Thy leaves are so unchanging

On the second weekend in December we headed out to our favorite U-cut Christmas tree farm about 10 miles from our house. It's a great little place with a cabin for an office, a campfire, and candy canes. And most trees are only $15!

We made some kind of family record with how quickly we chose our tree. The kids helped Damon cut it down while I kept Holly out of the way, and then Damon marched it down to the car. Impressive, eh?

 

Good-lookin' tree.  Good-lookin' family (if I do say so myself).

We also ran into our friends the Potters (thanks to them for the day's photography) who were getting their own tree.

On Sunday afternoon during Holly's nap we decorated the tree. As I've said before, this is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. We have an eclectic assortment of ornaments that are from my childhood, Damon's gifts on the children's first Christmases, and souvenirs from family trips. Usually I unpack the ornaments and divide them into piles for each family member. The ornaments that don't belong to anyone in particular get put in a central pile and we take turns choosing them one at a time. Once all the ornaments are divvied out, we begin decorating.
This year the kiddos were so excited that they wouldn't let me unpack the ornaments in peace. They kept grabbing at them and trying to "help," and I was getting pretty frustrated. But then, I had a brilliant idea that worked perfectly. I had the kids kneel in front of me. As I took out each ornament, I explained its origins and then gave it to a child to place in the appropriate pile. This created order while fulfilling their desire to touch and handle the ornaments. I liked it because I realized that while I know each ornament's story, the rest of the family does not. If we can repeat this way of unpacking and sorting the ornaments, everyone will learn the stories and bringing out these decorations will be more meaningful each year. I think this will make me love this tradition even more.

Please notice our new stockings hanging on the window. My mom knit them for us. We've never had stockings. We always made them out of paper grocery bags on Christmas Eve. Getting crafty and decorating them was a fun activity, but often stressfully crammed in at the end of a festive day and before a night of final gift wrapping. Damon and I are not sad to see that tradition retired in favor of these beautiful knitted stockings.


Our star is no family heirloom, just a cool one I found at Target one year. It's copper and actually used to have lights inside. Those went defunct, but we salvaged the star. But this year it just wouldn't stay straight on the tree! It's coming loose from the part that goes over the tree. We were constantly straightening it. That just gave me more chances to say, "That starrr is crooked," like the Old Man in A Christmas Story, but we may need to replace it next year.

Holly woke up just as we were finishing the tree decorating. She handled herself better than I could have hoped.  She messed with some of the ornaments, but we were careful to hang breakable ones out of her reach, so there was no harm done.  Here she is later in the month as presents began to pile up underneath the tree.  She mostly stayed away from those, too. It was a relief. Holly is such a curious and adventurous little thing, I wasn't sure how any of our Christmas decorations would fare this year.

 

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!

They Just Don't Make 'em Like They Used To

This Christmas I had to say goodbye to a special decoration.  I made this candy house when I was in kindergarten in 1984! It's just frosting over a milk carton with candy stuck on, but it's survived about six moves and twenty-seven Christmases. My mom saved it and passed it on to me when I got married.  Every Christmas I've pulled it out and displayed it.  The last few years it has come out feeling a little sticky, and this year those raspberry candy shingles were oozing.  I knew it was time to say goodbye. With a small photo shoot and ceremonial farewell, into the trash it went.

Goodbye, candy house.

 

 

 

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Our church Christmas party was a big night for Gunnar.  He voluntarily visited Santa Claus, albeit from a safe distance.

He also participated in an impromptu nativity. All of the children who wanted to participate were invited to go backstage to put the whole thing together while everyone else sang  Christmas carols. Then the costumed children came out on stage as our bishop read the story of Christ's birth from Luke 2.  The usual parts were assigned and the remaining boys were cast as shepherds and the girls as angels. Adah and Maggie came onstage with the Heavenly Host, and then Gunnar came out with the shepherds, and said, loud enough for most of the audience to hear, "Look, Daddy, don't I look handsome?"

Gunnar's the second kid to the left of the manger, the one staring straight up, rather than looking on the Christ child in the manger.

Apparently Gunnar was not being very cooperative with the "wardrobe department" of the production and didn't want to wear a costume.  They finally convinced him to wear a small sash around his neck and told him that he would look very handsome--hence his announcement.  It made me think of that classic play The Best Christmas Pageant Ever where things just don't go quite right.
Holly obviously loved her big brother's performance.

