holidays » Four Against Two

My Christmas Book Collection

Books I Have Read, Family, holidays No Responses »

Dec 092010

It is no secret that I adore books. When Meg was a newborn I started my Christmas Book Collection and it grows every year with a vengeance! I just cannot help myself.

The key part of my collection is that I only have the books out at Christmas time (Thanksgiving through New Years) so the books seem new again and it is exciting to see old forgotten favorites. Every year I tend to add some great $1 deals from Scholastic (my favorite book place!) and I try and pick out one special hardback book as well. This year I have not found the book yet, but to be honest, I haven’t been to a books store to browse just yet.

Last years special book was: The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats The pictures are gorgeous and I love the dark skin tones on the people. We tend to forget that people in the holy land aren’t Caucasian!

A few other favorites:

Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer by Robert L. May illustrated by David Wenzel This particular edition has beautifully subtle illustrations and I love it!

Clement Clark Moore and Jan Brett’s The Night Before Christmas is another fond one I read every year.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson is one that I read to myself almost every year. My kids have never gotten into it but I adore it and laugh every time!

I cannot list all my Christmas books, but I also read the Little House Christmas stories and American Girl Christmas themed books to the girls or just myself. I should try some big-girl Christmas books sometime, but to me Christmas time brings me in the mood for childhood books and favorites.

My Christmas books and Video/DVD’s are set out under the tree and on top of the TV in the den. They get a bit messy I agree, but hey a book mess is a good mess!

Do you have any favorites Christmas books to suggest for my special book 2010?

(Disclosure: The photo and links above are from Amazon.com and are not affiliate links.)

A New Christmas Show With An Old Time Feel (Review)

holidays, Reviews, Stuff No Responses »

Dec 082010

I heard about the Christmas episode of NBC’s Community from the One2One Network this past week. For those of you who don’t see me regularly, I don’t watch a lot of TV. We don’t even have TV provider. We watch through NetFlix and the computer. I don’t watch any reality shows except Survivor with our older two girls. I like MI5 with Hubby as well as Modern Family and The Big Bang. Other than that I really don’t know what is going on in TV land. So I had never heard of Community. What caught my eye on this episode is that the show is in stop-motion-animation. How cool is that! I call it Claymation, because I am not technically-savvy. Oh well!

So I got a sneak peak to this episode and loved it! Chevy Chase, and John Oliver (from the Daily Show) are two of the actors I recognize, even as stop-motion characters. The episode is entitled Abed’s Uncontrolable Christmas. The plot follows the character Abed on his quest to find the meaning of Christmas. The story-line is full of making fun of how Christmas has become very PC and a “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas”. It does this without offending people or putting others down. Very refreshing I must say!

I won’t give it away of course, but I must say that I almost wet myself when he opened up the box at the end! Clever, funny and worth watching!

When is it on you ask? This Thursday, December 9th at 8 eastern/7 central time on NBC.

Should the kids watch it? This show is not for kids. It is a fun stop-motion show that will make the kids want to watch it though! If you kids are under five you can probably get away with them in the room with you, but there are a lot of innuendos and parts that you will find yourself explaining to the older kids. Put them to bed and watch it without them!

I laughed really hard through the entire show and will for sure be looking to watch the show and see the series in real-life! I hope it is as good as this Christmas episode is.

Thanks to the One2One Network for letting me preview this show!

(Disclosure: I was not compensated for this review, but could win a prize from the One2One Network, for giving my honest review of the above show.)

Don’t Judge Me

holidays, It's all about me!, Stuff 4 Responses »

Dec 072010

I was going to use the title Off With His Head with this post and threatened as much to Hubby yesterday evening.

Yesterday our advent activity was to make Christmas Cookies. As it was a snow day I thought we would have a lot of time to get the cookies done, but with all of the outdoor play in the snow (Yeah Outdoor Play!) we didn’t get started on cookies until after dinner.

