Name that tune

So....can you name that tune?

January Thaw

It's above zero today for the first time in quite awhile. This week is actually supposed to get close to 30 so maybe it's time to break out the shorts.

It was a pretty quiet weekend here. Didn't do much or get much accomplished, but that can be good too. Will wore underwear yesterday for awhile...I think we made it 30-40 minutes before he wet himself this time. Last time we tried them he only went about 15 minutes. It's clear to me that he isn't ready yet; completely lacking the muscle control to 'hold it in'. Hopefully we'll get somewhere with it this spring/summer. ( I offered him a little garbage can to pee into and he was totally against that idea. )

Katie is in school today. I'm volunteering with her class on Thursday. I told Katie I was excited to meet her friends. She said that she'd rather I didn't tell anyone I was her mom cuz that would be too embarrassing. Yes, she's still only 5.

So I figure I'm gonna give her a big old kiss in front of everyone.

Friday Funny

I just couldn't help myself. I laughed OUT LOUD at this one.

I DO have friends. I swear.

Adios Holidays

We've taken down our Christmas tree and all the other decorations. Today I took down the Christmas cards that adorned our wall. We got about 40 this year. That's if your count the cards from our colleges and our insurance salesman. Oh, plus Katie and Will each got one from their dentist.

I thought I'd share one that made me laugh.




Thanks Wade and Donna Hogen. (For those of you that know them...you're saying to yourself, 'Yep. They'd send something like that.' :) )

Happy Birthday!

A happy birthday goes out to my brother-in-law, Jeff Mezera! Hope you get a good dinner out.

Kennedy Center Honors

Last week we were able to catch the Kennedy Center Honors on tv. Each year are awarded to a handful of people for exemplary lifetime achievement in the performing arts. It's always a good show with a wide variety of attendees.

For 2009, they honored Robert DeNiro, pianist and composer Dave Brubeck, singer Grace Bumbry, Mel Brooks and Bruce Springsteen. It was quite a good show and I thought I would share a couple of my favorite clips. The first clip shows Jon Stewart talking about Springsteen and a song sung by Sting. (This is about 8 minutes long.) The second is Eddie Vedder doing a Springsteen song. (About 2 1/2 minutes) Both worth your time. :)

Sandbakkels

On Sunday I took a crack at making sandbakkels for the first time. I got tins from my mother-in-law for Christmas. These are a Norwegian cookie that's a bit of a tradition in our family. My aunt Carol used to make these every so often, and so far no one has been able to replicate her perfect form. That is, til now. I think I've come pretty darn close. Another family tradition I revived while making these? Arthritis. It's HARD to press dough with your fingers for 2+ hours.

Press the dough paper thin...

...and out they pop 15 minutes later.

c'mon, this is darn near perfect.

A little history....Sandbakkels were one of many cookies prepared during the Advent season. Norwegians would serve cookies with a glass of wine at midday or with after-dinner coffee. Cookies such as sandbakkels became popular among the professional class, and were adopted by the peasant class much later in the 19th century. Some websites have suggested putting jelly or other filling in the middle, but that's pure blasphemy as far as I'm concerned. :)

I'll take a crack at lefse too...sometime this year maybe. I found a cute story about that too...

This version of Lefs's history was submitted by Jim Berg from Albert Lea, MN.

Now Den, vot you know bout dat....
Did you know that lefsa was invented by the norweigen Vikings...
Von day, dey vent and was going to raid Ireland.....
Vell they got over der, but they couldn't suprise dem
Irish people cause they were making too much noise coming across
the Nort Sea from Norway.
When they got to the shores of Ireland, they tried to land
But couldn't. You see the Irish heard them coming and began
throwing their potatoes at
them darn vikings so dat the cud not land. Vel by golly,
do you know vat. They load that ship with all the potatoes
dat got trowed at dem, pulled out their oars and finally got back
to Norway. When they got there they played aroung with those
potatoes and came up with a bread, and called it LEFSA.
They had a big party that night, day got out that old foul smelling
fish and put it on Lefsa and that is where the Lutefisk Supper vas
born...........My Grate, Grate, Grate, Grate, Granfodder was on that
ship that raided Ireland.
I'm sure glad they brought it to America other wise we would not have
Lutefisk Suppers Today.

My Lena makes the best darn lefsa in Minnesota. Corse I have to help
otherwise she'd eat it all up while she was cooking it and we would not have
any for supper that evening....

I'm sure glad they have Lutefisk Suppers around Thanksgiving and Christmas every year.
My mother Palma, made all the lefsa by herself. They wern't very round,
but then she always said you could not taste the round......
Your Friend.......... Ole

CEDAR RAPIDS — The buzzer rang, and the Waukon Indians stripped.

