Christmas 2013

It's not too late for Christmas pictures, right?

A few days before, we had the annual family cooking contest.  This year each team drew out of a hat 1) a course, 2) geographical region, and 3) ingredient.  I don't really remember the regions which just goes to show you that no one really paid much attention to them (except maybe the shrimp dish).  Steph and Andy did a stuffed chicken breast wrapped in prosciutto (far left), which was delicious but clearly they need to work on their plating skills because in retrospect it looks like something crawled up on that plate and died. Kiki and Ryan did a homemade tostada chip with a grilled shrimp and salsa (center).  Amy and Mark did a butternut squash and saffron risotto (far right).  BVZ and I did a sesame seed lace cookie with mango ice cream (not pictured because I was a little drunk by dessert).  As in years past, I did all the research and prep, BVZ did the shopping, I made everything, and BVZ did the dishes.  

Voting was done by secret ballot and sesame lace cookies won the day.  

Christmas Eve means turkey chili and tamales at our house.  The kids decided to sleep in the front room next to the tree to try and catch a glimpse of Santa.  Thankfully they soon figured out the wood floor was not at all comfortable.

Norah and I made cookies for Christmas Day dessert and included a couple of extras as well.

Norah went to church with Bubby.  They both loved it.

Norah took great care in making a plate for Santa and Louis was concerned about carrots for reindeer.  You may be wondering why he is wearing a Texas A&M jersey.  Apparently there is a big shot college player named Johnny Football (I can't remember his actual last name) who won the Heisman this year.  BVZ got Lou interested in the game one day by pointing Johnny out and now Lou is OBSESSED with being "Johnny Football." I have to wash the damn jersey all.of.the.time because that's all he wants to wear.

Norah licked the top of one of the cookies and Lou ate most of the carrots.

Ready for bed.  Thank god.

Santa brought Louie a remote control monster truck, goldfish crackers, and a cow in his stocking.

Norah got the Frozen castle/ice palace that she has been coveting for weeks.  I blame television with commercials.  We did not even open the box until after 9:00 pm on Christmas Eve and at that point realized there was assembly required.  It only took about an hour and BVZ and I are still married.

She was beside herself with joy.

The aforementioned cow.

We don't do a ton of gifts at Christmas but I like to think they are all well thought out and personal.  One thing from Santa and then each kid gets a gift from each family member.  Norah got a sleeping bag from me, the Frozen dolls from Lou, and a book about Greek Mythology from BVZ.  Louie got a sleeping bag from me, Superman pj's from BVZ, and a book about monster trucks from Norah.  The kids were really into getting BVZ a "real" football and then Lou insisted we also get him his own Johnny Football shirt.  BVZ loved it.  I think it was 50% having a matching shirt with Lou and 50% making Uncle Mark (a die hard Longhorn fan) insane.  The kids got me a fancy hair dryer.  I love it.

BVZ takes Norah to ballet on Saturday mornings and then they usually run errands together afterward.  It's the best one-on-one time that they get.  They must have all kind of interesting conversations because every once in a while Norah will bust out some random knowledge (usually about science or history) and I know it had to have come from BVZ.  Like, she knew all about the Chinese Zodiac one day.  They had been talking about gods and goddesses and mythology (she was walking around yelling "Release the Kraken!") and so he found her a book with the stories specifically designed for kids.  They are still really violent and kind of scary but she loves them.  So far Hercules and the ten labors have been the biggest hit.  At one point in almost every task, King Eurystheus gets scared and jumps in a copper pot to hide.  The illustration of this is particularly funny and Norah laughs so hard she can barely breathe every time the King gets in the pot.  It's the little things sometimes.

Christmas afternoon and evening is spent at Bubby's house.  Norah had a cool French braid courtesy of Kiki.

Cousins!

Cousins plus Bubby!

Sisters!

Reid and Lou got their own special table.  This basically sums up how they both feel about food.  Reid loves it.  Louie can't be bothered.

Grown up table with grown up dishes.

Kid table.

The cousins draw names and this year Trevor had Louie.  Louie could not sit at the table and eat because 1) Louie doesn't actually ever eat food, and 2) he knew there was a present under the tree for him from "my best friend Trevor."  I went to check on him because it was so quiet and found him sitting patiently on the couch with his present on his lap. I think he sat there for at least 10 minutes.  Waiting.  Waiting.  Waiting.  (It was worth the wait--a blue light saber).

The rest of the evening was full of laughter and peppermint popcorn.  Just like any good holiday should be.

13 in 13

I have loads of holiday updates, but did not want to let too much time go by before I did our 13 in 2013.  It was really hard to pick just 13 photos that represent our year, but here we go (in no particular order):

13-Kindergarten! This year was all about the transition to kindergarten.  I think I had more anxiety about it than Norah did.  She LOVES school, has made some great friends, and is excelling in all areas.  We could not be prouder of her.

12-Military School! Okay, not really military school but we moved Lou to a more, ahem, "structured" pre-school this year.  It was the best idea we've  had in a while and he is doing really well there.  Louis tends to abide by the old adage, "idle hands are the devil's playground" and this place has both challenged him and given him a healthy respect for the rules.  If only he would start following them at home as well...

11-No More Babies!  Our baby days are officially over.  No cribs live in this house.  If we could just get rid of the diapers and that one lingering pacifier we would be home free.

