First Tooth!

You can't see it, but it's there! An itty, bitty sharp as heck tooth on the bottom. Time to eat some tape!

GOLDEN Birthday

Did you know there was such I thing? I didn't.

I had actually begged the girls to have their birthday parties in January to simplify the holidays just a bit. Sela was reluctant, but agreed. That's a whole extra month of waiting for her.

But last Wednesday I picked her up from her art class and apparently the topic of her birthday had came up. Even though Sela knew she wasn't having a party right away, she has still seemed very excited about turning 9 and talks about it several times each day. She even made her own paper chain to count down. She has asked me what time she was born over and over. I could only remember that it was dark.

Anyway Suzie, her teacher, commented on Sela's Golden birthday and how neat it was that she was turning NINE on the NINTH of Two Thousand NINE. I acted like I was aware of the fact, but I wasn't! I guess I knew the 9 on the 9th part. But even the year lined up this time. All I had been thinking about with regards to her turning nine was that up until this birthday, Sela had more years left at home before leaving for college than years she had lived with us, if that makes sense. Now we are at that midpoint. 9 years with Mom and Dad. 9 to go. And I have to say, that thought is HUGELY depressing to me. Devastating even. And everyone says that once they are teenagers it goes even faster. I don't like it. But back to happy thoughts.

As we were leaving the class, Suzie asked if we were going to Disneyland to celebrate this once in a lifetime birthday? She was kidding, of course, but it did get me re-considering postponing the party until January.

That evening I rushed the kids to bed, and got right on the phone planning a surprise party for December 9th! And a suprise party was actually an idea that, despite the added stress, I could really get excited about! Pulling it off would be harder.

We invited 14 of Sela's friends. And what are the chances that 14 little girls can keep a secret for a week? Well, somehow, they did!

It went down like this. Sela had art class again so she was gone from 8:30am until 5:30pm on Wednesday. Everyone arrived on time and we hid up in the tree house. Zig went to pick up Sela. The girls decorated a banner and and had hot apple cider while we waited. We had the little heater cranking because it has been FREEZING lately. I think it may have been in the teens last night. Definitely 20's.


Zig told Sela we had reservations at a new Mexican restaurant. He called me and they were two minutes away. Tons of screaming. Excitement. And then quiet.

these kids were hiding on the back porch and look like they were freezing!

Zig told Sela that a big present had come in the mail and that Rollin and Nina were in the tree house trying to open it. She booked it up there and SURPRISE! Kids came from all over. The loft, the porch, behind the daybed. Everywhere. So much fun. She was totally surprised!
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I served the girls Sela's favorite meal (and apparently MANY others as well), Homemade Chicken Noodle soup.

We headed to the house to play a game. I filled four bags with random props from around the house, divided the girls into four groups and sent them to four different areas of the house to prepare a skit using the props. They had ten minutes to prepare. We met back in the living room where the skits were performed and enjoyed. They loved this activity...much more than I thought they would. Tons of silliness and laughter. It was LOUD all night long.


This group prepared in my room, and as I look at this photo, they must have raided my closet! Oh boy.


After the skits, we had desserts. I made a dessert bar of NINE desserts for the golden child. They were all bite-sized and I only made a couple myself. The rest were from PCC and Trader Joes.








Evan had lots of admirers!
Sela opened presents and read all of her cards. Then the kids were off to round 2 of skits and the parents started arriving.




Nina and I made t-shirts for party favors. We used one of Sela's latest drawings.

It was wonderful party! Zig and I got a kick out of watching the girls and all of their excitement and energy. Sela was so appreciative and was on cloud NINE all night long. She must have thanked me twenty times. She said it was definitely "the best day of my life. ever!" After the last guest left, she promptly got out one of her new journals and filled four pages with the details. I love my little golden girl!

comfort food

The past week was quite busy. Not in a totally overwhelming way, it just felt like it was Monday one minute and Friday the next. It just flew. Our meals were less than stellar and I think we had grilled cheeses twice for dinner. Shameful! :) So by Sunday I was dying for veggies galore. I tried out Erin's version of my grandmother, Jewel's, salmon croquettes (super simple and delish!), the Simple Cauliflower recipe from 101 Cookbooks (everyone loved it), and a spicy roasted red/pepper and tomato soup (can we say three bowls for Rollin?!). Seems like I wasn't the only one craving the vegetables.



Salmon Croquettes
1 can salmon (wild)
1 egg
breadcrumbs
seasonings you choose

Spicy Tomato Soup
I roasted a red pepper, onion and three cloves of garlic. Then I pureed them in the food processor along with one small can of Muir Glen fire-roasted tomatoes with Chipotle Peppers and one small can of Trader Joe's fire-roasted tomatoes with green chilis. Not sure why I used two different kinds other than I like to experiment. Then I added a few cups of chicken broth, some smoky paprika, salt and pepper, and about 1/4 cup half and half (it would have been totally fine without this). Drizzled some olive oil on it at the end. I think this is one of my favorite tomato soups I've ever made. I loved how smoky it was. I also made croutons because I'm just so nice. haha.

Advent Day 5: Angels

On day 5, the kids colored little angels and wrote a gift for Jesus on the back. My gift is to read my scriptures every day until Christmas. And of course, to continue on past Christmas is the real goal. Nina's was to say her personal prayers and Sela wanted to keep her gift private. Rollin said he'd give Jesus a dinosaur. We kept explaining that the gifts for Jesus were intangibles, but you know that boy really loves Jesus if he's willing to part with a dino!

Solo Bath

For 7 months, Evan has taken every single one of his baths with me in my bathtub. We haven't owned a baby bath tub since Sela was a baby and I found it a huge pain to use. And I've never tried the sink, it just looks like a pain too. Anyway, it's our little ritual. Every night before bedtime, we take a bath together. He loves it. I love it. It relaxes both of us and I really enjoy that tiny bit of one-on-one time with him.

But he has finally started sitting up well the past couple of weeks so I let him have a go at a solo bath. He loved playing with the toys. I allow no toys in my bath. I am a tiny bit grossed out by bath toys. But anyway, it was fun to watch him enjoy the new experience. When Nina came in and saw him in all his chubby glory she just had to join him.

Advent Day 4: Gumdrop Pops

Saturday's activity was a huge treat. The kids made gumdrop pops like the ones below from Martha Stewart. Zig and I had a Christmas party to attend so we left the materials with the sitter. Sela said Rollin was trying to eat all the materials, but otherwise it was really fun.

Advent Day 3: Red, White, and Green Pizzas.

Friday we usually do a movie night and make homemade pizzas so this friday our advent activity was red, white, and green pizzas for dinner followed by a Christmas movie.