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Friday, December 31, 2010

2011 New Year's Resolutions

Lots of people are posting their resolutions today. I feel compelled to come up with a couple of attainable goals.

1. Have a baby before August 31.
2. Not go crazy learning how to be a mother of 3.
3. I was going to commit to a race per month, but I'm not going to. I'll commit that for Jeremy.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Christmas #12

12. One of Jeremy's Christmas memories is Ribbon Candy and those little raspberry hard candies with the gooey raspberry filling. I've looked all over and can only find them online. Any other ideas?

Monday, December 13, 2010

Christmas #13

13. The kids are having a really hard time waiting to open presents. Me too.

Christmas #14

14. Writing and receiving Christmas cards is one of my favorite parts of Christmas. It's fun to see new pictures and hear how all our friends and family sum up their year.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Christmas #15

15. Things I'm going to miss this year


  • Laughing with the family about the Covenant Pastor once comparing Jesus to Santa and wondering if he meant Jesus would come down the chimney.

  • Sour Cream Twists for breakfast on Christmas morning

  • Waking up at the crack of dawn to open our Stockings and then going back to bed

  • Being with my family

  • All the fun pictures in front of the tree on Christmas Eve

  • Getting all dressed up to sit around the house and wonder why there isn't football on TV

  • Asking every other second if we can open "just one" present before dinner

  • Getting scolded for touching and shaking presents

  • The ever-present plate of goodies

  • Lefse, bon-bons, Jolene's Christmas Mouse things and pretzel sticks, fudge, krumkaka, and coconut balls (that I didn't make myself)

  • Snow and sledding

  • The little Christmas pieces from the kids (who might be getting too old for it anyway)

Christmas #16

16. Christmas Movies!! I love them all. Some more than others. White Christmas is probably my favorite. Vermont should be beautiful this time of year--all that snow. I want to wash my hair, my hands, my face in snow!

The kids really enjoyed Polar Express this year. And Jeremy & I laughed through Elf and Fred Claus.

I think I might put It's a Wonderful Life on later today. I have a stitching project I committed to completing before the end of the year, and I need a few uninterrupted hours to get it done.

What are your favorite movies?

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Christmas #17

17. Gosh, I didn't think it'd be hard to write 25 posts about Christmas. There are traditions, favorite memories, funny gifts, silly stories, recipes. But I never can think of anything to write about. I get to the computer and think, "Hmmm, I should make some more fudge."

I love the Christmas Eve service.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Christmas #18

18. A few years ago, I made a photo calendar for my Grandma--one of the ones where you add a million of your own pictures to each month. She loved it! It's become a "tradition" now. She gets one. Dad gets one. Mom orders her own. Even Jeremy got one last year.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Christmas #19

19. I think Fantasy Fudge is the greatest culinary invention ever. The recipe right off the Marshmallow Creme jar. Add some nuts, or peppermint, or peanut butter, and oh gosh, I could die.

YUM!

Christmas #20

20. I think it's so fun to have a tree covered with lights and ornaments in the house. This year, we have the lights "twinkling" as Ivy says.

I've tried to convince Jeremy to let me leave it up all year. It could be a Valentine's Tree, an Easter Tree, a Flag Day Tree, etc.

He's not buying it yet.

Christmas #21

21. I love Christmas shopping! I love leafing through catalogs, laughing at silly gift ideas, figuring out who would like what. Then the shopping! I love the hustle and bustle of the mall at Christmas--the lights, the music, the egg nog latte. I even love wrapping all the gifts. It's so fun!

Christmas #22

I do not like "Feliz Navidad" or "So This is Christmas" at all. I've deleted them from iTunes, and I change the station when they come on the radio.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Christmas #23

23. Christmas Rice

I don't know if there's a real name for this dish, but it's been eaten in my family since my Grandma was a kid. Because she's 100% Swedish, I'll assume it's a Swedish tradition. We eat it at Christmas Eve dinner. And you HAVE to eat your whole bowlful before you can open presents.

Boil white rice in milk until it's soft.
Serve with white sugar, cinnamon, and milk.

I don't remember the story if my Grandma and her siblings liked it. My mom and her siblings did not like it at all. They choked down two bites and gagged the whole time. My siblings & I have thrown a wrench in the whole "eat it or no presents" thing. We love it! We beg for more. We wish we could eat it all year round. I will be passing this tradition down to our kids. And I hope they love it!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Crappiest Dishwasher in the Universe

Our apartment has the worst dishwasher I've ever used. It's a GE Nautilus. I've come to expect all the glasses to take 3 cycles to actually get clean. They go in with a little juice or milk in the bottom, like a glass normally would. And come out coated in grit. I have no idea how it happens, but glasses, bowls, and sometimes plates come out dirtier than when they went in.

We've tried different soaps and cleaning the dishwasher. I don't know what else to do about it. So I run the dishwasher and eventually wash all the dishes by hand.

I might switch to paper products.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Christmas #24

24. Advent Calendar

This year, we are using an advent calendar to count down the days until Christmas. It's a great nativity scene with big nooks for stickers, chocolate, magnets, etc.

Tonight, before bedtime, we read a couple Bible verses and let Ivy look for the Number 1 on the calendar. She found it quickly and was very happy with the pieces of chocolate.

When I asked her to pick a book to read before bed, she said, "Can we read the Bible again? Can I look for Number 2?"

Christmas #25

I do so well blogging every day if I have a list. So, here's my list of Christmas traditions and memories.

25. Lefse!! For as long as I can remember, we've had lefse at Christmas. In fact, I remember eating only rice and lefse for many Christmas Eve dinners.

For those who don't know, lefse is a potato dough rolled out and cooked on a griddle like a very thin pancake. Jeremy's family said it tastes like a potato tortilla and dared to suggest eating it with salsa instead of butter and sugar.

This will be my first year making lefse alone. I'm using my Aunt Jolene's recipe. These are the instructions I have so far. I need to buy potatoes.

Lefse Recipe from Jolene Olson

Note: Cook the potatoes the night before you plan to make lefse.

8 cups riced white russet potatoes (5 pounds of potatoes makes approximately 8 cups riced potatoes)
1/3 cup cream
1/3 cup butter
1 1/2 tbs. salt

Cook 5 pounds of potatoes in enough water to cover about 1/2 inch over the potatoes.
Rinse and rice.
Put the riced potatoes in a large bowl and add cream, butter, and salt while potatoes are still hot. Refrigerate covered until ready to use.