Hubby comes running when I call the girls to the kitchen in hopes of nabbing some cookie dough. The look on his face when he saw the pre-packaged cookie dough cut into Christmas shapes was one of shock and laughter. I guess he had been expecting some homemade ball of cookie dough that I had made from scratch in all of my snow-day-spare-time. He went on to say things like “recipe has been in the family for generations” and ” handed down” under his breath while laughing. I’m glad I could amuse him. Not!

I immediately removed the cookie dough from his hand as he did not deserve my hand-bought morsels. Well, I tried to take it away but he is bigger than I am.

So my cookies may not be from scratch, but the girls had fun, the cookies taste good and the mess was minimal for mom.

So there.

Letters To Santa

holidays 2 Responses »

Dec 032010

Last week I showed the card I designed on Shutterfly for the kids to write their Santa letters on. They came yesterday and the girls wrote the letters tonight as their third day of Advent activity.

I was a bit anxious to read them as Santa had already bought most of our families gifts. The general theme was Laptops, iPods, hamsters and hermit crabs.

Luckily, Santa shopped well and the lists are relevent and in the good expectation realm! Santa also understands that we do not need anymore pets in this family. Four kids, a dog and cat are enough!

My girls!

Check out this link to see how mailing your letters to Santa at Macy’s can raise money for The Make A Wish Foundation. We do not have a Macy’s near us, but if I make it to Columbus before Christmas I’ll drop them off.

My Advent Quilt

holidays, Stuff 2 Responses »

Dec 012010

When Meg was just a year old I was looking through a Pottery Barn catalog in January and found an Advent quilt on clearance. I mean really on Clearance. I think it was twenty bucks and I was head over heels with it. I started making plans as soon as it arrived and couldn’t wait for December to come.

When it finally came I was totally prepared. We did crafts, stories and songs. The advent quilt event of the day was always done. You have to remember that at this time I was perfect mom with one child!

Over the next few years I was able to maintain this perfection and the Advent quilt became a tradition. In 2004 Elle’s due date was December 21st and we had just moved into a new house in November. The advent quilt was somewhere packed and I couldn’t find it. We still did our Christmas traditions, but the advent quilt was not there to oversee it all. I missed it.

Fast forward to 2008. I had four kids and was still on an adrenaline rush after the Adoption and had energy but didn’t focus to well. I tried the Advent quilt and failed miserably. I couldn’t keep up with everything. Remember, I HATE crafts but feel an impulse that I have to do them! The advent quilt became more of a nuisance than a fun thing. Last year, I did even less with the quilt although we still put it up.

This year I’m doing it differently. There is not one craft on the quilt line up. The activities are simple, easy to switch around and bring our true meaning of Christmas into view. For all of you craft lovers out there I assure you that the kids will have plenty of opportunity to get messy with paint and glue between scouts and school! I want to have fun with my advent quilt and not be ruled by it. I have also learned that the advent quilt activities have to grow with your children. Make it fun for them or there isn’t much reason to put in all the work.

With the holiday season starting after Halloween, many of our typical Christmas activities are already done by December. We put up our tree Thanksgiving weekend. Our sponsored child’s gifts have to be turned in by December 1st. There is also the fact that somedays have two activities scheduled. Then of course we have a birthday to throw in! With all of these factors in mind here is my list, in no particular order:

Christmas lighting at our local courthouse/Concert with Meg and Mita

Elle’s birthday

Making Christmas Cookies

Wrapping Gifts- is “more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35 (NIV)

Caroling for the Grandparents

Elf someone

Story starter: A few days before Christmas the elves were scurrying around the workshop finishing up on the toys when the lights went out…

Matthew 1:18-25

Luke 2:1-14

Luke 2:15-20

Santa Letters

Local Concert all four girls are singing in

Go out of your way to be nice to someone today and then tell us about it at dinner tonight.

School Parties

Elle’s Daisy Program

Elle’s Birthday Party

Story starter: It was the night before Christmas and Selena Gomez had yet to start her Christmas shopping…

Christmas Day Rocks! Happy Birthday Jesus.

