Christmas traditions

Since I have had children, having and preserving traditions has become more important to me and Christmas time is the perfect time for traditions. Besides putting up Christmas decorations, setting up the manger, and especially the Christmas tree, here are some traditions that I hope to continue for many, many years to come...

Making Christmas cookies

For the past 5-6 years, I have gone to my Mom's house to bake Christmas cookies. This year we let Eva help with a few things. My Mom taught her how to "evenly" measure our flour, as you can see in the picture. Our main cookie is the ever popular cut out and frosted sugar cookie. The next thing to teach Eva (and then Sophia) is to cut out the cookies and then to decorate them.

Making Lefse

For those that aren't Scandinavian or from the Midwest, lefse is like a flour tortilla, only it is made from potatoes. My husband, Shane, remembers both his grandmother and his mom making lefse during the fall, so I thought it would be great to learn how. My mother-in-law, Kathy, taught me how to make it, though I have not yet made it from scratch. See, to make lefse from scratch, you must boil potatoes, cool them, rice and mash them. I don't feel up to that yet! So, I have been using prepared dry mixes, which Shane says are just as good (?). Eva and Sophia have watched me make the lefse, and my hope is that in the years to come, they learn how to make it and pass it on. Here I am rolling out the dough and flipping the lefse on the griddle:

Decorating the kids' Christmas tree

My parents have a small tree at their house that the children can decorate every year. The ornaments are mainly ones that my sister and I had when we were younger and consist of soft, pillow-y ones that my Mom made, soft, crocheted ones, wood ornaments, and some plastic ones. Basically, kid-friendly ornaments. It was so fun watching Eva hang these ornaments that I remember my sister and I hanging on our tree so many years ago! I can't wait to watch Sophia join in the coming years. Here is Eva decorating the tree:

To quote a saying from years past, may we all remember that "Jesus is the reason for the season"!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

Decorating for Christmas has always been one of my most favorite things to do; the lights, the garland, the tinsel, but most of all, the tree. I have always loved the Christmas tree and filling it up with ornaments. The last Christmas decoration to come down in my house is the Christmas tree.

Growing up, my sister and I had certain ways to do the tree: all angels, snowflakes, and stars had to go near the top of the tree, the "rock-star" angels (they had a guitar and drums!) had to go near a lot of lights, ornaments we didn't "love" went in the back of the tree, and the manger always went underneath the tree.

This year, Eva helped decorate the bottom of the tree with ornaments that she and Sophia couldn't destroy by breaking or sucking on. : ) Some, including my husband, may say that I have way too many ornaments on the tree. I say, if not all branches are used, I have room for more!!

Here is our tree this year:

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Clean Out and Give Away

So, for the past 6 months I have really begun to de-clutter my life. Mainly, it has come in the form of material things around the house.

Why have something that I haven't used since I moved here?
Why keep something that has been boxed up since April 2003?
Why have clothes that I haven't fit into or worn in the past 4 years and are now subsequently out of fashion (because some of the clothes are from 8-10 years ago!)?
Why have a box of items I would like to keep, but for really no important reason?
Why keep over 50 gift bags when how many do I ever plan to really use?

These were questions I kept in mind as I have been going through closets in my house. The largest storage space we have is under our stairs, so that is where many items came from. It felt so GREAT going through there and finding items that I no longer wanted or needed. They were all given to charity. Having less clothes in my closet is also such a relief.

What was I holding on to all of this for?? It is as if I now have more room to breathe.

Hunter's Family Christmas Party

Today was Hunter's (where Papa works) family Christmas party. Eva had a lot of fun because they had a bouncy house. She has never been in one this BIG before! She and Sophia also got to sit on Santa's lap (which neither liked at all) and get their picture taken.

It is FINALLY done!!!

My sister, Alisha, had given me this Noah's Ark cross-stitch kit a long time ago. (The stitched area is 10x13.) Since I was having a somewhat Noah's Ark theme for the nursery, I started the cross-stitch before Eva was born. I wanted it to be done for her. Well, Eva was born, turned 1, and then I became pregnant with Sophia. I then decided that it would be done before Sophia was born. Well, I FINALLY finished it and framed it this week! (Yes, Sophia is 7 months old)

Not bad, huh? It was only completed 32 months late... : )

Sophia's Dedication

Today we dedicated Sophia at Spring of Life Church. All the families in the service go on stage, the pastor prays over each child and for the families and then we promise to raise our children in a Godly way. The church gives each child a children's Bible and a certificate with their name and the date. The infants also receive a handmade baby quilt.

We are at the far right of the line. Eva was sitting with Grandma and Grandpa Blomker because we dedicated her right after she was born.

This is our family after the service.

Soaking up the December sun!

The beginning of December has been so wonderful. It is great to be able to bring the girls outside when it is so nice!

Brrrr... the cold air will be coming though!

Oh, the things you can find...

Well, I failed to mention in my Thanksgiving post that Sophia started to crawl on Thanksgiving! That is right, my youngest is now mobile. Here she is doing some early crawls with hunting gear on : ) Daddy loves the outfit!

