:


We filled up our Suburban for $25.00 at $1.21/gallon!

I swear I heard Handel's "Messiah" Hallelujah chorus right there in the Safeway gas station.

Count Your Blessings.

One:


Two:


Three:


Four:


Plus so many more.



Thank you, Lord, for all you have blessed me with.

My Minor Contributions

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. I love having a day thats sole purpose is to remind us of everything we're blessed to have. Of course a holiday that is, basically, centered entirely around food doesn't hurt in my book, either. We will have lunch with my family tomorrow, and then dessert in the evening with Gary's family. (We're with them for dinner but are usually still too full to eat anything except more pie.) As far as Thanksgiving cooking goes, I get off VERY easy. My mom does the bulk of the cooking, and she's darn good at it. I do contribute a couple of things, however. This year I'm going to attempt Pioneer Woman's Turnip Gratin. I don't think I've honestly ever eaten a turnip, and I'm going out on a limb and showing some major faith in her praise of this dish. I'm hoping it's as good as she swears it is. If not, I want my money back.

I'll also be bringing a recipe that is time-tested good: Cranberry Compote. I first made this compote back in 2000. Gary and I had been married only a year and were living in Texas and spending our first Thanksgiving away from family. Gary's sister was out visiting, so I cooked my first Thanksgiving dinner for the three of us and a friend of Gary's from grad school who was also family-less. We all survived that dinner - I was a nervous wreck - and I've been making the Cranberry Compote every year since.

It's surely too late for you to make for tomorrow, but it's a good dish served at Christmas, as well. And it's even better the next morning heated up for breakfast. Trust me.

Cranberry Compote
3 medium tart apples, peeled and sliced
1 package fresh cranberries
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp. grated orange peel
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 can sliced peaches, drained
1 can sliced pears, drained
1 cup chopped pecans

In a saucepan combine the first eight ingredients. (It's a very pretty sight.)


I know it looks like a lot of sugar, but it's not really that much and it's not that sweet. Surely the fruit balances out some of that evil refined white sugar. Right?


The orange peel is subtle and yummy in this. Of course after you zest the orange you must eat the poor naked thing. There's nothing worse than a naked orange in your fruit bowl.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes or until cranberries pop and apples are tender. Trust me when I say that this smells very good and your house will thus smell very good. Better than a Yankee candle.


Add the peaches and pears; heat through. Stir in pecans; serve warm or chilled. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 6 cups.


It's easy. It's yummy. It gets the picky kid seal of approval. And it looks uber-fancy in Tupperware.



Have a very Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.

Something for Everyone.

There are many things I love about Disneyland, but one of the things I love most is that no matter your age, there is something for you to enjoy.

All five of us enjoyed ourselves at Disneyland on Sunday. While I love the rides, the food (churros, anyone?), and the general vibe of the place, I always find myself marveling at the Disney horticulture. Their plants and flowers are second to none. The landscaping is impeccable and there's never a leaf or petal out of place. I fell in love with these bougainvillea while we were waiting in line for "It's a Small World".


My bougainvillea barely blooms, let alone in two colors! I'm jealous.

I also love the attention to detail. Check out the Christmas lights on Small World.


I kept wondering what happens if one bulb goes out?

For the boys, their appreciation lies mostly with the rides, of course, but also with the souvenirs. The only thing they asked for from Disneyland...wasn't really from Disneyland at all. Surprise, surprise, it was from the Lego store.


The Lego store is their heaven on earth.

Gary enjoys the Disney vibe too, but this trip he logged some serious Daddy/Avery time, so I'd venture to say this was his highlight.



Avery was a big fan of the tea cups. She smiled the entire ride. And Riley didn't take it easy on her, either. We were spinning like there was no tomorrow.


But Avery's highlight? That's a total NO-BRAINER.


It took almost super-human strength to get her out of this store. At one point she was pulling every single Pooh from the bottom three shelves to the floor to cuddle as quickly as I could put them back.

Curiously enough, though, she wasn't too sure about the big Pooh character. She did not take her eyes off of him the entire time.


And Pooh's buddy Tigger? I think his dejected look says it all.