Write Christmas Cards to kids in the hospital over Christmas

Christmas movie marathon

Tell a Christmas joke at dinner tonight. You have all day to find one!

Deliver gifts to the neighbors.

Drive around and see the Christmas lights.

Story Starter: Bella was getting ready for Christmas Eve when she heard the cat calling out. Going outside to investigate, Bella notices tiny footprints in the snow….

Hot chocolate party!

I’m most excited about the story starters as my kids love to tell tales right now and are so dramatic. Four girls dramatic. Who would have thought!

Check out some other Advent themed posts:

StopDropandBlog

Quiet Fish

Letters To Santa!

holidays, Reviews, Stuff 1 Response »

Nov 242010

I got these cards off Shutterfly for the girls to write their letters to Santa! So very cute.

Dear Santa Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly.com for elegant Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

I just love my Shutterfly!

(Disclosure: Shutterfly is offering gift certificates for bloggers who share cards. I do not know if I will recieve one, but I love this card and it is worth a shot!)

Christmas Cards, Oh Christmas Cards!

holidays, Reviews 2 Responses »

Nov 172010

We will be at Christmas before you know it. Just hang a left at Thanksgiving and slow down for Winter Solstice and bam, your there!

Last year I tried something new and sent out really cute E-cards out for Christmas. That did not give me the same old fuzzy, warm feelings that Christmas cards do. Most of us still like to send good, old fashioned cards during the holidays . Old fashioned with a modern feel. So this year I’m doing actual Christmas cards again.

I, of course, will get my cards at Shutterfly, my favorite photo site. I get my photo books and photo gifts there as well as use the share sites for my Girl Scout troops.

Shutterfly has a lot of Christmas and Holiday cards, but it is not overwhelming because of the easy way to search. If you already know what picture(s) you want to use you can select type of card, size of card and how many pictures you have. Of course they have the holiday categories as well to narrow down your tastes. Humorous, fun, trendy, religious, Hanukkah are just a few that come to mind. They also have invitations that rock. Prices start at $0.40 a card!

The wide selection makes it easy to find the cards that meet your families special needs. My dream is to have all the kids matching standing in front of the Christmas Tree or a snowman outside with wide smiles and happiness radiating from them. This doesn’t happen in my life though. My girls are happy, will smile (just not together) and are great kids. They don’t do family pictures though. Welcome to my world of pre-teens….ahhhhh. Yes, eight, ten and eleven are pre-teen if you hadn’t realized. Elle is six of course, but she is normally in rain boots with a Star Wars costume on! So candid moments are what I use in my Christmas cards!

So many great cards!

Here are a two cards I am thinking of using this year from Shutterfly:

I love how this card lets you give an update on the kiddos, without needing a lot of material!

This card holds ten pictures and with four kids I have lots of pictures to share.

Another product Shutterfly has that I like to use are the Gift Tags.

I cannot wait to see every-one’s Christmas, Holiday and New Years cards this year!

Money saving tip: Another way I save money with Shutterfly is buying through ShopatHome.com. They are currently giving 10%cash back with Shutterfly orders.)

(Disclosure: Shutterfly has offered free cards in exchange for writing a post about their products. As I frequently talk about Shutterfly and buy things from them, you can bet that my review of their products is truthful! Shopathome.com link is a tell a friend link.)

Art/Photo credit Shutterfly logo from Shutterfly.com and photo was taken of a current Shutterfly catalog by Mandy W.

Hogsmeade’s Secret Butter Beer Recipe Guest Post

holidays, Stuff 1 Response »

Oct 282010

I am pleased to have my mom write my first guest post here at FourAgainstTwo. My mom will soon be launching her blog, GrandmaOnTheRocks, a space that will bring you beverage suggestions for the young and old as well as her perspective on life as grandma of seven, mother of two and wife to one (one is enough!). I’ll let you know when she is up and running. In the mean time here is a great drink to try this weekend during your Halloween festivities!

This Butter Beer is for you!

This is a delicious carmel flavored drink that is perfect for the witching hour! The fun is not just for the kids, add a shot of Rum for a great adult Butter Beer.

