Christmas 2009

Have you ever had the perfect Christmas experience? You know, the one where everything is just like it's supposed to be? The kids woke up and ran down the stairs with excitement. They tore open their gifts with glee. They played with each other nicely and shared their new toys. And we all ate too much chocolate candy for breakfast. We had that this year. It was a wonderful weekend for the family and will likely be counted as one of our fondest memories of Christmas.
We had the traditional Christmas Eve present opening extravaganza. Since Alayna already has so many pajamas, she got mittens and a hat to keep her warm in the extreme southern Texas weather we are experiencing. The rest of us got styling jammies to keep us cozy. And then we had the traditional picture taking.
Of course taking pictures with a couple of kids that love the camera turns into a contest of who can capture the most limelight. Friendly competition for the center of attention is the norm at our house and is only magnified when the camera is revealed.

If you noticed the romantic aura to the pictures, it is not the result of our Photoshop skills. It is the result of a series of strategically placed, sticky, 2 and 5 year old fingers on the lens of the camera. The kids find the camera, remove it from it's hiding place, and take pictures of themselves and each other as well as the carpet and ceiling. They really do love the camera.
Alayna and Cavell were enthralled with their stockings and presents this year. Cavell is old enough to really tear into the wrapping paper and enjoy the entire experience. Alayna got a bunch of loot to add to the growing pile of pink and other girl themed toys she has amassed over her five years including My Little Pony's and Princess Barbie. Cavell finally got some boy themed toys. He is now the proud owner of fire engines, back hoes, diesel trucks, and other manly construction equipment.
And what would Christmas be without some type of indulgent food? Stacy did not disappoint with her gluten free orange rolls. Think cinnamon roll with a citrus flavored filling. And then she drowned it all in a citrus flavored icing. Decadence does not even begin to describe the experience. Breakfast has never been such a rush of simple sugars and carbohydrates.
And thanks to Grandma Onines, Cavell and Alayna have been completely outfitted to follow in their Mother's baking footsteps. As cool as everything else was that the kids received Christmas morning, they got the most excited about their new, hand sewn baking outfits. Now, every time Stacy walks innocently into the kitchen to prepare dinner, Cavell is right behind her running for his hat and apron so he can help.

I'm sure that in future years we will have Christmas's with snarky and jaded teenagers, but for now, we are lucky enough to be living in an idyllic time for our family.

Next Christmas will have some serious competition for the spotlight.

Wassailfest

One of the benefits of living in the little town of New Braunfels is the strong community spirit. It seems that there is a 'fest for nearly every occasion. 4th of July and Fair days are only the beginning. There is the Metalfest, the Texas Clayfest, the winefest, the Gruenefest, and the famous Wurstfest, just to name a few. There is hardly a weekend that passes without some sort of celebration or another. Last week we were introduced to the Wassailfest.

Wassail, that warm, spicy, citrusy concoction of deep aromas and deeper tastes flows freely around the center of town. Admittedly, my first introduction to wassail was when Stacy and I shared Christmas together. Since then, Stacy and I have developed a definition of wassail that we strive to achieve each year. It seems that all of our preparation has led us to this exact point in our lives. We were to participate as judges. OK, we would judge along with the rest of the town, but we still got a ballot and a vote. And our accumulated expertise had influence.

Every year New Braunfels closes down about 6 blocks of the downtown area including the brilliantly lit traffic circle in the middle of town. Most of the stores stay open late and hold a wassail tasting near the back of the store. The public get free wassail and the stores get people in the doors to see what they sell. There were 47 different wassails to taste this year, each with a different sponsor. People wandered the streets walking from shop to shop sampling all the variations of this warm little beverage while being exposed to Main Street shops.

In addition to the main event of tasting wassail at every turn, there were school bands, singing groups, puppet shows, and other entertainment spread around the streets. The band stand in the middle of the traffic circle was scene of a constant round robin of elementary school choirs, brass bands, and other small town celebrity. Despite the definite German inspiration of the Wassailfest, just to remind us all that we were still in Texas, there was a food kiosk selling chili and tamales.

At one point standing in line to adjudicate another entry into the competition I thought about my favorite Christmas movie and how I was currently living out one of the scenes. At the beginning of A Christmas Story, Ralphie and his family all go downtown to participate in the city festival. Everybody is bundled up and staring in the storefront windows. All the cheeks are rosy and everybody is as happy as can be. And right here in New Braunfels, in our little downtown area, my family and I got to experience the same thing. There was even a little chill in the air that prompted us to wear jackets just to add to the atmosphere of the evening.

At the end of the evening, on the walk back to the car, Alayna proclaimed that we should put this event on next year's calendar and make sure we return. Cavell was very upset that he was no longer allowed to sit on my shoulders and pour hot drinks down my neck. And I in my kerchief, and Ma in her cap, went home to settle in for a long winter's nap. Christmas has arrived in Texas.

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

We had our big ultra sound and it is time to share the results.