Avery was not his biggest fan.

Not Me - I Would NEVER!!!

This will be my first time participating in MckMama's "Not Me Monday". I normally don't ever make any questionable decisions in my parenting or any other aspects of my life, so I've never had anything "Not Me" to blog about. Ummm......HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Sorry. I could barely type that with a straight face.

The entire month of November I have been participating in NaBloPoMo, which is basically just posting on your blog each and every day for the month of November. I have been so good, and did not miss a day. Then we took a road trip, and were on the road all day Friday, and in a hotel Friday night (a nice hotel, mind you) that was having a problem with their wireless and therefore I had to go an entire day without posting on my blog or reading other blogs! (I thought that sentence deserved some italics, don't you?)

Soooo....that left me with a NaBloPoMo dilemma. Do I forget about all of the hard work and daily postings I've done all of November, or do I just give a big, "Oh, well. I couldn't get online in the hotel so I guess I'll have to try NaBloPoMo again next year." Thus leading me to my "Not Me" post. I did not post more than one entry in the hotel last night, and tamper with the posting dates so that my Blogger dashboard lists me as having posted every day in November. That would be horrible, and I would never do that!

There you have it. I'm a NaBloPoMo fraud. (But not according to my Blogger dashboard! Muah-ha-ha-ha-ha.)

"On the Road Again..."

"...just can't wait to be on the road again...."


I am pre-tty sure Willy Nelson was not dreaming of an eight-hour road trip with his three children when he wrote that song.

But we will be on the road again. Tomorrow. And I will surely be remembering that Seinfeld episode with George Costanza's father's mantra of "Serenity Now" every 8 minutes or so.

Random Questions

Is it wrong to let your child eat whipped cream and sprinkles at 9:30 in the morning?


Is it bad to give your child a package of Red Vines to maintain custody of while sitting in the very back seat so you have no real idea of how many Red Vines he has eaten?


Is it cruel to allow your child to gnaw on a wrapped Snickers bar, then take it away from her as soon as she penetrates the wrapper with her sharp puppy-like teeth?


Do you think a person who - hypothetically speaking, of course - does the above-mentioned things would help her husband eat a ginormous cinnamon roll for breakfast?


Me neither.

Where in the world....?

Of course my twitters have given it away already....we're in the SoCal.

We had to come down to L.A. for a funeral. We drove down on Friday and arrived Friday night smack dab in the middle of Friday night commute traffic. (More on those traveling good times another day.)

But we decided to make another stop while we're here.


We were there a few hours Saturday night.


It's always action-packed.


And colorful.


And CROWDED.


And...Christmas-y? Oh yeah.


And just in case you needed another hint:


And we'll be back to the real world in another short day. But until then we have twelve more hours in the happiest place on earth.....

Watch Your Step.

Early this morning, before showers or breakfast or even coffee, I picked up some miscellaneous Legos that can never seem to remain in the boys' room and went to return them to their Lego bin. The hallway to the bedrooms was dark, and as I approached Avery's doorway I noticed something on the floor. I paused, because it didn't look like a Lego or any other toy I recognized, but it did look distinctly frog-like.

For good reason.

This is what I saw when I flipped on the hall light:


How in the world a little brown frog made his way into the house I'm not sure, but it does make me a little uneasy. I'm not afraid of frogs, although I definitely prefer them outside, but I am DEATHLY afraid of snakes, and if a frog can make his way inside then conceivably so could a snake. *Shudder* I can't even go there.

I called the boys over and they were beyond excited, of course. They "encouraged" the frog to hop down the hall into their room and no doubt gave that little frog the scare of a lifetime. They probably shaved at least 10 days off of his life cycle. Just look at his face. He's practically screaming for a rescue.


Although while he was here he decided to do a little light reading. I thought his choice of book was a little predictable.


The frog went through ten minutes of the boys' undivided attention. I'm sure he loved every minute of it.


All good things must come to an end, however, and it was time to get ready for school and release the frog back to the wild of our front yard.


Needless to say, after this little frog's adventure in our house this morning, I don't think he'll be back anytime soon.