christmas spirit

Well here we are...four days until Christmas! I don't quite know what to say except that emotions are high in this house. Contrary to the peaceful picture above (taken this morning) we have seen it all in these first few hours of the day. Tears, tantrums, silliness and happiness. Honestly, sometimes the most exhausting part of motherhood is just keeping up with everyone's feelings.

Also, I'm just plain tired. Hattie (did you see her in the yellow chair?) got a cold and her little nose is stuffy and wakes her up. We had a very wakeful night last night and today I have gone back to fully caffeinated coffee with enough maple syrup to make Buddy the Elf proud.

But! Can I tell you my best kept secret for getting into the proper Christmas spirit? Last night we started watching The Nativity Story. Oh it is just my favorite. We always are hesitant to put in...I mean, we know how the story goes! But that movie is so stunning, the dialogue so beautiful and the music so powerful. And then the meaning of all of these presents, gatherings, and festivities hits me anew and leaves me set right. Every year it does. So if the lack of snow has got you down, be sure to watch it in the next few nights. It will bring peace to your heart. Truly.

And if you need a dose of christmas spirit right this very minute, heeeeerrrrrre's Ivar!

christmas packets

If you haven't sent out a Christmas card in three years, you're going to want to send out a pretty picture. And if you send out a pretty picture, you're going to want to include a long letter. And if you include a long letter, you're going to think this is a good time to send out your baby's birth announcement. And as long as you're sending out the birth announcement, you might as well finally write those 52 thank you notes you have been putting off since her birth. And if you write the thank you's for her gifts, you may as well include the thank you's from your son's birthday in November, and your daughter's birthday way back in July.

And if you include those thank you notes, you might as well stuff in the kid's school pictures you've been meaning to give to grandparents and aunts and uncles. And if you include their school pictures, you may as well include the drawings the kids have made for others that you "promised to send."

Folks. That is a what we call bang for your postal stamp.

I spent the whole week on this project. I wrote every one of those thank you's. I tracked down every new address that hadn't been updated in three years. And then when I realized I only had 8 return address labels, I lovingly wrote my address on 162 envelopes. Bless my heart!

But man it felt good. So good that I took this completely staged picture to show you all that I had spread over my table. Here's a tip: I ALWAYS had hot tea, a lit candle and christmas music playing and it totally kept me merry and bright. I love staying connected to people this way.I actually enjoy writing thank you notes, because I do like to write...I'm just a little wordy, which means it takes me a long time. And I LOVE getting cards and letters in the mail so I must participate in this fun way to wish each other a Merry Christmas. And the gift to myself is that I now have updated addresses for everyone in my life, and big plans to order new return address labels!

santa gave me THE BEST idea this year

Elsie asked for "a car" and Ivar asked for "a race track." And then santa joked that they really wanted underwear and socks. Santa is so silly!

Ivar had mentioned "the race track" one other time. But it had been weeks and I hadn't heard him mention it again. I assumed that he had moved on to other things. So when I mentioned that I was surprised he asked for a race track he told me, "that's because you don't need to worry about it. That's the thing Santa is bringing me."

Hmmm.

But worry I must. So I got on facebook and asked if anyone had a race track that they were ready to hand-me-down or sell in a garage sale. And in the end, Santa and I have found a sweet racetrack for a fraction of the price.

So guess what I want to do next year?!! I want to set up a Toy Set Swap. Where each mom comes with three sets of toys that their kids have outgrown. I'm thinking little people sets, duplos, puzzles, thomas the train sets, k'nex, melissa and dough stuff, dress up costumes, book series, play food, barbie clothes etc... Stuff that their kids have outgrown, but other kids are just growing into. And then set everything on a long table, and draw numbers for who goes first, and have each mom go through the line and pick one thing, then go to the back of the line to go through two more times.

Wouldn't this be amazing?!! Because we don't all need to be buying this stuff brand new. And I would get more gifts at garage sales, but I never am quiet sure what my kids are going to be into by December. But I love this idea. Because I know that every mom come January 2 is purging all of her kids' toys anyway to make room for the new toys. So why not do that purge one month earlier and save some serious dough.

Anyway, I love the idea and can't wait for next year to organize this event.

Santa, you are so smart. Thank you for this awesome idea to find a race track through friends on facebook. The way you get these gifts and wrap them up under the tree is quite amazing. You really should get a whole lot more credit than you do.  It's a good thing we compensate your work with cookies.

the salad that's going to get us through winter

I was going to write about this salad in the new year, but I was just thinking that in the midst of holiday eating this is a great one to have on hand. To compensate for all the cookies...

The day of Halloween Ivar was throwing a fit because he wanted to open "just one present before my birthday!" He was getting in trouble for throwing such a tantrum. That day at lunch I fed every person in my family and by the time I got to eat myself it was 1:45. And then I had a fit. I had been surviving on my mom's pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting for two days, and was exhausted and sugar crashing. I was so frustrated and after I told my family my woes of not ever getting to feed myself good food Ivar told me, "Mom, you're just like me. You're going to get in trouble with Grandpa Paul if you don't shape up."

