Thank Goodness for Photographers!

So I just melted when I saw the photos from our family shoot in Texas over the Christmas holiday. Thanks, Anje, for your awesome talent!

The red wagon was a hit!

Nieces Melanie and Melissa were the designated "Seth Wranglers" during the shoot:

The whole gang!

So many of my friends are super impressive photographers...some who are professional and some who aren't but probably should be. I consider myself a picture taker, not a photographer, since I've yet to understand the language of taking successful snapshots and I haven't figured out how to take a good indoor shot that isn't blurry!

My other uber talented photographer friend Carrie, has a free photo shoot giveaway that you have to check out. She recently up and left us for sunnier days in Florida, but she'll be coming to Seattle this summer, and she lists a few other places around the country that she's going to be visiting. So, take a look, even though I really really want to win!

Back to "Real Life"

I've enjoyed so much reading everyone's blogs from their Christmas adventures. I'll just share a bit about ours. We were lucky to get out of Seattle on a snowy day. We stopped in Denver on the way to Texas, and if we had to change planes there, we would have been camping out at the airport (hmmm...7 months pregnant with a toddler in an airport? sounds fun to me. Thank goodness Matt was Seth's wrangler because I couldn't keep up). Turns out we just stopped in Denver and stayed on the same plane to Austin. Whew!

There were 20 people (10 adults and 10 kids...with 5 kids under the age of 3!) in one house.

Emma, Arianna and Seth...look at that posture and form!

Good thing the weather was so nice that we could play outside. It was crazy fun! Matt's mom had a breakfast birthday party for him on the 24th, and Santa made a house call that day just to make sure all the kids were being good.

Christmas day was a little overwhelming with wrapping paper flying in all directions, but that's the fun of it! This Caterpillar tractor was one of Seth's favorite toys, and, of course, it wasn't his. Do all construction workers listen to rock n' roll music?

Nieces Melanie and Melissa planned a Christmas nativity, and this is how it turned out.

Seth was a shepherd wearing a scarf for a tunic and carrying a wrapping paper tube as his staff (although here he looks more like a jedi knight):Holly (almost 8 months pregnant) and Eric were pre-birth Mary and Joseph, and then were switched out by the post-birth couple Angie and Kevin with their 4-month old baby...creative! Chaos ensued and there were lots of laughs, but in the end, I think everyone got the message, and this is something we'll all remember.

The whole week seemed to fly by, and we spent most of the time playing with new toys, relaxing and playing outside. Matt's mom and my sisters-in-law planned a surprise baby shower for me. So nice!! Photographer Extraordinaire Anje took some cute photos there and later some family photos, which I'll post later. The last couple of days we were there we were riding bikes, eating popsicles and sitting on lawn chairs!

Don't you think that would hurt sitting like that? Maybe, if it weren't for the diaper.

One of his favorite things to do...show off those abs!

My family was here for the holidays, so we were able to spend time with them for the New Year. My awesome, talented master craftsman brother made us a new fireplace mantel for our Christmas gift, so I'll post photos later when I have it painted. Now it's time to get back to the routine, and I think I've officially started nesting, since I've begun gathering up piles of stuff destined for the Goodwill. Time to de-clutter and make room for Baby!!

Seth's Successful Santa Session

Friday night we bundled up in our rain gear to visit the Santa House in downtown Renton. It was nice because unlike mall Santas (which I steer clear of anyway), you can either feel free to take your own photos, or there is a photographer there and you can download your photos for FREE! Anyway, I guess no one else wanted to be out in the weather because we were the only ones there and could walk right in. Seth wasn't too sure about this guy, but it was nice and quiet and we weren't being rushed by people waiting behind us. Eventually, he saw that the big guy was OK and agreed to sit on his lap.

So, compared to last year's visit Santa...

...this year was a happier experience!

My friend/distant-second-cousin-twice-removed-in-law (?) Jessica wrote a post I just love about the goodness of Santa. I, for one, figure that as long as I teach my children why we really have Christmas and they understand that, the magic of Santa is too fun to ignore. So, if you agree, check out her argument for Santa post. If you don't agree, I recommend you read it anyway to see another point of view.

Mr. President

Ever since we checked out The President and Mom's Apple Pie from the library, Seth's favorite word is "president" (sounds more like "ped-i-dent"). So, last night while I was away at school, this is what was going on at home after dinner. He's saying the president has a big tummy (which is true since the book is about President Taft, our largest president weighing in at over 300 pounds! Plus the illustrations in the book really emphasize his girth. :-))



And, speaking of pie, I tried a new one that was delicious for Thanksgiving. Paula Deen said it's best not to try new things for a special occasion dinner, but I don't think anyone minded being a guinea pig for my experiment. Like most pies, it is best with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream! Here it is:

Maple Dream Pear Pie

Filling:
5 1/2 to 6 cups peeled 1/2" diced just-ripe pears (if they're too ripe, I'm guessing they'll get mushy when you bake it)
1 1/2 TB cornstarch
pinch of salt
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. maple syrup
1 TB lemon juice
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 TB chopped candied ginger or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
9-inch deep-dish pie crust

Oatmeal Crumb Topping:
2/3 c. flour
1/2 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c. cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" pieces

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Please the diced pears in a large bowl, sprinkle with cornstarch and stir well. Add remaining filling ingredients and toss gently, until the mixture is evenly combined. Turn the filling into the chilled pie crust and smooth the top of the fruit. Place pie on oven center rack and bake for 45 minutes.

