Figgy Pudding!

Bobby's parents have been visiting for Christmas, and I wasn't in the mood for turkey or ham this year, so we decided to play with a "Traditional English Christmas Dinner" theme. Figgy Pudding anyone? I found a not-too-crazy website that laid out the feast from beginning to end, and thought it looked delicious, even if it was from the 8th century:

Honey Mustard roasted chicken leg joints
Almost Impossibly Perfect fried potatoes
Brussels Sprouts
Christmas Pudding (aka Plum Pudding, Figgy Pudding, Steamed Pudding)

Well, I must confess that the folks in the 700's didn't know how to marinate a leg quarter properly, but the chicken was still delicious. Cooking meat on the bones makes a WORLD of difference, people. Sometimes I forget that. I had a multi-tasking failure with the potatoes, though, so we ended up with mashed potatoes instead :( The brussels sprouts weren't done until most people had finished eating (d'oh!). I like them better as leftovers anyway. And the pudding...

Oh! The pudding! First, I had to find a recipe that wouldn't get me drunk. Then, I tweaked it just a hair to swap out the dried figs and dried plums (aka prunes) for dried craisins and cherries. That was a good call on my part. I don't regret it. The pudding recipe I used is essentially a pile of minced dried fruits with a little egg, a little flour, a few breadcrumbs, a little nut meal, a hint of molasses, the juice/zest of a whole lemon, and a good dollop of milk. Then you put it in a water bath and steam it for 5 hours. It looks hideous. Smells divine. I was pleasantly surprised at its bright flavor. It had the texture of very firm, soggy bread pudding with the flavor of molasses and dried apricot and dried cherries. It's potent. A little goes a long way. I think I like it better cold, actually, because it's firmer that way.

We weren't sure how the Christmas Pudding was going to turn out, though, so Bobby whipped up two flavors of fruit trifle just in case :) And they were delicious!

I found the whole Christmas holiday very satisfying. The kids make it fun. Five years ago, they were way too young to enjoy it, and 5 years from now they'll be getting too old for it. But this year, right now, it's the best thing ever. They got into both the fun and spiritual sides of it. We served other people more and tried to "Light the World" with our advent activities. I loved seeing them genuinely wanting to do good things for other people. And the joy/surprise on Christmas morning just made me smile deep down inside. 

Christmas night, I was helping James into his PJs and he asked with big eyes, "How many days 'till Christmas comes again?"

"365," I replied.

His eyes got a little bigger, his mouth opened a little, and I saw him grow weak for a moment. It was literally a shock to his 4-year-old brain. He had been counting down to this Christmas for the last 24 days, and that was an ETERNITY! How could he possibly wait 365 more days?! He didn't cry. He just soaked it in and let out a small whimper. Sweet little man.

Caroling

Alice asked if we could go caroling at a nursing home this year. It was totally out of my comfort zone, but I knew it was a good idea, so we made plans. I invited everyone I could think of. We had about 10 families sign up to sing with us, but a seriously slippery ice storm hit us last night and only 6 families were able to make it in the end. That's okay. That was enough.

I had never done anything like this before. I learned a few things. We ended up singing to a small group in an activity room before moving out into the halls. One family had prepared cute Christmas cards with handwritten notes and the kids were passing them out to the residents. The cards were a GREAT idea. Also, a friend had loaned me copies of song lyrics. Another great idea! That way, we all knew all the words and could just pick a song from the list. Any kid who could read was able to participate. Brilliant!

Was it a valuable service? Worthwhile? Well, most of the residents didn't acknowledge us in a way that I could recognize. Some were genuinely touched, some sang along with us. On the surface, and in the end, I felt happy for having done it, but I wonder if it made a difference to anyone besides us. Most people were happy just to see all the kids :)

Anyway, Alice loved it! She wants to make it an annual tradition. That's not a bad idea, actually. Now that I kinda know how it goes, it won't be so intimidating.

Preschool Christmas Program

James was THRILLED to participate in his preschool's Christmas Program this week. I can't figure this kid out. He dreads going to school most days, he won't actually make eye contact with any unfamiliar adult who's trying to speak to him directly, but he's bouncing with glee at the prospect of singing a handful of Christmas songs in front of perfect strangers. He spoke to me every day this week about how much time was left until his program. No, wait, I think he was actually counting down to the cookie party that would take place right after the Christmas Program. Okay, that makes more sense. Let's start over.