If you know your Burton Stevenson nursery rhymes, you can make a pretty good guess to the gender of our pending new arrival.
Despite the fact that some of the ultrasound images look pretty questionable, I was guaranteed by the nurse and the Dr. that there are no animal parts in the pictures. So far all of the big and little parts are present and accounted for in their correct locations. We were assured that we could expect arrival of the bouncing baby in the middle of April.

We are big fans of the Disney cartoon series "Phineas and Ferb". The cartoon is about two bothers that get into lots of adventures together and their older sister that is always looking for ways to get them in trouble with their mom.

In one episode, the big sister realizes that she misses her little brothers and a really cute little song is sung by her friend.


Alayna and Stacy like the definition of little brother in this song. "You're younger, we're related, and you're boys."

Alayna is looking forward to her new younger brother with a similar excitement and Cavell can't wait to get into adventures with his new companion.

Our Blog

Do you notice anything different about our blog? Quick clue, look up.

I'll post a little more later.

Student of the Week

Alayna was named Student of the Week on Friday. Her reign began during the weekly Friday morning assembly. Stacy was tipped off by Sra. Sauceda of the impending coronation, so we were able to sneak in and surprise Alayna at the ceremony. We had a good time reciting the pledge of allegiance and we learned that there is a pledge to Texas. We sheepishly mouthed silent words trying not to stand out as the only people not completely loyal to the sovereign state of Texas. Luckily, we know the Student of the Week, so we were OK.

Alayna will continue her reign when she returns to school on Monday. As a result of the Thanksgiving holiday, there will not be a Friday morning assembly next week. Alayna will have the grueling task of maintaining the office of Student of the Week for two weeks in a row. She has no immediate plans for revolutionary changes right now. She is focused on incremental changes around continued good citizenship and maintaining eligibility for future terms.

Stacy's Half Marathon Race Report

My race was a HUGE marathon and 1/2 marathon combo with over 31,000 people. Because of my estimated finish time I was in start group corral 26 out of 35. It took 50 minutes from the time the gun went off just to get to the starting line! I didn't bring my music and enjoyed listening to the bands along the route and the other runners. I was surprised at the number of people carrying lots of water and "stuff." I thought it might be because I was with the slow/new/inexperienced people but Paul saw a gal up in corral 5 with a baggie of makeup, that she used before the start!?!

The Before Picture. See how happy I am?

My run went really well. I stopped along the course to use a port-a-potty after the first mile. The funny part is there was a line, and when a lady came out no one would go in because she said it smelled really bad. I didn't care so I got in and out fast and avoided the line.

Running in a group this big was a new experience. I had to walk at each water stop as I drank otherwise I end up choking and splashed all over. Not to mention, the pack I was in all slowed down and you couldn't get fluids unless you slowed down as well.
The first half of the race, I was right on pace to finish in 2:30. I really enjoyed being able to check a pace band I printed up to help keep me on track. Around mile 4 and 5 there was a hill that slowed me down, but I wasn't too far off. Kept it up for a few more miles but had slowed down for mile 8, and felt a little confused about my fuel plan. I couldn't remember when I had planned to take more gel and electrolytes, but I ended up getting it all in me.

I knew I was getting even slower and when when I got to mile 11 I decided to walk a bit. Except I was wrong, I had only made it to 10.5 miles. That was a bit demoralizing, but it was too difficult to comfortably run anymore after the walk break and I had promised I wouldn't push myself. Around mile 12 it hurt to walk and stopping to stretch hurt even more. So I found a "slog" to be the most comfortable movement and made it up the hill to cross the finish line in 2:48. I got my medal, posed for a picture and scavenged for free food before getting bags of ice for my legs.

Play Time

Cavell and I have found a new game to play. Actually, it's an old game and ours is a set that Grandma Onines made for Alayna. And it's educational.

We are playing the matching game.

We lay out the colors . . .

and Cavell matches them.

Then we cheer for the color he matched. When he matches them all, we give a Super Cheer for Cavell.

When Cavell is in an extra silly mood he will mismatch the colors, on purpose. How do I know? He looks up at me with a grin, starts laughing and shaking his head while saying, "nooooooooooo!"

5K

Last month Paul's work held a Couch to 5k run/walk. Families and guests were encouraged to participate. Luckily there was a "child watch" provided, including a bounce maze/slide, bungee run, coloring sheets and The Bee Movie on the big screen. Paul and I got to start the race together while Alayna and Cavell played. We were not missed.

The route was 3 1/3 loops around The SCOOTER Store main campus with a little chute for the finish.

click on picture to view huge quadriceps pounding pavement

Click on picture to witness bulging calves in blurry action

There are no actual pictures of me running but I did achieve a personal record (PR) of 31 minutes. Paul came in 14th overall with a personal best time of 21:57.

After cooling off Paul took Alayna for her fun run. Alayna was very excited to participate in her first race. She ran from the start line to the chute which was close to 1/3 mile. The story is, about halfway into her run she walked about 10 yards then told Paul she NEEDED some water. He let her have a drink from his water bottle and off she ran giggling about beating her Dad!

Here she comes down the chute. Notice, she's running fast enough that Paul is actually jogging to keep up.

Crossing the Finish Line!

Receiving her "medal" for WINNING* the race!!