10-Camilla! Our family grew by one this year when Baby Camilla joined the fold.  It was amazing to get to see a real live baby be born and I have loved her since she took her first breath.  It has been so neat to see both Norah and Louis dote on her.  They have great older cousins themselves so they have big shoes to fill.

9-Friends and Family!  We have been so lucky that the people we love most have been willing and able to visit.  We had awesome visits from friends and family and even got to make a few trips of our own.  Thank goodness for things like FaceTime.

8-Skinny Jeans! In May I followed the lead of my skinny friends and started counting calories, limiting portions, and walking at least 10,000 steps a day (the fitbit zip is my best friend).  I also eliminated dairy completely, which was more for health reasons than weight, but that helped as well.  It took about six months, but I have successfully lost close to 35 lbs.  I feel better, look (much) better, and even bought a pair of skinny jeans and sexy boots.  I am not quite at my goal, but close.

7-Swimming!  With a pool in the backyard these kids HAVE to learn to swim.  Unfortunately, Norah has always been a giant chicken about it.  Something finally clicked in her brain and after a session of group lessons she is officially a swimmer.  Thank goodness.

6-Cooking Club! I started a new cooking club here in Texas and after about a year we have absolutely found our groove.  It's a great group of ladies and the cuisine is delicious every time.

5-Viva Mexico! In September BVZ and I took our first vacation sans kids.  It was a great time to reconnect and celebrate with friends.  It's a good life.

4-Halloween! I love that the annual party to celebrate my favorite holiday is back.

3-Terrible Two's! Louis is amazing, brilliant, adorable, mischievous, and so exhausting.  He is incredibly strong willed, very defiant, and smarter than us most of the time.  I hope we are past the worst of it.

2-Fabulous Five's!  They are a bit, ahem, emotional.  But for the most part, five is awesome.  Five year old's can watch real tv, have interesting conversations, get their own snacks, and wipe their own butts.  I love five.

1-Austin! We have our house, our neighborhood, our school, our park, our friends, our family.  We've got our groove back and it finally feels like home.

Bits and Pieces

I got a haircut for the first time in almost a year.  I had at least six inches lopped off.  My hair falls out by the handful and I was pulling ropes of hair out of the shower drain every morning.  

Lou is obsessed with being a garbage man.  Every chance he gets he pretends he's riding the garbage truck. He does it on carts, chairs, the side of the staircase, etc.  Everywhere.  The cart is the most maddening because every 50 feet he yells, "stop the truck!" and hopes off, picks up his invisible garbage, and then hops back on.  It's crazy making.

A new Costco just opened close to us.  I have never been a fan of Costco, but I borrowed my mom's card to check it out the other day.  I am not cut out for Costco.  I get overwhelmed really easily and make bad impulse choices.  Like a bag of three giant cantaloupes.  We can't possible eat this much cantaloupe before they go bad.

Bubby likes to take the kids to a live nativity.  After the short performance, they lead the animals over to a pen and the kids can pet them.  It was mostly sheep and goats.  We got Lou to go by promising there would be cows.  He loves cows.  Loves them.  He was a good sport and insisted upon calling the goats cows.  

Norah had her annual parent viewing session last week.  She was tired and grumpy but as soon as "free dance" came on it was game on.

Lou likes to pretend he is Santa Claus.  He says, "ho, ho ho.  What do you want for Christmas?"  You tell him and he either says, "here you go" or "I don't have dat thing."  Bathtubs are great places to make Santa beards.

Both kids remembered this house from last year, which was very cool.  We have visited it several times for some dancing and general holiday merriment.

Norah's kindergarten class has been overwhelmed by Christmas activities during the entire month of December.  I might prefer that they do a little more multi-cultural learning, but I am not going to make a big deal about it.  While certainly not religious based, it is all Santa/reindeer/elves all the time.  I'm just saying.

The last day of school there was a big party and families were welcome to attend.  I made gluten free peppermint cookies and gluten free cupcakes.  The cookies were a huge hit.  Especially among my extended family members...

The theme of the party was Polar Express and it was very sweet.  The principal dressed up as a conductor, each kid got a special, sparkly ticket, etc.  Again, I would have probably picked a more holiday neutral theme, but no one asked my opinion and all of the kids seemed to really love it.

There was a barrel train that the school rented and each class had a time they got to go out and ride it. Siblings were welcome, so Norah got to ride twice.

There were a lot of fun crafts and activities for the kids back in the classroom, including making a candy train and putting a wish into an ornament.  Most of the wishes were what the kids wanted from Santa.  Norah's was "I wish the Elf on the Shelf would talk to me."

A dad read the Polar Express to the class.

After the story was over a special white box was delivered to the classroom.  It was ice cold.  Inside was a sleigh bell with each kid's name on it.  They went bananas.

A massive amount of sugar was then consumed.

Everything wrapped up about 10:00 am and kids were free to go home for the day.  I thought this was weird until Bubby told me that the teachers have 9 million things to do before they get to start their break and the best possible thing you could do for them is to take your kid home at 10:00 am.  So we did.

We have been lucky that Kiki has been in town for a couple of weeks.  She is a champion game player, kid entertainer, and baby wrangler.

Again with the garbage truck playing.  Reid is just as bad.

Every year Bubby puts on a special holiday party for all of the grandkids.  Lou got dressed up for the event. He is such a little boy now.  And cleans up nicely.

There was pizza making, cookie consuming, and craft creating.

I think the little boys basically played with trucks and ate cookies the whole time.

Lucky kids.