Off came the black uniform tops. Revealed were white tank tops. (Which they had made to surprise Coach Klinge)

On the front: “939 WINS.”

On the back: “CONGRATS COACH.”

Gene Klinge became the winningest girls’ basketball coach in state history after Waukon defeated MFL MarMac, 48-38, last night as part of Rivalry Saturday at the U.S. Cellular Center.



Congratulations to Gene Klinge and ALL the girls on Waukon's basketball team. (Especially Sarah!)

A visit with the Sorums

Over Christmas the Sorum family from Washington state came back for a visit. John and Scot have known each other since elementary school and were roommates in college. I'm still hearing new crazy stories from their Iowa State days. We've been out to see them a few times and whenever Scot comes back to Iowa to visit his family we try to hook up. Now we all have kids so it's fun to see them interact.

Last Wednesday night we all went to the Mall of America, ate supper and walked around a bit. The kids all got along well and had to say goodbye too soon.

From left to right: Will, Katie, Madison, Mackenzie and Deb (Scot's wife).

Madison, Scot, Will and Katie

Happy 2010!

Hey everyone - Happy New Year!

So did you stay up til midnight last night? Funny, but those new year's have a way of showing up whether you ring them in or not. I offered Katie the option of drinking some juice out of a champagne glass, but she was not into it so we didn't even do a countdown at 8:00. Fine with me...last year she was running around the house for a good 2 days shouting "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

John and I stayed up til midnight, if you can believe it. This was our 11th New Year's Eve together. We've only gone out 1 year, otherwise we're parked in front of the tv. We got a couple invitations to people's houses last night, but staying home is just fine too.

I wouldn't have been able to stay up, but we watched the new Star Trek movie. I am far from a 'trekie', but that movie was freaking awesome! If you are even remotely interested in the original Star Trek, I advise you to see this movie.

Hmmm...2010...what do I want to accomplish this year? What are my resolutions? I honestly don't know. Make it to 2011 seems like a good start. Get Will in a big boy bed....hopefully potty trained...cut Katie some slack...be a more flexible person. (Not literally...I can touch my toes, that's good enough for me.)

So now it's your turn....what are your resolutions? What do you hope 2011 brings for you?

Snow Bunnies

Here in Minnesota we got hit with a big storm before Christmas. I never heard final numbers, but between 12-15 inches ended up falling I think. When we came back after Christmas we were hoping some of the snow had disappeared, but nope. It's all still here.

The bulk of the snow fell Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Santa was able to get through it and visited us that night so we opened up our presents Thursday morning. One other present we didn't expect? One of our neighbors had snow blowed 8+ inches off our entire driveway and sidewalks before we woke up. We're having snow flurries today, and I just saw another neighbor shoveling our sidewalk. Those Christmas cookies I delivered last week must have been better than I thought.

Will was not happy that I thought his hat was cute.

John took Katie sledding in the back yard. Not much of a hill, but just right for her...even though the snow was up to her thighs and made it hard to walk.

John dug out a snow fort for the kids to crawl in. Will took it upon himself to fill it back in.

He also knocked over John's baby snowman. Brutal.

Almost forgot...

In all this Christmas hoopla, I almost forgot to tell you about Katie's birthday. Her birthday is actually in June, but that would mean her HALF birthday is in December. And as you know, when you are 5, half birthdays are almost as important. They seem to lose their luster around 15 or so.

Because the children with summer birthdays never get to celebrate them at school, their teachers encourage them to celebrate their half-birthdays. Instead of bringing candy or sugary treats to school they suggested donating books to the school library in honor of the child. They get a sticker with their name in the book. Thanks to the book sale at the library this past fall, I got a few new books that were in great condition. So Katie donated two books, and passed out stickers to her classmates.

Katie's teacher makes the awesome birthday crowns which they get to wear, and are almost as tall as the child. The silhouette picture in back is something that Katie made at school. Do you remember making those? I do. Glad the tradition is still alive. :)

Christmas haze

We are now in the haze of post Christmas. The kids are trying to remember what to play with, I'm trying to remember what I ate. At home we've been having jelly beans with breakfast...at both grandma's houses it's been open season on cookies and cheese curds.

So what did the kids get? To make a long story short, they got things they wanted. That's always a good thing. Katie and I just finished playing Monopoly again...in which she whipped my butt for the second time in a row. The cute twist is that she sincerely feels bad when I am broke and without a pot to piss in. I told her I'd kick her butt next time and it made her feel better.

Will is busy with tractors and trains. He makes them talk to each other and seems to really get involved with them. The funny thing is that Katie doesn't even try to play with them. They are of no interest to her.

The night before....anticipation...