Ingredients:
1 Cup (8 oz ) club soda or cream soda
1/2 cup (4 oz ) butterscotch syrup (ice cream topping)
1/2 Tablespoon butter

Directions:
Measure butterscotch and butter into a 2 cup glass, microwave on high for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, or until syrup is bubbly and butter is completely incorporated. Stir and cool for 30 seconds, then slowly mix in club soda. Mixture will fizz quite a bit. Serve in 2 coffee mugs or several small glasses!

Enjoy your Butter Beer by the moonlight, watching your ghost and goblins Trick or Treat and say a little prayer of thanks for them. Remember to give to Trick or Treat for UNICEF to help all the other little goblins out there who need our assistance. UNICEF is celebrating 60 years of helping children around the world!

Cheers!

Grandma from the future GrandmaOnTheRocks.com

Photo Credit: BJW 2010

Most Loved Mom

A Mom's Job, holidays 1 Response »

May 092010

The Mother's Ring Hubby gave me :)

In accepting my Mother of the Year Award I would like to thank my Hubby and my four perfect children…

That is how I would start my acceptance speech. Okay, so it may be a bit boring and in need of a joke, but seriously I don’t think I’ll ever need it, so why spend the time fine-tuning it?

Every experienced mom knows that there is no such think as the Mother of the Year. We acknowledge that some moms are more organized, find time to exercise and look good. This qualifies them as Looking Good Mother of the Year and they really do deserve an award for this as it is a good thing.

Having a card or sweatshirt saying, “World’s Best Mom” or “Mother of the Year” can be quite intimidating for most of us. A few years ago Hubby got me a cute little ornament that I treasure. It says:

“Most Loved Mom“

This is my kind of title. I can handle this kind of talk as there is no pressure, just pure love.

Now is where I tell you about my Mother’s Day. The kids (after being kindly reminded that 8:30 would be the perfect time to awaken mommy the night before) woke me up at 6:57 this morning with breakfast in bed. Very sweet, but very early! I got flowers and cards and a great necklace. We also took a three mile hike and found a cache using our Geocache Junior.

After finding several ticks and being exposed to an amazing amount of poison ivy we showered, changed and spent the evening with my parents. Food and fun. The kids got to play with cousins and I got to see my mommy :) She bought me an awesome plant and a beautiful apron off Etsy.com.

All and all a really great day for our FourAgainstTwo clan.

So Happy Mother’s Day to all the loved mothers out there. Even if you are not feeling very loved right now or feeling like a less than perfect parent, Mother’s Day is still our day!

My Valentines Day Gift

holidays, Hubby 1 Response »

Feb 222010

IMGP5794 Hubby and I don’t always do gifts. During lean years or times when we don’t need or want anything we may forgo Christmas gifts, birthday gifts and anniversary presents. Other times we go all out. This Valentines day I gave Hubby a six pack of Sam Adams. It may seem silly, but he liked it so much more than a card and cologne! He spent the entire weekend re-doing my KITCHEN!

Yeah! Our kitchen was nice before, but the several shades of green just weren’t for me. I wanted Spice and lots of it! Hubby delivered and not only painted the walls, but the cabinets. He also bought matching rugs, and wall decor, built a corner shelf and just all around did a fabulous job!

Hubby is the decorater in our relationship. I hate having to pick out colors and decorations. It put way to much stress on me as I am freaked out about choosing wrong. If it were up to me all my wall would be ecru and I’d have no curtains, not because I dislike color and decoration, but picking things out paralizes me (a lot like crafts). Hubby, however, does a great job with colors and I am content and very greatful that he is.

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He said next year he is getting me flowers… maybe I’ll get him a twelve-pack…

Photo Credit Mandy W.

Christmas Mumblings….

holidays 2 Responses »

Dec 252009

IMGP4924 Another great Christmas is almost over. Good memories have been made. Great pictures have been taken (yet to be edited!). We will always remember this Christmas as the Disney Christmas, as we surprised the girls with a trip to the happiest place on earth! I’m excited about the trip, but tired just thinking about the planning :) I’m sure we will have even more great memories by the end of next week.

