Tuesday Afternoon At The Movies

Jill thought I was making a spectacle out of her by having her pose for this.

(Which reminds me of a joke....did you hear about the two monocles that got together and made a spectacle of themselves?)

We'd gotten reports that quite a bit was left out of the whole Marley story but not having read the book we both enjoyed what was portrayed. And we have the book from Jon and Mindy so now we're both looking forward to reading it. I've never been much of an Owen Wilson fan but maybe it's because I'd only seen his nose and not a movie he was actually in. I did like him in Cars when I just heard him and didn't see him!

Christmas Wrap Up

Just us old folks out at Wildwood for Christmas Eve this year. We have, basically, dispensed with gift giving so after our delicious oyster stew supper one of my favorite things was to get a group photo. Grandpa would beg to differ! He hates being in a picture.Grandma has four little bells she hides on the Christmas tree that over the years were fun for the boys to try to find. We still hunt for them but neither Jill nor I could find the blue one and Grandma hid it so well she could barely find it either!(Not there Grandma....look left!)

Jill was already gearing up to root for the Vikings on Sunday and it must have paid off because they're on to the playoffs!

On Saturday we tried something a little different for our extended family gathering. Instead of having to find four separate days to get together at people's houses we picked just one and made it a progressive day. You can imagine who was the center of attention!

Natalie had fun at all four stops and we had fun with her. Can anybody remember being able to sit like that?!

Everyone was able to make it this year yet...

(Brian and Kate)

(Tony and Amanda)(Jon, Mindy and Natalie...and baby on the way!)Plus, there was Alan and Cher, Bev and Fay, G and g, Rand, Jill and I. We're threatening to send out a follow-up survey about whether to do this again or tweak the format a bit or to ask for other suggestions. I think for some people the day may have been a little long.Natalie wasn't the only one that needed a nap!

Natalie provided our best entertainment. It's simply amazing how much fun a damp washcloth can be!

So the holidays are pretty much over for us but I'm sure the decorations will be up for awhile yet since Jill just finished with hers on the 23rd. Now we're on to 2009. As our families expand and move away I hope that even though we're not all as close in proximity anymore that we continue to be close in spirit!

Merry Christmas To All And To All A Good Night!

From our house to yours, Merry Christmas everybody!!

Yesterday Was Anyday

You may remember on Monday I posted Angela and Darrick were due to have their second baby any day. That day turned out to be Tuesday. Welcome to this world little girl Cate Ainsley! And congratulations Angela, Darrick and Claire.

I can't wait to see Claire and Cate together!

What Do You Think?

Is "I just did it in October" a good enough excuse for not worrying about the cleaning for Christmas visitors?

I Don't Care What Anybody Says!

Yes, it's cold. In fact right now the thermometer says 0 degrees. But this afternoon when I went out about 4:30 it was so pretty! There wasn't any wind (which is a big help) so it was almost eerily silent. It was so crisp and clear and clean. I know the temperature can make it pretty uncomfortable but in spite of it, winter can be a really beautiful season!

Did I Forget To Mention?

One day back in June Claire and I went upstairs to get dressed. Angela always has her clothes laid out so I said to Claire "what are you going to wear today?" This is the shirt I put on her. Very sneaky!

So it could be any day that Angela and Darrick welcome baby #2. I'm on sort of 'baby call' to watch Claire when the new one decides to make an entrance. Last night I had a dream that I was at church in Byron with an old work buddy when my cellphone rang. Caller I.D. said it was Angela and of course I gasped. When I answered she whispered "he's asleep." So I think it's going to be a boy! (Remember, dreams don't have to make any sense, right?)

Christmas Cutouts

One of my favorite Christmas cookies is the sugar cookie cutouts. Grandma always has a lot on hand but we all like to help making them. It was a three day process. Cher made up the dough and brought it over to G and g's the next day where we cut them out......baked them until they were just right, (you can bet Grandma kept a close eye on them!)......and stacked them up for storage. Cher had it right when when she said "our work is 'cut out' for us tomorrow!Mindy and Natalie came over the next day when we frosted.......and decorated them.Natalie was in charge of quality control and checked things out pretty closely to be sure we were putting out an acceptable product. (Some of the rest of us just did the taste test and all seemed well!)Can't wait for Christmas at Grandma's when we can really get into them!

Now Wait Just One Minute....

Do the kids sit on Santa's lap or is Santa supposed to sit on the kid's lap?! Hmmm...

Norrr-vegians At It Again

We old ladies got together yesterday at Cher's and made a little lefse. It's quite a process. After mixing just the right amount of flour to the potato mixture Grandma shaped it into little patty's.