James was THRILLED to participate in his preschool's cookie exchange this week and had some fun in the Christmas Program that immediately preceded it.

He sang all the songs, did all the fingerplays, and managed himself pretty well in the spotlight. I was pretty impressed with him. This kid is a pretty good student when he feels like it: he's confident and silly and eager to answer questions. When he doesn't feel like it, though, he just doesn't want to be there. That's a tricky battle for me, especially at church. If the new meeting time (9:00am) in January doesn't improve things, I've got a little more work to do.

Christmas Surprises

SURPRISE #1

The kids got a dog! For about 30 minutes. I think the dog was happy to leave after all that loving attention. The dog's name is Biscuit and he escapes from his owners pretty often. Sunday morning at breakfast, we see him bouncing along the new snow in our backyard and decide to bring him in. The first thing the kids notice is Biscuit's energy. He's hard to catch, even indoors. The second thing they notice is his smell. Biscuit needs a bath. We immediately put up the baby gate and keep him on the tile floor. I have to laugh, though, because all of the kids immediately get inside the gate. James and Matthew drop to all fours and start barking/wrestling. Puppy mosh pit!

Matthew and Biscuit are about the same height, but Matthew outweighs him by 20+ pounds. That little boy couldn't get enough hugs out of that poor little dog.

SURPRISE #2

I got Matthew to wear a hat! The coat wearing thing is still touch-and-go (mostly no-go), but he loves his hat for keeping his ears warm.


SURPRISE #3

The kids asked to get a picture with Santa. First time ever! Huge surprise. Alice and Robert initiated it. James was obviously less than pleased that I asked him to stand within 5 feet. Matthew wouldn't even come that close. Robert accused the jolly man of wearing a fake beard. To which, the jolly man challenged Robert to pull on it. Hard. Robert was the most surprised of us all.


SURPRISE #4

My kids aren't too old (yet) to enjoy the magic of the first snow fall.


SURPRISE #5

Alice's eye shadow stash will do in a pinch when you really, really, really want to put on a play about Rudolph during quiet time.

Pink Eye strikes again

I pull Matthew out of his bed this morning and bring him out into the kitchen where the other kids have already turned on the lights and started breakfast. I plop him down into his chair and he says, "Dark! Lights on!" That's when we notice his eyelids are glued shut with a greenish-yellow crud. He thinks we're sitting around in the dark!

Yep, pink eye has returned.

A quick trip to the doc, a prescription for antibiotic eyedrops, and one wrestling match on the floor later, Matthew has received his first dose of meds. It's a 50/50 chance the infection was caused by a virus, making this ordeal of administering eyedrops completely futile, but we won't know which for a couple of days. It's pretty contagious, so the doc prefers to treat first and ask questions later.

Rocking out on the stationary bike!

96 rolls

Our ward Christmas Party was last week. With the boundary changes and all the new callings and everything else happening at the end of the calendar year, the volunteer planners had exactly two weeks to pull something together. I was actually amazed at what they were able to do in so little time since 95% of the work was done by a small cluster of people who worked very hard for several days in a row to pull it off.

This year, I was asked to help make homemade rolls for the dinner.

"Sure," I thought, "I can totally make 90 rolls in two weeks."

The reality is, I made 6 batches of rolls in 3 days and froze them until the night of the dinner.  And I'm so stinking proud of my accomplishment that I took pictures and wanted to post them here.

Yes, I'm a food geek! Incurable, by the way, especially with folks at America's Test Kitchen churning out fantastic, nearly foolproof, recipes that create exactly what they describe. This is why I love ATK so much. This was the first time I had made any of these three recipes and they turned out perfectly! I don't trust any other cookbook that much.

"Rustic Dinner Rolls" with a crisp exterior and moist, light, chewy interior. The dough is really wet, a lot like artisan bread, and the result is similar to artisan bread: chewy and perfect for smearing with stinky cheese.

"Multigrain Rolls" with a crackly crust and a denser, slightly sweet interior crumb. Multigrain rolls are often too dense or dry, but these performed really, really well. Even with less than half of the flour being white flour. The drawback is lots and lots of rising time.