I highly doubt I will be blogging much over the next two weeks, but I will try and upload pictures regularly and when I get back and recover I’m sure to have stories (both bad and good) and tips to pass along to all my family and friends.

Happy New Year and God Bless us all! Mandy

A Letter To Myself For Next Christmas

A Mom's Job, holidays 4 Responses »

Dec 212009

Next year your hair will be as long as you want it to be. Keep growing it out!

Dear Mandy,

Christmas 2009 was great and we made a lot of great memories. I just wanted to let you know a few ways you can make 2010′s Christmas even better. You need to stop stressing on the stupid things, let go and live in the moment. This is easier said than done and you have done better this year (e-cards saved time and money!) but next year try and remember a few things:

1) Don’t buy matching Christmas outfits. It was a miracle they all wore them ONCE this year, and that miracle won’t happen again until they are older and trying to make their geriatric mother happy.

2)Don’t ask them to be in the Church Christmas play. Wait for them ask to be in it and then have them sign a contract swearing that they will go to all the practices without whining. They were so cute this year and I am very proud of them.

3) Bargain more. Tell them they will get a bigger Christmas gift if we skip some of the Christmas “fluff” activities like Breakfast with Santa and Santa’s Secret shop (Sorry PTO).

4)Don’t expect them to love and cherish your favorite Christmas book, song or activity. It’s not worth the energy and they will like it better without your endorsement!

5)Don’t begrudge your Hubby to much for being right on more things than you would like to admit. Maybe he has it right that matching hair bows just aren’t life and death and the fact that Elle wore snow-boots two years in a row to see Santa isn’t all that bad.

Mandy, I hope you remember to read this next year and do as I say. If you don’t maybe someone will remind you and save the season.

Take care and drink a lot of Chai. Enjoy the season while you can and remember that one day you’ll be asking to join them in their family’s celebrations someday.

Love,

You

I Love Playing Santa

All you need is love!, holidays No Responses »

Dec 082009

Last month was National Adoption Awareness Month as I have mentioned before. I used all my November AVON profits to buy Christmas gifts for a local foster child. I chose a ten year old girl since I have some experience with them! Thanks to everyone who bought products from me! I was able to purchase 2 outfits, 1 backpack, 1 purse, a Hannah Montana pillow and blanket (she requested these as I am not a fan!), hair things, lotions, lip glosses and some fun tween toys. Of course the mom in me also got underwear, socks, shampoos and school supplies.

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Here are some pictures of the gifts. I have so much fun playing Santa…thanks!

Photo Credit Mandy W. 2009

Turkey Day Has Come and Gone

holidays No Responses »

Nov 302009

Our family had a great Thanksgiving weekend! We got to see everyone and eat great food. I even made a dish of deviled eggs (remember cooking isn’t my thing!) I send thanks out to my mom and mom-in-law for hosting my large and loud family! We love you!

We decorated our tree and went and saw the A Christmas Carol in 3D (kids didn’t so much like it FYI). Here are a few pics from our weekend, including a bike ride yesterday that was a bonus due to the nice weather we had!

Thanksgiving means cousins wrestling!

Christmas tree time!

Hubby looks good holding our new niece... he is a natural!

Elle did great on the bike ride!

Photo Credits Mandy W. 2009

A Fun Thanksgiving Activity

Entertainment, holidays, Stuff No Responses »

Nov 242009

I have to send the love over to FireMom at StopDropandBlog.com for this contest. It kept my kids busy when I needed them to be busy and we also are entered to win something and those who know me know that I love to win! Check out this coloring contest for a Christmas DVD. This DVD would be great for the kiddos to watch while I wrap gifts….or take a bath!

While your cooking the turkey (or watching mom cook the turkey) the kids can be coloring up a storm and get in t the mood for the upcoming Holiday Season.