I tried my hand at rolling it out but we'd STILL be at it if I hadn't turned it over to Cher.

Once it's about as thin as you can get it, it has to be loaded just right onto the paddle to move it to the lefse griddle.

It only takes about a minute on each side...unless, of course you can't get the paddle under it to get it flipped!

Jill was the runner for transporting the lefse to the done pile under a damp towel. She might have been practicing for a shift at Pannekoeken by the sounds of it!

When all was said and done we had 57 lefse. (That word seems to be like "deer". Even in it's plural form you don't add an 's'.) Grandma won the prize for having the closest guess. Tony came out to the kitchen with a snicker on his face and said "only a Norwegian could be so excited about lefse!"

Bittersweet

While I'm glad the Vikings won yesterday (even though I didn't pick them!) why did Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin pick that game to have a crappy one?! Those are the big guns on my Fantasy Football team that's been in first place most of the year. Now it's the playoffs and because they choked I'm pretty sure I'm playing for third place.

Christmas Caroling

Let me just start by saying I think I had the camera settings wrong. We really didn't look this jaundiced! But this bright bunch of folks spread a little Holiday cheer around the halls of the hospital yesterday afternoon. Everyone must have been in their rooms watching the Vikings beat up on Arizona because there weren't hardly any patients out walking the halls say nothing about decking them.
For the most part I think people appreciated the entertainment.

One family member asked that we stop at their room but one guy on his walker most pointedly closed the door. We moved on from there!

Saturday Night 'Sit

Natalie was in fine form last night. She likes to blow bubbles with her own spit...

...and does a pretty good job.

She was full of smiles...

...for both Jill and me.

We got to watch her two "Mo-Mo" DVD's...

...and even got cooperation on a group photo!

Holiday Show

Every year the college puts on a really colorful and fun holiday show. Tony still joins in even though he's a recent graduate. He's got multiple duties from playing the chimes...

...to playing the set...

...to singing with the group...

...to conducting the band.

Santa and the Elves were out in force!

Getting Ready For Christmas

Claire was in the spirit of the season today. We both had a gift for each other and didn't waste any time opening them. I got some Holiday dishware....

...and she got a DVD.

I wonder what else Santa has in store for this (not naughty but) nice little girl!

All Connections Made

In spite of the winter storm I made it to PI for my haircut. The roads were actually pretty good once I got off West Circle Drive. But the highlight of the day was our visit to see my nieces.We had some ice cream treats in spite of it being a cold day. Natalie had an orange pushup, remnants of which can be seen on her right knee! But Mindy uses her sister's tried and true method of warm water and Dawn dish soap to soak out stains like that.

We're blaming all the sugar for her getting so revved up just before we left.

She was laughing and giggling and rolling around the floor like a wild woman!

But she and her mom were the perfect hosts. She posed for a few pictures......and I think we just got lucky on some others.

She was even the photographer at one point. Mindy and Jill agreed to be our subjects and with a little help on the aiming this picture is "Photo by Natalie."

It Figures!

We're under a winter storm warning until 6:00 P.M. Tuesday evening and it's just started to sift down snow now. I might have known this would happen since I have a hair appointment tomorrow morning 15 miles north of here and a playdate in the afternoon with my little niece 12 miles west. Plus, my 80-some year old folks are due to drive in Tuesday morning for a Clinic appointment. I'm hoping there's no doubt but what they should stay home.

Lists

On my neverending list of things to get done I added "make a list for day by day until December 24th." Does this constitute making a list and checking it twice?!

Lights On Wheels

It ended up being a family gathering as the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train made it's stop down by HyVee last evening.

Because of the roads earlier in the day we thought it would be only Jill and I since we live just five minutes away. As it turned out, it was a very pleasant evening but Miss N's cheeks were getting pretty rosy by the end!

The train makes it's stops during the Holidays as a promotion to support the local food banks and is just another way to enjoy the Season.

We thought we'd left home in plenty of time to see it's arrival but as we got closer there was quite a logjam of traffic waiting to make the same turn we were. Then as we got out of the car Jill heard the whistle not too far away so we had to hightail it to get in a position where we could see it actually come in.

Last year we went down to Winona to see it and missed it's arrival by just a matter of minutes.

Ya. Shure. You Betcha!

How can ANY meal look better than this plateful of lutefisk with all the trimmings?!! This was our lunch down in Preston today. It's a once a year treat... depending on who you ask. Alan and Jill steer clear of the fish and just stick to the beef.Just add lefse and it's perfect! Uff-da!