The third recipe I tried was for "Classic White Dinner Rolls." They were intoxicatingly rich, buttery, light, and fluffy. I did not snap a picture of them :(

The pressure was uncomfortable, but the challenge itself was fun, and I enjoyed myself in the end. Now I know I can do something like that. Think of the possibilities!

Robert's First Piano Recital

Robert has been taking piano lessons for about 6 months. Last week was his first recital ever. He knew "Lightly Row" and "Cuckoo" SO well that he was forgetting them, even with daily practice. I couldn't believe it. When we went to Ohio for Thanksgiving, I had the kids play their recital pieces for our friends as a little "dress rehearsal" for the big day. They did fine. When we got back home, though, Robert was begging to be released from his performance obligation. He was terrified of making a mistake and having people laugh at him. He refused to practice his pieces at all. Well, there's absolutely NOTHING I could do to force him to play his pieces at the recital. This was something I had to let go.

I let it go. I told him that he wouldn't have to perform, and that would be totally fine with me (it genuinely was...part of that "letting go" thing), but 1) we would still be attending the recital as a family and 2) the program was already made and his name would be on it. He could choose on that day, up until the very moment even, whether he was going to perform or not. He relaxed, said he wasn't going to play at the recital, and resumed his practices.

The day came. I had no idea what Robert was going to do.

The first performer was very, very young. Maybe 3-4 years old? He sat on the piano bench and burst into tears. I glanced over at Robert. His face was unreadable. The next few students performed their pieces with the standard piano recital flair. I snuck another look at Robert. Still unreadable. As the next kid got up, I noticed that this was the last performance before Robert was scheduled to play his first piece. I hear Robert whisper to me, "Mom, how does "Lightly Row" start again?" I hummed the first few notes to him, he nodded, and turned away to watch the rest of the performance. Then it was his turn.

He stood up, walked to the piano, sat down, and played. He played it beautifully. He played it at a normal, even tempo. It was better than I had heard in any of his practices for the last couple of weeks. No joke. He even put in his own ritardando at the end. Then he got up and shuffled back to his seat (completely forgetting to bow...or smile...oh well). I smiled and cheered and high-fived and beamed at him, but he just kinda half-smiled back at me like "what's all that for?"

His second piece was just as satisfying. I managed to catch it on video, but it's too large to post here.

And now he knows he can do piano recitals.

Alice was barely nervous. She's done piano recitals for years. Alice likes to perform for people. Alice likes to bow. She performed her piece beautifully. It was such a nice way to end her study of "The Harp." She was so proud of herself. We all cheered for her, even James and Matthew. I wish I had taken a picture of our two performers together at the event! I will next time, for sure :)

Building Bug

I finally hung up that curtain rod in the front room that's been boxed on the dining room floor for the last few weeks. I like the new look...makes me want to paint the walls something warm...but that's a post for another day.

The curtain rod box did not stand alone long before Robert took notice and asked if he could have it for his very own. It's long, squarish shape inspired him and he didn't want to put it down. Even when we all piled into the car to run an errand. I should have taken a picture. It reached from the back seat to the front seat, dividing the car down the middle and everyone just kept talking like that was a totally normal thing to take with you to the store (It's stuff like this that makes me love this life and this family. Sometimes we get to make our own rules.)

Anyway, Robert decided this box was perfect as a set of wings on the biggest cardboard creation he had dreamed of yet. Even Alice took interest. They started scheming. We got back from our errand and she asked for graph paper so they could draw a scale model. At one point, Robert said something like, "I'm really good at being creative. I can use my artist skills to make the idea, then you can use your smartness, 'cuz you've been in school longer, your math and reading skills to make my idea better!" They were working together so well, so enthusiastically, so cooperatively, that I put Matthew to bed on time and just let them keep working. Even James is finding the process interesting enough to ward off his "gotta bug you" boredom games.

I've gotta admit, on their best days, Alice and Robert make a stellar team.

They used painter's tape to translate their graph paper drawing into a 2-D drawing on the floor. That's when they realized that 19 feet long is probably too long. They settled on 13 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 3 feet tall. The wingspan will be about 14 feet.

