I can't even think of a title...

I have writer's block.

Post-Christmas Yum

Well, I'm up to my ears in 11 new cookbooks this Christmas. So much happiness here. =) Hmmm, where to start, where to start...

A Red Bucket

Last night we took a family trip to Walmart. Mark's been gone so much with practice and games for the past couple of months, so the kids were really excited to go somewhere with him. Mark gave each of them a dollar and told them if we made it through the store with no whining or fighting (there's been a lot of bickering lately and I'm sure there are people out there who disagree with the bribing, but hey, desperate times call for desperate measures!) they could buy something that they picked out themselves. At the end of our successful shopping, the kids picked out boxes of little Christmas tree cakes. With Mark, everything is fun and exciting, so he showed them how to do the self check-out lane and had them insert the money themselves and then of course came the excitement of seeing the change come out the little slot. Jake was excited to put his change in his Ohio State piggy bank at home, and of course Rory imitates and talkes about everything that Jake does so she got excited about her Dorothy and Toto bank. On the way out of the store, Mark asked if they wanted to put their money in the red bucket instead. We explained to Jake how that money would help buy something for another kid who didn't have very much. I have no clue how much of that he understood. Most likely they were just excited to drop coins into the swinging red bucket (very cool!), but as they did, Jake yelled out "Merry Christmas" to the friendly man ringing his bell. My eyes filled with tears that he gave his little treasure away so easily. It was a huge reminder to me that it's my responsibility to teach these two little people about loving people (which is a new concept for me in life since I did not grow up this way.) Just an unexpected kind of blessing during my favorite time of year.

Holiday Books

I love books! I love old books, I love new books, I love the smell of crisp pages, I love the sight of old book bindings sitting on a shelf. And most of all, I love the tradition books create in a family. I grew up with a great old pop-up version of Twas the Night Before Christmas, and of all the Christmas objects we unpacked out of bins every December, that was my favorite thing to see each year. My mom even has a video of me reading it to Trina and Wayne when I was about 8. And I still have that book. I think my mom understood that it was most meaningful to me, so I got to take it with me when I got married. It’s sitting on my shelf of Christmas books right now, waiting to be read this season. I actually bought a new Twas the Night Before Christmas book a few years ago from Hallmark because it was so pretty—it’s a Santa and Coke version and I love the illustrations.

Some of my best memories of being a kid are road trips and my mom reading out loud to us from the Bobbsey Twins and Little House books. We took lots of trips to visit cousins and we always read our favorite family books along the way. I’ve been collecting vintage Bobbsey Twins books for a few years now, and I still have the Little House set that was mine as a kid. And I have found some great versions of American classics like Pollanna, the Little Princess, Swiss Family Robinson and other stories I loved as a kid. And I have extremely vintage copies of The Wizard of Oz (my favorite story ever, well, tied with Little Women) and Charlotte’s Web (shout-out to Gretchen and her annual book report!). I have boxes and boxes of children’s books.

Now that I have my own family, I’m trying to create holiday traditions through some books with them too. I’m probably going a little overboard though. I found great books of little poems for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day by Jack Prelutsky. I also found Twas the Night Before Halloween, and other Twas books for Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, first day of Kindegarten, etc. by Natasha Wing. And I also bought a couple of other random books about the Pilgrims, Christmas and other things that just seemed so cute. I spend more online time on Amazon than anywhere else—books, movies, and music—my three favorite things on one great website.

People have told me I better hope and pray that Rory is a reader because I’ve been collecting classic books since before she was born. Well, so far, she IS! She’ll sit with books all day if she can. She loves being read to, she loves reading to herself, so far so good. =) And Jake is starting to come around too—the more he sees Rory with books, he seems more interested. Needless to say, we spend a TON of time reading together on the couch. Time will tell if they love their holiday books as much as I did.

Tim Horton's

Okay, okay, I finally tried Tim Horton's coffee. My honest assessment is this: the coffee was just okay, but I appreciated the festiveness of their cheery winter cup. (I'm now bracing myself for the comments to come...)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Well, we've had quite a Christmasy weekend. I've had the house decorated for a week or so now, but Saturday we went to get our tree and it was really fun because the kids actually knew what was going on. It was great watching their little faces in awe as the guy cut some off the bottom of our huge douglas fir and then netted it up and tied it to the top of our car. It feels so good to have a real tree again. Mark grew up with an artificial and thought that was the way we'd go in our own home. And those who know us know Mark is definitely the one who runs the show around here. But a real Christmas tree was not something I was willing to give on! It's in my blood. For over 70 years Christmas trees were our family business in Massachusetts, but this year is the first year it no longer exists. The business shut down last year and it's pretty sad to see it gone. But I digress. Anyway, last year was the only year we had a fake tree and that was because we lived in an apartment complex that didn't allow real trees. I'm so happy to have our huge real tree smelling all amazing in our living room.