On one hand, it sure is nice that she can come find me in the kitchen if she gets lonely in the living room, however, she now gets into more things...

she likes the bench...

the dining room table...

all of her sister's toys (of course), and the sparkly Christmas lights...

Boy do I have to keep a constant watch on her!!

Also, she is pulling herself up on her knees now. My little baby is getting bigger! : (

First Santa

Sophia saw her first Santa yesterday! Grandma took this picture, before she started crying. She doesn't seem to like Santa!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house. My sister, Alisha, and her fiance, Shane, were there as well. (Yes, for those that may not know, my parents will have two son-in-laws named Shane!)

Here is Sophia wanting to play with Teddy...

Sophia wanted to eat the Indian corn...

Here she is playing with some cute little Pilgrims, Native Americans, and turkeys. My Aunt Yvonne gave those to my sister and I when we were younger (in the 80's!), so it is fun to watch my children enjoy them now!

Sophia liked her peas for Thanksgiving!

And lastly, Shane caught a candid picture of Eva hanging the Pilgrims, Native Americans, and turkeys on the little tree.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

YIPPEE - Christmas is almost here!

What a difference 1 week makes

When we left North Dakota on the 16th, it was getting VERY cold and we had to be so bundled up outside. One week later, Eva and Daddy are enjoying lunch outside on our patio. Notice the shorts and t-shirt! : )

My new 'do

This week I asked Eva if she wanted Rachel to cut her hair. (Rachel is the one who gave Eva her first haircut and who cuts Mommy's and Grandma's hair.) Eva said NO, that she wanted Mommy to do it. So, one night before bed she let me cut it!

Presenting, Eva and her new hairdo...

You know, I don't know why I never cut her hair shorter earlier. Now that it is, her hair looks so much better! And I love how it curls under all by itself!

Time for cereal

Now that Sophia is 6 months old, it is time for her to start with the baby food. Here are her first bites of wonderful baby cereal...

These first few days have been a challenge feeding her (which of course is normal until she learns how to eat solid food) - her tongue gets in the way, she spits it out, and of course she wants to grab the spoon!

Snow, cold and teeth

Here are a few more pictures from our trip up north.

One day, Emma, Eva, and Abby had some fun painting rocks. Yes, that is paint on Eva's face.

At the end of our stay, it became fairly cold - right around freezing. This picture of Eva bundled up should have the caption - 'Don't I look cold?'

Doesn't Sophia look all warm in her winter gear? I must admit that I am glad that I don't have to bundle my children up like this here in Arizona!


Thankfully, it did snow a little before we left, so Eva was able to play in snow! We made snowballs for her, but she just held them. I think in this picture Eva is thinking - 'What am I supposed to do with these?'

Of course, we had to get a picture of Sophia in her first snow.

Other than the fact that all four of us came down with colds for nearly the whole length of our stay, Sophia got her first 2 teeth! The two in the middle on the bottom. : ) Funny thing - Eva also got 2 teeth (two of her molars). What a trip!

Happy Halloween

On October 30th, Shane and I and the girls flew up north (ND and MN) for hunting and to visit Shane's family. So, Eva was able to go trick-or-treating with her cousins Abby and Emma. Anywhere we are, Eva is the first to spot the UPS man, or "Uppy man". Therefore, I thought it was appropriate to have her be the "Uppy man" for Halloween. She was really excited to go from house to house to get candy and was definitely not afraid to go and knock on the door or ring the doorbell!
This first picture was taken back in Arizona on the night before we left. (We didn't bring Sophia's costume with, since it is a lot colder here and she wasn't coming out with us.)

Here is Abby, Eva and Emma before we headed out for the night. (Left to right)

This is one of the houses we were at. I took a small box that was delivered by UPS to me for Eva to collect her candy in. I made handles and cut an opening in the top. It truly made her outfit!

Here we are at the end of the evening, counting our candy!

Sun and sand

This past week, Eva, Sophia and I drove to California with my parents. We went to help Auntie Alisha work on her house and to bring the kids to the beach. Eva loved the water and her and I played in the waves coming in. I think that Sophia really enjoyed being outside and the salt air. Here are some pictures of us at the beach...

Near Alisha's house was a city park, so I took Eva a couple times. She loved the swings! Here she is walking to the park and on the swings...

On one of the nights, Auntie Alisha helped carve a pumpkin for Eva. Alisha did a great job, seeing as though she had no pattern!

We spent the longest at the beach on the last day we were there. Her is Sophia with Mama and Auntie Alisha with both girls...

A fun-filled day...

This weekend is the Festival on Phelps in Apache Junction, AZ. There are booths where people can sell their wares, as well as booths for organizations and city departments. Today we took the girls down there and one of the booths was selling home-made products from goat's milk. Eva loved the baby goats and I am sure if she was older she would have begged us to buy one (they were for sale).

Well, there also is a midway. Eva has seen them setting up for the past 2 days and wanted to ride on the rides. Here are the 6 rides that she was on.

The merry-go-round...

Dizzy Dragons (sort of a Mad Hatter's teacup ride)...

The Safari Train...
The bug ride...
The BIG Slide...
And, the Ferris Wheel...
Her favorites were the Dizzy Dragon and the BIG Slide!!