I've been stockpiling cardboard boxes for months. We're going to need a TON more.

It's nights like these when I wonder WHY they don't really like to play with Lego.

Robert created this little "man" last week, inspired by an empty #10 can in the recycle bin. Other materials include card stock, craft sticks, and a roll of packing tape.

Ohio Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we headed north to visit the Garner family. I am never disappointed when we hang out with those guys :) Why? Because we're good friends. But also: my kids mostly ignore me, I get to choose which chores to do, and there are oodles of adults around to chat with and work with and play with. Lovely.

On our first day, we visited 1) the William McKinley Memorial and 2) the Fannie May/Harry London Chocolate Factory. Dare I confess that we spent about the same amount of time at each location? Erk.

Midway up the tremendous stair climb. I made them stop for a photo so Matthew could catch up a little. He insisted on climbing all those stairs by himself, no hands, left leg first every step.

The memorial itself was closed for the season :( so we walked around it and hopped in the car just as it started to rain.

We didn't take many pictures inside the museum. It was an eclectic mix of history, natural history, and children's science museum all in one. Not entirely what I expected. The kids found the talking wax figures creepy, the giant tortoises hilariously cute, and the "Street of Shops" pretty interesting. Matthew was terrified of the life size robotic model of a t-rex. Alice perused the gift shop while the two youngest boys and I rolled coins down that coin-race-funnel thingy I see at every children's science museum. Know which one I'm talking about?

I didn't take many pictures at the chocolate factory either. It's almost like I was distracted by the smell of chocolate and all the free samples you could ask for.

So excited waiting for our tour to start!

Santa's chair is an awfully big seat to fill.

Between the 8 of us, we ate about $30 in free chocolate, then bought a little more to take home.

On Thanksgiving Day itself, the craziest of us braved the cold, misty rain to participate in the Downtown Cleveland Turkey Trot.

Robert could not believe how low the clouds were.

Can you spot Dewain? He's on the far left. One of his boys is standing next to him. Bobby took this picture as the 5k run was getting underway.

The crazy runners, minus Dewain who is taking the picture. So many silly boys!

Bobby and Robert coming across the finish line in the 1 mile run.

Alice has been training for a 5k through a running club at her school called "Girls on the Run." Her goal was to beat her practice run time of 47 minutes. I am NOT a runner, but I was curious enough about my physical health to be her running buddy. Could I do it? Would she be dragging me along the whole time? It turns out we're a good pair: I pushed her early on in the race and she pushed me in the final stretch. Together, we achieved 34 minutes! I had so much fun running with Alice that I signed us up for the 5k coming up in April (associated with the Illinois Marathon).

After all the running, we had a delightfully calm and delicious Thanksgiving holiday with the Garner fam. When I say "calm", I mean I don't remember the kids needing me much. There was plenty of noise and action to be had, which is to be expected in a house holding 10 kids aged 0-14yrs.

Friday, we went for a freezing hike. I was still sore from all the running the day before, but it felt good to be outside. The older kids then went to shoot arrows at a local archery range and came home to a sour party. The lime was good this time, but I really, really enjoyed the grapefruit. The grape tomatoes were notably sweet, as well, and the cranberries were disappointingly tasteless. Hm. I didn't dare taste the freakishly ripe and sweet fresh pineapple while under the influence of Miracle Berry, though, for fear I would faint for the sweetness of it!

I believe Robert made this shot from 20 yards. Ask Bobby. I wasn't there :(

Saturday morning was filled with that bittersweet feeling that accompanies one's last day visiting with friends. You try to pretend that everything's the same as the day before, but it's not. You still know deep down that you will have to leave. We played a series of Minute-to-Win-It games with all the kids. It was fun, but I think I would have had more fun doing it earlier in the trip. The last day just stinks, no matter how fun you try to make it.

We survived the drive to and from Ohio intact, largely due to a fantastic book on CD: "Peter and the Starcatchers". It's an origin story for Peter Pan, the lost boys, Captain Hook, and Neverland. Alice tuned out for most of it (kinda tense, perilous action, some gross parts), but joined us for the last hour or so. It was fun hypothesizing how the characters at the beginning would turn into the characters we know from the Peter Pan stories. I highly recommend it for grade school kids.