After picking up our tree Mark and I set off on our afternoon adventure of putting up lights outside the house. We felt like the Griswolds. Mark was up on a ladder with staple gun in hand and I was fooling around with the extension cords and outlets trying to get everything to fit in somewhere and work. With all the icicle lights, the potted trees on our entry way, lights wrapped around bushes and a wreath in every window, it took us all afternoon. We had fun though--it's yet another memory of our first home.

Today I spent literally the entire day baking cookies. I haven't even chipped the iceberg yet--I am trying a bunch of new kinds this year, so I plan to bake a couple more days this week too. I've been stocking butter, flour, and sugar for two months now, so I'm extremely prepared. And I'm making double batches of our favorites, now that I have my new freezer in the garage. I've really missed cooking ahead with no extra freezer for the past couple of years.

When Mark got home from ball practice tonight we decorated the tree. It was pretty funny because the kids put every ornament I handed them in the same exact spot. There was a whole front bottom section of the tree laden down with ornaments and the rest of the tree was empty. Of course, my obsessive compulsive self had that fixed as soon as they went to bed, but it was fun watching them do it.

I was thinking back to last year's Christmas Movie Extravaganza (is that what we called it, Abby?) wishing I could do it again this year. But since we still don't really have a circle of friends to entertain yet, I'll have my own. I told Mark that the one good thing about him having late practices every night and me being home alone all the time is that I can watch Christmas movies any night I want to. And since we have Directv back, it's not hard to find one. Lydie and I have plans to go see The Holiday for a girls night out, so that will keep me in my tradition of seeing whatever Christmas movie is out every year.

So the holiday happenings are keeping us busy around here. Hope everyone else is having fun!

Thanksgiving Trip to Boston

Me and the kids goofing off with Christmas decorations.

The kids chased this rooster all over the tree farm we visited--it was hilarious!

Grammie took us to a Christmas shop for donuts and coffee.

Uncle Tommy and Jake sacked out watching a movie.

Auntie Treen and Rory--she's the spitting image of Trina as a little kid!

Grammie and the kids smelling the amazing New England Christmas trees.

Home Sweet Home

Today I finally got home from my 9 day Thanksgiving trip. Man, I HATE being out of touch with my cyber world. =) Since Mark had to stay here for Thanksgiving, my mom talked me into staying a while longer once I got to Boston. So I did. But I was dying to get home by the end. I'm so thankful for my safe trip too. There were a few moments where I was thanking God frantically for keeping me safe--I was driving with some real winners out there.

Anyway, once I get life organized once again, I'll be back to blogging my love of the holidays.

By the way, thanks for backing me up, Gretchen and Abby, as usual. Thanksgiving is never overshadowed by Christmas in my world. And do we have a blog clique? If so, you are totally part of it, Gretchen. I love that you comment now!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Get Your Kicks on Route 66

Last night the Chapman household had a premiere showing of Cars, including popcorn, jammies, and lights out. We all loved it. I was pleasantly surprised, even. I am a Disney freak—I love most Disney movies, especially the Disney/Pixar movies. But I wasn’t as excited about this one because I assumed it was mostly about a nascar type world, and that is a world that just doesn’t interest me in the least. Boy was I wrong! I mean, it had a little to do with car racing, but mostly it was about friendship and Route 66 and that old American way of life—something that I’ve always had a fascination with! I even have a vintage Route 66 sign in my kitchen, and several recordings of the song, “Route 66” (Nat King Cole, etc). It touched on life before Interstates, and how family trips were just as much about the drive, as the destination (a metaphor for our lives, really). I highly recommend this movie, and if you get the chance, watch the 15 minute documentary in the special features about how the movie was inspired. I was extremely touched, and even more so, when right smack in the middle of the movie, James Taylor started singing. Never am I NOT touched when I hear my old pal JT’s voice. I really want to pile the kids in the mini van sometime in the next few years, take a family trip without driving on any highways, and discover America. But that’s the romantic in me—the person who has always loved Americana and should have been born in a different time. I guess discovering America means not using the DVD player to keep the kids content, and that is not something I’m willing to give up at this point in time. Maybe in about 7 or 8 years. =) Anyway, see Cars. It’s fun!