Post Script: Adah also visited Santa Claus, but the only photo I got was fuzzy. Maggie declined a face-to-face with Mr. Kringle. The photos I tried to get of Adah and Maggie in the pageant were also unsuccessful, wise men or other angels blocked their faces. So, because of the photographic evidence I had, this post became more about Gunnar than the whole family's experience at our ward party, but we were all there and enjoyed celebrating the season with each other and our friends.

Holly's Bedtime Stories

In the first half of November, before Holly was even 18 months old, she began climbing out of her crib. Her siblings didn't try that stunt until they were nearly two! I couldn't believe it.  Yet, this one's since convinced me of the lengths she'll go to keep up with her siblings.  She's a little bit taller than they were at her age, and that height advantage, combined with the example of three independent older siblings, makes for a little girl who tries and succeeds at feats of which the other kids never even dreamed. (Think of using chairs to get onto countertops and other such activities.)

So, as Holly began exercising her new crib-escaping stunt, I spied on her one time and discovered that she was climbing onto the changing table just next to her crib.  So, we decided to swap the locations of her crib and Gunnar's bed, thinking that might solve the problem.  No such luck.  She still climbed out, only this time it was a bit riskier--but not enough to deter her.  Thus started the battle of keeping a stubborn kid in her bed, or at least her bedroom, for nap and bedtime.

Perhaps many of you know the story. Kid climbs out of crib. Parents secure door so child cannot exit room. Child has crying fit behind closed door. Parents remain firm. Child eventually falls asleep, exhausted, on the floor by the door. The whole process can last from 5 to 45 minutes (or more). That scenario played out several times, but eventually, we began finding Holly asleep on Gunnar's bed instead of the floor.  And then, she actually wanted us to put her to bed on Gunnar's bed, majorly freaking out if we went in the direction of her crib instead. She even had a few middle-of-the-night wake-ups where she really tried to get right into bed with Gunnar instead of allowing us to put her back in her crib.

Here she is, having moved onto Gunnar's bed with her own blanket and three stuffed animals of her own (there at her feet).

After this little routine continued for a week or so, I finally decided it was time to say goodbye to the crib.  We didn't have another bed for Holly, but I figured just putting her mattress on the floor might be an acceptable alternative for her.  Fortunately, it was.  She took to it pretty much right away (although parental securing of the door is still required to convince her that she really has to stay in her room).

Bye-bye crib!

After  four or five weeks with the mattress on the floor and the disassembled crib in the garage, I made a swap at a local second-hand store and got Holly an adorable new toddler bed.  I dropped off the crib on Christmas Eve, and got the bed after the New Year.

She loves it!

Really loves it.

 

And we love that the little side bars seem to be keeping her in bed a little bit better overnight.  We're getting fewer visits at 3 a.m. from this adorable little girl who can't wait to grow up and do everything the big kids are doing.

Underage Cutting, Overeating, and Other Thanksgiving Stories

For the seventh time in nine years, we hosted Thanksgiving at our house.  The prep began on Wednesday evening while we waited for our out-of-town guests to arrive.  I mixed together stuffing---Italian sausage, apples, dried fruit; it's the best--with Adah's help at the cutting board.  Check out how she wields that knife.  Or, rather, look out. 

 

Adah cut the dried fruit for me. She does have pretty good knife skills and this was the perfect job for her.

While Adah assisted me in the kitchen, the other 3 kids helped Damon in our guest room.  He added a rod for hanging clothes in the tall cupboard that we have out there, something that has been requested by other visitors.

Here's Maggie going at it with a hacksaw. There was a lot of underage cutting at our house that night. How do you like her headgear?  She's wearing a baseball helmet for some reason.  Gunnar must have put on his hardhat and Maggie decided she needed to join in the head protection.  Really, though, as to which came first . . . who knows? 

After our kiddos were fast asleep in bed, our friends Arthur and Kerri arrived from the Seattle area following an eight-hour drive!  Bless them. It's usually only a 4-hour drive, but holiday traffic left them inching along for the first few hours with their four children.

We spent last Thanksgiving with Arthur and Kerri at their home up north.  They had just moved from LA.  Damon and I went to college with Arthur and Kerri and hadn't seen them for years.  In fact, I think the last time we'd seen Arthur was at our wedding!  Even longer for Kerri.  Now that they live in the Northwest it has sure been fun to reconnect.

 

Arthur and Kerri have three boys and one baby girl.  Sometimes I still chuckle to think of the bachelor I knew in Boston as a dad.  He and Kerri are doing fine and have such sweet and fun boys.  My girls have continually declared that it feels like they're cousins.  All the kids hit it off immediately last November and again had a great time together this year.

Playing games on Kerri's iPod was a big hit, even if it was just watching someone else play.