Combine topping dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the butter, and using your hands, rub the ingredients together until you have large crumbs. Refrigerate topping until you are ready to use it.

After 45 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Remove the pie from the oven and spread the crumb topping evenly over the top of the pie. Return the pie to the oven and bake until the juices bubble thickly around the edge, about 15 minutes. If edges of crust begin to brown too much, cover with a pie shield of strips of aluminum foil. Cool at least 2 hours before serving.

While I was making our Thanksgiving meal, I heard some serious giggling coming from the family room. I knew Matt was upstairs, so I really wondered what Seth could find so funny by himself. He had pulled his winter hat down over his eyes and belly-laughed every time he ran into something. This is the kid who never likes things on his head, but he was genuinely entertained by his own cleverness. When he pulled it over his eyes, I'd say "Hey, who turned the lights out?!" so here's a moment when the "lights" were on:

A TREAT of a Halloween!

Wow what a whirlwind Halloween day we had! First, we had our much-anticipated 20-week ultrasound and found out Seth is going to have a baby SISTER. We are excited to look forward to a little girl next spring, and it's so nice to finally say she/her and not "it" when talking about Baby. We're half way there!

On to other Halloween festivities. I just have to say I love Seth's costume. One of his favorite words these days is CAR (lately it's the phrase MY car!), so I decided to make him a NASCAR driver. How was I to make this when kids don't wear jumpsuits anymore? Enter eBay. I found a vendor who sells nothing but vintage clothing patterns and scored this circa 1970's Kwik Sew pattern, brand new, never been opened. Aside from the fact that this would work perfectly, I was instantly charmed by the cartoon drawings of those little kids!

I made style C (blue with white polka dots in the picture), and made it out of black stretch cotton and added red piping around the sleeves and down the sides. Next I printed logos for Tonka, Hotwheels, Lego, NASCAR, Matchbox and McDonalds and made my own patches using Heat n' Bond iron-on fusible webbing. They weren't staying on very well, so I secured them using clear "invisible" thread in my machine. Sounds like more work than it was, but it was really fun to see it evolve and turn out just like...no, BETTER...than I imagined! I'm sure Seth thought his mom had lost it the first time I put it on him and I squealed with delight. So...pardon me for the discourse (I sound a bit like I'm bragging, eh?) on costume construction, but WALLAH here is the finished product!

The driver in action!

He set out trick-or-treating with Matt and his trusty Frankenstein candy bag (made from a kitchen dish towel and more of that great stuff Heat n' Bond). He was close to saying "Trick or treat!" by saying "eat!", but mostly he just said "Hi!" Like the good little boy he is, he always said thank you ("kyou"). It rained all day but let up long enough for the kiddos to run around outside, and the rain returned again for the rest of the weekend. We kept a tally by the door, and when all was said and done, we had 125 "treaters" come to our house, give or take 5...it was hard to keep track the few times we got ambushed by huge throngs of goblins, princesses, animals and monsters.

...taking inventory...

We hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

More Pumpkins! ...and a recipe

Saturday was clean-out-the-garden day, and we gleaned the last of the season's harvest. Here's our pumpkin/squash bounty, all shapes and sizes. These will make a festive display on our front porch (maybe all except the two mammoth zucchinis we didn't know about).

And here's Seth getting ready to "help," which consisted mostly of shoveling dirt from one side of the raised bed to another.

And, just as I was getting ready to rake a cleared out bed, I saw what I thought was a dried out leaf HOP about 3 feet! We fascinated at our little Kermit, and Seth spent the rest of the time watching him and pointing out every little critter by yelling "BUG!"

When we had Seth's birthday pancake party, lots of people asked for the recipe for the pumpkin pancakes, so here it is:

2 eggs

1 1/4 c. buttermilk

4 TB butter, melted

3 TB canned pumpkin puree

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. allspice

1/2 c. mini chocolate chips (optional)

Combine eggs, butermilk, butter, pumpkin, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Mix ingredients well with electric mixer. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and blend with mixer until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter in 1/4 cup portions onto heated and buttered skillet or griddle. Flip pancakes when batter is bubbly and finish cooking on other side.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

That is one of my favorite holiday movies of all time. Poor Linus, no one believes him. I remember watching that movie every year (anyone else remember those holiday specials on a Friday night with the Dolly Madison commercials?) thinking that it would end differently and I would FINALLY be able to see the Great Pumpkin. Never happened. *sigh*

Last week we went with my sister Gerilyn and the nieces and nephews to Carpinitos Brothers farm for a day out in the pumpkin patch. We didn't pick any pumpkins ourselves since we have (cross your fingers) 5 or 6 good ones in our garden waiting to be picked shortly.

Which weighs more, Seth or a pumpkin? hee hee

Here's a REAL workout...Hannah AND Seth AND pumpkins!

"OK let me try. How hard can this be?"