Such a bright kid, that Ivar.

It was later that week that Rory's cousin Kerah brought us this salad as a ready-to-assemble baby meal. We ate it that night and I was in love. I told Rory while I ate it, "I actually feel nutrients flooding my body right now."

So now I eat it every day for lunch. Every. Single. Day. And it still rocks my world. I try to have it prepped and ready to eat at the beginning of the week. I call it Prepper Salad, not because it's going to feed us when the world falls apart but because I actually have to Prep at the beginning of the week if I'm going to have it ready for lunch each day. Also, a hearty salad, that is pretty much prepped each day, feels like good self care. Otherwise I am prone to eat all the handy carbs within reach.

The recipe comes from Iowa Girl Eats (this is exactly her recipe but I'm going to rewrite it here, because I have a few prep tips. But for more straight forward instructions, go to her site!)

Ingredients:
1 cup wild rice blend
2 cups chicken broth
1 chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
salt, pepper and garlic powder
4 cups chopped kale
1 apple, chopped
2oz goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup sliced almonds

For the dressing:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1 clove garlic, microplaned or finely minced
salt and pepper

So here's what I do. On Sunday night (or whenever I'm going to prep this thing) I cook up a package of chicken breasts in a skillet with some oil. Then I cube it into bite size pieces and put it in a tupperware. I also cook my wild rice blend in the rice cooker with the chicken broth. And I put that in a tupperware. (I have heard you can get wild rice in a can now, already cooked! Have to try that. And sometimes I omit the wild rice, because it's a fine salad without it.) Then I make 3 times the dressing and put it in a mason jar. Do not skimp on the salt! Salt is key and makes it taste so good. Make sure the dressing is sort of strong...there is a lot of kale and chicken and rice to cover. Make it zippy.

Then, for each lunch, I put 3-4 cups of kale (it cooks down a bit) in a big bowl (I buy the pre-chopped bag at Cub...I go through and take out any big stem parts I see...they are bitter.) And then I put it in the microwave for about 15 seconds. I think this really helps the kale. I feel less like a rabbit eating it because it wilts just a teeny bit.

Then I put some of the chicken cubes and rice in the microwave and add those to the kale. It wilts it a little more. Then I toss in the craisins and whatever chopped nuts I have, chop up half an apple to mix in and pour on the dressing. After it's tossed together, I crumble the goat cheese on top. DO NOT FORGET THE GOAT CHEESE! It is so good!

This salad has it all. It's a sweet, salty, crunchy, creamy...and as a mom, I feel like I took good care of myself by feeding myself such a hearty meal for lunch.  I've fed it to three other girl friends and they love it too! Kiss that pbj goodbye. Stop eating the left over macaroni and cheese. You'll love yourself for prepping this one!

christmastime is here

My friend Allyson recently mentioned that she wished we could always have a tree in our houses. That it adds so much and the lighting is so pretty at night. I totally agree. So we discussed large, large plants/trees that could be up all year. It's true, my house is never quite as pretty as it is at Christmas. And in this picture it actually looks put together. Don't be fooled though...this was just because I had friends coming over for brunch and the house was picked up. Usually all of those Christmas books, ornaments, nativity people and pillows are strewn everywhere. As they are right this minute. But company is always so great because it ensures that at least for one half of a day, everything is put in its place. Obviously I took a picture.

In the last ten days I have been to two cookie swapping parties, attended a favorite things party, hosted a favorite things party, attended a white elephant swap, had a date with Rory to our town's winter block party, gone on a christmas light drive with the kids (ending with Elsie saying, "mom, can we please go home now?" Ha!), and celebrated Advent each night by singing carols by candle light.

And the number of cookies I have consumed would blow your mind. Cookies are my favorite of all the sweets, and this is the season when cookies get top billing. I'm fine with it.

All that's missing from this stunning picture is the snow out those windows! It has been such a crazy year of weather, but I cannot complain. I love it. I have three kids to buckle into the backseat of our jeep, and it takes some patience. Every day of the warmer weather I have thought, "this is fine by me."

In other news, I got a dust buster to suck up all of the random Asian Beetles that STILL are crawling around the house. I feel like I had a good attitude about them in the fall. Even though we were positively plagued with them seven different times. But now that they are out of season, I have had enough and nothing feels better than sucking them up and then plugging the dust buster with a napkin so they can't crawl out again. Anyway, Ivar has discovered A PASSION for dust busting. He cannot get enough. And it made me think, if you still have a 4, 5 or 6 year old on your list to buy for, you really should consider a dust buster. It might seem odd when they open it, but once put to use everyone will realize your present was the best one of all.