The end of a good morning.

* according to her.

It's A . . .

Blueberry Sized Blob.
Measuring exactly to date, and with a fluttering heartbeat. Our due date is 18 April 2010.

Alayna wanted to be sure we shared this, "really exciting news!"

Other than official phone calls to Mothers, this will be the announcement to the family and friends of our impending addition to the family. We figure that between the folks that check the blog semi-regularly and the way THE sister (you know who you are) just seems to know these things, everybody will know shortly.

If you found out via the blog, please post a comment for our own kicks and giggles.

A Treat

Recently, I have been thinking about cakes. Particularly Gluten-Free Cakes. I realized that as our children get older they will not be able to pick a cake from the store that is fun and just right for them. At some point, they may not want cupcakes with sprinkles on them for their birthday parties.

On our date the other night, Paul and I spent some time browsing in the bookstore. I flipped thru the cake decorating books. I liked Betty Crocker Decorating Cakes and Cupcakes. It had relatively simple designs that looked fun, for cupcakes and cakes. Before I dive into shapes, I wanted to see if I could even make a regular cake look nice.

Following this tutorial at CakeCentral, I gave Marshmallow Fondant a try. I made a half batch since we only do single round cakes (and still toss half of it away after a week). Alayna helped me measure the marshmallows, sift and add the powdered sugar.

The first layer looked good enough, and I had a lot of fondant left over. Both kids helped me cut out shapes from the coloured fondant. We only used the daisies, so they got to eat the tulips right away.

The final resut:

I think our first try went very well. For the next attempt I will be cutting our single round in half to stack for a two layer cake.

Strawberry Soup

Alayna has been talking about making strawberry soup for a long time. I think it started in Florida, that means it's been at least 6 months. It started when she saw strawberries at the store (and I didn't buy them for her). Suddenly, any time she played with her dish set she was making strawberry soup.

One afternoon during quiet time Alayna was out of my sight longer than I realized, and she wasn't playing with her dishes like I thought. She was playing with my dishes.

She proudly invited me to partake of her Strawberry Fruit Soup. I was presented with this:
Would you like the recipe? Measure an arbitrary amount of fat free milk, fat free cottage cheese, fat free sour cream, Dannon Light & Fit Strawberry yogurt, add a chunk of apple (Gala I believe, also the reason for changing the name) and squeeze in some grape juice from a cut green grape. Mix. Put in the fridge to cool. Yum!!

I also received this:
and more of this all over the kitchen floor.

Imagine the surprise flipping thru a magazine at the kitchen table and seeing this picture!
Only to discover that it is actually Watermelon Gazpacho. Now we are looking for a real Strawberry Soup recipe. Anyone have a favourite they would like to share in the comments?

From Alayna

Alayna drew this picture to share with everyone.

"FOR EVERYONE I LOVE

FOR MY AUNT AND MY FRIENDS AND
GRANDPA GRANDMA
FROM ALAYNA"

Missed Sharing

After posting Cavell's birthday, I was looking thru the blog and saw the GLARING absence of some events. We never mentioned that my mom came to visit us, in APRIL?!?

Yes, she did. It was a great visit, for me. This was the two week period that saw Cavell and then Alayna get sick, and Paul arriving home from a week out of town - sick. It was very nice to have Mom here to help with the dr's visits, entertainment and projects. She even babysat one morning, so Paul and I could run in the Texas Round-Up 10K.

A lot of her visit was spent reading with the kids.

She even tried her hand baking some gluten free cookies, learning a little about our different flours in the process ;-D

(Paul picked this pose.)

The biggest project was dolling up Alayna's German Dance dirndl. Sadly, Alayna hasn't had a chance to wear it for a performance. She was sick for the dance while her Grandma was here, and the next, and last, event was canceled due to Swine Flu. We do plan to sign her up for lessons again in the fall (if they are offered).
With the leftover flowers, Mom (or, Grandma in this case) made a bouquet for dress-up.

Before she left we had a chance to go to Paul's office and see the baby chicks and ducks. The pig had already been sent to a new home (a real home, not a euphemistic home).

Overall, even with all the sickies, I think it was a great visit. I loved being with my mom. And even though it is a few months late, I thought it would be fun to share.

He's TWO

We don't have a baby anymore. Yesterday, Cavell had his second birthday.

He took time to read each card. Alayna made her's for him. She even "wrote" in baby language so that Cavell could understand what he was reading.

He figured out right away what his presents were about. "Bubbles!" Sadly, the bubble lion didn't work.

Not to worry. He received more bubbles, and these bubbles did work!

It was a bubbly birthday.

After all of his practice blowing bubbles, he was ready to blow out his candles.


And then it was time to enjoy some (Betty Crocker) chocolate cake.

Today's Hair

Alayna specifically asked to have her hair curly this morning for the gym so that we could do something with it this afternoon for quiet time (after Farm Town - she had strawberries ready to harvest). After the harvest, we looked at the hair blogs, and she wanted this one.

Because Paul is out of town, Alayna asked me to take a picture of her hairdo so he could see it today. I thought we would share it with everyone else at the same time.