*This picture was colored by the famous Mita who made her first snowman just last year and cannot ever recall watching Frosty the Snow Man (did we really miss it last year? Was I that busy?)

Shutterfly Makes Me Happy

Entertainment, Family Pictures, holidays, Stuff No Responses »

Nov 102009

I was very excited to find out that I had been chosen to host a Shutterfly House party last Saturday. For those of you that are not familiar with Shutterfly, they are a online site that you can store, edit, buy prints and make projects out of your digital pictures. There are a lot of online sites that can do this, but I have always been partial to Shutterfly as there site was easy to use when I had slooooooow Internet speeds and other sites didn’t work. Plus, Shutterfly loves to give out free stuff and seems to always have a sale or free shipping going on. These things make me HAPPY!

At my party I had 14 sets of photo book coupons and coupons for 12 free Christmas cards to give out. I felt like Santa Claus on Christmas Eve! Photo books are some of my favorite things to make as I failed with the scrap-booking thing and love pictures of my children.

Add some wine, great tasting cookies and we had a nice time. My wire-less Internet proved to not be able to handle ten different users at once unfortunately, but everyone got to see how to make a photo book extremely quick and easy for those of us creatively deficient or lacking time. For the scrappers out there, Shutterfly has some great ways to create your masterpieces with many options, fonts, lay outs and themes.

Thank you Shutterfly for helping my friends and family have a great time. I cannot wait to see every-ones finished books and cards. If you want to have your own House Party, you can click here and see what opportunities await you.

Books I've made through Shutterfly.

FireMom and Outnumbered mom enjoying themselves.

(Disclosure: Shutterfly gave me and 14 of my guests coupon codes for 8×8 hard cover photo books and 12 holiday cards, as well as a Shutterfly bag and pen. I also received a 7×8 soft cover book, and balloons to have at my party. All of this was in exchange of sharing my Shutterfly products with friends and family. I was not asked to blog about it…but I had such a good time I wanted to!)

Photo Credits: Mandy W. 2009

Great Photo Season

Family Pictures, holidays No Responses »

Oct 262009

October is my favorite month for taking pictures of the kids. Not only are the leaves beautiful, but the crisp air tends to bring out the genuine smile of a child. Their cheeks are rosy, noses are often glistening with a bit of snot (yes, even snot can be cute at times) and their eyes bright.

This week I’m going to post a lot of my pictures as I have been taking them like a mad woman. With one more Halloween party and trick or treat I am sure to take another hundred or so this week!

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Mita participated in her first ever Pumpkin Bowling game at her cousin’s birthday party.

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Elle wanted me to take this picture. She was feeling cute I think!

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Enu was still recovery from the flu, but she loved getting out in the fresh air for a walk.

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Meg milking a cow. It was a fake cow built to teach people how to milk. Not sure why this exists, but it does and it is at our local corn maze for the kids to check out!

All these pictures were taken by ME, Mom or Mandy W. in October 2009

Want To Be A Winner?

Entertainment, holidays No Responses »

Oct 192009

987353_badge_isolated My friend FireMom has been a busy bee with giveaways lately. I was going to keep all of this knowledge to myself, but the angel on my shoulder told me not to. Actually I get another entry for blogging about them :) Everyone likes to win, it really doesn’t matter what we win, we just have a great feeling when we do. Two weeks ago I won a case of V8 Fusion from MomCentral.com. This may not be a fabulous trip to Italy, but think of all of the Girl Scouts I’ll be able to hydrate!

Here are a few giveaways at StopDropandReview :

A Harry Connick Jr. CD

A VeggieTales Christmas DVD

A Fire Safety Giveaway worth $135

A $100 Gift Card (That’s right One Hundred Dollars!)

A Joshua Bell CD

I hope you all take the time to enter the above contests and hopefully you will win one. If any of the above is given to you for Christmas from me, please don’t be offended as I view it as earth friendly to re-gift!

Photo Credit

It is 2002… In Ethiopia That Is!