While our turkey was cooking and the moms were busy in the kitchen, the kids and dads worked on making their own turkey . . . hats.  Just think, lots of construction paper, glue, and scissors and you can imagine how things looked around the table.

Adah models her hat.  You can't really see the feathers behind her, but there was a colorful tail on that bird.

 

Dinner was delicious.  I think we even managed to have all the parents sitting down at the same time, even if was only briefly. One of Damon's co-workers, Derrick, joined us also.  I'm sure he was a bit overwhelmed by the 8 kids, but he took it in stride, especially given that dinner was a bit later than I had originally intended. 

The day after Thanksgiving we drove up onto Mt. Hood and found a snow park.  We were able to blaze our own sledding trails and had a great time.  It was sunny and not too cold--a perfect day for playing in the snow.  Afterwards we had a late lunch at a diner in Government Camp before heading down the mountain and relaxing with a movie and some fruit, cheese, and popcorn for a light dinner.

Arthur, Kerri, and kids left Saturday morning since they had things to do back at home for the rest of the weekend. We sure enjoyed having them here and celebrating with us.  We're always thankful for good friends and especially for having a warm home and food to share with them.

Multnomah Falls Hike

On the Saturday afternoon after Thanksgiving, we drove through the Gorge and met some friends at Multnomah Falls.  These friends, Jay and Julia, live in the Tri-Cities area of Washington which is actually about 3 hours east (and a bit north) of where we live. We drove west to meet them because they were returning from their own Thanksgiving travels to family in the Portland area.  Multnomah Falls seemed like the perfect rendezvous for a little Northwest outdoorsy late-fall fun with 10 kids!  (Jay and Julia have 6 kids.)

So, see that waterfall?  We hiked to the top of it.  Yes, we went from the spot where the photo was taken, up a gently sloping path to that bridge you see.  Then we proceeded through another miles or so of steep switchbacks until we reached a small platform where we could look directly over that waterfall, the 4th-tallest in the nation, mind you.  It's 620 feet tall and is super-impressive.  We could feel the spray on the bridge and in the first stretch of path beyond it.  On a chilly November day we were happy to clear the spray zone and got nice and warm ascending the rest of the trail.

Here's a shot of many of those ten kids tucked into a tiny cavity along the trail.  (In fact, I think one kid that didn't belong to either of our families even made it into this shot--that boy in the green coat; fortunately Maggie blocked his face, ha ha.)  The kids did really well on the hike and we only lost one of them (not ours).  She sped down the path ahead of us without telling anyone, causing a bit of a scare as Julia went back up and the rest of us hurried down until we found her.  Phew.

 

The entire trail is paved and we thought a stroller would be the best option for Holly, figuring she (or we) would find the backpack intolerable.  Well, she wasn't too fond of the stroller, so Damon and I took turns keeping Holly from falling off the path and pushing an empty (well, jacket-filled) stroller. 

We also enjoyed chatting with Julia and Jay.  We sure like their family and wish they lived closer.  Again, it was another case of our girls feeling like they were playing with cousins.

After the hike we caravanned to Hood River where we stopped for dinner at Andrew's Pizzeria before sending our friends on the rest of their drive back home.  We only wished the visit could have been longer.

Cold & Cozy November

It's January 8 as I sit here and type this.  I've been desperately behind on blogging for months now, but I'm slowing whittling away at past photos and fun times.  Looking out my window, I see sunshine and blue skies.  It's cold, but it's not gray and rainy.  This is very unusual.  In fact, the only significant snowfall we've had this winter was in November--a week before Thanksgiving!  We did not have a white Christmas.  We haven't had a single snow day at school.  And the sun is shining in January!  The first January we lived here it rained everyday for more than 30 days and I remember the moment that the sun came out.  I was on the phone with my sister-in-law Joette and I excitedly told her that the sun was shining.  She wasn't too impressed.  "No! You don't understand! I haven't seen the sun for over a month!" I exclaimed. It was a big moment in that first Northwestern winter. Now I'm a bit bewildered by all this sunshine.

I digress.

This post is about our first snow back on November 16 and about my four kiddos being outside playing in it together. I would have been out there with them, but the snow came so early that I didn't have boots for Adah yet and she was wearing mine (with 3 or 4 pairs of socks).

 

Maggie cocks her arm . . .

See this blurry photo? I was moving fast to shut the sliding glass door to protect me from that snowball!

Cute Holly, all bundled up and trying to figure out this cold white stuff.

Fortunately, after the cold and wet, everyone had some snuggly new pajamas to wear.  Don't you love fleece?  And don't you think these kids are the cutest when they're hugging each other?