Will dominated his authority over Gracie at Grandma Mary's.

Can you tell who had a long day?

Yes, he really fell asleep during this story. It was 7:15 pm.

Yes, Virginia There Is A Santa Claus

* copied from www.lettersofnote.com/2009/12/yes-virginia-there-is-santa-claus.html


In 1897, on the advice of her father, eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a short letter to the editor of New York's now-defunct newspaper The Sun in which she seeked confirmation of Santa Claus' existence. In response, Francis Pharcellus Church published an editorial - entitled 'Is There a Santa Claus' - which went on to become, and is still, the most reprinted English language editorial in history. Interestingly, in 1997 Virginia's great-grandson appeared with the letter on the Antiques Roadshow, where it was valued at $20,000 - $30,000.

Question:

Dear Editor,
I am eight years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says "If you see it in the Sun it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O'Hanlon.
115 W.95th St


Answer:

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank GOD! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

What a week!

Where have I been? You may be asking. I haven't had a chance to get a post up this week. It's just that time of year, I guess. BUT, the good news is that I am almost done with my holiday to-do list. All the baking is done, the teacher, bus driver and neighbor goodie bags are all done. My Christmas cards are done, my shopping is done and ALMOST all of my holiday wrapping is done.

I have been hoarding gifts for the kids since about mid August. There were some great garage sale finds that I stuck away and I got some deals on eBay and Amazon months ago before the holiday prices set in. Our library also had a book sale in the early fall. I bought a BUNCH of children's books...probably 40. Which totaled $8.00. I've split them up between the kids, wrapped them in groups of 3-4 and BOOM...suddenly I have 10 presents for them to open.

I would say that I spent around $70-$80 per child. I don't think that's out of line, and they'll be opening about a dozen presents each. Hopefully it's an all day affair. And since I've been gathering things over the last 5 months it really doesn't feel like I've spent much at all. I wonder what the average family spends per child this time of year? (a.k.a. Who loves their child the most? :) )

Katie was in the church Christmas program this past Sunday. She was a sheep. Almost everyone was a sheep, but she's the only one who saw it fit to wear her sheep's hat for the whole show. And she got to sing. I got a lot of comments from members of the church about how fun it was to watch her and what a terrific job she did.

Also - I wanted to wish my sister, Janet, a speedy recovery after her surgery yesterday.

Christmas cookies

Katie did such an AWESOME job helping with holiday cookies this year! We had to make 6 dozen Christmas cookies for church. They have a cookie walk where people bring a bunch of their own cookies, then get to take an assortment of OTHER cookies home.

Katie did almost ALL the rolling out of the dough...and pretty much ALL of the actual cookie cutting. It was messy, but it's supposed to be. We have plenty of cookie making ahead of us too...we need more for the neighbors and more for Katie's teachers and bus drivers. But we seem to be on schedule. :)

Some rejected holiday card shots

Here are some shots we decided not to use....although....they would have been really cute too.

Let the hoiday season begin...

We got our tree up last Friday along with all the other decorations around the house. Last year after Christmas I picked up 5 packages of pine garland for $1.00 a piece. Now that we have a wood railing I always wanted to decorate it with garland. We just did one side because the kids use the other side to go up and down the stairs.

Katie and I went through the ornaments this year while Will was taking a nap. This is the first year Katie has helped beginning to end. She remembered a lot of the ornaments and always likes hearing stories behind them. Here are some of my favorites too...

- Our seashell ornament from Key West bought the year before we got married there.

- Katie's First Christmas Ornament that she always insists on playing with.

- Will's First Christmas Ornament - a mini stocking from the $ store that I personalized with puffy paint.
- The 'parents-to-be' ornament that we bought before Katie was born.

- The ornaments that John and I bought together for our first Christmas (living in sin) :)

- My aunt Carol's cardinal ornament that will be on our tree for the first time this year.

I have a story for every ornament on our tree. Our tree may not be the biggest, the straightest or the fullest tree, but once we get our decorations on it, I wouldn't trade it for anything. (Although next year we may give a REAL tree a chance.)

Friday Funny

Finally. Some good news.

The "Iowa" Santa

We were down in IA for the Thanksgiving holiday. We noticed a sign for a local farm supply store that advertised Santa being there on Sunday from 1-3. What luck! John and I thought it would be fun to try and take them.

I told Katie that we were going to try to see Santa while we were there. She looked thoughtful for a moment and then offered "I wonder what an IOWA Santa looks like?"

Well, he must have been good enough and passed the test because they both handed over their lists and Will was able to get closer to this Santa than the one we saw last year.

It may have helped that we were in Will's kind of store. They had tractors and cow toys and trucks and wagons....you name it, Will liked it.