Around Town

Well, it's that time of year. Everything is changing and becoming magical. Here are some signs of the season I've noticed as I live life around town lately:

--The Glorious Cornucopia of Wonders (also known as Target during the holidays) is more fun than ever
--Huge toy ads come with the Sunday paper
--Turkey sales and baking product sales are in all the ads
--Feeling an exciting hustle and bustle, rather than monotony as people take care of their errands
--Halloween candy in center aisles replaced by candy canes
--Icicle lights lit on a lone house here and there while driving around the city streets
--Some radio stations played Christmas music all weekend long as a preview for December

AND...

--Gingerbread and Peppermint Mocha coffee creamers arrive in grocery stores! Yaay!

Halloween

Well, here is our Princess and Mr. Incredible. Rory's costume was a no-brainer because she was in a wedding this fall. My mom found a tiara, and she was done. Jake's costume consists of a couple of pieces of felt glued together and pinned to his sweatshirt, a pillowcase for a cape, and a felt mask. (Now for those of you who are Incredibles afficianados, I know they don't wear capes, since it's specifically talked about in the movie, but he looked much more superhero-ish with a cape, so we just went with it.) He LOOOVED being Mr. Incredible. Jake showed Rory how to trick-or-treat, which was fun to watch. They've been wearing their mask and tiara around the house ever since. =)

I can't figure out how to explain to a 4 year old that Halloween is just once a year, because he asks to go trick-or-treating every night now.

I already checked a bunch of Thanksgiving books out of the library, so I guess I'll focus on that now and see if it takes. Did I mention that I love this time of year?

My Father

I have never put a lot of thought into God as my Father. I know He is. I know it's a fact, but I don't know that I've ever truly personalized that. I was thinking about it today and wondering if maybe I've never put a lot of thought into it because of the fact that I never had an earthly father. Since my dad died when I was so young, I don't really know what it is to have a fatherly relationship with someone. I've had a father-in-law for 6 years and he's great, but that's a different thing altogether. I don't think I've seen a father-daughter relationship up close until now because now I'm watching Mark and Rory up close and can see how much he really loves her and wants to protect her and take care of her. Don't get me wrong. I'm not feeling sorry for myself in any way, shape, or form. I have never felt sorry for myself because my mom made sure that we had a very happy lives. But I'm just kind of thinking about things in a new light now. I've seen God take care of me and teach me and guide me so much throughout life, but I've never really called Him "Father."

Last week was rough. I was lonely for a friend. I miss close relationships near to where I live and being able to call someone, make spur-of-the-moment plans and then talk the hours away. I know these things will come eventually, and most of the time I'm busy enough with the kids and our home and don't think much about it, but sometimes the lonliness takes over for a little bit. But with this comes a perfect example of God taking care of me, his daughter. Lydie, my new friend here (who also happens to be Mark's cousin's wife), wanted to go out for coffee. We made plans to meet at Easton for supper and some Christmas shopping. But we ended up talking the night away, and then at the last minute decided to see a movie too. We had a great time, and it ended up being a night that both of us really needed. God had a new friend (who happens to be my favorite person of all the people I've met here) call me out of the blue, exactly when I needed someone to reach out. Not only that, but she communicated to me that she's really thankful we moved here and has needed this relationship too. That is more of a blessing to me than I can communicate with words.

This may seem like a little thing, but for me, it was gigantic! God, my Father, loves me.

Costume Time

There’s something very nostalgic about homemade costumes for Halloween. My sister says she has bad memories of wearing silly homemade costumes and will never do that to her kids, but for me, I see beauty in it. Good thing too, because while I love the ease of store-bought costumes, I know in my budget-conscious husband’s mind, Halloween costumes are definitely not budget worthy. And that’s okay with me. We both agree that families had to make up costumes at home for decades, so we can too. So now, it’s up to the mother to figure out how to dress up my kids every year and I’ll have to start getting creative. I’ll pick up little things here and there with my groceries and collect things at home and put together some kind of outfit. I’ll romanticize it in my mind by using words like nostalgic and hope my kids have fun in the process. Stay tuned and see what we come up with…

My Winter of Soup and Bread

I’ve been on quite a soup and bread kick lately. Over the years I’ve made a lot of chili, perfecting the recipe to suit me and Mark along the way, and a ton of tomato soup because my mother-in-law has an amazing recipe. But other than that, I haven’t ventured into the homemade soup world. I decided to make that a project for this fall and winter. So far so good—last week we had potato soup and this week, chicken and rice, and they turned out pretty okay. I can tweak things with each recipe for next time. Seems like there’s never enough broth, so I’ll work on that. But I’m most excited about the breads. I’ve been making homemade rolls at least once a week since the summer, so those are good to go, but last week I tried homemade Italian bread and it actually worked. The bread machine is half the battle, because I’m not really crazy about kneading. I made it again last night for our chicken soup and it was delicious. It feels so authentic with the hard crust, chewy inside, and even cornmeal on the bottom. My next experiment will be tomato basil bread. I found a recipe online and I’d love to have some to make grilled cheese with for our tomato soup—yummo! Just thought I’d share because these are big accomplishments for me. The picture above is our Italian bread from last night.