Ethiopia, Family Pictures, holidays 6 Responses »

Sep 112009

September 11th will always be a day Americans will remember for a terrorist attack on US soil. My dear friend has blogged about one of 9/11′s victims today.

While we as a family recognize the seriousness of this date, we also have started celebrating September 11th as the Ethiopian New Year. Enkutatash is celebrated as the new year for Ethiopia. If you want to get all smart on the subject check this out.

Since Hubby has a crazy work week we celebrated last Wednesday with Ethiopian food cooked by ME, believe it or not! I made Doro Wat (spicy chicken) and red lentils with fresh injera (bread) that I picked up in Columbus for the occasion.

Today the girls took some Ethiopian activities and some Ethiopian sweet bread to share with their classmates.

Doro Wat in the pot cooking.

Look at me cooking!

Mita and Elle at our Ethiopian table setting (no utensils!)

Enu with our Ethiopian Saba doll we bought the girls.

Meg with the Saba book.

Hubby with a full mouth!

The kids loved the dinner and ate and ate and ate! I love having an Ethiopian-American family. The heritage and culture of Ethiopia are amazing to experience and I encourage all of you to try some Ethiopian food sometime! Remember if you want it to not burn off your mouth order “alecha” not “wat”!

By request, here are links to the Ethiopian recipes I used the other night. If you try it, let me know how it turned out! Some of the spices have to be bought in a specialty store, or Amazon! Doro Wat , Mesir Wat (red lentils).

The Night Before The Last Day Of School

holidays, Seasons, Uncategorized No Responses »

May 272009

Tomorrow is the last day of school for my three older daughters. Elle’s last day at pre-school was today. She took everyone stickers and claimed to be excited about going to “Kiddie Kollege” in the fall. Of course that is what she says today, I’m sure she will change her mind when she remembers she has to actually wear clothes when she goes to school!

Meg is pleased with the thought of summer. Camps, summer reading programs, long days with nothing to do are happy memories to her. Plus she is going to horse camp again this summer, which is her FAVORITE THING ON EARTH!

Mita and Enu are a bit upset over the end of the school year. They loved their teachers and made such great friends, I think they are worried about yet another change in their life. I have let them know of all the fun ahead in the summer months and the schools have done a great job of them getting to know their teacher next year. Plus, they all have class with close friends next year.

Tomorrow the day will be full of games, food and lots of fun. I have goodie buckets filled with the tools of summer: bubbles, sidewalk chalk, kites, books and water shooters. I think they will have fun finding the buckets and playing with their new trinkets.

I will be busy putting away school supplies that we can still use in the fall and storing away back packs. Piles and piles of papers will be sorted, tossed and recycled. I love this time of year!

I also know that towards the end of August I will be ready to get out the backpacks, crayons and lunch boxes. The kids will be ready to hit the books, study spelling words and see friends everyday again. I really love the cycles of life right now.

Happy summer everyone!

Happy Mother’s Day To Two Amazing Moms!

holidays 3 Responses »

May 092009

I want to say thank you to my mommy and my mother-in-law (Hubby’s Mommy of course)! I hope you have restful day and are showered with gifts and gratitudes! (Oh by the way could you watch my kids on…..kidding, kidding!)

Mommy-in-Law (Daddy-in-law also pictured, but not mentioned until June)

My mommy-in-law is the maker of amazing birthday cakes, the feeder of fishes and the buyer of pajamas (she can even find the ones with feet in them for a long little Elle). She has mastered the art of not getting her picture taken and I had to go back to May of 2008 to find a photo. Hopefully someday I can be this accomplished at hiding from the camera. She is very loved and appreciated. Thank you Hubby’s Mommy!

My Mommy

Happy moms day to my mommy. The master of gardening, planter of all things hosta, and lover of gazing balls in the garden (yuck-o), maker of cup-cakes and giver of popsicles.. My mom has also become a master of not getting photographed, so I am re-using a picture from a few posts ago… how do they do it?

Seriously though. I love you both and appreciate all that you do for me, Hubby and all the girls. Thank you!

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