The First Snow

Today is our first snow of the season. Those who know me well know I'm having a very happy day! This blog is about the simple things in life that I love, and the first snow is the perfect example of pennies from heaven. It's only flurries and won't collect on the ground, but it's beautiful to see the snow slowly falling, and it's been coming for hours now. We're having a very cozy morning here in our homey living room. I'd love to go out and take a walk with the kiddos, but today is potty training day with Rory. Hopefully it will keep snowing so we can go out later, but if not, we'll take our annual "First Snow of the Season Walk" another day. I just can't keep putting off the potty training--priorities of life with preschoolers. This time of year keeps getting better and better...8 days til Halloween!

I Love Heroes!

Is there anyone else out there in the universe watching Heroes? Monday nights, 9:00--I'm so hooked. I guess this gives Jamie another reason to mock my TV choices, but what can I say? It's another Alias type situation...fake, comic-bookish, but maybe that's why I like these shows. Departure from reality. Every week ends with a cliff-hanger where I'm literally covering my mouth with my hand in shock. =)

Unfortunately I'm banned to the little tv in my bedroom because Mark refuses to watch such absurdity. He was the same way with Unbreakable. He just couldn't grasp Bruce Willis' character because he said he couldn't connect with the fact that he was a superhero in the real world. His brain works too practically for that kind of storyline. Maybe that's why I like all M. Knight Shamalan movies too--because they're not reality. They're just fun to watch, and I always love a twist. I wonder why he loved Alias--maybe because it was the CIA so that was partial reality?...I'll have to ask him about that.

Anyway, it's fun to have a new show to be excited about every week, and I just thought I'd throw it out there, since I'm new to this area, don't know very many people, and don't have anyone to talk about it with. I miss those weekly Alias groups of long ago...

We love fall!

Pumpkin Bread and a Brown Sweater

No, this is not my take on Black Horse and a Cherry Tree!

My last entry is bothering me a little because I wrote to vent, and that’s not really what this blog is about. This blog is a commentary on the simple things in life, the things I really love and enjoy. So to leave on a more positive note today, I have two things to mention.

I made pumpkin cookies last week and had about a cup of pumpkin left, so I decided to make pumpkin bread too. I’m not a huge fan of baking because it’s too scientific. I LOVE cooking because it allows freedom to go on a whim and just toss in whatever. But I was reveling in the warm spicy aroma coming from my kitchen all morning. It was the perfect way to jump start the fall. Not to mention that when my kindred spirit from college got here, she was talking about pumpkin bread and pumpkin stuff and how they don’t have cans of pumpkin in Germany and she wishes she could use it more often. So when I showed her what I had JUST made, we were loving our kindred moment.

The second thing I’ll mention is my great find of the week. I’m not a huge shopper. Clothes aren’t really my thing. I mean, I try to stay somewhat on top of what’s going on out there, but I’m not trendy or die, unlike my sister, who is the most on-top-of-things person I know. I find a pair of shoes or jeans or a shirt and I wear it into the ground because I get very comfortable in what I know and love. Well, this week I happened upon the perfect fall sweater and it will see me through a lot of future coziness. It’s a dark brown sweater coat with a tie around the waist and a huge oversize hood. I don’t think I’ve ever found any article of clothing so completely perfect in my life.

So in keeping with my simple things…

Rough Day

Today has been a rough one for me and the kids. They have been bickering and screaming (Rory learned how to shriek like a total girl and we're trying to put the kabosh on that immediately!) and crying and fussing and I have a headache from it all. I tried really hard to pull them out of their mood, but it all started when we had to leave the park 5 minutes after we got there because Jake was misbehaving bigtime. I knew the worst punishment would be leaving, so that's what I decided to do. Hey, the kid will learn at some point. But ever since then, the day has gone downhill. I took the kids on a walk around the neighborhood to try to get their frustration out, and then Jake helped me weed the garden during Rory's nap, which he loves to do. But they are still going at it as we speak. Oh well. I haven't had a day like this since our apartment days of Minnesota. I guess toddlers and preschoolers just have random bad days too.

This weekend we're driving up to NW Ohio for Mark's brother's wedding, so the kids will be psyched to see Grandma and Papa. And they get to see their new and only cousin, Ella, too! When we come back it will be October--my absolute favorite month of the year. We have hayrides and apple picking and pumpkins and and lots of breezy autumn walks to look forward to.

Aaaaaahhhh...

We've had some amazing autumn days here and I am at my happiest!